Today's Mighty Oak


Alright, let’s see what I have going on today.  First up, before the Windsor and Perry rulings by SCOTUS, the Voting Rights Act was gutted.  Justice Ginsberg summed it up well:

A 4,000 year old Egyptian statue started rotating in its case in a British museum.  Creepy.

Also in the news, was Wendy Davis, who, with the help of other Democrats and the citizens of Texas, filibustered an anti-choice bill in Texas.  And while I think that so many of the “three strikes” used to stop her filibuster were Republicans stretching the rules, they still (generally) played by the rules, except for not voting on the third and then trying to change the congressional record to show they voted before midnight.  But my favorite moment of the night was the fifteen minutes of the citizens screaming nonstop to stop the bill.  Check out Slog’s coverage here.

A great ad via Norway (it’s okay if you only speak English):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBiW5WGtcTI  

The ad campaign from Italy for their alzheimer’s foundation, brilliant and moving

And what is being called the best coupon in history.  If I wasn’t lactose-intolerant, I would agree.

A few more follow-ups from the DOMA and Prop 8 cases.  YouTube put together their #ProudToLove campaign:

Dan Savage hits it out of the park with a few articles.  First up, “I Can Die Now,” which gets to the heart of why the Windsor case was so important, and what people take for granted.

Conservative Christians and their “cheeseburger” moment, and no, it doesn’t include cat memes.

And while they didn’t lose a single thing, we can celebrate what we’ve won, including a man, thirty minutes after the rulings came out that was saved from being deported:

At 10:30 a.m. EDT this morning in a New York Immigration Court, attorneys from our law firm (Masliah Soloway) requested and were granted a continuance in removal (deportation) proceedings for a Colombian gay man married to an American citizen for whom we had filed a marriage-based green card petition last year. A copy of the 77-page Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor was delivered to the court by our summer intern, Gabe, who ran five blocks and made it in time for the decision to be submitted to the Immigration Judge and to serve a copy on the Immigration & Customs Enforcement Assistant Chief Counsel. DOMA is DEAD and it had its first impact on a binational couple within 30 minutes of the Supreme Court ruling.

The horrific nature of Justice Scalia and his son, who doesn’t think homosexuals even exist.

And of course, if you haven’t heard yet, Brian Sims, who was trying to speak on the Pa. House floor about the rulings, was silenced by the representative from Cranberry.  He’s garnered national attention for “speaking against God’s will” as the bigot from Cranberry said.  He keeps pushing for a non-discrimination ordinance and marriage equality, we’ll see how far he can get.

Garfunkle and Oates are back with “The Loophole.”  Sadly, this is a real thing, and they are of course, pointing out the absurdity of it.  Not at all safe for work, or for easily offended eyes.  But wroth it if you get to the end to see the list of other rules they ignore:

That’s it for today, but I’ll be back soon with more.  Have a great one!



Alright, let’s see what we have going on today.  First up, of course, thoughts go out to Boston.  I was running tonight at the gym, and not that it did a bit of difference, but it was nice to run for them.

This capped off the week with the DOMA and Prop 8 cases, and of course, it’s always fun when there’s alcohol involved:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 This judge is awesome: his cell phone went off during court, so he held himself in contempt and paid the fine.

Here are instructions for making a picnic table with a built in cooler, perfect for wine or beer for a picnic.  Awesome DIY project, and I can certainly think of certain family members/friends who would love this!

 

A good comic:

California is moving to remove tax-exempt status from charities that discriminate based on sexual orientation or religion, which would make the BSA councils pay tax.

The Church of England slowly moves forward, suggesting that they allow same-sex blessings.  Now, to be fair, the marriage equality legislation moving through Parliament specifically outlaws same-sex matrimony in the Church of England, and the Church says matrimony itself should only be between a man and a women, so they have some room to grow.  It’s weird having a state religion.

That’s it for now, but I’ll be back with more.



Here we go everyone, let’s see what I have today.  First up, the best news ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JJmDavBXrw

And following up in the Disney line, scary, scary anatomy drawings of their characters.

Chris Kluwe once again knocks it out of the park.  Have a read and take a look at the video where he discusses “distractions” in the locker room.

And Justice Ginsburg also created a meme during the marriage equality trials last week.  I mean, she herself didn’t, as far as I know, but her quote led tho this:

That’s all I have for now, but I’ll be back soon with more.  Have a great one!



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!



Alright, let’s see what we have today.

First up, the best Taxi ads.  I love the Milky Way one:

It’s kind of sweet, but still funny.  Oh the Internet, will you ever cease amazing me?

Some big news from the BSA: Both Train and Carly Rae Jepsen have cancelled their concerts at the National Jamboree because of the membership ban.  Jepsen has been welcomed by the Canadian Scouts (she’s Canadian, by the way), and the world jamboree is a joint effort by the scouts of the USA, Canada and Mexico (but hosted here in WV), but here’s the bigger question: Did anyone at national even watch the “Call Me, Maybe” video to the end?  The guy Carly is drooling over is gay.  You’d think that would have tipped them off that she’s interested in equality.

Also in BSA news, petitions were delivered to the National Geographic channel, asking them to cut “Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout,” or at least put a disclaimer before it.  Personally, I don’t really care either way, I can’t imagine it’s going to get great ratings, only based on the fact that I don’t think Nat Geo is included in many cable packages (but I may be wrong).

As Conclave approaches, I have a new candidate I want to support:

In other equality news, President Clinton is calling for the end of DOMA, the law he signed.

