Mauresmo Denies Venus Her Bling

Amélie Mauresmo came back from being down in both the second and third sets to win the 2005 Proximus Diamond Games title 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 over Venus Williams. Venus, who won this title in 2002 and 2003, would have taken home a $1.3 million trophy encrusted with 107 diamonds if she had served out the match at 6-4, 5-4. She will have another chance in 2005, since the trophy goes home with any player who wins the tournament 3 times in 5 years. It was Amélie's second final in as many weeks, her 16th WTA singles title, putting her within striking distance of current No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the rankings. It was Venus' 11th tournament in a row without winning the title, her longest drought yet; she was 31 WTA singles titles.

Hertzberg vs Villaraigosa? Duh!

The Los Angeles Times issued its "endorsement" more than two weeks before the March 8 Mayoral Primary election: They want to see a runoff between Bob Hertzberg and Antonio Villaraigosa, saying that "[t]he two former state Assembly speakers, who once shared a Sacramento apartment, are credible candidates who offer compelling visions for the city's future." All I can say to that is "Duh!" The Times last week enumerated the many reasons James Hahn should not be mayor, and others have also pointed out even more. Everyone I know wants either Villaraigosa or Hertzberg to be the next Mayor of Los Angeles, the problem is that only the top 2 finishers get into the May 17 Mayoral General Election. And Hahn has shown us before (in 2001) that he will do whatever it takes to come from behind and win; he has never lost an election. The incumbent mayor is definitely sinking while Hertzberg is surging, but will it be enough to leave us with a choice of the two best candidates?

Venus Goes For The Bling

Not even a resurgent Kim Clijsters, playing in her first tournament back from months of injury in front of a hometown crowd in Antwerp, Belgium could prevent Venus Williams from winning 6-2,6-3 in under an hour. As part of the crowd who has questioned Venus' ability to perform at the highest levels, I was amused to see that she is being inspired by her love of 'bling.' The first person to win the tournament 3 times in its first 5 years gets to keep the $1.3 million gem-encrusted Diamond Games trophy. Venus won the tournament in 2002 and 2003 but skipped last year due to injury. On Saturday, Venus took out 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, setting up a final with Amelie Mauresmo for all the diamonds...

LAPD Shoots Another Innocent Victim

Weather as metaphor: It is currently pouring buckets and buckets of rain in Los Angeles, and for the Los Angeles Police Department when it rains, it pours ("Police Shooting of Dog Sparks Anger"):

On Wednesday, a Los Angeles police officer shot
[Teri, a 10-year-old pit bull] in front of the gate to
[the dog's owner's] makeshift home. A city animal
control officer said Teri died on the way to a clinic.

Police assert that the 70-pound dog attacked a
column of four bicycle patrol officers riding
through the alley west of Mateo Street.
The last officer in line, 10-year-veteran
Gina Iglesias, fired the fatal shot "fearing for her
safety," police said Friday.

...

"The apparently startled dog bared its teeth and
attacked," officials said in a statement. None of the
officers was injured; Iglesias, who is assigned to
the Newton station, has been temporarily taken
off field duty while a routine investigation into
the shooting takes place, police said.

...

Others who work nearby also said they doubted
that the 10-year-old pit bull posed a serious threat
to the officers.

"She was never aggressive. I never even heard her
growl. There's no way she would attack," said
Michael Faye, a photographer whose studio is
nearby and who had known the dog for three years.

Mark Helf, an art director working at the studio on
a sportswear advertising photo shoot, described
the scene as heart-wrenching.

"They wouldn't let Benny go to his dog, even to put
a compress on the wound. He had to basically
watch his dog bleed to death and die over a
two-hour period.

"I heard Benny plead, 'Please, please shoot my dog,
put it out of its misery.' They wouldn't even do
that," Helf said.

Josephs, who heard the gunshot but did not see the
shooting, said he tried to aid his wounded dog but
was blocked by police.

"Teri tried to get up and kept falling down. They
wouldn't let me help her," he said.

...

[Lori Weise] believes the officer's actions were
excessive and dangerous to the entire
neighborhood."If they felt threatened, why
didn't they just Mace her?" Weise said. "Postmen
do it every day."

There is something seriously wrong with the training of police officers if they "fear for their safety" when faced with developmentally delayed teen aged boys, joy-riding eighth graders, and old dogs. Dayum!

Gay TV Watch: Simpsons and Housewives

According to QueerDay, this Sunday's episode of "The Simpsons" is the one (previously discussed on this blog) where gay marriage is legalized in Springfield and one of the main characters comes out of the closet. In addition, I guess Sunday is gay TV day because on "Desperate Housewives," red-haired Bree's son Andrew comes out also!

LAPD Changes Shooting Policy

I suppose it's just a coincidence, but just about two weeks after an African American eighth grader named Devin Brown was fatally shot ten times by LAPD officers, in the middle of a hotly contested mayoral campaign, the Police Commission unanimously approved a change in the policy which allowed officers to shoot into moving vehicles. Whether this will ameliorate police-community relations in a city where the police chief says we have been on "riot watch" remains to be seen. Initial response does not seem good, the Department is complaining that there is "no money in the budget" to retrain officers to comply with the new policy.... Does it strike anyone else as odd that LAPD officers have to be trained not to gun down children in cold blood?

Strange Bedfellows

There is growing opposition to the Governator's plan to realign all electoral districts for federal and statewide political offices in California. Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters:

The McCarthy measure (ACA3x) does provide
for the selection of an independent panel of judges,
as Schwarzenegger promised, but when it spells out
the criteria under which the judges are to function,
the measure moves away from the simple,
even-handed standards used by the special masters
in 1991 and attempts to affect outcomes - another
potential gerrymander in the guise of
reform. The devil, as they say, is in the details - a
passage that seeks "a level of competitiveness that
would result in a difference of no more than 7
percentage points between the number of voters in
each district who are registered with the two largest
political parties in the state."

Huh? As the Supreme Court's action in 1991 indicated,
drawing compact districts that fairly represent
California's disparate communities naturally creates
a high level of competitiveness. In fact, partisan
control of the Assembly changed hands twice
in the 1990s. But by making partisan competitiveness
a goal unto itself and defining it as a seven-point
differential, the McCarthy measure would appear to
enhance prospects for Republicans to win legislative
majorities. Democrats are already attacking
redistricting reform as a smoke screen for a Republican
power grab. The McCarthy measure gives them
ammunition.

Yesterday, Common Cause endorsed Arnold's redistricting proposal at a press conference in D.C. As other shocked commentators have noted, this is like "cats lying down with dogs." Common Cause is making common cause with a Governor who is currently being sued by a number of good government groups and is suing the state's Fair Political Practices Commission for the right to supercede fundraising restrictions. Even though numerous California Republicans are not enamored of Arnold's plan does not necessarily mean it is good for Democrats. There is a right way to redraw the district lines in California, but Arnold's proposal is not it. I would support something like the process used in Arizona or Iowa, but regardless I don't think that this change should be enacted prior to the 2006 state and federal elections. What part of "decennial redistricting process" do Arnold and Common Cause and Tom Delay not understand?

The Stigma of the Mythical 'Superbug'

Gay and HIV circles are buzzing with the news that New York officials have reported a surprising new case of a 40-something gay man who used crystal methamphetamine while having unprotected anal sex with multiple male partners, tested positive for HIV and progressed rapidly to AIDS within a matter of months. The strain of HIV the man is infected with, known as 3-DCR-HIV, is apparently resistant to three entire classes of anti-HIV medications.

However, some AIDS activists and public health officials are starting to question the actions of New York officials to release the information through a press conference and media release.

