Slumber

Urgh, you guys, this makes my heart swell ten-fold. ♥

For those new to my flist, I've written about the LGBT movement in hockey before. It's not anything grandiose, and it isn't really league-led, but considering this is one of the four big sports, it's definitely something. (I don't follow the other three so I'm not aware of how the developments in hockey compare to those.)

Anyway, an update to that is the You Can Play project, spearheaded by Patrick Burke (Brendan's brother), and their first step involves filming a PSA from some of the biggest names in the league. They may not look like it, but those are All-Stars, top players in the league. And Burke says they have filmed 30 players in total out of the 35 who are committed to joining this.

This is a really good recap of everything too.

You Can Play is Burke's bold new initiative that enlists NHL players — the count is up to around 30 as the campaign kicked off Sunday — to "change the sometimes homophobic culture of locker rooms with a message that athletes should be judged on athletic skill and ability, not sexual orientation or other discriminatory factors," according to the organization.

"Through You Can Play, we want to let guys know why that [casual homophobia] is hard for gay athletes to hear. Even if you don't mean it in that sense, there's probably a guy in the locker room that can't take it in any way but in that sense," said Burke.

It's just a really awesome thing to have happen, and like I said last year, I just hope we continue to move in this direction.

Eight years in debate is enough for me to know that there is a way I can argue for the release of Polanski. There is a way, because of technicality, because of jurisdiction, whatever else, that his arrest may have been technically fumbled.

I can find an argument for it, but that doesn't make him any less deserving of arrest, of justice. Because what's lawful and what's just are not always the same thing, and giving him a free pass for achievements that are irrelevant to what he did is careless and ignorant. Am I missing something? Because I don't understand how people could even think to stand behind this man.

The US was the only major Western nation not to sign the declaration.

What. The. Fuck.

I mean-- okay, I hate going political and I know this will just open a whole new can of worms and that, you know, this is a debatable issue, well-- here's where I stand, basically:

• I am glad that this declaration was sponsored at all...
  
• But I personally don't know where I stand in the whole, you know, imposing one's concept of right and wrong onto wholly different cultures and I understand why some countries would opt not to sign it
  
• But on the basis of what the declaration says... I would like to think that the US is past that. Maybe the reason the US did not choose to sign is so it could retain diplomatic relations with the states that chose not to sign as well, but. Really? Really? You don't want to sign a non-binding declaration that arguably upholds human rights?

Urgh.

PS. It has been a while since I kept myself abreast of world issues, and I haven't really been involved in debate in a while. I know there is another side to this story. If you know what it is, if you understand more than I do right now, please do let me know? Educate me. I'm hesitant to jump to too many conclusions, so if I'm missing something from this story, I would be really glad if you could tell me what it is. Thank you.

I am not an American citizen. I am not able to vote for your presidents, or donate to your candidates' campaigns, but I am glad that at least somehow, I am able to witness a turning point in your history, because somehow, I hope, this is a turning point in all of our history.



Grant Park was amazing, and insane, and kind of murderous-- I went with a friend and we arrived at 6pm, working our way through masses of people (Did you see my hand waving on CNN, flist?) until we finally saw the metal detectors that meant we were nearly there, and when we broke into open space we found-- yes, even more people.



We watched CNN while we waited for Barack Obama to appear, and I am sure the rest of the world was tuned in as well, but the vibe in Grant Park was electric. Every time a state was called in favour of Obama everyone cheered and broke into spontaneous chanting.



They called Pennsylvania first, far too early in the race, enough to cause drama, so I've heard. McCain was winning in Texas, but surprisingly, not by much. CNN was turning Star Wars on us, and we waited with bated breath. Wolf Blitzer was excited about calling one state, but we knew it was Ohio. Then NPR called Virginia, just a few minutes before precincts were scheduled to close in the West Coast.



At 10:00:01, CNN called the election, and Grant Park went wild. They quieted to hear McCain speak, booed when he mentioned Palin, but when Obama came onstage and addressed everyone-- well, that was the high point of the night. And man, that speech will be written about, studied, remembered, in the years to come.



So yes, America, you can. Yes, in fact, you did.

And yes, I was there.

Three guesses who's going to the Election Night rally tomorrow (which, can I say again, is right across my friggin' apartment), and the first two don't count.

AND! PS. Have you voted? Are you a size medium female? I'm giving out this shirt to someone like you! I'll decide on the winners (randomly) when I get the shirt. :| :D

PPS. Stores giving out freebies on Election Day:

• Starbucks - free tall drip coffee
  
• Dunkin Donuts
  
• Ben and Jerry's

From squishstoy:

Really, America? Are you really gonna vote for this man?

Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post (which somehow always makes me think of Harry Potter and Hufflepuffs) makes an awesome point about the whole Sarah Palin thing:

...Palin, and the circus she's brought to town, are simply a bountiful collection of small lies deliberately designed to distract the country from one big truth: the havoc that George Bush and the Republican Party have wrought, and that John McCain is committed to continuing.

Every second of this campaign not spent talking about the Republican Party's record, and John McCain's role in that record, is a victory for John McCain.

[sic]

And the plan has worked beautifully. Just look at what's being discussed just 57 days before the election. Is it the highest unemployment rate in five years? The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? The suicide bombing yesterday in Iraq that killed six people and wounded 54 -- in the same market where last month a bomb killed 28 people and wounded 72? That the political reconciliation that was supposedly the point of "the surge" is nowhere near happening? That Iraq's Shiite government is now rounding up the American-backed Sunni leaders of the Awakening? That the reason 8,000 soldiers may be leaving Iraq soon is so more can be deployed to Afghanistan where the Taliban is steadily retaking the country?

No. We're talking about whether Sarah Palin was or was not a good mayor, whether she was or was not a good mother, whether her skirts are too short and her zingers too sarcastic.

Christ but it's true, isn't it?

Read the full article here.

Since it started reading like Gossip Girl, that's when.

Apparently Palin's daughter is pregnant.

Not to be confused with the alleged cover-up of her daughter's pregnancy, mind.

Man. Where's the popcorn?

ALSO, omg, where's Gossip Girl? Us TV-less people need our fix still! D:

California has legalized gay marriage.

By the afternoon, gay and lesbian couples had already started lining up at San Francisco City Hall to make appointments to get marriage licenses.

Unlike Massachusetts, California has no residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license, meaning gays from around the country are likely to flock to the state to be wed, said Jennifer Pizer, a gay-rights attorney who worked on the case.

I love how it fits. :D