Monday, March 17, 2014

Via FB:


JMG HomoQuotable - George Takei


"I take no solace or joy in this man's passing. We will not dance upon his grave, nor stand vigil at his funeral holding 'God Hates Freds' signs, tempting as it may be. He was a tormented soul, who tormented so many. Hate never wins out in the end. It instead goes always to its lonely, dusty end." - George Takei, writing on his Facebook page.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Que tal ser criativo na páscoa?



Para a receita de pão de cenoura você irá precisar de:
- 4 xícaras de cenouras cortadas em rodelas
- 2 ovos
- 1 xícara de água morna
- 2 colheres de sopa de fermento biológico seco
- 3/4 de xícara de óleo
- 1/2 xícara de açúcar
- 1 colher de sopa de mel
- 2 colheres de chá de sal
- 8 1/2 xícaras de farinha de trigo

Veja a lista de compras aqui: http://bit.ly/10tmVnZ
Em uma panela com água cozinhe a cenoura até ficar macia, e então drene a água e bata a cenoura no liquidificador ou em um processador até obter um purê. Se você quiser um sabor mais defumado para o seu pãozinho, pode assar a cenoura no forno ao invés de cozinhar na água. Para fazer no forno, coloque as cenouras em rodelas em uma assadeira e adicione 1 colher rasa de azeite, para besuntar as cenouras. Leve em forno pré-aquecido em 180°C e asse por 15 minutos ou até ficarem macias. Depois é só fazer o purê.
Ainda no liquidificador ou no processador, adicione os ovos e 1/2 xícara de água, batendo até o purê ficar bem cremoso.

Numa tigela grande, coloque o fermento biológico seco e o restante da água, mexendo até dissolver totalmente o fermento. Despeje então o purê de cenoura e, na sequência, adicione o óleo, açúcar, mel, sal e 5 xícaras de farinha, misturando e amassando com as mãos. Adicione mais farinha conforme achar necessário até obter uma massa de pão macia e lisa.

Polvilhe a sua bancada com um pouco de farinha e sove a massa por 6 a 8 minutos, para que ela obtenha um pouco de elasticidade. Se você tiver uma batedeira com o(s) gancho(s) para bater massa de pão, também pode usar. Em seguida, coloque a massa em uma tigela grande levemente untada com óleo ou spray para untar, cubra com um pano úmido ou um filme plástico e deixe descansar por cerca de 1 hora, para dobrar de tamanho.

Divida a massa em bolinhas pequenas. Com ela é possível fazer 48 pãezinhos, mas a quantidade varia conforme o tamanho das bolinhas de massa. Coloque as bolinhas de massa em uma assadeira untada de óleo ou spray para untar e cubra novamente com um pano úmido ou filme plástico, deixando descansar por mais 1 hora. É importante não deixar uma bolinha de massa muito próxima a outra, pois elas vão dobrar de tamanho nesta etapa.

Passada 1 hora, os seus pãezinhos já estão prontos para assar. Para fazer o pão do coelhinho, como é a da ideia da foto, pegue uma tesoura e belisque a massa fazendo as orelhinhas. Em seguida, usando uma esteca ou um palito de churrasco faça os olhinhos, apertando a massa.

Leve então os seus pãezinhos para assar em forno pré-aquecido a 180°C por 18 a 20 minutos ou até ficarem dourados.

Se achar que são muitos pãezinhos para se fazer de uma única vez, após as bolinhas terem dobrado de tamanho, leve a assadeira para o congelador e deixe os pãezinhos congelarem. Depois de congelados, você pode colocar todos em saco plástico e deixar no congelador para fazer a hora que desejar.

Fonte: http://blog.barradoce.com.br/2013/03/receita-pao-de-cenoura.html


Samvega | March 17, 2014

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Salman Rushdie on Bill Maher discussing "9/11 liberals"


Bill Maher Trashes the Bible Noah Story and Psychotic Mass Murderer God


Via JMG: Franklin Graham Endorses Putin



"
 
"America’s response to Putin’s law was sadly predictable. President Obama intentionally included homosexuals in his official U.S. delegation to Sochi. Then his attorney general stole headlines from the opening weekend with an announcement to the Human Rights Campaign (a major gay-rights group): As far as the federal government is concerned, there is no longer any difference between traditional and same-sex marriage—even in the 33 states that outlaw those marriages. It’s obvious that President Obama and his administration are pushing the gay-lesbian agenda in America today and have sold themselves completely to that which is contrary to God’s teaching." - Franklin Graham, writing for Decision Magazine.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Fred Phelps Reportedly Near Death


