The Hackenblog

“Tim DeChristopher announced Wednesday afternoon that he would pay the U.S. Bureau of Land Management $45,000 to hold the 13 lease parcels he won in a Dec. 19 sale. His aim is to fend off drilling at least until President-elect Barack Obama takes office and new officials are in charge of the federal Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management.

“‘This would be the most effective way of ensuring we could protect the land at least until the new administration came in,’ DeChristopher said.

“The 27-year-old economics major faces possible federal felony charges after winning bids totaling about $1.8 million on 13 lease parcels that he admitted he had neither the intention nor the money to pay for.

“But since committing what he called an act of civil disobedience, DeChristopher has heard from hundreds of individuals around the country willing to chip in to keep drill rigs off the land and DeChristopher out of prison.

“So far, would-be benefactors have pledged $14,000, he said. ($14,050 now)

“DeChristopher, his lawyers and other advisers reckoned that if there were a specific reason for the fundraising, rather than just an ill-defined defense fund, enough money would roll in to allow him to write a $45,000 check to the BLM within the next couple of weeks.”
Land auction monkeywrencher has a new plan: Fundraising. DeChristopher hopes to run out the clock, by Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake Tribune, December 31, 2008

Tim DeChristopher Legal Defense and Land Paying For Fund. Totally worth it.

Disrupter of Wickedness Stupidity bushco:

“Just before Christmas, an economics student in Utah figured out a way to help the environment by messing up the mechanics of an auction. The Bush administration had Bureau of Land Management auction offer a last minute auction to sell off 150,000 acres near Arches National Park.

“Tim DeChristopher, 27, just started bidding when the government tried to auction off the land. That threw a wrench into the whole auction. He went home — after a brief visit with police — owning 22,000 acres of land and owing $1.7 million. But he also pushed the price up for oil developers. So much so that the whole auction results are now in question. The AP says buyers were given 10 days to decide if they paid too much. I don’t think that offer applies to DeChristopher himself. They may have to have a do-over for the whole auction — but that would be under the Obama administration.”

~snip~

“DeChristopher didn’t start off his day hoping to stand in the way of Bush’s last minute sale to the oil industry. Instead, he went to his scheduled final exam. …one of his exam questions was whether this very auction was fair since only the oil companies were bidding. That got him thinking.

“DeChristopher went straight from the test to the auction. He passed the protesters and went inside, wanting to do something more, but not knowing what. Then a woman asked him: ‘Are you here to bid?’ That gave him the idea.

“Patrick Shea, who is representing DeChristopher, says that when he ran the BLM under President Clinton he required bidders to show they could afford their purchases. The lack of a requirement was part of the “rush” of the Bush administration to sell the land before leaving office, Shea says. It looks like once again deregulation has not turned out to be the capitalist’s best friend.”

~snip~

“DeChristopher says the most surprising thing was that he bought some of the land at $2.25 an acre. ‘That’s shocking — that we can sacrifice our public lands for as little as $2.25 an acre.’ There is some talk of environmental groups buying DeChristopher’s land. His first payment of $45,000 was due Monday.”
The hero auction wrecker, by Carol Vinzant, WalletPop, December 30, 2008 (more on Mr. DeChristopher)

If there’s a legal defense fund for my new hero, Tim DeChristopher, I’d like to toss a few bucks his way. What a guy!

By the way, what’s the deal with no money down auctions of public land, bushco? Don’t you jerks know that even housing auctions require a $5K cashiers check to even get in the door? Serves you creeps right.

Advantage DeChristopher! Sorry about the legal problems, dude, where can I send a check?

Update 123108: “Tim DeChristopher announced Wednesday afternoon that he would pay the U.S. Bureau of Land Management $45,000 to hold the 13 lease parcels he won in a Dec. 19 sale. His aim is to fend off drilling at least until President-elect Barack Obama takes office and new officials are in charge of the federal Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management.

“‘This would be the most effective way of ensuring we could protect the land at least until the new administration came in,’ DeChristopher said.

“The 27-year-old economics major faces possible federal felony charges after winning bids totaling about $1.8 million on 13 lease parcels that he admitted he had neither the intention nor the money to pay for.

“But since committing what he called an act of civil disobedience, DeChristopher has heard from hundreds of individuals around the country willing to chip in to keep drill rigs off the land and DeChristopher out of prison.

