Monday, April 30, 2012

Via JMG: Editorial Of The Day


From the New York Times:
North Carolina already has a law barring same-sex marriage, but the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature is not satisfied. It devised a measure to enshrine this obvious discrimination in the State Constitution and placed it on the ballot of the state’s May 8 primary election — a test of tolerance versus bigotry that ought to be watched closely nationwide. [snip] Opponents of marriage equality have never been able to show any evidence that any harm is caused to heterosexual marriages by granting all American adults the right to marry as they choose — because there is no such evidence. With little more than a week to go before the May 8 contest, and early voting already under way, North Carolinians need to consider whether they really want to inflict this gratuitous bigotry on their fellow citizens and their children.
Read the full editorial.


Reposted from Joe

JMG Quote Of The Day II- John Shore



"What immediately became a meme amongst those criticizing Dan is that those who walked out of his talk felt bullied by him. But that’s impossible. People get bullied because of who they are: how they look and act, what they say and do. Perceived as being in some critical way weak or lacking, victims of bullies are selected for persecution; they are pulled from the pack before being pointedly and repeatedly victimized. The people who walked out during Dan’s talk were not separated from their peers by anyone. They were content to do that themselves. They were not frightened or cowed. They were offended. They felt that by disparaging what amounts to their God, Dan had transgressed beyond their capacity for toleration. And they were pleased to show their intolerance of Dan’s words by protesting against them in the manner they did. Theirs was not an act born of suffering. It was a proud show of disdain." - Christian author John Shore.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: North Carolina's New Lunch Counter?


 
Copyranter points us to the website Every 1 Against 1, where you can download anti-Amendment One images to post on your Facebook profiles and elsewhere.
 
  
Reposted from Joe

Via ॐ Blue Buddha Quote Collective:


ॐ Blue Buddha Quote Collective shared 2012 Healing the Planet 2012's photo.


Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind.
To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all.  ~ Buddha

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 30, 2012

 

Every Situation, An Opportunity

Spiritual practitioners thrive in unpredictable conditions, testing and refining the inner qualities of heart and mind. Every situation becomes an opportunity to abandon judgment and opinions and to simply give complete attention to what is.
- Shaila Catherine, "Equanimity in Every Bite"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Via Follower of the Buddha / Facebook:



Namo Buddhaya Namo Dharmaya Namo Sanghaya སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་དང་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་མཆོག་རྣམས་ ལ། Sang-gye cho-dang tsog-kyi cho-nam-la I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha 諸佛正法眾中尊 བྱང་ཆུབ་བར་དུ་བདག་ནི་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི། Jang-chub bar-du dag-ni kyab-su-chi Until I attain enlightenment. 直至菩提我歸依དག་གིས་སྦྱིན་སོགས་བགྱིས་པའི་བསོད་ནམས་ ཀྱིས། Dag-gi jin-sog gyi-pe so-nam-kyi By the merit I have accumulated from practising generosity and the other perfections 我以所行施等善འགྲོ་ལ་ཕན་ཕྱིར་སངས་རྒྱས་འགྲྲུབ་པར་ཤོག །། Dro-la pan-chir sang-gye drub-par-shog May I attain enlightenment, for the benefit of all migrators. 為利眾生願成佛

Via JMG:

Today's Silly Lie From NOM


This weekend NOM posted the above story to their blog and Facebook page: "Clarence and Mayme Vail just became Guinness World Record holders for the longest living married couple — 83 years and counting! So what's their secret?" Bolding is mine because Clarence and Mayme have both been dead for years. That's their secret! (Via JMG reader Robert)

Labels: , ,

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 29, 2012

 

Inexhaustible Dharma

Some people think by giving everything away, you end up with nothing. But the Dharma is an inexhaustible well. However much you give of it, you can always go back for more, because in this well the more you take from it, the higher the water will rise.
- Master Sheng Yen, "Rich Generosity"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 28, 2012

The Moving Force of Gratitude

Gratitude is a way of undercutting your ego—that is, it is a way of being Buddhist. There is an awareness that we get now and then about what we owe to others, and Shinran feels that that should become the moving force of one’s life. That awakening, that awareness, transforms your way of dealing with life, with people, and with all things.
- Rev. Dr. Alfred Bloom, "Beyond Religion"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Friday, April 27, 2012

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

I wonder how Nebraska would handle a racist football coach?


Which is fine, so long as he keeps it to himself.  But I'd like to know how someone can be hired, or kept on, as a teacher once a school, especially a state school spending taxpayer money, finds out that the teacher is a very public bigot.  And lest anyone raise the free speech canard, would the University of Nebraska really keep an avowed racist activist as a teacher, or a coach?  How about a Klansman or a neo-Nazi?  Funny how complicated free speech gets when you take the gay out of the equation.

Via JMG: LGBT Couples Are More Mixed


More number crunching from the 2010 census.


Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Dialy Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 27, 2012

An Investigation of the Mind

We really must verify for ourselves that whatever thought comes into our mind has never acquired any true existence: thoughts are never born, they never dwell as something truly existing, and they have nowhere to go when they disappear from our mind.
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "An Investigation of the Mind"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Via JMG: GLAAD Challenges Romney On Boy Scouts


GLAAD today kicked the current Boy Scouts controversy into the lap of Mitt Romney, digging out the above 1994 quote. Over 155,000 people have already signed the petition asking the Boy Scouts to reinstate den mother Jennifer Tyrrell, who was booted from her volunteer position for being gay.


Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 26, 2012

Allowing Some Space

If we can allow some space within our awareness and rest there, we can respect our troubling thoughts and emotions, allow them to come, and let them go. Our lives may be complicated on the outside, but we remain simple, easy, and open on the inside.
- Tsoknyi Rinpoche, "Allow for Space"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Republicans defend "don't say gay" bill in Missouri

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

JMG HomoQuotable - Barney Frank


"I don’t need the president’s permission to get married. He’s doing a great thing against DOMA. I think you make a great mistake by focusing only on negative things, I think that’s a mistake politically. I think we ought to be celebrating the gains as well as pushing further. [snip] The president did an enormous thing for us when he not only said that DOMA was unconstitutional, but said that any gay and lesbian issues had to be decided with that higher standard. I’m very happy with that. I’m not going to criticize him for not going further on that." - Barney Frank, speaking to the Washington Blade.


Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 25, 2012

Eliminating Suffering

The practice is to make the non-arising of grasping and clinging absolute, final, and eternally void, so that no grasping and clinging can ever return. Just that is enough. There is nothing else to do.
- Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, "A Single Handful"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

NEVER AGAIN: President Obama Mentions Gay Victims Of The Holocaust ia JMG: NEVER AGAIN: President Obama Mentions Gay Victims Of The Holocaust


In a speech yesterday at Washington's Holocaust Memorial, President Obama mentioned the homosexual victims of the Holocaust alongside a list of other groups targeted by the Nazi Party.
“We must tell our children about a crime unique in human history… The one and only Holocaust — six million innocent people — men, women, children, babies — sent to their deaths just for being different, just for being Jewish. We tell them, our children, about the millions of Poles and Catholics and Roma and gay people and so many others who also must never be forgotten. We must tell our children… But more than that, we must teach them. Because remembrance without resolve is a hollow gesture. Awareness without action changes nothing. In this sense, ‘never again’ is a challenge to us all — to pause and to look within.”
The number of gays who perished in the Holocaust is unknown, although as many as 100,000 homosexual men were arrested by the Nazis.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Proposed Bill Outlaws "Ex-Gay" Therapy For Kids Under 18


California state Sen. Ted Lieu (D) has introduced a bill that would outlaw "ex-gay" or so-called reparative therapy for children under the age of 18. Around The Capitol sums up the proposed item:
This bill would prohibit psychotherapists, as defined, from performing sexual orientation change efforts, as defined, in the absence of informed consent of the patient. The bill would require a specified statement to be included on the informed consent form. Informed consent would not be effective for patients under 18 years of age. The bill would provide for a cause of action against psychotherapists by patients, former patients, or certain other persons in specified cases.
Think Progress notes that the bill passed out of its Senate subcommittee yesterday.


