:: p-dog ::

While in no way restful, Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. Bryan and I spent three days in three very different but all outstanding spots in Texas, including Austin, where we hadn't been since May 2004. Other fabulous settings: Hall house in Dallas and mini-ranch in Tool.

Highlights include:
1) catching up with Matt (and meeting his girl) over Mexican martinis at Trudy's
2) self-guided tour of campus area--notable change: the Co-op has finally taken over the entire drag and moved HQ into the former B&N building
3) hours of shop-talk with Tim and Crystal, with whom the whole notion of policy school was born long years ago
4) at least one meal at a family restaurant (Cisco--mmm, Texas tacos); I already have complicated plans for eating my favorite eight restaurant meals over Christmas.
5) outstanding Hall-family Thanksgiving fare, plus impromptu game of "flick the leaf confetti" while other people cleaned everything up.
6) cows, fire, ping-pong, and leftovers at the ranch
7) dogs to play with
8) rich, non-Thanksgiving food with cousins
(pics of all up on gallery)

Now we're back; work has picked up with equal ferocity; and I'm looking forward to Christmas. Thanksgiving break was a teaser--I can't wait to go back and spend more time with friends and family, and without projects and papers hanging over my head.

In preparation for that looming long vacation, I got the first half of my vaccinations for Senegal (today: Hep A, polio, flu). Friday I go back for two more shots (meningitis, yellow fever) and to pick up pills for malaria, typhoid, and precautionary antibiotics. I declined rabies and Hep B, so here's hoping no infected people or animals bite or have sex with me while I'm there. I generally do not do well with shots, but today I was very brave. I awarded myself a lollipop when I got home.

Anyway, when I'm all done, diseases will bounce right off of me (and I will have paid about $200 for super-human immunity), so I am declaring it the "Travel to 3rd World Countries" half-decade. Suggestions are welcome. Also donations.

:: Leslie H - 6:15 PM - ::

Budget project – check
Law paper – check
Econ problem set – check
Stats group project – (coming with me to Texas)

The busy season continues, but I'm skipping class and heading south. The high in Austin tomorrow is 80. I may melt.

:: Leslie H - 8:40 AM - ::

Took a what-religion-are-you quiz. Why not?

Top match (after Unitarian--those guys take everyone):
Secular Humanist

Bottom match:
Roman Catholic

Ironic, no?

:: Leslie H - 5:33 PM - ::

from CBS (and mulitple news sources) regarding last week's special election in CA:

Asked if there was anything he would do differently, Schwarzenegger said, "If I was to make another Terminator movie, I would tell Terminator to travel back in time to tell Arnold not to have another special election."

Oh, Arnold. Well said. I really don't know how I got along with only Rick Perry's hair to laugh at.

:: Leslie H - 8:15 AM - ::

Remember your 5th grade play? Now imagine it went on for two weeks and was all about the federal budget.

That's right! Tis the season for the GSPP 2005 Budget Simulation Project! Here's how it works:

Characters: Everyone in the class is assigned a role, either a member of the Bush administration or a member of Congress (one class is the House, the other the Senate). Everyone gets a particular character--i.e. Rep. Chet Edwards, not just a random House Dem.
Materials: the federal budget
Time limit: 2 weeks
Task: Balance it!

The meetings started as soon as role assignments came out. Senate Democrats, House Republican leadership, Bush administration, committees for this and that. Press releases went flying around our email lists. On Friday, the administration released their budget (a giant excel spreadsheet with all the CBO's budget options and which ones they were activating). In the next few days we expect alternate versions from Republicans and Democrats. In a week, we'll spend Sunday afternoon in full session until we pass a budget (or midnight, whichever comes first).

It is terrific fun. Honestly, I can think of no other way to make the federal budget remotely interesting, but I'm telling you--when the administration released their version, we were pouring over that thing. Did they make the tax cuts permanent? Did they raise the retirement age for Social Security? Did they open ANWR?

Of course, like your 5th grade play, some people have trouble separating it from reality. The professor had to send an email admonishing us after an incident Thursday that involved some House Republicans yelling and crying.

