Exactly 35 days Until Election Day

Please make sure you are registered to vote, and if you live in a state like Ohio that allows it, vote now!

Post Number 2000!

This is my 2000th post on MadProfessah.com. I started continuously blogging in January 2005 after exploring the blogger interface for the first time on March 25, 2003 and rapidly abandoning it soon afterwards. The 1000th post was sometime in 2007. Traffic is up about 50% from last year.

Obama Ad Links McCain On Exorbitant CEO Pay

Obama Takes Huge Lead In National Tracking Polls

From DailyKos comes the data for the four daily tracking polls (rolling averages of data from 3 consecutive days).

                 Obama    McCain MoE +/- RV/LV 

Research 2000:  50 (49)   43 (43)   3     LV

Rasmussen:      50 (50)   44 (44)   2    LV  

Diageo/Hotline: 47 (48)   42 (43)   3.2    RV

Gallup:         50 (49)   42 (44)   2      RV

First Yes On 8 Ad Released

Good As You has embeded the first Yes on 8 campaign ad.

Google Opposes Proposition 8!

Google has officially come out against Proposition 8!

As an Internet company, Google is an active participant in policy debates
surrounding information access, technology and energy. Because our company
has a great diversity of people and opinions -- Democrats and Republicans,
conservatives and liberals, all religions and no religion, straight and
gay -- we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field,
especially not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on the
California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an
official company position on.

However, while there are many objections to this proposition -- further
government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text -- it
is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of
our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While
we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of
this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope
that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not
eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry
the person they love.

Posted by Sergey Brin, Co-founder & President, Technology

NYT Prints Letters To Editor on Obama/Prop 8 Article

The New York Times printed two letters to the editor in response to the article from last Sunday in which I was quoted a number of times that discussed the reality of Black gay lives and the politics of Proposition 8 and Barack Obama's candidacy for President.

One letter is from Alice Huffman, President of the California State Conference of the NAACP and reads:

To the Editor:

Same-Sex Marriage Ban Is Tied to Obama Factor,” a Sept. 21 Political Memo about marriage equality and the voting patterns of African-Americans, does not examine the differences and attitudes among specific demographics of our community.

African-Americans are not monolithically homophobic. I have worked closely with many African-American community leaders and supporters of full rights for gay men and lesbians, including the right to marry in California.

Black voters across this country have repeatedly elected African-American officials who support equality for gay and lesbian citizens. In California, these officials include Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally and Willie L. Brown Jr., the former mayor of San Francisco.

Both blacks and whites have been divided on the issue, and race appears to be less of a determinant than age, gender and party affiliation on black voters’ views on marriage equality.

The news media narrative of blacks versus gays on the issue of marriage for same-sex couples should include the diverse views, values and opinions held in our community.

Alice A. Huffman
Sacramento, Sept. 24, 2008

The other letter is from Sean Cahill, who used to head the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's think tank, the Policy Institute. His letter says:

To the Editor:

Re “Same-Sex Marriage Ban Is Tied to Obama Factor,” which says opponents of the marriage ban are worried that black voters, who are traditionally conservative on this issue, will turn out in high numbers in the November election:

The anti-gay movement has long sought to pit gay people and black people against each other, portraying the two communities as mutually exclusive.

Ironically, the anti-gay policies of the Christian right, such as the attempted repeal of marriage equality in California, pose a disproportionate threat to black same-sex couples.

According to 2000 census data that we analyzed at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, black same-sex couples are twice as likely as white same-sex couples to be raising children. They earn less and are less likely to own their homes. This is especially true of black lesbian couples.

Denying the protections that come with marriage disproportionately hurts the ability of black gay men and lesbians to save money, provide for their children, buy a house or prepare for retirement.

Sean Cahill
New York, Sept. 24, 2008

The writer, who was director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute from 2001 to 2007, is managing director, public policy, at Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

I agree with the sentiments expressed in both letters. It's great to see these issues aired in the national paper of record! Let's hope it continues.

California Youth Speak Out Against Prop 8

Clay Aiken Comes Out

The inevitable (and unsurprising) has occurred.Clay Aiken has announced that he is gay.

Comparing the Obamas and McCains

Which one is the elitist again? The McCains have 8 houses, a private jet, 13 cars while the Obamas have 1 house and 1 car. You decide!

Eye Candy: Italian Rugby Team In D&G Underwear

Hat/tip to TowleRoad for these images of members of the Italian Rugby Team (Sergio Parisse, Denis Dallan, Ezio Galon, Andrea Masi, Gonzalo Canale) in underwear designed by Dolce & Gabbana. Ahh, this brings back good memories of my trip to Milan, Florence, Turin and Bololgna earlier this year!

Another Gay Survivor

Thanks to the boys at Queerty, we have the skinny on Charlie Herschel, a 29-year-old, openly gay lawyer who will be appearing on the 17th season of CBS' television series (and MadProfessah favorite) Survivor.

Herschel is a graduate of the University of Pennslvania and a first-year associate at one of the Top 10 law firms in the world, Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

As the Above The Law blog notes, lawyers have done well on Survivor before, with Yale Law School grad Yul Kwon having won the million bucks just a few seasons ago. Above The Law also has some interesting shirtless shots of Charlie, curiously posed with several "babes in bikinis" but points out that his officla CBS bio says that "Charlie is a gay, single man."

Many gay men have appeared on the show, and Richard Hatch and Todd Herzog have both won the Ultimate Survivor title as openly gay men.

Obama Versus McCain in September National Polling

Hat/tip to asahopkins at OpenLeft.com.

Spielberg Matches Brad Pitt's $100k Donation to NO ON 8

Director Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw on Monday donated $100,000 to assist in the fight to defeat the anti-gay marriage amendment called Proposition 8 on the November 4th ballot.

I doubt that it is coincidental that Sid Sheinberg, the former head of MCA/Universal who gave Spielberg his first job in Hollywood over 30 years ago, was honored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force the day before at the Los Angeles Leadership Awards at a brunch Beverly Hills Hotel (attended by MadProfessah and the Other Half.)

Also honored at the brunch were the openly-gay creative team behind the movie Milk: Oscar-winning producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and director Gus Van Sant. Bruce Cohen was married to his partner by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa earlier this summer and is the co-chair of the NO ON 8 finance committee. No less a luminary than L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri Jean credits him with getting the Spielberg donation.

Latest figures have the Yes on 8 campaign having raised nearly 18 million dollars, with the No On 8 campaign trailing by over 5 million dollars at about $12.5 million.

Design For Obama

Joe.My.God hooked me up to this cool site called Design for Obama where artists have submitted some amazing posters to inspire people to support Obama. Here are a few of my favorites:





Which do you like?

New Law To Improve Federal HIV Anti-Discrimination Imminent

At Brooklyn Law School Professor Nan Hunter's blog, Hunter of Justice, comes word about an interesting development in HIV/AIDS anti-discrimination law. Apparently, the U.S. House has taken action on the ADA Amendments Act which modernizes and improves the American With Disabilities Act (S. 3046), the most important federal law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities, including people living with HIV and AIDS.

This is a huge step forward for all disabled persons, including people with AIDS and HIV. Among the many barriers erected by some federal judges for HIV patients has been a narrow definition of "disability," such that HIV infection did not meet the standard of limiting a major life activity unless the plaintiff could prove that he or she was prevented or severely restricted from having children.