Reposted from Joe

How My Priest Helped Me Come Out

Via JMG: Your Gayness Is A Hobby


"Stop using the word gay, because implicit in the notion of a gay identity is the fact that they’re born gay and that it should be a fundamental human right, but fundamental human rights are based on human nature not on capricious desires. If fundamental human rights are based on capricious desires, guess what, we’d have every group on this planet with a different hobby arguing for fundamental rights and benefits based on the fact that they play hockey, based on the fact that they play basketball or surf, or anything that they’re interested in." - Anti-gay activist Ryan Sorba, speaking at Awakening 2012, a convention of hate group leaders.


reposted from Joe

Bia JMG: Babs Turns 70 Today



And here's her first ever charting single, People. The clip below is from her Oscar-winning performance in the 1968 movie version of Funny Girl, but the single reached #5 on the Billboard pop chart when it was first released from the 1964 original Broadway cast recording. Yes kids, Babs had her first hit record 48 years ago.




Reposted from Joe

Monday, April 23, 2012

Tibetan Chant - Heart Sutra

Phoenix LGBT flash mob silences bigoted preachers with "Born This Way"

Via JMG: IOWA: Sioux City Newspaper Devotes Front Page To Stopping Anti-Gay Bullying


JMG reader Alan points us to this AP story:
In a rare and forceful act of advocacy, an Iowa newspaper devoted the entire front page of its Sunday edition to an anti-bullying editorial after a gay teen committed suicide. Relatives have said 14-year-old Kenneth Weishuhn Jr. suffered intense harassment, including threatening cellphone calls and nasty comments posted online, after coming out to family and friends about a month ago. He died April 15 from what the local sheriff's office described only as a "self-inflicted injury." The Sioux City Journal's front-page opinion piece calls on the community to be pro-active in stopping bullying and urges members to learn more about the problem by seeing the acclaimed new film, "Bully," which documents the harassment of a Sioux City middle school student. It notes that while many students are targeted for being gay, "we have learned a bully needs no reason to strike."
Hit the link for the full editorial.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Bright Side: Romney's New Homocon Is Infuriating The Talibangelicals



reposted from Joe

JMG EXPOSED: Secret Christian Facebook Group Plots Web Attacks On Gay Sites



Fellow blogger Alvin McEwen has uncovered a secret Facebook group whose members share tips on how to flag and take down gay blogs, Facebook pages, and YouTube clips that they find contrary to the Christianist cause. According to McEwen, among the group's members are well-known religious leaders and anti-gay activists.
Based upon information I received from an anonymous source, there is a project afoot by members of the religious right to strike at the gay community via sites like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook. This project is conducted by a secret Facebook group called Truth4Time. According to the creator of the group (whose name shall remain anonymous because he is not a public figure), Truth4Time is supposed to be a library of anti-gay articles, blogs, and other materials for its members to use in their fight against the supposed "gay agenda." Apparently the group has a large lists of documents which contains anti-gay information (i.e. propaganda) that members are invited to use. The founder says that the group is supposed to be a sort of a "behind the scenes support system for the religious right. He seems to think that he is on some type of divine mission.
Hit this link for sample postings from the group, which is apparently invisible to non-members. McEwen has redacted their names because some members are private citizens. He also notes that the group is particularly focused on JMG. Because I'm in cahoots with Satan!
reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 23, 2012

The Koans of Life

Something appears sometimes to be good or bad or right or wrong or long or short or big or small—but what is it overall? The same thing with our life. We must see what it is beyond duality. Our life literally comes down to right now. Now! Here! What is it?
- Maezumi Roshi, "Appreciate Your Life"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi Honored at National AIDS Memorial Grove

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Via JMG: The Death Penalty In America


 
Texas is responsible for one-third of all executions since 1976.


reposted from Joe

Thank you Secretary of State Clinton!