"Those who practice good science would have waited,"
said Martin Delaney, founder director of Project Inform,
one of the oldest US non-profit AIDS organisations.

"They would have shared and discussed the date with
scientific peers and then -- most importantly -- they
wouldhave gone back to the labs and followed up on
the patient for another six months before drawing
any hard conclusions," he said.

Some activists were harsher: Julie Davids, executive director of CHAMP (Community HIV/AIDS Mobilisation Project) warned that officials ran the risk of promoting the image of gay men as "crazed drug addicts, carelessly or wantonly spreading a killer bug." As anyone who is involved in the gay community knows, the presence of "crystal" has reached near epidemic proportions. To paraphrase Martin Delaney, it really isn't helpful to freak the community out with reports of a superbug which is amplified by crystal use when the community is still freaked out by the prevalence of HIV and crystal use itself.

The facts are that it is well known that there are strains of virus out there which are resistant to one, some or even all anti-HIV medications and even virus which is susceptible to the drugs may be in a person who can't tolerate the side-effects or dosing of these powerful drugs. It is also well-known that although most people take 8 to 11 years to progress from initial HIV infection to immune-compromisd AIDS without treatment, some untreated individuals proceed from infection to AIDS quite rapidly. It is still not clear if this one case (The Los Angeles Times reported that other possibly similar cases have been found, in San Diego, and Massachusetts) is a medically significant occurrence, but what is clear is the message the broader community will be receiving and it is this message which CHAMP and Delaney (and myself) are trying to dispel.

The stereotype of hypersexuality has been applied to many subjugated groups throughout history (Black Male, Black Female, Gay Male, Bisexuals, Latino Male, Latina Female, etc). However with gay men the message is doubly stigmatised because not only are they portrayed as "wanton, sexual beasts" but they are "wanton, sexual beasts who carry a horrible disease." The disease is sometimes homosexuality itself, but more recently it has been HIV. It is precisely the salience and ubiquity of these messages which keeps people in the closet (and on the down low) and by stigmatizing sexuality, causes more unsafe sex and teen suicide by LGBT questioning youth. We should all be fighting for truthful representations of minority groups, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it can literally save lives.

UPDATE Sunday, February 20: The NY Times has an article in today's edition covering the backlash to Frieden's actions, where they basically quote Julie Davids and Martin Delaney, as I did.

Gay Male Escort By Night, White House Reporter By Day

Like a geyser of frothy, hot, white (CENSORED), the Gannon/Guckert story has exploded all over the internet, thanks to the wonderful John Aravosis. The details of the story are this. A few weeks ago, a reported named Jeff Gannon lobbed this now-infamous softball question during a White House press conference at the President of the United States:

Thank you. Senate Democratic leaders have painted a
very bleak picture of the U.S. economy. Harry Reid [D-NV]
was talking about soup lines. And [Senator] Hillary Clinton
[D-NY] was talking about the economy being on the verge of
collapse. Yet in the same breath they say that Social Security
is rock solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to
work -- you've said you are going to reach out to these people
-- how are you going to work with people who seem to have
divorced themselves from reality?

This got the folks at Media Matters and other lefty websites wondering, "Who the **** is Jeff Gannon and what is Talon News that he works for?" Well, now we know. Jeff Gannon was the alias (and not in the fabulous Jennifer Garner way!) of James Guckert, who besides being a member of the White House Press Corps, was also a male prostitute who advertised that he would have sex with men for money in the metro Washington, D.C. area. Why should YOU care about this? But, wait, there's more! It appears as if Gannon/Guckert may have had access to Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative and was actually investigated by the FBI in that ongoing scandal. Stay tuned, folks...

Told You So: They Don't Really Mean It

As I have previously pointed out, the right wing (and President Bush in particular) only uses gay marriage as a wedge issue when they feel (or to be more precise, Karl Rove feels) it will gain them political points--they are not true believers on the issue. Apparently gay marriage was a huge issue right before the election, not huge right after the election, big enough for the State of the Union, and today comes word that congressional republicans are dropping the issue for the rest of the year. Things that make you go "hmmmmmm!"

For Barbara, 4500 Roses; For Dianne...

My U.S. Senator, Barbara Boxer, received
four thousand five hundred roses
yesterday for Valentine's Day. These flowers
are just one physical manifestation of the
heartfelt appreciation citizens all over the
United States like myself feel towards finally
having a politician who will ask the hard questions
and speak up when they see injustice.
I'm so proud to be represented by Barbara Boxer!
Of course, Calfifornia's (note the lack of possessive pronoun!) other U.S. Senator, Dianne Feinstein,
takes a different view on the implications of obvious injustice.

Grammy Awards Update

So, I previously predicted Ray Charles would win in whatever category he was nominated, and that came true last night, as he posthumously won 6 Grammys, bringing him to a lifetime total of 18 (tied for eighth all-time). My overall accuracy rate was 2 out of 4. I think this does indicate that Jamie Foxx will be picking up the Oscar for "Ray" in two weeks at the Oscars. Ray Charles' career-ending collection of duets with stars like Norah Jones, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight, et cetera called Genius Loves Company won Album of the Year and the duet with Norah Jones won Record of the Year.

As usual, there some surprises, both unpleasant and pleasant: Maroon 5 (Mediocre 5?) won Best New Artist (beating out both Kanye West and Joss Stone). John Mayer won Best Song (I'm only complaining because he beat out Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You"). However, Jill Scott won a Best Urban/Alternative Grammy for "Cross My Mind" from her amazing Beautifully Human album. Prince (!!) won his first (and second) Grammys for his Musicology album and the track "Call My Name." People hate on Britney, but "Toxic" deservedly won for Best Dance recording.

Act Blue! Support Dean as DNC Chair

Markos over at DailyKos has set up an Act Blue page to show the netroots' support for Howard Dean's election yesterday as DNC Chair. All my homies (Oliver Willis, MyDD, Atrios, AmericaBlog) are promoting the page, so I thought I would chip in too. Please donate what you can: $10, $20, $50, whatever)

Contribution amount:
$

2005 Grammy Awards Predictions

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: “Genius Loves Company,” Ray Charles and Various Artists; “American Idiot,” Green Day; “The Diary of Alicia Keys,” Alicia Keys; “Confessions,” Usher; “The College Dropout,” Kanye West.
Should Win: "The College Dropout,” Kanye West.
Will Win: “Genius Loves Company,” Ray Charles and Various Artists.

RECORD OF THE YEAR: “Let’s Get It Started,” The Black Eyed Peas; “Here We Go Again,” Ray Charles and Norah Jones; “American Idiot,” Green Day; “Heaven,” Los Lonely Boys; “Yeah!” Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris.
Should Win: “Yeah!” Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris.
Will Win: “Here We Go Again,” Ray Charles and Norah Jones.

SONG OF THE YEAR: “Daughters,” John Mayer (John Mayer); “If I Ain’t Got You,” Alicia Keys (Alicia Keys); “Jesus Walks,” C. Smith and Kanye West (Kanye West); “Live Like You Were Dying,” Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman (Tim McGraw); “The Reason,” Daniel Estrin and Douglas Robb (Hoobastank).
Should Win: “If I Ain’t Got You,” Alicia Keys (Alicia Keys).
Will Win: “If I Ain’t Got You,” Alicia Keys (Alicia Keys).

BEST NEW ARTIST: Los Lonely Boys; Maroon 5; Joss Stone; Kanye West; Gretchen Wilson.
Should Win: Kanye West.
Will Win: Kanye West.

Furor Over Teen's Death By LAPD Continues...

