There’s a special election set to be held next week, and the TV really is spouting about it: apparently, voting yes will be the end of the world; conversely, voting no will be the end of the world. Each of these outcomes, of course, is the course of action predicted by conflicting television reports. If only someone would just tell everyone what the proposition really means and let people decide for themselves: call me a purist, but I would prefer actual democracy to the deliberate deception and manipulation of an uncaring public.