Governor – Jerry Brown

Lt. Governor – Gavin Newsom

Secretary of State – Debra Bowen

Controller – John Chiang

Treasurer – Bill Lockyer

Attorney General – Kamala Harris

Insurance Commissioner – Dave Jones

US Senator – Barbara Boxer

Congress District 6 – Doris Matsui

State Senate District 6 – Darrell Steinberg

State Assembly District 5 – Richard Pan

State Superintendent of Public Education – Tom Torlakson

Sheriff – Jim Cooper

Prop 19 (Marijuana) – Yes

Prop 20 (Redistricting) – No

Prop 21 (State Parks) – Yes

Prop 23 (Suspend Implementation of Pollution Law) – No

Prop 25 (Majority budget) – Yes

Prop 26 (2/3 for Fees) – No

Prop 27 (Redistricting) – Yes

Now see, wasn’t that easy? Feel free to argue with me or (better yet) praise my wisdom by leaving a comment below!

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Below is a quote from comedian Wanda Sykes from her new talk show. I found it really funny but sad too.

“I went to sleep, and when I woke up people were mad at Obama. And I thought, ‘Did I miss something? Did Obama start an illegal war? Did he fly over a flood zone and just wave? Did he torture detainees in a secret prison? Did he start illegally tapping phones? Did he alienate the world and squander a surplus?  Because if he did any of that, we need to impeach that jackass.’ …

I can’t believe people are blaming Obama for the mess Bush left. I mean, Bush just pees all over everything and leaves it soaking wet, and people are looking at Obama like he just zipped up HIS fly. That’s Bush pee!”

Haha! You go girl!!

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Leave me a comment below. Hurry, before your shoes get all wet!

Long-time stevenology readers will know that I love his films. He makes documentaries but they are entertaining, funny, insightful, and well-done. His last film “Sicko” took on the health care issue, his film before that Farenheit 911 took on the Bush administration and their misleading propaganda lies that got us into the unwinable and disasterous Iraq war invasion. And even before that was his study of guns and violence in America, Bowling For Columbine. Great stuff.

In his latest film, he takes on Wall Street and the 1% of the population that has more wealth than the bottom 95%. You read that right. And how deregulation and sweetheart deals from the administration, as well as Repulicans and (yes) Democrats too, made these people richer and richer. He uses humor and sadness both to make his points, as usual. It’s a hoot to watch him try to make a citizen’s arrest of huge corporations that took billions in government bailout money (our tax dollars) and then paid big bonuses and took lavish trips. And then wouldn’t even explain what they did with the our taxpayer money.

We’re the richest country in the world but our whole system protects the few, those wealthy and getting wealthier. Yet the poor and even some of the shrinking middle class can’t pay their mortgage or get medical care. It is a tragedy that we don’t take care of our own people. Mega-huge-corporations get free government (our) money, don’t have to explain what they do with it, give big bonuses to their executives, then lay off thousands of workers because of the “bad ecomony”. It’s not a bad economy, it’s more like an unfair economy.

We need to stop this “rich get richer” syndrom and take our country back. We have enough money in this country to provide for everybody. But we need to get over our government-enabled greed and just take care of our people. And quit bailing out companies that won’t even tell us how they spend the money. Shame on them, there is a special place in hell for a company that pays millions in bonuses to the top execs, then lays off 10,000 workers.

I can’t tell you all the great stuff that is in this movie. See it. See it soon. And then rent Sicko, Bowling For Columbine, and the rest. Here’s what Rotten Tomatoes has to say about the film. And here’s another review. But just go see it, I can’t list all the scenes. You’ll laugh, you’ll get angry, and you’ll see how fast two hours can go and maybe even learn something along the way.

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More movies by Michael Moore

Have you seen it? What did you think? Even if not, leave me a comment below. Maybe you’ll get some government bailout money!

My wife and I have same-sex friends who married during the “equality period” when it was legal. They love each other deeply. And their marriage is not hurting you in any manner. Bottom line: if you don’t believe in same-sex marriage, then don’t have one! Fine! But you shouldn’t tell me, my friends, and millions of other people who we can and can’t marry. That is wrong, just as inter-racial marriage laws were wrong. And it will be changed eventually. More states are allowing same-sex marriage and, as more people realize that it is no threat, even more states will do the same. Every poll shows that younger people overwhelmingly support equality in marriage rights, so it is just a matter of time before this becomes the dominant view.

One day we will look back and say “how could we have discriminated like this”? Will that be a year from now? A few years? Maybe five, ten, fifteen? I don’t know. But the polling evidence shows a huge trend toward tolerance and acceptance of this right. The voters of the future support it and thank goodness for their open-mindedness and sense of fairness. Once again, the only real threat posed by gay marriage is the gay-bashing and hatred of some of the Prop 8 supporters who think gays are a plague and should be wiped out. Sane people know this is not true, and that people are people. Almost everyone has a gay friend or acquaintance, whether you know it or not. So, get with it, let’s treat these folks equally! The world won’t end and it’s no threat to your marriage! Meanwhile, we will return to fight the next battle in this struggle for equality and equal rights. And we will fight the battle after that, and the next, and how many ever it takes to gain marriage equality.

Tolerance and justice will be the eventual winners.

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So, naturally, we invited 30 or so of our friends (and a few other people) and had a bash. There was food and drink, of course, but so much more. The guest of honor was Barack, as you can see in the party photos. And he was smiling the whole time so it must have been a good great party! We had it all: the worlds most difficult puzzle, pig stacking, a pool table, musical instruments, and of course the legendary Big Bowl of Bushisms, a bowl filled with hundreds of the dense and dumb things that former president Bush has said over the years. And he said enough dumb things to keep the party rolling for a long time. More about Bushisms here and here. But the best thing about the party was all the great people who attended. Thanks for coming, if you were here. If not, as Mr T used to say, “I pity the fool”. Hahaha!

Now – check out the party photos, and you will see what a happening event it was. Click on any thumbnail photo to view a larger one. While viewing the larger ones, you can click on the right arrow in the upper right of the screen to go to the next one. Or there’s a slideshow option up there too. Ok, sure, some of the pix are a bit blurry, but then again some of the people were too. But it’s ok, we accept all people, be they blurry or crystal clear. Plus, you can get to those photos and many more on the photos page. But just don’t think you can find out any of the 48 solutions to the puzzle by looking at these photos. We’ve blocked out the solution, you’ll just have to work the puzzle for yourself. If you dare…

Were you there? Were you square? Did you love those photos? Why not leave me a comment?

On a personal level, I like his politics and voted for him. Normally when I do that, the person loses. But not this time! But it’s not just me. He enters office with a huge approval rating and millions and millions of people willing to work with him and support him. In reality, his views are those of most of America, though some would try to call him liberal or extremist. But he stands for what most of America wants and that is why change has indeed come to America.

In my long life, this is one of the best things I have ever seen. After all the disappointments and cynicism, now I finally see a sense of hope after all these years. And the best thing about it, most of the coutry feels the same way! So, to President Obama (I love to write that), I say thank you for inspiring people and helping us to come together. The healing has begun and we are looking forward to this great journey and to restoring the greatness and pride in America, both here at home and around the world.

Did you watch his inaugural speech? Wasn’t it great? You can read it and watch it here.

Yes we can!

We helped cut stickers for material packs for teachers. A menial task, sure, but helpful to teachers. And teachers are one of the most useful and underappreciated groups in our country. We can only be great if our people make intelligent choices. The smarter our young people become, the better our country will become.

Another way to serve: Treat your fellow human beings with respect and caring. Make sure that everyone has equal rights and equal opportunity. We can only be a good as the way we treat our weakest and poorest. When you raise their level, everyone above it becomes better too. We are a country for ALL the people. As the richest country on earth we can and should include everyone.

Possible captions for this photo:

Barack: “This is better than the White House”

Us: “No, you can’t give our dog to your kids!”

Us: “RED wine? That’s our favorite too!”

The dog: “Want to watch General Hospital?”

Me: “Too bad you didn’t know Petra before you picked your vice-president!”

Any other ideas? C’mon boys and girls. Just click on the comment link below…

The most important thing first: HE WON!! Barack Obama is our next president! News doesn’t get much better than that. After eight years of having a clueless frat-boy and his evil henchman running ruining the country, we finally have an intelligent president who can actually speak well, with real ideas and integrity and a hope for uniting our country and making it better for all Americans. Not to mention he is the first African-American president we have ever had. I didn’t think I would see it in my lifetime and I am so glad that I did. We have come a long way from when slavery was the norm and blacks couldn’t even vote. I am proud to have voted for Obama. Yes we can!!!

