Sunday, July 13, 2014
Via JMG: World Health Organization: ALL Gay Men Should Be On Anti-Retroviral Drugs
The World Health Organization has suggested for the first time that all men who have sex with men should take antiretroviral medicine, warning that HIV infection rates among gay men are exploding around the world. In guidelines published Friday, it said that it “strongly recommends men who have sex with men consider taking antiretroviral medicines as an additional method of preventing HIV infection.” Similar guidelines were issued by the U.S. in May.In May, the CDC expanded its own recommendations, saying that anybody at risk for HIV, not just gay men, should be taking Truvada.
JMG Editorial Of The Day
From the editorial board of the New York TImes:
President Obama should resist a pressure campaign by some religious groups to weaken a promised executive order that would prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against gay men, lesbians and transgender people in their hiring practices.(Tipped by JMG reader Win)
Emboldened by the Supreme Court’s addlebrained Hobby Lobby decision, several groups wrote to Mr. Obama on July 1 asking him to allow federal contractors to fire or refuse to hire workers based on their religious objections to a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
This is not a question of religious freedom. It is a question of whether to allow religion to be used as an excuse to discriminate in employment against a particular group of people. Many states already have laws protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers. There is no such federal law, so the presidential order (promised but not yet produced) would extend those rules to companies that receive federal contracts in states without those kinds of anti-bias laws, protecting millions more people.
Mr. Obama’s resolve is being tested. There is no good reason to give religious employers a special privilege to inflict undeserved pain by, for example, refusing to hire someone to work on a government-backed project just because she happens to be a lesbian, or firing a capable employee who marries someone of the same sex.
Labels: Barack Obama, Christianists, employment, executive orders, feds, Hobby Lobby, LGBT rights, New York Times, Obama administration, religion
Via JMG: Ian Thorpe On Coming Out
Via the Guardian:
On Sunday night on Australian television Thorpe faced Sir Michael Parkinson to overturn what he said had become the "big lie" in his life. "What happened was, I felt that the lie had become so big that I didn't want people to question my integrity and a little bit of ego comes into this," Thorpe said in a 90-minute interview on the Ten network. "I didn't want people to think that I had lied about everything." Now 31, the swimmer said the words he had been avoiding: "I'm not straight and this is only something that very recently – we're talking in the past two weeks – I've been comfortable telling the closest people around me." His mother was shocked; his friends less so. But everyone had embraced him and he was relieved. When the interview goes to air in Australia, he said, I can finally "breathe out".
(Via Towleroad)
Reposted from Joe Jervis
Via Robert Reich / FB
The
real dividing line in America today isn’t between conservatives and
liberals or between Democrats and Republicans. It’s between the haters
and the big-hearted. The haters direct their venom not just at child
refugees seeking asylum from the drug war we created, but also at gays
who want to marry, African-Americans who want to vote and exercise their
other rights of citizenship, women who seek abortions, or even women in
general, Latinos who want their children to be taught in Spanish,
immigrants in general, Muslims, Jews, government “bureaucrats,” the poor
and needy, anyone who dares suggest a required background check before
buying guns, people they call “liberals” or “socialists” or
“communists,” even the President of the United States. The haters are
enflamed by hate-mongers in the media who blame the nation’s troubles on
“them.” The haters are loud and angry; they yell and wave their signs
before the cameras. But the haters are not America. They are a small and
vocal minority. Most Americans are generous and welcoming, decent and
kind-hearted. We are the silent majority, who have been silent too long.
- Robert Reich
Via Daily Dharma
Room for Everything | July 13, 2014
Noticing the space around people and
things provides a different way of looking at them, and developing this
spacious view is a way of opening oneself. When one has a spacious mind,
there is room for everything.
—Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”
Flower of the Day: 07/13/14
“It
is important to differentiate between vertical and horizontal
religions. Vertical religion is spirituality, the path towards
enlightenment. It represents the deepest meaning of the word ‘religion,’
which is the reconnection of the individual soul with the Absolute.
This union is only possible when one is able to follow the orders given
by one’s own heart. Horizontal religion is a creation of the human mind
in order to meet a social need. In this sense, I do not work with
religion. I never say do this or that. I simply suggest that you become
silent, receptive and increase your perception enough to notice the
commandment that comes from within.”
