Initiatives

I wish I could get excited about the actual people elected in the recent campaign, but with the possible exception of Bernie Sanders, I am having a hard time. Everything is so incremental.

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The only thing which really sparks my interest is the ballot initiatives. And those were a mixed bag. I think it was seven states which approved a ban on gay marriage. Some of the states imposed a ban on anything which even looks like gay marriage. A while ago, I think there was a Nebraska bill which would have invalidated anything which even composed an incident of same sex partnership - power of attorney for health care, power of attorney for wealth management, commingling of assets, joint tenancies over property, wills, etc. etc. I think it would have been really interesting the first time someone claimed a gay relationship in order to get out of a contract or business deal. Think about having to prove you are not gay as a precursor to entering any legal arrangement. Now hey, I know you are so not gay, but I've got $200 and a friend that will say different. As it stands now regardless of what you think of homosexual unions, the state of the law primarily assists people who want to screw over gay people - primarily financially, but also with regard to caring for themselves and their families.

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Also affirmative action went down in Michigan. I have mixed feelings about affirmative action. But if you have a society where without affirmative action you have a "race" of people who aren't thriving, then you have a problem. I think that is pretty close to what is happening now, if you look at the census data, the prison rolls, the educational data and housing statistics. I think the evidence of existing discrimination is pretty clear cut. I suppose there are other alternative explanations like if you don't think certain "races" by their nature can succeed. Let us know when you come up with the science on that one. And how you would propose to deal with such a problem, at least on your plantation.

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Oh and there was a referendum on Iraq. Kind of an afterthought I think. But I wholeheartedly agree with the president. The terrorists are evil. We are fighting a war against terror. If you figure out how to defeat evil, please give him a call. Please also contact Epicurus.