A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 28, 2013
Our Shelter Within
When
we can be secure in our inner source for true happiness, we don’t
expose ourselves to the devastation that comes when outside hopes for
happiness and security are dashed. We have our shelter, our place of
security, inside. And we needn’t be afraid that this is an escapist
shelter. When the basis of our well-being is firm within, we can act
with true courage and compassion for others, for we’re coming from a
solid position of calmness and strength.
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- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “What We’ve Been Practicing For”
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Via JMG: 300 Corporations & Cities File DOMA Brief
A coalition of almost 300 corporations, cities, and other organizations,
some of whom also appear on yesterday's Prop 8 brief, have filed a
Supreme Court brief in support of the overturn of DOMA. The ACLU
reports via press release:
Reposted from Joe
Signers include Amazon.com, Apple, Bank of New York, CBS, Cisco Systems, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Facebook, Google, JetBlue, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss & Co, Liberty Mutual, Marriott International, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, NIKE, Pfizer, Starbucks, Twitter, Viacom, Walt Disney Company and Xerox and the cities of Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Santa Monica and Seattle, among others.Scanning the full brief, I also see Adobe, Alaska Airlines, Diageo, Intuit, M&M Mars, Pfizer, and REI. Sorry, haters. It's time to also boycott Flash, booze, spreadsheets, candy, boner pills, and camping tents! Enjoy your sober, flaccid, YouTube-free caves! And no Little Mermaid or Lion King for the kiddies, not that you'll be able to buy an anti-gay TV or cable provider.
Other supporters, including religious leaders, retired military personnel, children’s rights groups and former cabinet secretaries are expected to file their briefs later this week. Some groups will be holding a press conference at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, DC on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. announcing their support for Windsor’s case, as well as the Supreme Court case seeking to repeal California’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples.
Labels: business, DOMA, marriage equality, SCOTUS
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 27, 2013
Touching Liberation
Insight
can’t be found in sutras, commentaries, verbal expression, or —isms.
Liberation and awakened understanding can’t be found by devoting
ourselves to the study of the Buddhist scriptures. This is like trying
to find fresh water in dry bones. Returning to the present moment, using
our clear mind which exists right here and now, we can be in touch with
liberation and enlightenment, as well as with the Buddha and the
patriarchs as living realities right in this moment.
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- Thich Nhat Hanh, “Simply Stop”
Via JMG: Dozens Of Major Corporations To File Supreme Court Brief Against Prop 8
Later this week dozens of major corporations will file a joint Supreme Court brief in support of the overturn of Prop 8. The names are huge, people. Fortune Magazine reports:
On Thursday, dozens of American corporations, including Apple, Alcoa, Facebook, eBay, Intel, and Morgan Stanley will submit an amicus brief in the landmark Hollingsworth v. Perry case broadly arguing to the U.S. Supreme Court that laws banning same-sex marriages, like California's ballot initiative Proposition 8, are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.An excerpt from the brief declares that Proposition 8 "leaves companies in the untenable position of being compelled implicitly to endorse the second-class status to which their gay and lesbian employees, clients, customers, and business associates are relegated. Until the law no longer relegates same-sex couples to second-class status as inferior 'domestic partnerships,' our adherence to the law compels us to abide by a distinction that stigmatizes and dehumanizes gay men and lesbians."
According to a draft copy obtained by Fortune, the companies argue that such laws "send an unmistakeable signal that same-sex couples are in some way inferior to opposite-sex couples, a proposition that is anathema to amici's commitment to equality and fair treatment to all."
At least 60 companies had committed to signing the brief as of Tuesday evening, according to Joshua Rosenkranz, who is counsel of record on the brief and head of the Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. That number is expected to rise by Thursday, however, according to Rosenkranz. Others who have already committed to sign include AIG, Becton Dickinson, Cisco, Cummins, Kimpton, Levi Strauss, McGraw Hill, NCR, Nike, Office Depot, Oracle, Panasonic, Qualcomm, and Xerox.
Labels: business, marriage equality, Prop 8, Supreme Court
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
JMG HomoQuotable: Peter Tatchell
"Cardinal [Keith] O'Brien condemned homosexuality as a grave sin and was a long-time opponent of gay equality. He supported homophobic discrimination in law, including the current ban on same-sex marriage. In the light of these allegations, his stance looks hypocritical. He appears to have preached one thing in public while doing something different in private. Several other prominent opponents of equal marriage are guilty of double standards and vulnerable to similar exposure. They include anti-gay clergy and politicians.
"It is estimated that around 40% of Catholic priests in Britain are gay, which makes the church's opposition to gay equality so two-faced and absurd. A significant proportion of all Cardinals worldwide is thought to be gay. Recent revelations in Italy have alleged the existence of a gay mafia within the Vatican, including senior Cardinals and other Vatican officials, and their participation in gay bars, clubs, saunas, chat rooms and male prostitution services. The Vatican is shamelessly championing homophobia and the denial of legal equality to gay people, while hosting a hotbed of secret, guilt-ridden clerical homosexuality." - British activist Peter Tatchell, in a statement posted on his website.
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