Pulse Nightclub, Orlando Domestic Terror

[Tim-Tom Biblethumper]

I have a couple of gay friends in Orlando.  One posted this morning that gay men aren't allowed to donate blood (there are lines all over central Florida to donate).  Apparently no matter your HIV status, if you have had sex within the last year with another male you can't donate.  I had no idea and haven't done any research to see if this is a national-thing or not.  Just thought I'd share.      

[ladyamylynn]

5 minutes ago, Tim-Tom Biblethumper said:

I have a couple of gay friends in Orlando.  One posted this morning that gay men aren't allowed to donate blood (there are lines all over central Florida to donate).  Apparently no matter your HIV status, if you have had sex within the last year with another male you can't donate.  I had no idea and haven't done any research to see if this is a national-thing or not.  Just thought I'd share.      

It's national, and it's a fucking disgrace.

[nastyhobbitses]

56 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

And I see that low life piece of dung Donald J. Trump had to shove his foot in his mouth up past what passes for his reproductive organs;

huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-orlando_us_575d92e6e4b0e39a28addbe6

 

Couldn't even wait until the corpses were cold, could he?

There's a whole lot of ugliness in the world today.

[Marian the Librarian]

I have no words. 

[Dreadcrumbs]

Trump is an opportunistic lout.

[caszandra]

This was on the BBC but I don't know if it is confirmed. Bolding mine.

Blood banks at capacity

Posted at 19:19

OneBlood donation center announced it was at full capacity for donations and has urged people to return in the coming days, according to a statement. 

To make an appointment, donors can call 1-888-9-DONATE.

Images show hundreds of Florida residents in long queues as they wait to donate blood and help in the worst mass shooting in recent US history. 

Gay people in the US are banned from giving blood if they have sex in the last year, but that ban has temporarily been lifted in the Orlando area.

Hopefully this means Gay people who want to help by donating blood are able to do so.

Edit - Adding link to the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-36510172 This is the live reporting page and new content is being added frequently, you might need to scroll down a ways to get to the bit about the Blood Banks.

 

[SpoonfulOSugar]

1 minute ago, caszandra said:

Gay people in the US are banned from giving blood if they have sex in the last year, but that ban has temporarily been lifted in the Orlando area.

Hopefully this means Gay people who want to help by donating blood are able to do so.

 

I have seen posts reporting both yes and no.  It isn't clear.  I will try to track down one from a reliable source.

 

The first six victims' names, from the Orlando police/City of Orlando:

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old

Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old

Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old

Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old

 

http://www.cityoforlando.net/blog/victims/  This site will be updated as the others are identified.

[Dreadcrumbs]

3 minutes ago, SpoonfulOSugar said:

I have seen posts reporting both yes and no.  It isn't clear.  I will try to track down one from a reliable source.

OneBlood denied the ban lift on Twitter.

[SpoonfulOSugar]

OneBlood did indeed say the FDA rules remained in place.  Part of the confusion appears to be that the FDA rules changed in December, but have not been updated by OneBlood yet.

[Tim-Tom Biblethumper]

2 hours ago, Season of life... said:

Am I being too sensitive about this tweet from Lawson Bates? It was posted at 7:48 this morning.

Proverbs 14:34 (KJV)

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin [is] a reproach to any people.

FJ is a caring community, and I have a feeling more heartfelt prayers are being said today from members here than are being said from members of these 'holier than thou' families. 

Maybe I'm looking at his words unfairly, but it shows lack of empathy to tweet that proverb after this senseless violence.  Not a word about prayers for the victims--nothing to show support or love.

I'm just so sick about the state of this world, and so terribly sad for the victims and all those affected by this tragedy.

I'm in a very sensitive mood to the religious right's comments also on this day.  The Duggars just posted this to their FB page:  

I know it can probably be taken in a variety of ways, and I'm just choosing one through my worldview and past experience with them.  But Really!?

[infooverload]

This attack is tragic and for a couple weeks will fill everyone's social media feed. The interesting thing is the attempted attack in California will garner nary a mention. When I first read about the attack in California my first thought was it might be a Christian extremists in light of recent actions within Target stores.

[Fascinated]

Here's what hits me about this. Yesterday our very own @Tikobaby shared that it was her and her wife's first anniversary. After twenty-three years as a loving couple!!  As an atheist, and a human being, this makes me ill. I don't see any way out. How the fuck do we get these religious zealots to understand????  How?  Where is the humanity?  My wish is that, before I die, I see the end of indoctrination. But, I won't. This world is too full of sick, misguided, blind people. Who spend every day making sure that their children are full of hate. I despair for the human race. It is pure insanity. 

[FakePigtails]

8 minutes ago, infooverload said:

This attack is tragic and for a couple weeks will fill everyone's social media feed. The interesting thing is the attempted attack in California will garner nary a mention. When I first read about the attack in California my first thought was it might be a Christian extremists in light of recent actions within Target stores.

Yep, James Wesley Howell of Indiana (LA Times story). It's a sick double standard.

[sparkles]

24 minutes ago, infooverload said:

This attack is tragic and for a couple weeks will fill everyone's social media feed. The interesting thing is the attempted attack in California will garner nary a mention. When I first read about the attack in California my first thought was it might be a Christian extremists in light of recent actions within Target stores.

Yes, it will definitely keep our attention for a couple of weeks and then we'll move on. But that's only because we barely have time to process one horrific event before another one takes its place. It's never ending. Our outrage is spread so thin it's hard to know where to focus it. 

And the attempted attck in California definitely made the national news, or CBS at least. I watched a report on the evening broadcast. 

Of course, the Pissing Preacher had something disgusting to say in "celebration." Fuck him sideways with a chainsaw. 

[Destiny]

42 minutes ago, infooverload said:

This attack is tragic and for a couple weeks will fill everyone's social media feed. The interesting thing is the attempted attack in California will garner nary a mention. When I first read about the attack in California my first thought was it might be a Christian extremists in light of recent actions within Target stores.

There has been plenty of coverage of the possibly interdicted attack at LA Pride. It has come up on CNN several times, and was on the front page of several major newspaper's sites. Yes, Orlando is getting more attention, which is fine because people are actually dead, but saying California is getting ignored is pretty inaccurate. Honestly, I'm pretty comfortable with the amount of attention that story has gotten.

Edit: I say this as a Californian who has friends at Pride right now.

[FakePigtails]

4 minutes ago, Destiny said:

There has been plenty of coverage of the possibly interdicted attack at LA Pride. It has come up on CNN several times, and was on the front page of several major newspaper's sites. Yes, Orlando is getting more attention, which is fine because people are actually dead, but saying California is getting ignored is pretty inaccurate.

 

I'll feel better about that if/when they start covering his very American name, NRA license plate, and conspiracy theorist beliefs. It's the least CNN could do after airing someone who talked about how Islam is against LGBT issues while using examples from ISIS and ignoring the horrible things done to LGBT people in the name of Christianity.

[SpoonfulOSugar]

2 minutes ago, FakePigtails said:

I'll feel better about that if/when they start covering his very American name, NRA license plate, and conspiracy theorist beliefs. It's the least CNN could do after airing someone who talked about how Islam is against LGBT issues while using examples from ISIS and ignoring the horrible things done to LGBT people in the name of Christianity.

Again - not sure what you are using for media sources, but I believe you are really out in the weeds here.

It's ALL.OVER.  It's trending on social media, it's linked on the Orlando stories, it's practically a sidebar everywhere that Orlando is discussed.  And yes, I have seen his name repeatedly.

And how do you know about his license plate and conspiracy theories if not from the media, pray tell?

[FakePigtails]

1 minute ago, SpoonfulOSugar said:

Again - not sure what you are using for media sources, but I believe you are really out in the weeds here.

It's ALL.OVER.  It's trending on social media, it's linked on the Orlando stories, it's practically a sidebar everywhere that Orlando is discussed.  And yes, I have seen his name repeatedly.

And how do you know about his license plate and conspiracy theories if not from the media, pray tell?

I know about it from the LA Times, which would naturally be covering it in more detail. I've had cables news on all day (CNN and MSNBC) and they've only mentioned that the man in LA was from Indiana. And that's only a very, very small portion of the coverage I'm seeing. Like at most 5% of the airtime, being generous.

[SilverBeach]

3 hours ago, SpoonfulOSugar said:

I'm very fond of this site for virtual candles:

http://www.gratefulness.org/light-a-candle/

I will probably light several this evening.  

This is a beautiful site that I will use tonight and in the future. Thank you for sharing.

[sparkles]

24 minutes ago, FakePigtails said:

I'll feel better about that if/when they start covering his very American name, NRA license plate, and conspiracy theorist beliefs. It's the least CNN could do after airing someone who talked about how Islam is against LGBT issues while using examples from ISIS and ignoring the horrible things done to LGBT people in the name of Christianity.

CBS mentioned his very American name several times, showed his very White photo, talked about his background and possible terrorist connections. It's clearly getting coverage but it makes sense that a thwarted attack would take a back seat to one in which at least 50 people were murdered. 

[SpoonfulOSugar]

23 minutes ago, FakePigtails said:

I know about it from the LA Times, which would naturally be covering it in more detail. I've had cables news on all day (CNN and MSNBC) and they've only mentioned that the man in LA was from Indiana. And that's only a very, very small portion of the coverage I'm seeing. Like at most 5% of the airtime, being generous.

CNN's website:

Google News - it's the SECOND story in their Top Headlines (yes, Orlando is first):

 

[FakePigtails]

1 minute ago, sparkles said:

CBS mentioned his very American name several times, showed his very White photo, talked about his background and possible terrorist connections. It's clearly getting coverage but it makes sense that a thwarted attack would take a back seat to one in which at least 50 people were murdered. 

Ah, okay. It's good to know someone was covering it more thoroughly. Was that on their nightly news program (is that even on Sundays?)? I swear there was nothing more than "man from Indiana with guns and potential explosives wanting to attack the parade" on the two networks I mentioned.

1 minute ago, SpoonfulOSugar said:

CNN's website:

Google News - it's the SECOND story in their Top Headlines (yes, Orlando is first):

 

Look, I was going by what I saw on these networks' aired coverage. I haven't had it in me to go around reading websites in addition and God forbid, trusted that one reflected the other. So maybe there's a big disparity between aired and internet coverage, I don't know. But I can tell you the coverage on the aired programs themselves has been minimal. And now I'm watching the Tony's for a much-needed change so if that changes I won't know for a few hours.

[sparkles]

It was on the nightly news. They also interviewed a law enforcement officer who was involved. 

[FakePigtails]

2 minutes ago, sparkles said:

It was on the nightly news. They also interviewed a law enforcement officer who was involved. 

I'm truly relieved to hear that. I clearly should not have assumed that what aired on MSNBC would reflect the extent to which other networks would cover this.

[Rachel333]

1 hour ago, Destiny said:

There has been plenty of coverage of the possibly interdicted attack at LA Pride. It has come up on CNN several times, and was on the front page of several major newspaper's sites. Yes, Orlando is getting more attention, which is fine because people are actually dead, but saying California is getting ignored is pretty inaccurate. Honestly, I'm pretty comfortable with the amount of attention that story has gotten.

Edit: I say this as a Californian who has friends at Pride right now.

Agreed, I've seen quite a bit about it. I actually think it's gotten more coverage than it would have otherwise because of the shooting in Orlando.