Thursday, March 5, 2015

Via JMG: Twitter To SCOTUS: Yes On Marriage


 
See the full list. Facebook is there too, of course.


Reposted from Joe Jervis   31 Comments

Via JMG: Nebraska Turns Mustard





Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 05/03/2015

“Sadhana (prática espiritual) é sinônimo de bater na porta do salão da Verdade, o que significa libertar-se de tudo o que acreditamos ser verdade para que sobre apenas a Verdade. Em outras palavras, significa libertar-se de crenças, conceitos, ideias e interpretações que têm base no conhecimento emprestado, ou seja, tudo aquilo que você entende intelectualmente, mas ainda não experienciou. Isso é o que chamo de imaginação ou sonho – um sonho que projetamos no outro. Esse sonho precisa cessar, você precisa despertar, e você faz isso através do seu sadhana.”

“Sadhana (práctica espiritual) es sinónimo de golpear en la puerta del salón de la Verdad, lo que significa liberarse de todo lo que creemos que es verdad para que quede solamente la Verdad. En otras palabras, significa liberarse de creencias, conceptos, ideas e interpretaciones que se basan en el conocimiento prestado, es decir, todo aquello que entiendes intelectualmente, pero que aún no has experimentado. Esto es lo que llamo imaginación o sueño - un sueño que proyectamos en el otro. Este sueño necesita terminar, tú precisas despertar, y lo haces a través de tu sadhana.”

“Sadhana, spiritual practice, is synonymous with knocking on the door of the truth. This means freeing ourselves of everything that we believe to be true so that the only thing left is the truth itself. In other words, liberating ourselves from beliefs, concepts, ideas and interpretations that are based on borrowed knowledge. Borrowed knowledge refers to everything that we understand intellectually, but have not yet experienced for ourselves. This is what I call ‘imagination’ or a ‘dream’ that we project onto the other. This dream must end – we have to wake up, and we do so through our sadhana.”

Via Daily Dharma


Questioning the Question | March 5, 2015


Be in harmony with each breath, each moment, and know that in giving yourself this time to develop awareness and a steadiness of attention you are nourishing spirit, head, and heart. Let it be an adventure, and in the silence and the stillness that comes with practice you’ll discover wonders here for you, now.

- Gil Fronsdal, "Questioning the Question"

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Via The Law of Attraction Networks.com

“The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.” 

 
― Kent M. Keith


The Law of Attraction Networks .com 

JMG Tweet Of The Day




Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 04/03/2015

“Liberdade é seguir o fluxo do coração. O sofrimento nasce pelo fato de seguirmos os comandos da mente condicionada, pois ela muitas vezes nos leva na direção oposta àquela que o coração determina. A mente condicionada está envenenada pelo passado; ela está contaminada pela ideia de fazer justiça com as próprias mãos. Você quer se vingar pelo fato de ter sido machucado, então você controla, argumenta, exige, e faz de tudo para que as coisas aconteçam do jeito que você acha que vai dar certo. Porém, essa ação te afasta cada vez mais do seu coração.”

“Libertad es seguir el flujo del corazón. El sufrimiento nace porque seguimos los comandos de la mente condicionada, pues ella muchas veces nos lleva en la dirección opuesta a la que determina el corazón. La mente condicionada está envenenada por el pasado; está contaminada por la idea de hacer justicia con las propias manos. Quieres vengarte por el hecho de haber sido herido, entonces controlas, argumentas, exiges, y haces de todo para que las cosas sucedan de la forma en que crees que van a funcionar. Sin embargo, esta acción te aleja cada vez más de tu corazón.”
'
“Freedom means following the flow of our hearts. Suffering is born when we obey the commands of the conditioned mind, as it often leads us in the opposite direction of where our hearts tell us to go. The conditioned mind has been contaminated by the past and filled with the idea of taking justice into our own hands. When we seek revenge because we were hurt, we start to control, argue, demand and do everything we can to make things happen the way we think is right. However, this behavior distances us more and more from our own hearts.”

Via Daily Dharma


Awareness Meditation | March 4, 2015


Be in harmony with each breath, each moment, and know that in giving yourself this time to develop awareness and a steadiness of attention you are nourishing spirit, head, and heart. Let it be an adventure, and in the silence and the stillness that comes with practice you’ll discover wonders here for you, now.

- Elena Rosenbaum, "Guided Meditation: Awareness of Breathing"

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Via I fucking love science / FB:


Via Right Turn: Conservatives filing brief in favor of gay marriage

Right Turn has learned that an impressive array of Republicans and Gen. Stanley McChrystal will be filing an amicus brief on Friday in support of gay marriage with the Supreme Court in DeBoer v. Snyder. The case will decide, in the wake of cases striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, if states can restrict marriage to heterosexual couples or if gay marriage falls within the protection afforded by the 14th Amendment.


