Barney Frank on Log Cabin Republicans: Endorsing Discrimination

Via JMG: The Gates Give $500K To WA Marriage

The Gates Give $500K To WA Marriage

Bill and Melinda Gates have donated $500,000 to Washington state's campaign to uphold same-sex marriage.

The donation was announced Tuesday by Washington United for Marriage, which is working to approve Referendum 74. The donation was made on Oct. 15, but didn't publicly post online with the Public Disclosure Commission until Tuesday. Referendum 74 asks voters to either approve or reject the law allowing same-sex marriage that was passed by the Legislature earlier this year. Bill Gates had made a $100,000 contribution to the campaign earlier this year. About $11 million has been spent on the campaign so far, with a bulk of it spent by gay marriage supporters. Washington United for Marriage has far outraised its opponents, bringing in nearly $11 million compared to the more than $2 million raised so far by Preserve Marriage Washington, which opposes the law.

The most recent polling shows R-74 leading by almost 20 points.

Labels: Bill Gates, marriage equality, Microsoft, Washington state

Reposted from Joe

Via Advocate and Gay Politics Report:

• Romney camp doubles down on ending marriage equality
   
• A campaign adviser for Mitt Romney reiterated this weekend that the former governor of Massachusetts favors banning marriage equality through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Bay Buchanan had previously suggested that Romney believed marriage was an issue best left up to individual states, causing some to wonder if the campaign was softening its position on the Federal Marriage Amendment. In response, Log Cabin Republican Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper issued a statement saying the conservative position should be to respect decisions by states to recognize married same-sex couples. Romney has signed a pledge written by the National Organization for Marriage that promises he will advocate for the FMA if he wins the White House. 

Via Gay Politics Report:

• Romney camp doubles down on ending marriage equality
   
• A campaign adviser for Mitt Romney reiterated this weekend that the former governor of Massachusetts favors banning marriage equality through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Bay Buchanan had previously suggested that Romney believed marriage was an issue best left up to individual states, causing some to wonder if the campaign was softening its position on the Federal Marriage Amendment. In response, Log Cabin Republican Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper issued a statement saying the conservative position should be to respect decisions by states to recognize married same-sex couples. Romney has signed a pledge written by the National Organization for Marriage that promises he will advocate for the FMA if he wins the White House. Advocate.com (10/21), BuzzFeed (10/20), LGBT POV (10/20)     

Via JMG: Stonewall Democrats Denounce Log Cabin

"The Log Cabin Republicans have proven once and for all that they are not an organization aligned with the LGBT movement. They are a Republican front group bumbling their way into fooling LGBT voters that it's OK to support a party that would legislate us back into the closet. Their endorsement of Mitt Romney isn't just shameful - it's insulting.

"Mitt Romney stands for nothing positive for LGBT people. He supports a federal marriage amendment (which was a reason for Log Cabin to refuse to endorse George W. Bush in 2004). He supports McCarthy-like investigations into our community for evidence of 'harassment of Christians'. He opposes the repeal of DOMA. He opposes ENDA. He's even said things as basic as the right to visit your sick or dying loved one in the hospital is a 'privilege' and not a right. [snip]

"So there you have it - the Log Cabin Republicans, who screamed loudly and forcefully for months that liberal groups and LGBT movement posturing weren't going to affect their endorsements have instead allowed the interests of money sucking GOP insiders and the fear of a conservative performance troupe to decide their endorsement for them. It's reprehensible. Have they no decency?" - Jerame Davis, executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, via press release.

Labels: Log Cabin Republicans, Mitt Romney, Stonewall Democrats

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 23, 2012

The Path to Restoration

My advice for people is to love the world they are in, in whatever way makes sense to them. It may be a devotional practice, it may be song or poetry, it may be by gardening, it may be as an activist, scientist, or community leader. The path to restoration extends from our heart to the heart of sentient beings, and that path will be different for every person.

- Paul Hawken, "The Movement With No Name"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 25th, 2012
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Via Anti-Republican Crusaders / FB:

JMG Billboard Of The Day

The Friendly Atheist reports that the above billboard truck has been spotted near the venue for tonight's final debate in Boca Raton.

Labels: advertising, debate watch, Mormons, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via FB:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 22, 2012

Everything is Enlightened

We are enlightenment and we are delusion. We read it, we say it, but we don't believe it. The experience of realization is seeing and realizing exactly that—that everything is enlightened as it is.

