Conservative blogs and commenters are exulting. "Finally, an intellectually honest feminist!", crows the first commenter on the linked post. Some news outlets are mistakenly saying that LA NOW has endorsed Palin, prompting the state organization to shout that Mandell was not authorized to speak on behalf on NOW and that the McCain/Palin campaign deliberately "misrepresented" her as speaking for NOW. (Imagine that.)
Patty Bellasalma: "As President of California NOW and as a member and officer of Los Angeles NOW, I can assure you that there is no local or state affiliate of NOW, including LA NOW, which endorses or supports the McCain/Palin ticket. John McCain and Sarah Palin oppose many of the rights and freedoms we have fought for throughout NOW's 42 years, and we will not be pushed back to the days of back-alley abortions, forced pregnancies, and pay discrimination without remedy. Nor will we let the media distractions deter our members and activists from our organizing for freedom and equality for all women, putting our hopes and our dreams, our hard work and our hard-earned money, behind a proven team for women: the next President of the United States â€" Barack Obama â€" and his running mate, longtime friend and ally of women, Sen. Joe Biden With equal ferocity we will fight to protect young women by defeating Proposition 4 and to keep bigotry and discrimination out of our state constitution by defeating Proposition 8 here in California."
After Mandell's introduction, Palin went into her now-standard "Obama runs with terrorists" schtick. I'm wondering how the fuck Mandell got to be president of LA NOW. As Jen Graves says, "Revoke her vagina!"
Set your phasers on "fail." An American version of Absolutely Fabulous is coming to Fox.Edina and Patsy are ready to take on L.A. Fox is developing a redo of Jennifer Saunders' enduring Britcom "Absolutely Fabulous," to be exec produced by Mitch Hurwitz, Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum for Sony Pictures TV, Tantamount and BBC Worldwide America.*My favorite AbFab line and it totally works for this post.
Christine Zander ("Saturday Night Live") is set to write the script and will exec produce along with the BBC's Ian Moffet and original series creator Saunders. Fox has given Sony a script order with hefty penalty attached.
The latest attempt at a U.S. rendition of "Ab Fab" will be transplanted to L.A. but retain the basic template of the original, revolving around the friendship of two boozy, over-40 best friends who are desperate to stay hip and youthful and who carry on under the disapproving eye of Edina's teenage daughter, Saffy.
More than a decade ago, Roseanne Barr worked on developing a U.S. version of the show with Carrie Fisher for ABC. CBS' 1995-98 Cybill Shepherd comedy "Cybill" had an "Ab Fab" flavor to it. Another short-lived 1995 sitcom, CBS' "High Society," starring Jean Smart and Mary McDonnell, was a thinly veiled imitation.
(Via - Gawker)
Here's a NYT graphic showing the relative heights of US presidents for the last hundred years. (Embiggening required.) Since 1900 the taller candidate has won 17 out of 24 times. McCain is 5'7", Obama is 6'1".Dubya did beat the taller Kerry, but we are so not counting his win over the taller Al Gore. If McCain were to win, he'd be the shortest president in 120 years and tied for second-shortest ever behind the 5'4" James Madison.
At 5'7" (and a HALF) myself, I usually resent these "taller man always wins" (the job, the game, the election) sort of stories. This one I can live with.
If you've been guilty of drunk mailing - sending regrettable emails while under the influence (and we've ALL done it) - Google has launched Mail Goggles, a user enabled program that forces you to solve a few math problems before sending late night emails. From the Gmail blog:Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send. Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together. Gmail can't always prevent you from sending messages you might later regret, but today we're launching a new Labs feature I wrote called Mail Goggles which may help. When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?Now they need to do something about drunk-blogging.
More backlash for Bloomie's third term attempt.
Saturday Night Live is working to get Sarah Palin to appear on the show before the election.If you’re among those who speculate that the only thing better than Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live†would be Sarah Palin making a cameo on the show, there might be hope yet. If the buzz is to be believed, the NBC show is working to get the vice-presidential candidate and Alaska governor on air before the election. Although “Saturday Night Live,†like many other shows, doesn’t comment specifically on bookings, a rep said, “There are always talks with the candidates' camps.â€A Palin-Fey face-off sounds potentially amusing, but I'd rather SNL stick to mocking her rather than honoring her with an invite.