The brief’s signatories include former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman, conservative pundits S.E. Cupp and Alex Castellanos, former White House chief of staff Ken Duberstein, former Mitt Romney senior advisers Beth Myers and Carl Forti, conservative economists Doug Holtz-Eakin (formerly director of the Congressional Budget Office) and Greg Mankiw (formerly on the Council of Economic Advisers), former senator Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), former homeland security adviser Fran Townsend and former Massachusetts state Senate minority leader Richard Tisei. The presence of an esteemed general suggests that there is no segment of society in which gay marriage is not gaining acceptance. There are on the list centrist Republicans, more libertarian figures and even social conservatives. In a phone interview Mehlman said, “I think the diversity of the people is a reflection of what we have seen which is increased support in every demographic [for gay marriage].”

In the brief, the signatories argue that they “have concluded that marriage is strengthened, and its value to society and to individual families and couples is promoted, by providing access to civil marriage for all American couples—heterosexual or gay or lesbian alike. In particular, civil marriage provides stability for the children of same-sex couples, the value of which cannot be overestimated. 

In light of these conclusions, amici believe that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits States from denying same-sex couples the legal rights and responsibilities that flow from the institution of civil marriage.” They argue that their belief in judicial restraint nevertheless is informed by their understanding that our “constitutional tradition empowers and requires the judiciary to protect our most cherished liberties against overreaching by the government, including overreach through an act of legislature or electorate. That principle, no less than our commitment to democratic self-government, is necessary to individual freedom and limited government.”

The signatories also argue from precedent that marriage is a fundamental right that enhances liberty. (“For those who choose to marry, the rights and responsibilities conveyed by civil marriage provide a bulwark against unwarranted government intervention into deeply personal concerns such as medical and child-rearing decisions.”) The brief contends, “It is precisely because marriage is so important in producing and protecting strong and stable family structures that the goal of strengthening families favors civil marriage for same-sex couples.” They make the case that even under the lowest level of 14th Amendment scrutiny, banning gay marriage cannot be defended:
Amici do not believe there is a legitimate, fact based justification for excluding same-sex couples from civil marriage. Over the past two decades, the arguments presented by proponents of such initiatives have been discredited by social science, rejected by courts, and contradicted by amici’s personal experience with same-sex couples, including those whose civil marriages have been legally performed and recognized in various States. Amici thus do not believe that any “reasonable support in fact” exists for arguments that allowing same-sex couples to join in civil marriage will damage or distort the institution, jeopardize children, or cause any other social ills. Rather, the facts and evidence show that permitting civil marriage for same sex couples will enhance the institution, protect children, and benefit society generally. Banning marriage for same-sex couples, in contrast, undermines these critical societal goals: Such bans impede family formation, harm children, and discourage fidelity, responsibility, and stability.
Put differently in layman’s terms, marriage confirms benefits and there are insufficient policy reasons to deprive gay couples of those benefits. Mehlman says, “The more people see gay couples getting married, the more they will see that marriage is a good thing.” With marriage, he says, “Freedom advances. Family values advance.” Mehlman thinks a decision in favor of gay marriage will be readily accepted. “I’ve noticed Republicans and conservatives respect the law,” he says of the reaction to previous cases. Indeed, it is remarkable how little discussion of gay marriage there has been in the presidential race. While potential candidates continue to voice their view that they “believe in traditional marriage,” many — including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida governor Jeb Bush — have all affirmed that they abide by court decisions. There is no real movement to defy the courts, and given the shift in opinions, it is nearly inconceivable that enough states could be induced to sign up for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Unlike abortion, which even proponents of abortion rights usually concede is a bad thing, gay marriage — no matter how its opponents might struggle — has not proved to be destructive or harmful in states where it has been adopted. The premise that gay marriage harms heterosexual marriage has never been very compelling. The longer Americans live with gay marriage, the less of an issue it seems to become. Americans remain a tolerant and accepting people. One strongly suspects that the court will agree with the signatories and thereby put the issue to rest as a legal matter. For many Americans, it is already a non-issue, and I agree with Mehlman that the rest will acknowledge once the court speaks that there is no turning the clock back.

Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.

Via JMG: UNITED NATIONS: Russia Tries To Block Marriage Benefits For LGBT Staffers


Foreign Policy reports:
Last June, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a far-reaching administrative ruling that offered marital benefits for the first time to all of the United Nations’ lesbian and gay employees, as well as to other U.N. workers who had entered legally recognized domestic partnerships. On Monday, March 2, Russia gave the plan a resounding nyet.

