10/31/10
Experiencing vs. explaining
I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it.--St. Thomas Aquinas
via Zen Calendar
10/30/10
10/29/10
Experiencing being God
No matter how often modern man thinks of God or goes to church, or how much he believes in religious ideas, if he, the whole man, is deaf to the question of existence, if he does not have an answer to it, he is marking time, and he lives and dies like one of the million things he produces. He thinks of God, instead of experiencing being God. --Erich Fromm
Last night's finale of Project Runway
Rarely has a reality show thrilled me like this one: three tenacious, creative designers who are also good people. Gretchen was the winner but I feel Mondo has the most talent. What a wonderful season this has been.
10/28/10
The difference between Fox News & MSNBC
Addressing your reader who compares MSNBC's lack of conservative voices to FNC, I think the difference is between an echo chamber and a propagandist.--A comment left on Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish website.
This sums the difference pretty well for me: while Rachel Maddow is a highly partisan liberal who presents one side of the argument on her show, she double-checks her facts, makes on-air retractions, and often invites Republicans to debate her (few have the courage to do so). On Fox, we watch Glenn Beck lie about the facts and cry.
Like Lincoln did on the issue of slavery, Obama's views on marriage equality seems to be evolving
Gay bloggers had a sit down meeting with President Obama this week and one of them asked him this question: "So I just really want to know what is your position on same-sex marriage?"I do not intend to make big news sitting here with the five of you, as wonderful as you guys are ... I think it’s a fair question to ask. I think that — I am a strong supporter of civil unions. As you say, I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage.
But I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships. I have staff members who are in committed, monogamous relationships, who are raising children, who are wonderful parents.
And I care about them deeply. And so while I’m not prepared to reverse myself here, sitting in the Roosevelt Room at 3:30 in the afternoon, I think it’s fair to say that it’s something that I think a lot about. That’s probably the best you’ll do out of me today.
A good man: this humble burrito vendor in DC
From the Washington Post, this moving article about a man, Carlos Guardado, who took good care of others:For almost 20 years, he was there. A little guy in a metal cart, selling rice-and-bean burritos at 17th and K street. There in all weather, he became a dependable rock in the rapids of life in downtown Washington DC. He recalled not only his patrons' food preferences, but also the names of their children and standings of their sports teams. Workers who had been transferred away would come find him on their visits back. He once got a postcard from a customer traveling in Africa. It was addressed "Carlos's Burrito Cart, Corner of 17th and K." Infusing the street-corner with trust and a genuine friendliness, he ran his cart on the honor system, putting out a basket for people to drop their payment. When he told you he hoped you would have a good day," he really meant it," says one regular. "I don't think he had any idea the impact he had on people."
10/27/10
The morally bankrupt, pedophilia-ridden Catholic Church tells its followers to vote against my civil rights. I am ashmaed of my former church
As a bishop it's my obligation in fact, to urge the faithful to carry out their civic duty in accord with their Catholic faith. So, the Catholic Church in teaching that sexual acts between persons of the same sex are intrinsically evil, are against nature itself, is simply announcing the truth, helping people to discriminate right from wrong in terms of their own activities.-- Cardinal Raymond Burke
"Confronting Life": a story of anger & non-violence
by Aaron Gouveia, a regular contributor to The Good Men Project Magazine
“You’re killing your unborn baby!”
That’s what they yelled at me and my wife on the worst day of our lives. As we entered the women’s health center on an otherwise perfect summer morning in Brookline, two women we had never met decided to pile onto the nightmare we had been living for three weeks. These “Christians” verbally accosted us—judged us—as we steeled ourselves for the horror of making the unimaginable, but necessary, decision to end our pregnancy at 16 weeks.
After extensive testing at a renowned Boston hospital three weeks earlier, we were told our baby had Sirenomelia. Otherwise known as Mermaid Syndrome, it’s a rare (one in every 100,000 pregnancies) congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together. Worse than that, our baby had no bladder or kidneys. Our doctors told us there was zero chance for survival.
♦♦♦
I’m not a religious person and I’ve never believed in heaven or hell. But there is a hell on Earth. Hell is sitting next to the person you love most and listening to her wail hysterically because her heart just broke into a million pieces. Hell is watching her entire body convulse with sobs because she’s being tortured with grief. For as long as I live and no matter how many children we have, I will never forget that sound. And I vowed to do everything in my power to make sure she’d never make it again.
Across a crowded street, two people with “God Is Pro-Life!” signs and pictures of torn-up fetuses managed to drive the blade in even deeper. Again, I was left trying to console the inconsolable, feeling even more helpless this time, because I wasn’t allowed into surgery with her.
Running on pure adrenaline, and without even a hint of a plan, I grabbed my cell phone and crossed the street. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it, I just knew I wanted to make public the cowardice of these protesters.
♦♦♦
I learned a few important things from this encounter. First, these people aren’t used to being confronted. They prey on the weak and they pounce on the wounded. It’s easy to berate people and shame them when they’re too beaten down to fight back. But I chose to do just that, and you can see what happened.
They spout the same tired rhetoric passed out at rallies and subway stations. They don’t have one salient response to any of my questions.
