[modi123_1]

Excluding the presidential race what sort of local amendments did everyone face? I think the more amusing one for me was the:

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Amendment - 2 - Hunting and Fishing - Ballot Issue

A constitutional amendment to establish the right to hunt, to fish, and to harvest wildlife and to state that public hunting, fishing, and harvesting of wildlife shall be a preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife

cite

PR had a question about statehood.. I believe it's still too close to call (at the time of writing this)

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Puerto Rico Political Status Question
Puerto Ricans were asked whether they agree to continue with the current territorial status, and were then given three choices of alternate political status to choose from: statehood, independence, or a sovereign nation in free association with the United States.[3]

cite2

A few interesting pot movements.. Colorado passed it (though their govenor wasn't pleased)

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Colorado's Amendment 64 will allow adults over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana, though using the drug publicly would be banned. The amendment would allow people to grow up to six marijuana plants in a private, secure area.

cite3

Same with Washington...

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Washington's measure establishes a system of state-licensed marijuana growers, processors and stores, where adults can buy up to an ounce. It also establishes a standard blood test limit for driving under the influence.

cite3

Oregon upheld the status-quo in stereotypical fashion:

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In Oregon, a marijuana-legalization measure was defeated. In Massachusetts, voters approved a measure to allow marijuana use for medical reasons, joining 17 other states. Arkansas voters rejected a similar measure.

cite3

In other news Washington also approved same-sex marriages.

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Washington state also voted on a measure to legalize same-sex marriage, though results were not expected until Wednesday at the soonest.

cite3

What did I miss? What new rules should I be aware of in the states?

[Sho Ke]

Oklahoma SQ 766 passed

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Would make all intangible property exempt from taxes. Currently only an enumerated list of tangible property is exempt from taxation, such as stocks and bonds. This amendment would exempt other items such as patents, contracts, mineral interests and trademarks.

And it looks like affirmative action was thrown out

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Would not allow affirmative action programs in state hiring, contracting and education programs. Affirmative action is state policies in place aimed at increasing diversity in state hiring, contacting and education giving weight or preference to underrepresented groups such as women and minorities.

cite for both

This post has been edited by Sho Ke: 07 November 2012 - 08:36 AM

[jon.kiparsky]

Probably the biggest margin seen last night was on the Massachusetts "Right to Repair" law:

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Should auto makers be required to give owners access to the same diagnostic and repair information that dealers and authorized repair facilities have?

Passed, 85% to 15%

Mass also rejected physician-assisted suicide, which is not surprising. The fact that it got to 49% is informative.

[BenignDesign]

Sho Ke, on 07 November 2012 - 10:35 AM, said:

And it looks like affirmative action was thrown out

Quote

Would not allow affirmative action programs in state hiring, contracting and education programs. Affirmative action is state policies in place aimed at increasing diversity in state hiring, contacting and education giving weight or preference to underrepresented groups such as women and minorities.

Hmm... not sure how to feel about this one. I agree and disagree. While I don't think I should be given special preference for being female, I don't want to be discriminated against for being female either. Candidates should be hired based on their skills and qualifications, not gender, religion, or skin color. But at the same time, there are a lot of bigots in the world who - if not forced to hire someone of a different race, gender or religion - will refuse to hire anyone of a different race, gender or religion.

Essentially, for the skills and qualifications set, it's a step forward. For the anti-bigotry set, it's a step back.

[Nykc]

Looks like our two issues failed miserably and I am okay with that tbh.

Issue 1

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At the general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two, and in each twentieth year thereafter, the question: ‘Shall there be a convention to revise, alter, or amend the constitution[,]" shall be submitted to the electors of the state; and in case a majority of the electors, voting for and against the calling of a convention, shall decide in favor of a convention, the General Assembly, at its next session, shall provide, by law, for the election of delegates, and the assembling of such convention, as is provided in the preceding section; but no amendment of this constitution, agreed upon by any convention assembled in pursuance of this article, shall take effect, until the same shall have been submitted to the electors of the state, and adopted by a majority of those voting thereon.

A majority yes vote is necessary for passage.

Shall there be a convention to revise, alter, or amend the constitution?

Issue 2

Quote

The proposed amendment would:

1. Remove the authority of elected representatives and grant new authority to appointed officials to establish congressional and state legislative district lines.

2. Create a state funded commission of appointed officials from a limited pool of applicants to replace the aforementioned. The Commission will consist of 12 members as follows: four affiliated with the largest political party, four affiliated with the second largest political party and four not affiliated with either of the two largest political parties. Affirmative votes of 7 of 12 members are needed to select a plan.

3. Require new legislative and congressional districts be immediately established by the Commission to replace the most recent districts adopted by elected representatives, which districts shall not be challenged except by court order until the next federal decennial census and apportionment. In the event the Commission is not able to determine a plan by October 1, the Ohio Supreme Court would need to adopt a plan from all the plans submitted to the Commission.

4. Change the standards and requirements in the Constitution for drawing legislative and congressional districts.

5. Mandate the General Assembly to appropriate all funds as determined by the Commission including, but not be limited to, compensating:

1. Staff
2. Consultants
3. Legal counsel
4. Commission members

If approved, the amendment will be effective thirty days after the election.

Shall the amendment be approved?

[modi123_1]

Right to repair? Awesome!

[jon.kiparsky]

modi123_1, on 07 November 2012 - 10:58 AM, said:

Right to repair? Awesome!

Yeah, everyone pretty much looked at it and said "why is this even a question?"
Interesting thing to note is that you couldn't write the same bill about software without outlawing Microsoft.
Hm.

[modi123_1]

... or Apple.. or OS2 warp.. or Android... etc. .etc.

[jon.kiparsky]

Have to disagree a little. I think MacOS is pretty much okay with this today. iOS not so much, but if you understand Unix, there's nothing surprising in MacOS and it's all hackable. Some of it is non-standard (particularly root-level directory names) but all of it is discoverable and it's mostly documented.
Now, some of the applications that Apple provides on the MacOS are closed, and that would be a problem, but I think the OS itself is repairable, under the terms of this law.

Android I haven't looked at so much - isn't dalvik open? I know some phones are locked up, but that's an issue for the providers who lock the machines. Android itself, is okay under this law as far as I know.

[modi123_1]

Haha.. I was just poking back at the linux junkie for overlooking the event viewer, logging, and report error codes from MS.

[jon.kiparsky]

True, you can get error codes from windows. But there's not a lot you can do with them except take it back to the dealer.

[modi123_1]

I would beg to differ with the repair jobs, but I can't argue much right now.. I am in my happy spot now that a client-partner came in and started dolling out candy. Mmmmm.. Sourpatch Kids and Gummy Bears.

[jon.kiparsky]

Look out, modi's on a sugar high!

(that stuff will rot both your remaining teeth right out of your head!)

[modi123_1]

Certainly.. but marrying one gummy bear and one sourpatch kid and THEN popping the ball of awesome into your mouth is so.. damn... good.

[BenignDesign]

I have a feeling homemade SPK/gummy bear porn is the closest modi's had for a while....