There’s also some buzz about Palin making an appearance on “The View.†Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain have both made appearances, and “View†executive producer Bill Geddie says, “‘The View’ has established itself as a place to be seen for both the presidential and VP candidates, their wives and/or husbands and they all have an open invitation to appear on the show.’â€
I spent a few minutes last night watching Flickr's super-weird "rainbow and photo-vomiting panda", an image-streaming thingy in which the panda spits out photos as they are posted to Flickr. Kinda hypnotizing if you need to waste some time. Shrug.In a notice posted on its Web site, the California Department of Public Health says it is making the change because many couples still wanted the option of identifying themselves in traditional terms. When same-sex marriage became legal in the state on June 16, the health department issued new gender-neutral marriage forms with the words "Party A" and "Party B" where "bride" and "groom" used to be.Apparently same-sex couples will also be able to mark "bride" and "groom" if they choose, which should make for some amusing discussions.
The latest paperwork, which county clerks will be required to use starting Nov. 17, will have blank spaces for applicants' names and personal information next to the words "First Person Data" and "Second Person Data" and optional boxes for checking "bride" or "groom."
Because "bride" and "groom" appear in both sections, couples could check the same title twice to reflect a union between two men or two women. The health department also told county clerks that the designation of Groom or Bride is not required. But in the time since, state officials have looked for alternatives to satisfy couples who did not like the ring of "Party A" and "Party B," spokeswoman Suanne Buggy said Monday.
Last Friday one of the worst traffic jams in NYC history was created after the Lincoln Tunnel was closed due to suspicious bottles found glued to the traffic median. It was the third such incident in a month.During last Friday evening's rush hour, the discovery of two suspicious bottles filled with an unknown liquid and glued to the median forced Port Authority police to close down the Lincoln Tunnel for hours. Police records we've obtained show it was the third such incident in a month. The first one occurring four weeks ago, when someone placed "3 plastic heart shaped bottles" of an unknown liquid on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel. One bottle had a ''gray wire inside" and a message, "don't look at me." And then again last Wednesday, two "red sealed bottles were glued" near a lamp post. "I would say they're studying what's going on at the tunnel," said Paul Nunziato of the Port Authority P.B.A. "Because they've been able to do it, 7 bottles placed on one of the busiest roadways in the world and no one sees them no one caught an eye on them, including the cameras."Port Authority brass are publicly theorizing that terrorists may be testing the security of the tunnel and others complain that the tunnel has been completely unguarded by police during several recent overnight shifts. But while these bottle incidents are worrying, we've all been turned into terrorism cynics - even here in NYC - and many suspect that the Lincoln Tunnel story may be part of a coming flurry of false terror warnings, the much predicted "October Surprise" from the Bush administration.
Los Angeles County has been the venue of more same- sex marriages than any other California county since such unions were legalized in June, according to a study released today. The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law reported that 2,719 gay couples tied the knot in Los Angeles County, edging out San Francisco County's 2,708 same-sex marriages.There's no data on how many weddings were for out-of-state couples.
Five counties -- Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Riverside and Alameda -- account for 80 percent of the estimated 11,000 married same-sex couples statewide, according to the study. Researchers credited the counties' "large and visible" lesbian and gay populations, as well as the the fact that they make attractive tourist destinations for out-of-state couples wanting to get married.
Ticket scalpers profiting off the buzz created by the historic Bruce Springsteen/Billy Joel fundraiser appear to be breaking campaign finance laws. And fans who uns who use scalpers could be complicit.The above-linked story delves into the legal mumbo-jumbo about how federal campaign finance law is being broken by going through the scalpers, but I have a feeling the feds are a little too busy to notice right now.October 16th Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel will play a show at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom. This is the first time they have played together in this century. It's the night after the final presidential debate and the concert is a benefit for Barack Obama. Excitement about the show and "special guests" is skyrocketing. Obama himself is rumored to be scheduled to appear.
On Obama's Change Rocks website $500 balcony seats are already sold out. A premier seat costs $2,500. "Rocker seats" are $5,000 each, while a “lounge ticket†is $10,000. Buying these tickets is considered legally to be a contribution to Obama's campaign.
The first $2,300 of each contribution from an individual will be allocated to Obama for America and will be considered designated for the general election. The next $28,500 of each contribution from an individual will be allocated to the Democratic National Committee, per campaign finance laws.
As with any high demand event, scalpers are hawking tickets online. A sampling of Manhattan ticket agencies and Craigslist ads shows the balcony seats being scalped at prices ranging from $1,833 to $2,261 and floor seats for as much as $4,640. One Craigslist ad promises "the experience of a lifetime" for $25,000 a ticket. Considering $10,000 seats are still available, the mark up and its description seem rather extravagant.
Gwen Ifill went on Meet The Press on Sunday to talk about the VP debate, saying, "Conservatives used me to change the subject," referring to complaints about her upcoming book about Obama. She also loved being played by Queen Latifah on SNL.