In a floor statement during yesterday's debate, Rep. Tammy Baldwin emphasized the importance of the bill to people with HIV, citing cases in which the current interpretation of the statutory language has blocked anti-discrimination protection. See Carrillo v. AMR Eagle, 148 F. Supp. 2d 142 (D.P.R. 2001); Gutwaks v. American Airlines, 1999 WL 1611328 (N.D. Tex); and Blanks v. Southwest Bell Communications, 310 F.3d 398 (5th Cir. 2002). Baldwin's full statement appears in the Congressional Record for September 17 at H8297-8298.

The ADA Amendments Act corrects this problem by specifically listing "functions of the immune system" as an example of what Congress intended to cover when it passed the ADA in 1990 and what will now be explicitly covered under the new language.

President Bush has announced that he will sign the legislation.

Topalov Wins Super GM Tournament and Regains #1 Ranking

Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria placed first at the Grand Slam Final Masters tournament in Bilbao, Spain, winning 150,000 Euros (over US$200,000) by winning 4 games, drawing 5 and losing only once (+3). World Champion Viswanahan Anand had one of his worst tournament in years, placing last with 8 draws and two losses (-2) in a field of six super Grand Masters. Danish wunderkind, 17(!)-year-old Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian tied for second place, with Carlsen having beaten Aronian both times they played in the double round-robin tournament. The other competitors were Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan.

By winning the tournament, Topalov will return to the top of the World Chess Federation rankings, which he had previously led from April 2006 until March of last year, when Anand reached #1 for the first time. Prior to March 2005, Garry Kasparov had been World #1 for nearly a decade.

Anand's poor performance may be due to the fact he was trying to hide whatever he has been preparing for his World Championship title bout with Vladimir Kramnik next month in Bonn, Germany with 1.5 million Euros at stake. Interestingly, Kramnik and Anand have played 125 times with Anand winning 19 games, losing 15 and drawing 91(!) times.

Emmy Awards: MadProfessah's Results

MadProfessah posted my Emmy predictions on Sunday. I ended up going 4 for 10 in the main categories. The Supporting Actor/Actress categories basically kicked my butt. In green are the winners who I predicted in advance, with the winner in red the ones I didn't predict. I'm very sad about Dianne Wiest winning over Chandra Wilson---Ms. Wiest has two Oscars already! I am happy about wins for Damages but also shocked that Michael Emerson of Lost didn't win.

DRAMA SERIES:
"Boston Legal," ABC
"Damages," FX
"Dexter," Showtime
"House," Fox
"Lost," ABC
"Mad Men," AMC
Should Win: Lost
Will Win: Mad Men.

COMEDY SERIES:
"Curb Your Enthusiasm," HBO
"Entourage," HBO
"The Office," NBC
"30 Rock," NBC
"Two and a Half Men," CBS
Should Win: The Office
Will Win: 30 Rock

ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES:
Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Hugh Laurie, "House"
James Spader, "Boston Legal"
Should Win: Hugh Laurie.
Will Win: Hugh Laurie.

ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES:
Glenn Close, "Damages"
Sally Field, "Brothers and Sisters"
Mariska Hargitay, "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit"
Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace"
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"
Should Win: Glenn Close.
Will Win: Glenn Close.

ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES:
Christina Applegate, "Samantha Who?"
America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "New Adventures of Old Christine"
Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"
Should Win: Tina Fey.
Will Win: America Ferrara.

ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES:
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Steve Carell, "The Office"
Lee Pace, "Pushing Daisies"
Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"
Charlie Sheen, "Two and a Half Men"
Should Win: Steve Carell.
Will Win: Alec Baldwin.

SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES:
Jon Cryer, "Two and a Half Men"
Kevin Dillon, "Entourage"
Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother"
Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"
Rainn Wilson, "The Office"
Should Win: Rainn Wilson.
Will Win: Rainn Wilson.

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES:
Ted Danson, "Damages"
Michael Emerson, "Lost"
Zeljko Ivanek, "Damages"
William Shatner, "Boston Legal"
John Slattery, "Mad Men"
Should Win: Michael Emerson.
Will Win: William Shatner.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES:
Candice Bergen, "Boston Legal"
Rachel Griffiths, "Brothers and Sisters"
Sandra Oh, "Grey's Anatomy"
Dianne Wiest, "In Treatment"
Chandra Wilson, "Grey's Anatomy"
Should Win: Chandra Wilson.
Will Win: Chandra Wilson.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES:
Kristin Chenoweth, "Pushing Daisies"
Amy Poehler, "Saturday Night Live"
Jean Smart, "Samantha Who?
Holland Taylor, "Two and a Half Men"
Vanessa Williams, "Ugly Betty"
Should Win: Amy Poehler.
Will Win: Vanessa Williams.

Villaraigosa and Garamendi Show Up To L.A. NO ON 8 Kickoff Event

Earlier in the week I noted that Republican State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner had taken the first step in his run for the Governor's office in California in 2010 and mentioned his likely Democratic opponents. However, in that (relatively long) list I neglected to include Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi.

Garamendi was one of the few politicos who showed up to the kickoff event of the Los Angeles No On Prop 8 campaign on Saturday at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Ed Gould Plaza. Scheduled to speak were Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, State Controller John Chiang, State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas and West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem Abbe Land.

However, only the two Mayors showed up, with a special surprise guest in the Lieutenant Governor. They both gave a full-throated defense of their positions in favor of marriage equality and their opposition to Proposition 8.

The 2010 Gubernatorial Primary should be very interesting indeed. It would be amazing if Gay Marriage is not an issue at all--what will LGBT voters make decisions on? Who was there first supporting the community on marriage (Gavin Newsom) or who has the most effective vision for the state of California as Governor (T.B.A)?

The Government Asks For $700 Billion--Here Are The Conditions

There's a great post on DailyKos from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on some principles which should be followed in the rush to give a 700 billion dollar blank check to the Bush administration to "bailout" the troubles United States financial services industry and save the economy.

In my view, we need to go forward in addressing this financial crisis by insisting on four basic principles:
(1) The people who can best afford to pay and the people who have benefited most from Bush’s economic policies are the people who should provide the funds for the bailout. It would be immoral to ask the middle class, the people whose standard of living has declined under Bush, to pay for this bailout while the rich, once again, avoid their responsibilities. Further, if the government is going to save companies from bankruptcy, the taxpayers of this country should be rewarded for assuming the risk by sharing in the gains that result from this government bailout.
Specifically, to pay for the bailout, which is estimated to cost up to $1 trillion, the government should: a) Impose a five-year, 10 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year for couples and over $500,000 for single taxpayers. That would raise more than $300 billion in revenue;
b) Ensure that assets purchased from banks are realistically discounted so companies are not rewarded for their risky behavior and taxpayers can recover the amount they paid for them; and
c) Require that taxpayers receive equity stakes in the bailed-out companies so that the assumption of risk is rewarded when companies’ stock goes up.
(2) There must be a major economic recovery package which puts Americans to work at decent wages. Among many other areas, we can create millions of jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and moving our country from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. Further, we must protect working families from the difficult times they are experiencing. We must ensure that every child has health insurance and that every American has access to quality health and dental care, that families can send their children to college, that seniors are not allowed to go without heat in the winter, and that no American goes to bed hungry.
(3) Legislation must be passed which undoes the damage caused by excessive de-regulation. That means reinstalling the regulatory firewalls that were ripped down in 1999. That means re-regulating the energy markets so that we never again see the rampant speculation in oil that helped drive up prices. That means regulating or abolishing various financial instruments that have created the enormous shadow banking system that is at the heart of the collapse of AIG and the financial services meltdown.
(4) We must end the danger posed by companies that are "too big too fail," that is, companies whose failure would cause systemic harm to the U.S. economy. If a company is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. We need to determine which companies fall in this category and then break them up. Right now, for example, the Bank of America, the nation’s largest depository institution, has absorbed Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, and Merrill Lynch, the nation’s largest brokerage house. We should not be trying to solve the current financial crisis by creating even larger, more powerful institutions. Their failure could cause even more harm to the entire economy.

