Only two days after signing the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill into law, President Obama today signed an extension to the Ryan White Act which provides assistance and support to nearly half a million people suffering from HIV/AIDS.

“If we want to be a global leader in combatting HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it,” Obama said at the White House before signing a bill to extend the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program. Begun in 1990, the program provides medical care, medication and support services to about half a million people, most of them low-income.

The bill is named for an Indiana teenager who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion at age 13. White went on to fight AIDS-related discrimination against him and others like him and help educate the country about the disease. He died in April 1990 at the age of 18.

His mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, attended the signing ceremony, as did several members of Congress and HIV/AIDS activists.

Obama also said he will be finalizing an order on Monday that will lift the HIV immigration and travel ban that has been in place for 20 years.

Video of the ceremony below…

My friends… it was a very good week. First hate crimes and now this. It gives one hope for the future. Let’s hope the vote in Maine doesn’t erase all that.

These haunting images taken by nature photographer Chris Jordan on the remote island of Midway Atoll show the decomposing bodies of albatross chicks, fed a steady diet of human trash until they met their quick and untimely end. If these images don’t make you think twice before throwing that piece of trash out your car window, then nothing will. Just remember we all share this pale blue dot and your children and your children’s children don’t deserve all the ruin you’re going to leave behind. Video and a few photos below.

More of Chris Jordan’s photography on Midway Atoll @ ChrisJordan.com.

Belinda Carlisle, the 80’s pop icon from the Go-Go’s and a solo career, posted a video supporting her gay son, and marriage equality in Maine (Vote No on 1 in Maine).

I remember back in the day, thinking her song “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” was “Blue Heaven is a place on Earth”. Please donate to the “No on 1” campaign in Maine and let’s make it a “Blue Heaven” here on Earth where anyone can marry the person they love.

Lost in all the hubbub last week about the National Equality March, Judy Shepard appeared on Ellen to talk about her son Matthew, how her life has changed and how far we’ve come. Unfortunately we still have a long way to go. Be sure to watch all the way to the end…