A friend of mines brought this to my attention today:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/editori ... n-thompson
The long and short of it for those who don't want to click:
"...the ongoing case of Christopher Handley. As you may know, Handley currently faces up to 20 years in prison for the possession of allegedly obscene manga. Carl was concerned about the ramifications of Handley's case, not just on Handley himself, but on all of us. I think his concern is a very legitimate one, the case against Handley could set a precedent that will affect a lot of collectors and consumers of illustrated and animated material."
From now until Dec. 31st, all donations for Celestial membership upgrades will go directly to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to help with the impending trial.
So if you feel strongly enough about this issue, now's the perfect chance to show it while letting your fellow ACP/ACE cosplayers get in on all the benefits of Celestial status! It also makes a great Christmas present, as we can personally tell the cosplayer who it was sent from.
There's nothing special you need to do towards upgrading your membership - just follow the guidelines here:
http://www.acparadise.com/acp/donations.php
We'll take all the donations at the end of the year and send it to them as a lump sum check.
I think it's pretty obvious that this is something that affects us not just as cosplayers, but as anime and manga fans in general. So we're just doing our part to help out!