The hatred and bigotry of the Catholic Church leaders, further and further moves away from the Catholic laity.  In fact, 54% of Catholics support marriage equality (civil marriage I believe, but that’s kind of the point, religions can do what they want).

I can’t wait for Joss’s new movie to come out:

That’s it for now, have a great one!



Alright, let’s see what we have today.

One of my professors actually had this happen at her kid’s school, and I think it’s smart.

Today was the deadline for briefs for the Prop 8 and DOMA cases going before the Supreme Court.  Briefs have come in from Democratic members of Congress, Republican lawmakers, NFL Players Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadjeo, 300 major corporations and the rest of the 50 briefs can be read here.

President Obama weighs in here (the justice department submitted a brief):

Kathy Bates is joining American Horror Story for Book 3, very exciting!

A statue of Rosa Parks has been unveiled at The Capital.  Fun fact, she is a saint in the Episcopalian church.

I love when the Internet makes things like this:

How about a replica of yourself…made from gummy candy?

That’s it for now, have a great one!



Alright, let’s see what we have today.  First up, Hero registration cards!

Seattle had an opt-out program for phone books, which was just declared unconstitutional.  The courts say phone books are protected speech.  I have to disagree, but we’ll see how this progresses.

A new CD comes with a cardboard turntable!  Pretty cool!

Courts have also overturned a ruling, now saying that cities can place restrictions in place barring protests (think Westboro).  As strange as it is, it’s probably better if cities cannot stop that kind of speech.  But then again, when they protest, they always take the risk of being taken to task.  And while that is what they want (they then sue to raise money), it is great to watch this takedown as Westboro protests a funeral of a solider (only because she was a lesbian).

A law that has lost in federal courts five times, which the majority of the country opposes, and Speaker Boener had to request a special amount of 1.5 million to defend is a giant waste of time.  Now that he’s run out of money, he wants more, even after a year and a half of defeats.  Colossal waste of money and time.

Italy is now charging property tax on its churches, as a way to raise money.  Seems like a good plan, hopefully it helps them.

That’s it for now, have a great one!



Quick update, let’s see what I have today for you all.

First up, this must have been very awkward, for so many reasons, I don’t think it could have been better planned on tv.

I’m really digging this awesome beervertising, although it should work with most amber and dark beers, not just Guinness:

 

Steven Colbert made Maxim’s list of 100 hottest women.  Yes, you read the correctly.  He once again used a write-in campaign to win.  Pretty awesome.

A good read about DOMA, and my favorite line:

How many live in the eight leastpopulated states? Less than 3 percent. Three percent — also known as the margin of error. (Which raises a terrifying scenario: It’s possible these states are completely empty.)

And from Copyranter, a cool ad for the torture museum:

That’s it for now, I’ll be back in a few days after the wedding festivities, until then, have a great one!



Written: 03/05/2011

Couple updates from various places:

First up, the Presbyterian Church is growing in support for equality!

The “Concerned Women for America” need punched in the face.  Here’s a line from their latest news release:

DOJ’s mission statement says it is “…to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” But President Obama and the attorney general have made a mockery of impartiality. They have chosen to side with an extreme, liberal minority and chose to suppress the rights of the majority of Americans.

Yes, how dare the DOJ and The President choose to “suppress the rights of the majority of Americans.”  Even if that were true, which is not, a majority of Americans do not oppose (or support, but that side has more) marriage equality, how dare The President not let people discriminate!  How dare you take away my right to discriminate, that’s…discrimination!

And again, please, show me how two men getting married personally affects you.  Because I’m interested.  It’s fun to know I have that much power!

And continuing with some DOMA news, this week’s “That’s Gay” is amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kffThytmCk

All my best,

The King of Spades



Hey everybody, quick update.  I thought I had some more links with me, but I guess they are still floating out in the tubes somewhere.  I’ll also have a few things for The Great and Secret Show that I’ll be posting in a little bit, so be sure to look for that.

First up, a federal judge has declared DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) unconstitutional on two grounds.  This was unexpected, but welcomed.  However, I have a sneaking suspicion it won’t stay.  But it’s interesting to watch, especially as the Perry trial is awaiting their verdict as well.  Also fun is that one idea was looking at it from the fifth amendment (I think) which guarantees equal protections, the other, the tenth, which gives states their rights (and is a favorite of social conservatives as well).  Exciting (and confusing legalese)!

The Stranger also came out with a great “New Column” which I’ll post:

Ok, one more piece from The Stranger, this time, in the form of a follow up letter about an internship:

Hey Lindy! I sent an email a while back to the old address of yours I have saved in my account. Since I hadn’t gotten anything back, I figured that either you took that account out of commission OR YOU ARE A BAD PERSON. To account for both options, I wrote a few responses in a “choose your own adventure” style of correspondence.

If your account is inactive/my e-mail exploded, go to page 1.
If you ignored/fiendishly deleted the e-mail, go to page 2.
To run down the cave on the left, go to page 73.

Read the rest of it here

I was tipped off about this post by PG+, but check out this awesome writing about Pittsburgh Poetry (and other local dialects).

Looking to kill some time?  This game is a lot of fun and slightly addicting.

And finally, do you happen to remember how I posted that awesome ad from Nike to start off the World Cup?  Well, maybe it’s cursed!  Slate examines it here in a follow up.

That’s it for now, but I’ll be back in a short while with some more, have a great one!

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