Congratulations to President-Elect Obama. As everyone said, last night was truly historic. We've elected the first black president. Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and North Carolina went blue together for the first time since 1964. America repudiated the party of Bush.
But before we all congratulate ourselves and talk about how racism and discrimination is dead in America, let's take a look at the downright shameful results of several ballot initiatives.
Arizona voted to ban gay marriage 56% to 44%
Arkansas voted to ban gay (and unwed straight) couples from adopting children 57% to 43%
With 92% reporting, it looks likely that California voted to ban gay marriage 52% to 48%
Florida voted to ban gay marriage 62% to 38%
Really? On the same night that old barriers were torn down, new ones were put up. Millions and millions of Americans went to the polls and voted to strip their fellow Americans of a basic, personal freedom. How is this even allowed? Could there be a ballot initiate to prevent Catholics from getting married? To prevent Asians from adopting children? It's disgusting.
There were some bright spots, however. The anti-abortion propositions were all defeated and Michigan voted to allow stem cell research and medical marijuana.
And in miscellaneous election news:
As of the time of this post, Al Franken lost his Senate race by 571 votes, but surely with that kind of margin I'd expect a recount. Hopefully he can find another 572 votes somewhere.
Somehow Ted Stevens won re-election. I'm shocked. Not only was he polling way behind Mark Begich, but Stevens is a convicted felon! I suppose to the state that elected Sarah Palin, felons are ok as long as they're felons that bring home the pork.
The races in Indiana, North Carolina, and Missouri were ridiculously close. I wonder how long it's going to take before we get final numbers there.
As of right now, CNN is showing that 118,183,508 people voted in this election. CNN also shows that in 2004, 121,480,019 people cast ballots. That seems bizarre. I know that the final tallies aren't in yet, but is it possible that less people voted in 2008 than 2004? I doubt it.
And lastly...
For some reason, CNN felt the need to use a hologram in their broadcast. (to beam in the emperor) Earlier in their coverage, they also used augmented reality to put the capitol building onto a table top. I'm not sure why...
update: I left one ballot initiative off my list accidentally. It looks like California Prop 1A to fund a high speed rail system passed. That's good news! This country needs high speed rail.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Election Day!
Wow, election day is finally here. I didn't think this day would ever come...
Have you voted yet? If not, go vote right now. I'll wait....
Ok, welcome back. I hope you didn't have to wait in line for too long. I've heard some crazy stories about long waiting times for early voting, so I'm guessing today will be no different. I just waited 45 minutes to vote in New York and New York isn't even a contested state. It was an interesting experience though.
I waited outside for about 20 minutes before getting to the front door of my polling place. As I walked in, a poll worker looked at my election card (They mailed out cards with your polling location, election district, congressional district, etc.) and told me to stand in a specific line. I walked over to the line and was confused. The sign hanging on the booth at the front of the line said "14th Election District" but my card said "49th Election District." My congressional district, however, was listed as 14. Hmm... I turned around and asked the elderly lady behind me which district she was in. She showed me her card and it said "40th Election District, 14th Congressional District." Ok, so we were both in the 14th Congressional District, but the sign clearly said Election District. So I turned to the woman in front of me and asked her. She was also assigned to the 14th Congressional, but a different Election District. I asked them to hold my place in line and I walked back to the entrance.
I asked the poll worker at the door, "Just to be clear, we're supposed to wait in lines based on Election District, right? Not Congressional District?"
"Yes, that's correct. Oh no, have I been sending people to the wrong lines again?"
No wonder people have been standing in such long lines, the poll workers are incompetent. I walked back over to my place in line and told the ladies that we were in the wrong line. The woman in front of me thanked me and switched lines. The old lady behind me said she was staying put. I tried to explain to her how the lines worked and pointed to the 40 on her card, but she wouldn't budge. I'm guessing that as an elderly black woman, she was an easy target for voter manipulation and/or suppression. Someone probably told her not to listen to anyone but trusted sources... so she ignored me. I did my best to announce to the whole room that they should be in line based on Election District and not any other number on their card. I saw one or two people switch lines, but more people acted like I wasn't there.
