…On Political Emails.

I’m very confused: somehow, several political causes that either I don’t agree with or have nothing to do with me (I don’t live in Maine) have gotten ahold of my email address and keep sending me emails asking me to write politicians or give money. I don’t mind doing that for causes I support – NARAL, say, or the NRA (yes, I believe in unrestricted access to guns and abortions. I also support capital and corporal punishment as well as strong separation of church and state). But I’m not going to do it for causes I oppose – that goes without saying – and I think it’s inappropriate for me to inject myself in state matters for states I don’t live in. Like Maine.

Of course, this spam’s better than the other spam I get.

I just wonder how these organizations got my email address, is all.

…On The Loo(m/n)ing Elections.

Today is Saturday, March 28, 2009. Today, I saw big signs for candidates in a major upcoming election.

Fortunately, it’s an election that will at least take place this year. There’s no excuse for campainging right now for the 2010 elections – or the 2012 elections, though that hasn’t apparently stopped some people (see “Straw Poll comma CPAC 2009”).

But I live in Virginia, and in Virginia, state elections are held in odd-numbered years. So, there’s an election for governor (where His Excellency Governor Kaine’s prohibited from running for re-election because this ass-backwards state not only calls the governor “His (or hypothetically Her) Excellency”, but prohibits reelection), and for the state House of Delegates. And while a bunch of city offices are elected in even numbered years – so last year we voted for mayor and part of the city council – the County and City Sheriffs (Yes, City Sheriffs, because in Virginia a City is the same as a County in any other state. We also have Counties here. That’s why Richmond County contains no cities and is 50 miles away from City of Richmond which is not in any county. Did I mention “ass-backwards” political structure?) and the Commonwealth’s Attorneys (DAs elsewhere).

As a result, people have begun campaigning for Governor already. I mean, the election’s only in November, so it’s only 219 days away. Of course, there’s primaries, but the big signs I saw were all for Bob McDonnell, who is… running unopposed in the Republican Party primary. I think he’d have been ok waiting a little while.

On the other hand, there’s 3 guys running in the Democratic Party’s primary (Brian Moran,Creigh Deeds, and Terry McAuliffe) and and since that’s going to be held on June 9th, the three of them really need to get their signs up – they only have 72 more days to campaign in!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, the “campaign season” takes too long and becomes farcical. If they’d wait at least until after Tax Day to start, I think there’d be a lot less mudslinging and asinine horse-race sort of “news” coverage. Maybe it wouldn’t actually improve the quality of campaigning from the crap we get right now, but it would at least cut down on the quantity of the crap.

..On Cass Sunstein and the Elderly.

With regards to this and this: I affirmatively support the “senior death discount”, I believe it should be used in all governmental decision-making, and I consider Cass Sunstein’s support for it to be a pro, not a con, of his nomination. That approach doesn’t “artificially lower the cost” element of cost-benefit analysis, it corrects a grossly overinflated benefit element. Yes, pollution is bad, but not in any way because of any harm to the health of the elderly. The remaining lives of the elderly are worth less than the remaining lives of the young, and it’s past time we went back to living – and setting public policy – accordingly. Instead, groups like the AARP and this CRP are working to extend already too-long lives and enhance the elderly’s unjust stranglehold on American law. Like PETA, the Brady Campaign, the National Right to Life Committee, and Proposition 8 supporters, they are actively working to make our lives, our country, and our world all worse.

Face it, the most effective way to fix social security would obviously be to implement a Logan’s Run solution. Barring that, say because we choose to be generous and kind and make sure we don’t dispose of the elderly prematurely, it seems the obvious thing to do is to just set a cap on how many years a retiree can withdraw from it. There’s no need for anyone to live to 80, let alone past it. Each year you live, your life matters less. Eventually, it just doesn’t matter. Don’t waste your life fighting that fact, just accept it and be happy while you can.