So who am I in this crazy charade? Why, The Media! The House and Senate each get one press person, who publishes "daily reports" on the budget negotiations. After the stunning success of the bean blog, I am, naturally, blogging our publication "Budget Mania." Our daily articles do get a little lost in a plethora of press releases from overzealous partisans. It's a riot. The press releases we (my Senate counterpart and I) just slap up there, but we've also received leaks, tips, incriminating photos of other congressmen, etc. I've been trying to introduce a lighter tone, but people are so damned earnest about the whole thing. (I keep getting terribly serious releases from Dem leadership--Bush budget=rape of society, etc.)

Anyway, that's what's overwhelming my life at the moment (plus a law paper, econ problem set, and daunting, amorphous stats project). It's fun, hectic, and I will definitely be ready for Thanksgiving.

:: Leslie H - 9:27 AM - ::

Cameron and Matt left yesterday after a very full visit. Good times were had by all. Highlights included:

1. almost being run down by mad bikers on the Davis campus
2. the jelly belly factory tour (yes, yes, a thousand times yes)
3. crazy-good dinner at Chez Panisse
4. poking a slug en route to a poop pile so it would retract its antennae
5. saying "my sister and her husband" so many times that I finally stopped choking on it. :)

Check out the pictures.

:: Leslie H - 3:57 PM - ::

My first electoral victory

Finally, finally, I voted on the winning side of something. Namely, against Arnold's worthless propositions (and some others to boot). I'm tremendously excited about the results, and a measure of my faith in California--shaken by the recall two years ago--has been restored. (Alas, not so for my other state.)

Appropriately, we've been talking in my law class this week about the direct democracy method of policy-making. I was highly skeptical before, and now I know all the reasons why I'm right. :) I considered writing some thoughtful encapsulation of the arguments, but I've decided instead to simply dump my class notes here wholesale.

Ballot initiatives
PROS
- the process educates people and gets them more involved; it may also lessen their prejudice as they learn more
- anti-corruption: it allows citizens to circumvent corrupt politicians
- all the objections are just as valid when applied to elections of legislators
- money problem is not a reason to overthrow initiative system, just to reform related finance regulation
- allows issues to get on the agenda that might not otherwise (cuts both ways)
CONS
- people are in general uninformed, ignorant, disengaged, and may be prejudiced (?dark urges? come out in the privacy of the ballot box, whereas legislators have to vote in public and are held accountable, expected to have good reasons)
- most decisions are made based on superficial political ads
- turn-out is generally low, favoring voters on the extremes of each issue
- it becomes a battle of who has the most money for the ad blitz
- allows little accountability?there is no one to vote out if bad policy gets made, and it?s hard to adapt/change policy made by initiative (laws are not supposed to override them--ex: Arnold's veto of same-sex marriage bill because it violated initiative defining marriage as man-and-woman)
- blunt instrument: takes issues that people study for years and ask people to vote on over-simplified versions; ?yes or no? rather than an opportunity for compromise and moving toward moderation as in legislature
- ?client politics? ? it favors small groups with intense preferences
- there are better ways to educate and involve the public, and to combat corruption
- makes groups vulnerable to tyranny of the majority
- the legislative system (checks and balances) is designed to foster compromise and moderation; it all happens in public, so it?s less likely to be crazy

In fairness...
Though initiatives were first dreamed up by the Progressives to circumvent corrupt government, they now tend to promote socially conservative outcomes. I am not so high-minded as to believe that if they trended liberal, my position would not be completely reversed.

:: Leslie H - 12:44 PM - ::

I know--it's been all about the pictures lately. I'm camera-crazy! It is a pretty opportune season.

This time I'll just politely suggest you visit gallery for the latest installment: Halloween in the Castro. A better-costumed mob I have never seen. Yes, that's Bryan in the disturbing bunny mask. There are also new pictures from the weekend in the Fall catch-all album.

:: Leslie H - 9:39 PM - ::