Friday, April 6, 2012

In Uganda, Gays Face Growing Social, Legal Hostility

Via JMG: Bully Has Been Re-Rated PG-13


While some theaters have agreed to run the film without a rating, yesterday word came that Bully has been re-rated PG-13, a move made without cutting what some consider the film's most crucial scene. The film studio exults via press release:
This decision by the MPAA is a huge victory for the parents, educators, lawmakers, and most importantly, children, everywhere who have been fighting for months for the appropriate PG-13 rating without cutting some of the most sensitive moments. Three uses of the 'F word' were removed from other scenes, which ultimately persuaded the MPAA to lower the rating. Hirsch made the documentary with the intent to give an uncensored, real-life portrayal of what 13 million children suffer through every year.
The re-rating came after hundreds of thousands signed an internet petition to the MPAA.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Born That Way


Allegedly from a college survey form. Some of the comments on Reddit are quite amusing. "I've been Chinese all my life, Mom! You can't change who I am!"


Reposted from Joe

JMG Church Sign Of The Day


This sign has gone viral in the past couple of days and has even appeared on Glenn Beck's "news" site The Blaze:
While the message may be a tough pill to swallow for some Christians who believe that non-belief is a tragic societal occurrence — even more tragic than Christians behaving badly — Kay Pettygrove, an administrator at the church, says that positivity has been the predominate sentiment. Pettygrove claims that there has been 30 positive comments for each negative one and says that the church is “flabbergasted” over the response. “I got an email from a young Mormon man saying, ‘Thank you so much. It made me rethink how I treat people,’” she explains. “Many atheists have said, ‘If there were more churches like yours, we would probably reconsider.’”
(Tipped by JMG reader David)


Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 6, 2012

There's Always a Tradeoff

The Buddha said, if you see a greater pleasure that comes from forsaking a lesser pleasure, be willing to forsake that lesser pleasure for the greater one. Sounds like a no-brainer, but if you look at the way most people live, they don’t think in those terms. They want everything that comes their way. They want to have their cake and enlightenment, too; to win at chess without sacrificing a single pawn. Even when they meditate, their purpose in developing mindfulness is to gain an even more intense appreciation of the experience of every moment in life. That’s something you never see in the Buddha’s teachings. His theme is always that you have to let go of this in order to gain that, give this up in order to arrive at that. There’s always a trade-off.
- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "The Dignity of Restraint”
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 5, 2012

Water the Flowers, Not the Weeds

If you’re out watering your flower garden by hand, you naturally concentrate the flow of water to benefit your beautiful flowers. If there’s an area of weeds, you don’t waste water there. As best you can, you avoid watering the weeds. It’s the same with your consciousness. You can learn to selectively water the positive seeds and flowers in you by attending to them. There are enough weeds. You don’t have to encourage them.
- Thomas Bien, “Water the Flowers, Not the Weeds”
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Via JMG: Anti-Gay Liberian Christians Publish Hit List: "We Will Get Them One By One"


As a bill that worsens the penalty for homosexuality wends its way through Liberia's legislature, an anti-gay Christian group has published a hit list in which they vow to track down every gay person for brutal punishment.

The fliers include this threat: "Let these individuals be aware that we are coming after them soon. We urge them to also begin saying the Lord’s Prayer.”
The fliers distributed over the weekend in parts of Liberia’s capital were signed by the Movement Against Gay’s in Liberia, or MOGAL. The group said those involved in promoting gay rights “should not be given space to get a gulp of air.” “Having conducted a comprehensive investigation, we are convinced that the below listed individuals are gays or supporters of the club who don’t mean well for our country,” the fliers read. “Therefore, we have agreed to go after them using all means in life.” No individual members of MOGAL signed the flier. But Moses Tapleh, a 28-year-old resident of the main community where the flier was distributed, said he was affiliated with the group and stressed that its threats should be taken seriously. “We will get to them one by one,” Tapleh said. “They want to spoil our country.” Asked what specific action might be taken against those on the list, he said they could be subjected to “dangerous punishments” including “flogging and death.”
One of the persons named on the list said he has already received death threats by phone. Last month Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, refused to consider decriminalizing homosexuality, but said she would not sign the new bill to worsen the penalty to ten years in prison.


Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politcs Report:

  • Group sues U.S. over treatment of binational couples
     
  • The U.S. government’s treatment of binational same-sex couples is unconstitutional, according to a new federal lawsuit brought by five married couples and filed by the LGBT group Immigration Equality. Rachel Tiven, the group’s executive director, said negotiations with federal officials aimed at stopping the deportations of foreign nationals who have same- sex partners in the U.S. have not been successful. Unlike straight married individuals, gay and lesbian Americans are not allowed to sponsor their foreign partners or spouses for U.S. citizenship because the Defense of Marriage Act forbids the federal government from recognizing their relationships. Advocate.com (4/2) LinkedInFacebookTwitterEmail this Story

Via Gay Politcs Report:

  • Romney funded Prop 8 through anti-gay group, documents reveal
     
  • Mitt Romney's political action committee contributed $10,000 to help pass California's Proposition 8, but did so through a hard-to-detect PAC donation to the National Organization for Marriage, according to documents provided to the Human Rights Campaign by a whistle-blower at NOM. "It’s clear now that Romney was a major financial donor to Prop 8, but it’s also clear that his campaign very cleverly hid this contribution," said Fred Sainz, HRC's vice president for communications. NOM was a key player in the passage of Proposition 8, which ended legal marriage for same-sex couples in California. The Huffington Post (3/30) LinkedInFacebookTwitterEmail this Story

Monday, April 2, 2012

Via JMG: EU Launches LGBT Survey



The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has commissioned Gallup Europe for a survey of the LGBT residents of the EU.
Besides occasional news reports about discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people, there is very little comparable data collected across the EU about the everyday experiences of LGBT people with respect to discrimination. Based on the survey results, national and European policy makers as well as non-governmental or civil society organisations will be able to better target their advocacy strategies and activities to support the LGBT community to live and express themselves freely without discrimination. In order to give weight to the results, the European LGBT Survey counts on the participation of a large and diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people from each country. This is the first EU-wide effort to collect LGBT experiences in the framework of the ever largest survey made in this field – make yours count as well!
The results should prove fascinating. The survey is open to LGBT residents of all 27 EU member states. Plus Croatia. Respondents must be 18 or over. Take the survey.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Editorial Of The Day


From the New Jersey Star-Ledger:
The NOM agenda reveals the dark corners of a movement that will do anything to impose its will. To stop state courts or legislators from enacting marriage equality laws and to roll back the laws where they do exist, the organization established a plan that seeks to divide and conquer. And kick up a lot of distractions to damage the other side.

Among their goals: to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks,” make support of traditional marriage “a key badge of Latino identity” and develop “side issues,” such as pornography, to destabilize any consensus around gay marriage. As part of its “behind enemy lines” strategy, officials want to enlist children of same-sex couples to air “their concerns” on video.

It is sick beyond words that a group to “save” marriage would exploit racial and ethnic divisions, stir intolerance and fear, and even rip families apart by pitting children against parents. In their self-described “battle,” they come across as the biggest losers of all.
Read the full editorial.


Reposted from Joe

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 2, 2012

Bad Meditation? No Such Thing!

The mind can do wonderful and unexpected things. Meditators who are having a difficult time achieving a peaceful state of mind sometimes start thinking, 'Here we go again, another hour of frustration.' But often something strange happens; although they are anticipating failure, they reach a very peaceful meditative state. My first meditation teacher told me that there is no such thing as a bad meditation. He was right. During the difficult meditations you build up your strength, which creates meditation for peace.
- Ajahn Brahm, "Stepping Towards Enlightenment"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 1, 2012

The Secret of the Spiritual Path

On the spiritual path, there's nothing to get, and everything to get rid of. Obviously, the first thing to let go of is trying to 'get' love, and instead to give it. That's the secret of the spiritual path. How can we give ourselves? By not holding back. By not wanting for ourselves. If we want to be loved, we are looking for a support system. If we want to love, we are looking for spiritual growth.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

HomoQuotable - John Waters


"When I was young there were beatniks. Hippies. Punks. Gangsters. Now you're a hacktivist. Which I would probably be if I was 20. Shuttin' down MasterCard. But there's no look to that lifestyle! Besides just wearing a bad outfit with bad posture. Has WikiLeaks caused a look? No! I'm mad about that. If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, it seems to me he should at least have an outfit for that. Get a look! I'm not judging what they do; I hope they don't shut me down." - John Waters, writing for the Wall Street Journal.


