Oh-bama!

"What an inspiration. He is the first truly global U.S. president the world has ever had," said Pracha Kanjananont, a 29-year-old Thai sitting at a Starbuck's in Bangkok. "He had an Asian childhood, African parentage and has a Middle Eastern name. He is a truly global president." - AP wire story.

More headlines HERE at Americablog.

Boo Whoo-Hoo!

The weather turned bawmy, the rian stopped, and the Castro, among other places,w as fun, safe, and Hallowinning. More pics soon.

Boo

Boo! It's Halloween. Will the Castro be a scary mess? Streets will NOT be closed off, and bars will be extra-packed. Who wants to wait in line for fun? Not me.

The shootings from 2 years ago still haunt us. I hope things are safe, but it may rain, too, which weeds out potential do-badders.

I won't find out until later; neighbors are having our third block party, barring a downpour.

And No on Prop 8 is neck and neck in polls with the paranoid heterosaximals. Hey, wanna preserve traditional marriage? Pickle it.




For Halloween party fun, check my weekly listings.

What the World Needs Now

The Economist's website poll shows who people around the world would vote for in the U.S. presidential election, if they could.

Blackhearted

Who are the biggest donors to Yes on Proposition 8?

Out of state mormons and militia men.

On the yes side, the Knights of Columbus, based in New Haven, Conn., is the measure's largest single contributor so far, having given $1.4 million. Other top contributors to the Yes on 8 campaign were Irvine banking heir Howard Ahmanson Jr.'s Fieldstead and Co. foundation ($1.1 million); John Templeton Jr., son of the late Bryn Mawr, Pa., investor John Templeton ($900,000); the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association ($500,000), and Elsa Prince, ($450,000), mother of Blackwater founder Erik Prince.

Miles Higher

Denver Welcomes Obama

Back in the city where he claimed history, Barack Obama presided Sunday over a Colorado rally so enormous and energetic that even he seemed surprised at his following.

"Goodness gracious," Obama said as he took the stage and peered at the human mass in Denver's Civic Center Park. Smelling victory, Obama supporters were everywhere, packing even the steps of the state Capitol way off in the distance.

In a campaign of huge Obama rallies across the United States, the Denver gathering topped them all. Local police put the crowd estimate at "well over" 100,000 people.

The setting, on a sparkling day in this battleground state, said perhaps more than Obama did in his actual speech. It rippled with the kind of enthusiasm found at victory rallies.

Later, in Fort Collins, there was more symbolism in the eyes of Obama backers. Obama spoke to tens of thousands of people on a Colorado State University lawn known as "The Oval."

Obama's campaign is capitalizing on the scope of such rallies to get people to cast votes early, permitted in Colorado and more than two dozen other states.

"How many people have early voted?" Obama said, eliciting cheers from people bundled up in fleece. "That's what I'm talking about. No point in waiting in lines if you don't have to. You know who you're going to vote for."

Mac is PC

Apple has joined Google in publicly opposing a California ballot initiative that would deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The company announced Friday that it would donate $100,000 to the No on Prop 8 campaign, which opposes a measure to ban gay marriage that California voters will consider a week from Tuesday. Google has also spoken out against the ballot measure.

"Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees' same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person's fundamental rights--including the right to marry--should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8," the company said in a statement posted to the Hot News section of its Web site.