“So far, would-be benefactors have pledged $14,000, he said. ($14,050 now)

“DeChristopher, his lawyers and other advisers reckoned that if there were a specific reason for the fundraising, rather than just an ill-defined defense fund, enough money would roll in to allow him to write a $45,000 check to the BLM within the next couple of weeks.”
Land auction monkeywrencher has a new plan
Fundraising. DeChristopher hopes to run out the clock, by Patty Henetz, The Salt Lake Tribune, December 31, 2008

Tim DeChristopher Legal Defense and Land Paying For Fund

Agency auctions off moral high ground, by J. Scott Christianson, Columbia Tribune, December 30, 2008

Another good Tim DeChristopher story, more details.

There’s a blog that keeps and eye on Mrs. Obama’s fashion. Although it also seems to also be about First Lady fashion, it’s mainly about Mrs O.

A pal gave me some Obama water the other day. You can buy it in 711s here in LA. Sorry for the bad photography, but it’s a very nice photo on the bottle.

Another view after the jump.
(more…)

“While modification advocates say it is better for investors to accept a lower rate of return rather than nothing, bondholders don’t see much benefit if modifications just delay an inevitable foreclosure.

“Moreover, some securitizations prohibit modifications, as is the case with the pool containing the Goldrick mortgage. Such clauses are meant to protect bondholders — sometimes a hedge fund, sometimes a pension fund — who have been guaranteed a certain return.

“So even though the Goldricks could afford to stay in their home if the interest rate was 6.5 percent, and the bondholders would benefit by continuing to receive income on the loan rather than have it stuck in foreclosure, the servicer of the loan — Saxon — cannot budge.”

See, I have never understood why it’s legal to sell mortgages or other kinds of debt/loan. A loan is a risk, a fairly well researched one, and, in my mind, a risk should stay with the institution that placed the bet—I mean issued the loan, yeah, loan. That’s naïve, you say? Well then, okay, but I really understand moral hazard now.

“The Goldricks took out a $375,000 mortgage in 2005, when they refinanced a previous mortgage on their 1,800-square-foot (167-square-meter) house in semirural Hampton Bays, some 90 miles east of New York city.

“At first, the interest rate was 6.5 percent and the monthly payment was $2,370. After two years, it rose to 9.5 percent and suddenly the payment of $3,850 was beyond the means of a family living off Patrick Goldrick’s salary as a cable guy.”
How one family’s mortgage is linked to meltdown, Reuters, December 29, 2008

$2,370/month for a $375,000 mortgage for a one-income family? Man, how much do cable guys make?

Well, anyway, I wish the Goldricks all the best and hope they work it out. They really are between a rock and a hard place and it’s not all their mortgage’s fault, but getting some help on that would sure help in other areas. I don’t know about anyone else, but I can’t function when my home is in flux. (Unless that’s part of the plan, which is seldom.)

When did bankers get so stupid? I remember reading in the 80s that banks were in trouble and would be the next meltdown because bankers had ceased to be cautious, intelligent, responsible pillars of the community and had become financial idiots. Never mind Wall Street, they’ve always been in their own class. Previously and usually the good citizens of our country were protected from those wolves, simply because working people just didn’t have enough money to be interesting to those wolves. No more, folks!

Greed makes you stupid.

That could be one of those sampler things. If only I could sew.

“Once one of the largest Jewish communities in the Middle East, Baghdad Jews have now nearly vanished while the country has been consumed by sectarian war.”

~snip~

“Iraq’s Jewish community dates from biblical times. According to Charles Tripp’s History of Iraq, the country was home to 117,000 Jews in 1947.”
Reminiscences of old Baghdad by one of last Jews, Reuters, November 9, 2008

I didn’t know there were any Jews left in Baghdad.

“TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – Teens who skip breakfast as middle school students tend to have sex at an earlier age than those who start the day with a proper meal, a government-backed Japanese medical researcher said on Friday.”

~snip~

“The average age of first-time sex for those who said they ate breakfast every day as a middle school student was 19.4, while for those who skipped breakfast, the average age was 17.5.”
Japan teens skipping breakfast have sex younger, Reuters, December 26, 2008

Considering how young kids start gettin’ it on in the US of A, 17.5 sounds very mature to me. But I think the US needs a study like this. It could lead to state funded breakfasts from K-12 nationwide!