Since I first blogged about the news of another tragic police shooting of a young black male a few days ago the story has continued to receive widespread attention. The Los Angeles Times has run almost a dozen stories in 5 days this week, a lot of them appearing on either the front page of the paper or in the front page of the California section. Then, on Thursday this editorial (headlined "A Lingering Shoot-First Culture") was published:

It's going to take more than a
new police policy on shooting
at moving vehicles to prevent
another tragedy like the one
Sunday that cost the life of
13-year-old Devin Brown. The
uproar over the shooting is not
about cops firing at cars. It's
about the Los Angeles Police
Department's long-troubled
relationship with the city's
African American community.

Right on point! As other commentators at LAVoice.org and blogging.la have also noted, there's a bigger picture here than just a wayward barely teen-aged boy joyriding. Today's Times actually does a pretty good job of "connecting the blots" on the LAPD's record regarding race relations with the African American community in Los Angeles, as it covers Police Chief Bill Bratton's "week of painful losses." The story mentions 1979 police shooting of Eulia Love, the 1991 Rodney King beating, the 2002 Donovan Jackson beating, the 2003 Stanley Miller beating.... Of course what makes the last three incidents so sensatioal is that all three were caught live on videotape, and in all three cases the police responsible were not found guilty of criminal wrongdoing. However, if the police are not punished when their "bad acts" are recorded for the entire world to see, then how can the community have confidence in the police when there are no video cameras around?

Howard Hears a Woo-Hoo!

Howard Dean's last challenger for the
Chairmanship of the Democratic
National Committee, ex-congressman
Tim Roemer dropped out of the race, l
eaving Dean as the next de facto head
of the DNC. The battle was an interesting
proxy war for the battle over where the
Democrats will go forward from their
electoral defeat in November. Unlike
other critics, I think Dean's imminent
take-over of the party apparatus is a
good thing for the Democrats and the country.

LAPD Shoot And Kill 13-yr-old Kid

I am glad that the story of a 13-year old African American kid, Devin Brown, being shot and killed by Los Angeles Police Department officers on Sunday is finally getting some media coverage (audio story from NPR, LA Times). The point is that this is just one more in a long series of police shootings of black and brown individuals by a mostly white police force. It should be interesting to see if this has any impact on the March 8 Los Angeles Mayoral Primary Election.

N.Y. Marriage Case On Fast Track

The City of New York is planning on appealing last week's ruling striking down the ban on same-sex marriage directly to New York State's highest court, the seven-member Court of Appeals:

These seven people will make the decision about whether marriage discrimination based on gender will be ended in New York State. Four members have been appointed by Republican governor George Pataki, three have been appointed by former Democratic governor Mario Cuomo. The key vote is apparently Judge Albert Rosenblatt, a Harvard Law School graduate appointed by Pataki in 1998 (last row on the right). He is widely viewed as "very intellectual and moderately conservative" who could vote "either way."

Utah!? (We Are Everywhere)

As reported on gay news websites (365gay.com and rawstoryQ), gay activist Scott McCoy is poised to become the second openly gay or lesbian member of the state legislature:

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is expected today
to approve the appointment to the state Senate
of the man who led the fight against last
November's constitutional amendment to ban
same-sex marriage.

Gay rights activist Scott McCoy was chosen
Saturdayto replace Paula Julander as state
senator. Julander is stepping down due to
poor health.

Under Utah law since she is a Democrat, the
selection of her replacement is up to the
Democratic Party in her district.

There's an interesting correlation between the number of openly gay or lesbian officials in a legislature and the amount of pro-gay lesgislation which is produced, so it is fascinating to see progressive steps in this very red state.

Oh, Canada!

What a country! Last week, on Tuesday the Government of Canada introduced legislation to end gender discrimination in marriage in "our Neighbors to the North." It is widely expected to pass, despite the ruling party's decision to make the vote a "free vote" where Members of Parliament can vote their conscience. Two Conservative Party members are doing just that, and have endorsed the Liberal Party's "gay marriage bill."

Of course, one day later, back in this country, the President was re-stating his strong support for writing discrimination into the founding document of the United States, by endorsing the Federal Marriage Amendment in his State of the Union address. This amendment would not only prevent governmental recognition of same-sex marriages but also would nullify any state-based recognition of same-sex relationships like Vermont's Civil Unions, California's Domestic Partnerships and Hawaii's Reciprocal Beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the judiciary continues on interpreting constitutions to prohibit discrimination against a class of individuals in the sex and sexual orientation of the spouse of their choice. On Friday, a New York Supreme Court judge (lowest court in that state's system) ruled that the statutary ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.

L.A. Mayor: Poll Shows Close Race

A new poll out today shows that the Los Angeles Mayoral Race (March 8) is virtually a dead heat (within the margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points):

Don't Know, 31%
James Hahn (Incumbent), 21 %
Antonio Villaraigosa, 20%
Bernard Parks, 13%
Bob Hertzberg, 12%
Richard Alarcon, 3%

The poll also shows that Mayor Hahn's approval-disapproval ratings are at 44%-48%.
The most important issues to voters (with some geographical variation) were: Education (24%), Crime (21%), More police (16%) and Traffic/Congestion (14%).

BACKGROUND: The race is a rematch between Hahn and Villaraigosa from 2001's race to replace the retiring, nominally republican, billionaire mayor Richard Riordan. In that race Villaraigosa placed first in the primary, 3 points ahead of Hahn, and then lost the runoff to Hahn by 7 percentage points. Hahn's victory was seen as a postponement of the political dominance of the burgeoning Latino population by large African American turnout coupled with conservative white Republican suburban (San Fernando Valley) who combined to thwart Villaraigosa's attempt to become the first modern-era Latino mayor of the city whose official name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula." Parks was effectively fired by Hahn three years ago when the Mayor announced he would not reappoint him as Chief of Police of Los Angeles and the City Council failed to overturn the action. Hertzberg was roommates with Villaraigosa in Sacramento when they were both members of the State Assembly and succeeded him as Speaker, the third most powerful political position in California. He has been active on the internet early and is the first candidate to be airing television ads.

Judges Deciding Elections

In San Diego, on February 2 a judge ruled he would not overturn incumbent Mayor Dick Murphy's re-election., despite the fact that more voters intended to vote for Councilperson Donna Frye than Murphy or Republican challenger Ron Roberts on Election Day, and actually marked their ballots clearly, they did not follow state election law which insists that for write-in ballots to be counted, the voter must allow fill in an oval next to the write-in option.

In New York, also on February 2, a judge ruled that 228 of 550 contested ballots must be counted in a contested State Senate race between the third most powerful incumbent Republican in the State Senate and Democratic Westchester County legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Currently Spano has a 58-vote lead out of nearly 127 000 votes cast. Almost all of the 228 provisional ballots which the judge ruled to be counted are from registered Democrats, though Democrats have held a 20,000 thousand registration edge in the district held by Nicholas Spano for decades.

In Washington State today, a judge refused to dismiss Republican Dino Rossi's challenge to the election of Democrat Christine Gregoire as Governor of Washington. The judge also refused to cede jurisdiction to the State Supreme Court of Washington. Gregoire won the election after trailing on election day and in a machine recount. Her margin of victory after a hand recount of 2.9 million votes was 129. The judge also later ruled that regardless of his decision on the merits of their case, he will not order a re-vote of the gubernatorial election.

Gonzales Nomination Passes 60-36

The president's nomination of Alberto Gonzales as the first Hispanic Attorney-General of the United States has passed the United States Senate, 60-36. The Democrats who voted for Gonzales were Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Ken Salazar of Colorado, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Bill Nelson of Florida, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

State of the Union Reaction...

Some important quotes from the President's State of the Union address last night:

"I will send you a budget that holds the growth of
discretionary spending below inflation, makes tax
relief permanent and stays on track to cut the
deficit in half by 2009...."

