Any way you slice it...

California is getting redistricted! Republicans are angry because their non-partisan panel couldn't find a way to make California a Republican state, or even as Republican of a state as it was ten years ago. Also apparently, this next election cycle I may end up with a new congressman. The new lines merge two Central Valley districts, and there are rumors that my representative may retire. The new guy is still a Blue Dog though, so who knows how much change that will actually mean. I'm also not sure what will happen to McNerney, the Democrat who represents Morgan Hill & parts of the Valley right now and who very narrowly survived the 2010 midterms. Hopefully his district hasn't changed too drastically, as far as I can tell he is a thoroughly good guy with a good record on the environment.

Also, I would like to point out that this is all information courtesy of the local news, which I now keep up with...for the first time in my life. I don't really have much by way of comparison, but the Merced Sun Star seems to be a very decent little local paper. It does kind of leave me with a creepy feeling that people are getting murdered constantly around here, but I think that's more a function of local news than the actual murder rate. I mean crime is somewhat high...but it was in San Francisco too. Living there I just had no idea what was going on unless it was within earshot of my apartment.