Tuesday, May 18, 2010

love thine enemy

i am no fan of Obama's. but this article helped to surface some ideas that have been rattling around in my noggin.


  • even if he wanted to end the war, he is/was going against entrenched parties. parties who are trained to defeat their opponents

  • even if he wanted to fix the economy, he is/was going against his own party's socialist and revolutionary leanings

  • even if he wanted to have a lively public debate, he's fighting a journalist system that is based on access and sensationalism



what i'm getting at is: there's stuff going on behind the scenes that by its nature, keeps us citizens from accurately evaluating our representatives. i hope he brings a sensible end to the middle east conflicts. i still like my idea of "independent colonies"

Monday, May 17, 2010

California Ballot

I used to be very protective about my voting record, but I've decided that the more people who let their votes be known, with rationale, the more likely the democratic process will help secure our freedoms. I chose to receive a Republican ballot this time as California allows non-declared voters to choose each election. I've chosen Democratic primary ballots in the past, fyi

Governor: Naritelli
rationale: tea party candidate, freedom lover, capitalist
note: switched from Whitman due to Goldman ties and various marginally ethical behavior

Lieutenant Gov: Scott L. Levitt
rationale: best of the worst, limited gov, private background, deregulation, good tax stance

Secretary of State: Orly Taitz
rationale: the woman's on a mission - she has a right to question Obama's legitimacy but has been daemonized; a statement by the voters can help legitimize our attempts to hold gov feet to the flame

Controller: David Evans
rationale: limited gov, solid financial background

Treasurer: abstain
rationale: only one candidate, don't want to suggest a mandate

Attorney General: John Eastman
rationale: liberty candidate, honest face (sometimes that holds), best of the worst

Insurance Commissioner: abstain
rationale: Brian Fitzgerald does not appear to be a valid candidate, therefore, one candidate and don't want to suggest a mandate

Equalization: abstain
rationale: Rae Williams does not appear to be a valid candidate

US Senator: Tom Campbell
rationale: studied under Friedman, was one candidate who didn't make it on Hannity

Representative: abstain
rationale: only one valid - will probably vote for Joel Smolen anyway

State Assembly: abstain
rationale: one candidate

Superior Court Judge, Office 3: Haakenson
rationale: Burton is a dipshit, Haakenson seems cool - wish I coulda found his decision record

Superintendent of Public Instruction: Gloria Romero
rationale: supports charter schools (as close to private as we're going to get for now)

Superintendent of Schools: abstain
rationale: one

Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk: Benson
rationale: this was tough. could have gone to Raful. didn't like scott's union ties

Sheriff-Coroner: Doyle
rationale: Doyle seems to be doing an OK job, and imo sheriff experience is more important than coroner experience. Sorry Ken

Prop 13 - seismic retrofit could raise your taxes: no
rationale: taxes bad, retrofit good

Prop 14 - primary over general: no
rationale: too limiting, may solidify donkey-phant hegemony

Prop 15 - political campaign mess: no
rationale: need cap on individual and total contributions, not obscure rules and tax dollars

Prop 16 - PG&E protection act: no
rationale: tough one, but this makes it too hard for officials to act in the interest of (isolated) consumers/taxpayers. I would like to see the gov out of the electric business, though

Prop 17 - drivers history of insurance companies: no
rationale: we need to remove the liability insurance law, not strengthen the companies who profit from it

Fed Moving Gold

RUMOR ALERT

I have relatively reliable information that much of the gold traditionally stored in Fed vaults (at least the NY Fed) has been moved to "undisclosed locations"

I'm hoping that once they move their (hopefully rightfully earned) assets out of the US they'll be less opposed to discontinuing their opperations here. This could turn out to be a win/win - they get out with a premium and the people get their freedom back