Translation: I'm going to cut funding to the areas of the government where I'm not forced to increase spending by previous laws (i.e. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid). Because, yes, Virginia, if you don't increase funding as much as inflation goes up, that's a CUT.

"Because marriage is a sacred institution and
the foundation of society, it should not be
redefined by activist judges. For the good of
families, children and society, I support a
constitutional amendment to protect the
institution of marriage."

Translation: The president shouldn't have shown his obvious contempt for the conservative wingnuts on this issue so obviously a few weeks ago, so now he will throw them a bone again.

"Because HIV/AIDS brings suffering and
fear into so many lives, I ask you to
reauthorize the Ryan White Act to encourage
prevention and provide care and treatment to
the victims of that disease."

Translation: Didn't the use of "AIDS victim" go out in the 80's? Reagan deja-vu all over again. I believe the name of the actual legislation is the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act and it is important that he mentioned it in his speech. Umm, what about that 15 billion dollar commitment to fight global AIDS he made at the 2003 State of the Union? Not a PEEP about "PEPFAR" this year!

"And as we update this important law, we must
focus our efforts on fellow citizens with the
highest rates of new cases: African-American
men and women."

Translation: We're serious about Karl Rove's initiative to have African-Americans move towards the Republican party. As I commented before, even though some people think this idea is a joke, it actually is an ongoing project of Republican strategists to deprive Democrats of their most reliable voting constituency. Today's Los Angeles Times has a response by two Black ministers to the Republican's "Black Initiative."

Endorsement for DNC Chair

Mad Professah is endorsing Howard Dean for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Actually, it looks like my endorsement is not going to matter, since one of Dean's main rivals, Texas Congressman Martin Frost dropped out of the race yesterday. Still in the race are pro-life ex-Congressman Tim Roemer as the Democratic Congressional Leadership's "Anybody But Dean" candidate, youthful Donnie Fowler (son of a former DNC Chair) and Simon Rosenberg (head of the New Democratic Network). Actually what I would like to see is Dean be elected on February 12th and then appoint Rosenberg to manage strategic operations at the DNC. Dean should be the face of the party, and Rosenberg should be responsible for upgrading the machinery.

UPDATE FRI FEB 4: Simon Rosenberg has dropped out of the race for DNC chair and endorsed Dean.

Bubba versus Senator No

Let sleeping dogs lie. That dog won't hunt! In the, Isn't He Dead, Yet? category pops this news item: Senator Jesse Helms is asking supporters to stop Bill Clinton from becoming Secreary-General of the United Nations. In a letter to supporters, Dear Jesse (who gained the moniker "Senator No" for the many positions he took in the Senate where he was the lone dissenting vote) writes "[Please help me] rebuke all efforts by Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and every other liberal in Congress to push for Bill Clinton to become Secretary-General of the United Nations." Geesh!

On the record, I think William Jefferson Clinton (a.k.a. Bubba), the 42nd President of the United States, would make a fantastic Secretary-General of the United Nations. Apparently the current SecGen, Kofi Annan, recently appointed Bubba to be "U.N. Special Envoy for tsunami reconstruction." Hey, if Angelina Jolie can represent the U.N., why not Bubba?

Rating the Rankings

With her win on Saturday in the Australian Open final--Serena Williams jumped from #7 to #2 in the official WTA Rankings. Lindsay is still #1 despite her loss. My friend Craig Cochrane pointed out that the 2004 year end WTA rankings don't accurately reflect the relative strength of the tennis players on the tour. Here's the year-end ranking:

1. Davenport
2. Mauresmo
3. Myskina
4. Kuznetsova
5. Dementieva
6. Sharapova
7. Henin-Hardenne
8. Williams, S.
9. Williams, V.
10. Capriati
11. Zvonareva
12. Petrova

Alicia Molik is #13. However, if you were to just consider the Win-Loss records of the best players for 2004, you would obtain this different list:

1. Davenport, 63-9 (87.5%)
2. Mauresmo, 63-11 (85.1%)
3. S. Williams, 39-9 (81.3%)
4. Sharapova, 55-15 (78.6%)
5. V. Williams, 44-12 (78.6%)
6. Myskina, 55,-18 (75.3%)
7. Kuznetsova, 60-23 (72.3%)
8. Capriati, 29-12 (70.7%)
9. Molik, 46-20 (69.7%)
10. Zvonareva, 54-27 (66.7%)
11. Dementieva, 39-23 (62.9%)
12. Petrova, 40-25 (61.5%)

Technically, Henin-Hardenne has the best Win-Loss record of 2004, with 35-4 (89.7%) but she played the least matches of any player ranked in the Top 10 by the WTA last year. I'm not arguing that the WTA should switch to only considering Win-Loss percentages but the points system used by the Tour does seem to produce anomalous results (Dementieva ranked #5? Serena ranked #7?).

The question is, what information does one want to obtain from the rankings? The answer is, who is the best player, right now? In other words, when two players meet one should expect the higher ranked player to win more often than not. The highest ranked player should be the person who is least likely to lose to any other person playing. Of course, these ratings must vary with time, so that as results happen, the ranked order changes.

Republicans, Race and Civil Rights

The Los Angeles Times has an article in Saturday's edition headlined "Recasting Republicans as the Party of Civil Rights" beneath a large picture of Condoleezza Rice being swarn in as Secretary of State, along with smaller pictures of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Personally, I prefer this picture of the event from diarist Dood Abides at DailyKos. As for representative pictures of Black Republicans, why go back 150 years to reference Douglass, why not use these pictures instead?


In the artcicle, it claims that "Republican strategists are aiming to win as much 30% of the nation's black vote in the 2008 presidentia election --an ambitious goal, given that polls have shown Bush won 11% in his reelection last year and that Democrats remain widely viewed as party of civil rights." Gee, I wonder why that is? As diarist Hunter at DailyKos notes:

Yeah, there's still that whole ongoing Jim Crow thing.
Yeah, we've seen even as recently as three months ago the Republican
strategies of stationing law enforcement officers outside polling places in
order to intimidate minority voters, and of stationing Republican "challengers"
inside heavily-minority polling places to "verify" the identification of black
voters. And yeah, Jeb Bush himself has been instrumental in pushing hard,
both in 2000 and 2004, for a known-bogus "felon's list" with the primary purpose
of simply removing Democratic-leaning black voters from the voting rolls.

But the Republicans are now the party of civil rights. You
can tell because they're distributing a calendar.

The facts speak for themselves, as noted in the article and by Hunter, "Republican strategists concede that recasting the GOP as the party of civil rights is a challenge. The party, for example, boasts no black members of Congress, compared with 43 Democrats."

Since a picture is worth a thousand words (which I could probably write on this subject, but I won't!) check out this great cartoon that Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Matt Davies posted to DailyKos in response to Hunter's dairy:

Even Wal-Mart Gets It...

The largest private employer in the United States (the U.S. federal government is the largest over-all) is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart announced on Friday that it has expanded the definition of "immediate family" to include same-sex couples who have domestic partnerships or civil unions in the states where such legislation has been enacted. (I'm not exactly sure what this caveat implies, since only Vermont, New Jersey and California have civil union/statewide domestic partner laws with teeth, while Massachusetts is the only state with full marriage equality.) Regardless, this just goes to show that even a very conservative company like Wal-Mart, which is based in Arkansas and evil in a number of different ways, gets it. If you want to recruit and retain talented individuals, you have to offer the most flexible range of benefits, and having an expanded definition of immediate family is one relatively easy way of doing this. In fact, it's been private firms and the corporate sector who have really been the engine for the acceleration of recognition of same-sex domestic partnership rights for the last decade.

Grand Slam Review: Australian Open

HIGHLIGHTS

1. The "Serena scream" on the penultimate point (and again on match point) of her semifinal battle with Maria Sharpova.
2. Lindsay Davenport getting back on the court a mere two hours after her marathon quarterfinal singles match to play doubles with Corina Morariu--leading to a second women's doubles final appearance for these two best of friends.
3. The sleeveless shirts worn by the men (Hewitt, Nadal, Moya, Blake, et cetera)--show off those guns, boyz!
4. Serena's silencing of the critics by winning her 7th major title at age 23.
5. Marat Safin winning his second major title after a 5-year drought (2000 U.S. Open over Sampras at age 20).
6. 15-year old African-American left-handed phenom Donald Young winning the Australian Open Junior Title, the youngest ever, simultaneously becoming the youngest ever Number 1 Junior.

LOWLIGHTS

1. Lindsay Davenport's inexplicable collapse from 6-2, 3-4, 40-0 in the second set of the Championship Match to lose the next 5 points (double-faulting on break point) and then proceeding to lose the next 7 games and the championship in less than half an hour.
2. Serena Williams' bib of a costume she wore on court.
3. Dick Enberg's "commentary" on ESPN2 during the entire fortnight--inane would not be too harsh a description.
4. The "urine test" yellow color chosen for the on-court outfits of Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams et alia.

Best Matches
1. S. Williams(7) d. M. Sharapova(4) 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 (women's semifinal). This was effectively the women's championship match. I had predicted that the winner of Mauresmo-S. Williams would win the tournament and that Kuznetsova would defeat Sharapova. After spraying the balls on both the forehand and backhand side in the first 10 games of the match, committing nearly 25 errors in the process, somehow Serena was able to make the adjustment quickly enough in the second set to keep the match close. Then it was the 17-year old Wimbledon Champion who grew tight (and uncharacteristically muffled) to lose the second set after serving for the match at 6-2, 5-4. In the third set, Serena had to face three match points, two of which she dismissed with two blistering, forehand cross-court, service-return winners. Finally at 6-7 Serena was able to win an incredibly long point which included some great gets by Maria and a too-short volley which Serena was able to rush to net and hit for a down-the-line winner and her first match point at 15-40. After a good serve and netted return, on her second match point Serena won the match with her second strike of the ball, a cross-court forehand winner. Game, Set and Match, Miss Serena Williams!

2. L. Davenport(1) d. A. Molik(10) 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 (women's quarterfinal). This was an incredibly close match, which says a lot about the game of the up and coming Aussie, who cemented her arrival as a Top 10 player and Grand Slam contender status by winning the women's doubles title with Svetlana Kuznetsova mere 2 days after this match. The match result was another example of why tennis must incorporate electronic imaging technology into confirming line calls. Serving on game point at 7-7 in the third set it looked like Molik served an ace but it was called out. Shotspot showed the ball clearly caught some of the line. That would have given Molik an 8-7 lead; instead Lindsay was 8-7 and served out the match (saving two break points).

3. R. Federer(1) d. A. Agassi(8), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 (men' quarterfinal). This was the most hyped men's match of the tournament. Federer became testy when he was asked if he would have to raise his game to beat Agassi and he clearly did so. Federer may have peaked too early because he was clearly not at his best in his next match...

4. M. Safin d. R. Federer 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6), 9-7 (men's semifinal). Safin figured out a way to "solve the Federer puzzle" during this instant classic match. Federer received treatment for blisters and a sore arm and was clearly not at his best and he still almost won the match! He had a match point in his serve at 6-5 in the 4th set tie break. He saved 6 match points in the 5th set, finally succumbing on the seventh. Let's do the numbers: The match was almost 4 1/2 hours and ended a little after midnight, Australia time, on Safin's 25th birthday. Federer had less errors than Safin (59 to 60), won more total points (201 to 194), and STILL LOST. Amazing stuff.

In Defense of Hate Crimes Laws

David Nieuwert at Orcinus has the best defense of hate crimes legislation I have seen articulated in print in a long long time, and I taught a class a few years ago on the "Politics of Fear" which included lectures on hate crimes. Nieuwert's piece is in response to an editorial against hate crimes legislation which appeared in The Missoulian a Montana newspaper he used to work for. The money quote is here:

The editorial essentially argues from two key positions: that it is
somehow inappropriate to apply different sentences to crimes
with identical outcomes but different motivations; and that
hate-crime statutes create protected "classes" of victims who are
treated differently than others. Both are simply wrong.

First: The principle of proportionality in sentencing is a
fundamental aspect of criminal law. Society has always chosen to
punish crimes more or less harshly according to the culpability
of the perpetrator, particularly the level of harm he inflicts. This
is why, in the case of the death of another person, someone may
face charges ranging from first-degree murder to third-degree
manslaughter.

[...]

Not only are bias crimes substantially different in nature from their
parallel crimes, there is no question that they cause substantially
greater harm, so a harsher punishment is fully warranted.

Second: Hate-crime statutes are neither written to protect specific
classes of persons from assault nor to enhance the charges simply
when a person from a "protected class" is the victim of a crime. We
don't have laws that create stiffer time if you simply assault a black
or a Jew or a gay person. The laws don't even specify races or
religions. Such laws would be in clear violation of basic
constitutional principles, including the equal-protection clause.

Gee, someone should give this guy a Koufax award (excellence in left-leaning blogs)! Oh, wait--someone already has. Currently, (according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) there are at least 15 states which still do not include sexual orientation in their hate crime laws. Federally, the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act (LLEEA), failed to pass in the last Congress, thanks primarily to Republican opposition.

MON JAN 31 2005 4:09pm UPDATE: According to QueerDay, the state of New Hampshire is now considering the repeal of their hate crime statute, which was enacted in 1990 and does include sexual orientation as a protected class.

Australian Open finals set

Americans Serena Williams(7) is playing Lindsay Davenport(1) tonight (6:30pm PST, 9:30pm EST on ESPN2) for the 2005 Australian Open title. Serena has a 13-match winning streak at this tournament (she won the 2003 title but did not play in 2004 due to injury) and is gunning for her 7th major victory. Lindsay, who became Number 1 without winning a major tournament last year, is aiming at her 4th major title (her first since the 2000 Australian Open) and a chance to retire at the top of the game. Serena is up 12-8 in head-to-head matches played, but Lindsay won the last two. PREDICTION: Serena, in 3 sets.

Australian Llewton Hewitt will be playing Russian Marat Safin for the men's title in local prime time Sunday (12:30am PST, 3:30am EST repeated 9am PST, noon EST on ESPN2). Hewitt has 2 major titles (2001 U.S. Open, 2002 Wimbledon) while Safin has 1 (2000 U.S. Open) but has made it to the Australian Open final this year, last year (lost to Federer) and 2002 (lost to Johansson). Safin won an amazing 5th set match against one of the best players ever (Federer) in the semifinal round (9-7 in the 5th!). PREDICTION: Safin, in 4 sets.

I'm working on a post which will be a Grand Slam review of the Highlights/Lowlights of the 2005 Australian Open, I hope to publish it this weekend after the Men's Final.

Against Gonzales (and Condi too!)

Just a quick post to publicly join the chorus of opposition to the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to be Attorney General of the United States. Thankfully, all 8 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted against Gonzales in committe yesterday.

I was also opposed to the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to be Secretary of State. Unfortunately, only 13 Senators agreed with my position and she was approved by the full Senate yesterday by a vote of 85-13, albeit receiving the most nay votes for any proposed Secretary of State since 1825. At least my senator, Barbara Boxer, took Dr.Rice to task during her confirmation hearing.

Governmental HIV policy and common sense

The federal government has finally released guidelines on allowing post-exposure prophylaxis (also known as PEP) for all people exposed to HIV accidentally. Of, course other countries have been doing this for years. In fact some countries actually aknowledge that people are going to have a lot of sex and tries to help them to be safe. I'm highlighting this point to show how illogical, and just plain stupid governmental public policy can be on the subject of HIV and AIDS. Since I've been on the Board of Directors of an HIV/AIDS organization for nearly 3 years and lobbied State and Federal legislators on the HIV/AIDS issues I feel like I am qualified to comment on these matters, regardless of my HIV status, so it's likely this will be an occasional topic on this blog.

For only 1,500,000,000 dollars...

you too can have your very own Embassy in Iraq, or perhaps you would like the tallest building in the freaking world?

Other things that $1.5 billion dollars could buy:

• enough childhood vaccines to save the life of aproximately 1.4 million chidren worldwide
• fully fund the federal AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) for fiscal year 2005
• match the total amount of pledged funds in tsunami disaster relief from all countries in the world except one (Japan)
• Buy every, man, woman, child, dog AND cat in the United States a happy meal from McDonalds!

(Thanks to Atrios for highlighting the initial comparison of the two buildings.)

UPDATE: Oscar Nominations Out (75% Prediction Match)

The 77th annual Oscar nominations are out now. As you can see here, my previous predictions in the Top 8 categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay and Original Screenplay, I had an accuracy rate of 75% (30 out of 40 nominations correct). In fact, I got two categories completely correct (Best Picture and Best Actress).

You can also see a full comparison of my predictions to the actual nominations.

And then there were 15

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich(D) signed a sexual orientation non-discrimination bill into law on Friday January 21, making Illinois the 15th State in the Union to include sexual orientation as a class against which discrimination is prohibited. The other states which have some form of protection against dicrimination based on sexual orientation are: California (1992, 2003), Connecticut (1991), Hawaii (1991), Maryland (2001), Massachusetts (1989), Minnesota (1993), Nevada (1999), New Hampshire (1997), New Jersey (1992), New Mexico (2003), New York (2002), Rhode Island (2001), Vermont (1992) and Wisconsin (1982). Of course, that means that 35 (70%) of the states in the Union don't have such a law, despite majority public opinion in favor of sexual orientation non-discrimination, and federal protection is lacking, since the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is still pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, where some form of the bill has been in every Congress since 1974.

Upsets at the Australian Open

There were a number of upsets at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Of the 8 women I previously predicted to get to the quarterfinals, only 5 made it: Davenport(1), Mauresmo(2), Sharapova(4), Kuznetsova(5) and Serena Williams(7). Of the 7 Russians (Myskina, Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Dementieva, Petrova, Douchevina, Linetskaya) who made it to the Round of 16, only two made it to the quarters, and they have to play each other! Ok, so here are the quarterfinals (with my predictions):

Davenport(1) versus Molik (10)

This is a match between two very hard-hitting players. Alicia Molik
is the most-improved player over the last six months and is Australian,
so she will have the entire country rooting for her. There's a reason why Lindsay Davenport is ranked Number 1 in the world again. She played some incredibly solid
tennis last year, against the best players in the world. Despite the fact that Molik "has the best serve in women's tennis right now"(Pam Shriver), Davenport is still the best service returner in the women's game and is no slouch in the service department herself. Lindsay will get all the way to the final. The only person to ever beat her in a Grand Slam final is Venus Williams, and that player is no longer in the tournament (in fact, is no longer on the tour!) Prediction: Davenport in 3 sets.

Dechy(19) versus Schnyder(12)

Schnyder is a very crafty left-handed veteran Swiss player who is very
hot-headed. She outlasted Elena Dementieva in a tough 3-setter in the round of
16. Schnyder plays well in Australia--the ReboundAce court causes players
difficulty when confronted with the lefty spin Schnyder puts on almost every
shot; she was a semifinalist here in 2004. Nathalie Dechy easily beat Anastasia
Myskina in straight sets, who seemed to just have an off-day. I believe the
veteran will find a way to win over the hard-hitting Frenchwoman. Prediction: Schnyder in 2 sets.

The other half of the draw have followed my earlier predictions accurately:

Kuznetsova (5) versus Sharapova (4)

This should be one of the highlights of the tournament. Sharapova has been starting off slow in all her matches, but then usually finds a groove, often stringing 6-8 consecutive games together. It's doubtful she can do that against Kuznetsova, who has a serve which is even bigger than Maria's. I still think a close, hard-hitting match will ensue, but my prediction is the same. Winner: Kuznetsova in 3 sets.

Mauresmo (2) versus S. Williams (7)

I haven't seen any of Amelie's matches this tournament so far (you suck,
ESPN2!). I have seen a lot of Serena's matches and she has been playing well.
I'm really rooting for Amelie to make a breakthrough here like she did 6 years
ago, getting to the final against Martina Hingis. However, she has only beaten
Serena once in 9 tries, though in the last year all their matches have gone to
3-sets and been nailbiters. Winner: Toss-up (edge to Serena).

Cartoons, Homosexuality and the Right Wing

Flush with its success in helping to defeat John Kerry's bid for the presidency in the November 2004 elections, the right wing has chosen its next target: Spongebob Squarepants! As Oliver Willis has pointed out, only an "effing idiot" would fail to underestimate the ridicule one would receive from denouncing the alleged homosexuality of the fictional, animated, wildly popular icon of thumb-sucking tykes everwhere.

In other news concerning cartoon homosexuality, speculation is swirling about which Simpsons' character will be revealed as gay this season. Of course, when the plot device was first revealed (in order to raise revenue, Springfield will legalize gay marriage which leads to one of the "recurring character" to finally come out of the closet) the attention of most Simpson-watchers turned to the foppishly servile Smithers, personal assistant to the odious Montgomery Burns. Other obvious contenders are Marge's sister Selma (or Patty). A more controversial pick, the Simpsons' excessively religious neighbor Ned Flanders, has recently been making the rounds.

Cops Beat Black Boy, Win Millions of Dollars

*sigh* The videotaped beating of a developmentally disabled teenaged African American boy by two white police officers in Los Angeles made headlines around the world in Summer 2002. Inglewood Police Officers Jeremy Morse and Bijan Darvish were caught on videotape slamming 16-year old Donovan Jackson on to a patrol car and beating the boy with their fists and a flashlight. Mitchell Crooks, the guy who serendipitously videotaped the incident, ended up getting extradited to a northern california county to serve time in jail for a previous unrelated burglary conviction. Last year, after two attempts (first time 7-5 to convict, then 6-6 deadlock) trying the officers for excessive and unnecessary force and other crimes led to hung juries, the District of Attorney dropped all charges.

Now, this week comes word that the two officers have successfully sued the City of Inglewood for millions of dollars. Darvish, who is still a police officer in the City of Inglewood, and who was found guilty of filing a false police report and suspended for 10 days, received $800 000. Morse, who was fired by the City of Inglewood and who now lives in Idaho, was awarded $1.6 million. An African American officer who was also at the scene of the incident received a 5-day suspension, but was not a party to the racial discrimination civil suit.

And people wonder why the Black community has a tense relationship with the police? Donovan Jackson's attorney, Cameron Stewart, who filed the federal lawsuit against all three police officers at the scene, expressed the thoughts of many (including yours truly!) when he was quote in the newspaper saying:

"Here's a guy that basically got off after being caught beating a
teenager on videotape. He was terminated, and rightfully so, and he goes and
files a lawsuit and is awarded over a million dollars?"

Right Wing Expresses Dismay Over Bush's New Position on SSM

As reported here a few days ago, George W. Bush has decided that it is fruitless to pursue a constitutional amendment to ban federal recognition of same-sex relationships (a.k.a. the anti-gay marriage amendment). Apparently, the right wingnuts don't read The Mad Professah Lectures or diaries at MyDD since, they only expressed their dismay to the President yesterday, according to the Washington Post (registration required), as noted by the indispensable Political Wire.