The Washington Post reports on how Sarah Palin riled up the audience in Clearwater, Florida by bringing up Barack Obama's relationship to Bill Ayers, causing one man to shout "Kill him!" Palin did not react or admonish the man.At least McCain grimaced yesterday when someone in his audience called Obama a terrorist.It was time to revive the allegation, made over the weekend, that Obama "pals around" with terrorists, in this case Bill Ayers, late of the Weather Underground. Many independent observers say Palin's allegations are a stretch; Obama served on a Chicago charitable board with Ayers, now an education professor, and has condemned his past activities.
"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said.
"Boooo!" said the crowd.
"And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she continued.
"Boooo!" the crowd repeated.
"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.
Check out Advanced Style, a blog that captures some of the wonderfully attired seniors on the streets of New York City. Sashay, Bubbe.The clip explains it all.
Courtesy of the artist, this week's fab Swag Tuesday giftie is The Death Of The Paperboy, the new and fantastic double CD by superstar remixer/DJ Rich Morel.If you've been to a dance club this century, you've shaken your groove thing to Morel's chart-topping remixes for Cyndi Lauper, Yoko Ono, Depeche Mode, The Killers, Pet Shop Boys, New Order and numerous others. And many of you will know Morel for Blowoff, the wildly popular gay dance party that he has been touring around the nation with co-DJ Bob Mould (aka the godfather of punk). Morel also performs as the keyboardist in the Bob Mould Band, which just finished a world tour.
Shane Percy writes in Xtra about The Death Of The Paperboy:
"Shoegazer disco" is how Richard Morel, aka Morel, describes the sound of his outstanding new project The Death of the Paperboy. Morel, who has been doing remixes for years under the name Pink Noise, has just released this, his fifth album, the follow-up to 2004's outstanding Lucky Strike. Morel's credentials are second to none: He's been behind some of the best remixes of the past decade, for the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Le Tigre, New Order and most recently a handful of tracks from Cyndi Lauper's excellent new dance album. His masterful blending of dance and rock have made him one of the most sought-after remixer/producers of our time and The Death of the Paperboy marks his strongest album of original material yet.It's been four long years since Morel's last solo album, the dark and brooding Lucky Strike, which became my soundtrack for that fall and will always remind me of moving to the Upper East Side. In 2006, he and Bob Mould released Blowoff, a dance-rock gem that didn't leave the player of my rental car for the week I was spending in San Francisco that fall for Folsom Street Fair. A friend of mine commented, "This music is always going to smell like leather to you from now on." Funny how that works. Similarly, I took my advance copy of Paperboy to Berlin last month and I suppose the songs on it will always smell like schnitzel. And leather. You know what I mean.
On the double-disc Paperboy, Morel musically separates his trademark mix of dance and rock. Disc one is pop-rock song oriented, while on disc two (dubbed "Disc-O." Get it?), Morel lets his dancefloor inclinations shine with amped-up, discofied versions of what's on disc one.
The separation of musical styles is intriguing indeed. Stripped of beats and effects, Morel's songcraft really stands out. On Anymore, Anymore he sings, "We can go for a walk/ And talk about the things that bring you down/ Like heaven and martinis/ And boys that hang around." Morel sings about modern life from a gay man's perspective, without for a second being camp or ironic. His plaintive voice is a bit of a sexy growl, but a captivating, meditative one at that. He's got the shoegazer part right.
As noted in the review above, The Death Of The Paperboy is two discs, the second of which contains remixes of the first and a fantastic cover of David Bowie's Sweet Thing. It also features my favorite song of 2008, Shoegazer Disco, a lovely, haunted, wistful bit of dance gloriousness that Lady iTunes tells me I've already played 81 times.
There’s a moment when everything changes.
A split second from which point everything that follows
Is forever different from what came just an instant before
Sometimes it’s a phone call
Sometimes it’s a handshake
Sometimes it’s a look in your best friend's eyes
You never expect it
You never forget the moment
When for the first time you realize that you can’t go back
Ever again
The Death Of The Paperboy is now available on CD and at iTunes. You can stream tracks from album here. (Start with Shoegazer Disco!) Blowoff returns to NYC this Sunday for a special Columbus Day Weekend party at Chelsea's Highline Ballroom. Advance tickets are strongly recommended as the joint is usually at capacity by midnight.
Enter to win your copy of Rich Morel's The Death Of The Paperboy by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave an email address you check frequently. Entries close at midnight on Wednesday. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.
10:55 PM ET. You can review the commentary in the Blend CoveItLive Chat Room that we held during the town hall between Barack Obama and John McCain at Belmont University, Nashville, TN. It was moderated by Tom Brokaw. Click on the CIL icon at left to join in the fun, but feel free to "keep score" and do virtual shouting at the TV in the comments.
***
WTF was this comment by McCain - what a rude SOB.
