Voted early this morning in Culver City. Pretty damned simple, though I continue to be a little worried about the security of my ballot. Ah, well… it should be all right.

More Ballot Choices

State Senator
Boxer. Other than trying to keep Congress equalized, I actually do like her as my senator.

United States Representative: District 27
Sherman, the incumbent; primarily because he’s a Democrat and I’m aiming for a balanced Congress.

State Assembly
Levine, the incumbent. I’m decent with his voting record, plus the challenger sounds like a tool.

Superior Court Judge, Office 18
Pat Campbell, more experience. Plus Escobedo’s answers in the Q&A sound biased towards the Latino vote… pandering, I believe it is called.

Superior Court Judge, Office 29
Gomez, experienced in legislative and executive offices (former mayor of Glendale).

Superior Court Judge, Office 52
Priver, former deputy district attorney, statements are firm while Gutierrez comes off a little… touchy-feely.

Superior Court Judge, Office 53
This is a tough one. Zeidler is up and coming and has previous bench experience. Lopez first served as a public defender then later as a prosecutor with a 100% conviction rate on all felonies that went to trial. Hmm. Probably Zeidler, his endorsement list is full of judges.

Superior Court Judge, Office 69
I don’t like either of them. I’m not voting on this one.

Measure A – Sales tax goes up to 8.75% for Public Safety, Emergency Response and Crime Prevention — Los Angeles County
NO. I’m confident Prop 1A will pass and with it, recovered revenue. This would negate the need for a sales tax increase in LA County… need I remind anyone that the rest of California is still at 7.5% or whatever pansy-ass lower rate? Raise THEIR damned sales tax. Besides, there is no language in the measure that specifically identifies the hiring and training of new officers — they could use the money to increase salaries and pensions instead. Yeah, that REALLY helps.

Measure O – Property Tax Increase for Clean Water, Ocean, River, Beach, Bay Storm Water Cleanup Measure — City of Los Angeles
YES. The increase is $35/year on a $350,000 home for the next 24 years. That’s not much to a homeowner, especially if it will go towards increasing property values due to a cleaner environment. It’s technically an investment. It’s also an uncontested measure, so it’s nice to see LA’s thinking green.

The November 2004 California Elections Ballot
A biased guide

59 – Open public records and meetings
Err.. yea? Why would you vote nay? What am I missing here?

60 – Top vote-getter of each party in a primary election advances to general election
This seems rather obvious… someone care to clarify the point of this proposition to me?

60A – Sales proceeds of surplus property pay-off bonds
Sort of an enforcement on paying off our debt. Sounds good, but can’t we do this without having to amend the state constitution? Probably NO.

61 – $750 million to Children’s Hospital building projects
This just feels like another “”get the contractors rich”" scheme, I can’t see the point of more construction if the hospital system needs a complete overhaul. This one is a firm NO for me.

62 – Open primaries (presidential nominations exempt)
Well.. it certainly blurs party lines, which sounds good to me… plus I get to vote, even if I’m registered as an Independent. Probably vote YES.

63 – 1% tax on incomes higher than $1 million to fund expanded health services for the mentally ill
One of those silly ideas that makes you smile at its own absurdity. I’d like more funding in health services, and I certainly doubt a millionaire would leave California simply because they lose an extra 10 grand to taxes (no, seriously, I can think of NO millionaire who’d use this as a basis to leave, so that’s a stupid argument), but this is stupid. I say NO.

64 – Unfair business lawsuits may be filed only if party suffers actual monetary loss or injury
Sounds good, except if the injured party is, say, wildlife or a natural resource such as a polluted river or a contaminated piece of real estate. Then all of a sudden, this sounds like an ill-defined limitation on the ability of the state to prosecute. I say NO.

65 – See 1A

66 – Redefine “”Three Strikes Law”", limit to serious and violent crimes
Personally, I feel the entire penal system needs serious rethinking. This one I’ll probably say YES to, but it’s a weak YES, and I may change my mind after some thought.

67 – 3% phone tax allocated to emergency medical services
Why a phone tax? I’m still trying to figure out the “”Universal Fee”" line on the longest itemized bill I get every month… TWICE (stupid useless landline). We’re already taxed 0.75% on our phone bill for this… I don’t want it to become 3%. Paying for emergency services should be a budget decision made by the state legislature and the governor. And if it comes to it… the state sales tax. I would much rather have a higher sales tax than get taxed on my utilities (why not make the 8.25% tax in LA and other metropolitan areas statewide?) So this one? NO.

68 – Slot machine expansion to existing tracks and card clubs unless the Indian Gaming compacts renegotiate with the state within 90 days
Vote YES to force the Indian tribes to renegotiate.. and if they don’t then all this means is slot machines in existing tracks and clubs. The ads about big casinos near schools, etc… is a fun little bit of… oh… fibbing. Maybe they’ll expand.. but they were already there. YES to force a NO.

69 – DNA database submission required for all felons and suspects charged with serious crimes
Neat. You just have to be charged with murder and your DNA is in the database. NO.

70 – Exclusive gambling rights to Indian tribes
I like the ads on TV about this. “”We want to pay our fair share.”" Right. Well, then, if you want to pay a fair share, then other people get to open casinos — that’s fair. You want a monopoly? You pay for a monopoly. NO.

71 – Stem cell research, constitutional right to perform research, prohibit use of cells for human cloning
Basically puts down in writing the right to perform stem cell research. I’d vote YES, though I would prefer it be a constitutional amendment without a monetary portion.

72 – Healthcare coverage requirement
From the summary it sounds similar to Kerry’s healthcare plan. I’d need to read up on it a little more. I have no problems with the government running the health care plan provided it allows a person to opt-out, and if they opt-in, have a set of private provider options. If this is the case, then YES.

1A – Protection of Local Government Revenues
With the cap on property tax the revenue available to counties and cities is fairly restricted (mostly to sales tax, hence the strip mall boom of the 80s and the recent boom in entertainment plazas like CityWalk and the revamped Sherman Oaks Galleria). Much of this is sucked up by the state, leaving fire and police with very little local funding. So… YES.

President of the United States
Kerry.

Turning thirty-one is almost a non-event, except of course for a nice little dinner with friends… and their presents.

Nothing big, just dinner at El Colmao in downtown LA for some Cuban fare, then for some a glass or two at The Standard’s roof bar, also in downtown. It was a lovely evening, save for the bit at the end when it began to rain, but even that was sort of nice. All in all, just as I had wanted: a quiet little celebration far more low-key than the Vegas extravaganza of last year.

No worries. I’m sure something ridiculously ostentatious will be in the works for when I hit forty.

Entertaining. Not as good as, say, Remember the Titans — it doesn’t get deep enough. It sort of carries this single note of a town that’s obsessed and a team that’s cracking due to high expectations, and all the other side stories just never get explored well enough to merit their inclusion in the first place.

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Enjoyed this movie a lot. It actually did make you jump in your seat every once in awhile, though the main gist of the film is about a slacker named Shaun and his even more of a deadbeat best friend and roommate named Ed stumbling and bumbling through a major zombie epidemic somewhere in London. And, oh, yes, these are your classic shuffling dumb-ass zombies that kill through perserverance and numbers, not the current trend of unfairly fast zombies from 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake, which this film directly refers to and/or makes fun of. Good flick.

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