I Admit It

I guess it's time to stop blaming others, own up to my mistakes, and come clean.

Not for suggesting the Alameda County Registrar of Voters made a mistake when they failed to use my official declaration for my ballot designation.  It's pretty clear they made a mistake on that one:

If a candidate is licensed by the State of California to engage in a
profession, vocation or occupation, the candidate is entitled to consider it
one of his or her “principal” professions, vocations or occupations if (i) the
candidate has maintained his or her license current as of the date he or she
filed his or nomination documents by complying with all applicable
requirements of the respective licensure, including the payment of all
applicable license fees and (ii) the status of the candidate's license is active
at the time he or she filed his or her nomination documents.

 Not for suggesting that the Alameda County Registrar of Voters should not have altered my official declaration and, instead, should have notified me if they were proposing to use an alternate.  At which time, I could have argued for my original designation (which I 100% was entitled to) or chosen another alternative:

An official copy of the decision of the Secretary of State regarding a
candidate's ballot designation will be made in writing and transmitted directly to
the candidate by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the
address provided by the candidate. The Secretary of State shall also provide a
copy to the elections official in the candidate's county of residence and to the
elections official of each county within the political subdivision. Copies may also
be made available to all other candidates in the race.

And (Indeed, I did request to be contacted if there was any issue):

At the request of the candidate, the Secretary of State will transmit an
unofficial copy of the decision of the Secretary of State regarding the candidate's
proposed ballot designation by facsimile transmission sent to the facsimile
number listed on the candidate's Ballot Designation Worksheet. When the
candidate does not have reasonable access to a facsimile machine, the Secretary
of State will transmit to the candidate, at the candidate's request, an unofficial
copy of the decision by means of overnight express delivery to the address listed
on the candidate's Ballot Designation Worksheet provided. If the candidate has
not submitted a Ballot Designation Worksheet, the Secretary of State will
transmit an official copy to the facsimile number provided by the candidate or, if
the candidate does not have reasonable access to a facsimile machine, by
overnight express mail to the address provided by the candidate.

I won't apologize for not being ashamed of being designated a pharmacist when the Alameda County Registrar of Voters made their mistake and took away my first option because, of the choices left, "pharmacist' was unfortunately, probably the most accurate (it is truly a shame that intern pharmacist was removed as a choice without notification to me):

4030. Intern Pharmacist
"Intern pharmacist" means a person issued a license pursuant to Section 4208.

4114. Intern Pharmacist: Activities Permitted
(a)
An intern pharmacist may perform all functions of a pharmacist at the discretion of and under the direct supervision and control of a pharmacist whose license is in good standing with the board.

1793.1. Duties of a Pharmacist.
Only a pharmacist, or an intern pharmacist (emphasis added) acting under the supervision of a pharmacist, may:
(a)
Receive a new prescription order orally from a prescriber or other person authorized by law.
(b)
Consult with a patient or his or her agent regarding a prescription, either prior to or after dispensing, or regarding any medical information contained in a patient medication record system or patient chart.
(c)
Identify, evaluate and interpret a prescription.
(d)
Interpret the clinical data in a patient medication record system or patient chart.
(e)
Consult with any prescriber, nurse or other health care professional or authorized agent thereof.
(f)
Supervise the packaging of drugs and check the packaging procedure and product upon completion.
(g)
Perform all functions which require professional judgment.

I will not apologize for my article in Synapse.  I am actually quite proud of the quality of the writing in the article.  It perhaps does not have the tone of gravitas that some people hoped for and there are some minor editorial errors which certain people have tried to latch onto so as to shift the blame to me.   I like the last paragraph especially since it sums up the campaign for me.  I like the whole article, but I'll just quote that final paragraph:

The race is a minor one far down a relatively long ballot so who knows what the ultimate result will be. In my favor is the healthcare related profession listed next to my name, the fact that there are three positions for four slots, (I may feel a slight sting of humiliation if I can’t win with those odds.) and that there may be more people who agree with me than I thought. After all, the owner of the local pizza place surprised me by telling me that she voted for me as she handed me my order for our street’s Halloween party. She told me that until she saw my name on the ballot she didn’t even know I was running. For me, it hadn’t occurred to me that anyone would notice.

(ed.:For the record, "intern pharmacist" has just as much a healthcare related ring to it as "pharmacist" so I doubt that the difference of one word swayed those people who were comparing my ballot designation to "Business Owner/Attorney".  After all my margin of victory was over 750 people.)

I will not apologize for expecting that people who hold themselves out as leaders in the community and bloggers who claim to be unbiased observers should be able to easily see when someone has crossed a line of decency using words like "election fraud" and attacking me purely for purposes of revenge with inaccurate complaints that could literally destroy my livelihood.  Leaders and bloggers should not be hypocrites and/or cowards just because that's the most comfortable position for them to take:

OBAMA: We don’t believe in that. We don’t believe in standing silent when that happens. We dont’ believe in them being silent since. You want to be commander in chief, you can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States even when it’s not politically convenient.

I will not apologize for contacting Leah Williams and asking one last time (before the year statute of limitations is up for a defamation suit)  for an apology.  I will not apologize when Leah Williams not only refuses to consider an apology to me but  could, maybe, even now, long after the election, be trying to make life difficult for me.

I will apologize for using a blogging system that, apparently, has a very poor interface for comments.  It led John Knox White to put up a maliciously inaccurate statement that he refuses to correct directly and only kinda sideways corrects in a subsequent post.  It has also led to consternation for supporters of my position such as Denise Lai so this is not a political alliance issue.

I absolutely apologize.  My fault for being too comfortable with a solution that was convenient and easy for me.  I should have realized that this would cause problems down the road.  I was warned and I ignored those warnings.  I promise, beginning tomorrow, to investigate other platforms.  As soon as I find one that is better (and free), I will switch to it.  Mea Culpa.