I went over to the line for the 49th Election District and waited there. I moved pretty quickly up to the table, signed the book, got my registered voter card, and moved over to the line for the voting booth. We were supposed to sign the book, get our cards, and go right into the booth, but only one of the two machines for my district was working. This created a bottleneck, so we had to form a second line to wait for the machine.
As I stood there, another poll worker was directing people to their district lines and kept sending the good people of the 49th Election District to the back of my line. Each time a new person would walk up, I would ask them if they've been up to the table to get their Registered Voter card yet. They would each look at me blankly until I held up the card. "Do you have one of these yet? No? Ok, then you need to wait in that line."
People were pretty skeptical of me then too, but my prop helped convince them. After struggling with a couple of people, the woman in front of me in line joined the good fight and helped me direct people to the correct place. After doing this four or five times, I went over to the poll worker and told her that she was directing people to the wrong line. She thanked me, but generally ignored me and kept doing what she was doing.
All this time, I kept an eye on the old lady from my first line and, as I was about to get to my voting booth, I saw them direct her to the correct line that I had tried to show her 20 minutes earlier. I felt kind of bad for her for having to wait twice, but her second line was far more efficient than mine, and she ended up voting before me.
I eventually got to the booth and cast my vote. From start to finish, it took only 45 minutes. It could have been a lot worse. But that being said, it could have been a lot better. I'm sorry that I didn't take the day off to volunteer as a poll worker. Apparently, unless you have a name tag on election day, no one listens to anything you tell them. Oh well, I tried...
Have you voted yet? If not, go vote right now. I'll wait....
Ok, welcome back. I hope you didn't have to wait in line for too long. I've heard some crazy stories about long waiting times for early voting, so I'm guessing today will be no different. I just waited 45 minutes to vote in New York and New York isn't even a contested state. It was an interesting experience though.
I waited outside for about 20 minutes before getting to the front door of my polling place. As I walked in, a poll worker looked at my election card (They mailed out cards with your polling location, election district, congressional district, etc.) and told me to stand in a specific line. I walked over to the line and was confused. The sign hanging on the booth at the front of the line said "14th Election District" but my card said "49th Election District." My congressional district, however, was listed as 14. Hmm... I turned around and asked the elderly lady behind me which district she was in. She showed me her card and it said "40th Election District, 14th Congressional District." Ok, so we were both in the 14th Congressional District, but the sign clearly said Election District. So I turned to the woman in front of me and asked her. She was also assigned to the 14th Congressional, but a different Election District. I asked them to hold my place in line and I walked back to the entrance.
I asked the poll worker at the door, "Just to be clear, we're supposed to wait in lines based on Election District, right? Not Congressional District?"
"Yes, that's correct. Oh no, have I been sending people to the wrong lines again?"
No wonder people have been standing in such long lines, the poll workers are incompetent. I walked back over to my place in line and told the ladies that we were in the wrong line. The woman in front of me thanked me and switched lines. The old lady behind me said she was staying put. I tried to explain to her how the lines worked and pointed to the 40 on her card, but she wouldn't budge. I'm guessing that as an elderly black woman, she was an easy target for voter manipulation and/or suppression. Someone probably told her not to listen to anyone but trusted sources... so she ignored me. I did my best to announce to the whole room that they should be in line based on Election District and not any other number on their card. I saw one or two people switch lines, but more people acted like I wasn't there.
I went over to the line for the 49th Election District and waited there. I moved pretty quickly up to the table, signed the book, got my registered voter card, and moved over to the line for the voting booth. We were supposed to sign the book, get our cards, and go right into the booth, but only one of the two machines for my district was working. This created a bottleneck, so we had to form a second line to wait for the machine.
As I stood there, another poll worker was directing people to their district lines and kept sending the good people of the 49th Election District to the back of my line. Each time a new person would walk up, I would ask them if they've been up to the table to get their Registered Voter card yet. They would each look at me blankly until I held up the card. "Do you have one of these yet? No? Ok, then you need to wait in that line."
People were pretty skeptical of me then too, but my prop helped convince them. After struggling with a couple of people, the woman in front of me in line joined the good fight and helped me direct people to the correct place. After doing this four or five times, I went over to the poll worker and told her that she was directing people to the wrong line. She thanked me, but generally ignored me and kept doing what she was doing.