Film Drunk’s Trippiest Video of 2008. And, yes, there’s more at the link.

Very disturbing, but you’ll be able to say you saw it here.

Hey, why not?

“I write today to raise an issue of the utmost significance — the Administration’s use of torture against detainees held in U.S. custody. Despite widespread condemnation from Members of Congress, policy experts, and human rights advocates, Vice President Richard Cheney stated in a recent interview with ABC News that the torture policies used against detainees were appropriate and admitted that he played a role in their authorization. In fact, when asked if any of the tactics — including waterboarding — went too far, he responded with a curt ‘I don’t.’

“I find Vice President Cheney’s response deplorable, particularly in light of a recent report released by the Senate Armed Services Committee following an eighteen-month investigation. In sum, the bipartisan report found that ’senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees.’ The report, led by Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, concluded that ‘those efforts damaged our ability to collect accurate intelligence that could save lives, strengthened the hand of our enemies, and compromised our moral authority.’ I fully support Chairman Levin’s proposal for an outside Commission with subpoena power to investigate this matter further.”
Senator Boxer Calls for Hearings on the Use of Torture, December 19, 2008

Let us hope this does not lead to last minute prophylactic pardons. Of course, bush is so insane, he probably thinks they’ll all get Nobel Peace Prizes when they leave D.C. Criminal activities? What criminal activities?

On the other hand, Senator Boxer and your Senate colleagues, where have you been keeping this demand all these years? Better late than never, I guess.

Is it January 20, 2009 yet?

Oh, I might dream a thousand dreams

But how can they come true?

When there will never ever be another you?

Eartha Kitt 1927-2008

She rocked everything she did, so being the best Catwoman ever was probably a breeze for her and lucky for us.

Rest in peace, Ms. Kitt. I’ll miss you, but we’ll always have this:

No one before or since has but so much into the word “daddy,” and a grateful world salutes you.

And also C’est Si Bon.

“Barrack Obama has just under a month until he’s sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, and so before that he’s taking a two week vacation in Hawaii, as seen here, in pictures from CelebBuzz. Say what you will about his policies, but he is probably the only sitting President who could dance for tips if he had to, so I guess that counts for something.”
President Hunk, WWTDD, December 22, 2008

I wonder how long Obama will look like that. The Presidency takes a terrible physical toll in everyone who holds that office.

Of course the prison guard unions would hate it, but the libertarians would love it. They’ve been saying this for years.

“I’ve been using my trial membership in Netflix to watch the Showtime series Weed, about a suburban housewife who starts dealing pot to keep her household afloat. As the economy tanks, this has caused me to wonder if changing our approach to marijuana could free up enough money to help offset our state budget shortfalls.

“A study done in June of 2005 by Jeffrey Miron, a Visiting Professor of Economics at Harvard, investigated just this question. He concluded that the annual cost of enforcing current weed prohibition was around $7.7 billion, split about 2/3 to the states and 1/3 to the federal government. (The Office of National Drug Control Policy does not agree with Miron’s conclusions.)

“Miron further concluded that, if the drug were legalized, it could yield an annual tax revenue of $2.4 billion if the tax matched prevailing sales taxes, and $6.2 billion if it were taxed at the rate of alcohol or tobacco. I suspect that many farmers would also appreciate having another cash crop to bolster their income.

“Adding the two figures together, Miron conjectures legalization could improve our nation’s balance sheet by $14 billion annually.”
State budget crisis – time to kick the potheads out of prison? by Tom Barlow, WalletPop, December 22, 2008

$14B is nothing to cough at. And it would bail out Philip Morris or Altira or whatever it calls itself now and their tobacco farmers in a big way. They could just switch to hemp production – smoke some, make paper and whatnot out of some – and hopefully not put too many chemicals in the final product. Yes, I know pot will never be legalized and mass produced, but a girl can dream, can’t I?

(Yes, I know there are problems with pot smoking, mainly that it’s illegal, but if you swap lung damage for liver damage, pot’s about the same damage as liquor, which is legal. Full disclose: I am not a canibis expert by a longshot.)

Oily Boy – the new Japanese fashion magazine for mature men.

“‘Oily Boy’ is the actual nickname of the late Jiro Shirasu, once the coolest guy in Japan.

