Alright, first up, what’s been playing non-stop for me. Sadly, Swedish House Mafia is breaking up, but a good remix:
A great piece over at JoHo about mourning Aaron Schwartz
Hmmmm, more Star Wars movies, that will be running parallel to the next trilogy.
Funny or Die adds commentary to Jodie Foster’s bizarre speech.
Fun facts about Morgan Freeman:
That’s it for today, have a great one!
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:
Written: 1/2/2013
The 9th circuit of appeals has ruled that cities may offer the BSA reduced rent.
I’m not a legal scholar by a long shot, but even to me the ruling sounds a bit fishy. What I took away from it (and please correct me if I’m wrong) is that even though the BSA discriminates, and in this case it was determined they do based on religious principles, since that is not their main operational concern, the city can give them a lower rent, at the cost of taxpayers.
I guess I’m a bit torn. Here in Pa., there are massive tax breaks for (oil) companies coming in to help create jobs (that’s what we’ll go with, yeah). A non-profit isn’t creating that many jobs. Yes, the services they provide to the community and the youth of the community are valuable, but how do you measure that against other non-profits.
If it’s just a sense of tradition, that’s not a reason at all to give out a tax break, and again, who gets to decide what’s a tradition?
Like I said, I don’t understand legal cases like this, but it’s still a shame to see taxpayer money going to help fund discrimination.
All my best,
Mike
Written: 1/2/2013
One of the causes I’ve always been interested in, is the ban on LGBT blood donation. Which, if anyone knows me, is kind of funny. I’ve only successfully given blood once, and it was an ordeal.
The six other times I tried, I couldn’t fill the bag, and that was after about half an hour of poking and needle sticking trying to find a suitable vein. Heaven help me when I have to get IV’s at the hospital (which is something I never want to have to relive).
But anyway, the ban is based on the idea that LGBT persons are more likely to have HIV and other diseases, that instead of just testing the blood, like they do for all donations anyway, to just ban them from giving from the get go. And with the need for blood always seemingly outpacing donations, it seems dumb, and unjustified.
But, quietly, Mexico has lifted their ban:
A little noticed Mexican health norm first approved in August and then published in the country’s regulatory Official Federation Diary on October 26th has gone into effect today essentially doing away with a two-decade ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men….
The old norm (NOM 003-SSA2) explicitly banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood based on their “practices” and their “increased probability of acquiring HIV or hepatitis infection”.
The new norm (NOM 253) eliminates specific bans on gay and bisexual men and instead bans blood donations from people with HIV or hepatitis and their partners and people who engage in “risky sexual practices” regardless of their sexual identity.
If American is ever to lift their ban, I think I would certainly try to give blood. Who knows, maybe things have changed in my arms enough that I could be a donor without only getting half a bag and then stopping.
It seems like such a weird thing, and such a small thing, but it’s all a part of the fight for equality.
All my best,
Mike
Written: 1/2/2013
2012 was a big year, for a lot of reasons. And in the LGBT community, we have a lot to celebrate.
Towleroad has 150 “game-changing” moments of the year, from the sitting president endorsing marriage equality to engagements, the full repeal of DADT and so much more.
Outsports has a roundup of the biggest news stories of the year from the sports community.
Gay film make Ryan James Yezak put together an end of the year video. It covers all news and pop culture, but is in his unique style (seizure warning, seriously. I tend not to like much of what he does because of it, but this I really liked):
And finally, Towleroad has the 50 biggest coming outs of the year. You can put me at number 51.
Of course for me, I finally began living my life to the fullest and more honestly. I certainly have a ways to go, but I’m excited for what 2013 will have in store for me.
All my best,
Mike
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.