All this time, I kept an eye on the old lady from my first line and, as I was about to get to my voting booth, I saw them direct her to the correct line that I had tried to show her 20 minutes earlier. I felt kind of bad for her for having to wait twice, but her second line was far more efficient than mine, and she ended up voting before me.
I eventually got to the booth and cast my vote. From start to finish, it took only 45 minutes. It could have been a lot worse. But that being said, it could have been a lot better. I'm sorry that I didn't take the day off to volunteer as a poll worker. Apparently, unless you have a name tag on election day, no one listens to anything you tell them. Oh well, I tried...
Monday, November 03, 2008
MLS news
Apparently this is old news, (almost a week) but somehow I missed it.Freddie Ljungberg is the latest aging European soccer star to come to the MLS. He was the Swedish captain until he retired after Euro 2008 and his last club team was West Ham United. Now he's coming to America to play for Seattle.
He may be past his prime, but I'm all for players retiring from Europe and coming to America. The MLS can use them.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Palin prank call
"MONTREAL - In an over-the-top accent, one half of a notorious Quebec comedy duo claims to be the president of France as he describes sex with his famous wife, the joy of killing animals and Hustler magazine's latest Sarah Palin porno spoof.
At the other end of the line? An oblivious Sarah Palin.
The Masked Avengers, a radio pairing notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state, notched its latest victory Saturday when it released a recording of a six-minute call with Palin, who thought she was talking with Nicolas Sarkozy.
Throughout the call, which was making the rounds in U.S. political circles by day's end Saturday, Palin and the pranksters discuss politics, pundits, and the perils of going hunting with Vice-President Dick Cheney.
"We have such great respect for you, John McCain and I, we love you," Palin gushes, evidently unaware she's speaking to an infamous Quebec comedian named Marc-Antoine Audette.
At one point, Palin even comes close to confirming her intention to one day run for president, when Audette slyly remarks he can see her taking over the big desk in the Oval office."
Youtube link
Transcript with context of the names and french
Congratulations University of Michigan
Well, it's official, Michigan is going to have its first losing season since 1967. At 2-7 this week, Michigan is looking pretty darn embarrassing. But congratulations Michigan, you've learned a little something from the Bush administration. When someone in charge screws up really badly, you reward them. Michigan did just that. Despite leading his team to utter failure, Rich Rodriguez, Michigan's head coach, has been given a 6-year, $15 million contract."Richie, you're doing a heck of a job"
Who knew Halloween in New York was so crazy
Last night we went down to the village to celebrate Halloween and discovered that we weren't the only ones with that plan. Apparently 2,000,000 other people did the same thing and 60,000 people marched in the Halloween parade. It was utter madness, but it was a lot of fun.
Here's a (somewhat crappy quality) video of the 25th annual Thriller dance:
Molly and I went as Bristol and Levi. We had a plastic Trig, but I'm not sure where he was when this picture was taken. At one point, we posed with a stranger dressed as Sarah Palin and we took a family picture. If I can figure out who's camera it's on, I'll put it up here.
Here's a (somewhat crappy quality) video of the 25th annual Thriller dance:
Molly and I went as Bristol and Levi. We had a plastic Trig, but I'm not sure where he was when this picture was taken. At one point, we posed with a stranger dressed as Sarah Palin and we took a family picture. If I can figure out who's camera it's on, I'll put it up here.
Shameless plug: The Funeralogues
Even though only about 25% of my blog's traffic comes from people in New York, I still want to take this opportunity to plug Molly's latest show and encourage people to go.The Funeralogues is one woman's comedic journey into the known and unknown.
Created in collaboration between Stacy Mayer and New York playwright Robert Charles Gompers, The Funeralogues examines the words and lives behind eulogies. The evening draws inspiration from real life eulogies by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to the more humorous eulogy a six year old imparts for her headless Barbie. The audience is drawn further into the parlor as Stacy shares her experiences of wandering through the services of total strangers. Find out the not so certain answers to the uneasy questions we all ask including, "What will they say at my funeral?" and "Does this dress make me look fat?"
The Funeralogues premiered at Emerging Artsists Theatre's One Woman Standing Festival in 2007 and later appeared in the Director's Company Katherine & Friends Festival. It is now enjoying a 6 week limited engagement at All Souls Chapel in New York City.
The Funeralogues
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