- Bernie Glassman, "Yasutani Roshi: The Hardest Koan"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 24th, 2012
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JMG Headline Of The Day:

 

Source. (Tipped by JMG reader Aaron)

Labels: 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Nobel

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Billy Graham Places Full-Page Anti-Gay Marriage Ad In The Wall Street Journal

 

"The legacy we leave behind for our children, grandchildren, and this great nation is crucial. As I approach my 94th birthday, I realize this election could be my last. I believe it is vitally important that we cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel. I urge you to vote for those who protect the biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman. Vote for biblical values this November 6, and pray with me that America will remain one nation under God." - Billy Graham, 93, in a full-page ad published today in the Wall Street Journal.

Labels: advertising, bigotry, Billy Graham, religion

posted by Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 20, 2012

Rising to the Occasion

We cannot eliminate all of the challenges or obstacles in life—our own or anyone else’s. We can only learn to rise to the occasion and face them.

- Dzigar Kongtrul, "Old Relationships, New Possibilities"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 22nd, 2012
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Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Trivial thoughts, insignificant thoughts, When followed they distract the mind. Not understanding those thoughts The roaming mind runs back and forth. But by understanding those thoughts One ardent and mindful restrains the mind. An awakened one has overcome them completely So they do not arise to distract the mind. - Udana More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via JMG: HRC: 219 House Reps Rated Zero

The Human Rights campaign has issued its evaluation of the 112th Congress. Their report gives 219 members of the House a "zero" rating.

HRC today released its Congressional Scorecard for the 112th Congress, rating members of Congress on their support for LGBT-equality. Analysis shows that though the LGBT equality is making gains on Capitol Hill, anti-LGBT legislators continue to halt progress. While the American people move forward on issues of equality, the majority of Congress – particularly the House – continues to be out of touch. The average score of House members was 40 percent and 35 for Senators, down significantly from the 111th Congress. For the first time in this scorecard, HRC noted whether of not members of Congress have taken an affirmative position in favor of marriage equality. In the House, 115 members scored 100 percent, including 33 from states with marriage equality and eight from states facing marriage related ballot measure this November.

Hit this link for the rating of your Congress members.

Labels: HRC, LGBT rights, Senate, U.S. House

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 19, 2012

Developing A Kind Nature

A person disposed to anger will more and more easily erupt in anger anew at any provocation. But in a moment of kindness a kindly disposition is deposited, and one becomes incrementally more disposed to kindness. The attitude with which we respond to an object of experience, with anger or with kindness, will therefore not only influence the causal field outside ourselves but also progressively reshape our very nature.

- Andrew Olendzki, "Karma in Action"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 21st, 2012
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Via FB:

Via REPORT: The Catholic Church Is 2012's Top Funder Of Anti-Gay Campaigns

REPORT: The Catholic Church Is 2012's Top Funder Of Anti-Gay Campaigns

From a report issued today by the Human Rights Campaign:

Taking up where the Mormons left off in 2008, the Catholic Church – and its affiliate, the Knights of Columbus – have made considerable investments in the marriage fights in Minnesota, Maryland, Washington State and Maine this election cycle – spending at least $1.1 million to date. In addition, a close ally of the Church and past co-conspirator, the National Organization for Marriage, has spent nearly $1.4 million this cycle. Marriage equality opponents across the four states have, to date, raised roughly $4.1 million. The Catholic Church’s contributions make up 27 percent of that total figure. When you add in the contributions of Church ally NOM, the reality of the coordinated effort becomes clear: the Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, and NOM are responsible for funding nearly 60 percent of all anti-equality efforts in Minnesota, Maryland, Washington State and Maine.

The Catholic LGBT coalition Equally Blessed today also issued a report on the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Church.

According to the report, which is based primarily on the Knights’ filings with the Internal Revenue Service, the organization donated $6.25 million to anti-marriage equality efforts between 2005-2012, with most of the money directed toward ballot measures aimed at banning marriage equality in 12 states. The sum includes:

- $1.9 million in donations to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), $1.4 million of which was devoted to a successful and highly controversial campaign to overturn marriage equality legislation in Maine.
- A $1.1 million dollar donation to ProjectMarriage.com which supported the passage of Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment that banned marriage equality in California.
- More than $630,000 in donations to groups working against marriage equality through ballot initiatives that will be voted on next month in Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.

According to NOM’s internal memos, unsealed during legal proceedings in Maine, the organization adopted a strategy of turning the Black and Hispanic communities against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people during the campaign to overturn marriage equality legislation in that state. The same memos advocated finding children who had been raised by same-sex couples and persuading them to speak out against their parents.

Labels: bigotry, brainwashing, Catholic Church, child abuse, cults, evil, hate groups, Knights of Columbus, molestation, NOM, organized crime, pedophilia, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	A mantra is not like a prayer to a divine being. Rather, the mantra is the deity, is enlightenment, immediately manifest. - Lorne Ladner, "Wheel of Great Compassion" More Buddhism Quotes >>