Kyle Bell

Disney World is unveiling an animatronic President Obama in its Hall of Presidents, which includes the other 43 presidents. The attraction has been around since 1971 and is being updated.

I thought I would post something non-political for a change. As you may know, I also run the video game website http://gamefreaks365.com. A few months ago I signed up for Google Analytics to better track our hit information for everything from where our visitors are coming from to what part of the world they reside. I thought I would share some interesting demographic information about the site that I run.

First let’s look at the distribution of our viewers. The three states that attract the most viewers (in order) are California, Illinois and New York. California being the largest state in the U.S. (by far), makes perfect sense at #1. Illinois (the 5th largest state), surprised me at #2, ahead of New York (3rd largest state), Texas (2nd largest) and Florida (4th largest). In fact, Florida falls behind Georgia and Indiana. My guess is that this has to do with the fact that so many retirees live in that state and thus are less likely to own a computer, have Internet access and be interested in video games. For the most part, the population of a state is reflected in these numbers. Indiana is over-represented (I live in the state, have friends and promote the site here) and Florida under-represented (probably due to the age of its residents).

Being a Political Science major, I have always loved looking at maps like this. Google Analytics does a great job of breaking down viewers by country, state and even city. Not only do I know what states my site is popular in, I know what cities. For instance our California viewers are mostly concentrated in the Los Angeles and Bay Area metropolitan regions. This pretty well reflects the population distribution in the state. In Illinois (not surprisingly), almost all of the viewers are within the greater Chicago area. New York City is the pre-eminent city in the state of New York and the entire East Coast. I should note that these dots do NOT represent a single unique hit. It all depends on the number of hits in a state, along with which cities are most heavily represented. The dots are cities and the larger the dot, the more unique viewers from that city. Obviously an agglomeration of dots is a dense spread of suburbs within a metropolitan area.

Our E3 2009 coverage was extremely well received by viewers. The site experienced an increase of over 50 percent in unique hits during the month of June. At its peak, we saw unique visits reaching nearly 600 a day. Not including periods of downtime, this was significantly up from the three month low of 125 uniques on April 18, 2009. The trend is on the way up as the site continues to retain viewers gained during the E3 period of coverage.

Going forward, the site is going to continue to focus on expansion. With 1272 friends on Myspace, 120 followers on Twitter and 131 fans on Facebook, Game Freaks 365 is well positioned in the social networking sites to not only stay competitive, but provide free promotional opportunities to the site. We will continue to focus on providing high quality news stories, honest reviews and a forum for our community to express themselves.

South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke today signed an executive order that prohibits “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in any city employment.” The South Bend Common Council failed to act on the issue of employment discrimination in the city of South Bend in 2006 when a proposal lost by a single vote. Discrimination is already prohibited based on race and gender.

Today’s executive order means that the city will investigate claims of hiring discrimination, as well as claims brought by city employees “who believe they have been discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” the order reads. The order does not affect hiring practices outside of city government. That would require action from the Common Council.

It has been recognized that diversity in the workplace is a benefit for everyone. Discrimination is an ill that virtually everyone deplores. Yet it is still a reality, as is housing discrimination, for all too many people that identify themselves as gay. It is time for the South Bend Common Council to recognize the history of racial and gender discrimination, the fact that it benefits no one, and that to exclude gays from this ordinance is inconsistent with the spirit of the law.

“Let me first apologize to my wife.” A phrase that is heard all too often these days. We saw it with Senators Larry Craig (R-ID) and David Vitter (R-LA). We’ve seen it more recently with Senator John Ensign (R-NV). None of these men have resigned from office (Craig chose not to run for re-election in 2008). The one politician that did resign, Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York, is a Democrat. Today, Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) came out of hiding to reveal that he has been having an affair with a woman from Argentina. He should follow Spitzer’s example by resigning from office immediately.

The news conference held today came after a week of the governor gone missing. His staff believed that he went hiking in the Appalachian Trail, although they did not know for sure, and his family was not even told of his location. This left the state of South Carolina essentially leaderless for an entire week while the governor was having his affair in a foreign country.

“One desperately needs a break from the bubble,” Sanford told the press. He had “profound frustrations” in regard to the stimulus package, in which a state court recently forced him to accept funds that he had wanted to reject. Despite disapproval from people within his own party at a state level over the stimulus funds, he claims that it was “not for a further political office.”

In the press conference Governor Sanford spent over three or four minutes apologizing to people without saying what he was apologizing for, although it was fairly obvious. “I’ve let down a lot of people,” he said. “God’s law is indeed there to protect you from yourself.”

He claims that the relationship “began very innocently in just a casual e-mail back and forth.” The woman in question became a “dear, dear friend from Argentina.” When asked if he has broken off the relationship, he responded “no” and when asked if he was separated with his wife he said that “I don’t know how to define that.” Apparently his family knew about the affair before his trip to Argentina.

As the governor poses the question: “where do we go from here?” Indeed. He has resigned from the Republican Governor’s Association as their chairman. Why should he leave it at that? There is a consequence for claiming to be morally superior to others. Your (supposedly) higher standards require higher punishment. Based on Governor Sanford’s history of criticizing President Clinton and calling for his impeachment, he has a duty to resign. Not just for the hypocrisy. He neglected his duties as governor, misled his staff and the people of South Carolina for his own selfish desires.

As many of you have undoubtedly heard, the California Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Proposition 8. This divisive and unconstitutional act by the voters of California should not go without notice. Voters in the state (along with in many other states) have decided that they are going to put our rights as citizens up for popular opinion. This is fundamentally against what our nation stands for. If anything we should be giving people more rights, not taking them away.

