A FEW OF THE PP GURU's FAVORITE THINGS - (Blog simulcast on www.purplepinupguru.blogspot.com

THE GENESIS BOX SET 1970 - 1975

You know with all this hate towards the result of what's occured with the passing of Proposition 8 happening just outside the PP Guru's office ( the PP Guru's office at Sony Pictures Television is just two buildings away from the Los Angeles Federal Building - and just a mere quarter of a mile away from the Big Fat Ass Mormon Church who helped funded the stupid bill ): the riots and protests are getting out of control.

So the PP Guru, racing in his see- through nighty tunics, wants to try to contain the situation and he thinks dressing up like a flower will fill the bill nicely

A flower....?

That's right - a flower coming to a Best Buy or Border's near you on Tuesday November 11th:

A fun PP Guru fact for those who don't know: The moniker of the Purple Pinup Guru ( that's PP Guru for short; PP to all his prog rocking comic book collecting nerd entourage) was immaculately derived from the Genesis song off the Selling England By The Pound album called "The Battle of Epping Forest" from this sample lyric:

But now, with a pin-up guru every week,
Its love, peace & truth incorporated for all who seek.

Also it's been said that Deposit Man creator and writer Cary Coatney got the idea to simply not number or title his comic book covers and stories from the 4 eponymous solo albums that singer Peter Gabriel released after leaving Genesis.

So there you go.

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Genesis 1970–1975
Box set by Genesis
Released	10 November 2008 (Europe) 11 November 2008 (North America)
Recorded	1969-1974
Genre	Progressive rock
Label	EMI (Europe) Atlantic/Rhino (North America)
Producer	Genesis John Anthony David Hitchcock John Burns
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone link
Genesis chronology
Genesis 1970-1975 is a forthcoming box set of five studio albums by Genesis featuring Peter Gabriel. It will be released on 10 November 2008 in Europe by EMI and on 11 November 2008 in North America by Atlantic/Rhino. The 7-CD/6-DVD box set includes newly remixed versions of the albums Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The fifth pair of discs includes B-side songs, 3 rare songs from BBC Sessions in 1970 and the never before released Genesis Plays Jackson soundtrack. Each bonus DVD features audio versions of the albums in 5.1 surround sound, as well as videos from each album's corresponding tour, new interviews, and photo galleries. The European version includes CD/SACD Hybrids instead of standard CDs. In addition to the 7-CD/6-DVD box set EMI has announced a limited edition vinyl box set will be released on 24 November 2008. Live Over Europe 2007 (2007) Genesis 1970-1975 (2008) Trespass Looking For Someone - 7:02 White Mountain - 6:44 Visions Of Angels - 6:51 Stagnation - 8:46 Dusk - 4:11 The Knife - 8:53 DVD Visual Extras Reissues Interview 2007 Nursery Cryme The Musical Box - 10:31 For Absent Friends - 1:48 The Return Of The Giant Hogweed - 8:09 Seven Stones - 5:09 Harold The Barrel - 3:00 Harlequin - 2:56 The Fountain Of Salmacis - 8:00 DVD Visual Extras Reissues Interview 2007 Foxtrot Watcher of the Skies - 7:22 Time Table - 4:46 Get 'Em Out by Friday - 8:36 Can-Utility And The Coastliners - 5:45 Horizons - 1:41 Supper's Ready - 23:04 Lover's Leap The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man Ikhnaton And Itsacon And Their Band Of Merry Men How Dare I Be So Beautiful? Willow Farm Apocalypse In 9/8 (Co-Starring The Delicious Talents Of Gabble Ratchet) As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet) DVD Visual Extras Reissues Interview 2007 Brussels, Belgium-Rock Of The 70's 1972: (The Fountain Of Salmacis, Twilight Alehouse, The Musical Box, The Return Of The Giant Hogweed) Piper Club-Rome, Italy 1972: (Stagnation) Selling England by the Pound Dancing With the Moonlit Knight - 8:02 I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - 4:10 Firth of Fifth - 9:35 More Fool Me - 3:10 The Battle of Epping Forest - 11:44 After the Ordeal - 4:15 The Cinema Show - 10:41 Aisle of Plenty - 1:56 DVD Visual Extras Reissues Interview 2007 Shepperton Studios 1973: (Watcher Of The Skies, Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, I Know What I Like, The Musical Box, Supper's Ready) Bataclan, France 1973: (The Musical Box, Supper's Ready, The Return Of The Giant Hogweed, The Knife) The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Disc One The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - 4:51 Fly On A Windshield - 2:44 Broadway Melody Of 1974 - 2:11 Cuckoo Cocoon - 2:13 In the Cage - 8:09 The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging - 2:44 Back in N.Y.C. - 5:36 Hairless Heart - 2:06 Counting Out Time - 4:12 The Carpet Crawlers - 5:11 The Chamber Of 32 Doors - 5:40 Disc Two Lilywhite Lilith - 2:48 The Waiting Room- 5:15 Anyway - 3:08 Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist - 2:56 The Lamia - 6:56 Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats - 2:58 The Colony of Slippermen - 8:11 The Arrival A Visit To The Doktor The Raven Ravine - 2:06 The Light Dies Down On Broadway - 3:32 Riding The Scree - 4:06 In The Rapids - 2:18 It - 4:17 DVD Visual Extras Reissues Interview 2007 Melody-French TV 1974: (I Know What I Like, Supper's Ready) Slide Show Photo Gallery Extra Tracks 1970 To 1975 Happy The Man (7" Single) - 3:10 Twilight Alehouse (B-Side/I Know What I Like) - 7:48 Going Out To Get You (Demo) - 4:55 Shepherd (BBC Nightride) - 4:04 Pacidy (BBC Nightride) - 5:44 Let Us Now Make Love (BBC Nightride) - 6:16 Provocation (Genesis Plays Jackson) - 4:10 Frustration (Genesis Plays Jackson) - 3:42 Manipulation (Genesis Plays Jackson) - 3:49 Resignation (Genesis Plays Jackson) - 3:01 DVD Visual Extras Reissues Interview 2007 VH1 Documentary 1998: Genesis Archive 1967-75 Midnight Special 1973: (Watcher Of The Skies, The Musical Box) External links Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Genesis 1970–1975 Official Box set website

