Xblog

Some days it seems like California’s principle export is irony. Let’s take our special election. The turn out rate was abominable. Looks like we had a… (wait for it) 23% turnout rate. In Los Angeles it was a truly depressing 17.4%. To look at it another way, the propositions in question either passed or failed based on the opinions of ~12% of the state. So, we’re a representative democracy even when it comes to ballot measures. I’m sorry, but the whole notion of populism kind of falls apart if the population doesn’t show up. Honestly, it is high time that California’s proposition system be either gutted or reformed. Either get rid of them outright, or at least make the barrier to entry much, much higher.

If the pollsters are right, California voters apparently are going to have a weak turnout in a profound display of voter apathy fueled by one of the most outsized cases of denial since the Egyptian river first got its name. It remains unclear what the thinking is, but my current theory is that the vast majority of voters are planning on going down to the beach tomorrow and shoving their heads so deep in the sand the beach is going to appear to be populated largely by a-holes… which will actually be true. There are billions of dollars at stake here, and the only parts of it that don’t come out of our wallets is going to be money that comes out of our children’s wallets. I buy that there isn’t an obviously good choice to be had here, but a lack of will to make the tough decisions is what got us here in the first place. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the measures. I can’t promise that they are terribly well researched, but I have read the legislative analyst’s reports and reflected somewhat. I can’t promise that they are indicative of how I will vote, as I am still doing some reading and thinking. I am mostly writing to get my thoughts organized and perhaps inspire others to add their own thoughts. For what is undoubtedly a more thought out examination, our consult your local paper’s editors.

Of late, DBMS2 has been a source interesting factoids and questionable analysis about the data warehouse industry. I’ve bitten my tongue about some of the articles, because some of them have actually been directly about goings on at my employer, but this interview with Carson Schmidt seems free and clear of that problem while still providing analysis of debatable value. Now, let me preface this by saying AFAIK Carson Schmidt is a brilliant man who likely has forgotten more about OLAP databases than I will ever know. Indeed, knowing this, I get the feeling some of what he is saying has been misinterpreted, taken out of context, or just plain poorly analyzed. That said, I want to apply some critical thinking to the discussion.