"A peacefulness follows any decision, even a bad one." ~ Rita Mae Brown

I've spent all morning going back and forth in my head about how to handle today's post. I can't not address what transpired last night because it's like the big white elephant in our proverbial room. It's sitting there, staring at me, waiting for me to say something. It's also smirking at me. Bastard elephant.

We lost. Not by a grand margin with the popular vote- currently, CNN's reporting it at 7% - but by fairly remarkable electoral vote, which has given Obama 349 and McCain 163. I could go on about where I think the campaign went wrong, where voters definitely went wrong, and how terrified I am of the next four years. I could direct you to a couple sites that offer perspectives I agree with and I could rant for many paragraphs about how I really feel about Barack Obama. But I won't. What good would come of it?

So I'll report on how the propositions I was concerned about turned out.

......................................................................................

Proposition 2. Standards for confining farm animals. Initiative statute.
- The long and the short of this is that farm animals raised for food - cows, chicken, pigs, etc. - be kept in larger, roomier cages allowing them to, "...fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up and turn around..."

Result: Yes. Damn. People just can't seem to think beyond the animals themselves. "Oh, those poor animals who'll be beheaded and butchered in a few months anyway and those awful cages!" Let's see how sympathetic they are when the price of their chicken goes from $2.99/lb. to $5/lb.

Proposition 3. Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. Initiative Statute.
- It would provide "...$980M in general obligation bonds towards construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, furnishing and equipping of eligible children's hospitals..." It'll cost the state a LOT of money.

Result: Yes. I'm happy but a little nervous. It's a necessary thing, keeping up with current medical technology and accomodating all the needs of all the children, and one I'm happy to shell out for. But...$980M is a lot of money.

District Measure WW
- I'm assuming it's a measure, since it's not a proposition. All it's heading says is, "District." Anyway, it provides up to $500M to continue restoring urban creeks, protecting wildlife, purchasing/saving open space, wetlands/shoreline, acquiring/developing/improving local and regional parks, trails and recreational facilities in the East Bay Regional Park District.

Result: Yes. Yay! Hooray for nature!

......................................................................................

So my feelings after all is said and done? I'm resigned to the fact that my candidate - who I'll maintain to the day I die was far more qualified than Obama to run this country without running it into the ground - lost the election and that come February, I'll have a man I'm terrified of as my president. I'm resigned to the fact that the Democrats still have house majority and damn near senate majority as well (although, thankfully, not the two-thirds necessary to complete the monopoly and really turn Washington and our great nation on its ear as well as eliminate the extremely-necessary system of checks and balances) and that the next four years will be riddled with liberal agendas, government-sponsored healthcare, and small businesses having to close up shop due to an increase in their taxes. In my mind, I see a very long, very depressing four years ahead of me.

I hope I'm wrong and I hope Obama and his administration prove me wrong. That's the great thing about pessimism: you're never disappointed and occasionally, you're pleasantly surprised. So we'll see. And with that said, congratulations to all my Democratic readers. You won, fair and square. Well, a little superstition never hurts either. *wink*

Eager Beaver

Wow, that sounded dirty.

I, like the rest of America - and some of Canada - am champing at the bit to start seeing election results tonight. I've been watching cable news all day (and no, not just Fox News, there's some MSNBC and CNN thrown in the mix, too), watching random interviews, a few exit polls, and prattle about young voters. It goes without saying that a lot of young voters are going to flock to Obama; the same thing happened with Bill Clinton in 1996. I would know, I flocked with the young herd. I was 17 when he was elected, thus having no say, but I saw him on MTV and thought he was the coolest president ever. I guess it's all a matter of perspective, huh?

Anyway, I'm wetting-my-pants excited about the evening that lies ahead of me. Naturally, the presidential election is my top concern, but beyond that, there are a lot of propositions in California that are on my mind.

Proposition 2. Standards for confining farm animals. Initiative statute.
- The long and the short of this is that farm animals raised for food - cows, chicken, pigs, etc. - be kept in larger, roomier cages allowing them to, "...fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up and turn around..."

