For a few days, I have been playing with blog ideas in my head. I was asking myself how I could write about Same-Sex marriage, Prop 1 in Maine, Prop 8 in California, and the fact that even though I am married, I still feel like my union is not the same as other people’s.

And then yesterday happened; Wrock 4 Equality completely blew my mind. Every time I think the Harry Potter Alliance and the fandom can not get any more awesome, they surprise me with campaigns like this one. All the hard work everyone has put in until now means so much for me on such a personal level. Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday November 4, 2008 you did a fantastic job of Wizard Rocking the Vote! In total we registered close to 900 voters and mobilized so many to make calls to ban Proposition 8 in California. And while the fight to legalize love in California continues as do so many other fights, we got the word out, we did everything we could, and we got people to vote. And you are all amazing.

This was a project that I helped in, but in truth was actually led by so many incredible individuals who are making the HP Alliance the incredible community that we are. I am bound to forget some people, so please forgive me and let me know at andrew@thehpalliance.org - and there is no way that I can do even a little justice to the amazing work that each of you has done with a little blog mention, but here goes. So a very special thank you go in no particular order to:

Read the rest of this entry »

After the US Wizard Rocked the Vote Massachusetts voted to ban greyhound dog racing that abuses dogs and causes the unneeded deaths of countless rabbits. California voted to make it mandatory that caged animals are given enough room not to live their lives under a situation of torture. They will now have enough room to move. This will improve the standard of their living and the safety of meat eaters.

In essence, this was a big week for Care of Magical Creatures!

Hagrid would be proud!

We are really proud to let people know that thanks to the whole fandom with special thanks to Leaky, Mugglenet, and of course the Wizard Rock community, the HPA’s Wizard Rock the Vote program registered close to 900 voters! So if you can vote this Tuesday, please do it! And keep in mind, even if you aren’t registered, if you’re in Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, or Wisconsin you can register at the polls on the day of the election. For more on polling locations and other voting info check this out.

Also, I know that whenever I get to the polls I’m frustrated that I don’t know enough about the ballot initiatives going on in my state. Now you can research them by state as well as by issue.

I don’t know too much about each state’s ballot initiatives, but let me comment on the few that I do know of and give my opinion:

If you’re in California Vote No On Proposition 8 that would takeaway same sex marriage. Also, if you’re in Florida, vote no on the Florida Marriage Amendment and if you’re in Arizona, vote no on Proposition 102. These are also both about making same sex marriage illegal. While we haven’t stressed them as much as California because Prop 8 would takeaway same sex marriages that already exist, it is essential that we stop every state from making love illegal.

Further, please if you care about the CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES and are in California, Vote YES on Proposition 2. According to Kevin Drum: “This initiative requires that farm animals be penned in cages that allow them to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs, and turn around freely. In practice, it would affect only the egg industry, and it moves California very moderately in the direction of more humane treatment of farm animals.”

More recommendations to come! Though don’t worry, no one at the HP Alliance is going to tell you who to vote for President! The important thing is that you vote!!!

In a post after the first presidential debate, I posted a petition to get the candidate’s to speak about genocide, global poverty, and AIDS. It was very disappointing that the only presidential debate that was supposed to focus exclusively on foreign policy did not bring up these issues one time.

But then things changed. In the Vice Presidential debate, both Joe Biden and Sarah Palin gave encouraging answers on Darfur. In the next presidential debate, both Barack Obama and John McCain did as well. While words do not mean as much actions, the fact is, whoever is the next President of the United States has promised the American people that they are going to do more practical work on ending the genocide in Darfur.

I don’t think the kind of attention the people of Darfur have had by being mentioned at debates like this would have happened were it not for the activist’s in this world that are drawing attention to this issue. The next president, whoever he is, knows that there is a strong base of support, especially amongst young people, for him to take extra steps for peace in Darfur. It’s not going to be easy but these are encouraging signs and it’s times like these when we in the Dumbledore’s Amry for the real world should feel good and remember how important our voices are and how lucky we are to be so valuable to the growing anti-genocide movement. Thank you to all of you for all of your support in waking the world up the way the DA woke the world up to Voldemort’s return!

But in Darfur, the fight is far from over. As Darfur activist Susan Morgan says, whoever the next president is, he will need us to pressure him to turn his words into actions.

Tonight at 9 pm EST is the last debate for the US presidential election (Canada had their election yesterday). Rate how the media covers the debate at ratethedebates.org

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you have a wonderful day with your family.

Tomorrow, October 14th, is the election!! So remember to get out and vote, and encourage your friends and family to do so as well. You do NOT have to register in advance; you can register at the polling station itself. DO remember to bring ID (see what you need to bring here) and DO look up the address of where you need to go in advance! (http://www.elections.ca/home.asp) The website tends to crash on election day, so save yourself the frustration and write it down now. And if you missed the TV leaders debate, you can still catch it here.

Feel free to share your voting story in the forums! And enjoy watching the results as they come in. Happy voting!

So the US and Canada are getting ready for elections. Did the Wizarding World have elections? Was Rufus Scrimgeur elected or appointed? And if appointed, by whom?