Of course, we still have a little further to go, as evidenced by the unfortunate passage of Proposition 8 here in California. About 52% of the voters have allowed discrimination to be written into our state constitution by taking away the right for same-sex couples to marry. Some 17,000 18,000 of these couples have already married and they harmed no one. Let me repeat that. They harmed no one! But with heavy support from the Mormons and the Catholics, Prop 8 supporters succeeded in taking away marriage rights from millions of Californians. It is shameful that people would eliminate those rights, in this day and age. These gay people are our friends, family, co-workers, and fellow citizens. They are everywhere and they are no better or worse than anyone else. We have no right to tell them they have fewer rights because they happen to be gay. This battle will surface again, you can bet on it. It will keep surfacing until there is equality for all.

On the plus side (and there is plenty of plus side), in our Sunshine State of California, Prop 2 was approved, giving more humane conditions to farm animals before they are killed for food. At least they will be able to stand up, stretch, and turn around now. Of course, if you really want to help animals, you won’t eat them. But this is a good and much-needed measure anyway. Also, Prop 4 was defeated (once again). This was about parental notification for minors to have abortions. It seems sensible until you realize they will just go elsewhere to have it, or if they do tell their parents then some will be abused or beaten. They keep putting this on the ballot and we keep voting it down.

Now, back to the national level. Restrictive anti-choice measure were defeated in several states. The country is pro-choice, thankfully. Homophobic same-sex marriage bills passed in a couple other states too, as some people are not yet ready to give the same rights to gay people as they themselves have. But we are getting there. Young people voted heavily to allow gay marriage and they are the future. Meanwhile, in the very important congressional races, we (Democrats) gained at least five six Senate seats with four three more still to be decided. Hopefully some of those will go our way too. And we gained around 20 House seats at least, with a number of races still undecided, so that figure may grow. We also got a gain of one governorship. Those congressional changes should hopefully make it easier for President-Elect Obama (love the sound of that) to get his proposals turned into law. Fewer obstructionist Republicans and an Obama electoral landslide should combine to help to bring about the change that we need. It may be slower than we want, but it is coming.

Leverage those impressive gains with the HUGE Obama victory and you have what I would call a stunning mandate for change. The Republican corruption and lies of the last eight Bush/Cheney years are just about over and a new day is dawning. It won’t be easy, and Obama himself has said that same thing many times. But we CAN change the priorities in this country, we CAN build the middle class instead of the upper, we CAN take care of all our people and not just the Fortune 500 companies, we CAN use our military in smart ways instead of attacking countries that were never a threat to us, we CAN save our environment instead of letting people and companies damage the planet, we CAN keep our people healthy no matter who they are, we CAN gain back the respect that the rest of the world used to have for us, we CAN make a better America. YES WE CAN!!!

Family, friends, and fellow blogaholics -

I don’t ask you for a favor very often. But I’m asking for one now. I’m asking you to please vote NO on Proposition 8.

Proposition 8 is an unfair ballot proposition that, if passed, will take away the fundamental rights of some personal friends of ours, and lots of other people too. Our friends are loving, caring, mature, responsible people who only want to marry the person they love, the way the rest of us can. And today they have that right. But if Prop 8 passes their right to get married to the person they love will be taken away. This is wrong.

Same-sex couples have been getting married in California for many months now. Over 11,000 couples, in fact. And guess what? The sky didn?t fall, the apocalypse didn?t happen, not even so much as a plague of locusts! It?s harmless! And hey, gay people are people too! In this time filled with so much mistrust and hatred, if two people love each other and want to commit to each other, then we should encourage that, not take their rights away.

Prop 8 is about eliminating a fundamental right to marry for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of couples, some of whom have been together for many, many years. They are our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers and maybe even our family members. State law should not single out anyone to be treated differently under the law. We should not vote to eliminate these fundamental rights. Keep marriage legal for all couples.

So, please, just do me this one favor and vote NO on proposition 8. Equality for everyone, it’s the right thing to do.

I sincerely thank you,

Steve