Please vote "No" on California's Proposition 8

For the past few days now my Google Ad space in the lower right corner of your browser window (perhaps below the fold) has carried a single "Yes on Prop 8" message (Prop 8 is California's initiative to ban same-sex marriage). The text varies but the message is always "Yes on Prop 8." I can only conclude that whoever is paying for these ads is spending a great deal of money if their efforts end up on my blog, as none of the content I've written shares any affinity with this position. If gay people wish to take part in the absolutely *bankrupt* institution that is marriage in the United States, where the divorce rate hovers near fifty percent, I welcome them with open arms -- they can't screw things up any worse than heterosexuals already have.

California's Proposition 1A, "Rails of Dreams"

I really like trains. Always have. I belong to the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society, am a closeted model railroader, and am also a card-carrying member of the Sierra Club, so you might think I'd support California's High Speed Rail Initiative, Proposition 1A on this year's ballot. But you would be wrong. Much as I want to support a project like this, the current incarnation before voters is an absolute disaster. Every projection bandied about by Prop 1A supporters is mired in fantasy. Something akin to a Hollywood mania or mana has enveloped the project, one with the mantra, "if we build it, the hundreds of millions of riders will come, at no cost to anyone."

But please don't take my word for it -- watch the following three short YouTube videos, wherein HSR expert Joseph Vranich testifies at a State Senate Committee hearing and thoroughly tears down the "business plan" of the HSR Authority. I just wish these videos had been seen by more California voters before today's election: