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.
Friday, October 22, 2010
thank you Mr. President!
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Daniel -- Yesterday, President Obama recorded a video message for the "It Gets Better" project. Take a look: Recently, several young people took their own lives after being bullied by their peers for being gay or being perceived as gay. The President's message -- like thousands of others that have been recorded and uploaded to the project -- is one of hope and support: You are loved, you are not alone. It gets better. Please watch the video, and then share it with anyone you think may need to hear this message: http://my.barackobama.com/ItGetsBetter Thanks, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America |
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Via Freedom to Marry:
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Thursday, October 21, 2010
Via JMG: Buddhists Win Google Stereotypes
Buddhists Win Google Stereotypes
When you begin a Google search with the question "Why are [Christians, Jews, Muslims] so" - you get the above suggestions. The same query regarding Buddhists yields only "happy."
UPDATE: It's not listed in the above-linked story, but I've done the same query on atheists.
Via JMG: Andrew Sullivan On Homocons And GOProud: They Are Nauseating
In a video essay posted today on Big Think, Andrew Sullivan muses "How Can Anyone Be Gay And Republican?" Here's an excerpt.
You know, I used to say, we have to stay in these parties because certainly gay people do not want to become a Democratic Party constituency that is totally taken for granted, which is, of course, what has happened. When you have no leverage over the party, they don’t do anything for you—except take your money and invite you to cocktail parties, which is all that’s happened really in two years under Obama with two houses of Congress.Watch the video on Big Think. Obviously, we agree.
But at the same time, you know, this Homocon thing... it was in someone’s apartment. I mean the idea that this has been any genuine meaning out there for most people, there are plenty of gay people; many, many, many more I think than other minority groups actually, who would love a party of limited small government, prudent, strong foreign policy, balanced budgets, live and let live, like the British Tories. And if the Republican Party ever becomes that again, I think there will be plenty of places for gay people in it.
But to do so and join a party on condition that we oppose our own civil rights and our own basic civil equality seems a non-starter for me. I mean, it’s... there’s something quite nauseating about it actually. And you see even, like, Chris Barron who is the head of Homocon, or whatever they are calling themselves, GOProud, having to say that when Jim DeMint goes on and says that no gay person should be a school teacher, which is to the—which Ronald Reagan rejected in 1978—where are you left?
Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Ted Olson
"It happens every once in awhile at the federal level when the solicitor general, on behalf of the U.S., will confess error or decline to defend a law. I don't know what is going through the [Obama] administration's thought process on 'don't ask, don't tell.' It would be appropriate for them to say 'the law has been deemed unconstitutional, we are not going to seek further review of that.'" - Former Bush administration Solicitor General Ted Olson.
Via JMG: Tweet Of The Day - AFER
Labels: AFER, California, David Boies, marriage equality, Perry v Schwarzenengger, Proposition 8, Ted Olson
Via JMG: DOD Revises DADT Discharge Procedure
In response to the murky legal waters currently swirling around DADT, the Pentagon has announced it is raising the rank of persons able to make the call to eject a gay or lesbian servicemember. Chris Geidner reports at Metro Weekly:
Discharges under the military's ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy will now take the approval of the service branch secretary, and only in consultation with the defense department general counsel and the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, according to a pair of memoranda issued by senior military leadership today.The message I'm seeing is that the Pentagon intends to make it extremely hard to kick someone out.
Until further notice, pursuant to a memorandum from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and a follow-up memorandum from Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley, no service member can be discharged under DADT without the ''personal approval of the secretary of the military department concerned, and only in coordination with me and the General Counsel of the Department of Defense.''
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
JMG:
Morning View - GLAAD's Spirit Day
I haven't shaved in ten days, hence the cropping, but at least I remembered to wear purple for GLAAD's Spirit Day. Hopefully the folks at Chirpin' Chicken will find this meaningful when I leave the apartment for lunch.
L
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Via JMG: GLAAD Promotes Oct. 20th As "Spirit Day"
GLAAD wants to turn the world purple on October 20th.
The idea behind Spirit Day, first created by teenager Brittany McMillan earlier this month, is a simple one, not dissimilar to the idea of "Spirit Week" held in many high schools, and can be summed up in three words: Everyone Rally Together. Spirit Day honors the teenagers who had taken their own lives in recent weeks. But just as importantly, it's also a way to show the hundreds of thousands of LGBT youth who face the same pressures and bullying, that there is a vast community of people who support them. Purple symbolizes 'spirit' on the rainbow flag, a symbol for LGBT Pride that was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978. As one of the event's Facebook pages says: "This event is not a seminar nor is it a rally. There is NO meeting place. All you have to do is wear purple."I do have a lovely purple dress shirt.....
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