Initially, without thinking too deeply about it, I wanted to vote Yes on this. Then I really thought about it: if animal farms are forced to accommodate these new standards, it'll cost them money and space. They won't be able to raise as many animals. They may have to raise their prices drastically, move their business to another state or close up shop all-together. All of these effects will adversely affect California's revenue. a rise in the cost of meat will cause a lower demand, and a move to another state or a closing will deprive California of the sales tax.

Proposition 3. Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. Initiative Statute.
- It would provide "...$980M in general obligation bonds towards construction, expansion, remodeling, renovation, furnishing and equipping of eligible children's hospitals..." It'll cost the state a LOT of money.

I hate voting for anything that'll cost the state that much money, but I can't look at my kids and say no. Children are innocent; they don't ask for health problems and certainly did nothing to warrant the horrors of the types of illnesses that land them in children's hospitals. It just takes knowing one child who's in and out of children's hospitals, or seeing a commercial about St. Jude's, to realize how much these hospitals mean to these kids AND their parents.

District Measure WW
- I'm assuming it's a measure, since it's not a proposition. All it's heading says is, "District." Anyway, it provides up to $500M to continue restoring urban creeks, protecting wildlife, purchasing/saving open space, wetlands/shoreline, acquiring/developing/improving local and regional parks, trails and recreational facilities in the East Bay Regional Park District.

It's impact on property owners? No more than the current rate of $10/year per $100,000 of assessed property evaluation. My family and I love all the East Bay parks, especially Lake Elizabeth, Lake Chabot, Del Valle, Quarry Lakes and Niles Pond, and the Hayward Regional Shoreline. I want to see them stay around as long as I'm here! So much of California is a concrete jungle anymore and one can only imagine just how beautiful California was before "progress" came in and mowed it down.
All it takes is one trip down Highway 1 to see what I'm talking about. Or this...

Lake Chabot in Castro Valley


Central Park in Fremont


Del Valle in Livermore

It's just another anxious Monday...

I've got two things to yap about today, both of which are causing me great anxiety. First, we'll address The Eagle (for those just tuning in, that's codespeak for my mom who's been here since 10/23).

Tomorrow morning can't get here fast enough. I don't know if it's that we're too much alike, too different, or if the cheese is sliding off her cracker but we are almost constantly at odds. She's spent the better part of her stay here trying to overrule our parenting, browbeat me with reasons we need to move out of California - ignoring all the reasons we can't right now and won't be able to unless Rob gets laid off, fired, or we've paid off a vehicle - and make thinly-veiled jokes about our weights. I'm pretty sure 10 days should be the time limit. She's been here 12 days and I. Am. Done. She's still very much convinced that I know nothing about parenting and said as much. I was in the middle of addressing a disciplinary issue with Beth and was handling it just fine. Mom butts in and tries to overrule me again so I say to her, "Mom, I've been raising her for nearly four years, I think I can handle it." She says, "Yeah, well I've been doing it since 1959. I think I can handle it."

*blink*

What???? For starters, she hasn't been raising Beth since 1959 and furthermore, she hasn't dealt with a four-year-old in 25 years! The woman needs to BACK OFF.

My other anxiety-attack-in-waiting is the election. I'm confident in my choice for candidate, can't wait to vote, and am eager to watch this election go down in history, no matter the outcome. However, I'm anxious because although I'd like to believe in the Bradley Effect, I'm worried about the Bandwagon Effect. What if America is full of lemmings and they all just vote for who they assume is going to win, just so their vote isn't "wasted" on a candidate who isn't going to win? It stresses me out that there are people out there who would actually do that.

That aside, we're eager as hell to be glued to the TV tomorrow night. Wheeee!

Fan-freakin'-tastic!

You should have to take a test before you vote.

It should test your knowledge of the candidates. Basic stuff: where they stand on the issues, their running mates, etc. Why?

THIS is why: