Written: 2/12/2012
This really isn’t a gay issue, more of a men’s issue. But I thought I’d put it here under this section.
Remember, all men watch porn (and those that say they don’t, are lying). But very few murder their children.
In the wake of the Powell tragedy, a story out of Utah tries to blame porn for the killings. Which, is ironic, since you’ve probably read elsewhere, that Utah has the highest consumption of porn per capita in the country.
All my best,
The King of Spades
Couple update for you guys, let’s see what we have:
First up, did you know that Bradley Manning was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize? Pretty awesome, especially the write up.
Since we finally have some snow (I’ve been singing Christmas Carols for a few days now), check out Snow Henge (via Copyranter):
Also from Copyranter, the village of Hobbiton in New Zealand is no inhabited by sheep, and the “best” ad campaigns of all time. No real way to to judge “best,” although they are all iconic and important in their own ways.
The Ottawa library system is starting a “Human library” feature, where you can interview people of interest for 20 minute blocks. This is an awesome idea, I really need to get a passport and head to Ottawa, this is just remarkable!
CPAC is an annual conservative conference, and sadly, one of the most hate-filled events of the year. Speaking of, this year, they invited (and later refused to renounce) a white supremacy speaker. Maddow covers it here and Slog covers it here. Disgusting.
I’ve been following the birth control debate, although not as close as I probably should have. Reproductive health coverage is a part of health coverage, and I think it should be included (and maybe we’ll get some advances in men’s reproductive health while we’re at it). It’s about setting a basic standard of health, which the government is saying employers are saying they must provide. That being said, I was upset that he backed down from the Catholic Church, but will still get the same result anyway, by instead putting the onus on the insurance companies, not the employers. So I guess in the end, it worked out, I Just hate setting the precedent that one religious denomination can dictate government health coverage decisions.
That’s it for now, have a great one!
Another quick update for you. First up, open this link and play this song in the background for the next hour. It’s the theme from Jurassic Park slowed down 1000 times (but kept at the same pitch)
Check out these awesome images of a “cloud tsunami“
Today (or at least in ten minutes), is National Darwin Day! Hooray!
Want to bet on the National Dog Show? One, you probably have a gambling problem, two, Slate has you covered on who to bet on.
Want hot soup delivered to you each week (in Pittsburgh)? City Paper profiles a new business, pretty awesome!
And finally, I’ve never heard of National Geographic’s Director of Adventure, but I want it, so I can have this office:
I’ve been cleaning out my e-mail, so here’s some gems hiding in there:
Aside from the fact that you don’t dive on oxygen, which is repeated a lot through this article, it’s pretty cool to see painting underwater. FYI, tanks are either compressed air, or Nitrox, a blend of air and nitrogen.
Get some cool thought experiment explanations, pretty awesome.
Corporate logo addition:
Want to make a brain cap? Craft time!
I’ve seen this same picture, I posted it before when it had the title Happy Fall, but it makes me smile every single time I see it:
This gives me hope, a church, a mosque and a synagogue all in one giant faith campus. So awesome to see.
And this is just awesome:
Quick update for everyone, first up, check out this awesome recap of all the Superbowl ads:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc2SmA40LtE
So…..The Onion is awesome. Especially when a Republican congressman links to it as a real story. Check it out here, and check out the reviews on Yelp of the Abortionplex.
When I’m old, I want one of these.
And the third in the series of The Magicians fan art, here is Alice:
Let’s see what we have today:
Maddow Blog has a follow up to a story about the lack of parades for vets coming home. Aside from St. Louis (which was entirely citizen-funded), there has not been a parade for any returning troops. But they can put together a parade in two days for Super Bowl champs. Sad.
And speaking of the troops, an artist has done a project entitled “The impact of war on a young person’s face.” Interesting stuff.
Virginia Senator Howell is amazing. When faced with a bill that now (I believe it passed) makes it mandatory for women seeking abortions to get ultrasounds, she proposed an amendment (which barely lost) requiring men to get a rectal exam and cardiac screening if they wanted to get a prescription for ED medication.
I’ve been meaning to post this before, looks pretty awesome:
Here’s an update to the wall outlet I posted about last week. These are more flush with the wall, and this time, diagrams on how to wire it!
Interested in SOPA/PIPA and what kicked it all off? Information is Beautiful took a look at the actual numbers, and they are a bit surprising, check it out.
I know some people are excited about this, but honestly, I don’t think they will end up being very good. Hopefully I’m proved wrong, but either way, DC is moving forward with the Watchmen prequel series.
Scientists are working towards making your internal monologue being able to be broadcast. While this will of course help medical technology a lot (think of those in comas, the deaf and those with developmental disabilities), but holy crap, that would be awful if my inner monologue was public. Then again, maybe the people who annoyed me would leave me alone finally.
JCPenny is redesigning all their stores. Interesting to see, especially since my local store is moving from one of the mall to the other, so it’s good timing for them at least.
Remember how Republicans love to campaign against voter fraud, the boogeyman that is not really a problem according to all studies, but it’s a good way to push through legislation that disenfranchises those who tend to vote democratic. But as it turns out, the latest verified case of voter fraud was by a Republican Secretary of State (of Indiana). Oh the irony.
That’s it for now, have a great one!
