Send in the Bonds

Bond, General Obligation Bond

No, not that Bond; I’m talking about certificates of debt. Every election cycle, the shortcomings of the state budget are dangled in front of Californians. The state legislature, as a body, cannot bring itself to bring in revenue at the rates necessary to fund the projects they want, and the executive branch cannot bring itself to manage the funds it is allocated properly, so we the people have the opportunity to force their hand.

Ratio of debt-service payments to revenues and transfers

I’m generally disinclined to vote for bonds, they are the governmental equivalent of credit card debt. This year, we get Propositions 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, and 84 to consider. If they pass, we’re looking at 6% of the general fund, the state’s discretionary income, going to interest payments in 2010.

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Is Measure R "smart?"

Proposed SMART station locales

Pardon the sophomoric pun; it’s inevitable given the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District acronym. Measure R, at its core, is a sales-tax hike of $0.0025 for every dollar spent in Sonoma County and Marin County for twenty years. For the duration of the twenty years, this sales tax increase is to be used for subsidizing a passenger rail system from Cloverdale to Larkspur.
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One heck of a ballot

The competence of the government laid bare

In California, we have a voter-referendum system by which ballot initiatives can introduce laws that the state legislature, for a variety of reasons, cannot or will not act upon themselves. Large bond measures, constitutional amendments, and the like are required to go before the general public for approval. Other issues, such as legalization of marijuana, denial of services to undocumented immigrants, or dealing with the notion of same-sex marriage are simply too sensitive for our assemblymen and state senators to address in a straightforward manner. This can result in a bewildering array of issues laid at the feet of the electorate.

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009-1 begins

009-1 Eyecatch

This week saw the premiere of both anime series I was looking forward to this fall, Pumpkin Scissors and 009-1. The first episode of Pumpkin Scissors was fansubbed within 48 hours of airing, so I’ll skip making a first-episode commentary on it. 009-1, on the other hand. Wow.

This show has a lot going on miniskirt-wearing super-spies, elderly scientists in distress, smirky cold-war villains, a super-spy lunar base, big red buttons that must not be pushed, uniformed goons getting their butts kicked, laser guns, explosions, bigger explosions, and even somebody with machine guns hidden in her boobs.

This all may be a bit much for some folks to handle. These aren’t the clichés that many younger views are accustomed to. These are the stylistic themes of the cold war era, and appropriately-so. The East Bloc versus West Bloc cloak and dagger premise here is ladled on with a bit of a heavy hand, and the art hearkens directly back to the anime being produced back in the 1960’s. Indeed, the character designs and concepts here are the product of the great Shotaro Ishinomori, creator of Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider. If you liked Giant Robo’s character designs, used to watch Speed Racer, Tranzor-Z, Starblazers, and the like, 009-1 may be right up your alley.

Mirenu, aka 009-1

One episode is hardly enough to judge a series, but I certainly intend to keep watching this, and look forward to seeing an English-subtitled version of this (as my Japanese is terrible, worse than terrible, terrible-plus).

End of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

The quaint mountain village of Hinamizawa

After twenty-six episodes and six plot-arcs, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni has wound down its anime run, but what do we leave it with? In an industry chock-full of sub-genres, such as macho fighting anime, harem romantic comedy anime, brooding emo anime, silly slapstick comedy, giant robots, war stories, and so forth, this title fit into to no category neatly.

It's a good old-fashioned schoolhouse hostage situation

This final plot arc, the Tsumihoroboshi-hen or Atonement Chapter, reveals a great deal, but leaves a lot of rather fundamental questions unanswered. This was anything but a clean break, with all the loose ends neatly tied off for us. Unlike the Eye Opening Chapter that immediately preceded it, this “answer arc” does not re-tell a prior plot arc, but turns it on its head.
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Internet Explorer crashes got you down?

If you’re loading Microsoft Internet Explorer today and find that it mysteriously crashes out on you, try uninstalling the Yahoo! Toolbar.

  • Open your Start Menu
  • Open the Control Panel
  • Double-click the “Add or Remove Programs” icon
  • Locate the Yahoo! Toolbar in the list of available programs and click on it
  • Click on the “remove” button
  • Click any “ok” buttons you are subsequently exposed to
  • Rejoice and resume your regular web-surfing activities

No, I don’t know what happened to Yahoo! Toolbar today, but there has been a rash of these problems cropping up suddenly.

*Edit: Every case amongst dozens tonight has involved an installation of McAfee or Norton Antivirus; it looks like Yahoo! Toolbar be getting terminated by those apps. Let’s hear it for rogue virus definitions!

Eternal Smile

Attack of the Ergo Proxy!

It has been a little while since I’ve posted about an episode of Ergo Proxy, but this one deserves a little special attention. On one level, it continues the chain of “Vincent and Lil wander into the reach of some random Proxy, conflict ensues, Vincent triumphs” episodes, but the tone really stands out. I was about to write a comment on a review at Star Crossed, but it started growing out of hand, so I’ve opted to put one here instead.
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Five years later

It’s all been said at this point, don’t you think? Politicizing it one way or the other certainly hasn’t helped. Thousands more have died since then, and the widows and orphans still grieve while television networks, radio shows, newspapers and magazines dance their bizarre masturbatory dance.