While this decision is certainly disheartening, it is not the end of the story. We will not rest until the day that people of all colors, religions and sexual orientations can choose to enter into a union with another person that they love. It is not the role of government - in a republic - to be a moral arbiter of law. That is what authoritarian regimes do. Does America strive to be more like Saudi Arabia or Iran?

This is what I ask of those of you who feel passionately about this issue. Do not spend time contemplating what is wrong with American justice or whether there will ever be a day where equality is finally achieved. Instead, do something about it. Write to your local newspaper, communicate with people of opposing or neutral views to try to win them to our side, and most importantly be a part of the political process. Speak out, protest (there are ways to do this other than carrying signs) and VOTE.

Proposition 8 was passed with the slimmest majority - less than 52 percent. We will have to work just that much harder to convince people that our rights should not be put up for a vote. There will be opportunities across this country to do exactly that. As we have seen in the states of Vermont and Maine, some politicians have the courage to stand up for what is right. In Iowa, the Supreme Court has ruled in our favor. New Hampshire has passed a gay marriage law that is waiting to be signed by Governor Lynch (by all means call and write to him!). Our side is on the winning side of history. Those that stand in the way of equality will soon see that.

Not a political post tonight. I recently went to Lincoln Park in Chicago and thought I would share the video I took while I was there. This exhibit is known as Farm in the Zoo:

I also visited the University of Chicago, a magnificent campus in the historic Hyde Park neighborhood. Below is video I took at the Oriental Institute Museum:

President Obama delivered the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame today in my hometown of South Bend, Indiana. It is an honor to have President Obama back in South Bend as President of the United States. Just about this time last year he was visiting the city campaigning for the Indiana primary. Now he has the difficult task of running our nation’s government.

The President was greeted by both well wishers and protesters. As the right wing Republican machine has done so frequently throughout his short term as the leader of our nation, they opposed his very presence. Their argument is clear: if you do not hold their position then you are not welcome. Essentially if their policy were adopted by the University then a “Democrats need not apply” sign might as well be posted on the Golden Dome.

Thankfully cooler heads prevailed in the matter. Father Jenkins was a gracious host and stood up to the pressure that Catholic leaders from Bishops to activists have put on him for the past month. While it is unfortunate that anti-abortion outsiders decided that this venue was appropriate, the graduation ceremony went on without a hitch (at least mostly - there were a few brief interruptions).

Let it be known to all of you from around the country looking at this media spectacle: the students and faculty of Notre Dame, as well as a majority of Catholics across the country, stand behind the decision to invite President Obama. The small minority that did protest, only a few dozen people, were mostly from out of state. They really had no business even being in South Bend.

I am perfectly fine if the students want to protest. It’s their graduation, afterall. But to have people like Alan Keyes, whom President Obama defeated in the Illinois Senate race in 2004, is pretty disgraceful. Unlike President Bush, who was invited in 2001 and was responsible for overseeing more inmates being put to death than any other governor in history (which is against Church teaching), President Obama has no direct connection to any abortions.

The president has no control over abortion laws and he never will. To vote on an issue like this for which the person seeking office has no legislative authority is mind boggling to me. Then to turn around and hold it against him when he speaks at a university is even more so. Notre Dame is a university. It is not a theological school, it does not require its students to be Catholic or practice Catholic teachings. Perhaps these activists would like to see Notre Dame institute an admissions policy where all new students would be required to convert to Christianity and hold Catholic beliefs. At any rate, these are absurd objections.

The Party of No apparently is also the Party of No Science. Republican Representative Mike Pence appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews only to deny evolution exists. When asked “Do you believe in evolution” by Chris Matthews, Pence responded, “God created the heavens and the earth, the seas and all that’s in them.” He went on to claim that the validity of climate change is debatable.

In this segment Congressman Pence states that “science is the exploration of demonstrable fact.” Evidently he never took a science class. Anyone with even a basic understanding of science knows that theories are not fact. It’s why we call them theories - they are well grounded and documented assumptions. As the dictionary puts it a theory is “a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.” It’s sad that this man has a position in the Republican leadership.

In a recent interview with Christianity Today, a leading voice for the Republican Party not only disavowed gay marriage, he also went so far as to say that he would not allow gay people around his children. Joe the Plumber (aka Samuel Wurzelbacher) spoke out on the topic when asked what he thought about the recent decisions toward marriage equality in Iowa and Vermont.

At a state level, it’s up to them. I don’t want it to be a federal thing. I personally still think it’s wrong. People don’t understand the dictionary–it’s called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It’s not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that. You know, God is pretty explicit in what we’re supposed to do–what man and woman are for. Now, at the same time, we’re supposed to love everybody and accept people, and preach against the sins. I’ve had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn’t have them anywhere near my children. But at the same time, they’re people, and they’re going to do their thing.

I normally would not lend people such as Joe very much credibility. In fact, he has none. Yet it was John McCain and others in the Republican tent (especially on Fox News) that pushed him to the front of the national spotlight. They put him on the pedestal, now they have to deal with it. What does this say about John McCain and other Republicans that latched themselves to this man? In a way they married him in the hopes that he would provide them with electoral success with middle class voters. John McCain apparently is happy to marry to the right wing ideology of Christian conservatives in the hope of winning elections, but does not want to ensure equal marriage rights to gay couples. I would ask the Senator: do you stand by Joe’s comments? Voters in Arizona deserve to know that answer before they vote in 2010.

Earlier today Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched parties from Republican to Democrat. The right wing loon machine is in full swing spinning his departure as long overdue. Nevermind the fact that Republicans now only have 40 members with zero chance of actually winning the Pennsylvania seat back. The person who inspired Specter’s defection, former Representative Pat Toomey, spoke with Sean Hannity tonight: