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:
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!
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.
Puerto Rico voted to become a state! Sounds good to me, although Congress has to approve it and if that goes through, there is a process to statehood. I think it would be fascinating to watch that happen, although we then have to reapportion House seats and figure out a new pattern for the flag. But still, exciting!
So I guess the thing is for Republicans to move to Australia (remember, Canada got the French, Australia got the convicts and America got the Puritans), but as a reminder:
Washington State approved marriage equality, and in a cool move, the money from the new licenses goes to a charity that helps LGBT youth. Great idea!
There were so many wins in the election for the progressive side (Obama, 3 marriage equality wins, defeating 1 marriage amendment, Grayson winning his seat back, Baldwin, Warren, King, CO and WA approving marijuana, gains in the Senate, gains in the House, I think, Casey, Murdoch losing, Akin losing, and honestly even more). Check out the Good Men Project’s list. Michelle Bachmann won, but if that’s the only negative I can find, I’ll take it.
Here’s what I’ve been saying for years. We need both sides of the political spectrum to find the best solutions to our problems. We need that dialogue. And I’m hopeful that this election’s loss will bring the conservative side back towards the middle so we can have that dialogue. Rachel Maddow sums it up perfectly. Please watch this clip (the relevant part starts at 14:07, but the whole thing is good). Memorize it and force our politicians to have that dialogue between the two parties: we want everyone to win.
And in case you forgot, the testimony from Mr. Rogers in front of the US Senate that saved PBS:
And lastly on the subject, from my favorite astro-physicist:
In more political news, the PA voter ID requirement has been delayed, but the state is lagging behind getting that information out here. Rachel Maddow’s show had some fun with it:
Fairly big update for you today, let’s see what I have.
First up, pretty awesome spot via Copyranter:
Tampa Bay drafted a paralyzed player, who would have been in this year’s draft class. Very, very classy.
I was just talking about Stephen King yesterday, so it’s nice to see him asked to be taxed, but here is the more important quote:
I don’t want you to apologize for being rich; I want you to acknowledge that in America, we all should have to pay our fair share. That our civics classes never taught us that being American means that — sorry, kiddies — you’re on your own. That those who have received much must be obligated to pay — not to give, not to “cut a check and shut up,” in Governor Christie’s words, but to pay — in the same proportion. That’s called stepping up and not whining about it. That’s called patriotism, a word the Tea Partiers love to throw around as long as it doesn’t cost their beloved rich folks any money.
Totally not appropriate for work, but I love watching these three grandmas as they watch the Kim Kardashian sex tape:
The Good Men Project has a top ten list, of why you should only read top ten lists. Very clever, I especially like number four.
There’s a big stink about Dan Savage and his recent remarks. I have a lot of thoughts about it, although he sums it up very well. Please have a read here, it’s long, but it’s worth it. And the sad but true follow up, a study has revealed that non-religious are more compassionate that those who are religious. Guess that’s why the “Christian” Right has been able to draw up so much fake outrage and cries of being bullied when someone uses their own freedom of speech to disagree with them and point out some hypocritical facts about parts of religion.
But anyway, go read the first link, totally worth it. Have a great one, I’ll be back with more soon!
The fun thing is that both Better Book Titles and Sword and Laser are reading this as their book club pick. It’s an amazing book, you really should read it!
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:
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.
Couple quick things, and I’ll be back real soon with more (I think Google Reader is eating some of my saved items, so I need to get through them real quick!):
This comes from the Maddow Blog, not sure if it’s is real or not (I’m guessing not), but fun nonetheless:
It looks like we finally have the official Zelda timeline. Gamers knew it existed, but I honestly never thought we’d see it. I’m hoping the book this comes from gets translated and released in America. Check it out here.
So, it turns out that Santorum may or may not have acted illegally to get a sought-after endorsement. I don’t know enough about campaign finance law. But the other story is that he had a million dollars in his war chest. Who knew?
It always amazes me how different sockets are around the world, here’s a handy guide:
Couple quick things for everyone, more coming later.
First up, the definitive explanation of The Crown:
Hot on the heels of The Super Bowl, and really any professional sporting event:
We knew he was coming back, and here it is. I think the fondu (which for the life of me, and spell check, I can’t write out correctly) was a nice touch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R2cnxz27LI
This bottle sounds amazing, but I don’t really need any more, but maybe a reader is in the market. Also, if you don’t read UpaDowna, it’s a fun site!
Again, Bill O’Reilly is a moron. I can’t stress this enough. Check out the background here, a bunch of fun photos here, including my favorite:
Did you know that The Pope can’t donate his organs? Because that’s helpful. Can we stop calling Catholics pro-life soon?
You know what will make you feel better after all that depressing news, fun movies about the Arenas! First off, this awesome tribute, set to music from The Chronicles of Narnia:
And now, a time-lapse of the building of the Consol Center:
And also to make you feel better: just remember, you could be at home (or the DLLCC) playing the Furry Card Game. I kid you not. Click over if you dare, and have some mind bleach on hand.
Here’s my first part about Star Wars: Did you know when The Empire Strikes Back was coming out, there was a special 1-800 line you could call to get “hidden” messages from the characters?! And that it was so popular it broke AT&T?! Now you can listen to them, and I suggest you do!
I can’t believe I’m about to write this sentence: but I think I’ve found something that was made worse by the addition of lightsabers! I know, hard to believe, but why mess with what is perfect already:
Have you met Gary and Elaine? They live in a catalog. Go check it out!
Andrew Sullivan links to an awesome quote from tinfoiler:
“When my son Hunter asked me why it was okay for Bristol Palin to have a baby before she was married, I told him that God has special rules for special people. God knew that Bristol could become very rich from having a baby, so He granted her a pregnancy. Since she is the daughter of Sarah Palin, and the name Bristol Palin can be rearranged to spell “Orbit Plans” she is pretty much an angel, at least by the official bible definition. And that pretty much makes her son like a Jesus, technically speaking. This is just more proof that the blessed Palin family has wonderful and holy plans for true Americans. After explaining this to my son, he told me that he wanted to be sex-educated at a public school so that he could have a Jesus baby too. I smacked him in the mouth and told him that sex education is only for liberals and atheists. As good Christians, we should be ashamed of sexuality and our bodies, unless you are chosen by God, like Bristol Palin,”
Woot! was bought by Amazon, and as amazing as that it, it pales in comparison to the letter sent to the Woot! employees, I really think that this actually went out. Knowing Woot! it just seems to fit. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
Other than that, we plan to continue to run Woot the way we have always run Woot – with a wall of ideas and a dartboard. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are simply adding one person to the organizational hierarchy, except that one person will just happen to be a billion-dollar company that could buy and sell each and every one of you like you were office furniture.
Q: Where can I get one of those vuvuzelas? A: Are you even paying attention?
They’re not looking to have their folks come in and run Woot unless we ask them to, which incidentally you can do by turning off the bathroom lights and saying the word “Kindle” three times; a helpful Amazon employee will appear in the mirror.
Q: Is Snapster leaving? A: Are you kidding? He’s out the door about ten seconds after that check clea- that is to say, Snapster will continue as Woot.com CEO, just like before, and the rest of our staff’s not going anywhere either. Woot and all ourvarious sites will continue to be an independently operated company full of horrible, useless products and an untalented jerkface writing staff, same as it ever was.
And finally today, I would just like to brag a bit. Ginny over at That’s Church asked for a motivational poster, and I happened to have a few free minutes (I was off of work that day), so I quickly threw one together and sent it over. If you don’t read her blog, you really should ,nothing else makes me laugh on such a consistent basis, and she cares so much for Pittsburgh it hurts sometimes (why we love her!). I of course, complain that I wish I had more time, things I would change, but as my friend said, “shush!” Here’s the post, and here’s my work:
I love Fleury, a whole lot. Here’s him and Sid talking about the snow (which I realize is ridiculous on at least three levels, but hey, it’s fun):
Speaking of Fleury and Sid, Olympics! Here’s what Slate suggested you watch if you watch just one thing a day. A really funny read (and I apologize in advance for the tardiness of all the Olympic articles, I got so caught up in the games that I didn’t write about them). And here is their awesome Sap-O-Meter. I’ll give you a hint, NBC is really sappy, and generally, awful at covering the Olympics.
I don’t know what’s going on in this picture, but we are seeing Bob Costas outside of his living room, so it’s got to be a plus. Also, Colbert! Make sure you watch this video that I’m not allowed to embed. Stupid NBC.
Slate also takes a stab at the biathalon. Awesome read, which just helps me galvanize my mindset that it’s a weird sport. I have more respect for it, but it’s weird.
I’m thinking it may not be actually from Verizon, but this is an awesome blend of nostalgia and current technology:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkWKdJF7Md0
This might be one of my new favorite sites, someone watching season six of Lost, who has never seen it. It’s worth it just for the drawings!
And the healthcare debate rages on, it’s a few days old, but still worth a watch. Rachel Maddow is, of course, amazing:
A gut wrenching blog entry over at PG+, if you’re a subscriber, check out the link. If not, consider signing up! And I know I’ve promised to talk about it over at Metblogs, and I still am planning on doing that, I promise!
A great follow up to the video clips I posted before about the phrase “fucking retard.” As in, “Sarah Palin is a fucking retard.”
I’ve been really, really excited about the return of URU. To help you get into the Myst spirit, check out this awesome online fan project – Myst and Riven books! And in related news, over a million people are now playing D&D online, probably because it’s free (with some premium content). Maybe we’ll see a lot of interest in URU! We can only hope!
The Onion does a great job, and maybe humor is what we need in the discussion, but marriage equality is serious. Don’t believe me? Try filing taxes as a same-sex couple.
What is Wes Anderson directed Spider Man? Oh yes:
Cool ad that was apparently really effective, although the price must be really big, and installation I’m sure was a pain:
