Philly passed 4 important ballot questions (in a landslide):

[Barack_America]

1). The city will now require contractors to pay their employees at least 150% of minimum wage and extend benefits to all employees equally in order to get a city contract.

2). Contractors bidding on city projects will now be able to submit their proposals electronically.

3). Philly reaffirms its status of "The City of Brotherly Love" by changing the city's charter to require that city contractors not discriminate on the basis of, "ancestry, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability."

4). The city will borrow $107 million for infrastructure projects such as street paving, transit, park development and building maintenance.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/breaking/news/20101102_Voters_in_Philadelphia_easily_approved_four_ballot_measures_Tuesday_.html

[T Wolf]

1. The US is really two separate nations - urban versus rural. That has never been clearer.

If we could only really separate us from them, the dream of a just and humane society might come about.

But under the current fucked-up arrangement where vacant land in the red states has more influence than inhabited urban areas, positive change will never happen.

The US itself is too big to fail and thus, should be allowed (and encouraged/aided) to fall - it's the only way to rescue ourselves from the tyranny of the ignorant, stupid and bigoted.

[Barack_America]

2. Agreed. These are pretty much "anti-teabagger" measures...

...and they passed with something around 75% of the vote.

It's been great living here (even during the Bush years). We're likely to move next year for employment purposes and I can tell you that political ideology of our new neighborhood will weigh in just as strongly as property values, schools, etc.