Los Angeles Mayoral Election

The major candidates in the Los Angeles Mayoral Election set for March 8, 2005 (run-off May 17, 2005) are

• Current City Councilman and Former State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (www.antonio2005.com)
• Former State Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (www.changela.com)
• State Senator Richard Alarcon (www.alarconforla.com)
• Current City Councilman and Former Chief of Police Bernard Parks (www.bernardparks.com)
• Current Mayor James Hahn (www.jimhahn.org)

In the 2001 Mayoral Election to succeed Republican Richard Riordan, Villaraigosa was first in the first round (30%) ahead of Hahn (27%) and (Riordan's pick) Steve Soboroff (20%), but then lost to Hahn in the run-off 46.5%-53.5%. It was widely thought that Villaraigosa's loss was due to Hahn's support among African-Americans who were not ready for the first Latino Mayor.

Today I heard a debate among the challengers on one of my local NPR stations, KPCC 89.3 FM (Hahn seems to be limiting the number of candidate forums that he has--a smart move since debates put the incumbent on the same level as his opponents, which he doesn't want).

My general impressions were that Villaraigosa and Hertzberg did well, with Parks and Alarcon bringing up the rear. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Parks has had problems fundraising and had replaced his top advisors recently.

The Mayoral Race is a nominally a non-partisan race, though all the major candidates and the incumbent are all registered Democrats.

Party Registration in the City of Los Angeles

Democrats: 806,669 (56.3%);
Republicans: 293,325 (20.5%);
Decline to State: 264,379 (18.5%)

Today, the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee will be making its endorsement in the mayoral race. This is a crucial endorsement, particularly since Hahn has succeeded in denying Villaraigosa other endorsements (primarily Labor-related).

Doubting Thomas (The Legacy of MLK)

Michael Kinsley, recently named Editor of the Los Angeles Times editorial page, has a great column in Sunday's paper on Clarence Thomas' chances of becoming Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States called "Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me":

But Clarence Thomas is different, because his famous 1991 confirmation was
different. His strategy was to do or say anything that would allow him to crawl
past the finish line. When the prize is a virtually invulnerable lifetime
appointment, that's a good strategy. But it can, and should, come back to haunt
you when you put in for a promotion.

Thomas' performances at the hearings, as well as the things we know now that
we didn't know then, and even the things we knew then but were bullied or rushed
into ignoring, are not just fair game — they are disqualifying. If he wasn't
unworthy of the Supreme Court when his confirmation hearings began, he certainly
was by the time they were over. The fact that he got confirmed as an associate
justice anyway is no reason to give him a free pass to chief justice. Fool me
once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Clarence Thomas' nomination to become an Associate Justice passed the Senate on a 52-48 vote on October 15, 1991, the most ever votes to oppose a successful Supreme Court nomination. It is clear that he lied to the Senate during his confirmation hearing. Again, from Kinsley's op-ed yesterday:

It is beyond legitimate dispute that he tried to leave the impression that
he'd never even thought or talked about Roe. This was implausible on its face —
Roe is the most controversial Supreme Court ruling of the last century, and it
came down while Thomas was in law school — but no one could prove Thomas a liar
during the hearings. Since then, however, several people have popped up with
memories of having discussed Roe with Thomas. His views were as you would
suspect, and he has reasserted them with a vengeance from the moment he joined
the court.

Thomas' supporters say he didn't commit perjury because he testified only
that he had never "debated" Roe, not that he had never "discussed" it. They also
like to point out that he said he had no view on Roe "this day," which doesn't
make him a liar if he expressed a view some other day.

This is pathetic. But it's also irrelevant. The standard for becoming chief
justice ought to be a bit higher than the standard for staying out of jail.
Thomas indisputably did his best to deceive senators trying to perform their
constitutional duty of advice and consent. If that isn't something the Senate
should consider when passing judgment on his fitness for an even higher job,
then "advice and consent" has no meaning. And we have endured too many sermons
from Clarence Thomas, strict constructionist, to believe that the words of the
Constitution have no meaning.

Note the Thomas nomination by George H.W. Bush occurred when the Democrats had majorities in both the House and Senate. I'm saddened to say that both the Senators in my state of California (Cranston(D) and Seymour(R)) voted for Thomas. It is worthy to note that it was the Hill-Thomas Hearings that led to an unprecedented number of women running for the Senate in 1992 ("The Year of the Woman") and led to both Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer being elected U.S. Senators from California just over a year later.

On this day that we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday with a reflection on the state of civil rights in this country let us not forget that there are those who would use the language of that movement to dismantle and destroy the hard-fought gains. Clarence Thomas is in that group and his nomination to be Chief Justice must be opposed by all progressive and reform Democrats and those who truly believe in continuing the battle for equality and justice that Martin Luther King, Jr fought for while he was alive.

Kuznetsova said to test positive for ephedrine

Associated Press has more details on a story that appeared in today's Los Angeles Times sports section by Lisa Dillman bout one of four players at an exhibition last month in Belgium (Justine Henin-Hardenne, Nathalie Dechy, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova) testing positive for a banned substance.

"A Belgian sports minister" said that Svetlana Kuznetsova tested positive for ephedrine, according to the article.

Of course as everyone knows ephedrine is present in many cold and cough medecines and apparently the testing was done by a non-WTA-sanctioned body at a charity event, so it is unlikely that Kuznetsova will be punished.

Bush Backs Down on Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

So, George W. Bush, the most openly homophobic president in history, who campaigned for re-election and for a constitutional amendment to prevent governmental recognition of same-sex relationships simultaneously, has decided (on the eve of his second inauguration) that he will no longer push for this legislation. I guess someone finally told W. that 1) There is a Defense of Marriage Act on the books which already prevents the federal government from recognizing any marital relationship other than "one man and one woman" and 2) It takes 67 votes to pass a constitutional amendment out of the United States Senate.

This, coming a few months after Bush told Good Morning America that he disagrees with the Republican Party platform's opposition to civil unions

Gee, I wonder if two days after his inauguration, on the 32nd anniversary of Roe vs Wade (January 22, 1973), he will announce his opposition to the Republican Party call for the adoption of a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would outlaw most abortions? I wonder, do you? After all, that Amendment requires 67 votes in the Senate, too.

Update on 2005 Australian Open Predictions (Using the draw)

When I made my initial predictions about the Australian Open I had not seen the official draw yet. If people play to form, then here's what the Quarter-Finals will look like:

Davenport(1) versus V. Williams (8)

This is a re-match of one of the best matches last year, Venus and Linday's U.S. Open Quarterfinal (which Lindsay won). I think Lindsay will win again, this time in 3 sets. Winner: Davenport.

Myskina(3) versus Dementieva (6)

Anastasia has already shown that she knows how to handle her best friend in the Grand Slams. This will be no exception. Winner: Myskina.

Kuznetsova (5) versus Sharapova (4)

This should be one of the highlights of the tournament. I'm not convinced that Sharapova will even get to the Quarterfinal, but if she does, I think Svetlanawill be ready for her. A close, hard-hitting match will ensue Winner: Kuznetsova.

Mauresmo (2) versus S. Williams (7)

Again, this will be an awesome match, or at least it is an awesome match-up. I think whomever wins this match will face (and defeat) Davenport in the final. Winner: Toss-up!

The winner of Davenport-Williams plays the winner of Myskina-Dementieva in one semi-fimal, and then the winner of Kuznetsova-Sharapova plays the winner of Mauresmo-Williams in the other semi-final.