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The PP Guru's true aspiration

Collins and Hackett made their studio debut in 1971 on Nursery Cryme, which features the epic "The Musical Box" and Collins's first lead vocal performance in "For Absent Friends". Foxtrot was released in October 1972 and contains what has been described as "one of the group's most accomplished works", the 23-minute "Supper's Ready". Songs such as the Arthur C. Clarke-inspired "Watcher of the Skies" solidified their reputation as songwriters and performers. Gabriel's flamboyant and theatrical stage presence, which involved numerous costume changes and surreal song introductions, made the band a popular live act. Genesis Live, recorded on the Foxtrot tour, followed in 1973.

Selling England by the Pound followed in November 1973 and was well received by critics and fans. Gabriel insisted on the title, a reference to a current Labour Party slogan, in an effort to counter the impression that Genesis were becoming too US-oriented. The album contains "Firth of Fifth" and "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"; these songs became part of their live repertoire, with the latter reaching 17 on the UK singles charts. During this period Hackett became an early user of the electric guitar "tapping" technique, which was later popularized by Eddie Van Halen, as well as "sweep-picking", which was popularised in the 1980s by Yngwie Malmsteen. These virtuoso guitar techniques were incorporated in the song "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight". At the same time, the band signed with new manager Tony Smith, who published all subsequent Genesis songs through his company Hit & Run Music Publishing.

In 1974, Genesis undertook a double disc concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway which was released on 18 November. In contrast to the lengthy tracks featured on earlier albums The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a collection of shorter tracks, connected by a number of segues. The story describes the spiritual journey of Rael, a Puerto Rican youth living in New York City, and his quest to establish his freedom and identity. During his adventure, Rael encounters several bizarre characters including the Slippermen and The Lamia, the latter being borrowed from Greek mythology and influenced by a poem by Keats.

The band embarked on a world tour to promote the album, performing it 102 times in its entirety, with Gabriel adding spoken narration. During their live performances, Genesis pioneered the use of lasers and other light effects, most of which were built by the Dutch technician Theo Botschuijver. A customised handheld unit was used to channel laser light, which allowed Gabriel to sweep the audience with various light effects.

