Today we find Alameda in the national news regarding the controversial gay marriage ban in California. From USA Today:

Dueling rallies often involved shouting and arrests. Election night was no different in Alameda, across from San Francisco.

Tim Tarasov, 25, stood on the corner of Otis Drive and Park Street hoisting a sign approving the ban in the moments before the polls closed Tuesday. Across the street stood those approving same-sex marriage.

"I have two kids and a beautiful wife at home, and I believe in a marriage that's going to create happiness for the family," said Tarasov, of Sacramento. "Only one man and one woman can make that happen, because the Bible said so."

This ban is going to destroy the San Francisco wedding cake industry. (Best wedding cake I ever had was at a gay wedding in San Francisco.)

We were just a few blocks down Otis at Lum School, which is also a polling place. Our sign-holders were against the ban. Why does it feel like Missouri all of a sudden? Maybe we are California's "Swing Island".