“Tall, rich and movie-star handsome, Shirasu was educated at Cambridge University, where he drove a Bentley. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, his excellent English and smooth demeanor helped when he was called on to negotiate the terms of the U.S. occupation with Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

“Shirasu was one of the first Japanese men of substance to allow himself to be photographed while hanging out in jeans. He owned and often tinkered with fine automobiles. On social occasions, his pants and shirts were sometimes stained with oil.

“‘That kind of man never forgets the ‘boy’ in him,’ says the OilyBoy Declaration, which can be found in the magazine’s first edition. ‘The boys became not adults, but ‘elder boys.’ And that is why we cry out loud: We are Oily Boys.’”

~snip~

“With 22 percent of the population already older than 65 (compared with about 12 percent in the United States), and with the old predicted to outnumber the young 4 to 1 by 2040, Japanese retailers, marketers and publishers are all trying to tease more purchases out of the elderly.”
Fashion Guidance for Aging Japanese Lads. Slick Magazine Entices Young-at-Heart ‘Elder Boys’ to Trade a Little Cash for a Lot of Cool, by Blaine Harden, Washington Post, December 17, 2008-12-21

I can certainly wait for the elder lad fashion mag to get here.

“I’m going to guess that the reason why there are so few female writers at Marvel and DC is because editors aren’t approaching them to invite them to pitch ideas. I’m also going to take another shot in the dark and guess that female writers aren’t approaching Marvel and DC editors in order to pitch ideas to them.

“The audience? Has nothing to do with it. Both male and female writers are perfectly capable of reaching any particular audience. There are a large number of male writers churning out soap opera scripts for predominately female viewers. I’m sure there are quite a few female writers who could crank out a popular Batman story.

“If Marvel and DC editors actually care about hiring more female writers, they should take a close look at the industry in order to see which women writers are producing material that appeals to the current superhero audience. And then they should approach those women and ask them to pitch ideas. And they should do it just as often and for the exact same projects as they approach male writers for. Who do superhero fans respond to? Which female creators (from any industry) do they speak highly of? Which female authors specialize in action/adventure sagas? Find out and go contact them.

“It’s not that difficult. Really.

“Finally, after you approach these women, make sure that they ‘get’ superhero comics. They have to understand the common tropes and the way that superhero universes and stories operate. Don’t grab an author who has spent her entire life writing love stories for teenage girls, pair her with a terrible artist, plunk her down on a Revanche miniseries and then throw your hands up in the air and proclaim women can’t sell superhero comics when nobody buys it! One, you hired someone who has no idea how to reach the superhero audience. Two, you gave the writer an unpopular character to work with. Three, you saddled her with a terrible artist.”
Where the girls aren’t, Digital Femme, December 20, 2008

No, really, maybe female comics writers should start blogging or put their superhero (and other) scripts online. If the story got a following or a scandal or some kind of buzz, it might get the attention of some editor at the Big Two. Y’know, if I liked a script online enough to follow it, I’d certainly start bugging the Big Two to make a comic out of it. But I’m funny that way.

Hey, why not? Beats waiting around for the phone to ring.

“In a surprise move, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown asked the California Supreme Court on Friday to invalidate Proposition 8. He said the November ballot measure that banned gay marriage ‘deprives people of the right to marry, an aspect of liberty that the Supreme Court has concluded is guaranteed by the California Constitution.’

“It is the attorney general’s duty to defend the state’s laws, and after gay rights activists filed legal challenges to Proposition 8, which amended the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, Brown said he planned to defend the proposition as enacted by the people of California.

“But after studying the matter, Brown concluded that ‘Proposition 8 must be invalidated because the amendment process cannot be used to extinguish fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification.’”
Jerry Brown: Gay-marriage ban should be invalidated. Brown says the November ballot measure that banned gay marriage “deprives people of the right to marry, an aspect of liberty that the Supreme Court has concluded is guaranteed by the California Constitution.’ By Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2008

See, that’s what I think: Constitutions are for what you can do, your rights, not what you can’t do, which is the purview of the legal system, religion and parents of minors.

Good for you, Jerry Brown. And thanks. I keep saying this isn’t my fight, but it’s really everyone’s fight. You know what Ghandi said: “A civilization can be judged by the way it treats its minorities.” We might be broke in California, but we can still be good people.

“The group representing the U.S. recording industry said Friday it has abandoned its policy of suing people for sharing songs protected by copyright and will work with Internet service providers to cut abusers’ access if they ignore repeated warnings.

“The move ends a controversial program that saw the Recording Industry Assn. of America sue about 35,000 people since 2003 for swapping songs online. Because of high legal costs for defenders, virtually all of those hit with lawsuits settled, on average for around $3,500. The association’s legal costs, in the meantime, exceeded the settlement money it brought in.

“The association said Friday that it stopped sending out new lawsuits and warnings in August, and then agreed with several leading Internet service providers, without naming which ones, to notify alleged illegal file-sharers and cut off service if they failed to stop.

“It credited the lawsuit campaign with raising awareness of piracy and keeping the number of illegal file-sharers in check while the legal market for digital music took off. With two weeks left in the year, legitimate sales of digital music tracks soared for the first time past the 1 billion mark, up 28% over all of last year, according to Nielsen Soundscan.”
Music industry stops suing song swappers. The RIAA shifts its anti-piracy efforts to working with Internet service providers to cut abusers’ access, LA Times, December 19, 2008

Hmmm….

I’m 32.4% less cool than swanksalot. I’m surprised I got that close.

Another wacky film list. I should make one.

Film Addict
You are 57.2% addicted.
Your friend, swanksalot, is 89.6% addicted.
Too bad. You better get watching!
Here’s how I stacked up. It’s interesting the films we both didn’t see.
Send this link to another friend so they can compare:
http://plutor.org/filmaddict/?f=q95csf3p

I have a hard time dragging myself out to see a movie. Thank God for Netflix.

Update 122008: Joseph E. Lowery. Well, okay, but Obama, don’t scare a middle aged woman like that.

Rick Warren to speak at Obama’s first inauguration.

Let me understand this: the Democrats did win this election, didn’t we?

I mean, supposedly the Democrats stand for tolerance, fairness, equality, and suchlike, and Rick Warren doesn’t. So why is he speaking at the inauguration and not someone more, well, like the guy we elected President? Or is Obama really like…oh my God, stop, stop, just stop!

Update: I take it back, WP 2.7 is not ew. The post dater is built in now. Yay!

Please ignore this:

I’m not liking it at all. And this wonderful plugin no longer works:

Pre Date Future Post

You’ve no idea how handy that plugin has been. Or was. Oh well.

Sad, very sad.

Oh, and I couldn’t update the Wapshott Press because the upgrade wouldn’t recognize my html in the templates. Very irritating since I was able to simply reinstall the same theme for the Hackenblog and it all worked like a charm. Weird, too.

Courtesy of Logan

“Supposedly if you’ve seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put X’s next to the films you’ve seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.”

Movie Buffs have no Life:

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
(X) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X ) Airplane
Total: 7
(more…)

“Friends:

“As you may have heard, over the past several weeks I was in discussions with President-Elect Barack Obama concerning a possible nomination to serve as the next United States Trade Representative. After some careful consideration I have decided to continue my service as your representative in Congress. I have invested sixteen rewarding years serving you in the House of Representatives, and I am grateful for that privilege. I now see a rare opportunity to push across the goal line much of the unfinished business of America: investing in our infrastructure and our workers, universal healthcare, comprehensive immigration reform, and scrubbing a tax code that’s out of shape and behind the times.

“Working for and with incoming President Barack Obama would be an opportunity of a lifetime. I will get to experience that thrill… by working by his side in the People’s House just down the street from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“This morning I discussed my decision with KPCC’s Larry Mantle. You can listen to an MP3 recording of the interview by clicking here.

“I deeply appreciate all the support you’ve given me over the years and I look forward to continuing to serve as your voice in Washington.

“The clock is ticking; I’m ready to go!

“Sincerely,

“XAVIER BECERRA
Member of Congress”

I was going to miss having him as my Rep, but now I won’t have to!

Bolero with an orchestra (don’t recall a choir in the score, but it’s been a while [and fire! yay!]):

Bolero with Zappa (smoking while conducting):

I like Bolero even though it’s not much of a piece. I like the Mother Goose Suite a lot better.

Bush is like Hitler to those people. Don’t forget Poland. Different decade, different location, same sick insanity of one man with too much power and no decent people anywhere near him. Old dog, still hunts.