"You know who voted for it? You might never know...that one." (points to Obama)
Recent presidential elections were marred by controversies and disputes. Scores of individuals and organizations have been working to investigate and reform US elections, issuing reports and information on topics such as electronic voting machines, voter suppression campaigns and student voting rights. However, this information is spread across many different websites, news sources and databases. The Election Protection Wiki seeks to provide a single web portal for accessing this disparate information. Its information is non-partisan and factual; anyone of any political persuasion will be able to both read from and write to the wiki to help us all protect every American's right to vote.
SourceWatch is best known for Congresspedia and their "Superdelegate Transparency Project"; they've got experience, a community, paid staff, and excellent connections with politicians and non-profits in DC and all over the country. It's a great thing for American democracy.
It also sounds a lot like what we were thinking of with the Voter Suppression Wiki. In my launch post A wiki, saving democracy? I had commented on the value of a wiki repository for confirmed incidents of voter suppression; looks like they noticed that too. Their focus also overlaps withour goal of education, and the quality of their list of election protection and reform organizations shows how high their bar is. There's no point in duplicating efforts in these areas; SourceWatch is the right place for these.
So, after some discussions with the SourceWatch folks and others, we're going to be focusing our energy on the third prong of Baratunde Thurston's original call to action on Jack and Jill Politics: "learn, report, and ACT".
We've had several examples of action from our first ten days, with an incident reported to the Department of Justice's Voting Rights Division, another to the California Secretary of State's office, and a shout-out for poll workers in Virginia getting a couple of volunteers. As we ramp up, we'll find ways to streamline the process. For example, our new page on election-day volunteers needed makes it easy for people to see where they can help -- or ask for help. [For wiki buffs, this is a good example of the value of Wetpaint's discussion threads.]
As we get close to election day, a couple of areas leap out where we can be particularly valuable. The first is in having "feet on the street" to investigate potential incidents as they're reported. Very often, initial reports are fragmentary and ambiguous, and sometimes flat-out wrong; it's useful to have somebody on the scene to get detailed information, and in a lot of situations grassroots energy may be able to supplement the efforts of more-highly-trained (but scarcer) election protection attorneys -- as well as help out bloggers and other journalists. If we can get enough people involved, this could make a big difference.
We also have a chance to help address one of the most difficult challenges on election day: getting word out to the community about new information and what actions they can take. Take the situation when a precinct is over-aggressively enforcing rules against political advertising at polling stations and illegally preventing people with buttons or t-shirts with a candidate's name on them from voting. Yeah, okay, it's illegal; lawsuits will be filed ... on election day, though, the most important thing to do is let everybody know not to wear t-shirts and buttons to that polling place. Less dramatically, there's a similar problem when judges extend the hours at a polling location: how do people find out about it?
Something important to keep in mind is that many people -- including those like seniors and lower-income voters who are most at risk of suppression -- are not likely to be online, so it's vital to reach them via radio, television, and word of mouth. Think of the wiki as one the hubs of a communication network that involves a tightly-connected core of people, communicating with a broad array of media outlets, voting rights organizations, and campaigns ... surrounded by a broader network of feet on the street all over the country.
Note that I say "one of the hubs". 866 OUR VOTE is another; so is SourceWatch, BradBLOG, Black Box Voting, and mailing lists of voting rights activists, etc. etc.. We'll all be working together on this ...
One of the things that's going to be key is having a large network across the country -- and being able to communicate with them on election day. The first step to getting that in place is to go to make it easy for people to get involved if they're interested. Especially for younger voters, a good way to do that is to set up on various social network sites. Speaking of which, we've got a Facebook page. More on that -- and our presence on other social networks -- soon. For now, please sign up as a fan, and check back from time to time.
These plans are a lot more ambitious than our original ones, and it's worth discussing the reasons for that. First of all, our launch went even better than we had hoped: almost 100 members of the wiki already, positive and very diverse coverage,** and a lot of interest and support from everybody we talked to. Secondly, there's the Election Protection Wiki. With them taking care of the education and definitive repository, we've got more resources to focus on action; and it we're able to work together and merge our networks, the whole is likely to be greater than the sum of the parts.
As with all wiki projects, the Election Protection Wiki and the Voter Suppression Wiki rely on people getting involved and adding content. So please, check them out and get involved with one or the other (or even better, both!) and do your bit for saving democracy.
jon
also posted on Liminal States and elsewhere.
* "election protection" includes voter suppression as well as other kinds of electoral fraud -- voting machines, fraudulent registrations, etc.
** unlike the last time I was quoted in Computerworld, this story also made it into the the black, Latino, LGBTQ, technology-in-politics, and progressive blogospheres
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