Propositions

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It’s election season and in California, as usual, we have several propositions on the ballot for direct decisions by the general voting population.

Among several other propositions, this time we’re asked to decide on multiple competing initiatives for online gambling and regulation for the dialysis industry.

I’m not a fan of the ballot propositions. I’ll be honest, I have zero expertise in gambling or dialysis regulations. Nor do I really want to put in the time to figure it out.

And that’s the problem. I’m a pretty engaged and informed voter. I don’t think most of the population has much more insight to the long term ramifications of the propositions, which can often back us into budgetary and legislative corners that limit the ability of our elected officials to manage the state.

But that’s kind of the goal with some of these. Play to the emotions and tie the hands of legislators.

So I’ll do the best I can to figure it out. We’ll spin the election wheel and see where the ball lands.

Social Media Myths

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Perhaps you’ve heard the story going around social media. Perhaps you’re lucky and haven’t. But the story goes that schools are installing cat litter boxes in some bathrooms to accommodate kids who identify as cats.

Sounds ridiculous, right? Because it is. Yet it’s been shared widely across social media. Worse, several political candidates (almost entirely Republican) have repeated it in the press, on social media, at rallies and meetings. Joe Rogan - essentially an Internet troll with a big platform - repeated it on his show.

And it’s not true. A team of investigative journalists looked into each named accounting of the story. No truth to it.

How an urban myth about litter boxes in schools became a GOP talking point

Instead it spreads as part of the fear mongering over the gender identity debates and LGBTQ+ issues. It’s a way to ridicule and stoke fears of “the others” and legitimize laws to restrict rights of minority groups.

The saddest part is that the only kernel of truth in the cat litter story is some schools (from the same district as Columbine) that stock cat litter do it for “go buckets;” buckets of materials for kids locked in a classroom by an active shooter.

Way to go, America: do nothing about the real, horrible thing that happens repeatedly in our country and instead focus on some fake, imagined fear.

Please don’t spread this stupid cat litter nonsense. People who do should take a break from social media.

Trump and His Documents

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The Congressional Committee on January 6th voted unanimously to subpoena former President Trump to seek his testimony about the day of the Capitol Insurrection.

I’m sure Trump will fight the subpoena. The only sensible legal strategy is for Trump to exercise his rights under the 5th Amendment for every question. But sensible legal strategies are not a strong point for Trump.

On the plus side, he likes collecting government documents, so this gives him one more to take home with him.

That guy is Awful

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Yeah, I REALLY don’t like Tucker Carlson.

Now there’s a video going around yesterday off the pieces he edited it off his recent interview with Ye (aka Kanye West) that just reinforces how he manipulates things to make awful points.

Watch the Disturbing Kanye Interview Clips That Tucker Carlson Didn’t Put on Air

Marijuana

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President Biden has announced that he will pardon all people convicted of federal offenses for simple marijuana possession. This isn’t drug dealers and traffickers, but people who simply had small amounts or used marijuana on federal lands.

He also will try to influence governors to do the same at the state level, and work to reclassify marijuana so it’s not considered the same as heroin and other hard drugs.

It’s a good step that is bound to help millions who can’t get a job or housing due to simple marijuana violations.

It’s time for our country to recognize that the War on Drugs has done more harm than good and move ahead with decriminalization of marijuana.

New Campaign Slogan

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This is a follow up to my “Stop Voting for Stupid People” campaign.

Enough with the hypocrites, liars, and politicians who lack integrity. Enough with the anti-abortion candidates who paid for their girlfriend’s abortion. Enough with the small government conservatives who want to wield government power to control individual’s lives. Enough with the leaders who mandate rules they don’t follow. Enough with the leaders who try to deny funding to help disasters in other states but turn around with their hands out for their own.

We’ve gone long past electing “our best and brightest.” There are principe people elected, but many of them have flawed principles. This is about those who seek out their own principles - not for compromise or progress - but for convenience and personal gain. Enough with the people who lack scruples, honesty, and integrity.

We deserve better.

What’s he watching??

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Tucker Carlson Tonight is one of the worst things on TV. The man is abhorrent, an entitled heir to his parents fortunes, and he routinely says terrible things about other people. He doesn’t solve problems or offer realistic solutions. And his bits routinely show up these days on Russian state television, emboldening Putin and his cronies’ propaganda.

Friends don’t let friends watch Tucker Carlson.

Lizzo the Pied Piper

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Popular musician Lizzo - a classically trained flautist and Black woman - was allowed by the Library of Congress to play a 200+ year old crystal flute once owned by former President James Madison.

In one of the stupider controversies lately, many conservative pundits lost their minds. They seemed to think this somehow desecrates American history.

Just like the Pied Piper, Lizzo’s flute playing drew out the awful people like rats.

Likely many of the same people who were upset at Disney casting a Black woman as Ariel in their live action Little Mermaid film.

There’s probably even a common thread between the two… sigh. 🙄

Citizen Snowden

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Former NSA consultant, Edward Snowden, has been living in Russia since fleeing the US after leaking highly classified information about US surveillance programs.

In a move that’s likely an attempt to thumb his nose at the US, Vladimir Putin has now given Snowden Russian citizenship.

Of course, Putin also just instituted a draft to replenish his army that’s taken heavy losses from their invasion of Ukraine.

So, careful, Snowden, something else might be coming along with that citizenship: a draft notice.

Back Downtown

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Salesforce is hosting its big Dreamforce conference in downtown San Francisco. For a city that has struggled to bring back workers to the offices - with many opting instead to keep working from home - this might be the first time in a long time that many have been back downtown! We’ll see how people feel about going to the office after the conference.

Fear Mongering

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Everything old is new again. Whether it’s remakes of old horror movies like Friday the 13th and Scream, or rehashing old irrational panics.

According to polls by the non partisan Public Religion Research Institute, ~1/4 of Republicans believe Satan-worshipping pedophiles running a global sex-trafficking operation control the U.S. government, media and financial institutions. It’s not just a replay of the old 1980s “Satanic Panic,” it’s a core tenet of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

But not just that- we’re also getting an encore of the 80s fear mongering that some stranger will slip drugs into your kid’s Halloween candy! This time it’s fentanyl in brightly colored pills, called “rainbow pills” or skittles. While the rainbow fentanyl pills are real, we’ve yet to see drug dealers or users eager to give it all away at the front door. But that didn’t stop RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel from stoking those fears.

The Satanic Panic and Drugs in the Halloween Candy fears have come before and they weren’t true. But a lot of people were tricked into believing they were true.

There are things to watch out for in the world. But all told, the vast majority of people are good and America is a much safer place than it was 30 years ago (crime statistics support the trends).

Don’t give in to these fears. They’re no more threat to you than Jason or Ghostface. They’re all equally fictional.

Dumb

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Today is Constitution Day, commemorating the day our US Constitution was signed in 1787.

But many won’t know that. Because US knowledge is sorely lacking.

The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s annual, nationally representative survey showed that less than half of US adults could name all three branches of the US government.

Less than 1/4 of people could cite Freedom of Religion as one of the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment. While over half incorrectly believed that the First Amendment requires Facebook to allow them to express themselves freely on its platform.

https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/americans-civics-knowledge-drops-on-first-amendment-and-branches-of-government/

Education, knowledge, and expertise are under attack in our country. Whether it’s untrained parents who feel they should decide school curriculum over trained educators. Or the Michigan town threatening to defund the library because they don’t like certain books there. Don’t even start on the pushes to ban books across several states and towns.

Many people have long said that America would not be defeated by outside enemies, but rather threatened from internal strife and divisions.

Unfortunately, I fear America is just going to dumb itself to death.