Written: 2/7/2012
Slog has a guest piece up about the problems with marriage equality:
The flaw at the heart of “marriage equality” is that, in purporting to institutionalize (normalize) gay sex/partnerships, it produces but another universe of legally codified restrictions that excludes millions of other peoples. It legally codifies prejudice against people who are single and justifies it through the veneer of “gay rights.”
While gay relationships are not so different than straight relationships, I guess that in many ways they are different. The gay culture is different.
And there is a point that maybe we shouldn’t try to emulate everything from the rest of the society, lest we lost some of our own identity. But of course, I’m for marriage equality for the strength it brings families, the stability it brings children and the rights and responsibilities it brings members of society.
But it’s an interesting thing to think about.
And I guess it’s been on my mind more lately. I’ve always been more of a loner, and I’ve always been happy to be single.
Although that’s been changing lately, and I know that that’s been making it harder to stay closeted at work.
I can’t stand clingyness, and I would not be able to be in a codependent relationship. But the more I think about it, the more I think about how it would be nice to have someone to share life’s adventures with, to lean on, and something I think I’ve mentioned before, someone to help me learn to let myself be helped (grammar gods help me).
I was talking with a good friend a few weeks ago and I was kind of hinting at that feeling. She’s always thought that I should be with someone and more importantly, she’s always pressed me to be more open to the possibility, for which I am thankful. I told her it was her fault that I was opening myself up to these thoughts more, and of course, she was happy for that.
The Good Men Project has a heartbreaking article about a set of brothers, and while the article goes off into territory unknown to me (abusive father), the first part, where the author describes his brother being more of a loner and happy by himself, felt connected to me (although usually I tend towards more adventure type things instead of a weekend on the recliner watching tv, let alone sports). It’s a good read, check it out. And I’m going to try to dig out some stuffed animals.
But who knows, it’s easier to keep my job and not make waves without a boyfriend, but I know that’s not something I can keep up forever, while I also know I wouldn’t be able to be in a relationship and keep this job. So I keep moving on I suppose, one day at a time.
All my best,
The King of Spades
Written: 2/7/2012
Dan Savage has a fantastic piece over at Slog:
The Supreme Court has ruled time and again—at least when it comes to heteros—that marriage is a fundamental human right. The question we’re wrestling with now is whether gay people are humans and therefore entitled to fundamental human rights. Courts have ruled that states can prevent murderers and rapists and child molesters from living in certain neighborhoods, from voting, from driving. But the state cannot prevent them from marrying
This comes after Santorum told a gay man that he is not entitled to the right of marriage, since it would not benefit society.
Marriages are a benefit to society, two people caring for each other is a benefit. People who are married keep each other healthier than they otherwise would be. They are able to work together as a team to raise (or not raise) children. And marriages offer over 1,100 civic rights, duties and privileges, all of which should be available to everyone.
All my best,
The King of Spades
Written: 2/6/2012
I have a strange news feed on Facebook. I have a few that sneak through that are rabidly anti-gay and Catholic. So the current kerfuffle about the changes to health care have been causing them some anxiety.
I have seen people argue that it is religious persecution that Catholic employers (aside from Churches, so hospitals, colleges, etc) comply with healthcare guidelines and cover contraception and reproductive health.
Let’s take a step back and realize something:
Some 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women in the United States have used contraceptive methods banned by the church, research published on Wednesday showed. A new report from the Guttmacher Institute, the nonprofit sexual health research organization, shows that only 2 percent of Catholic women, even those who regularly attend church, rely on natural family planning. The latest data shows practices of Catholic women are in line with women of other religious affiliations and adult American women in general.
So right there, we can just stop the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments.
And no one is saying they need to be forcing any of these services on employees, the government is just saying that if you are taking tax-payer money, you need to offer a minimum level of care, which includes reproductive health. You know, since it’s a part of health. Mother Jones sums it up beautifully:
I’m tired of religious groups operating secular enterprises (hospitals, schools), hiring people of multiple faiths, serving the general public, taking taxpayer dollars — and then claiming that deeply held religious beliefs should exempt them from public policy. Contra Dionne, it’s precisely religious pluralism that makes this impractical. There are simply too many religions with too many religious beliefs to make this a reasonable approach. If we’d been talking about, say, an Islamic hospital insisting that its employees bind themselves to sharia law, I imagine the “religious community” in the United States would be a wee bit more understanding if the Obama administration refused to condone the practice.
I can understand compromising over a very limited number of hot button issues. Abortion is the obvious one. But in general, if Catholic hospitals don’t want to follow reasonable, 21st century secular rules, they need to make themselves into truly religious enterprises. In particular, they need to stop taking secular taxpayer money. As long as they do, though, they should follow the same rules as anyone else.
I care about these issues because I’m a human being. Because I can care about other people’s health without judging them, and because it always seems like certain groups are always opposed to the march of equality and progress. And maybe it will continue to pay off and we’ll all keep standing up for each other in the face of adversity.
Update: The connection between any minorities rights is clear-cut. So fighting for women’s rights, is a no-brainer. Hopefully it is for you as well.
All my best,
The King of Spades
Written: 2/6/2012
Generally, it seems, each younger generation tends to have more accepting views of civil rights. And I’ve said it before (and we all know I’ll keep saying it, sorry) that my generations defining civil rights issue is marriage equality.
However, we have to remember that parenting really is important. A high school paper recently published an editorial advocating for the death of homosexuals because it is called for in the Bible, The Stranger covers it here.
All my best,
The King of Spades