UPDATE 01/17/05: Jon Wertheim of SI.com has similar predictions.

Stop Arnold From Killing

Today I got a robocall from that nice actor from M*A*S*H urging me to call The Governator of Kalleeforneeyah to urge him to stop the execution to Donald Beardslee, who is currently scheduled to die on Wednesday January 19 by lethal injection. For more information on the case, read these reports.

2005 Australian Open Predictions

Here are the latest WTA world tennis rankings for the Women (Like most gay men, I follow women's tennis much more closely than Men's tennis--the personalities and games are for more interesting!) with my predictions for how they will fare in the next two weeks at the first Glam Slam tournament of 2005, the Australian Open:
1. L. Davenport

Lindsay had a remarkable year in 2004, despite not winning a major she was deep in the mix in every single one, especially the U.S. Open and Wimnbledon, where she lost to the eventual winners, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova, respectively. At the French she lost in the fourth round to Elena Dementieva, who got to the Final and at last year's Australian Open she lost an excruciatingly long match against the eventual titleholder, Justine Henin-Hardenne. She was particularly dominant during the summer on the fast hardcourts she grew up playing on in Southern California. Unfortunately, the ReboundAce surface that the Australian Open is played on is nowhere as fast as hardcourts. It's not a good sign for this years AO that she withdrew from a match earlier in the month with a thigh injury, but perhaps she was just saving her body for Melbourne. Prediction: Semi-finalist

2. A. Mauresmo

Amelie also had a breakthrough year in 2004. She became Number One on September 13, 2004, the second player to do so without winning a Grand Slam first (Kim Clijsters became Number One in 2003 the same way). At the Grand Slams, she twice lost to eventual finalist Elena Dementieva (no, I don't know how either) at the French and U.S. Opens. At Wimbledon, she played a very strong match against Serena Williams, coming back when down in the first set to win it, and leading in the second before losing in 3. At last year's Australian Open she had to default her quarterfinal match to Fabiola Zuluaga, a player she hadn't lost against in over four years, due to a lower back strain. Amelie usually plays well in Australia, it was the site of her first (and so far, only,) Grand Slam final (against Hingis, in 1999). If she's healthy, she'll do well.Prediction: Finalist

3. A. Myskina

The 2004 French Open champion was the first of the recent horde of Russians to win a Grand Slam title, though she is generally not considered the most talented (that would be either Sharapova or Kuznetsova). Regardless, she has maintained her #1 Russian ranking for all of 2004. At last year's Australian she lost to eventual Finalist, Kim Clijsters in the Quarters. After winning the French, she flamed out early at both Wimbledon and New York. She lost a number of long, tight matches in important tournaments after holding leads (against Henin-Hardenne at the Olympics and against Serena Williams at the WTA Tour Championships). Prediction: Quarter-Finalist

4. M. Sharapova

What more can one say about Maria? Clearly, after 2004 the rest of the tour knows that there's a new sheriff in town. She's currently thought to be the most highly paid female athlete in the world. At the tender age of 17, Sharapova got to her first French Open quarterfinal and then a few weeks later barrelled through the Wimbledon field, ending with a straight set victory over a shocked Serena Williams. Although she followed that up with a number of disappointing results during the hard court season she finished the season on a high note by defeating an injured Serena Williams in a wild season-ending WTA Tour Championships final. However, she's never played well in Australia. Prediction: Quarter-Finalist

5. S. Kuznetsova

Long identified as the most talented of the upcoming Russian players by Martina Navratilova and others, Svetlana finally broke through to her win her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open over Dementieva after an injured Lindsay Davenport could not keep up with her in their semi-final match. The rest of her 2004 Grand Slam outings were pretty dismal, but perhaps her New York win should give her the confidence to go further than she has in the past in Melbourne. Prediction: Quarter-Finalist

6. E. Dementieva

Oh, Elena! Despite making two Grand Slam finals in 2004 (French and U.S.) Dementieva can not really be considered a threat to win a major until she locates a professional caliber serve. It is true that all her other strokes are quite strong, but they are not enough to win when you start of 0-30 in every one of your service games. Prediction: Quarter-Finalist

7. S. Williams

Serena Williams has a lot to prove in 2005. After dominating the Tour for most of 2002 and 2003 she was unable to win a Grand Slam title in 2004, despitre three attempts. Worse, two of those losses came to her blood enemy, Jennifer Capriati (U.S. and French Quarterfinals). In her mind, she is the defending Australian Open Champion (from 2003). However, she has now lost twice consecutively (in important finals) to the new "It Girl," Maria Sharapova. Nothing motivates a true Diva as strongly as an incorrectly focussed spotlight.Prediction: Finalist

8. J. Henin-Hardenne

The current Australian Open Champion is not defending her title due to the mysterious virus that has sidetracked the former #1 player for over a year.

9. V. Williams

Venus Williams has not been in a Grand Slam final since the 2003 Wimbledon final and has not won one since the 2001 U.S. Open. It is clear to everyone else, if not the Williams household, that the rest of the field has caught up, and to some extent surpassed, the former 'ghetto superstars.' If she doesn't make a change in her preparation soon, it's likely there will be no more Grand Slam titles in her future. Despite making the 2003 Australian Open final (and losing to Serena), Venus has never played very well in Australia. Prediction: Fourth Round

10. J. Capriati

She's so over.

Oscar Nomination Predictions

Movie award season is in full swing. The Golden Globe Awards are on Sunday, and the Oscar Nominations will be announced on Tuesday January 25. Here are my predictions, together with my picks.

Best Picture

• The Aviator
• Finding Neverland
• Million Dollar Baby
• Ray
• Sideways

MY PICK: Hero

Best Director

• Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
• Marc Forster, Finding Neverland
• Michael Mann, Collateral
• Alexander Payne, Sideways
• Martin Scorsese, The Aviator

MY PICK: Zhang Yimou, House of Flying Daggers or Hero

Best Actress

• Annette Bening, Being Julia
• Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace
• Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
• Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
• Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

MY PICK: Annette Bening, Being Julia

Best Actor

• Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda
• Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
• Leonardo Dicaprio, The Aviator
• Jamie Foxx, Ray
• Paul Giamatti, Sideways

MY PICK: Jamie Foxx, Ray

Best Supporting Actress

• Cate Blanchett, The Aviator
• Laura Linney, Kinsey
• Virginia Madsen, Sideways
• Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda
• Kate Winslet, Finding Neverland

MY PICK: Sharren Warren, Ray or Meryl Streep, The Manchurian Candidate

Best Supporting Actor

• Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
• Jamie Foxx, Collateral
• Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
• Freddie Highmore, Finding Neverland
• Peter Sarsgaard, Kinsey

MY PICK: Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby

Best Original Screenplay

• John Logan, The Aviator
• Pedro Almodovar, Bad Education
• Charlie Kaufman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Keir Pearson and Terry George, Hotel Rwanda
• Bill Condon, Kinsey

MY PICK: Brad Bird, The Incredibles

Best Adapted Screenplay

• David Magee, Finding Neverland
• Tina Fey, Mean Girls
• Paul Haggis, Million Dollar Baby
• Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Sideways
• Alvin Sargent, Spider-Man 2

MY PICK: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Sideways

Most Nominations

1. The Aviator (10)
2. Million Dollar Baby (9)
3. Sideways(9)
4. Ray(7)
5. Finding Neverland(6)
6. Kinsey(5)

We're baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

After an extended hiatus where I have been busy reading blogs and participating pretty regularly during the election season with dairies at MyDD and DailyKos among other websites, I have decided that I will try and resume this, my personal blog. It will be focussed mainly on queer politics, politics and law in general, tennis, and of course, showbiz! (This is L.A. after all, and I am gay!)