Speaking Monday morning at a meeting of the U.N.’s main budget committee, a Russian diplomat demanded that Ban reverse his decision on the matter, saying the U.N. chief’s action violated a U.N. General Assembly resolution that left it to U.N. employees’ governments to determine whether are eligible for spousal benefits. Moscow has been weighing whether to force a vote in the budget committee, known as the Fifth Committee, to halt funding such benefits, a vote that it likely could win. Unlike the U.N. Security Council, the United States and other big powers don’t have the power to veto votes in the Fifth Committee. While its decisions are generally made by consensus, states can call for a vote.

“We will insist that the secretary-general urgently revoke the administrative bulletin” expanding benefits to same-sex couples, the Russian diplomat told the committee. Russia’s critics characterized the gambit as a cynical political maneuver aimed at checking the authority of a U.N. leader who has clashed with Moscow over its policies from Syria to Ukraine. Russia has transformed what is by all accounts a low-priority administrative dispute into a high-profile power struggle with the U.N. leader.
Russia's move is being opposed by the United States and the European Union. (Tipped by JMG reader Zhera)


Reposted from Joe Jervis

JMG HomoQuotable - Noah Michelson



"From Grindr profiles that demand 'masc only' to men like [Russell] Tovey who think their masculinity -- however manufactured, however antithetical to who they truly were when they landed on this planet -- is what makes them marketable or desirable, our obsession with what it means to be a man and what it means to fall short of that is keeping us from becoming truly liberated.

"If it weren't for my father, I wouldn't be who I am today. I could have been forced to play football in hopes that it would somehow unleash the man dozing inside of me. I could have been sent to therapy in hopes that I could be reprogrammed, repaired, made whole. I could have ended up with a belt around my neck and swinging from the light fixture in our formal dining room. But I wasn't. But I didn't. I am one of the lucky ones.

"My father died eight years ago. He never got to see the man that I've become and we never specifically talked about everything he did for me -- what he made me -- simply by loving me. Without a son of my own, it's a gift that I can only attempt to pay forward to the thousands of boys and men who come after me -- who brush past me in crowded subway cars or surround me on Facebook or might be reading this now -- by speaking up and saying I am a faggot and it didn't happen by mistake. And if you're a faggot too, I hope you know you don't need to toughen up. You never have to stop prancing. You are not a mistake." - Noah Michelson, writing for the Huffington Post.



Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: HRC Claims Record With "People's Brief"


 
According to the Human Rights Campaign, their People's Brief to the US Supreme Court has garnered over 207,000 signatures, a record of an amicus brie. HRC head Chad Griffin: "Each and every signature on this brief – more than 200,000 of them – is a piece of evidence that this country is ready for marriage equality. Through this historic document, the American people, LGBT and allies alike, are standing shoulder to shoulder to insist on fairness for all. Ultimately, this brief tells a simple truth – the Constitution cannot tolerate discrimination, and it's time for all couples to be treated equally under the law." The brief will be delivered to SCOTUS on Friday.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia- Flor del día- Flower of the day 03/03/2015

“Durante o estágio do processo de expansão da consciência que tenho chamado de “ABC da Espiritualidade” ou “purificação do eu inferior”, nos dedicamos a transformar aspectos destrutivos da personalidade. Ao desenvolver-se nesse processo, você começa a tomar consciência de partes suas que até então não conhecia. Conforme vai retirando as lentes que distorcem a percepção, você começa a ter uma visão objetiva da realidade, e a perceber sutilezas da atuação da natureza inferior que antes não via. Com isso, muitas vezes você tem a impressão de estar regredindo no processo, mas isso não é verdade. Eu diria que essa sensação é, na realidade, uma medida de sucesso no caminho espiritual, porque significa que sua percepção está ampliando e sua visão está se expandindo.”

“Durante la etapa del proceso de expansión de la conciencia que vengo llamando "ABC de la Espiritualidad" o "purificación del yo inferior", nos dedicamos a transformar aspectos destructivos de la personalidad. Al desarrollarte en este proceso, comienzas a tomar conciencia de partes tuyas que hasta entonces no conocías. Conforme vas quitando los lentes que distorsionan la percepción, comienzas a tener una visión objetiva de la realidad, y a percibir sutilezas de la actuación de la naturaleza inferior que antes no veías. Con esto, muchas veces tienes la impresión de estar retrocediendo en el proceso, pero esto no es verdad. Yo diría que esta sensación es, en realidad, una medida de éxito en el camino espiritual, porque significa que tu percepción se está ampliando y tu visión se está expandiendo.”

“During the stage within the process of expanding our consciousness called the ‘ABC of Spirituality’ or the ‘purification of the lower self’, we dedicate ourselves to transforming the destructive aspects of our personality. As this process evolves, we begin to become aware of the parts in us that we didn’t even know existed. As we remove the lenses that distort our perception, we start to have an objective take on reality. We begin to perceive the subtle ways our lower nature acts that we hadn’t seen before. As this occurs, we often believe that we are regressing in our process, but that’s not true. This sensation is, in fact, an indication of success on the spiritual path because it means that our perception is increasing and our vision is expanding.”

