newsweek:

We got really into GeoGuessr this morning. [pic via @mhkeller]

Wow, this is an addicting game.

monkfishjowls:

Two years ago, Allie Brosh took a hiatus from her web comic Hyperbole and a Half due to depression. She announced it to her readers in a post called Adventures in Depression. Today she returned with a “comic” called Depression Part 2. It’s really good, and unlike other descriptions of depression that I’ve read (which, for me, have usually been filtered by the writing of a psychiatrist (I’m a psych book junkie.)) (n.b. I have never felt like this, so please, don’t worry.)

sussweekly:

This is why I think Tim Tebow will be successful in Canada.

virgiltexas:

Twitter gave me $100 in free advertising credits, so I spent them all on this tweet.

This lady responded, and I think that’s wonderful, bless her heart:

sunfoundation:

YouTube Trends map shows most popular videos by region

I don’t know about you, but when I go to YouTube, I check my subscriptions and then look at what videos are currently popular. Because you know, it’s important to stay up to date on the most current news about kittens, people getting caught doing weird things, and movie trailers. The YouTube Trends Map is another way to see what’s popular, but from a geographic and demographic point of view.

This is cool. And it’s no surprise that the current #1 in Cleveland is the Charles Ramsey interview.

(Photo from Kent State University Communications and Marketing)

On Saturday I attended a panel about the significance of the Kent State shootings that occurred 43 years ago on May 4, 1970. I’m glad I went, because there were some very interesting discussions.

Everyone on the panel agreed that the shootings were awful and that they were proof that the government will go to stunning lengths to squelch opposition of immoral wars. But moderator Gwen Ifill pointed out that while those of us in the audience might understand that, there are still so many people who don’t. You don’t get the feeling that everyone you know realizes that war is not always justified, or that the military sometimes does bad things. So Ifill asked how we go about solving that.

The panel’s general answer was praise for the Internet and social media for giving regular folks a voice; that dissent can be heard more easily even when the mainstream media are being lapdogs for the military or whomever.

(I must stop for a moment to say it pains me to sound like one of those lunatics who’s ridiculously distrusting of the government and the media; both of those institutions are far better than most diehard right-wingers will ever believe, but it’s still undoubtedly true that the government often does terrible things to prop up a horrible foreign policy, and that the mainstream media do screw up sometimes, like when they helped rally support for an Iraq War that started because of weapons threats that turned out to be nonexistent.)

But, as one panelist noted, the Internet and social media have a massive drawback: While they give everyone a voice, some voices are completely wrong but are given equal exposure. So critical thinking skills are as important as ever and are hopefully being taught in schools, because it’s much easier to say “bomb the terrorists” than it is to explain the consequences of wars like Vietnam and Iraq; it’s much easier to say “stop taking food stamps and get a job” than it is to explain that systemic inequalities in our society necessitate a social safety net; etc.

It’s also easier to say America’s the greatest country in the world than it is to confront our own shortcomings - you know, like killing innocent bystanders at Kent State. One panelist pointed out that President Obama remarked after the Boston Marathon bombing that the “exhausted runners who kept running to the nearest hospital to give blood, and those who stayed to tend to the wounded” reflect “who we are; what America is,” but that he also likes to flip it when talking about bad things, like imprisoning foreigners in Guantanamo without a trial, and say “that’s not who we are.” But that is who we are. Our horrible behavior in some situations is just as much a part of “who we are” as is our exemplary behavior in other situations. America does bad things sometimes, and we must be able to admit that and come to grips with it.

towmint:

Whoever drew this needs to take a long look at themselves. Not cool.

“Let’s honor the Kent State shootings by turning a Star Wars quote into a pun.”

I linked to this back in 2011, but it’s never a bad time for a refresher on self-defense. I recommend reading it. If you refuse, here’s the shorter version: If someone threatens your life, never follow his/her demands; escape immediately by whatever means necessary.