Fred Phelps, the 84 year-old patriarch of Westboro Baptist Church, is reportedly near death. His estranged son, Nathan Phelps, writes on his Facebook page:
I’ve learned that my father, Fred Phelps, Sr., pastor of the “God Hates Fags” Westboro Baptist Church, was ex-communicated from the “church” back in August of 2013. He is now on the edge of death at Midland Hospice house in Topeka, Kansas. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Terribly ironic that his devotion to his god ends this way. Destroyed by the monster he made. I feel sad for all the hurt he’s caused so many. I feel sad for those who will lose the grandfather and father they loved. And I’m bitterly angry that my family is blocking the family members who left from seeing him, and saying their good-byes.
Hemant Mehta has more at the Friendly Atheist:
I just got off the phone with Nate and he confirmed what he had written. The rumors had been flying for several weeks, he said, but after a conversation with some of his fellow “excommunicated” family members, he found out that the rumors were true. He elaborated on that final line, too, saying that the Phelps family is now blocking anyone who is no longer with the church from seeing him, including Fred’s sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews. Why was he kicked out of his own church? Did he have a change of heart near the end of his life? There’s no definitive answer to that and Nate has heard different things (so any explanation is pure speculation right now).
Over on Twitter, some are calling for a picket of Phelps' funeral, but Mehta and others suggest that the better response might be to ignore it completely. Rod Dreher writes at American Conservative:
Can you imagine having come to the end of your life, very nearly to the moment in which you will meet your God and be reckoned with, and all you have to show for it is … that? I’ve always thought the Westboro Baptist Church people were despicable, but there is something about the thought of that old man lying on his death bed, forsaken, the victim of his own sins, that makes me pity him. One tear of repentance from the vicious old preacher will open the floodgates of the divine mercy he spent his life trying to deny to others. I pray for that tear. And I hope no one pickets his funeral, giving to his family the mercy they do not deserve.

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma:


What's So Great About Now? | March 16, 2014

Mindfulness, accompanied by clear comprehension, differs from ordinary awareness. Rather than seeing the conventional features of objects more clearly, mindfulness goes beyond them to perceive something quite specific—the ultimate characteristics common to all formations, good or bad. There are only three of these: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-selfness. (Note that beauty isn't among them.) These traits are unwelcome—unsatisfactory. So the more mindfulness one has, the clearer dukkha becomes. 
 
—Cynthia Thatcher, “What’s So Great About Now?”

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Via Edge on the Net: New Health Insurance Rights for Same-Sex Couples



Acting to expand health insurance access for same-sex couples, the Obama administration said Friday that plans offering benefits for heterosexual couples must also provide coverage for married couples who are of the same gender.

The policy, posted online by the Department of Health and Human Services, takes effect next year and applies to plans offered in the new health insurance exchanges, as well to many - but not all - individual and employer plans offered outside that marketplace.

The administration acted after gays and lesbians complained that they’re not sure how the rules of the new insurance exchanges apply to them - particularly in states that do not recognize same-sex marriage.

The department said it was moving to clarify those rules and make coverage "more accessible and equitable for married same-sex couples." It’s part of a government-wide effort to codify the rights of same-sex spouses in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court decision striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, and opening the way for same-sex spouses to receive government benefits.
The new HHS policy says that if an insurance company offers spousal coverage to heterosexual couples, it must also provide that benefit to same-sex couples who were legally married in a jurisdiction that recognizes marriage between people of the same sex.

http://www.edgeonthenet.com/news/national/News//156626/new_health_insurance_rights_for_same-sex_couples

Wasla Band - El salam (peace) | فريق وصله - السلام


Courage – Quotes on Living Exceptional Lives, from Lao Tzu, Pema Chodron, T.S. Eliot and Others


Here are some great quotes from past and present philosophers, writers, and spiritual leaders on the qualities of courage we all carry inside.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. (Lao Tzu)
– Only we can hold ourselves back. Only we can set ourselves free.
 
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.(Andre Gide)
– Adventure may be dangerous, but so can staying in one place forever.
 
Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth. (Pema Chodron)
– It is said that the only mistakes on the road to wisdom are not starting, and not going all the way – keep walking.
 
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. (T. S. Eliot)
– Teachers can show us the path, travelers can tell us how to walk it, but only the individual person can journey on it.
 
It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult. (Seneca)
– How often do we make obstacles larger in our minds than they really are?
 
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. (Eleanor Roosevelt)
– Fear can be a great, liberating, powerful experience when we use it to grow.
 
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. (C. S. Lewis)
– All good deeds in our lives come down to courage – the bravery required to make the right choice even when the right choice is unpopular.
 
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. (Mark Twain)
– Bravery is never a sudden enlightenment or magic power – rather it is the humble effort to keep moving forward in the face of uncertainty.
 
To have striven, to have made the effort, to have been true to certain ideals – this alone is worth the struggle. (William Penn)
– What else is life, but an effort to do something worthwhile? Do what challenges you and makes you feel afraid.

Please take the jump here to read the original posting

Vi Daily Dharma:


Boundless Compassion | March 15, 2014

Traditional Buddhism describes boundless love and compassion as liberations of the heart that free us from ill will, cruelty, and indifference. They are called divine dwellings because those who practice them radiate holy wishes for the welfare, happiness, and security of all beings. Given, however, the gravity of the crisis that confronts us today, it is questionable whether the merely inward cultivation of such virtues is sufficient. If love and compassion don’t find expression in concrete action, they could remain purely subjective states, lofty and sublime but inert, unable to exert any beneficial influence on others.
 
—Bhikkhu Bodhi, “The Need Of The Hour”
 

Dra Yang Project " Namo Buddhaya, namo Dharmaya, namo Sanghaya "


Friday, March 14, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


Great Questioning, Great Awakening | March 14, 2014

The most important part of the practice is for the question to remain alive and for your whole body and mind to become a question. In Zen they say that you have to ask with the pores of your skin and the marrow of your bones. A Zen saying points out: Great questioning, great awakening; little questioning, little awakening; no questioning, no awakening. 
 
—Martine Bachelor, “What is This?”

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Via JMG: SCOTLAND: Queen Elizabeth Gives Royal Assent For Gay Marriage Law


Gay Star News reports:
Queen Elizabeth II has signed same-sex marriage into law in Scotland today (13 March). By the end of the year, Scottish gay couples will be able to unite in matrimony. It is the last step in the long battle to get the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill through Parliament, making it an Act. Alex Neil, cabinet Secretary for Health and Well-being, said: "I am delighted that the Same Sex Marriage Bill has now received Royal Assent. We continue to work in close co-operation with Westminster on implementation of the Act so that the first same sex marriage can take place in Scotland as soon as is possible."
The bill was approved by the Scottish Parliament last month in a lopsided vote of 105-18.
Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: TEXAS: Joel Osteen's Prosperity Gospel Church Robbed Of One Week's Prosperity


 
But don't worry, they are insured. From the church:
We were heartbroken to learn today that funds were stolen from the church over the weekend. This includes cash, checks and envelopes containing written credit card information, and it is limited only to those funds contributed in the church services on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9, 2014. If you made a contribution during these weekend services, we would encourage you to pay close attention to your accounts over the next several days and weeks and report any suspicious activity to your financial institution or credit card company immediately. It is important to note this was not an electronic data breach, but was instead limited to donations made in the services on March 8 and 9, 2014. You were not affected if you put your offering in a drop box, you gave online or through other electronic means, or you made a bookstore purchase. We are working with the police to fully investigate the incident. The funds were fully insured, and we are working with our insurance company to restore the stolen funds to the church.
Below: Joel Osteen's 17,000sf mansion.



Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma


The Path to Restoration | March 13, 2014

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”
 

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Via Emerson Collins


An Open Letter to Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann suggested that the gay community is bullying Americans and politicians.  You can read the full article and hear the clip for yourself here. This is my response.

Dear Michele Bachmann,

I would like to provide you with a definition of a word that, for all your legal experience, you seem not to comprehend. The word “bully” has become a buzzword, a convenient way for adults who are losing an argument to shut down the conversation. When your back is against the wall, you call someone a “bully” and if they don’t allow you to gracefully exit the argument you get to say, “SEE! They ARE a bully.”

Except, that’s incorrect. “Bully” is defined variously as “a person who uses superior strength or power to harm, intimidate or influence those who are weaker.”

Now let’s reconsider your words. “…the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they’ve so intimidated politicians. The politicians fear them, so that they think they get to dictate the agenda everywhere.”

Let’s consider the fallacy here, shall we?