Sri Prem Baba
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Flower of the Day: 07/12/14
“Misunderstanding
the true nature of the master teacher is a great obstacle. The master
is not a human nor a body – this is but a limited understanding of
spiritual reality. The spiritual master is life itself, your true self.
By surrendering to the guidance of a master, you surrender to the flow
of life and to the truth of who you are. You surrender to the heart.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
Awareness Breaks the Spell | July 12, 2014
Seeing attachment, aversion,
expectation, and disappointment as they arise allows the mind to
understand and to disengage from them. Awareness breaks the spell; the
mind is no longer enchanted when we see the defilement for what it is.
When a defilement has no hold on the mind, suffering ceases.
—Steve Armstrong, “Got Attitude?”
Friday, July 11, 2014
Via Daily Dharma
On the Cushion | July 11, 2014
Our practice is to meet life exactly as
it is and to notice whatever fear, anger, or doubt gets in the way of
direct intimate contact with this moment, bringing attention to that as
well. Rather than changing something or seeking to get somewhere we
imagine we should be, practice is about seeing clearly exactly how
things really are and how we relate to them.
—Douglas Phillips, "Q&A with Douglas Phillips"
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Via JMG: ARGENTINA: Gay Activists To Stage Kiss-In During Visit By Vladimir Putin
Via JMG: Updated Marriage Map
I think the reason that Nebraska and Mississippi
are lacking the ticking clock is because the lawsuits there only ask
for recognition of out-of-state marriages. According to the linked
recaps at Freedom To Marry, both those cases have been dismissed but the
plaintiffs plan to appeal. I'm sure some of you folks can fill us in.
Is anybody else starting to lose track of all this? It's a good thing,
right? I really do like this guy's maps.
Ewposted from Joe Jervis
Flower of the Day: 07/10/14
“Laziness
is a psychological matrix created by blocked feelings and repressed
energy. Laziness can manifest in the form of paralysis, or even as
compulsive action. But in this case, the compulsion to do is a
distraction that prevents you from doing what really needs to be done.
There is something stopping you from accomplishing precisely that which
is most important to you. So you are overcome with guilt about not doing
what your consciousness demands. When this happens, it is important to
open yourself up to understanding what is paralyzing you. In this way
you begin a healing work that will lead you to confront the points of
blockage that are robbing you of your energy and willpower.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daiy Dharma
Liberation through Insight | July 10, 2014
The whole point of Buddha-dharma is
that liberation comes not by believing in the right set of tenets or of
dogmatic assertions, or even necessarily by behaving in the right way.
It’s insight, it’s wisdom, it’s knowing the nature of reality. It is
only truth that will make us free.
—B. Alan Wallace, "What is True Happiness?"
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Flower of the Day: 07/09/14
“Anxiety,
sadness, depression and a constant anguish are all symptoms of that
aspect of pride known as perfectionism. This is an aspect of the
idealized self that is addicted to self-criticism and is always
condemning and judging. The idealized self is a cruel tyrant who does
not accept mistakes. We have to be the best of the best; the most
precious stone. Thus, we begin to compulsively do things, and put
pressure on ourselves demanding all sorts of things, as a constant form
of self-punishment. This prevents us from relaxing enough to notice that
we are already a diamond. We already are the most precious stone there
is, and it is precisely this compulsion to prove something to the world
that prevents us from truly shining.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
Complete Engagement | July 8, 2014
Only one thing
made him happy
and now that
it was gone
everything
made him happy.
made him happy
and now that
it was gone
everything
made him happy.
—Leonard Cohen, "Leonard Koan"
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Flower of the Day: 07/08/14
“Do
not feed your sadness – this is unnecessary suffering created by the
victim trying to sneak in through the back door. True pain doesn’t last
long. You get in touch with it, and soon after it passes. Oftentimes,
sadness is a messenger that prepares you for getting in touch with the
deep-rooted pain that leads to your healing. This is a healthy sadness,
while an unhealthy sadness is always linked to an accusation. It is born
out of anger; and although anger’s role in the divine game is to take
you somewhere, anger can also be a major distraction. In most cases,
anger is merely an escape from this sadness that could get you in touch
with the primordial pain.”
Sri Prem Baba
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