nuxx.net blog

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing—after they’ve tried everything else.
     Winston Churchill

Well, it looks like a wrap. Even Fox is calling it for Obama. Let’s just hope that Obama (and his appointed administration) do some good for this country. We need it.

Voting this morning only took about half an hour, despite the polling place being almost completely full of people. I arrived at about 7:04 AM and departed the parking lot at just about 7:40 AM. The roads seem to be quite crowded this morning with areas around schools and churches (polling places) fairly crowded. Work itself is quite empty.

Now, to see how it all plays out… After this meeting and finishing up some other tasks, of course.

Also, my phone’s camera doesn’t have anything remotely like a macro mode. As demonstrated last night it also doesn’t do well in low light. Oh well. A crappy picture is better than none.

If you live in the state of Michigan, when you go to vote on November 4^th you will be asked to vote on two proposals, 08-1 and 08-2 (State Proposals: November 4, 2008 General Election [PDF], from the State of Michigan).

I would like to ask you to vote YES on each of these proposals. Here is the text of each proposal along with why I feel that you should support it:

PROPOSAL 08-1: A LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE TO PERMIT THE USE AND CULTIVATION OF MARIJUANA FOR SPECIFIED MEDICAL CONDITIONS

The proposed law would:
· Permit physician approved use of marijuana by registered patients with debilitating medical conditions including cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, MS and other conditions as may be approved by the Department of Community Health.
· Permit registered individuals to grow limited amounts of marijuana for qualifying patients in an enclosed, locked facility.
· Require Department of Community Health to establish an identification card system for patients qualified to use marijuana and individuals qualified to grow marijuana.
· Permit registered and unregistered patients and primary caregivers to assert medical reasons for using marijuana as a defense to any prosecution involving marijuana.

My Comments:
In our country marijuana (specifically Tetrahydrocannabinols) is currently classified by the Federal government as a Schedule I drug, requiring that this drug not be prescribed for any reason. This is despite research showing that THC can be effective in treating a number of conditions, particularly the nausea which is associated with chemotherapy.

This legislation proposes allowing marijuana (and thus THC) to be prescribed by doctors for treating conditions as seen fit. We currently allow doctors to prescribe countless other controlled substances (opiates, in particular) which will help patients, so why not this?

Sure, it’ll fly in the face of Federal law, but changing things at a state level is the first step towards removing this Federal prohibition. It’s a slippery slope which we must start down, as once a critical mass of states adopt reasonable legislation such as this the Federal government (and in particular the DEA and drug lobbying firms) will be unable to stop it.

PROPOSAL 08-2: A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO ADDRESS HUMAN EMBRYO AND HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH IN MICHIGAN

The proposed constitutional amendment would:
· Expand use of human embryos for any research permitted under federal law subject to the following limits: the embryos —

— are created for fertility treatment purposes;
— are not suitable for implantation or are in excess of clinical needs;
— would be discarded unless used for research;
— were donated by the person seeking fertility treatment.

· Provide that stem cells cannot be taken from human embryos more than 14 days after cell division begins.
· Prohibit any person from selling or purchasing human embryos for stem cell research.
· Prohibit state and local laws that prevent, restrict or discourage stem cell research; future therapies and cures.

My Comments:
As I read this law, it will allow medical research to continue to explore the possibilities of stem cells to without imposing undue restrictions. I feel that we should do whatever we can to understand both our selves and the world around us (particularly things which may help us as a society), and I see nothing in this legislation which should be problematic. I see this legislation as bringing potential research to Michigan (read: jobs) while potentially helping the world.

One particular site, 2goes2far.com is the flag bearer forarguments against this law, but each argument seems to be quite far off base. Here’s how I see each argument, as presented by TV commercials the group is showing:

· Bull and Bricklayer: Both ads indicate that this legislation will cost taxpayers money, despite there being nothing in the text of the legislation indicating where funding will come from.
· In The Name Of Good: States that this law will allow unrestricted research on live human embryos, visually comparing the research to poorly conducted science headlines interspersed with images of black people. Tries to equate this research with scientists taking advantage of the helpless.
· In The Wrong Hands: Hints that this law will allow “profit-driven corporations” (aren’t they all?) to find a way to profit from producing embryos via purchases made from women. As selling eggs is legal and this law outlaws the sale of embryos, I don’t see how this argument applies.
· Teacher’s Pet: Hints that scientists will make human-animal hybrids after talking about using combinations of human and animal DNA for research and how this is too extreme. The jump from DNA research to full-on hybrids is a huge jump and strikes me as misguided, at best.

As a online political discussion grows longer, the probability of a a divisive statement mentioning the MSM approaches one.

Apologies to Mike Godwin.

NPR and the AP are reporting that McCain has abandoned efforts to win Michigan.

