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Tricycle Daily Dharma April 5, 2012

Water the Flowers, Not the Weeds

If you’re out watering your flower garden by hand, you naturally concentrate the flow of water to benefit your beautiful flowers. If there’s an area of weeds, you don’t waste water there. As best you can, you avoid watering the weeds. It’s the same with your consciousness. You can learn to selectively water the positive seeds and flowers in you by attending to them. There are enough weeds. You don’t have to encourage them.

- Thomas Bien, “Water the Flowers, Not the Weeds”
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: Anti-Gay Liberian Christians Publish Hit List: "We Will Get Them One By One"

As a bill that worsens the penalty for homosexuality wends its way through Liberia's legislature, an anti-gay Christian group has published a hit list in which they vow to track down every gay person for brutal punishment.

The fliers include this threat: "Let these individuals be aware that we are coming after them soon. We urge them to also begin saying the Lord’s Prayer.”

The fliers distributed over the weekend in parts of Liberia’s capital were signed by the Movement Against Gay’s in Liberia, or MOGAL. The group said those involved in promoting gay rights “should not be given space to get a gulp of air.” “Having conducted a comprehensive investigation, we are convinced that the below listed individuals are gays or supporters of the club who don’t mean well for our country,” the fliers read. “Therefore, we have agreed to go after them using all means in life.” No individual members of MOGAL signed the flier. But Moses Tapleh, a 28-year-old resident of the main community where the flier was distributed, said he was affiliated with the group and stressed that its threats should be taken seriously. “We will get to them one by one,” Tapleh said. “They want to spoil our country.” Asked what specific action might be taken against those on the list, he said they could be subjected to “dangerous punishments” including “flogging and death.”

One of the persons named on the list said he has already received death threats by phone. Last month Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, refused to consider decriminalizing homosexuality, but said she would not sign the new bill to worsen the penalty to ten years in prison.

Labels: Christianists, gay death penalty, hate groups, LGBT rights, Liberia, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politcs Report:

• Group sues U.S. over treatment of binational couples
   
• The U.S. government’s treatment of binational same-sex couples is unconstitutional, according to a new federal lawsuit brought by five married couples and filed by the LGBT group Immigration Equality. Rachel Tiven, the group’s executive director, said negotiations with federal officials aimed at stopping the deportations of foreign nationals who have same- sex partners in the U.S. have not been successful. Unlike straight married individuals, gay and lesbian Americans are not allowed to sponsor their foreign partners or spouses for U.S. citizenship because the Defense of Marriage Act forbids the federal government from recognizing their relationships. Advocate.com (4/2)     

Via Gay Politcs Report:

• Romney funded Prop 8 through anti-gay group, documents reveal
   
• Mitt Romney's political action committee contributed $10,000 to help pass California's Proposition 8, but did so through a hard-to-detect PAC donation to the National Organization for Marriage, according to documents provided to the Human Rights Campaign by a whistle-blower at NOM. "It’s clear now that Romney was a major financial donor to Prop 8, but it’s also clear that his campaign very cleverly hid this contribution," said Fred Sainz, HRC's vice president for communications. NOM was a key player in the passage of Proposition 8, which ended legal marriage for same-sex couples in California. The Huffington Post (3/30)     

Via JMG: EU Launches LGBT Survey

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has commissioned Gallup Europe for a survey of the LGBT residents of the EU.

Besides occasional news reports about discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people, there is very little comparable data collected across the EU about the everyday experiences of LGBT people with respect to discrimination. Based on the survey results, national and European policy makers as well as non-governmental or civil society organisations will be able to better target their advocacy strategies and activities to support the LGBT community to live and express themselves freely without discrimination. In order to give weight to the results, the European LGBT Survey counts on the participation of a large and diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people from each country. This is the first EU-wide effort to collect LGBT experiences in the framework of the ever largest survey made in this field – make yours count as well!

The results should prove fascinating. The survey is open to LGBT residents of all 27 EU member states. Plus Croatia. Respondents must be 18 or over. Take the survey.

Labels: European Union, Gallup, LGBT rights, surveys

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Editorial Of The Day

From the New Jersey Star-Ledger:

The NOM agenda reveals the dark corners of a movement that will do anything to impose its will. To stop state courts or legislators from enacting marriage equality laws and to roll back the laws where they do exist, the organization established a plan that seeks to divide and conquer. And kick up a lot of distractions to damage the other side.

Among their goals: to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks,” make support of traditional marriage “a key badge of Latino identity” and develop “side issues,” such as pornography, to destabilize any consensus around gay marriage. As part of its “behind enemy lines” strategy, officials want to enlist children of same-sex couples to air “their concerns” on video.

It is sick beyond words that a group to “save” marriage would exploit racial and ethnic divisions, stir intolerance and fear, and even rip families apart by pitting children against parents. In their self-described “battle,” they come across as the biggest losers of all.

Read the full editorial.

Labels: hate groups, New Jersey, newspapers, NOM

Reposted from Joe

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 2, 2012

Bad Meditation? No Such Thing!

The mind can do wonderful and unexpected things. Meditators who are having a difficult time achieving a peaceful state of mind sometimes start thinking, 'Here we go again, another hour of frustration.' But often something strange happens; although they are anticipating failure, they reach a very peaceful meditative state. My first meditation teacher told me that there is no such thing as a bad meditation. He was right. During the difficult meditations you build up your strength, which creates meditation for peace.

- Ajahn Brahm, "Stepping Towards Enlightenment"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 1, 2012

The Secret of the Spiritual Path

On the spiritual path, there's nothing to get, and everything to get rid of. Obviously, the first thing to let go of is trying to 'get' love, and instead to give it. That's the secret of the spiritual path. How can we give ourselves? By not holding back. By not wanting for ourselves. If we want to be loved, we are looking for a support system. If we want to love, we are looking for spiritual growth.

- Ayya Khema, "What Love Is"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

HomoQuotable - John Waters

"When I was young there were beatniks. Hippies. Punks. Gangsters. Now you're a hacktivist. Which I would probably be if I was 20. Shuttin' down MasterCard. But there's no look to that lifestyle! Besides just wearing a bad outfit with bad posture. Has WikiLeaks caused a look? No! I'm mad about that. If your kid comes out of the bedroom and says he just shut down the government, it seems to me he should at least have an outfit for that. Get a look! I'm not judging what they do; I hope they don't shut me down." - John Waters, writing for the Wall Street Journal.

Labels: fashion, hacking, HomoQuotable, John Waters

Reposted from  Joe

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Tricycle Daily Dharma March 30, 2012

The Perfect Zen Student

When things are running smoothly, the refrigerator is very much like some people's idea of the perfect Zen student. It is calm, cool, and quiet, and it possesses its own inner light.

- Gary Thorp, "Infinite Winter"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Faithful America:

Dear Daniel, Last time I opened the Bible, Jesus said to turn the other cheek, not to shoot first and ask questions later. But in 24 states—including Florida, where Trayvon Martin's killer is still walking the streets—the law says you can shoot and kill anyone you "reasonably believe" is threatening you.1 Those laws are on the books because of the tireless efforts of a secretive coalition of right-wing lobbyists and state legislators, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which adopted "Kill at Will" as model legislation to promote across the country.2 A key member of the ALEC task force pushing "Kill At Will" is one of the nation's most prominent evangelical organizations: Prison Fellowship, whose stated purpose is to transform lives and reconcile families affected by the criminal-justice system.3 Christians shouldn't have anything to do with promoting laws that invite self-appointed vigilantes like George Zimmerman to use deadly force. After the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, it's time for Prison Fellowship to immediately quit the American Legislative Exchange Council and disavow "Kill at Will." Click here to sign our petition to Prison Fellowship demanding they withdraw from ALEC. Prison Fellowship serves alongside the NRA, the nation's largest private-prison corporation, and the state legislator who sponsored Arizona's notorious anti-immigration law, on ALEC's Public Safety and Elections Task force. In addition to "Kill at Will," the task force has crafted and aggressively promoted "model bills" that: Make local law enforcement use racial profiling against immigrants.4 Allow private corporations to hire prison inmates at far less than the minimum wage.5 Use onerous voter-ID requirements to disenfranchise low-income people, seniors, African Americans, and Latinos.6 As the Center for Media and Democracy, which has analyzed and published hundreds of formerly secret ALEC documents, puts it: "The ['stand your ground'] bill fits into a pattern of ALEC bills that disproportionately impact communities of color."7 No Christian organization, let alone one that purports to rehabilitate inmates and reform the criminal-justice system, should be lending its support to a coalition with an agenda that victimizes the most vulnerable people in our society. Prison Fellowship needs to hear immediately from outraged people of faith demanding that they drop out of ALEC: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2518/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10030 Thanks! -- Michael, Kristin, Nick, and the rest of the Faithful America team Sources: 1. "The 24 States That Have Sweeping Self-Defense Laws Just Like Florida's," ProPublica, March 22, 2012 http://www.propublica.org/article/the-23-states-that-have-sweeping-self-defense-laws-just-like-floridas  2. "ALEC Has Pushed the NRA's 'Stand Your Ground' Law Across the Nation," Media Matters for America, March 21, 2012 http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203210004 3. "ALEC Exposed: Public Safety and Elections Task Force," Center for Media and Democracy, accessed March 28, 2012 http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Public_Safety_and_Elections_Task_Force Webpage for "ALEC Corrections and Reentry Working Group," a subset of the "Public Safety and Elections Task Force," American Legislative Exchange Council, accessed March 28, 2012 http://www.alec.org/task-forces/public-safety-and-elections/alec-corrections-and-reentry-working-group/ "Pat Nolan Promotes Prison Reform at Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council," Prison Fellowship, accessed March 28, 2012 http://www.prisonfellowship.org/news-and-events/11975-pat-nolan-attends-the-36th-annual-meeting-of-the-american-legislative-exchange-council  4. "Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law," National Public Radio, October 28, 2010 http://www.npr.org/2010/10/28/130833741/prison-economics-help-drive-ariz-immigration-law 5. "The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor," The Nation, August 1, 2011 http://www.thenation.com/article/162478/hidden-history-alec-and-prison-labor 6. "ALEC Exposed: Rigging Elections," The Nation, July 12, 2011 http://www.thenation.com/article/161969/rigging-elections 7. "ALEC Ratified NRA-Conceived Law That May Protect Trayvon Martin's Killer," PR Watch, Center for Media and Democracy, March 21, 2012 http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/03/11366/alec-and-nra-behind-law-may-protect-trayvon-martins-killer