Creating the ambitious The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album strained relations between band members, particularly Banks and Gabriel. Gabriel wrote the lyrics, while the other band members wrote the music, with the exception of "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers". "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" was co-authored by Banks and Rutherford. The other-worldly, blurbling, sequenced synth sounds and shattering glass loops in the track "The Waiting Room", as well as the vocal effects in the track "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging" coined "Enossifications", were produced by the ambient composer Brian Eno.

During the Lamb tour, Gabriel announced to his bandmates that he had decided to leave the band, citing estrangement from the other members, and the strains of his marriage and the difficult birth of his first child. Nonetheless, he saw his commitment through to the conclusion of the tour, which ended anti-climactically in a cancelled gig at Besançon in Eastern France. In a letter to fans, delivered through the music press at the end of the tour, entitled Out, Angels Out, Gabriel explained that the "...vehicle we had built as a co-op to serve our songwriting became our master and had cooped us up inside the success we had wanted. It affected the attitudes and the spirit of the whole band. The music had not dried up and I still respect the other musicians, but our roles had set in hard." Collins later remarked that the other members "...were not stunned by Peter's departure because we had known about it for quite a while." The band decided to carry on without Gabriel.

Gabriel's first solo album, Peter Gabriel 1977, features the hit single "Solsbury Hill", an allegory that refers to his departure from the band.

However, if the PP Guru were to show up on Wilshire Blvd during the Prop 8 demonstration march dressed like this- he would probably be taking things a little too far ...

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Sparky: It's only fair to hate haters. Being a sheep gets you dragged to camps to die. We all learnt that lesson.
FIGHT THE HATE!













I approve of non-violent protest when authority wants to identify you as the “other.” The voters who voted with the Mormon & other ‘fundie’ hatemongers were tricked. Time to drag them into the 21st century.

A shot of police headed to the protest around Wilshire and Westwood. Via NBC: "At about 4 p.m., officers closed Wilshire and Westwood boulevards. The march terminated near the intersection, jamming traffic in all directions." It's not clear what's open now, but the LA Times (below) is listing some street closures.

Prop. 8 causes Westside traffic misery [LA Times]

Majority Rule won't work when you're telling kids of Gays they're not as good as other kids.





Some Mormon bloodied Jaime Meriwether's nose above earlier.

Mormon showing the flag's supposed support of hate confronts protester. Classy.

• Photos: Proposition 8 protests

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  Video: Prop 8 protesters swarm...

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LATimes: Shelby Grad: Prop. 8 causes Westside traffic misery

Hundreds of people protesting on the Westside over the passage of Prop. 8 are causing gridlock in a part of L.A. already famous for bad traffic.

The Times' Tami Abdollah reports that the gridlock is gripping streets around the Westside. She said it took her a half-hour to go a mile. She said most major streets -- including Sepulveda Boulevard, Barrington Avenue and Olympic Boulevard -- are jammed. Side streets around the area are also clogged with cars. There is major congestion through Beverly Hills as well.

Details:

-Portions of Santa Monica Boulevard are closed between Beverly Glen and Westwood boulevards.

-Portions of Westwood Boulevard are also closed north of Santa Monica Boulevard.

-Portions of Ohio Avenue are closed east of Westwood Boulevard.

-The closures have caused major congestion on Wilshire Boulevard, a part of which was closed.

-The eastbound Wilshire Boulevard offramp from the 405 Freeway is closed.

These closures change as the protesters move through. Some streets open then close again.

--Photo: Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times

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Sparky got caught in this on his way home from work, and as he approves just chilled in the car. What was odd was cell traffic was DOA in the mess.

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The Salt Lake Tribune: Jessica Ravit: Protest outside Salt Lake Temple planned

11/06/2008 05:03:43 PM MST

If Jacob Whipple gets what he's hoping for, at least 1,000 Utahans will turn out Friday night to protest the involvement of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in helping pass Proposition 8, a California ballot measure that effectively killed, at least for now, same-sex marriages in that state.

The call for people to gather at 6 p.m. at North Temple and State Street in Salt Lake City is to show solidarity with those protesting in California, Whipple explained. Among those hitting the streets were about 3,000 who gathered Thursday afternoon outside the LDS Temple in Westwood, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, bearing signs including one featuring a photo of a gay couple with the words,"Why is this joy and love so scary," The Los Angeles Times reported.

=Protest planned=

A protest against LDS Church support for California's Proposition 8 is scheduled for Friday, 6 p.m., at North Temple and State Street in Salt Lake City.

