Bangor Daily News - our newspaper for Downeast Maine - is reporting that Mainers voted to reject the law passed by the State Legislature earlier this year yesterday.  It seems Mainers have decided they won't move into the 21st Century yet.

With 87% of the votes in, 53% voted "Yes" on Question One, while only 47% voted "No".  A very close vote, to say the least.  Which, to me, shows that not all Mainers are against equality for all Maine Citizens.

No doubt we will have to rehash this again in another couple of years.  As those who believe in equality here in Maine won't rest until Gay Couples are given the same equality under the law as Straight Couples.

The rest of the Initiatives on the ballot were as follows:

Question's Two(excise tax) and Four(Taxpayer Bill of Rights - TABOR) were defeated. 

Question Three(repeal of the school consolidation law) rejected. 

Question Five(Medical Marijuana Law) passed. 

Question Six(Transportation Bond) passed. 

Question Seven(to change the State Constitution) defeated.

And there we go.  That is how Maine voted this year.  Some of the results I'm happy about, others I'm not, but that's how it works.  The people of Maine spoke with their votes, and that is the end of it - at least until the next Election.

Until next time...

-Wil

Today on NASA-TV I watched the successful launch of the Aries 1-X Rocket's test flight.  It went beautifully.  Future versions of this rocket will help send our astronauts back to the Moon and onto Mars(and points beyond).  Thought others of you interested in Space Flight and the on-goings of NASA would like to see this as well, if you missed it earlier today.

Here's the link to the official site at the NASA home page: Click me. And an excerpt:

Outstanding teamwork was the theme of the Ares I-X postlaunch news conference as the successful flight test was discussed.

"I can't say enough about this team," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "They've been together probably a little over three years now, and they went from a concept to flying this vehicle in that period of time, which is the first time this has been done by a human spaceflight team in a long time."

Referring to the weather, which was the only issue of the day, Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley said, "We were ready when Mother Nature was ready, and we took our opportunity and what a great outcome. We're very proud of the result."

"It was a spectacular day," said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager. "The vehicle flew even better than we expected."

"It is just a fantastic day," said Launch Director Ed Mango. "The team really excelled. I can't say enough about the folks who worked together to go make this thing happen. It was a great team, and as you can tell, it was a great vehicle."

NASA's Ares I-X test rocket lifted off at 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a two-minute powered flight. The flight test lasted about six minutes from its launch from the newly modified Launch Pad 39B until splashdown of the rocket's booster stage nearly 150 miles downrange.

You can find more information at the link I gave you.

Until next time...

-Wil

Was browsing through Yahoo News today and saw an article saying that the Senate Democrats may not have the votes to pass their Healthcare Bill after all.  It seems that several Democratic Senators and Senator Olympia Snow - of Maine - have witheld their support of the bill now that it is before the full Senate.  And I'm happy about that, to be honest.

Some of you will ask why, and the answer is quite simple, this needs to be debated more.  Much more.  Once they've hammed out some details, make sure there is a stipulation that they won't force insurance companies in any way to up their prices or force them out of business, and allow all American Citizens to choose their own insurance.  Whether it be from an insurance company within their State, outside their State, or from a government option.

Personally, I'm still not 100% sure that a government option should even be considered.  A part of me finds it appalling that my government would grow so large as to do this, but another part wants those Citizens who cannot afford healthcare to have an option - even if it's a government one.  But there is a problem, there is potential that the Healthcare option could be used on illegal immigrants, and I don't believe it should be used for them.  They should be give first aid and then sent back to the nation they came from to receive proper health care.

I know what some of you are thinking, that when I said "illegal immigrants" I mean all immigrants, and that simply isn't the case.  Those that came here legally?  Got their green cards, visa's, or have become naturalized citizens, I don't mind them receiving it at all.  They've at least done it legally.  But those who haven't, shouldn't benefit from such a program.  Period.

Until next time...

-Wil

Saw a tweet about this on Twitter and figured someone was pulling peoples legs.  Figured, hey, it's just a deployment drill, and I'm still willing to believe that until proven otherwise.  But, I figured I would post it for those of you who might be interested and would like to speculate.

Until next time...

-Wil