But here they are:

“* In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
* In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
* In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
* In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
* In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
* In three to nine months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
* In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
* In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
* In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
* In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.”
What Happens to Your body if you stop smoking Right now?, Healthbolt, July 19, 2006

This is what I love about Christmas.

“The Compton Sheriff’s Station, with the assistance of the City of Compton, local community organizations, churches and businesses, will host a firearm surrender program for the holidays.

“The program will provide a unique opportunity for area residents to safely surrender any firearm, completely anonymously and without questions asked, to Sheriff’s personnel in exchange for a $100 holiday gift card ($200 for assault weapons) to Best Buy, Target, Home Depot or Ralphs Grocery. The location will be in operation on Saturday, November 29th, Sunday, November 30th Saturday December, 6th and Sunday December, 7th to facilitate the exchanges.”
LASD Press Advisory , Compton Station, November 29, 2008

Do…do other cities do this kind of thing? Or is it unique to Los Angeles? (ABC.com coverage, the comments are WTF bizarre.)

“While Hirsch chose to use a champagne bottle and waterfall to illustrate how credit card receivables became asset backed bonds. I feel that a trough and pack of wild hogs would have worked out just as well, though it would have been harder to draw!

“This is only one of the videos in the Marketplace’s collection of Whiteboard videos explaining our current economic situation. Other topics in the series include short selling, defaults, margins and the fallout surrounding a financial crisis. These short informational videos are an excellent way to gain a better understanding of what’s happening in our economy without needing your own personal economist.”
The idiot’s guide to why the credit card crisis is next, by Josh Smith, WalletPop, December 7, 2008

This isn’t just insane, it’s fucking insane. Has debt always been sold as an asset? This is a good explanation of what’s probably coming down the road. We never needed tougher bankruptcy laws. However, we’ve needed laws to leash the credit card companies for decades.

I’ve never understood why the health of the economy was measured in housing starts and consumer spending. If I ran the circus, it would be measured by employment and savings.

But I don’t run circus.

“Give without Giving This Holiday Season

“In economic downturn consumers turn to Yahoo-powered search engine and online shopping mall to both save money and generate funds for their favorite nonprofits.

“ASPCA has earned more than $22,000!

“Los Angeles, CA, December, 2008 – With the economy slipping, charities across the nation are bracing themselves for declining contributions this holiday season.

“While individuals still want to support their favorite cause, they may not have the time or the money to do so. There is a solution. More than 70,000 nonprofits have partnered with a new Yahoo-powered search engine called GoodSearch.com, and online shopping mall GoodShop.com to enable their supporters to generate donations just by doing something they do everyday – search the Internet or shop online. What makes the system so compelling is that it doesn’t cost the users a thing. It’s a form of philanthropy that works for everyone in this tough economy!”
WebFind: GoodShop.com, Notebookism, December 5, 2008

I know where I’ll be from now on: GoodSearch.com The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is on the huge, really big huge, list of charities if you needed more incentive to use this search engine. (No, I haven’t forgotten that Yahoo took Yes on 8 ads [so did Google], maybe this is their atonement for that, except this started in 2006. Who knows? It’s still a great idea.)

Or rather: The Mayerson linkage on the subject continues:

“In a history-making presidential election that energized voters, California’s 12 state ballot propositions generated high interest as well. Eight in 10 voters (81%) report that they followed news about the measures at least fairly closely, and a solid majority (63%) say they were most interested in Proposition 8. The survey, which polled 2,003 voters from November 5–16, finds these differences between Proposition 8 supporters and opponents:

“* Evangelical or born-again Christians (85%) were far more likely than others (42%) to vote yes.
“* Three in four Republicans (77%) voted yes, two in three Democrats (65%) voted no, and independents were more closely divided (52% yes, 48% no).
“* Supporters of Republican presidential candidate John McCain were far more likely than those who backed President-elect Barack Obama to vote yes (85% vs. 30%).
“* Latinos (61%) were more likely than whites (50%) to vote yes; and 57 percent of Latinos, Asians, and blacks combined voted yes. (Samples sizes for Asians and blacks are too small to report separately.)
“* Voters without a college degree (62%) were far more likely than college graduates (43%) to vote yes.
“* While most voters (65%) consider the outcome of Proposition 8 to be very important, the measure’s supporters (74%) are far more likely than those who voted no (59%) to view the outcome as very important.