Via JMG: Black Civil Rights Group Condemns NOM

From the National Black Justice Coalition:

NOM's memos detail its campaign to direct money to a handful of African American clergy in order to attack gay and lesbian couples that have made a lifelong promise to one another. The organization admits their key goal is to "drive a wedge between gays and blacks." The memo also outlines NOM's strategies for targeting Latino communities by "making support for marriage a key badge of Latino identity" and "to make opposition to gay marriage an identity marker, a badge of youth rebellion to conformist assimilation to the bad side of 'Anglo' culture."

"These documents expose NOM for what it really is-a hate group determined to use African American faith leaders as pawns to push their damaging agenda and as mouthpieces to amplify that hatred," says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. "NOM is fighting a losing battle," adds Lettman-Hicks. "With these memos made public, the black faith community must refuse to be exploited and refuse to deny their fellow brothers and sisters equal protections under the law."

Labels: civil rights, hate groups, NOM, racism

Reposted from Joe

JMG Headline Of The Day:

"We're not seeing any impact," says Starbucks.

Labels: FAIL, hate groups, NOM, Starbucks

Reosted from Joe

Via JMG: NAACP Denounces NOM

"This memo only reveals the limits of a cynical agenda. The truth is that no group, no matter how well-funded, can drive an artificial wedge between our communities. People of color understand what it is like to be the target of discrimination. No public relations strategy will make us forget that." - NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, via press release.

Labels: hate groups, NAACP, NOM, racism

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Freedom To Marry Calls On GOP Candidates: Renounce NOM's Hate Pledge

"Now that NOM's race-baiting strategy of pitting American against American, minority against minority, and family members against family members is out in the open, we call on GOP candidates to renounce their NOM pledges. A president's job is to lead and unite the nation, not take part in a politics of division and cruelty. Anyone seeking the nation's highest office should not be affiliated with a group seeking to discredit the strong and clear voice of those African-American civil rights champions, such as John Lewis, Julian Bond, and Coretta Scott King, who have stood up for the freedom to marry and the equal civil rights of all people, including gay people of color." - Evan Wolfson, head of Freedom To Marry.

RELATED: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich all signed NOM's pledge to thwart the civil rights of LGBT Americans should they be elected. Included in that pledge is a vow to pursue an anti-gay amendment to the federal constitution.

Labels: GOP, hate groups, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, NOM, racism, Rick Santorum

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: FOTF Launches Anti-Gay Obama Poll

Guess who dominates Focus On The Family's poll about President Obama? That's right. YOU do. Wars, threats of nuclear attacks, a crumbling global economy? PFFFT. Treating homerseckshuls like human beings is what the nation should REALLY be worried about.

Labels: Barack Obama, Focus On The Family, hate groups

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Mark Bingham's Mom Fires Back

TMZ interviews Alice Hoagland, the mother of openly gay 9/11 hero Mark Bingham.

"Yes, my gay son was known in our family for bringing me flowers on my birthday and Mother’s Day. He also was known for careening down the rugby pitch, and, on the morning of September 11, 2001, for charging unarmed down the aisle of a doomed Boeing 757 to face knife-wielding Islamist thugs in a hijacked cockpit."

She adds, "No one among his pick-up team of fellow passengers was asking 'Are you straight? Are you gay?' No one doubted that a guy who weighed 220 and stood 6’4” tall - who could run over a charging opponent on the field, and ran with the bulls in Pamplona earlier that summer - would be an asset to a desperate group trying to overcome a threat onboard an airliner."

"The world has its share of strong, heroic gay men. Gay men in sports uniforms and military uniforms have been winning America’s games and fighting America’s battles for a long time: quietly, humbly, and in the face of vicious bigotry." "I hope you and I may have an opportunity to talk sometime. I prefer to believe you didn’t mean to offend. Good luck to you."

BAM! Also: Suh-NAP!

Labels: 9/11, Jetblue, Mark Bingham, radio

Reposted from Joe

Civil rights leader: NOM e-mails 'scary'