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 22, 2012

The Reality of Liberation

Nirvana manifests as ease, as love, as connectedness, as generosity, as clarity, as unshakable freedom. This isn’t watering down nirvana. This is the reality of liberation that we can experience, sometimes in a moment and sometimes in transformative ways that change our entire life.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Via JMG: StopBullying.gov


From the Obama administration. Valerie Jarrett explains:
Earlier today, we screened BULLY at the White House. We were joined by bullying prevention advocates from a range of communities – LGBT, AAPI, faith, disability, and others – as well as educational partners and key Obama Administration staff who work on these issues every day, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Before the film, a panel of nationally recognized experts on bullying prevention spoke from their perspectives about challenges and opportunities, and after the film, we heard from Lee Hirsch, the director and filmmaker, and several of the students and families who were directly impacted by bullying and intolerance and whose stories were featured in the film. This film is a powerful call to action: We must do everything we can to work toward the day when no young person or family suffers the pain, agony, and loss caused by bulling in our schools and communities.
Stop Bullying.


Reposted from Joe

Via Facebook:

Via AmericaBlog Gay: Anglican chaplain says Jesus probably gay



He said it in a Good Friday service.  That must have been an interesting service. Here's an excerpt

Was that divisive issue a subject for Good Friday? For the first time in my ministry I felt it had to be. Those last words of Jesus would not let me escape. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman behold your son!' Then he said to the disciple. 'Behold your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home."

That disciple was John whom Jesus, the gospels affirm, loved in a special way. All the other disciples had fled in fear. Three women but only one man had the courage to go with Jesus to his execution. That man clearly had a unique place in the affection of Jesus. In all classic depictions of the Last Supper, a favourite subject of Christian art, John is next to Jesus, very often his head resting on Jesus's breast. Dying, Jesus asks John to look after his mother and asks his mother to accept John as her son. John takes Mary home. John becomes unmistakably part of Jesus's family.
Jesus was a Hebrew rabbi. Unusually, he was unmarried. The idea that he had a romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene is the stuff of fiction, based on no biblical evidence. The evidence, on the other hand, that he may have been what we today call gay is very strong.

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 21, 2012

The End of Your World

The process of finding the truth may not be a process by which we feel increasingly better and better. It may be a process by which we look at things honestly, sincerely, truthfully, and that may or may not be an easy thing to do.
- Adyashanti, "Bliss is a By-Product"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Friday, April 20, 2012

Via JMG: Does Wal-Mart Spawn Hate Groups?


In a fascinating study, researchers say that the number of Wal-Mart locations in any particular region tends to correlate with the number of SPLC-certified hate groups.

The number of Wal-Mart stores was second only to the designation of a county as a Metropolitan Statistical Area in statistical significance for predicting the number of hate groups in a county, according to the study. The researchers, who reported their findings in the online version of , said that the number of Wal-Mart stores in a county was more significant statistically than factors commonly regarded as important to hate group participation, such as the unemployment rate, high crime rates and low education.
Researchers say they are not singling out Wal-Mart in particular and that other big box retailers likely have a similar effect on "community cohesion."


Reposted from Joe

JMG Editorial Of The Day


From the Washington Post:
WHITE HOUSE press secretary Jay Carney spent a good chunk of his time during a briefing last week trying to explain why President Obama has declined to issue an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. Mr. Carney struggled for some eight minutes but was unable to give a satisfactory answer. That’s understandable, because there is no principled reason for refusing to extend such workplace protections to millions of Americans. [snip] The president played a pivotal role in the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and also deserves credit for refusing to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. He should again seize the mantle of leadership by issuing an executive order that prohibits the federal government from doing business with contractors that fail to guarantee basic fairness to their LGBT employees.

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: What's Important To Voters


Source.