“When voters are asked the separate question of whether they favor or oppose same-sex marriage, they are divided, with 47 percent in favor, 48 percent opposed, and 5 percent unsure—a result consistent with responses in the October PPIC pre-election survey.”
Post-Election Survey: Proposition 8 Results Expose Deep Rifts Over Same-Sex Marriage. Partisan Divide Also Emerges in Votes on High-Speed Rail, Abortion Restrictions, and Redistricting, Public Policy Institute of California, December 3, 2008 (via)

“He (Archbishop George Niederauer) expressed the desire to clarify his role in the passage of the proposition, faced to the media’s speculations about the involvement of the Catholic bishops in California.

“The prelate explained that the California Catholic Conference urged Catholics to contribute work and resources for the passage of Proposition 8, along with other referendums. He stated: ‘The Archdiocese of San Francisco did not donate or transfer any archdiocesan funds to the campaign in favor of Proposition 8.

“‘As far as I know, that is also true of other Catholic dioceses in California. The archdiocese did pay, and appropriately disclose, printing and distribution of flyers to parishes.’

“The archbishop reported that he had approached leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) whom he knew from his 11 years as bishop of Salt Lake City, and who ‘were already considering an involvement in connection with Proposition 8.’

“He affirmed, ‘I did write to them and they urged the members of their Church, especially those in California, to become involved.’

“The prelate continued, ‘It is important to point out here that a wide range of churches became active in favor of Proposition 8: In addition to Catholics and [Latter-day Saint] members, evangelical Protestant churches and churches with many African-American members joined the effort, and, among the Orthodox churches, the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of San Francisco and three other Orthodox bishops signed and published a joint statement in favor of Proposition 8.’”
Archbishop Niederauer on California Marriage Amendment, Zenit News Agency, December 5, 2008 (via)

“In December 2005, John and Furnish tied the knot in a civil partnership ceremony in Windsor, England. But, clarified the singer, ‘We’re not married. Let’s get that right. We have a civil partnership. What is wrong with Proposition 8 is that they went for marriage. Marriage is going to put a lot of people off, the word marriage.’

“John and Furnish, and their two cocker spaniels, Marilyn and Arthur, were in town for Tuesday’s annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

“‘I don’t want to be married. I’m very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership,’ John says. ‘The word ‘marriage,’ I think, puts a lot of people off.

“‘You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships.’”
Elton John: Where Prop 8 went wrong, by Donna Freydkin, USA Today, November 13, 2008 (Also: Let’s be civil. Gay people shouldn’t worry too much about Proposition 8. Marriage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.) (via)

“Leaders of the California Legislature and members of its gay and lesbian caucus have introduced measures supporting the repeal of Proposition 8, the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage approved by voters last month.

“While the resolutions have no force of law, they would put the state’s lawmakers on record in support of legal arguments, made by gay rights activists and officials from San Francisco and several other cities, that the measure was a revision of the state Constitution and not a simple amendment.”
State lawmakers weigh in on Prop. 8, by Wyatt Buchanan, SF Chronicle Sacramento Bureau, December 3, 2008 (via)

Whoa, San Francisco’s own Archbishop worked really hard to get Prop H8 passed. And brought the Mormons into it. Go figure that. Maybe familiarity does breed contempt.

I think all civil marriage should be called civil partnerships and leave marriage, sorry, Marriage, with the churches. As in separation of church and state. Much neater all the way around. And that is what the churches really want. Yes, I know they want to deny anyone else’s authority on marriage, so take it completely out of the marriage arena. I wonder if anyone is collecting signatures to put a proposition on the ballot to move marriage out of the state of California’s legal language and replace it with civil partnership. I’d sign for something like that.

Update: Also these I forgot to put in:

Special Investigation: Prop. 8 Postmortem

and

“Until the final days, the campaign failed to take advantage of the backing of every major newspaper in the state, as well as that of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former President Bill Clinton and future President Barack Obama. In one bizarre episode, an outside consultant was forced to ‘jackhammer’ the campaign leadership simply to convince them to make use of a robo-call from Bill Clinton. The campaign also rejected a Spanish-language ad featuring Dolores Huerta, a heroine of the United Farm Workers union.”
Same-Sex Setback

Idiots.