Via Daily Dharma


Mind Control | March 3, 2015


My life is uncomfortable only when I am not capable of controlling my mind. If I am in charge of my mind, then I can live comfortably even in hell.

- Kim Iryop, "Mind Control"

Monday, March 2, 2015

Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Christian Activist Files Ballot Measure For Executing All Homosexuals



 
A Christian activist named Matt McLaughlin has filed a proposed ballot measure with the California Attorney General's office which would ask voters to approve the death penalty for homosexuality.  Wonkette has tried to identify McLaughlin:
The ballot initiative filing with the AG’s office offers little in the way of clues to McLaughlin’s identity, but there is an address that matches that of a lawyer by that name and address on avvo.com. When we looked the address up, it turned out to be a Mail Box Express store in Huntington Beach. Huh. That is definitely not a law office! In approximately four minutes of thorough searching, we also couldn’t come up with any legal cases involving a Matthew G. McLaughlin, and then we suddenly had to go read all of the think pieces about what color that dress was (#TeamGoldAndWhite), so we got distracted.
We DID get a hit on a Matt McLaughlin, lawyer, same Mail Box Express address, BOOM, who in 2004 submitted a citizen ballot initiative to give bibles to all public school kids in California, grades 1-12, because “great literature.” That initiative was way less crazy than the “sodomite” one (although still very crazy), and, as a Literate Person and also A English Major, we see the value of learning about how the Bible has impacted Western literature. More to the point, that initiative included an opt-out provision. However. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League and Americans United for Separation of Church and State were extremely suspicious, and McLaughlin didn’t collect the required number of signatures, so it didn’t go anywhere.
In order for the gay death penalty to be put to California voters, the backers of an initiative must pay the $200 filing fee (which has been done in this case) and then collect petition signatures equal to 5% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Per the results of the 2014 election, McLaughlin must gather about 366K names. Below is opening text of his Sodomite Suppression Act.



Reposted from  Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Nebraska Turns Cerulean



 
The color will shift to mustard should the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issue a stay. In January the Eighth Circuit declined to lift the stay in Missouri, which is shaded sapphire due to the legality of same-sex marriage in St. Louis and its recognition statewide. The Eighth Circuit will hear oral arguments in the cases out of Missouri, Arkansas, and South Dakota in May.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia- Flor del día- Flower of the day 2/03/2015:

O planeta Terra está atravessando um nódulo karmico. Estamos colhendo o plantio que fizemos durante um determinado ciclo do tempo. Temos fracassado em nossa tentativa de criar união; temos fracassado em nossa tentativa de sermos felizes. E o que podemos fazer para não piorar a situação? Ser felizes! Porque somente uma pessoa feliz não destrói. Mas, me refiro à felicidade autêntica – aquela que vem de dentro – e que está intimamente relacionada com a capacidade de criar união. Esse é o segredo para criarmos uma cultura de paz e prosperidade, e consequentemente é o caminho para o fim da crise de sustentabilidade.

El planeta Tierra está atravesando un nudo kármico. Estamos cosechando la siembra que hicimos durante un determinado ciclo del tiempo. Hemos fracasado en nuestro intento de crear unión; hemos fracasado en nuestro intento de ser felices. ¿Y qué podemos hacer para no empeorar la situación? ¡Ser felices! Porque solamente una persona feliz no destruye. Pero me refiero a la felicidad auténtica - aquella que viene desde adentro - y que está íntimamente relacionada con la capacidad de crear unión. Este es el secreto para crear una cultura de paz y prosperidad, y consecuentemente es el camino para el fin de la crisis de sustentabilidad.

Planet Earth is passing through a karmic nodule. We are harvesting the crops we have sown over a certain cycle of time. Our attempts to create union and to be happy have failed. So what can we do to avoid making the situation worse? Be happy! Only a happy person does not cause destruction. Here I am referring to true happiness; the happiness that comes from within, which is intimately related to our capacity to create union. This is the secret to creating a culture of peace and prosperity and, therefore, it is the path that will end the sustainability crisis.

Via Daily Dharma


The Mindfulness Solution | March 2, 2015


It is useful to distinguish between mindfulness as a mental state on one hand and the unskillful pursuit of this state on the other. Consider the case of a person plunging into the jungle, in search of a beautiful and healing flower, he gets torn up by thorns and battered by branches in the process. The problem is not that the flower itself is harmful; what is harmful is only the means of pursuing it.

- Andrew Olendzki, "The Mindfulness Solution"