Putting a Mood Ring on U.S.
Over 300 million tweets were analyzed for this project, showing the average mood of the various regions of the country through the day. Early morning and late evening typically have the highest level of happiness, and weekends showing significantly happier than weekdays. Duh.
Click through for the full-sized version. It’s pretty neat.
(via GraphJam)
Why aren’t we all rioting in the streets again?
(via newsweek)
Drill, baby, drill! condoms offered by Log Cabin Republicans at Twin Cities Pride.
(via Citypages)
In case you missed it:
In a 9-6 vote, a Health and Human Services Committee voted to uphold the ban against blood donations from gay men. The ban, which prohibits any man who has had sex with another man from donating, was enacted in 1985 during the height of the AIDS pandemic.
“The guy thought I was winking at him,” Daly said. “I told him, ‘I was squinting, man. … I’m tired.’”
Daly said one of the men told him he demanded respect because he served in Iraq. And at least one hurled slurs at him as he tried to walk away.
“That’s the last thing I remember is walking away,” Daly said.
Daly said after his friends performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the scene, he was taken to Memorial University Medical Center and diagnosed with bruises to his brain. He had two seizures immediately after the attack and was expected to remain at Memorial for several days.
Just a reminder, everyone. Please pay attention to reports like this.
Pride festivities are going on across the country; Portland Pride is this weekend. Sometimes we get wrapped up in the all the fun and merriment of it all that it’s easy to forget that, in certain situations, we are in danger. Gay hate crimes are happening all across the country, even if we don’t hear about them. Have fun, and don’t be afraid, but please remember to be cautious and remember to be safe.
(via 2gayvirgos)
About why the country should keep the ban against openly gay soldiers in the military:
“What do mommies and daddies tell their 7-year-old child?”
—Rep. Ike Skelton (D, Missouri), House Armed Services Committee Chairman.
Instead of openly admitting his reservations and insecurities having an open discussion about homosexuality, let’s use the guise of the White Picket Fence Typical American Family to obscure the issue. Yes, Rep. Skelton, the country should clearly let national policy be dictated by something you families do or don’t feel comfortable discussing with their children.
Gays are here, Ike. Get ready to talk about it.
By Rep. Alan Grayson
Today, the war in Afghanistan becomes America’s longest war. Longer than the war in Vietnam. Longer than the Korean War.
It took America two years to end World War I, and bring peace to the world. World War II was a little harder; that took us 3½ years to finish off.
The war in Afghanistan is over eight years old. And we’re sending in more troops. We’re not getting out. We getting deeper in.
Would you like to know why? It’s not hard to find the answers. Just read the transcript of Osama Bin Laden’s 2004 speech - right here.
Bin Laden’s strategy was — and is — painfully simple: to repeat his victory in Afghanistan against Russia, by driving us into bankruptcy. As he put it, he wanted to use his “experience in using guerrilla warfare and the war of attrition to fight tyrannical superpowers, as we, alongside the mujahidin, bled Russia for 10 years, until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat.” In other words, he just wants to go two-for-two.
(via vruz)
