How Pete Is Voting

I love discovering new resources which help me clarify my thoughts and understand what’s important.

So I was really glad, when in doing some research on the November 6,2012 Ballot measures, I stumbled upon Pete.

(Not the Silicon Valley Bio Technologist, Banjo Playing, Recently Spotted Looking Like a 70's Rocker In His Halloween Costume Pete)

This is another Pete.

Pete Stahl.

-A Silicon Valley Computer Programmer and Oboist.

Pete has been analyzing California Propositions since 1980 when he was a student at Harvard.

And has a website devoted to rating the propositions.

It’s called "Pete Rates the Propositions," a personal voters guide to state propositions. 

(If you can't remember that, my post Connected Minds contains a suggestion to radically improve your memory).

Anyway, back to the propositions...

I read what Pete had to say about each of the 11 propositions on the November 6 ballot.

And after doing so, I was compelled to change some of my YES votes to NO votes.

And some of my NO votes to YES votes.

I've probably got you curious, so here goes....

Prop 30 and 38

On Prop 30 and 38, cynical about doling out any more money for anything, I had a Nahi Nahi (Hindi for NO) planned on both.

And also I thought 30 and 38 were either or and I had to choose between them.

But then I read what Pete had to say.

And I also had a lively discussion with the missy sitting across the room (you know the one – the one who is the subject of my post It’s Called Motherhood-2 and my post Slice of Life: A Love Of a Mother for Her Daughter).

And I went from Nahi Nahi (NO, NO) to Ha Ha (Hindi for YES, YES)

Ji-Ha on both that is.

Prop 37

I believe what we put into our bodies is important. My post 4 Healthy Eating Ideas I Learned From My Friend Julia points to the fact that I might even be freakishly fringe on this. 

So of course, I was all fired up on Prop 37.

I thought it was about time genetically modified foods were labeled. 

Learning that 96% of the soy produced in this country is made from Round-up ready strains didn’t help.

Stahl, a kindred food soul it seems, says initially he was all fired up about GE labeling too. 

But then he thought about it a little more and came to the conclusion it would become a retail nightmare.

I never saw it from the retail angle.

Suddenly I had visions of how future conversations with Indian grocery store owners would proceed…

Me: “is this curry leaf genetically modified?”

He(or she): “arrey - genetically-penetically nahi!”

So I said “Ayayayo – better change karo. NO on 37”.

Prop 33

I thought this one was a slam dunk.  As an insuree with an unbroken record of coverage, I had visions of being lured away by insurer after insurer, each one offering me a loyalty discount to switch, with me hasnaing (laughing in Hindi) all the way to the bank. 

But reading what Pete had to say, I realized I was being unimaginative. 

What if I cover Tanita from now till she starts college, then because she does not need a car in college, we have a break in her insurance……200% higher premiums to resume her insurance – I had to slap myself on the side of the head…..oh-fo!!

So I saw the light on this one and penciled in a big NO.

If you want to know some of my other epiphanies connected with auto insurance, read my post 4 Lessons Learned From Spinning In the Rain.

Conclusion

Pete Stahl helped me understand the propositions better and think about and weigh many issues that I hadn't thought about before.

But of course, you should evaluate what he has to say yourself. 

Read his thoughts on the November 6 California State Propositions (and later when you have time, check out his thoughts on past propositions going back right to November 1992).

If you want to become more sure-footed in your voting, Pete may be the answer.

Happy Voting.

P.S. Pete is somewhat of a celebrity in California and regularly speaks at different events. He is also a fave of the League of Women Voters.

P.S. 2: Mountain View Patch interviewed Pete recently. You can read a transcript of the review here.

P.S. 3: The other Pete, the Silicon Valley Bio Technologist, before-there-was-Mumford and Sons-Banjo Playing Pete has a well-developed political viewpoint which we hope to see online sometime. I even have a name for the imagined website Pete Too Rates The Propositions.

P.S. 4: With thanks to Samosapedia for the inspiration behind the Indian language interjections.

P.S. 5: If you are interested in humor about spoken language, check out Samosapedia and read my posts How to Cause Atmost Confusion at the Scripps Spelling Bee and The Mangalorean and the Big Words.

P.S. 6: Tanita and I had lively discussions on most of the propositions, leading her to say:

1)

"I wish I could vote”

and 

2)

"You and me don’t agree on anything”.

Ohfo!!!!!!!!!

P.S.6: As always, thanks for reading and have a great day.