The full text of Sanders' statement can be read here. I'm glad to see some people are standing up and saying "Whoa, nelly!" before they accede to a Bush administration request to spend another $700 billion (the same amount spent on the Iraq War to date.)

NO ON PROP 8 Begins Airing TV Ads

Eye Candy: Jameson Arasi

Hat/Tip to the boys at Queerty for these shots of Jameson Arasi.

MadProfessah Quoted (Thrice) in NY TIMES!

In an interesting piece in The New York Times about the electoral impact increased turnout in California in the African American community for the Obama-Biden ticket could have on the passage or failure of Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage amendment this November, yours truly is quoted repeatedly:

Could Senator Barack Obama’s popularity among black voters hurt gay couples in California who want to marry?

[...]

To blunt that possibility, gay leaders and Proposition 8 opponents have been sponsoring casual events at restaurants in traditionally black neighborhoods in Los Angeles, meeting with black clergy members and recruiting gay black couples to serve as spokespeople on panels and at house parties and church events.

“This is black people talking to black people,” said Ron Buckmire, the board president of the Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Coalition, a gay rights group in Los Angeles. “We’re saying, ‘Gay people are black and black people are gay. And if you are voting conservative on an antigay ballot measure, you are hurting the black community.’ ”

First off, the reporter Jesse Mckinley did quote me correctly here. Cringingly, I did not use the adverb "conservative[ly]" in the above quote, but it still gets the message across. However, the reporter did get some things wrong. Elsewhere in the article he mentions the Let California Ring
commercials that have been running throughout California which end with the tag line "What If You Couldn't Marry The Person You Love?" and labels them as "opponents" of Proposition 8. The Let California Ring campaign is a public education campaign about marriage equality and has no position on the ballot measure.

But, wait, there's more!

The black community has long had a conflicted relationship with gay men and lesbians, Mr. Buckmire said, equal parts homophobia and denial.

“For too long, black people seemed to think there were no gay people around, especially black ministers,” Mr. Buckmire said. “They’d say the most insanely anti-gay things, and then the choir would come up and the choir is 50 percent gay.”

Still, the tendency of black voters to oppose gay marriage extends beyond religion. Patrick J. Egan, an assistant professor of politics at New York University who has studied black voting patterns on same-sex marriage, said black voters consistently polled much lower than white voters on approval for same-sex marriage, about 16 percentage points, even when religion was not a factor.

Here I am paraphrased reasonably correctly, although I don't know if I would say the relationship between the black community and gay people is "equal parts homophobia and denial" although those are definitely significant aspects of the relationship. However, I would also include indifference and religiously-inspired disdain.

The line about the Black ministers is a great one, but it is doubtful that I actually said it. The quoted version makes it seem like I know from personal experience what black ministers say and have intimate knowledge of LGBT choirs. As an agnostic/atheist I am offended by the suggestion that I would be in a Black church!

Anyway, being quoted (three times!) in the "paper of record" is pretty exciting. I guess my 15 minutes of fame start now. Tick, tick, tick.

Emmy Awards: MadProfessah's Predictions

The 2008 Emmy Award nominations were announced in July and MadProfessah made his picks public then. This time I'll post who I think should win, in addition who I think will win.

DRAMA SERIES:
"Boston Legal," ABC
"Damages," FX
"Dexter," Showtime
"House," Fox
"Lost," ABC
"Mad Men," AMC
Should Win: Lost
Will Win: Mad Men

COMEDY SERIES:
"Curb Your Enthusiasm," HBO
"Entourage," HBO
"The Office," NBC
"30 Rock," NBC
"Two and a Half Men," CBS
Should Win: The Office
Will Win: 30 Rock

ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES:
Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Hugh Laurie, "House"
James Spader, "Boston Legal"
Should Win: Hugh Laurie.
Will Win: Hugh Laurie.

ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES:
Glenn Close, "Damages"
Sally Field, "Brothers and Sisters"
Mariska Hargitay, "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit"
Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace"
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"
Should Win: Glenn Close.
Will Win: Glenn Close.

ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES:
Christina Applegate, "Samantha Who?"
America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "New Adventures of Old Christine"
Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"
Should Win: Tina Fey.
Will Win: America Ferrara.

ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES:
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Steve Carell, "The Office"
Lee Pace, "Pushing Daisies"
Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"
Charlie Sheen, "Two and a Half Men"
Should Win: Steve Carell.
Will Win: Alec Baldwin.

SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES:
Jon Cryer, "Two and a Half Men"
Kevin Dillon, "Entourage"
Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother"
Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"
Rainn Wilson, "The Office"
Should Win: Rainn Wilson.
Will Win: Rainn Wilson.

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES:
Ted Danson, "Damages"
Michael Emerson, "Lost"
Zeljko Ivanek, "Damages"
William Shatner, "Boston Legal"
John Slattery, "Mad Men"
Should Win: Michael Emerson.
Will Win: William Shatner.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES:
Candice Bergen, "Boston Legal"
Rachel Griffiths, "Brothers and Sisters"
Sandra Oh, "Grey's Anatomy"
Dianne Wiest, "In Treatment"
Chandra Wilson, "Grey's Anatomy"
Should Win: Chandra Wilson.
Will Win: Chandra Wilson.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES:
Kristin Chenoweth, "Pushing Daisies"
Amy Poehler, "Saturday Night Live"
Jean Smart, "Samantha Who?
Holland Taylor, "Two and a Half Men"
Vanessa Williams, "Ugly Betty"
Should Win: Amy Poehler.
Will Win: Vanessa Williams.

Eye Candy: Terrence Robinson

Are you ready for some football? :)

Conservative San Diego Paper Opposes Prop 8

From blogger/journalist Rex Wockner comes the news that the local conservative newspaper in San Diego, the San Diego Union-Tribune, has come out strongly against Proposition 8, although the same editorial page had previously opposed marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Proposition 8 would repeal the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. It stipulates, by a one-sentence amendment to the state constitution, that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Our guess is that even voters who may have reservations about gay marriage will be reluctant to repeal a right that now exists as a matter of law. To do so would smack of singling out a particular group for discrimination, a move that offends many Californians' sense of fairness.

Supporters of Proposition 8 make two arguments. The first is that, for thousands of years, marriage has been defined as between a man and a woman exclusively. Considering how Californians historically have been wide open to change, this appeal is not likely to carry much force.

The second argument made by supporters is that children should be raised solely by a father and a mother, not by two fathers or two mothers. Yet the debate over child-rearing is entirely beside the point, because Proposition 8 is about marriage only. It would do nothing to prevent gay couples from adopting children or from having children through artificial means. Indeed, all Proposition 8 would do is ensure that the children of gay couples would be raised in households where the parents were unmarried. Would that be a healthier situation for children?

In the past, this page has advocated civil unions for gay couples rather than marriage. But our thinking has changed, along with that of many other Californians. Gay and lesbian couples deserve the same dignity and respect in marriage that heterosexual couples have long enjoyed. We urge a No vote on Proposition 8.

Woo hoo! It's really starting to look like a consensus of California opinion-leaders who oppose Proposition 8.

