Alright, let’s see what we have today. First up:
It may be almost 70 degrees (and I’m in shorts in January), this is awesome:
The White House has denied the request to construct a Death Star. But go read the response, someone is a great writer, and a huge nerd, it’s awesome!
A magical 3-in-1 connector from CES, seems strange it took this long to come up with this, but it should make Apple users very happy.
The Dark Knight Trilogy, condensed to three minutes. Spoilers, obviously:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-af-Pru2USc
Violence erupts over the AP/Chicago manual wars. Via The Onion, of course.
For all the Myst geeks out there, this totally reminded me of the entrance to Channelwood:
The Good Men Project takes on bathroom graffiti. The image is worth clicking through.
What is less popular than root canals, used car salesmen and even Nickleback? Congress.
I’ve been listening to this almost non-stop, I think the beginning of it is kind of bland, but halfway though it picks up:
Saving sound in a bottle, pretty cool idea.
Also via The Onion, so true, or at least, close to the truth:
Monks will now accept prayer requests via text, pretty cool!
JoHo has a good post up about the suicide of Aaron Schwartz, one of the founders of Reddit, and one of the creators of RSS.
While there were of course a wide range of things that made me change jobs, this certainly was up there among the top of the list.
Music recreated from The Hobbit, Part 1:
That’s it for now, have a great one!
Alright, let’s see what we have today. First up, an amazing story from the world of soccer. Fans were shouting racial slurs at a player, so the entire time left the pitch.
This is an awesome job. The benefits are pretty amazing:
A Swiss bank is closing after admitting it helps US citizens evade their taxes.
I think I linked to it before, but the House GOP killed the Violence Against Women Act because this year, it added three extra groups: immigrants, Native Americans and the LGBT community. So yes, they can agree to protect women if they’re white and straight. But otherwise, nope.
But this is really cute, our youngest Senator:
Scientists have made a model of what Mars may have looked like if it was more Earth-like, i.e. our climate, water coverage and ecosystems.
The sad state of communications:
I kind of hope Taco Bell pulls this off, the press they would get from it would be amazing. I still have trouble believing an athlete eats that much Taco Bell though.
This is what it looks like when a polar bear wants to eat you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH4KrdBp5OQ
So….the Pope denounced selfish capitalism:
Don’t forget that that throne is encrusted with jewels.
Okay, that’s it for now, have a great one everyone!
Alright, let’s see what we have today. First up, today marks a congress of firsts. Check out the list here.
And let me just say how much I love the Vice President:
But as a reminder, the last GOP controlled house let the Defense of Women act inspire, while simultaneously refusing to vote on Hurricane Sandy relief. Assholes is the only correct word.
Warning, this is hear-wrenching. I pretty much lost it.
But to get rid of the bad feelings, the Good Men Project also presents the heroic men of 2012. Amazing.
And finally, somewhat confusing, a fireworks display in reverse:
Quick update for everyone.
First up, there is a new trailer for Oz, the Great and Powerful that went along with new year’s. I’m pretty excited for it:
And this is something I had never thought of before. It can be illegal and punishable by death, either legally or by custom, depending on your religion in many parts of the world. But it can also be punishable by death if you’re atheist:
Belgian newspapers are making an interesting point about engagement:
Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you had a wonderful celebration bringing in 2013.
Now, first up, I’ve talked about this before with some friends, and we all still have a problem believing that it’s a thing. The Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve was robbed of $18 million worth of syrup. Go ahead and read that a few times and just let your mind be blown. Only in Canada.
The NYT has a great, long-form piece about the avalanche at Tunnel Creek. It’s a great story, and the way it is presented is just amazing as well. Some people are saying the ads break it up too much, but I didn’t find them that intrusive, honestly.
The gun control debate (hopefully) continues. I don’t agree with the NRA’s idea of putting armed guards in schools (there’s also no evidence that that would work, case in point, the fact that everyone at Fort Hood had access to guns and the massacre still happened, the police department at Virginia Tech and the armed guards at Columbine). But here’s a new angle I never thought of:
And as always, violent video games aren’t to blame. Otherwise we’d have a much, much larger problem.
And this is scary, the Los Angeles gun buy back program produced two rocket launchers.
That’s it for right now, but I’ll be back with more soon, have a great one!
The Guardian and Information is Beautiful teamed up to look at that data for the end of the world, which, in case you weren’t aware, didn’t happen.
Alright, let’s see what we have. An image heavy update, first up, for the kids from the 90s who will get this:
Fantastic xkcd comic here and here
So apparently you can simply walk to Mordor.
And from the lawyers:
A few misconceptions about guns.
And here is a fantastic quote from Ezra Klein:
“If roads were collapsing all across the United States, killing dozens of drivers, we would surely see that as a moment to talk about what we could do to keep roads from collapsing. If terrorists were detonating bombs in port after port, you can be sure Congress would be working to upgrade the nation’s security measures. If a plague was ripping through communities, public-health officials would be working feverishly to contain it.
“Only with gun violence do we respond to repeated tragedies by saying that mourning is acceptable but discussing how to prevent more tragedies is not. But that’s unacceptable. As others have observed, talking about how to stop mass shootings in the aftermath of a string of mass shootings isn’t too soon.’ It’s much too late.”
And even though it was hidden for a while, just remember, giving tax breaks to the wealthy doesn’t actually create jobs. It just gives them lower taxes.
And finally, to make you feel better, 26 moments that will restore your faith in humanity. It’s very touching.
I’ve already posted Google’s Zeitgeist, and there are two others I always look forward to, although this year I’m adding a fourth.
First up,
DJ Earworm’s mashup of the biggest pop hits of the year:
And next, JibJab’s year in review:
And adding to the yearly rotation, YouTube’s Rewind:
That’s it for now, but I’ll be back soon with more, have a great one!
First up, today’s title comes from this song (which, sadly, every version of it I’ve ever seen mangles the line I mention above):
So let’s rip this Band-Aid off: I’m gay.
Raise your hand if you’re surprised. No one? Okay then, moving on.
Please understand that I didn’t tell anyone out of a love for those around me. The BSA is so connected (I have yet to go to an event for my new employer where I haven’t run into a former camp staff kid or volunteer) that I never wanted anyone to have to lie for me. It may seem selfish, but I promise, it was out of care for everyone around me, it was my struggle and no one should have had to be put in that position.
And it’s a great relief to be able to say that without being fired.
Honestly, it’s not a big deal. But I can do some good, I always have to remember that while human sexuality is private, coming out is important, if for nothing else than addressing the public side of human relationships and sexuality, raising awareness, putting a human face to a “foreign” idea. I tend to play everything close to the chest, I’m a very private person, so again, no disrespect meant, I just kept this to myself, not only as a way to keep myself safe, but also as a way to ensure I could keep paying the bills and remain employed.
There is so much that is public that no one thinks about, that for years, I had to guard in fear: weekend plans, dates, pictures of significant others, facebook likes and posts, so much that is taken for granted that seems innocent enough, but was a minefield for me to navigate. And now I don’t have to do that anymore, you can just be with the complete Mike, and maybe you can put a face to the LGBT community now.
Working for the BSA for five years was hard. And that’s probably the understatement of the year. It was emotionally draining, exhausting and heartbreaking. Each and every day. I was one of their best employees, and I enjoyed what I did. But for my own sanity, health and safety, I needed to be in a place that doesn’t discriminate. I hope the policy changes, and I hope I can change some people’s mind about it. And we need to keep in mind, the policy needs to change, not for me, but for the youth that are being told they aren’t worthy. Being told they aren’t equal. Being told they are broken. Institutionalized discrimination hurts children, make no mistake. I’m bolstered by the stories I’ve heard, the people I’ve worked with, and the lives people have made me a part of. And they’re all worth fighting for. I’m tired. No, I’m exhausted. But the fight for equality rages on, and I intend to help. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Moving forward (also, I keep writing that lately, I’m blaming Luke Ravenstahl. And his drinking game), I’ll be listening to the advice of one Captain Malcolm Reynolds:
“I aim to misbehave”
And by misbehave, I mean try to make the world a better place. Two items:
- I wrote a large post for the BSA’s internal Idea Forum (IdeaSource), hoping to provide some insight as to why they need to change, not only because they will quickly find themselves irrelevant, but also because of the real harm their discrimination causes to children. I’ll be posting it for public view (and hopefully getting it in front of the people who can make a difference) via item number two:
- I kept a blog of my experiences working for the BSA, what it was like to hide a large part of myself out of self-preservation as well as commentary about the fight for equality. But don’t worry, I wrote it, so there’s a lot of humor, irreverence and fun links involved too. But a lot of it is raw emotion, and heartbreaking for me to even write. I’ll be going back and editing the posts (grammar wasn’t high on my priority list as I wrote and I have to decide how to deal with the hatred and bullying I was put through), and releasing them. If you’d like to follow along, I’ll be posting them under the heading “The King of Spades.” I hope they provide some perspective, and if others stumble upon them, some hope that things can get better for those in the LGBT community employed by organizations with rooted discrimination.
Both of those items will probably ruffle some feathers, to put it mildly. But what’s the point of having the influence and connections that I do if I can’t try to make the world a better place. Maybe I can change some minds, or even convince others to add their voices to the fight for equality. Besides, if I wasn’t ruffling feathers for the greater good, I wouldn’t be my parent’s son, now would I?
And you’ll notice I posted this on December 21, 2012 (if I did it right, although I know what’s wrong, I can’t change the time zone, so sometimes I’m shooting in the dark). I couldn’t pass up the irony of the “end of the world,” “Mayan prophecy,” “Armageddon,” “new era” and “OMG Mike just ruined Christmas” date. See? I still have that strange sense of humor, that’s not going anywhere.
And to everyone I couldn’t tell in person, I’m sorry. I just didn’t have that much time and I want to get on living my life, and again, it’s a small facet of who I am, not a big deal, I’m moving on. Chances are though, if I didn’t get a chance to talk to you in person, you’re really important to me. That sounds antithetical, I know, but the stakes are so much higher for those closest to me, and I’m scared. I certainly tried, and chickened out more than a few times, but that’s my fault, not yours. But I’ll be talking about all that in the blog, not to worry. And besides, this helps to boost my ego and makes me think I have a large blog readership. Right? And besides, I’m a much better writer than an extemporaneous speaker.
I hope you read along, I talk about a lot of different things and it’s a fun journey that we can make together. I could go on, but I run the risk of already losing my brevity (I know, too late), but as a teaser, I talk about stereotypes, beer, Pride, hockey, ENDA, camp, and much, much more. I have a lot of caveats to everything above, and a lot to discuss, so please, stick around, I’ll make it worth your while, I promise.
So for now, just know that you’re honestly important to me and a part of my story.
All my best,
Mike
Today, Google posted its third annual zeitgeist video. I like last year’s a bit better, but this one is touching, amazing and the art direction is pretty cool:
There aren’t many end of the year lists/movies/projects that I post, but I always look forward to this.