"We want to show we share their pain, and here, at the heart of the church, we want to stab it," said Whipple, of Salt Lake City.

The 29-year-old former LDS Church member, who served a mission in Argentina, was helping to get the word out late Thursday about the Utah protest. He said he and others were seeking support through e-mails, text messages, social networking Web pages and old-fashioned phone calls.

Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Utah Pride Center, said her organization would "absolutely" be there to stand with others.

"We want to show we share their pain, and here, at the heart of the church, we want to stab it," said Whipple, of Salt Lake City.

The 29-year-old former LDS Church member, who served a mission in Argentina, was helping to get the word out late Thursday about the Utah protest. He said he and others were seeking support through e-mails, text messages, social networking Web pages and old-fashioned phone calls.

Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Utah Pride Center, said her organization would "absolutely" be there to stand with others.

"Millions in California, including our friends and families, stood up and voted for equalitywhile the LDS Church stood for discrimination," she said. "Friday's message will be one of hope for steady progress towards equality and fairness - a message everyone can believe in."

The LDS Church got into the thick of the California battle when officials issued statements encouraging members to actively support the ban. All told, Latter-day Saints are estimated to have given, by some counts, as much as $22 million to the effort.

But while many rallied for the cause, other church members have stepped up in protest. The hot issue has created rifts in ward houses and after the initiative passed, a church leader Wednesday called on members to treat one another with "civility, with respect and with love."

Whipple, who is engaged to Drew Cloud, 24, of Orange County, Calif., said the two men - who had planned to marry on April 11, 2009 - will go ahead with their ceremony and celebration, "whether it's recognized or not."

"Gays are people, too," he said. "We're your neighbors, your friends. . . We deserve every right everyone else has."

And it's for this reason that he will join the others in circling Temple Square, the international spiritual hub of the LDS Church, as well as the headquarters office building. It'll be part of the journey the returned missionary began when he left LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University after two years of study.

"I gave up on trying to pretend to be straight and started to live my life."

LDS Church officials react to California temple protest

According to a written statement: "The Church acknowledges that such an emotionally charged issue concerning the most personal and cherished aspects of life family and marriage stirs fervent and deep feelings. The Church calls on those involved in the debate over same sex marriage to act in the spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information."

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Proponents

The ProtectMarriage.com^[50] organization sponsored the initiative that placed Proposition 8 on the ballot and continues to support the measure.

Republican presidential nominee and U.S. Senator John McCain released a statement of support for the proposed constitutional amendment.^[51] Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich released a video in support. Both characterized the court ruling as being against the will of the people.^[52] Other notable supporters include Republican State Senator Tom McClintock and 20 other Republican State Senators and Assemblymembers.^[53]

Religious organizations that supported Proposition 8 include the Roman Catholic Church^[54], Knights of Columbus^[55], Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America^[56], The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)^[57][58][59], a group of Evangelical Christians led by Jim Garlow and Miles McPherson^[60], American Family Association, Focus on the Family^[61]and the National Organization for Marriage.^[62] Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, California's largest, also endorsed the measure.^[63][64] The Bishops of the California Catholic Conference released a statement supporting the proposition.^[65] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) publicly supported the proposition and encouraged their membership to support it, by asking its members to donate money and volunteer time. The First Presidency of the church announced its support for Proposition 8 in a letter read in every congregation.^[66][67] Latter-day Saints provided a significant source for financial donations in support of the proposition, both inside and outside the State of California.^[68] About 45% of out-of-state contributions to ProtectMarriage.com came from Utah, over three times more than any other state.^[69]

The Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego County, California publicly voted on a resolution endorsing Proposition 8. The Governing Board voted 4-0 to endorse the amendment of the California State Constitution.^[70]

The Asian Heritage Coalition held a rally in support of Proposition 8 in downtown San Diego on October 19, 2008.^[71]

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Sparky's synagogue came out against Prop 8 because the leadership there understands discrimination when they see it.

Sparky:
It's mostly a happy day save for the hate spread by the Mormon Church & other soul deficient Fundies.

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Rick Jacobs : Mormon Church on Prop 8: We Oppose Civil Rights (But Don't Tell)

Harry Truman famously said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

President-Prophet Thomas Monson, the leader of the Mormon Church, clearly does not read history. If he did, he'd know that he and his apostles could not stand behind the stone walls and parapets of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, shoveling cash and lies into California without consequences. The Mormon Church's members have contributed some $22 million into Prop 8, a vicious campaign here in California seeking to strip fundamental marriage rights from same-sex couples, making them permanent second-class citizens.

President-Prophet Monson seems to like "separate but equal," but seems a little touchy when he is called on leading such a campaign. Over the last two weeks, the Courage Campaign Issues Committee has tried to get President-Prophet Monson to stop breaking the Ten Commandments (in this case, number nine, "thou shall not bear false witness") and blackmail. As I wrote last week, the Church has been party to both in countenancing television ads that lie and in allowing a leading Mormon to write letters attempting to blackmail donors to the "No on 8" Campaign.

Joined by Rev. Eric Lee, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of California and backed by 17,000 signers, we tried to deliver a letter to the President-Prophet last week via one of his temples here in Los Angeles asking him to denounce these tactics. We were denied. So we then worked with friends in Salt Lake City -- former Mormons who were kicked out of President-Prophet Monson's Church for being gay -- to deliver the letter to the Mormon Church's Utah headquarters. As the local NBC affiliate, among others, reported, the letter was received.

In the meantime, Dante and David Atkins, brothers and netroots activists, created an ad that shows the effect the Mormon Church seeks to have on people's lives in California which the Courage Campaign Issues Committee is running on CNN and MSNBC in select markets of California on Election Day. You can watch the ad here:

On Daily Kos yesterday, Dante Atkins also provided a smoking gun memo showing that the Mormon Church has planned for more than a decade to hide behind others in its attempt to suppress civil rights.

Finally, after months of hiding, the Church issued a statement about our ad.

The Church has joined a broad-based coalition in defense of traditional marriage. While we feel this is important to all of society, we have always emphasized that respect be given to those who feel differently on this issue. It is unfortunate that some who oppose this proposition have not given the Church this same courtesy."

Then, late Monday, the Yes on 8 "coalition" -- which is really a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mormon Church with token investors from other right wing outposts -- issued a statement decrying the ad as "bigotry and intolerance." Obviously, President-Prophet Monson got upset that his hands got dirty, so he ordered his minions in California to jump out in front and take a bullet for him. They did and quickly.

The Mormon Church and its very junior partners in California owe all of us an apology. They seek to use the constitution to strip fundamental rights -- in this case of same-sex couples to marry -- away from millions of people. They lie in television ads. They blackmail. And then they invoke their religion to say that they are allowed to lie and hurt people, but not if they are caught.

It's simply too much.

When will President -Prophet Monson and his apostles finally stand for love, diversity and grace rather than hatred, exclusivity and self-righteousness? The Mormon Church, above all others in this nation, should understand the dangers of bigotry. My plea for this Election Day is that the Mormon Church will learn from its errors and lead for equality.

Thirty years ago, the Mormon Church at last decided that it was okay for African Americans to join its priesthood. Maybe, as we see real change in Washington, the Church will understand that it's time now to welcome all people into its vision of America and thereby join America as well.

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AP:California Gay Marriage Banned As Proposition 8 Passes

LOS ANGELES - In an election otherwise full of liberal triumphs, the gay rights movement suffered a stunning defeat as California voters approved a ban on same-sex marriages that overrides a recent court decision legalizing them.

The constitutional amendment -- widely seen as the most momentous of the nation's 153 ballot measures -- will limit marriage to heterosexual couples, the first time such a vote has taken place in a state where gay unions are legal.

Gay-rights activists had a rough election elsewhere as well. Ban-gay-marriage amendments were approved in Arizona and Florida, and Arkansas voters approved a measure banning unmarried couples from serving as adoptive or foster parents. Supporters made clear that gays and lesbians were their main target.

In California, with 95 percent of precincts reporting Wednesday, the ban had 5,125,752 votes, or 52 percent, while there were 4,725,313 votes, or 48 percent, opposed.

Similar bans had prevailed in 27 states before Tuesday's elections, but none were in California's situation -- with about 18,000 gay couples married since a state Supreme Court ruling in May. The state attorney general, Jerry Brown, has said those marriages will remain valid, although legal challenges are possible.

Spending for and against the amendment reached $74 million, making it the most expensive social-issues campaign in U.S. history and the most expensive campaign this year outside the race for the White House.

