Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	The Buddha said: "When a person has thoroughly understood the world, from top to bottom, when there is nothing in the world that agitates him anymore, then he has become somebody who is free from confusion and fears and tremblings and the longings of desire. He has gone beyond getting old and beyond birth and death." - Sutta Nipata More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Being Liberal / FB:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 1, 2013

The Simple Act of Attention

Empathy naturally leads to compassionate action. But simple inattention kills empathy, let alone compassion. So the first step in compassion is to notice the other's need. It all begins with the simple act of attention.

- Daniel Goleman, “I Feel Your Brain”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through February 2nd, 2013
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Via Give a Damn Campaign / FB:

Via JMG: Nielsen: Gays Shop & Spend More

Nielsen has come to the shocking conclusion that gay men go shopping a lot.

American same-sex partnered households have significant spending power. In fact, same-sex partnered households make 16 percent more shopping trips than the average U.S. household each year (173 average shopping trips vs. 149 average shopping trips for total U.S. households), according to a recent Nielsen report measuring the shopping habits of U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) households. The additional shopping trips translate into a marked difference in total spending on consumer packaged goods (CPG). Same-sex partnered households spend an average of $8,651 each year on CPG, compared with $6,898 for the average U.S. household. Within the LGBT community, male same-sex partnered households shop more frequently than female same-sex households (182 trips vs. 163 trips), raising male same-sex household annual CPG spending to $8,943—nearly 30 percent higher than the average U.S. household.

But the below chart that compares where gay men and lesbians exceed the national purchasing average is more interesting, yes?  The linked article doesn't make it clear, but one presumes the overall average for each of the below categories is 100.

(Tipped by JMG reader Thomas)

Labels: LGBT culture, Nielsen, retail

Reposted from Joe

Via FB

Via JMG: Syron: Here (Official Music Video)

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	There are thousands upon thousands of students who have practiced meditation and obtained its fruits. Do not doubt its possibilities because of the simplicity of the method. If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? - The Practice of Meditation, Zen Master Dogen More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 31, 2013

Mature Wisdom

The test of how far your wisdom has matured lies in the strategic skill with which you can keep yourself from doing things that you like to do but that would cause long-term harm, and the skill with which you can talk yourself into doing things that you don’t like to do but that would lead to long-term well-being and happiness. In other words, mature wisdom requires a mature ego.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “Hang On to Your Ego”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through February 1st, 2013
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Via JMG: Conference Of Catholic Bishops Files SCOTUS Briefs On DOMA & Prop 8

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today filed Supreme Court briefs against the overturn of DOMA and Proposition 8.
From their DOMA brief:

The USCCB brief in United States v. Windsor says that “there is no fundamental right to marry a person of the same sex.” The brief also states that “as defined by courts ‘sexual orientation’ is not a classification that should trigger heightened scrutiny,” such as race or ethnicity would. It added that “civil recognition of same-sex relationships is not deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and tradition—quite the opposite is true. Nor can the treatment of such relationships as marriages be said to be implicit in the concept of ordered liberty, such that neither liberty nor justice would exist if they were sacrificed.” USCCB argued that previous Supreme Court decisions “describing marriage as a fundamental right plainly contemplate the union of one man and one woman.” The USCCB also cautioned that a decision invalidating DOMA “would have adverse consequences in other areas of law.”

From their Proposition 8 brief:

“While this Court has held that laws forbidding private, consensual, homosexual conduct between adults lack a rational basis, it does not follow that the government has a constitutional duty to encourage or endorse such conduct. Thus, governments may legitimately decide to further the interests of opposite-sex unions only. Similarly, minimum standards of rationality under the Constitution do not require adopting the lower court’s incoherent definition of ‘marriage’ as merely a ‘committed lifelong relationship,’ which is wildly over-inclusive, empties the term of its meaning, and leads to absurd results.” “Marriage, understood as the union of one man and one woman, is not an historical relic, but a vital and foundational institution of civil society today,” the USCCB brief states.

(Via Zack Ford @ Think Progress)

Labels: Catholic Church, child abuse, cults, DOMA, marriage equality, molestation, Proposition 8, SCOTUS, UCCB, Vatican

Reposted from Joe