Via JMG: Apple's Tim Cook Tops Out's Power 50 List

 

Out Magazine today published its ninth annual ranking of the 50 most powerful LGBT people in the United States.  Taking the top spot from last year's list leader, Ellen DeGeneres, is Apple CEO Tim Cook, who formally came out six months ago. Here is this year's top ten:
1. Tim Cook 2. Ellen DeGeneres 3. Rachel Maddow 4. Sen. Tammy Baldwin 5. Anderson Cooper 6. Anthony Romero  7. Chad Griffin 8. Mary Kay Henry 9. Laverne Cox 10. Andy Cohen
Romero is the executive director of the ACLU and Henry is the head of the SEIU. Missing from the list for the second year is closeted homocon blogger Matt Drudge, who ranked at #21 in 2013 and at #16 in 2012. Fellow homocons Peter Thiel and Ken Mehlman appear on this year's ranking at #13 and #41 respectively, with closeted Fox anchor Shepard Smith coming at #20. Also gone this year is recently retired blogger Andrew Sullivan, who ranked at #26 last year. Hit the top link for the full 2015 list.

Labels: Anderson Cooper, Chad Griffin, Ellen Degeneres, Out Magazine, Rachel Maddow, Shepard Smith, Tammy Baldwin, Tim Cook

posted by Joe Jervis

Via Mindful: The Many Meanings of Mindfulness

When we hear "mindfulness" it ought to inspire caring and joy, not just attention.

Photograph by Caleb Roenigk/Flickr.com

By Barry Boyce

Mindfulness is a big deal these days. Now that we’re hearing the word so often in so many contexts, some readers are telling us that it can confuse them. The meaning fuzzes out, and they have a hard time talking to others about it. It’s like breakfast, which covers everything from a granola bar to a Grand Slam at Denny’s. So it may be worth taking some time to consider what mindfulness conjures up in people’s minds when they hear it.

One of the first things to clarify is that the word is doing double duty. For one, it refers to an innate quality or way of being we all have access to that allows us to be fully present, attending to the moment, deeply engaged and yet at peace. Mindfulness also refers to techniques that train our minds to be that way more often. Understanding the difference between the practice and the innate quality is vital. If we don’t, it becomes far too easy to think mindfulness is something possessed by experts and conferred by them on others.

Once you’ve sorted out the confusion between the way of being and the practices to cultivate it, you’re left with the question of how adequate a job this single word can do to describe a quality so elusive, and so wonderful, that it’s like water. How many ways can you describe what water is, and does, and the forms it can take?

To delve into this question, we queried a dozen or so people who teach mindfulness (the practice, not the innate quality) to get their thoughts about the effectiveness of the word.

There was a consensus that mindfulness as an umbrella term for a range of qualities is powerful, but also limited in certain ways. For one thing, Jon Kabat-Zinn and others say, mindfulness also needs to be heartfulness. There’s feeling and caring there, not just cool, distant perception. Being mindful can also mean being aware of causes and effects and responsibilities—up to and including for our whole planet—but there is no mindful ideology that everyone who meditates signs on to.

Others commented that mindfulness can sound like something that takes a lot of work, like mental ditch digging, or that involves being hypervigilant—never misplacing your keys or making a wrong turn. In fact, there’s an ease that comes about as one obsesses less about maintaining storylines that solidly define us in every situation.

Janice Marturano, of the Institute for Mindful Leadership, emphasized that there’s a strong element of aspiration to mindfulness. It’s not something you get once and then have forever. In a similar vein, Michael Chender, who also does leadership training, talked about relaxing into ambiguity or uncertainty, not needing to nail things down in every moment.

Still others were looking for some juice or joy. Mindfulness has a quality of pleasure about it, and connectedness, to other people and your surroundings. It makes things taste better. When you hear a word like chocolate, juices start to flow. The heavy three-syllableness of mindfulness doesn’t capture the pleasure factor. Some suggested that space or flow or presence are qualities that make sense to talk about in the right context.

Tara Healey, of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, among others, concluded by saying that uncovering mindfulness is a journey. And all the limited ways we think about it come about because we’re asking the word to carry a wide range of meanings. No single definition can cover the whole territory. It’s a territory we discover in moments that go beyond words.

This article also appeared in the February 2015 issue of Mindful magazine.
Subscribe to Mindful's print edition or digital edition.

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Sete Vidas: Luís conta para os filhos que teve duas mães

"Em algumas famílias, todos são da mesma cor. Em algumas famílias, todos são de cores diferentes. Algumas famílias têm...
Posted by Jean Wyllys on Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Sete Vidas: Luís conta para os filhos que teve duas mães

"Em algumas famílias, todos são da mesma cor. Em algumas famílias, todos são de cores diferentes. Algumas famílias têm madrasta ou padrasto, irmão postiço ou irmã postiça. Algumas famílias adotam filhos, algumas famílias podem ter dois pais e outras famílias podem ter duas mães... Vocês sabiam disso, que uma família pode ter duas mães? Às vezes são dois pais e, às vezes, duas mães.

É um pouco confuso, sim, porque não é assim que acontece na maioria dos casos. Tão confuso que a sua irmã, quando era bem pequenininha, perguntou para a mamãe quem era o avô dela e a sua mãe, com medo que a sua irmã não fosse entender, inventou um avô de mentirinha; foi uma forma que a sua mãe encontrou para adiar o assunto da vovó Vivian, para vocês estarem grandes e entender tudo melhor, como estão agora.

(Não tinha pai), mas eu tive DUAS MÃES. Para mim foi legal (ter duas mães) porque eu tive ESSAS MÃES. Tudo o que uma criança precisa, meu filho - amor, carinho, dedicação - tudo isto eu tinha de sobra. A Estér e a Vivan eram casadas, tipo namoradas, duas mulheres que se amavam muito. A minha família era tão legal que eu nunca podia imaginar que família pudesse ser de outro jeito.

Não importa se quem cuida de você é homem ou mulher, o importante é a pessoa que cuida de você te dar amor e segurança."

#SeteVidas
#EmDefesaDeTodasAsFamílias
#MinhaFamíliaExiste

Via Human Rights Campaign

J.K. Rowling Harvard Commencement Speech | Harvard University Commencement 2008

The Baha'i Faith is Homophobic: The Baha'i faith and LGB issues

From a colelague on FB:

The group, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, believes that all religions have some good and that nearly all religions change their beliefs over time -- generally becoming more tolerant. Here's an observation the group makes about the Bahai Faith and homosexuality. It seems to be a reasonably accurate and pithy summary of the present situation:

The Baha'i Faith and LGB issues

The Baha'i Faith teaches that homosexual behavior is unacceptable among its members. Voting rights of some of their lesbian, gay and bisexual members quite an(LGB) who are out of the "closet" have been suspended; some memberships have been terminated.

The Baha'i faith is in a unique position with regards to lesbians, gays, and bisexuals (LGB's) because:

The last person capable of changing the authoritative interpretation of its holy texts confirmed that homosexual behavior, same-sex marriage, etc. is unacceptable.

He died without naming a successor.

Human sexuality researchers, professional mental health associations, social worker professional associations, and liberal religious groups have reached a near consensus that homosexual and bisexual orientations and behavior are normal and natural for a minority of adults, and that homosexual orientation is unchosen, and unchangeable.

One of the main principles of the Baha'i faith is their respect and adoption of the findings of science.

Thus Baha'i beliefs concerning sexual orientation are quite similar to those of the conservative wings of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other religions. They reject the findings of science on this topic, and they have no mechanism to change their position.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bah.htm

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 15/04/2015

“Ao avançar e aprofundar nas práticas espirituais, você inevitavelmente começa a enxergar mais claramente as atuações do eu inferior. É a sua dedicação à prática espiritual que te dá essa visão clara. Portanto, esteja atento para não cair na armadilha da mente que te faz acreditar que você está involuindo. Você está apenas podendo perceber coisas que antes não percebia, e a impressão é que a sombra está ficando maior, mas isso não é verdade.”

“Al avanzar y profundizar en las prácticas espirituales, inevitablemente comienzas a ver más claramente las actuaciones del yo inferior. Es tu dedicación a la práctica espiritual lo que te da esta visión clara. Por lo tanto, permanece atento para no caer en la trampa de la mente que te hace creer que estás involucionando. Solo estás pudiendo percibir cosas que antes no percibías, y la impresión es que la sombra se está haciendo más grande, pero eso no es verdad.”

"By advancing and deepening in your spiritual practices, you inevitably begin to see the actions of the lower self more clearly. Your dedication to a spiritual practice gives you this clear vision. So be careful not to fall into the trap of the mind that makes you believe you are going backwards. You're just being able to perceive things now that you couldn’t see before. It may seem as though the shadow is getting bigger, but this is not true."

Via Daily Dharma

The Three Marks of Existence | April 15, 2015 As your mindfulness develops, your resentment for the change, your dislike for the unpleasant experiences, your greed for the pleasant experiences, and the notion of selfhood will be replaced by the deeper awareness of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness. This knowledge of reality in your experience helps you to foster a more calm, peaceful, and mature attitude toward your life. - Henepola Gunaratana, "Sitting Still" Read More →

Via JMG: RUSSIA: Network Issues "18+" Warning On Hillary Clip Due To Gay Couple

Via ABC News:

The launch of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign has proved an unexpected test of Russia’s controversial so-called “gay-propaganda” law. The independent, opposition TV channel, Dozhd TV, decided it was obliged to include an “18+” age-rating on the video announcing the launch of Clinton’s campaign because it features a gay couple holding hands. Clinton’s campaign released the video Sunday to formally announce her run. A spokesperson for Dozhd TV told ABC News that it had decided to include the age warning in order to avoid risking falling foul of the Russia’s so-called “gay propaganda” law, which bans the promotion of “non-traditional” relationships to minors.

The network claims it acted preemptively without orders from Russia authorities.

RELATED: The couple has invited Clinton to their wedding.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, LGBT rights, Russia

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Cory Booker on Jim Obergefell

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 14/04/2015

“Nossos dons e talentos são manifestações do nosso propósito na Terra. Eles são expressões do Amor. São nosso tesouro espiritual. Mas, é lamentável que alguns tenham esquecido do seu próprio tesouro. O ser humano foi tão severamente reprimido que deixou de expressar seus dons naturais. Ele deixou de ser natural e passou a ser aquilo que agrada à família e à sociedade. E assim ele passa a vida buscando remédios para curar os sintomas causados pelo esquecimento de si mesmo.”

“Nuestros dones y talentos son manifestaciones de nuestro propósito en la Tierra. Éstos son expresiones del Amor. Son nuestro tesoro espiritual. Pero es lamentable que algunos se hayan olvidado de su propio tesoro. El ser humano fue tan severamente reprimido que dejó de expresar sus dones naturales. Él dejó de ser natural y pasó a ser aquello que agrada a la familia y a la sociedad. Y así pasa la vida buscando remedios para curar los síntomas causados por el olvido de sí mismo.”

"Our gifts and talents are the manifestations of our purpose here on Earth. They are expressions of love: our spiritual treasure. Unfortunately, some people have forgotten about their own treasure. Human beings were so severely repressed that they ceased to express their natural gifts. We went from naturally expressing ourselves to being someone who seeks to please our family and society. In this way, we spend our lives seeking remedies to cure the symptoms caused by the forgetfulness of ourselves."

Via Daily Dharma

Conditioning Ourselves to Be Aware | April 14, 2015 Awareness is a natural capacity of the mind. It happens because of conditions favorable to it. When such conditions arise, awareness happens. When they do not, delusion happens. Learning to recognize the conditions that give rise to each of these mental states helps us understand the conditional nature of all experience. - Steve Armstrong, "Got Attitude?" Read More →

Marriage Equality: On the Verge of Making History

iGay: "Não voaria e não voarei ao lado daquele senhor"

iGay: "Não voaria e não voarei ao lado daquele senhor"
 
Na última semana, algumas pessoas pareciam sofrer de amnésia, inclusive parte da imprensa que comprou uma tese de "heterofobia" (sic) sem tecer qualquer crítica a esse tipo de falácia absurda. Eu tenho memória e, por isso, decidi relembrar alguns fatos neste vídeo, um trecho de uma entrevista exclusiva que vocês vão conferir em breve no iGay: http://bit.ly/1NxnV5e "

Ride on KCRW

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 13/04/2015

“Autorresponsabilidade significa tomar consciência em relação às consequências ou resultados dos seus pensamentos, palavras e ações. Mas é importante estar atento porque nesse processo de se autorresponsabilizar, você pode resvalar na culpa, pois ela tira sua dignidade; sua capacidade de andar com a cabeça erguida. Ela é como um veneno que mata lentamente.”

