Bad news all around for gay couples. Arizona voted yes (56%) to banning gay marriage. Arkansas voted yes (57%) to banning gay couples from adopting. California voted yes (52%) to banning gay marriage ("Prop 8"). Florida voted yes (62%) to banning gay marriage.
What this means for the thousands of previously legal gay marriages in California is anyone's guess, but a similar 2000 election proposition that passed with a much higher majority was overturned by the courts, as might this be. I would make a point about it "only" being 52% but Obama was elected on "only" 53% of the vote.
On a more positive lefty note, state propositions that attempted to ban or limit abortions all failed and various medical Marijuana propositions passed as did those for assisted suicide (euthanasia).
New York Times article on the various propositions: California Voters Ban Gay Marriage. I suggested that the gay marriage questions perhaps shouldn't even legally even be allowed to be asked. I suggested that if you asked a similar question, like "ban inter-racial marriage" that it might do disturbingly well. Given the chance, people might vote for any old crazy crap...
Among the more unusual measures on this year’s ballots was one in Florida that would repeal an old clause in the state constitution that allows legislators to bar Asian immigrants from owning land. The repeal would be symbolic, as equal protection laws would prevent lawmakers from applying the ban. With 78 percent of precincts reporting just before 11 p.m. Tuesday, the vote was close, with 52 percent voting to preserve the clause.
Bush won (by ~150,000 votes). I would have liked Gore but it's only a gut feeling, I think they're both idiots.
On Wednesday, after lunch, on the TV at work with many of my co-workers, I watched McCain's concession speech (which I thought was excellent) then Obama's acceptance speech (which was also fantastic).
Obama said "gay", "disabled" and "puppy". Speech Bingo!
McCain look relieved. Obama looked serious. It's not a fun time to be the President of the USA.
Obama gives great speeches, and I hope that quality transfers to the negotiation tables of international diplomacy.
If you want to see his policies, check out Change.gov. Just don't search for "gay" or "homosexual", you won't find it. Update: There it is...
It's an impressive list of desires including a lot of stuff that got my head nodding. A lot of stuff Australians take for granted. I wish him well in making them happen in the US.
The cynical side of me sees similarities to our recent Federal election. Celebrations abounded to see the back of the conservatives, but the world won't change overnight...
It does change the default attitude though, and that can sometimes be enough.
The law/idea is likely to be killed in parliament by The Greens whose support is required for it to pass, but might still come through with the support of some bench crossers.
The general idea appears to be two layers of ISP level filtering. One which filters everything illegal, and another that filters everything "adult" (ie. porn). You could register as an adult to view bypass the adult filter, but you could not bypass the illegal content filter.
I'm all for removing exploitative and non-consensual pornography from the internet, but I'd prefer to see it physically removed and it's creators arrested, and perhaps strung up by their balls above shark tanks. Hungry sharks that know how to jump.
Filtering it is like giving up. And letting it happen.
There is also talk of "illegal" content including euthanasia websites (now legal in two US states), which leads to the concept of the government deciding what is legal and what isn't, and the fact the public will not be allowed to view a list of what has been filtered, all of which leads to comparisons with Iran and China.
But mostly, I resent having to be registered as a "porn viewer" just to view the "unfiltered" web, just because I might want to look at the Vagina page of Wikipedia (which I might warn for those at work, includes a full colour close up picture of it's subject, as does, I might add, the Penis article, neither of which, I also add, are "porn", unless you're five, which I suppose is the point) or look up medical problems, or research sicknesses, or read a website that says f**k a lot, or anything else that might set off an adult filter.
CD stores suffer death by download:
NOT too long ago, you could walk south from the mall along Pitt Street in the Sydney CBD and pick up new CDs for $10 or less each and find plum bargains at several second-hand CD shops stretching all the way to Chinatown.Things have changed.
The second-hand shops are disappearing and the discount options are narrowing. Today, the final NSW franchise of Dirt Cheap CDs on Pitt Street is the latest to shut down. At its peak, the six-year-old chain, known for $10 CDs, had five shops in Sydney.
There is much that the article says, and doesn't say, about the state of CD sales.
Most of the smaller stores blame record distribution deals with the larger chains (read JB HiFi) that allow those stores to sell product for much cheaper than the small stores can buy them for wholesale.
JB Hi-Fi are quoted as saying they're spending just as much on CD sales as they did 8 years ago, which subtly admits that it hasn't grown in 8 years either. JB Hi-Fi isn't fearful of downloads and states their constantly good music sales prove people still want the physical product. JB states that the biggest risk to CD sales is computer games and DVD, not downloads.
I can certainly say that all the JB HiFis I've visited over the past decade went through a period of reducing their CD shelf space to provide for DVD shelf space, and more recently, much expanded their computer game space. CDs are being shoved into the corner, but they're still there, and they still sell.
Specialist (non-pop) stores still do well. Jazz, world, metal, vinyl specialist stores are all still doing well.
Second-hand stores are failing, but they've always had a difficult task selling damaged product for just a little bit cheaper than you could buy it new. These days, "new" could be $15. They always relied on the collectors market, which has moved almost entirely online to the easily searchable eBay. I've recently seen second-hand CD stores trying to sell CD singles for 50 cents. No-one is biting.
Second-hand CD stores also did well out of people who bought a lot of CDs, then on-sold them to second-hand stores to get a bit of their money back. If you can buy a CD for $25, then get $10 back from the second hand store, you're only paying $15. I think their market base has been distorted by cheaper and cheaper new CDs, by radio stations and DJs (illegally) selling their promo CDs for dirt cheap, and of course CD burning (or buying CDs, ripping them, then dumping them on second-hand stores). All of which has much reduced what second-hand stores can afford to buy second-hand CDs for... and so on.
The only place where I might directly blame downloads for any sales reductions is Dirt Cheap CDs.
Dirt Cheap CDs has closed most of it's stores and focused on their online store. I don't know where they get their product, but it's very cheapness was always a turn-off. I questioned it's quality. I also remember stories of music industry types hating Asian CD imports, because royalty rates for artists in the different economies tended to be much lower.
From a download perspective, I think, at least for my consumer chip, it's possible to be too cheap, particularly in a world of downloads. When a CD is $10 or less, it's close enough to free to be comparable.
When a product costs $18-$25 and it's wrapped in plastic, it feels like the real deal. When it's $10, it feels like the cheap version of the real deal. Like the version you get when you can't afford the good version. When your product is at that level, I always question why I wouldn't spend the extra to buy it properly, and then usually argue my way out of the purchase altogether. If I really wanted it, I'd go to JB and get the brand new version.
I suppose I'm odd, or just incapable of explaining my consumer musings... but I think downloads are more competition for cheap and second hand CDs than they'll ever be for brand new product.