At the beginning of the story, one might find it odd how religion and spirituality seems to be so prominent in a science fiction story, with there being Adamists and Edenists and with how Christianity and other religions are still going very strong. While there being religion is no surprise, religious beliefs are much more stronger than one would expect for the secular societies depicted. By the middle of the first novel, however, it will become obvious that it’s more than just part of the background setting: it’s actually highly relevant to the plot itself.

And the trilogy ends literally with a deus ex machina. This has got to be one of the few stories where a deus ex machina fits naturally, instead of being a contrived plot device to get a happily ever after. Although the concluding love relationships for the central character seems to be a bit contrived. And there were a few things that still left me wondering, such as what Ruth Hilton was running away from, which might be answered in supplements.

Hopefully without spoiling the movie, some points that could be raised are:

• James Bond is crazy. And only he would jump head-first into the situations he jumps into and make it out in one piece.
• What’s a Quantum?
• Goldfinger vibes.
• An odd mix of 007 cliches and non-cliches.
• If something goes wrong, we really can blame Canada.
• The sinister plot of the villain in the movie was probably just a side goal. I can’t imagine what little that could be squeezed out of Bolivia would have been worth the effort.
• Bolivian safety standards for construction and power generation suck, at least if the movie is to be believed.
• Oil is the new gold. Or at least someone has an odd obsession with it.
• We still don’t know about the shadowy organization that seems to be everywhere and yet we knew nothing about. I kept expecting the name SPECTRE to come up.

I’m going to have to refrain from any transactions from Korea to the United States for a while. On the other hand, it could be a chance for profit the other way around. If only I were the sort interested in short-term investments …

It’s nice to see a closer look at different people, showing us that they’re not so different from us after all. On the other hand, the incompetent Machiavellian attitude of the Bush administration would be so comical that I would have thought the book was satire if we hadn’t already seen them acting that way over and over again. It’s one thing to be purely Machiavellian and getting results, or to have good intentions but bumbling along the way. It’s another thing entirely when they’re being malevolently Machiavellian while still being completely incompetent, which is what we’ve had to endure for the past eight years, unfortunately.

If there is anyone who is keeping track of my political views, then they’ll obviously know that I’m going to vote for Barack Obama over John McCain. I still need to do some research to get a feel for the candidates for the other elected positions, though. I’ll have to get it done by this weekend, which is when I’m mailing in the ballot.

As for the propositions explained in the California Voter Information Guide, I’m voting the way I enumerate below. I’m generally against propositions since a lot of them should be bills voted by the state legislature (that’s what we vote them in for), and I’m also generally against bond measures since the state already has too much debt. But this is by no means an ironclad rule. And while secret ballots are a cornerstone of a properly functioning democracy, I’m too passive-aggressive to change my vote from intimidation. I also have enough faith in my character to not be influenced by bribes (not that I expect any). And who knows? I might get feedback which could change my mind before the weekend.

Yea on Proposition 1

It’s an investment in transportation infrastructure that should reduce traffic problems such as pollution and congestion. Even with the $40 billion price tag, out of which this proposition offers $10 billion from bonds, I think a high-speed railway system would make travel easier, save overall transportation costs, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and might actually help stimulate the economy.

Nay on Proposition 2

While I’m not unsympathetic to the humane treatment of animals, I’m not empathetic enough to want a law mandating how farm animals are treated. The proposition might be proposing standards that are too stringent.

Nay on Proposition 3

Revamping the infrastructure for child healthcare is a worthwhile cause, but I don’t think the general state budget should be the source of funds. And there should be a limit on how much we throw money at it: money doesn’t grow on trees and there was already a similar half-billion dollar measure in 2004. This is the kind of problem that the money we pay for our healthcare is for.

Nay on Proposition 4

The same attempt by the anti-choice crowd is again on the ballot, as they try to put obstacles to safe abortion by proposing a notification law. And I’m voting against it yet again.

Yea on Proposition 5

Criminalizing drug use and distribution seems to be doing more harm than good by increasing crime and having enormous amounts of resources being devoted to enforcement. There are also way too many people in jail. Proposition 5 proposes treatment over imprisonment and shorter parole periods for non-violent offenders, which is probably a step in the right direction. While treatment programs might cost the state, I suspect that they would be outweighed by the savings from imprisonment programs. Not to mention that there would be a lot less productive people who can’t get good jobs because of a criminal record.

Nay on Proposition 6

Why is this on the ballot? The state legislature should be handling this.

Undecided on Proposition 7

While a mandate for increasing use of clean and renewable energy sources is not a bad idea, given that a free market is optimized for the short-term and tends to ignore long-term consequences, the intricacies of Proposition 7 has me unsure of whether it’s a good measure or not. One side argues that it is, while the other argues that it would kill small companies providing energy from renewable sources. I need to take a closer look at it.

Nay on Proposition 8

Ban gay marriage? No, I happen to be one of those people who don’t want to take rights away from people simply because they have a different sexual orientation.

Nay on Proposition 9

Doesn’t seem to do much for crime victims over what’s already available while simultaneously eroding the rights of the incarcerated too much. At least that’s the way I’m leaning in my understanding.

Nay on Proposition 10

While encouraging the development of vehicles powered by clean energy is a good thing, I think funding should be done by the private sector. Regulations and tax breaks seem to be a better way to encourage research and development rather than subsidies.

Nay on Proposition 11

While it seems silly to have legislature members draw the map of districts for electing legislature members, a clear conflict of interest, it’s also a thorny issue to devise an approach that is both fair and accountable. I’m leaning against the proposed citizen commission. Maybe I would be more agreeable if the commission were to be formed out of summoned citizens instead of those that actively applied.

Yea on Proposition 12

Support our troops and veterans. And being a loan program, it doesn’t really cost the taxpayers much, if at all. With the state legislature being unanimously in favor of the measure, it wouldn’t even be on the ballot if it weren’t a bond measure.

No, wait. I got it backwards: I’m not living in a world dominated by the gays. Whew, that’s a relief. I almost got confused by the rhetoric from bigots who somehow delude themselves into thinking there’s such a thing as a “homosexual agenda”. Anyways, I would still like to use this occasion to express my support to those who are coming out, those who have sexual orientations that too many people still consider “immoral”. I wish the best of luck to them.

Update

It turns out my Dreamhost account was already on the new servers. This alleviates worries about losing my blogs to the ether.