Today's Mighty Oak


Alright, let’s see what’s been going on.  First up, did you know that Harry Potter makes you more understanding of others?  It’s true!

Joseph Gorden Levitt writes about Star Wars: The Last Jedi (spoilers,obviously).

Like me, do you need a chart to see who owns the rights to which superhero?  Well this chart is handy (but won’t be accurate for long, I’m sure).

Super Mario Bros. in ragtime:

These are really bad times for queer people.  Just recently, the federal government has taken steps to allow doctors to deny services to anyone because they’re part of the LGBT community.

A new study has shown that 40% of LGBT high school students have considered suicide due to bullying because they’re queer.

The majority of people still think it’s okay for businesses to discriminate against queer people.  And the Supreme Court denied an appeal and Mississippi’s law allowing businesses to discriminate is able to stand.

Waste of oxygen and poor excuse for a human being, Mike Pence, will officially lead the US Olympic delegation and openly gay figure skater Adam Rippon is having none of it.

And in other slightly better news, Senator Doug Jones’ son, who is gay, stared down Mike Pence at his father’s swearing in and it made my day.

Here’s the Star Wars Cantina Theme played with pencil and paper, writing out a math equation:

In better news, a new ruling from the International Court of the Americas (didn’t know that was a thing) is bringing marriage equality to a lot of different countries (potentially)

And new year’s resolutions for gay men (and everyone, in some cases).  And speaking of resolutions, Surviving the World has a great coming about them.

Watch a Katana disappear.  Makes me think of the novel, “The 50 Year Sword”

Quite possibly the best thing ever, a T-Rex conducts the Jurassic Park theme music.

Pittsburgh non-profits come out hard against the PG and it’s owner’s racist editorial, published on MLK Day.

And finally, a great little comic about our place in the universe.



Alright, let’s see what we have today.  First up, Mark Hamill pays tribute to Carrie Fisher in a wonderful way.  Joe Manganiello remembers the time she glitter bombed him.

This optical illusion is blowing my mind!

USA Today did not hold any punches when writing an editorial about Drumpf.

Jessica Jones is coming back, and I”m very excited:

We have a new chapter of Harry Potter!  Kind of.  Not really

DeRay McKesson is suing FOX news after being constantly slandered, good for him.

2 Political Junkies has an amazing icon of Darlene Harris, Defender of Faith and and Small, Noncompliant creches.

Did you know Wikipedia has a list of individual dogs?  They’re all very good boys.

A great take on being gay for the holidays:

In horrifying legal news, SCOTUS has declined to hear a case about employment discrimination, leaving a split in circuit court decisions.  This will be the followup to the Masterpiece Cakeshop case.

Also in bad news for us, gay people are more likely to have trouble sleeping.  But some good news, we tend to have happier relationships.

More scientific evidence about why some people are born gay, and the correlation to having older brothers.

That’s it for today, have a great one!



Another NaNoWriMo is in the books (ha) and I’m catching up with everything, so this is a long post  Here’s what we have today.  First up, a friendly reminder:

A reminder, ‘ex-gay’ isn’t a thing.  You can’t pray away the gay.  Although this man thinks he did.

A South African judge won’t let a gay couple adopt since they aren’t out, it would be damaging to the child.

Just to put in perspective how insane and bad things are, the President’s World AIDS Day proclamation didn’t mention gay people  Let that sink in.

An amazing comic from Surviving The World about the holiday wars.

And of course:

Sarah Silverman has a great response to the many, many famous men being outed as sexual predators.  Give it a read.

In a big step in the right direction, a judge has paved the way for sexual orientation to (finally) be a protected class in Pennsylvania.  For over a decade, legislation hasn’t been able to make it through Harrisburg, so this would be a really good step forward.

Painting restoration is amazing to watch!  It’s pretty much like magic!

Steve Grand has a new music video.  It’s a good song, the video is a bit forgettable:

Pinky and the Brain meets “Silence of the Lambs” is hysterical.

Men with muscles and money are more attractive.  A study was done about this.  That study was a waste of money.

Very important news!  Disney’s Star Tours will stop mixing eras up during the program.  A wrong has finally been righted!

Speaking of Star Wars, here’s a recap:

The trailer for season 3 of The Magicians has me very excited!

Now you can make the English Triffle from Friends that doesn’t taste disgusting.

Have you set up your gaytivity scene yet?

In case you forgot, OK Go is amazing:

This year, the GayVN awards (for porn, apparently) have put all non-white actors into an ‘ethnic’ category (and keeping them out of other categories).  And thankfully, some actors are speaking out and taking them to task for it.

A second actor speaks up here.

Just in case you’re one of the few who haven’t seen it, the new Avenger’s trailer:

For all your mass shooting ‘thoughts and prayers’ needs, just fill in the blanks.

Justin Trudeau gave an amazing speech apologizing to the Canadian queer community for how they were treated in the past by the government.

And finally, the Supreme Court will hear a huge case about business’ right to discriminate.  I’m really nervous about it, but hoping Kennedy pulls out a win:

Have a great one!



Alright, let’s see what we have today.  First up, a beautiful look at Pluto!

Hyperloop One had it’s first test run, and it looks really cool!

Eli Lieb’s new song:

There is a new AR Star Wars resort coming to Disney, and I really want to go!  In other Star Wars news, a fake study about midichlorians made it into four scientific journals.

Would you like to dance like David Bowie?  From Labyrinth?  Of course you do!

In a huge blow, the new administration is arguing that federal protections do not apply to LGBT workers.  This was an absolutely huge win during the Obama administration, so this is a tough loss.

The Catholic Church: still a hate group.  Now a bishop has said that gay men won’t get last rights or funerals.

And finally, an awesome behind the scenes peak at Star Wars: The Last Jedi:

That’s it for today, have a great one!



It’s been a while, so I have a lot of fun stuff to share, let’s get started.  First up, amazing facts about frogs:

Holy crap, scientists have invented Lightsabers!

The commissioner of the NBA slams the Olympics for their handling of the Russia LGBT laws.  And speaking of, Brian Brown, head of NOM, worked with Russia lawmakers to draft the legislation working its way through the Duma to forcibly take children from LGBT adults.

And lastly about Russia, a music video about the torture of the Russian church:

Sometimes, grandmothers play one of my favorite games, Cards Against Humanity.  Yeah, weird and creepy, and I would have given her the point for that round.

Just like you can’t open a business and refuse to serve the Irish, or women, or Jews, you can’t flat our refuse to serve the LGBT community.  Unless the Republican party gets it way, of course.

The new trailer for the next Hobbit movie:

You’ve probably seen the Chipotle ad that’s making its way across the Internet, but here is the “truth” version.

Here’s a great essay about the impact Harry Potter has.

And another great essay at the Good Men Project about gay sex.

This will make you smile, I promise:

That’s it for now, have a great one!



Lots of video today, but lots of other things as well, hope you enjoy.

First up, in case you missed it everywhere else on the Internet, the season 4 trailer for Arrested Development:

There are a lot of videos, so I won’t embed this one, but also in case you haven’t seen it anywhere else on the Internet, the first music video from space (of Space Oddity, of course)

From a favorite blogger Clintus, this is actually very accurate:

Also from Clintus, the definition of a very, very bad day.

And we’re all glad she’s back, and of course wish her the best, but Hyperbole and a Half knocks it out of the park.  Read this.

The final piece of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz):

 The UK Parliament is finally working towards apologizing to Alan Turing, the man pretty much responsible for all modern computers.

Congratulations to Minnesota on passing marriage equality.  And the mayor of St. Paul is pretty awesome:

And speaking of marriage equality, Mika is throwing a free concert in Paris to celebrate as well as to fight homophobia.

And if you want to follow along with the next state to debate (most likely Illinois), here is a good BINGO card.

The first promo for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which has been picked up for the fall.  I don’t think the trailer is that good, but of course I”m excited for it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySsw-6aety

And as it turns out, this year may be the time that Pennsylvania catches up and enacts an anti-discrimination ordinance.

A massive map of the dialects of North America.  Not much happening out in the Midwest and West Coast.

And what I think is the last video today, the greatest hits of the last 10 years of Mythbusters:

 That’s it for today, have a great one everyone!

 



Short update today.  First up, the big news here in Pittsburgh is Luke v. UPMC.  Ginny talks about it, and you should give it a read.

Sounds like something I came up with: replacing guns with thumbs up.

Chiptole has cancelled their sponsorship of a Scouting event in Utah because, you guessed it: the BSA discriminates against children.

And in a week, the arguments will take place at the Supreme Court against Prop 8 and DOMA.  It’s a big deal, and to help support it, a young man wrote a letter to Chief Justice Roberts, who has adoptive children:

That’s it for now, have a great one!

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