I’m so happy to see Mark Kennedy lose to Amy Klobuchar. I’m still hoping that Patty Wetterling can pull out a victory. Hatch looks like he may just win. Wow! And Minnesota sending our 1st African-American Representative who is also a Muslim–Keith Ellison. And I do believe Amy will be our 1st female Senator.

Though I am happy to see Rick Santorum defeated, his children break my heart. His little daughter and son were crying. So sad for them.

Only about 30 minutes until some polls start closing on the East coast. I am so excited for this election. We took the kids to vote after school. Jaycie participated in her first Kids Vote. She was excited and nervous at the same time. I get a “voting” high each time I got to the polls. I’ve been checking with people throughout the day to see if they voted or are planning to vote. I’m impressed by how many voted early this morning. At my internship, almost every single person I saw had an “I voted” sticker on. Amazing. It’s so exciting. i’m hoping well see some real changes this mid-term election to finally send Bush and the Republicans a clear message about their job performance.

MD Court Rules Consent Only Needed Prior to Sexual Act in Alleged Rape Cases
A three-judge panel of the Maryland Special Court of Appeals reinforced the provision of Maryland’s rape law that says a woman who gives consent prior to intercourse cannot withdraw her legal consent during the act. The decision came on Monday when the Court overturned a rape conviction. During deliberation in the original trial, the jury had asked, “If a female consents to sex initially and, during the course of the sex act to which she consented, for whatever reason, she changes her mind and the… man continues until climax, does the result constitute rape?” The trial judge said that Maryland’s law was unclear and would not provide a definite answer. The Special Court of Appeals, however, disagreed with the trial judge’s interpretation of the law. Current Maryland rape law is “not ambiguous,” said the ruling; if a woman consents prior to sex, she may not withdraw her consent during the act and accuse her partner of rape if he continues the act.

Maryland is one of two states that have ruled that women do not have the right to withdraw consent. Seven other states have ruled that women may withdraw consent at anytime.

I can’t even begin to explain my outrage at this ruling. How can a woman NOT have the RIGHT to say NO! This is outrageous and of course, the patriarchal systems continued lack of understanding of women and their rights to their bodies.

Ben has been selected as a finalist in a scholarship to win $5,000.

Please vote for him here.

A Centrist is Born
This article in the City Pages is quite interesting. Of course, I think Hatch is doing a wonderful job maintaining moderate appeal. I hope the tides are changing. It would be nice to be a solid blue state again.

Amish grandfather: ‘We must not think evil of this man’

One of the rare moments in which I have heard of people reacting in what I would consider true Christian fashion regarding forgiveness.

At ‘Jesus Camp,’ fired-up kids in combat gear prep for holy war This is so scary.

I started classes this weekend. They seem to be okay. My cohort is really small–only 9 people. It’s nice because the professors get to know you fairly quickly, but it’s hard when it is the same 9 people. The work load is going to be quite interesting. Last year, I basically skirted by without reading very much. I only read what I needed in order to complete the required assignments. This year, we are actually being quizzed on the readings which means I’m actually going to have to read stuff. This is really going to cramp my procrastination style.

The reality of school is setting in. I got two syllabi’s with a substantial amount of reading to do before classes start next week. I went to purchase my books today, but my bookstore account request hadn’t been authorized yet so I ended with no books. I had to resubmit the paperwork again, so hopefully I can get my books tomorrow or Saturday. I’ve enjoyed my vacation and while I am excited to learn some new material, I can’t say I am ready for the stress. I’ll be starting my internship on the 11th which I am very excited about. It’s probably the only thing keeping me motivated at this point. Hopefully, my classes are good otherwise it’s going to be a loooooong ten months.