The November 7th Election

I realized the other night that while I knew how I was going to vote on the big issues that will be on the November ballot (US Senator, Amendment 2, Amendment 3, Parkway's Proposition R), I didn't know about all the other issues that are not as widely known, but still important. Here is a list of what people in my area will be voting on. To find out what people will be voting on in your area of St. Louis county, click here. In this particular post, I am not endorsing any particular candidate, I'm just informing people what they will be voting on so they can make an informed decision. The important thing is that you GET OUT AND VOTE (after you read up on the issues and make an informed decision)!

US Senator:
Jim Talent (republican)
Claire McCaskill (democrat)
Frank Gilmour (libertarian)
Lydia Lewis (progressive)

State Auditor:
Sandra Thomas (republican)
Susan Montee (democrat)
Charles W. Baum (libertarian)
Terry Bunker (progressive)

US Representative - District 2:
Todd Akin (republican)
George D. Weber (democrat)
Tamara A. Millay (libertarian)

State Representative - District 92:
Charles R. Portwood (republican)
Beverly White (democrat)

County Executive:
Joe Passanise (republican)
Charlie A. Dooley (democrat)
Theo "Ted" Brown, Sr (libertarian)

Prosecuting Attorney:
Robert P. McCulloch (republican)

County Council - District 7:
Greg Quinn (republican)
Steven Biggs (democrat)

Supreme Court Judges:
William Ray Price
Mary Rhodes Russell
Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr.

Court of Appeals Judges:
Kenneth M. Romines
Nannette A. Baker

Constitutional Amendment - No. 2
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to allow
and set limitations on stem cell research, therapies,
and cures which will:

• ensure Missouri patients have access to any therapies and cures, and allow Missouri researchers to conduct any research, permitted under federal law;
• ban human cloning or attempted cloning;
• require expert medical and public oversight and annual reports on the nature and purpose of stem cell research;
• impose criminal and civil penalties for any violations;
  and
• prohibit state or local governments from preventing
  or discouraging lawful stem cell research, therapies
  and cures?

The proposed constitutional amendment would have an estimated annual fiscal impact on state and local governments of $0-$68,916.

Constitutional Amendment - No. 3
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to create
a Healthy Future Trust Fund which will:

1. be used to reduce and prevent tobacco use, to
   increase funding for health care access and treatment
   for eligible low-income individuals and Medicaid
   recipients, and to cover administrative costs;
2. be funded by a tax of four cents per cigarette and
   twenty percent on other tobacco products; and
3. be kept separate from general revenue and annually audited?

Additional taxes of four cents per cigarette and twenty percent of the manufacturers invoice price on other tobacco products generates an estimated $351- $499 million annually for tobacco control programs, health care or low income Missourians, and payments for services provided to Missouri Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured Missourians. Local governmental fiscal impact is unknown.

Constitutional Amendment - No. 6
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to include a tax exemption for real and personal property that is used or held exclusively for nonprofit purposes or activities of veterans' organizations?

It is estimated this proposal will have a minimal cost to state government. The estimated costs to local governmental entities range from zero to approximately $45,000.

Constitutional Amendment - No. 7
Shall Article XIII, Section 3 of the Constitution be amended to require that legislators, statewide elected officials, and judges forfeit state pensions upon felony conviction, removal from office following impeachment or for misconduct, and to require that compensation for such persons be set by a citizens' commission subject to voter referendum?

It is estimated this proposal will have no costs to state or local governments.

Statutory Measure - Proposition B
Shall Missouri Statutes be amended to increase the state minimum wage rate to $6.50 per hour, or to the level of the federal minimum wage if that is higher, and thereafter adjust the state minimum wage annually based on changes in the Consumer Price Index?

The proposed revisions to Missouri’s wage rate laws generates an estimated $3.3 million to $4.3 million annually in state revenue. The impact on local government is unknown.

Parkway School District - Proposition R
Shall the school board of the Parkway C-2 School District be authorized to increase the operating tax levy for purposes of lowering class size, purchasing textbooks, equipment and supplies, improving technology, and managing the increased costs of educational programs by thirty-seven cents ($0.37) per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation? If this proposition is approved, the adjusted operating levy of the school district is estimated to be three dollars and fifty-three cents ($3.53) per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

Special School District - Proposition S
Shall the School Board of the Special School District of St. Louis County, Missouri, be authorized to increase the operating levy for the purposes of educating students with disabilities, providing
screening and diagnostics testing and providing technical education to students in St. Louis County by eighteen cents (18¢) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of assessed valuation?

If this Proposition is approved by the voters, the adjusted operating levy of the Special School District is estimated to be one dollar ($1.00) per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of assessed valuation.

Silly Blogger!

I switched my blog over to the blogger/google beta version and now aparently I cannot post on anyones blog that has not been switched, and anyone without a google accout (just a blogger account) cannot post on mine. This is really annoying, so feel free to post annonymously and just put your name in the post message if it won't let you post like normal.

To Clone or not to clone?

Missouri is trying a bait and switch tactic on its voters to try and get amendment 2 passed - and if voters don't pay attention they will fall for it.

The language on the ballot and the language in the actual constitutional amendment are different. Here's what you will see on the ballot with the myths unveiled (in red):

-----------------------------------------------

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to allow and set limitations on stem cell research, therapies, and cures which will: TRUTH: Amendment 2 doesn't set any new limitations on stem cell research that isn't already in federal law.

• ensure Missouri patients have access to any therapies and cures, and allow Missouri researchers to conduct any research, permitted under federal law; TRUTH: All US citizens (including Missourians) ALREADY have the same access to medical breakthroughs, and there is currently no laws keeping Missouri scientists from conducting research that the federal law allows now.
  
• ban human cloning or attempted cloning; TRUTH: Amendment 2's fine print defines cloning as resulting in a fully grown human baby, but does not consider cloning for research to be cloning.
  
• require expert medical and public oversight and annual reports on the nature and purpose of stem cell research; TRUTH: According to the full text of Amendment 2, this "oversight" would consist of the human-clone researchers policing themselves.
  
• impose criminal and civil penalties for any violations; and
  
• prohibit state or local governments from preventing or discouraging lawful stem cell research, therapies and cures? TRUTH: because "lawful stem cell research" described in amendment 2 requires human cloning, this means your tax dollars will be used to fund this research, and no state, county or local government will have the power to say no.
  

The proposed constitutional amendment would have an estimated annual fiscal impact on state and local governments of $0-$68,916.

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For more information see 2tricky.org or moroundtable.org.

UNPROVEN, UNNECESSARY, UNETHICAL: Embryonic Stem Cell Research

It worries me how many people are FOR embryonic stem cell research and ammendment 2. Please read the following and consider it before you vote on November 7. PLEASE NOTE: I am not against stem cell research using adult stem cells...only research that uses embryonic stem cells.

• Adult stem cells have already been successfully used in human therapies for many years. As of this moment, there are 72 successful treatments/cures using adult stem cells. NO therapies in humans have ever been successfully carried out using embryonic stem cells. In fact, the ONLY reported use of embryonic stem cells in humans was an attempt to cure Parkinson's disease, and resulted in some patients actually becoming worse.
  
• Embryonic stem cells are harvested from a human embryo. During the process of harvesting the cells, the embryo is destroyed, thus destroying a human life. In adults, stem sells are obtaqined from body tissues such as bone marrow, umbrilical cord blood, fat cells, etc. There is no damage to the donor in any way.
  
• Embryonic stem cells have produced tumors in animal lab testing due to the fact that they continue to replicate themselves indefinately.
• The harvesting of embyros from women causes substantial risks to the woman donors health. Not to mention the fact that women will be paid to donate their eggs which has the likelyhood to exploit poor and uneducated women.

Brawny Academy

You might have seen the tv commercials...Brawny Paper Towels developed an online reality show where they brought in some men in need of some improvement (according to their wives and girlfriends). The men come into the show as slobs and leave as changed men - along the way learning valuable skills such as replacing a toilet. It's funny, cheesy, dorky, and overall a brillent ad campaign. Check it out for yourselves!

Brawny Academy

All I can say is WOW!

This is an incredible commercial for Sony Bravia. The first time I watched it I thought maybe it was photoshopped somehow... Well it has been color corrected, but it is actually paint, and actually buildings...

• Check out the commercial
• Check out the behind the scenes
  

It's so neat for a lot of reasons...one thing that strikes me as interesting is that the buildings they used seem to be abandoned. If you watch the behind the scenes video you will see that there are broken out windows, rusted playground equipment, graffiti covered hallways - it appears to be projects, or slums that were used as the backdrop to an amazing commercial. I can't even imagine how much it cost to produce that!

Thanks Ryan for showing me this!

Just how observant are you?

This quiz is based on U.S. info, so use all lobes of your brain. This can be more difficult than it looks - it just shows how little most of us really see! There are 25 questions about things we see every day or have known about all our lives. How many can you get right? These little simple questions may be harder than you think...

Put your thinking caps on. NO CHEATING!!! BE HONEST!!! No looking around! No getting out of your chair! No using anything on or in your desk (including your phone) or computer!

The average person gets only 7 correct. How many can you answer? Write down your answers as you go. Check your answers on the comments page, AFTER completing all the questions.

LET'S JUST SEE HOW OBSERVANT YOU REALLY ARE.

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?
   
2. How many states are there in the USA? (Don't laugh, some people don't know)
   
3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?
4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?
   
5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them?
   
6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg? (Don't you dare get up to see!)
   
7. How many matches are in a standard pack?
   
8. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white?
   
9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial?
   
10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?
    
11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?
    
12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?
    
13. On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons?
    
14. Which way do fans rotate?
    
15. How many sides does a stop sign have?
16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side?
    
17. How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?
    
18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?
    
19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?
20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?
    
21. On which playing card is the card maker's trademark?
    
22. On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?
    
23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?
    
24. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?
    
25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?
    

Raising Chinchillas

Raising Chinchillas

You must check out this commercial!!!

My Celebrity Look-alikes

Upload your photo and find out which celebrity you resemble the most! Here are the ones that supposedly look like me. You be the judge, then try it yourself.