Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
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Wednesday, Mar. 03, 2004semi-Super Tuesday
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�Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead�
-Lucille Ball
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
REGISTER TO VOTE
"The time is always right to do what is right"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The "seven social sins": Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
Wealth without work,
Commerce without morality,
Politics without principles,
Pleasure without conscience,
Worship without self-sacrifice."
--Gandhi
"We have not inherited the world from our forfathers -
We have borrowed it from our children."
--Kashmiri, proverb
Dennis Kucinich did not do as well here in California as I had hoped, securing a mere 5% of the vote. I think most people are like my sister Barbara and voted for John Kerry because they "know he'll win anyway." Why the primary is the time to compromise your beliefs and vision is completely unknown to me, but I think that's what happened. I mean, to come right out and say, "I agree with most everything that Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton have to say" but then refuse to vote for either one of them is a mystery to me. Here's how it goes, folks: If you vote for them in the primary, they will get delegates. That means more people at the convention who echo these candidates' thoughts and positions. The convention dictates the future path of our party. Therefore, if you think our party should be more aligned with Kuchinich's or Sharpton's positions, you should vote for them now, whether you think they are going to get the nomination or not. Voting for them now, especially with the number of delegates John Kerry already has in his back pocket, will not in any way affect whether or not the Democrats take back the White House come November. And this goes for any of the candidates not expected to win the race, even those who have formally dropped out of it but are still on the ballot...don't forget, Howard Dean STILL has more delegates than John Edwards and that will STILL have an impact at the convention. Thank God.
�Proposition 56 lost, while Propositions 57 and 58 won and Proposition 55 is currently winning. . .Proposition 55, the education bond, appears to have narrowly won, 50.6 percent in favor, 49.4 percent opposed. Proposition 56, the state budget initiative, lost by much wider margins, 34.2 percent in favor and 65.8 opposed. Proposition 57, the economic recovery bond, won decisively 63.3 to 36.7 percent. And Proposition 58, the balanced budget act, was the biggest winner, 71.0 percent to 29.0 percent.�
I voted yes on 55, no on 56 and 57 and yes on 58�begrudgingly. I just don�t trust it and I know I must have missed something. I voted no on 57 because, while on the surface it looks like a great way to help our economy � it�s supposed to be basically a �refinance� of our state�s debt - what it does is just postpone that debt and when it hits, it will be worse because we�ll owe millions more in interest. A delayed deficit is still a deficit, people.
I am pleased that 56 didn�t pass, and yet surprised. What that proposition would have done is make it possible to enact new taxes and pass certain laws with the support of a smaller percentage of the State Legislature. Yeah, that�s what we need � to give Arnold more power! You know, because he�s wielded the power he has now so honestly and uniformly. Oh, how lucky you are, my fair readers, that I haven�t unleashed the ol� ikss ire upon our new governor�yet.
Anyway, I�m surprised it didn�t pass. Truthfully, I�m surprised we saw through the bullshit of the thing. Arnold has been trying to whip us all into a frenzy of panic over our budget for months now, so that he can get his precious bills passed. I�m glad to see that at least one of them was so blatantly obvious as to get voted down.
Prop. 55 authorizes $12.3 billion to pay for new and improved schools. If you only knew how badly we need that to happen. It�s pathetic; made only more so by the fact that Arnold, while repealing the car tax increase that had everybody calling for Gray Davis� genitals to be hung on the nearest kiosk, raped and pillaged our school system. This is the same man who made such a huge deal (prior to his run at the governorship) supporting a bill calling for extra funds for after-school programs for kids and in dong so tried to appear as a man who is concerned about our children. Of course, a little caveat in the bill he so vocally supported was that it would never be funded unless our state could actually get our budget out of the red. One of the ways he decided to get our budget out of the red? Cut funds to schools and all social services, across the board. Hey - wouldn�t YOU rather education and social services be cut rather than pay some extra money toward your car tax? Of course, when that car gets stolen there won�t be a Cop available to take your report, but this is the price we pay.
Not that our budget is in any better shape anyway.
Add to these cuts the cuts necessary as a result of Dubya�s brilliant accounting skills and we are left with One Fucked Up School System�and more people moving here every day.
That sound you now hear is my teeth grinding.
~~~
And from the �What a Fucking Idiot� column of politics comes the following�
Governor Casts Ballot, Possibly Violates Law
Schwarzenegger Tells Voters To Vote Yes On Propositions
POSTED: 12:29 pm PST March 2, 2004
LOS ANGELES -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cast his vote first thing Tuesday morning with much of his political clout riding on a pair of ballot initiatives.
Schwarzenegger campaigned heavily for Propositions 57 and 58, which would issue a $15 billion bond to cover the state's finances.
He may have campaigned a bit too heavily. A Los Angeles television station showed the governor telling another voter inside the polling place to "make sure to vote yes on 57 and 58."
California state law prohibits electioneering inside a polling place.
The governor's office said Schwarzenegger was only engaged in lighthearted conversation, the television station reported.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
~~~
In much more palatable news comes the following headline at MSNBC this morning:
Ore. county begins marrying same-sex couples
N.Y. mayors promise weddings, but official calls practice illegal
Can I just say how wonderful these brave folks are (including the mayor of San Francisco)?
Of course it�s illegal�right now. Black people refusing to sit in the back of the bus used to be illegal in some states, too. How do you think those laws got changed?
~~~
Misc. Baloney
In more personal news�I saw the most beautiful double-rainbow last night! It started raining these big, ploppy drops as I was leaving work at about 5:40. As I was driving home, there was one beautiful rainbow arching over the street � the full, complete arch. I was driving right through the center of it. Right next to it was a less bright one. So I was really driving right thru both of them. It was really lovely.
To top it off, I just went to run errands at lunch and got a gander at our local mountains, which are presently covered in snow. It is sunny, clear and probably 72 degrees outside and the mountains are covered in snow. Gorgeous!
But you people now planning on moving here after reading that, just remember � we have earthquakes, mud slides and fires aplenty. We won�t even talk about the traffic and the occasional riot. Just stay where you are � it�s horrible here. Honest.
And oh, how the mighty have fallen! Camille finally got the boot!
It was a nail-biter, too, because she�s actually done fairly well the last two weeks. I am very happy, especially since it came down to her and Mercedes, who is just such a joy!
And I must admit�I was wrong about Shandi initially. Yes, you read it here: I was wrong. She still doesn�t do much for me on just a regular, walking-around basis, but she looks damn good on camera now. Her pictures are just gorgeous � and they totally look like model pictures, whereas a lot of them (especially at first) look like Sears catalogue models who want to be real models when they grow up. Shandi has even learned how to walk properly! She is obviously trying very hard to send her life in to a different direction (you know - away from Walgreens) and that hard work is totally paying off. I can�t believe how much she�s changed in just a few weeks.
And ooh, didn�t they tease us for next week�s show! The gals are all in Milan right now, you see, and apparently our sweet little Shandi is about to hook up with a hot Italian studly boy. Something her boyfriend back home is sure to be excited about.
Ooh! Can�t wait!
And you know what? Things like this are really rather amusing when you went to high school and college with the gal involved (we played on the same softball team, but didn�t exactly run in the same circles. I will say, she always seemed like a nice gal to me).
(My favorite part is that she spends $150 a month on electrolysis PLUS $1,000 a month on laser hair removal!!! How much hair does this monkey have????
~~~
Word of the Day for Wednesday March 3, 2004
invective in-VEK-tiv, noun:
1. An abusive expression or speech; a vehement verbal attack.
2. Insulting or abusive language.
adjective:
Of, relating to, or characterized by insult, abuse, or denunciatory language.
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