Elsewhere, voters in Colorado and South Dakota rejected measures that could have led to sweeping bans of abortion, and Washington became only the second state -- after Oregon -- to offer terminally ill people the option of physician-assisted suicide.

A first-of-its-kind measure in Colorado, which was defeated soundly, would have defined life as beginning at conception. Its opponents said the proposal could lead to the outlawing of some types of birth control as well as abortion.

The South Dakota measure would have banned abortions except in cases of rape, incest and serious health threat to the mother. A tougher version, without the rape and incest exceptions, lost in 2006. Anti-abortion activists thought the modifications would win approval, but the margin of defeat was similar, about 55 percent to 45 percent of the vote.

"The lesson here is that Americans, in states across the country, clearly support women's ability to access abortion care without government interference," said Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation.

In Washington, voters gave solid approval to an initiative modeled after Oregon's "Death with Dignity" law, which allows a terminally ill person to be prescribed lethal medication they can administer to themselves. Since Oregon's law took effect in 1997, more than 340 people -- mostly ailing with cancer -- have used it to end their lives.

The marijuana reform movement won two prized victories, with Massachusetts voters decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the drug and Michigan joining 12 other states in allowing use of pot for medical purposes.

Henceforth, people caught in Massachusetts with an ounce or less of pot will no longer face criminal penalties. Instead, they'll forfeit the marijuana and pay a $100 civil fine.

The Michigan measure will allow severely ill patients to register with the state and legally buy, grow and use small amounts of marijuana to relieve pain, nausea, appetite loss and other symptoms.

Nebraska voters, meanwhile, approved a ban on race- and gender-based affirmative action, similar to measures previously approved in California, Michigan and Washington. Returns in Colorado on a similar measure were too close to call.

Ward Connerly, the California activist-businessman who has led the crusade against affirmative action, said Obama's victory proved his point. "We have overcome the scourge of race," Connerly said.

Energy measures met a mixed fate. In Missouri, voters approved a measure requiring the state's three investor-owned electric utilities to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2021. But California voters defeated an even more ambitious measure that would have required the state's utilities to generate half their electricity from windmills, solar systems, geothermal reserves and other renewable sources by 2025.

Two animal-welfare measures passed -- a ban on dog racing in Massachusetts, and a proposition in California that outlaws cramped cages for egg-laying chickens.

Amid deep economic uncertainty, proposals to cut state income taxes were defeated decisively in North Dakota and Massachusetts.

In San Francisco, an eye-catching local measure -- to bar arrests for prostitution -- was soundly rejected. Police and political leaders said it would hamper the fight against sex trafficking. And in San Diego, voters decided to make permanent a ban on alcohol consumption on city beaches.

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Reid To Meet With Lieberman To Discuss Committee Chairmanship

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will likely meet later this week with Joe Lieberman to discuss whether the Democrat-turned-Independent will be stripped of his Senate committee chairmanship, a senior Democratic leadership aide tells CNN.

Lieberman currently chairs the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

This aide says that Reid, who is calling the meeting, has not yet decided what to do. The aide admits that the decision will be determined in part by the final election results -- and just how close the party is to a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority -- but insists that the biggest factor involved is lingering anger among Senate Democrats over Lieberman's Republican convention speech.

Read the whole story here.

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I hate haters.

Sparky:

...PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA...

MCCAIN CONCEDES: I CALLED SENATOR OBAMA TO CONGRATULATE HIM...

President Obama: Barack Obama Becomes America's 44th President

Update: It's Official, CNN, MSNBC and FOX News have now declared Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

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Earlier:
With wins in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Barack Obama has likely won the presidency by a decisive margin, with the potential of carrying almost all the battleground states. He will be the nation's first black chief executive.

Exit polls showed fears about the economy eclipsing all other issues, a development working decisively to the advantage of Democrats up and down the ticket. Polls in the continental U.S. are to close at 11 when the networks will formally call the race.

Other news organizations have also called an Obama victory:
FiveThirtyEight.com
NY Post
The Daily News
Time
Slate
Salon

Election Results

LIVE RESULTS: Last Updated at 8:30 pm

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PRESIDENTIAL RACE Needed to Win: 270 | Electoral Votes Remaining: 59 Obama Electoral Votes 324 Popular Vote 51% 43,927,434 McCAIN Electoral Votes 155 Popular Vote 48% 40,978,394 » Full Presidential Ballot Roll over map to view live state results *Maine and Nebraska each award two Electoral Votes to the overall statewide winner and one for the winner in each of their congressional districts.

Senate Needed for Majority: 51* Control of Senate 55 40 Net Change DEM +4 Party Before Now D 49 53 R 49 40 I 2 2 » Full Senate Results HOUSE Needed for Majority: 218 Control of House 230 153 Net Change DEM +7 Party Before Now D 236 230 R 199 153 I - - » Key House Races

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Max Blumenthal: Who Is The Mystery Man Behind Prop 8?

Who is funding California's Prop 8, the country's most controversial ballot measure? The Mormons' donations are well known, and are a source of outrage among the church's more moderate elements. But little attention has been focused on two of the proposition's biggest individual donors: Elsa Broekhuizen, the mother of Blackwater founder Erik Prince, and Howard F. Ahmanson Jr., the reclusive theocratic millionaire who inherited $300 million from his philanthropist father at age 18.

When I profiled Ahmanson in a 2004 article for Salon.com, I became the first journalist in 20 years to interview him. Yesterday I resurrected my reporting for The Daily Beast, updating it to cover Ahmanson's recent machinations, particularly his role in Prop 8. As I wrote, Ahmanson few Americans have heard of Ahmanson -- and that's the way he likes it. His extreme politics and eccentric personality reveal the draconian underside of a ballot measure billed by its proponents as "pro-family."

During a 1985 interview with the Orange County Register, Ahmanson summarized his political agenda: "My goal is the total integration of biblical law into our lives."

Though Ahmanson's rhetoric has softened over the years, his politics are derived from the radical Christian Reconstructionist theology of R.J. Rushdoony, a far-right theologian who advocated replacing the US Constitution with biblical law. "God's government prevails," Rushdoony wrote, "and His alternatives are clear-cut: either men and nations obey His laws, or God invokes the death penalty against them." Those eligible on Rushdoony's long list for execution included disobedient children, unchaste women, apostates, blasphemers, practitioners of witchcraft, astrologers, adulterers, and, of course, anyone who engaged in "sodomy or homosexuality."

Rushdoony was the father Ahmanson never had, bringing him to radical right-wing Christianity not long after the anxiety-ridden, Tourette's-afflicted scion of wealth checked out of the Menninger Clinic. Ahmanson bankrolled Rushdoony's religious empire; in return, Rushdoony made Ahmanson a board member of his think tank, Chalcedon, which to this day advocates theocratic revolution in the United States. Ahmanson and his wife were at Rushdoony's bedside when he died in 2001.

(Read the full story on Ahmanson here).

My article is accompanied at the Daily Beast by a new video by Michael Wilson, creator of the brilliant documentary, Silhouette City. Wilson also co-produced my video documentary about Sarah Palin's belief in spiritual warfare, "In The Land Of Queen Esther."

On November 2, Wilson went to San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium to cover "The Call," an 80,000-strong Pentecostal rally for Prop 8. The Call organizer, Lou Engle, gathered his troops together for several days of fasting and prayer to stop what he called the "sexual insanity" of Prop 8 opponents. The rally culminated with Engle imploring his fervent crowd to become martyrs, to be willing to lay down their lives for the cause.

(Click here to see Wilson's video.)

The defeat of Prop 8 would be a nightmare for the Christian right. As Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said of the ballot measure, "It's more important than the presidential election... We will not survive [as a nation] if we lose the institution of marriage."

But behind the Christian right's panicked pleas for preserving "traditional marriage" lies a more deep-seated fear. California's rejection of Prop 8 would represent a decisive repudiation of the theocratic fantasy outlined by Rushdoony and mainstreamed by Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, Lou Engle and countless evangelical minions. Ahmanson has spent what he could to keep his mentor's dream alive, but the movement's nightmare may arrive nonetheless.

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About Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President and a senator from Illinois. Born August 4, 1961 in Hawaii to an American mother and Kenya father, Obama graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He spent eight years in the State Senate before being sworn into the Senate in January 2005. Obama married wife Michelle Obama in 1992 after meeting at work in 1989. They have two daughters, Sasha and Malia, who have been promised a dog after the election. Obama has written two books, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" (1995) and "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" (2006). Obama likes cooking chili, playing basketball and is good poker player.