“Autorresponsabilidad significa tomar conciencia en relación a las consecuencias o resultados de tus pensamientos, palabras y acciones. Pero es importante estar atento porque en este proceso de autorresponsabilizarse, puedes resbalar en la culpa, porque ella te saca tu dignidad, tu capacidad de andar con la cabeza erguida. Es como un veneno que mata lentamente.”

"Self-responsibility means becoming aware of the consequences and results of our thoughts, words and actions. We must remain attentive during the process of taking self-responsibility so as to not fall into the trap of guilt. Once we slip into guilt, it robs us of our dignity and our ability to walk with our head held high. Guilt is like a poison that kills slowly."

Via Daily Dharma

Not an Easy Fit | April 13, 2015 Whether on the cushion or in the laboratory, Buddhism and science resist an easy fit. A good deal of Buddhism—even including, ironically, the very notion of buddhahood—doesn’t lend itself to scientific validation or materialist empiricism. Consequently, to make Buddhism fit with what is perceived to be our best knowledge of the world, much of what constitutes the Buddhist tradition itself needs to be dismissed. In the process, this rich tradition gets reduced to a set of concepts and techniques stripped of the context that gave them meaning. - Linda Heuman, "A New Way Forward" Read More →

Via JMG: Mother Jones: Hillary Clinton Selects Openly Gay Man As Campaign Manager

Mother Jones reports that the Hillary Clinton has selected Robby Mook, a relatively unknown and openly gay man who ran the 2013 campaign of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, to be her campaign manager.

Mook is widely known as Robby, not Robert, and at 35, he's still boyish—handsome and clean-shaven with close-cropped brown hair. His usual uniform consists of chinos and bland dress shirts rolled up to the elbows. He couldn't be more different from, say, James Carville, the loudmouth Ragin' Cajun who advised Bill Clinton's first presidential bid and now makes a living as a consultant and TV commentator. Mook rarely appears in news stories or on TV. He did not respond to repeated interview requests. He has no Facebook page. He has a Twitter account but never tweets and has forgotten the password. Mook, who will be the first openly gay manager of a major presidential campaign, is largely unknown beyond the insular world of Democratic staffers but well liked within it. In addition to the email listserv, his loyal following—the Mook Mafia—plans yearly reunions, during which they return to a state where they once operated for a weekend of bar-hopping mixed with volunteering for a local campaign.

Hit the link for much more about Mook's history. And stand by for some hilarious wailing from the usual suspects. (Tipped by JMG reader Charles)

Labels: 2016 elections, Hillary Clinton, Robby Mook

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via http://oblogdeeoblogda.me: Top 10 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton is Good for Gays

Today Hillary Clinton will announce her candidacy for President of the United States of America. While she has yet to outline her campaign goals, the support amongst Democrats for her run has been enormous, with huge expectations by the Gays ( I use term Gays collectively here to represent LGBTI) community for an ally to continue the pro-equality stance of the Obama administration.

 

1) She is a WOMAN ….

2) We trust that she will support Full Federal Equality Legislation for LGBT people, noting her evolution on the issue of equality for all to include lesbians, gays, bisexual and trans people;

3) She supports decriminalization of global anti-homosexuality laws. While in the State Department Hillary came out voraciously against Uganda’s Kill the Gays Bill . “I’m well aware that you do your work often amidst difficult, even dangerous circumstances. I know that some of your lives have been threatened, your friends and families intimidated. But I want you to know that the United States is and will be your partner.” Hillary Clinton”;

4) Republicans who hate gays are terrified of her… and that is a sign of  her effectiveness;

5) Republicans will continue to use Hillary’s support of LGBT equality as a wedge issue which will continue to contribute – especially amongst the younger generation – to GOP implode;

6) She lived the horror of DOMA and DADT under her husband’s pen – while we wonder what she did not do at the time to thwart his thinking – now she must make it right – redemption time and her heart is there! #FullyEVOLVED;

7) Hillary Clinton’s Human Rights Day speech has was indeed a historic moment not just for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement, but for the nation as a whole. She noted “gay rights are human rights”;

8) Hillary respects Marriage equality;

9) Her Campaign Manager is openly Gay; and

10) She undoubtedly has the support of MOST people in the LGBT community.

@melanienathan1

@HillaryClinton #HILLARYforPRESIDENT #LGBTforHILLARY #HILLARY

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