TPM Take On Sarah Palin as "Earmark Reformer"

Latest Field Poll Shows Prop 8 Losing 55% No, 38% Yes

The Field Poll released its latest poll (pdf) on Proposition 8 yesterday and there continues to be good news: 55% of likely voters say they intend to vote NO to the elimination of the rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry, while 38% say they will vote YES. This is a change from last month when the numbers were 51%-42%.

The poll analyzed the impact of the change in the ballot summary by Attorney General Jerry Brown to straightforwardly describe that, if passed, the measure would ban gay marriage, not simply "Limit Marriage" as the original circulated ballot language stated.

Among the 70 percent of likely voters who already were familiar with Proposition 8, the modification appeared to make little difference. Among those who knew about the amendment, 56 percent said they opposed it when they heard the original wording and 53 percent opposed it they were given Brown's revised version.

But among the 30 percent of those surveyed who were not previously aware of the measure, the ballot language appeared to matter. Within that subgroup, 42 percent of the respondents said they were inclined to vote 'no' with the original summary, a share that climbed to 58 percent under the new wording.

[...]

"It's not surprising given the attorney general's latest attempt to influence the elections. We were expecting it would affect the numbers by a few percentage points," [Yes On 8 spokeswoman] Kerns said.

At the same time, she said the Yes on 8 campaign's internal polling shows voters to be much more evenly divided and the initiative's backers expect support to pick up once they start airing television commercials later this month.

Kerns also disputed the Field Poll's accuracy, noting that in the weeks before California voters considered a gay marriage ban in March 2000, the company found support for it topping out at 53 percent. The measure—one of two marriage laws the Supreme Court overturned as unconstitutional—passed with more than 61 percent of the vote.

It is true that the Field Poll under-estimated the heterosexual supremacist vote by at least 8 percentage points in 2000, and I really expect that the ballot measure will fail by a nail-bitingly close margin. DONATE NOW TO STOP PROPOSITION 8!

Poizner Announces Run For California Governor

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a Silicon Valley businessman who has previously spent vast sums of his private fortune to further his political career, announced the creation of an exploratory committee for the 2010 Gubernatorial Republican primary nomination.

Previously, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced his exploratory committee for Governor. Other Democrats expected to run are Antonio Villaraigosa, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell and possibly U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

VIDEO: Obama Airs 2-Minute Ad On Economy

Los Angeles NO ON PROP 8 Kick-Off Event SAT morning!

Karen Ocamb Exposes LGBT Celebrity Absence in Prop 8 Fight

Openly lesbian reporter Karen Ocamb published an article in this week's IN LA Magazine called "Mega A-Gays Missing in Fight Against Prop 8" which exposes the lack of financial contributions from high profile, openly gay or lesbian celebrities to the campaign to defeat the November constitutional amendment that would eliminate the right to marry for same-sex couples in California.

Her piece is a must read, and the list of celebrities is a Who's Who list of some of the top celebrities (gay or straight) in America. She starts by talking about talk show host Ellen Degeneres very public wedding to actress Portia de Rossi but then goes on to say that:

So while their visibility as openly LGBT celebrities and entertainment power players is important, their financial absence from the specific fight to save the fundament right of same-sex couples to marry is hurting.

Also missing (as of Sept. 10) from the rolls were: Rosie O’Donnell, whose Feb. 27, 2004, marriage to Kelli Carpenter was nullified; Sir Elton John, who tied the civil partnership knot with partner David Furnish in England; rock star Melissa Etheridge, whose domestic partnership/wedding to actress Tammy Lynn Michaels Sept. 22, 2003, was celebrated in In Style magazine.

Other producers and directors not on the list include Paul Colichman (here!TV) Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Bryan Singer (Superman Returns), Joel Schumacher (Batman & Robin), and Gus Van Sant, though Bruce Cohen, who produced Milk, directed by Van Sant, was recently married and did contribute. Max Muchnick (Will & Grace) also contributed, as did David Geffen, partner in DreamWorks, who gave $50,000, and Bryan Lourd, managing partner of Creative Artists Agency who contributed $5,000.
Top individual donors are philanthropist David Bohnett ($600,000), David Maltz, of Cleveland ($500,000), James Hormel ($150,000) and Gene La Pietra ($100,000).

Among companies and foundations that contributed monetarily and “in-kind,” Equality California is the largest contributor at $4 million (EQCA’s annual budget is $1.5 million). The Human Rights Campaign has contributed $2 million (with a budget of $40 million); the ACLU, $1.5 million; National Center for Lesbian Rights, more than $500,000; the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, $250,000; Gill Action Fund, $350,000. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has contributed $257,000 (with a budget of $9 million), but has 90 percent of its field staff working in Southern California for the fight. (Full disclosure: IN magazine contributed $20,000.)

It will be interesting to see if Karen's article and Brad Pitt's recent donation of $100,000 will shame (and, yes, that is the right word!) others who have the financial resources to contribute monetarily (and proportionately!) to the fight to prevent Proposition 8 from being the first instance in the history if the United States of a right previously granted to a minority being eliminated by a vote of the majority.

Hot Straight Guy Donates $100k Against Prop 8

Brad Pitt, one of the stars of the current #1 movie in the country, the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, has announced that he is donating $100,000 to support the fight to defeat California's anti-gay ballot measure Proposition 8.

Shockingly, Pitt is the first A-list celebrity to publicly donate to the campaign to prevent the elimination of the right to marry for same-sex couples in the state of California.

He said in a statement:

"Because no one has the right to deny another their life even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn’t harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8."

Variety reported that openly gay billionaire David Geffen has donated a mere $50, 000 and openly gay agent Brian Lourd has donated $5,000.

Obama Regains Lead in National Polls

Arnold Plays Chicken With California

Governor Arnold Scwarznegger has announced that he will veto the budget that was recently passed by the California legislature, and vowed that if the legislature enacts the budget over his veto he will "examine closely" the hundreds of bills on his desk awaiting his signature to become law and will likely veto all or most of them.

This is bad news for the several bills that Equality California has managed to pass that advance LGBT equality this year.

VIDEO: Obama Hits McCain On Equal Pay For Women

VIDEO: Obama Hits McCain on Economic Ignorance

Obama Ad Slams McCain For Dishonest Campaign Ads

VIDEO: Palin-Clinton Skit on SNL

Obama Raised $66m in August; $77m on Hand Sep 1

The Obama for America campaign released some preliminary details of its fundraising totals for the month of August: a record $66 million. The Democratic presidential candidate ended the month with $77 million on hand.

From The New York Times:

David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, said a half-million new donors signed up to give money to Mr. Obama. He said the campaign’s bank account had $77 million at the end of last month.

“The 500,000 new donors to the Obama campaign demonstrate just how strongly the American people are looking to kick the special interests out and change Washington,” Mr. Plouffe said in a statement, adding that more than 2.5 million people have now made contributions to the campaign in the last 19 months.

Mad Professah is attempting to raise $1000 for Obama by October 1. Please donate now!

Former NBA Star Kevin Johnson Opposes Prop 8

Sacramento mayoral candidate and former NBA player Kevin Johnson announced his opposition to Proposition 8, the ballot measure that would eliminate the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples.

Johnson is running for mayor of Sacramento against incumbent Heather Fargo. In June, Johnson placed first in a non-partisan primary election and is in a run-off on November 4, 2008.

MOVIE REVIEW: Tell No One (Ne Le Dis A Personne)

The French film Tell No One (Ne Le Dis A Personne) has been getting some of the best reviews of the year.