Reposted from  Joe

Via Facebook:

Friday, March 30, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma March 30, 2012

The Perfect Zen Student

When things are running smoothly, the refrigerator is very much like some people's idea of the perfect Zen student. It is calm, cool, and quiet, and it possesses its own inner light.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Via Faithful America:

Faithful America


Dear Daniel,
Last time I opened the Bible, Jesus said to turn the other cheek, not to shoot first and ask questions later.
But in 24 states—including Florida, where Trayvon Martin's killer is still walking the streets—the law says you can shoot and kill anyone you "reasonably believe" is threatening you.1
Those laws are on the books because of the tireless efforts of a secretive coalition of right-wing lobbyists and state legislators, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which adopted "Kill at Will" as model legislation to promote across the country.2
A key member of the ALEC task force pushing "Kill At Will" is one of the nation's most prominent evangelical organizations: Prison Fellowship, whose stated purpose is to transform lives and reconcile families affected by the criminal-justice system.3
Christians shouldn't have anything to do with promoting laws that invite self-appointed vigilantes like George Zimmerman to use deadly force. After the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, it's time for Prison Fellowship to immediately quit the American Legislative Exchange Council and disavow "Kill at Will."
Prison Fellowship serves alongside the NRA, the nation's largest private-prison corporation, and the state legislator who sponsored Arizona's notorious anti-immigration law, on ALEC's Public Safety and Elections Task force. In addition to "Kill at Will," the task force has crafted and aggressively promoted "model bills" that:
  • Make local law enforcement use racial profiling against immigrants.4
  • Allow private corporations to hire prison inmates at far less than the minimum wage.5
  • Use onerous voter-ID requirements to disenfranchise low-income people, seniors, African Americans, and Latinos.6
As the Center for Media and Democracy, which has analyzed and published hundreds of formerly secret ALEC documents, puts it: "The ['stand your ground'] bill fits into a pattern of ALEC bills that disproportionately impact communities of color."7
No Christian organization, let alone one that purports to rehabilitate inmates and reform the criminal-justice system, should be lending its support to a coalition with an agenda that victimizes the most vulnerable people in our society. Prison Fellowship needs to hear immediately from outraged people of faith demanding that they drop out of ALEC:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2518/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10030
Thanks!
-- Michael, Kristin, Nick, and the rest of the Faithful America team
Sources:
1. "The 24 States That Have Sweeping Self-Defense Laws Just Like Florida's," ProPublica, March 22, 2012
http://www.propublica.org/article/the-23-states-that-have-sweeping-self-defense-laws-just-like-floridas 
2. "ALEC Has Pushed the NRA's 'Stand Your Ground' Law Across the Nation," Media Matters for America, March 21, 2012
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203210004
3. "ALEC Exposed: Public Safety and Elections Task Force," Center for Media and Democracy, accessed March 28, 2012
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Public_Safety_and_Elections_Task_Force
Webpage for "ALEC Corrections and Reentry Working Group," a subset of the "Public Safety and Elections Task Force," American Legislative Exchange Council, accessed March 28, 2012
http://www.alec.org/task-forces/public-safety-and-elections/alec-corrections-and-reentry-working-group/
"Pat Nolan Promotes Prison Reform at Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council," Prison Fellowship, accessed March 28, 2012
http://www.prisonfellowship.org/news-and-events/11975-pat-nolan-attends-the-36th-annual-meeting-of-the-american-legislative-exchange-council 
4. "Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law," National Public Radio, October 28, 2010
http://www.npr.org/2010/10/28/130833741/prison-economics-help-drive-ariz-immigration-law
5. "The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor," The Nation, August 1, 2011
http://www.thenation.com/article/162478/hidden-history-alec-and-prison-labor
6. "ALEC Exposed: Rigging Elections," The Nation, July 12, 2011
http://www.thenation.com/article/161969/rigging-elections
7. "ALEC Ratified NRA-Conceived Law That May Protect Trayvon Martin's Killer," PR Watch, Center for Media and Democracy, March 21, 2012
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/03/11366/alec-and-nra-behind-law-may-protect-trayvon-martins-killer

Via JMG: Black Civil Rights Group Condemns NOM


From the National Black Justice Coalition:
NOM's memos detail its campaign to direct money to a handful of African American clergy in order to attack gay and lesbian couples that have made a lifelong promise to one another. The organization admits their key goal is to "drive a wedge between gays and blacks." The memo also outlines NOM's strategies for targeting Latino communities by "making support for marriage a key badge of Latino identity" and "to make opposition to gay marriage an identity marker, a badge of youth rebellion to conformist assimilation to the bad side of 'Anglo' culture."

"These documents expose NOM for what it really is-a hate group determined to use African American faith leaders as pawns to push their damaging agenda and as mouthpieces to amplify that hatred," says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. "NOM is fighting a losing battle," adds Lettman-Hicks. "With these memos made public, the black faith community must refuse to be exploited and refuse to deny their fellow brothers and sisters equal protections under the law."

Reposted from Joe

JMG Headline Of The Day:



"We're not seeing any impact," says Starbucks.


Reosted from Joe