Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Via JMG: Olympian Bode Miller Slams Russia


Five-time Olympic skiing medalist Bode Miller didn't hold back yesterday when the Associated Press asked him about Russia's anti-gay laws.
"'I think it's absolutely embarrassing that there's countries and there's people who are that intolerant and that ignorant," he said Monday, one of the few athletes willing to take a stand on the subject at the U.S. Olympic media summit featuring Sochi hopefuls. 'But it's not the first time," Miller said. "We've been dealing with human-rights issues probably since there were humans." At 35 and with five Olympic medals to his credit, Miller is trying for his fifth Winter Games. He has, over the years, built a reputation as an unconventional firebrand, unafraid to state his opinion on sports, skiing or society in general. He said the Russian law puts athletes in an awkward position. "I think it's unfortunate when they get stuffed together because there are politics in sports and athletics," Miller said. "They always are intertwined, even though people try to keep them separate or try to act like they're separate. Asking an athlete to go somewhere and compete and be a representative of a philosophy and ... then tell them they can't express their views or they can't say what they believe, I think is pretty hypocritical or unfair."

Reposted from Joe

Young boy pops Gillard the question on gay marriage


Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Ian McKellen


"As a gay participant in the opening ceremony of the London Paralympics in 2012, I am angered by the International Olympics Committee's announcement that harsh Russian anti-gay laws do not transgress its own Sixth Fundamental Principle of Olympism that 'any form of discrimination is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement.'  In Russia, it is now effectively illegal to speak about homosexuality in public. That means that openly gay visitors to Russia, including Olympians, are only welcome if they bring their closets with them. I agree with the Human Rights Campaign that, 'The IOC has completely neglected its responsibility to athletes, corporate sponsors, and fans.'" - Ian McKellen, writing on his Facebook page.


Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 1, 2013

Immediate Gratification

When you analyze it, the motivation to 'just feel good right now' is really just indulging our desires. The motivation to immediately gratify desire is what has driven most of our actions throughout our beginningless sojourn in samsara—all it has accomplished is to perpetuate our confusion, pain, and habitual inability to pull ourselves out of this mess. This is precisely the problem that Buddhism was invented to solve.
- David Patt,“Who’s Zoomin’ Who? The Commodification of Buddhism in the American Marketplace”
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