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!



Quick update for everyone, let’s see what we have.  First up, an awesome mash-up for NES/SNES games and Google Map locations:

An awesome follow-up that I’ve been meaning to share about the Dan Savage issue.  Slate nails it:

The American right is undertaking a huge project of trying to put right-wing politics beyond criticism by shouting “religious bigotry” any time someone gets in the way of their political agenda. If they can create a consensus that it’s somehow off-limits to criticize teaching that gay people are subhuman as long as you wrap it up in religion, that gives them a huge political advantage. Taken far enough, merely stating out loud in public that you don’t believe gay people are evil could be cause for the fainting couches to be pulled out and accusations that Christians are being oppressed. Sounds ludicrous? Well, consider that we’re currently debating whether or not it’s oppressing Christians to accurately state what’s in the Bible. Anyone who is actually supportive of gay rights shouldn’t be playing along with this feigned umbrage. It won’t stop until opposing anti-gay actions is considered completely off-bounds on the grounds that it’s an attack on religion.

Big Think also has a great piece up about how the right was trying to claim they are being bullied.

Dan also weighs in here about the North Carolina amendment which passed yesterday.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Christianist have taken over the Republican party: and that’s a shame.  We need to be able to have rational discussion, that is how we will solve our problems, by working together.  But if one side just shuts down and cries out when someone disagrees with them or calls them on their bullshit, then we can’t have meaningful governance.

Okay, off my soapbox for a bit.  Check out this cool video from a British TV show.

Check out the Hidden Meaning in Pixar films.  It’s a long read, but worth it, and check out the video as well.

I went backpacking two weeks ago, and rightly so, I was a bit sore afterwards.  We did the first part of the LHHT, which is just up and down and up and down.  Here is the elevation profile.  Check out my pictures here (and thanks to my friends for always making sure to be in them) if you’re interested, including awesome panoramics:

 

That’s it for now, I’ll be back with more soon!



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.

This is a bathroom I would never, ever use.  Although I guess it would certainly help you shit, just from fear.

Awesome ad:

MaddowBlog also covers the war on voting, here in Pennsylvania.

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!



Quick update for everyone, and hopefully I’ll be back again later today, here’s what I’ve found this time:

First up, the NSFW trailer for the new movie Ted:

And speaking of NSFW, check out the first episode of Savage U.  It’s edited for a younger audience, so short clips, almost sound-byte quality, but its a good watch.

For your daily dose of political news, check this out:

Sad that there is such a price discrepancy!

Geek and Sundry kicked off this week with two great videos, first up a new music video from The Guild:

And the first episode of The Flog:

And lastly, I will also be back with my annual Good Friday post, but until then, enjoy this:

 



And I’m back (not on the netbook, but I’ll be back on that tomorrow most likely).  First up:

This seems unnecessary: tattoo ink that vibrates when you have a cell phone call.

We just passed the two year anniversary of Obamacare:

Slog points us to a cool view of the Sistine Chapel.  I particularly think the music is a nice addition.

MaddowBlog has this amazing bumper sticker posted:

And College Humor points us to some wonderful travel posters for the modern day.

I don’t know if the video will embed below (I’ll guess no ahead of time), but Dan Savage’s new show starts next month on MTV.  And it’s actually making me want to watch MTV again!  Check it out:

 



Couple things for everyone.  First up, the Old Spice man is going to be coming back!  Check it out:

Jesse Ventura, previous governor of Minnesota and professional wrestler is suing the TSA.  Thank goodness somebody is.

Here is a list of all the movies nominated for best pictures, and what their posters would have looked like if they were honest.  Here’s my favorite:

Dan Savage is getting a pilot for MTV.  And I’m freaking excited!

And apparently Canada is just as behind the times as the U.S. is.  Once again, they are trying to remove the ban on gay blood donation.

Here is a mashup I never thought I’d see: Ferris Bueller and Fight Club:

This is kind of amazing, and scary.  A woman in the UK had certain connections in her brain burned out by a laser, because they were too active and were causing her depression.

Did you watch the State of the Union?  How about all the match-making on with it?  While I like the idea behind it, I am kind of sad that it actually turned into celebrity match-making.  Sigh:

Do we really have to have this fight again?  There is no link between violent video games and violent action in the real world.  Otherwise, I’d be out killing people with a lightsaber every single weekend.

Want to learn about a subject quickly?  Try Qwiki.  It’s still in testing, but really cool.

That’s it for now, catch everyone later!



Another quick update for everyone.  First up, from The Second City, Captain Megaphone:

Mint has a cool article about decoding credit card numbers and what they actually mean (I was wrong, they aren’t just random numbers)

Washington State is proposing something radical: “Medical clinics” that don’t actually provide medical advice or anything besides over the counter items should have to declare those facts.  And it will be a tough fight, guaranteed.

This made me laugh a lot, I hope you enjoy:

And lastly today, some profanity-laden advice that made me burst out laughing.  My favorite lines (again, inappropriate, I know):

THIS BITCH CAN GET LEGALLY MARRIED AND I CAN’T?!?!

Sorry, sorry, sorry. That was cunty of me, I realize, nowhere near the level of respectful professionalism that people expect of me. So I’m gonna make amends by scrounging up some of that advice shit you’re after—my readers will doubtless have lots to say to you too—but on one condition: that you don’t write me ever again.

That’s it for now, have a great one everybody!

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