It is a fascinating crime thriller, based on a novel of the same name by Harlan Coben. The plot is incredibly intricate, and the cast is superb. The main protagonist is played by Francois Cluzet (Dr. Alexandre Beck), who looks like a young Dustin Hoffman. His wife is played by Marie-Josée Croze and the British actress Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) plays Beck's sister's lesbian lover (with impeccable French).

The film is the only summer release that I went back and saw a second time. It is simply that good.

The plot is intricate, but the direction is so expert that one is never lost or confused, just amazed and entertained as the story unspools. In addition, the use of music to deepen the emotional impact of pivotal scenes (U2's "With or Without You" and Jeff Buckley's "Lilac Wine" are especially poignant) is particularly noticeable during a second viewing.

Another interesting aspect of the film is its intimate look at how real French people live their lives right now (in Paris). The film depicts a French pediatrician, a gangster, a ghetto (banlieue), and several police officers going about their daily business. It is fascinating to see a contemporary European slice of life, so matter-of-factly portrayed. This is just one of the many significant features of the film that strengthen its connection to the viewer.

At the end of the film all of the seemingly disparate strands of the mystery are tied together in a very neat knot and the audience is left with a feeling of awe and appreciation at a well-executed film. (It will be released on DVD on October 15th, 2008.)

IMAGERY: A-.
PLOT: A+.
ACTING: A.
IMPACT: A+.
OVERALL GRADE: A.

George Takei To Marry Partner of 21 Years Today

Former Star Trek castmember George Takei will be marrying his longtime partner Brad Altmant this weekend in Los Angeles.

Takei, 71 and Altman, 54, were the first gay couple to obtain a marriage licence in West Hollywood on June 16.

At today's wedding, Nichelle Nichols (who played Communications Officer Uhuru on Star Trek) will be the "best lady" and Walter Koenig (who played Commander Chekov) will be the "best man." William Shatner who played Captain James T. Kirk was invited but never responded so he is not expected to attend.

Eye Candy: Olympic Decathlon Winner Bryan Clay

America Bryan Clay won the Gold Medal in the Decathlon at the Beijing Olympics. And he's phyne!

VIDEO: McCain Lies

Feinstein Opposes Prop 8 AND (Maybe) Endorses Marriage Equality

The following statement by California's senior United States Senator Dianne Feinstein has just gone out on the Internets...

“Proposition 8 would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. I oppose it as a matter of equality and fairness.

The right to marry is fundamental. It provides social stability, economic equality, and the ability to make decisions for a spouse in a time of crisis.

If Proposition 8 were to pass, not only would it eliminate the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples, but it would also create a complicated legal quagmire for those who have exercised this right under the California Constitution, as adjudicated by the Supreme Court of the State.

The views of Californians on this issue have changed over time, and as a State, I believe we should uphold the ability of our friends, neighbors, and co-workers who are gay and lesbian to enter into the contract of marriage.

I urge Californians to oppose Proposition 8.”

There had been a notable lack of comment from the Feinstein camp on the California marriage decision, Proposition 8 and marriage equality in general. It's good to see that she has come out publicly in favor of the good guys, but, I for one will not vote for her again (I didn't vote for her in 2006) not even if she runs for Governor in 2010. I want to see a real progressive champion as Governor, like Gavin Newsom or Antonio Villaraigosa.

Video: Why Sarah Palin Won't Be Vice-President

Eye Candy: Adrian Peterson

Hot damn! Are you ready for some football? These shots of Adrian Peterson from Muscle & Fitness magazione were scanned in by Mad Professah fave Rod 2.0.

6 Episcopalian Bishops Unanimously Oppose Prop 8

The top Episcopalian bishops in California held a press conference to announce their united opposition to a November ballot measure that would eliminate the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples.

The bishops argued that preserving the right of gays and lesbians to marry would enhance the "Christian values" of monogamy, love and commitment.

"We believe that continued access to civil marriage for all, regardless of sexual orientation, is consistent with the best principles of our constitutional rights," said the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Bruno, flanked at a news conference by fellow clergy members and gay and straight couples, added: "We do not believe that marriage of heterosexuals is threatened by same-sex marriage."

The statement was signed by The Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus (Bishop of California), The Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner (Bishop of Northern California), The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno (Bishop of Los Angeles), The Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves (Bishop of El Camino Real), The Rt. Rev. Jerry A. Lamb (Provisional Bishop of San Joaquin) and The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes (Bishop of San Diego).

09/11/2008: 7 Years Later

VIDEO: John McCain Gets BarackRolled

US OPEN 2008: Federer Wins 13th Major Title

27-year-old Swiss Roger Federer won his 5th consecutive US Open (and 13th major title over all) by defeating Andy Murray 6-2 7-5 6-2 relatively easily in 1 hour, 51 minutes in a rain delayed Men's Final on Monday afternoon in New York.

Federer silenced critics as he played tennis reminiscent of what we had been seeing routinely from 2004 to 2007 by repeatedly blasting his forehand into the corner of the courts. Twice during the match Federer won at least 6 games in a row (from 2-2 in the first set to 6-2 2-0 in the second and then again from 5-5 in the second set to 5-0 in the third set. The result was really never in doubt. Curiously, Federer fired only 3 aces (and no double faults) thanks to Murray's even more curious (but effective) tactic of receiving serve yards behind the baseline. However, the World #2 also came to the net 44 times, converting 70% of the time.

All in all, the Women's Final won by Serena Williams was longer, more dramatic and more interesting tennis, as the overnight ratings seem to confirm, which are the highest in 6 years for the only grand slam final broadcast in prime time, when Serena beat her sister Venus.

US OPEN 2008: Serena Poses With US Open Trophy In Times Square

VIDEO: Obama Ad Calls Mcain-Palin "Liars"

Eye Candy: Matt Woods

Hat/tip to the boys at Queerty for this early morning Eye Candy!

Wade and Noah Get Married!

So, contrary to previous reports on this blog, the very fine Jensen Atwood will be appearing in Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom after all, continuing his portrayal of Wade, the boyfriend (and husband?) of lead character Noah, played by Darryl Stephens.

The film is in theaters Friday October 24.

US OPEN 2008: Men's Final Preview

Andy Murray (GBR) [6] vs. Roger Federer (SUI) [2]. The 4-time defending champion Roger Federer has not lost here since the fourth round in 2002 (to his former arch-nemesis David Nalbandian) and has been in 16 previous finals (12-4) while the 21-year-old Scot Andy Murray is in his first major final, one day after winning his first major semi-final against the World #1. Almost no one wins their first major final, except the truly great (Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams) but Murray may just be able to break that jinx.

As Matt Cronin puts it, today's rain-delayed men's final (at 2pm PDT, streamed live at USOpen.org and on CBS) will come down to "Federer's wile versus Murray's guile." On paper, you would have to give the edge to Murray. He loves hard-courts, all of his titles coming on that surface and he has won three titles this year on that surface while Federer has none. He is even one of the three players on the ATP tour who own a career advantage over Federer, having beaten him two of the three times they played, including in January this year when Federer was coming off a shocking (at the time) straight set loss to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.

However, I really think the correct lens to view this match is as a rematch of last year's final: the skillful experienced defending champion facing a challenge from a very talented youg upstart with an all-court game. Federer won that showdown by escaping with the first two sets in two tiebreak sets despite being set point down repeatedly in the first two sets. Djokovic folded soon afterwards and Federer celebrated with his 12th title. This year I believe, will be similar, but I do believe that Murray will be able to convert at least one of those set points, but Federer will still prevail in four sets.

I have previously correctly predicted the results of five of the seven final matches on the women's side at this year's open, and five of six final matches on the men's side.

PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

US OPEN 2008: Serena Wins 9th Major Over Jankovic

Serena Williams won her ninth major title on Sunday night, by defeating World #2 Jelena Jankovic 6-4 7-5 in a 2 hour 4 minute match that was filled with very long points and very close games. With the win, Serena will again become #1 in the WTA Tour rankings, more than 5 years after she last held the ranking for 57 consecutive weeks.

Serena did not serve well, having 3 aces (same as her opponent) and 3 double faults, and her average second serve was even slower than Jankovic's, whose serve is considered one of the glaring weaknesses in her game.

The TV commentators characterized the match-up as "the puncher versus the counter-puncher" but really it was more about offense versus defense. In that respect, Serena gave us a very different look at her game. She was extremely patient, pretty much content to keep hitting with Jankovic until she sense an opening and then she would unleash a punishing groundstroke to get her opponent off balance and put away the weak reply at the net.

In both sets Serena was down a pretty early break. In the first set she came out attempting to blast the ball past Jankovic and made 10 unforced errors in the first 2 games, finding herself down 1-2. She then calmed down and won 3 games in a row but Jankovic broke back and held until she was serving 4-5 when she lost her serve and the first set on Serena's first set point.

In the second set, Serena had numerous chances to break Jankovic's serve, but the Serb kept winning the breakpoints, eventually forcing Serena to go 0-for-10 and broke Serena instead in the seventh game and held to be up 5-3. Serena seemed out of sorts and was quickly down 0-40 facing three consecutive breakpoints that were set points. She somehow managed to win that game, saved two more set points and won every game for the rest of the match--four in a row.

She is now tied with Monica Seles on the Grand Slam singles list, and (more importantly to her, I think) still maintains her edge of two more titles than her big sister. It is the third year since they both had their career nadirs in 2004 that both Williams sisters have won major titles in the same year, 2005, 2007 and 2008. And Serena Williams is back on top of Women's tennis, with her sister Venus relatively close behind at #8. Right where they should be.

US OPEN 2008: Women's Final Preview

Serena Williams USA (4)	vs. Jelena Jankovic SRB (2)

The World #1 ranking is on the line. The 2008 US Open title is on the line. Bragging rights are on the line. 8-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is facing first-time Grand Slam finalist Jelena Jankovic in a weather-postponed Women's Final at 6pm PDT (9pm EDT) on CBS.

Interestingly, the two have played each other six times head-to-head in their careers, splitting the matches 3-3 (all on hard courts). They have even played twice this year, with Jankovic winning at the Australian Open in straight sets when Serena was strangely flat while Williams won in Miami in three sets after blowing a large second set lead.

However, here in New York Serena has not lost more than three games in a set to anyone except her sister Venus and has also refused to lose a set, despite facing (count 'em!) ten set points in that magical quarterfinal. Jankovic is very hungry for a title, she wants to match her Serbian countrywoman's French Open title with one of her own, to confirm her #1 ranking with the concomitant major title. Serena has won this title twice before and has been working extremely hard all year long. She has been #1 before for 57 weeks in a row from 2002-2003 and by returning to the #1 spot she would complete a historical achievement by winning her 9th major championship and bring her one step closer to the extreme heights of tennis greatness of holding a double digit number of major titles.

PREDICTION: Williams in 2 sets.

More People Watch McCain Speech Than Watched Obama's

Apparently Barack Obama's Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech and Sarah Palin's "pitbull with lipstick" speech were just lead-ins to John McCain's Republican presidential nomination acceptance speech:

Nearly 39 million people watched Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s acceptance speech on the closing night of the GOP convention Thursday in St. Paul, Minn. That broke the week-old convention record of upwards of 38 million viewers set by Sen. Barack Obama only the week before.

Sen. McCain amassed an audience of 38.9 million viewers for his speech on two fewer channels than were carrying Sen. Obama’s speech Aug. 28 to 38.38 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

Interestingly, Josh Marshall notes that more women watched Obama's speech (19.9 million) than McCain's speech (19.5 million).

Federer Beats Djokovic; Murray Leads Nadal by 2 Sets

As predicted by Mad Professah, World #2 Roger Federer defeated World #3 Novak Djokovic in four sets on Saturday, 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-2 to reach his third major final of the year and fifth consecutive US Open. At times, Federer played at a level reminiscent of his 2005-2007 greatness, with 3 unforced errors in the first set and 1 in the fourth. The Swiss 27-year-old ended with 51 winners to 28 errors overall, compared to 43 winners but 47 errors for the 21-year-old Serb.

In the other semifinal, current World #6 Andy Murray shocked most observers (but not this one!) by easily winning the first set from current World #1 Rafael Nadal 6-2 when the match was moved (during the Federer-Djokovic match!) to the Louis Armstrong Court in order to try to have both semifinals completed before inclement weather arrived. Murray also won the second set 7-6(5) despite Nadal saving a handful of breakpoints and then promptly gave Nadal his first break points of the match to begin the third, which the Spaniard was able to convert. Play was suspended for the day at Murray leading 6-2, 7-6(5), 2-3 up two sets but still down a break in the third set. It will resume at 1pm Pacific time on CBS today, while the Women's Final will be at 6pm Pacific time on CBS today.

US OPEN 2008: Men's Semifinals Preview

The 2008 US Open Men' s semifinals are now set. Mad Professah correctly predicted the results of three of the four quarterfinals in both the Men's and Women's draws. Here are ,y predictions for the semis.

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) vs. Andy Murray GBR (6). At Wimbledon the match-up between Nadal and Murray was much hyped and did not live up to the buzz, with Nadal winning their quarterfinal in straight sets. In fact, Nadal has never lost to the Scotsman in 5 matches on multiple surfaces. The current World #1 has beaten the soon-to-be World #4 three times this year. However, I feel that this will cause Murray to be extra motivated to at least make this match competitive--he has nothing to lose and could gain his first major final if he wins. However, Nadal is in the middle of one of the all-time great tennis years and has only lost one match (to Djokovic) since early May. The wild card is the New York weather, if the wind gets as bad as it was for yesterday's women's semis I think that Nadal will be able to handle the conditions better and will make it to his third consecutive major final. PREDICTION: Murray in 5 sets.

Novak Djokovic SRB (3) vs. Roger Federer SUI (2). This match is a replay of last year's US Open final, won by the Swiss former #1. Then, the Serbian youngster was the up and coming potential challenger to the Federer-Nadal duopoly at the top of men's tennis. Now he is the reigning Australian Open champion and where he defeated the defending champion (Federer) in the semifinal. Will history repeat itself? I doubt it. Head-to-head Federer still leads Djokovic 6-2, although those two losses have come in the last 15 months. Federer has now made it to an incredible eighteen consecutive Grand Slam semifinals, a record unlikely to be reached by anyone else anytime soon. Federer is the 4-time defending champion but it is clear that he is not playing as well in 2008 as he did in 2007. He seems somewhat energized by his Olympic doubles Gold medal while Djokovic has had a series of tough matches to get to this point and has a history of succumbing to fatigue in big matches. PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

VIDEO: Trailer for "Milk"

The trailer for the Gus Van Sant-directed film Milk on the life of gay icon Harvey Milk (played by Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn) is now available online. (hat/tip Towleroad.)

Eye Candy: Michael Keute

Pictures of model Michael Keute are courtesy the guys at the Queerty blog. Enjoy!

US OPEN 2008: Women's Semifinals Preview

The 2008 US Open Women's semifinals are now set. Mad Professah correctly predicted 3 of the 4 women's quarterfinal match results.

Elena Dementieva RUS (5) vs. Jelena Jankovic SRB (2). Dementieva has always had her best Grand Slam sucess at the US Open, having reached the finals once (2004) and the semifinals four times (2000, 2004, 2005 and 2008). Jankovic was the #1 player in the World for one week during the Beijing Olympics while Dementieva was winning her second Olympic singles medal, a Gold eight years after winning the Silver in Sydney. The two have played each other seven times, with Jankovic holding the edge 4-3 overall, and 3-2 on hardcourts. They have split the matches they played this year, with Dementieva retiring hurt in Miami and Jankovic losing on her best surface of clay in Berlin. Dementieva's problematic serve has been surprisingly solid, and is currently a more effective weapon than Jankovic's. She has long had some of the best groundstrokes of any woman on the tour AND she moves well--her central weakness had been mental fortitude and a cringe-inducing service toss and motion. Jankovic is incredibly consistent and probably a slightly better mover, but I believe that Dementieva is on a roll that will get her to her third Grand Slam final, where, if she wins she will become the second Russian player to reach the top of the WTA rankings. PREDICTION: Dementieva in 3 sets.

Dinara Safina RUS (6) vs. Serena Williams USA (4). Although many people feel that Wednesday night's amazing quarterfinal match between Venus and Serena was the deciding showdown for who would win the 2008 US Open title, there are at least two other people who will try their best to not let that happen. The hottest player on tour, Dinara Safina, has made it to the final of the 6 of the last 7 tournaments she entered. Safina easily won the USTA's gimmicky US Open series of warm-up tournaments to the year's final major tournament in New York for the chance to win an extra $1 million dollars if she wins this title. In addition, if the Russian will become the #1 player in the world if she wins the 2008 US Open title. Unfortunately, she is playing 8-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who is playing some of her best tennis and is in better shape than she has been in nearly 5 years when she dominated women's tennis completely. Head-to-head Safina has only beaten Serena once in four tries, but that victory came from the last time they played, on clay in Berlin in May. There Safina had an amazing run of beating World #1 Justine Henin in her final professional match, Serena in a 3rd set tiebreak, and then Elena Dementieva to win her first Tier 1 title. In fact, Safina is the first player to beat three WTA Tour #1 players in one calendar year (Henin in Berlin, Sharapova in Paris and Jankovic in Beijing) this summer.

Although prior to the start of the tournament I predicted Venus Williams would be in this semifinal and lose to Safina who would then defeat Dementieva for the title, after Wednesday's match I can not see how any of the three players remaining in the tournament can deny Serena Williams her 9th Grand Slam title. If anyone can do it, it will be Safina playing at her best, and it will be because Serena has a letdown after beating her sister, but I believe that Serena will try and honor her sister by finding a way to get to the final, where she will be the heavy favorite against Dementieva or Jankovic.

PREDICTION: Williams in 3 sets.

Cindy McCain Wore $300,000 Outfit to Republican Convention

Hat/tip John Aravosis at AmericaBlog.

US OPEN 2008: Venus Squanders 10 Set Points In Loss To Serena

Serena Williams defeated her sister Venus Williams in the quarterfinals of the 2008 U.S. Open 7-6(6) 7-6(7) despite being down 3-5 in both sets as well as down 4-6 in both tiebreaks!
All in all, Venus squandered 10 set points, 2 in the first set tiebreak and 8 in the second set (she was up 5-3, 40-0 in the second set when she made a number of unforced errors and attempted winners to lose that game.) Notably, Serena had only two set points and she won both of them.

It just seemed to me that when she had a set point Venus got more tentative and sloppy with her technique. A number of those set points were on her own serve, and she should have been able to figure out a way to win. With that being said, when Serena was down she never ever gave up and started hitting the ball harder and moving incredibly. She made some "gets" that no other player on the tour (probably not even Venus) could have gotten their racquet on, numerous times.

All in all, it was a (relatively) high-quality, exciting match that took nearly two and a half hours.

Serena will face Dinara Safina in a semifinal match on Friday night for a chance to play in the US Open final for the fourth time.

Happy 227th Birthday, Los Angeles!

September 4, 1781 was the day that the city of Los Angeles was founded, 227 years ago. Happy Birthday, L.A., you look fabulous for your age!

Poll on Vice-Presidential Selections

Daily Kos is publicizing a poll of Clinton voters on their impression of Vice Presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.

McCain Spokesperson Disembowelled in Live CNN Interview

US OPEN 2008: Men's Quarterfinals Preview

Here are my predictions for the last major's men's quarterfinals of the year.

Rafael Nadal ESP (1) vs. Mardy Fish USA. Mardy Fish is replacing fellow American James Blake who went out to his "good friend" with nary a whimper in the third round 6-3 6-3 7-6(4). Fish has had some surprising results, beating former World #1 Roger Federer earlier this year at the Indian Wells semifinals in straight sets, but no result would be more surpising than beating the current World #1 (who happens to have lost one match since early May!). However, it is definitely possible, since Fish has the game to beat anyone when he is "in the zone" and Nadal has never made it past the quarterfinals in New York, where he has lost in this very round in the last two years. However, I think the third time will be the charm for the Spaniard, despite the New York crowd. PREDICTION: Nadal in 4 sets.

Juan Martin Del Potro ARG (17) vs. Andy Murray GBR (6). What happens when an immovable object meets an irresistible force? The 19-year old Del Potro has been the second hottest player all summer, having won the last four (relatively small) tournaments he entered while most of the world's elite players were at the Olympics. Murray is at his career high, having won his first ATP Masters shield over Djokovic in Cincinatti and will be ranked #4 in the world (thanks to Davydenko's upset) on Monday for the first time. The two have only played once, with Murray winning on clay in Rome earlier this year. I actually would be interested to see Del Potro win because I want to see what would happen when the two hottest players meet in the semis, but I really think this is Murray's time, and he is itching for revenge for his loss to Nadal at Wimbledon. PREDICTION: Murray in 4 sets.

Andy Roddick USA (8) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3).This will probably be the best match of the four men's quarterfinals. The two have only played twice before, both times on hard courts in the last year or so and they have exchanged wins. Djokovic has been having a difficult time in the last few rounds, barely winning 4-6 6-2 6-3 5-7 6-3 against the pulchritudinous Tommy Robredo in the fourth round as well as a very tough 4-setter against the young, hard-hitting, very tall Maran Cilic 6-7(7) 7-5 6-4 7-6(0) in the third round. Roddick on the other hand swept past the very talented Fernando Gonzalez 6-4 6-2 6-1 to get to this quarterfinal and really only had a difficult match against the young, hard-hitting, very tall Ernest Gulbis 6-3 5-7 6-2 7-5. I had initially predicted that Djokovic would win this quarter but I have seen a lot of Roddick matches and I believe if he is the fresher, with a New York crowd behind him late at night, he may just come through. However, Djokovic loves playing against a hostile crowd and he will have nearly two days to recover from his near death experience against Robredo. PREDICTION: Roddick in 5 sets.

