But U.S. District Judge Morrison England, after a one-hour hearing in Sacramento, said California’s $100 reporting requirement – adopted by the voters in 1974 – is a valid means of informing the public about the financing of ballot measure campaigns.

“If there ever needs to be sunshine on a particular issue, it’s a ballot measure,” England said, observing that initiatives are often sponsored by committees with misleading names. [S.F. Gate]

It’s been interesting seeing the supporters of Proposition 8 running for cover since the election. Privacy in the ballot box is one thing, but when it comes to political activity, whether it’s direct advocacy like advertising or spamming or blogging or planting yard signs, or financing the advocacy, the people have a right to know who’s behind these initiatives and what their motives are.

David Pogue’s latest column in the Times reminded me that I haven’t shared one of our Christmas gifts here yet.  It showed up a little late, and was almost a Martin Luther King Day gift, but we now have one of the Roku boxes for Netflix video on demand.  It’s what TV should be.  

Where Netflix’s DVDs by mail were convenient, this is downright slothfulness.  Where our cable company allows us to rent from about 130 titles (I just counted) on a pay-per-view basis of $3.99 per title per day, Netflix gives us access to about 12,000 titles as part of our monthly fee of $15.  One cable to our router, another to our TV, and we were good to go. 

I’m a big believer that the dominance of on-demand media is inevitable, and seeing the box in action finally convinced me the technology wasn’t just vaporware.  I know it will be a while before all the rights get sorted out.  Don’t get me wrong – I want the actors, writers, producers, et cetera, to be compensated for producing good entertainment, because I want to encourage (and enable) them to produce more good entertainment.  I like reasonable copyright protections.  I just also like simple.  

I don’t want to be running back to Quicken to make a note everytime I push *play* on some movie, and I like being able to explore genres and themes without feeling like I’m flushing $3.99 if I turn a show off after five minutes.  Netflix got it right for me.  Flat fee, no deadlines, and good quality streaming video on the big flat screen in the living room.  Santa was definitely good to us this year.

Two headlines from the current Union-Tribune website:

• County braces for $280M cut in state funds.
• SANDAG to spend $20,000 at two-day retreat.

These were ahead of articles detailing the slumps in the real estate and convention industries.

It certainly seems like someone isn’t getting the message about current economic realities.  Then again, the SANDAG (an association of local governments) bureaucrats don’t have to endure the hardship of running for election (though some are elected officials from the communities they claim to serve) and publicly justifying their drain on society.

It’s barely eight in the morning, and while the day looks fine on the surface, it’s certainly not starting off well.  The photo gallery here is inexplicably dead and the N.Y.Times bot has informed me that my Sunday paper will not be delivered until Monday.  This comes on top of the tendonitis that’s been bothering me for a week or so, and a bout of pinkeye that screwed up my Friday.  Spinner’s out foraging for breakfast stuff, and hopefully a bit of grease and protein will improve things a bit, but the day is quite simply not looking good.  Sure, the coffee helps, but today coffee alone is just not enough.

Not really proscrastinating, just trying to avoid overthinking a hearing this afternoon.  Need to keep things focussed and on point. I’d sneak out for a swim, but the tendons in my wrist seem to have gotten mangled (again) over the last week, and I’m trying to be good until BorgHealth can do some probes and give me some magic pills on Monday.  Good equals bored though.   Not only does the swimming keep me from becoming Jabba the Chuck, but it keeps me sane.  Need to be doing something away from the electronic leashes, and the swimming cuts off the links for a while.  That’s a good thing.

No, no changes yet.  Nice rhetoric.  Beautiful imagery.  But I gave up on words and promises from politicians a long time ago, and even for an inauguration as groundbreaking as this one is, TV doesn’t come close to being in Washington to experience one live (Bush the Elder in 1989).  So I’m just piddling away at the new desk, trying to hunt down a few billables, and waiting to see what really happens next.

All this time I thought I was paying enough in fees to keep B of A afloat single handedly.  Even if not, it was obvious they weren’t spending money on training staff or maintaining their computer networks, so they should be solvent, right?  I guess not.  So now they’re now getting my tax dollars in addition to all the fees they charge on my accounts and the interest they earn off my deposits.  At least at least soon as all automated transfers to the new account are verified they won’t be directly messing up my life or (arguably) earning money off my complacency.  Looking forward to exercising some rights as a taxpayer/shareholder though – I wonder if the proxy voting information will come with my 1040.

The mood swing is back on the other side of it’s arc this morning, and I am most definitely not upset with another day in the mid 80s during this brutal winter.  Just need to manipulate my schedule a bit so I get to swim at one of the outdoor pools this afternoon.  Can’t let a gift like this go to waste.

I’m probably not supposed to post about how hot it is here during this brutal winter (86 F according to the desktop widget).  I’m probably not supposed to post about how busy I am with new business in the middle of a recession either.  But both have led to the same result: drained and tired.  The shifting economy has left me with an overabundance of family law work.  Divorces, child custody, etc.  It’s work, and the cases pay the bills, but they have the same impact on me as Harry Potter’s dementers: they just suck the joy out of living.  

Business transactions and planning are win-win when done right.  Either you’ve got a good deal, or you walk away no worse for wear.  

Even estate planning leaves you with satisfied clients who have a proactive outlook toward life.  

But family law… he said, she said, the wicked step-monster said…  Everyone loses except the Howling Point A/R department, and they’re too depressed by the work to actually do anything fun with the earnings anyways, so the profits just get drunk away.

Ten days ago Randy and I were looking over the cliffs at Big Sur.  Exploring the tide pools of Morro Bay.  Now I’m back to bitching about my soon to be ex-desk and trying to rebalance the case load.  Need to start planning another vacation.

2009 started off with a bang with the Penguin Plunge and then three nights up in Pismo Beach enjoying the central coast.  But I’m back at work now, alternating some briefing with some de-Christmasing of the Casa and a bit of gym strategizing that became necessary after seeing the Penguin Plunge pictures.   Going to have to look at coordinated plungewear next year, like these gentlemen on the Central Coast [gallery] .  The Chippendale look might give the New Years event just the formality it deserves.  Laundry and dishes and accounts receivable are rounding out the agenda here at the end of the extended holiday.  Then I can try and post the weekend’s photos.