Clarion Fund isn’t doing a very good job spreading around copies of Obsession. I received a second copy today in one of the crappy local throw-it-against-your-garage-door-in-the-middle-of-the-night newspapers, making it a 2:1 propaganda:resident ratio in this household. This area must be thought of as really important.

Today I received two nifty things in the mail. The first was these Olympus knock-off batteries from Eforcity for my new Olympus Stylus 850 SW.

The second is the winner, though; that DVD up above there, of Obsession The Movie. In order to form a proper, informed opinion of it I’ll be giving it a viewing, but I suspect that it’ll live up to its reputation of being a neocon-backed piece of anti-Islam propaganda. We’ll see, though. My understanding is that its production has a bunch of neocon backers and copies of it are being mailed out en masse in swing states. Yes, that’s how it came to me… Completely unsolicited, via the US Mail.

I guess it’s time to cue Göring:

Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.

So, how many of you went to vote for the Detroit Zoo Millage today?

Sure, the local election primaries don’t matter much (most seats are uncontested or don’t have multiple people running for them from the same party), but the zoo is kinda important and special. Then again, I guess as long as you don’t vote against it you’re not doing that bad, so maybe apathy wins this one?

A man named Paul Viar is running for re-election as Shelby Township treasurer this fall, but I will not be voting for him.

Yesterday I received the flier above (click the image or here to make it larger) in the mail asking for my vote. One particular bullet point I noticed is the one circled in magenta, which reads:

He voted against paying $2.7 million for two (rarely used) pedestrian bridges, preferring to use tax money to improve township roads.

Thankfully, against the wishes of Mr. Viar, the bridges across M-53, a multi-lane limited access highway, were built. The existence of these bridges allows me to safely ride my bicycle to points westward. Without them I would have to either ride in 45 MPH - 50 MPH soft shoulder or curbed roads (unsafe, particularly when on the far side of the bridges) or at least four miles out of my way north or south to safe crossing points.

I use these at least a couple times per week. Danielle also uses this bridge whenever she walks to the Humane Society of Macomb to visit the horses.

This article from the Advisor Source elaborates:

The current overpasses contain a 24-inch width for pedestrians to walk on when crossing over the highway. Plans to install mandatory guardrails [required to conform Federal standards to keep vehicles from going over the side of the bridge] along the walkway would have further limited the amount of access for pedestrians and cyclists, forcing them closer to a busy roadway with limited visibility.

“Last year I just became even more aware of how serious this problem was because some of the local high schools, their track teams run over that road. They run right on the road and that’s really dangerous,” Manzella said. “We’ve had several incidents out there and it’s just a very dangerous place to walk or ride a bike.”

Township Supervisor Ralph Maccarone said the large amount of amenities for pedestrians on the west side of the township was a draw for people from throughout the area, making a safe location to cross a necessity.

“We have major developments on both sides of the freeway, and we really wanted to provide some access to the parks and trail system we have out there,” said Maccarone.

While I understand that Mr. Viar is conservative in his spending of the public’s dollars, I feel that safe and equal transportation for citizens using whatever mode they choose (foot, bicycle, car, whatever) is worth paying for, and these bridges go a long ways towards allowing equal use of our road system. Not only have I seen pedestrians and other cyclists on the new bridges, I have also encountered people crossing it in motorized wheelchairs, kids riding up and down the safe approaches, and people just using the bridge to move about without a car. That is, people who couldn’t safely use this corridor before.

Mr. Viar’s claim that he voted against paying $2.7 million is also a bit inflated. While the total cost of the project was $2.7 million, $1,187,500 of the cost was actually paid by MDOT grants. Per these meeting minutes (.DOC file) the township’s portion of the bridge cost was only $1,458,500.

Additionally, Mr. Viar also claims in this flier that he “…established an on-line payment system to make it more convenient for Shelby residents to pay their taxes.” I’m not sure what Mr. Viar’s idea of establishing or convenient is, but outsourcing payments to a company which charges a 3% “convenience charge” does not strike me as particularly inventive or useful. What I would find useful is if the township came up with a facility for paying one’s water and sewer bill online and without undue additional fees. Currently this quarterly bill is the only bill for which I still have to write and mail a check.

For reference, the two bridges can be found at these links on Google Maps, although the currently posted images have them in an unfinished state: 21 Mile · 22 Mile.

As part of General Motors’ press release from this morning (this link may only work in IE), it has been announced that:

…health care coverage for U.S. salaried retirees over 65 will be eliminated, effective January 1, 2009. Affected retirees and surviving spouses will receive a pension increase from GM’s over funded U.S. salaried plan to help offset costs of Medicare and supplemental coverage.

This is awful. I can only hope that it helps push through some manner of base level (at least) socialized health care in the US.

Oh, and (as of right now) the stock is up almost 6%.