Nikolay Davydenko RUS (5) Gilles Muller LUX vs. Roger Federer SUI (2). This might have been the journeyman quarterfinal if Igor Andreev had kept on playing the way he did for the first two sets the entire match. Even so, Federer was pushed to the brink, only winning 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-3 3-6 6-3. Andreev had 54 winners to 42 errors compared to Federer's 66 winners to 60 errors(!). In the round before, Federer had 9 unforced errors in 3 sets of flawless tennis against the decidedly un-pulchritudinous Radek Stepanek. Muller is a hard-hitting lefty who gave Davydenko fits in the fourth round, pulling out a 4-set win 6-4 4-6 6-3 7-6(10), saving a handful of set points in the 4th. Federer would probably have preferred to play Davydenko who he has beaten 12 times in a row (and never lost to) since Muller is someone he has only beaten twice (and never lost to). However, he hasn't faced the player from Luxembourg since 2005 and probably has no idea how Muller plays. Still, Federer is on an incredible record-setting streak of 17 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals and I doubt the 130-ranked player in the world will prevent the World #2 from extending that streak to 18. PREDICTION: Federer in 3 sets.

Exactly Nine Weeks Until Election Day

It is exactly 9 weeks (63 days) until election day. If you had a choice between having Barack Obama win the presidency or Proposition 8 go down to defeat, which would you pick (you can only have one)?

The Dark Knight Breaks $500m Barrier (in 45 Days)

Nikki Finke is reporting that The Dark Knight has broken the $500 million barrier in a record 45 days this past weekend. It now owns 14 box-office records:

1. LARGEST NUMBER OF OPENING THEATRES WITH 4,366 (MORE THAN THE 4,362 DEBUT THEATRES OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END IN 2007).

2. BIGGEST MIDNIGHT PREVIEW GROSS WITH $18.489 MILLION IN 3,040 THEATRES (THIS BEATS STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH AT $16.9 MILLION IN 2,915 THEATRES IN 2005).

3. BIGGEST IMAX MIDNIGHT PREVIEWS SET AN NEW RECORD WITH $640,000 (THIS AMOUNT WAS APPROPRIATELY INCLUDED IN THE $18.489 MILLION PREVIEW NUMBER).

4. BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY GROSS IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $67,165,092 (THIS BEATS THE $59,841,919 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

5. BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $158,411,483 MILLION (THIS BEATS THE $151,116,516 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

6. BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS FOR AN IMAX RELEASE IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $6,214,061 MILLION IN 94 THEATRES ($66,107 PER-THEATRE!) (THIS BEATS THE $4.7 MILLION SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007) - IMAX SHOWING AT FULL CAPACITY $1.9 MILLION ON SATURDAY ALONE.

7. BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY SUNDAY GROSS WITH $43,596,151 (THIS BEATS THE $39,937,865 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 ON ITS DEBUT WEEKEND).

8. FASTEST SPRINT TO $200 MILLION DOMESTICALLY IN JUST FIVE DAYS (BEATING PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST, SPIDER-MAN 2, AND STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH WHICH EACH TOOK 8 DAYS TO REACH $200 MILLION).

9. POSTS THE BEST SECOND WEEKEND GROSS EVER AT $75,166,446 (BEATING SHREK 2 AND ITS $72,170,363 SECOND WEEKEND GROSS).

10. CROSSES THE $300 MILLION MARK IN JUST 10 DAYS (BEATING 2006's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST WHICH TOOK 16 DAYS).

11. THE FILM IN IMAX WORLDWIDE CROSSED THE $20 MILLION MARK IN JUST 11 DAYS (BEATING HARRY POTTER 5 WHICH TOOK 16 DAYS).

12. THE FILM CROSSED THE $400 MILLION MARK IN JUST 18 DAYS (BEATS SHREK 2 WHICH TOOK 43 DAYS TO DO IT)

13. BECAME THE SECOND-HIGHEST GROSSING FILM OF ALL-TIME DOMESTICALLY IN JUST 30 DAYS OF RELEASE SURPASSING THE ORIGINAL STAR WARS ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008 (ON THAT DAY IT HIT $466,365,174 BEATING STAR WARS ($461 MILLION)

Of course many of these records are silly because Hollywood doesn't adjust box-office records for inflation. So, Titanic's $600 million domestic gross from 1997-1998 is significantly more than that amount in 2008 dollars. But, still, $500 million is still a LOT of money, even in Hollywood.

I wonder how long it takes before we start hearing about fights between Christopher Nolan (and/or his brother) who wrote, produced and directed the movie and Warner Brothers over a fair share of the profits? 1, 2, 3, 4, ....

US OPEN 2008: Women's Quarterfinals Preview

The 2008 US Women's Quarterfinals are now set. After correctly predicting all four of the 2008 French Open Women's quarterfinals but only two of the four 2008 Wimbledon Ladies quarterfinals here are my predictions for the last major women's quarterfinals of the year.

Amelie Mauresmo FRA (32) Flavia Pennetta ITA (16) vs. Dinara Safina RUS (6). This should have been an opportunity for former #1 Frenchwomanto show that she could still be a force to be reckoned with at a major but instead she committed 40 unforced errors (including 14 double faults) as she lost 6-3 6-0 to the Italian player who clinched her first major quarterfinal. Safina, who has made it to the final in six of the last seven events that she entered, has been the hottest player on the WTA Tour all summer long but has recently been complaining of extreme exhaustion.Pennetta is playing the best tennis of her long career but so is Safina. There's nothing that the Italian does that the Russian does better and that should be enough to get "Marat's little sister" to her second major semifinal of the year. PREDICTION: Safina in 2 sets.

Serena Williams USA (4) vs.Venus Williams USA (7). This should be the best match of the tournament. Even though I predicted before the tournament that it was unlikely to occur, I'm thrilled that it has. Hopefully, the match will be a reprise of their intense Wimbledon Ladies' final this summer won by Venus(or the still unseen third-set tiebreak thriller in the Banagalore semis never shown on American won by Serena). However, it should be remembered that their first several matches were very ugly affairs. It should also be remembered that the sisters are currently tied 8-8 in their career head-to-head, although Serena beat Venus in 5 consecutive meetings at Grand Slams, she has not been able to do so since. I'm not sure if these statistics are known by either of the players but it does give us insight into how closely matched the two sisters are. Regardless, I do think that Venus will have a slight mental edge, although Serena is probably playing slightly better. In the end I think that tennis is at least fifty percent mental, and tennis between siblings must be even more so. I'm just happy to see a Williams in a major semifinal for more than a single time in a calendar year. PREDICTION: (Venus) Williams in 3 sets.

Elena Dementieva RUS (5) vs. Patty Schnyder SUI (15). This will probably be the ugliest quarterfinal of the four. Patty Schnyder has the game to drive anyone crazy, but Dementieva is coming off winning the Gold Medal in Singles at the Beijing Olympics and has already beaten the Swiss player twice already in 2008. Unless someone tells her that Jankovic has already lost and that she has an open path to her second US Open final in five years, Dementieva should be able to advance to her fourth career US Open semifinal surprisingly easily. PREDICTION: Dementieva in 2 sets.

Jelena Jankovic SRB (2) vs. Sybille Bammer AUT (29). Despite having the #1 ranking almost within her grasp thanks to the disturbing collapse of her countrywoman Ana Ivanovic, Jankovic barely got past the hard-hitting young Dane Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round, advancing 3-6 6-2 6-1. Sybille Bammer is one of the few mothers on the tour and has a rare serve and volley game. However, Jankovic has only lost to Bammer in 7 matches, including a tough 3-set match at last year's US Open in the 4th round. This year, Jankovic will be prepared to get the job done in two. PREDICTION: Jankovic in 2 sets.

Eye Candy: Shirtless Pictures of ATP Tennis Stars

Fernando Verdasco

Dmitry Tursunov

Paradorn Srichapan

Tommy Haas

The guys at Queerty found out about a 2009 calendar of shirtless photos of male professional tennis players being promoted by the ATP.