Reposted from Joe

Crazy shit via JMG: Wingnut Site Of The Day


Go to Now The End Begins for one-stop shopping. Homophobia, end times, racism, theocracy, Christian Sharia, dominionism, Zionism. They've got it all!


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Day Of Silence: Then And Now

Clip description:
We dug up some old photos from Day of Silence back in the day. Look how far we've come! We're so proud of everyone who participates in Day of Silence each year, working together to end the bullying and harassment that LGBT students face in school each day. Together, we're building safer schools!





posted by Joe

Via JMG: Obama Endorses Federal Anti-Bullying Law


Today the White House thoughtfully picked the Day Of Silence to endorse the federal Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) and the Safe Schools Improvement Act.

Chris Geidner reports at Metro Weekly:
White House spokesman Shin Inouye tells Metro Weekly, "The President and his Administration have taken many steps to address the issue of bullying. He is proud to support the Student Non-Discrimination Act, introduced by Senator Franken and Congressman Polis, and the Safe Schools Improvement Act, introduced by Senator Casey and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez. These bills will help ensure that all students are safe and healthy and can learn in environments free from discrimination, bullying and harassment." The SSIA would amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to include bullying- and harassment-prevention programs, including ones based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The SNDA, modeled after Title IX, would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal education nondiscrimination law.
Tonight the White House is also screening the movie Bully to an audience of community activists. Reactions from LGBT rights groups are below.

GLSEN
"Today is a day that I have hoped for since I began my work as an anti-bullying advocate after losing my son Carl," said Sirdeaner Walker. "I believe that President Obama's explicit endorsement of the Safe Schools Improvement Act will make a tremendous difference in moving this issue forward. Having met with the President three times, I knew his support for SSIA and the Student Non-Discrimination Act was genuine. But stating that publicly on GLSEN's Day of Silence pushes it to a whole new level. While nothing can bring Carl back, I know that these bills can make a real difference to end the bullying and harassment that is faced by too many other sons and daughters today."

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
“We thank President Obama for endorsing the Safe Schools Improvement Act and Student Non-Discrimination Act. The epidemic of bullying and discrimination in our nation’s schools is a tragedy and an outrage. No student should fear getting beaten up, harassed and tormented while simply trying to get an education. We have a responsibility to ensure all young people are protected from this pervasive bullying, discrimination and abuse. Parents, educators, policymakers — all of us — need to stand against this unacceptable behavior. The president did that today. We urge him to now help get these life-saving bills through Congress.”
Lambda Legal
"We applaud the Obama administration for endorsing this critical piece of legislation. We thank Sen. Al Franken,Rep. Jared Polis, Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Tammy Baldwin and over 50other current sponsors for their leadership on this bill and we urge Congress to pass it. At Lambda Legal, we've encountered extraordinary cases of violence and discrimination against LGBT young peoplein schools - and sometimes against the allies who try to support them. The Student Non-Discrimination Act takes a big step toward a safer and healthier environment in every public school."
ACLU
“Having the White House stand behind the Student Non-Discrimination Act is key to getting this necessary legislation passed into law,” said Ian Thompson, ACLU legislative representative. “Our public schools should be a safe harbor for our youth, not a place of exclusion and ridicule. By passing the Student Non-Discrimination Act, Congress can have a profound and very real impact in improving the lives of LGBT students. It’s time to make passage of this bill a priority.”
Human Rights Campaign
“The President’s endorsement of the SNDA and SSIA recognizes the importance of providing LGBT students with the same civil rights protections as other students,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “No student should feel scared when walking into their school and these bills would address the discrimination and bullying that our youth have endured for far too long.”

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 20, 2012

Cutting the Roots of Craving

The misguided man in whom the thirty-six currents of craving strongly rush toward pleasurable objects, is swept away by the flood of his passionate thoughts. Everywhere these currents flow, and the creeper (of craving) sprouts and grows. Seeing that the creeper has sprung up, cut off its root with wisdom.
- The Buddha, "From the Canon: Thirst"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection