Monday, November 7, 2011

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

 

November 7, 2011

Let Go of Projections

On trains, in the street, in our homes and communities, we practice paying attention—through developing mindfulness and lovingkindness and through letting go of projections—partly because a more complete attention proffers many special gifts. These gifts can penetrate through the exigencies of social roles, the seeming hollowness of chance encounters, and even through terrible hurt.
– Sharon Salzberg, "A More Complete Attention"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Via JMG: SPAIN: Ricky Martin Granted Citizenship In Possible Bid To Legally Marry


Spain has granted citizenship to Puerto Rico-born Ricky Martin, who may be seeking a legal venue to marry his boyfriend.
Spokesman Jose Blanco told a news conference that ministers had agreed to grant him a “letter of naturalization”, issued in special circumstances, because of his “personal and professional links with Spain”. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that Martin sought citizenship in order to marry boyfriend Carlos Gonzalez Abella, with whom he is bringing up his twin three-year-old sons. Spain passed legislation allowing same-sex marriages in 2005, only the third country to do so at the time, with 20,000 gay couples entering into marriage since.


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Family Research Council Honors Deadbeat Dad Rep. Joe Walsh As "Pro-Family"


The Family Research Council has named Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) as their "True Blue" pro-family leader, even though Walsh owes over $100,000 in unpaid child support.
"We thank Cong. Walsh who has voted consistently to defend faith, family and freedom,” said FRCA President Tony Perkins. “Cong. Walsh and other ‘True Blue Members’ have voted to repeal Obamacare, de-fund Planned Parenthood, end government funding for abortion within the health care law, uphold the Defense of Marriage Act, and continue support for school choice. I applaud their commitment to uphold the institutions of marriage and family."
Walsh responded to the honor by crowing, "Defending American values have always been one of my top priorities, and this reward reaffirms my dedication to that fight."


reposted from Joe

Friday, November 4, 2011

Via Gay Politics Report: Ohio teen: "I am gay...I wanted to start something"

Adam Hoover, 17, says he got the idea to organize a march to support marriage equality when he attended Cincinnati's LGBT Pride event this summer. Now thousands are expected to join his march this weekend, which will also feature an address from openly gay Cincinnati City Council candidate Chris Seelbach. Cincinnati.com

Via Gay Politics Report: House Democrats file brief opposing DOMA

A group of at least 130 Democrats led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have signed a legal brief arguing that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. The brief was submitted in relation to a case pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The brief criticizes House Republicans for organizing the use of public funds to pay for the law's legal defense after the Justice Department decided it would no longer defend the law. San Francisco Chronicle

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

 

November 4, 2011

People Naturally Surrender

Even at a worldly level, people naturally surrender to others, although they may think of themselves as self-sufficient. If someone thinks he doesn’t depend on others, he is like a sick person who thinks he doesn’t have to go to a doctor because he can cure himself with poison, or like a poor person who says he doesn’t have to depend on richer people even though he has an empty wallet.
– Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, "Words for the West"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlogGay: MI Senate legalizes anti-gay bullying. Stay away from Michigan if you're looking for school, job.


They actually passed legislation in the Michigan Senate that legalizes bullying so long as you have a moral or religious reason for bullying the kid.  Astounding.  That means Jewish children, Muslim children, hell even black children and Latino children, are now fair game (anyone can come up with a "moral" reason to justify bigotry against anyone).  From JoeMyGod

"Matt's Safe School Law" passed 26-11 with all Democrats voting against it. The bill is named for Matt Eppling, an East Lansing 14-year-old who committed suicide after being bullied by classmates in 2002. The law includes a section noting it doesn't abridge First Amendment free speech rights or prohibit expression of religious or moral viewpoints — a provision Democrats fear could be used to justify harassment of gay, lesbian or transgender students. "I am ashamed that this could be Michigan's bill on anti-bullying when in fact it is a 'bullying is OK in Michigan law,'" Kevin Eppling, Matt's father, whose letter was read by Sen. Glenn Anderson during Wednesday's session.

TowleRoad has a great video of a Democratic legislator standing up to the legislative bullies in the Michigan Senate.
Remember, Michigan is also on the verge of rescinding domestic partner benefits in that state for the partners of gay state employees (e.g., university professors and other university employees).

Michigan is the new Alabama. Stay far away from that state if you are gay, or even just fair minded, and planning a vacation, looking for a job, or looking to study at a university. Do not go to Michigan - we have plenty of other states that aren't trying to bash minorities, leave people's family members without health care, and literally kill children.

Michigan hates. Stay far away.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

 

November 3, 2011

Discover Your Own Wisdom

People who are attached to sutras and a scriptural teaching of words can lack faith in the living, mysterious experience of meditation that leads to a sudden insight. They are usually too caught up in the expedient means of words and speech, attached to the stubborn habit of distinguishing between "true" and "not true." Believing only what is written in holy texts, they are conceptually mesmerized by the treasures of others, instead of digging inside to discover the priceless gems of their own, lying deep within.
– So Sahn, "The Zen of Confidence"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlog Gay: National Park Service lists Frank Kameny’s home in National Register of Historic Places


Dr. Franklin E. Kameny Residence in Washington, DC, listed in the National

Register of Historic Places 

The National Park Service has recognized the historic significance of gay rights activist Dr. Franklin E. Kameny, by listing his home in the National Register of Historic Places. 

"Dr. Kameny led a newly militant activism in the fledgling gay civil rights of the 1960s," said NPS Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. "He was a landmark figure in articulating and achieving gay civil rights in federal employment and security clearance cases, and in reversing the medical community's view on homosexuality as a mental disorder."

Kameny's efforts in the civil rights movement, modeled in part on African American civil rights strategies and tactics, significantly altered the rights, perceptions, and role of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people in American society.

Franklin Kameny (1925-2011) was a Harvard trained astronomer and World War II veteran. In 1957, Dr. Kameny was fired from his job with the Army Map Service for refusing to answer questions about his sexual orientation. Based upon an Executive Order issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, thousands of men and women lost their federal civil service jobs solely due to their sexual orientation, based upon a belief that homosexuality posed a security risk. Dr. Kameny waged a four-year legal fight against the idea that sexual orientation could make one unfit for federal service. Although the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his case, it was the first time that an equal-rights claim had been made on the basis of sexual orientation.

In 1961 Kameny co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, an organization committed, through activism to achieving equal social and legal rights for homosexuals. Through lobbying of government officials, testifying before congressional committees, bringing court challenges, and picketing the White House, Kameny and his allies pressured the U.S. Civil Service Commission to eventually abandon its policy of denying homosexuals federal employment. Kameny led efforts to remove homosexuality as a basis for denying government security clearances. He was also involved in the first legal challenge to the U.S. military's policy of discharging gay and lesbian service members, including the much-publicized case of gay Air Force Sergeant Leonard Matlovich. Kameny played a leading role in attacking the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) definition of homosexuality as a mental illness. In 1973, the APA voted to remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders. In 1998, President Clinton signed an Executive Order banning discrimination in federal employment based upon sexual orientation.


For years, Dr. Kameny's residence at 5020 Cathedral Avenue, NW, in Washington, DC, served as a meeting place, archives, informal counseling center, headquarters of the Mattachine Society, and a safe haven for visiting gay and lesbian activists. It was here that Dr. Franklin E. Kameny developed the civil rights strategies and tactics that have come to define the modern gay rights movement.


About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 396 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at http://www.nps.gov/
National Park Service, Office of Communications 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240 United States.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – (236)

By Emily Dickinson

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church – I keep it, staying at Home – With a Bobolink for a Chorister – And an Orchard, for a Dome –
Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice – I, just wear my Wings – And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, Our little Sexton – sings.
God preaches, a noted Clergyman – And the sermon is never long, So instead of getting to Heaven, at last – I’m going, all along.

thanks to JMG poster W.F.O

Via JMG: Excommunicated


(Source)

  reposted from Joe

Via JMG: MICHIGAN: University Profs Threaten Exodus If Domestic Partners Repealed


Michigan may be about to repeal its domestic partners coverage for state employees, prompting the threat of a mass exodus of LGBT university professors and others.
“I question my decision to come to Michigan,” Coetzee said. When Coetzee accepted a job at U-M, he also turned one down at New York University. “I chose Michigan because it just seemed better. But now New York just made same sex marriage legal and now in Michigan… they want people like my partner to not get treated.” U-M Latin professor Sara Ahbel-Rappe said that if bill 4770 passes there will likely be a large exodus of professors who leave the university. “It’s a total slap in the face. It tells me that I don’t deserve the same consideration” as heterosexual couples, she said. “People will leave.” Ahbel-Rappe and six other professors authored a letter to Gov. Rick Synder asking him not to sign bill 4770 if passed by the senate. The letter calls the bill discriminatory and says it will negatively affect staff recruitment at the university. U-M officials are also concerned about the bill’s effects. Nearly all of U-M’s competitors offer benefits to same-sex partners. So do most Fortune 500 companies.
The GOP state rep who sponsored the repeal bill says, "It is not the responsibility of taxpayers to support the roommates and unmarried partners of public employees." Roommates.


reposted from Joe

Tom Goss - It's All Over

Via JMG: Chick-Fil-A: $2 Million To Anti-Gay Groups


Equality Matters reports that Chick-Fil-A donated almost $2 million to anti-gay groups in 2009. The donations were made through the company's charitable arm, the Winshape Foundation. Over half of the money went to the Marriage & Family Legacy Fund, a group devoted to opposing same-sex marriage. Other groups on Chick-Fil-A's gift list: Focus On The Family, The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Family Research Council, and Exodus International.

RELATED: When news of Chick-Fil-A's anti-gay ties were first made public last year, a national boycott of the chain was launched, prompting company president Dan Cathy to issue a denial that his chain supported discrimination.


reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Uganda To Britain's PM: Stop Bullying Us For Treating Gay People Brutally


Two weeks ago British Prime Minister David Cameron threatened to cut foreign aid to nations that abuse their LGBT citizens. One of the major recipients of that aid, Uganda, is now accusing Britain of bullying them over their Godly and righteously brutal treatment of homosexuals.
A Ugandan presidential official, John Nagenda, told the BBC his country was “tired of these lectures” and that the Commonwealth nations should not be treated like “children”. Commonwealth nations are reacting to government plans to redirect aid away from central governments with poor human rights records. International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: “Taking money away from Governments does not mean you do not support that country. You find other mechanisms for trying to help the poorest with food, education and health care as well as building up business structures”
It must be noted that LGBT rights activists in Ghana and Nigeria warn that any cuts in aid could result in retribution in the form of even more violence against local gay citizens.
Mac-Darling Cobbinah, the executive and national director of the Centre for Popular Education and Human Rights Ghana, has said the move would only bring “pain and anguish” to the struggling country. He added that the plans could backfire and lead to gay people being blamed for aid cuts. “We from Ghana LGBTi community think this is not enough. Cutting down aid will not bring anything other than pain and anguish to the already polarised society or country and LGBTi people will be used as scapegoats for under development in our countries.”

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Loving Christians Deluge School With Threats Over Homecoming Lesbians


The San Diego-area high school which named a lesbian couple as their homecoming king and queen has been deluged with threats and hate mail since the story made international news over the weekend.
On Monday, Superintendent Bill Kowba interrupted a news conference on the district's financial troubles to comment on an issue he called just as significant as the budget. “What is essentially disappointing is that adults who have contacted the school, many not even San Diego residents, are demonstrating such a lack of tolerance and such a negative role model for children with their hateful comments,” Kowba said. Kowba calls the adults behind the threats "bullies." He also says if the calls and emails came from students, they would have faced disciplinary action.
Here's a few examples from God's Gentle People at Free Republic:
-"Stupid, brainwashed, delusional girls. They are signing up for a life of pain, misery, heartbreak and sin."
-"This is disgusting. It’s deviancy on display, and our kids have been trained to approve."
-"The Principal should be brought up on charges and be made to register as a sex offender."
-"Children who attend godless socialist schools will learn to think and reason godlessly!"
-"The faggot indoctrination continues."


reposted from Joe

Anita Who?

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

 

November 2, 2011

To Keep the Heart Pure

Not to commit evil, but to practice all good, and to keep the heart pure: This is the teaching of the Buddha.
“To keep the heart pure” means to try to keep the mind uncluttered. It does not mean that we are saintly. It means that we are reasonably aware, reasonably caring, open to ourselves and to others, and not influenced by hatred, greed, or delusion.
– Martine Batchelor, "The Precepts: A Special Practice Section"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBloggay: Chick-Fil-A gave nearly $2m in donations to anti-gay and hate groups

Do not eat at this establishment.  They donate huge amounts of money to some of the most hateful anti-gay organizations on the planet.  Do NOT eat at Chick-Fil-A.  And tell your friends to avoid them too.  This is serious money.  Equality Matters got the scoop:
Chick-Fil-A's Charitable Arm Gave Nearly $2 Million To Anti-Gay Groups In 2009

WinShape Is Chick-Fil-A's Charitable Arm. The WinShape Foundation is Chick-fil-A's charitable arm, created by Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy in 1984. WinShape has received a substantial amount of funding from Chick-fil-A: in 2009 alone, WinShape received $7,814,788 from Chick-fil-A Inc. [WinShape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed10/28/11]

WinShape Gave Over $1.7 Million To Anti-Gay Groups. In 2009 alone, WinShape donated $1,733,699 to multiple anti-gay groups:

· Marriage & Family Legacy Fund: $994,199

· Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: $480,000

· National Christian Foundation: $240,000

· Focus On The Family: $12,500

· Eagle Forum: $5,000

· Exodus International: $1,000

· Family Research Council: $1,000

[WinShape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 10/28/11]