The most telling thing about their cowardice is when the woman on the right gets upset that I’m recording the conversation (which is perfectly legal) and then threatens to call the police. The irony is rich. She wanted to call the police because I was peacefully expressing my opinion on a public sidewalk and exercising my First Amendment rights, which is exactly what she was doing. But I’m not on “God’s side,” am I.
She also claims the women at the clinic are suicide risks. Even if she believed that were true, does she really think yelling at them and shaming them in public is going to encourage these women not to kill themselves?
♦♦♦
After I took a walk and calmed down, it was time to pick up my wife and go home. When we pulled out of the clinic, the protesters were gone, and a police cruiser was parked nearby with the lights flashing. My wife, still groggy from the surgery, managed to crack a little smile, and asked, “What did you do?”
I have no idea if it was my interaction with the protesters that got them to leave. I doubt it was, but my wife was convinced that was the case. At first, I didn’t think of it as a big deal, and I actually felt a little foolish for getting so heated.
My wife, suddenly serious, pointed out a women entering the clinic. Within minutes, she said, that woman would be making a serious choice. Whether she kept her baby or not, it didn’t matter—what matters is that she can make the decision that’s right for her. And she can make it without people screaming at her.
My wife and I wanted our second child. We loved her. We even had a name for her, Alexandra.
You never know the circumstances surrounding this kind of decision. Consider this my plea: stop terrorizing women. Stop adding trauma to their trauma. If you’re able, stand up to these bullies in nonviolent ways. Speak out. And if you have a camera, use it.
“You’re killing your unborn baby!”
That’s what they yelled at me and my wife on the worst day of our lives. As we entered the women’s health center on an otherwise perfect summer morning in Brookline, two women we had never met decided to pile onto the nightmare we had been living for three weeks. These “Christians” verbally accosted us—judged us—as we steeled ourselves for the horror of making the unimaginable, but necessary, decision to end our pregnancy at 16 weeks.
After extensive testing at a renowned Boston hospital three weeks earlier, we were told our baby had Sirenomelia. Otherwise known as Mermaid Syndrome, it’s a rare (one in every 100,000 pregnancies) congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together. Worse than that, our baby had no bladder or kidneys. Our doctors told us there was zero chance for survival.
♦♦♦
I’m not a religious person and I’ve never believed in heaven or hell. But there is a hell on Earth. Hell is sitting next to the person you love most and listening to her wail hysterically because her heart just broke into a million pieces. Hell is watching her entire body convulse with sobs because she’s being tortured with grief. For as long as I live and no matter how many children we have, I will never forget that sound. And I vowed to do everything in my power to make sure she’d never make it again.
Across a crowded street, two people with “God Is Pro-Life!” signs and pictures of torn-up fetuses managed to drive the blade in even deeper. Again, I was left trying to console the inconsolable, feeling even more helpless this time, because I wasn’t allowed into surgery with her.
Running on pure adrenaline, and without even a hint of a plan, I grabbed my cell phone and crossed the street. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it, I just knew I wanted to make public the cowardice of these protesters.
♦♦♦
I learned a few important things from this encounter. First, these people aren’t used to being confronted. They prey on the weak and they pounce on the wounded. It’s easy to berate people and shame them when they’re too beaten down to fight back. But I chose to do just that, and you can see what happened.
They spout the same tired rhetoric passed out at rallies and subway stations. They don’t have one salient response to any of my questions.
The most telling thing about their cowardice is when the woman on the right gets upset that I’m recording the conversation (which is perfectly legal) and then threatens to call the police. The irony is rich. She wanted to call the police because I was peacefully expressing my opinion on a public sidewalk and exercising my First Amendment rights, which is exactly what she was doing. But I’m not on “God’s side,” am I.
She also claims the women at the clinic are suicide risks. Even if she believed that were true, does she really think yelling at them and shaming them in public is going to encourage these women not to kill themselves?
♦♦♦
After I took a walk and calmed down, it was time to pick up my wife and go home. When we pulled out of the clinic, the protesters were gone, and a police cruiser was parked nearby with the lights flashing. My wife, still groggy from the surgery, managed to crack a little smile, and asked, “What did you do?”
I have no idea if it was my interaction with the protesters that got them to leave. I doubt it was, but my wife was convinced that was the case. At first, I didn’t think of it as a big deal, and I actually felt a little foolish for getting so heated.
My wife, suddenly serious, pointed out a women entering the clinic. Within minutes, she said, that woman would be making a serious choice. Whether she kept her baby or not, it didn’t matter—what matters is that she can make the decision that’s right for her. And she can make it without people screaming at her.
My wife and I wanted our second child. We loved her. We even had a name for her, Alexandra.
You never know the circumstances surrounding this kind of decision. Consider this my plea: stop terrorizing women. Stop adding trauma to their trauma. If you’re able, stand up to these bullies in nonviolent ways. Speak out. And if you have a camera, use it.
The real Tea Party threat to LGBT people
No one has been more gravely disappointed and, at times livid, with the practically non-existent record of President Obama on LGBT equal rights. Over and over again I have held this administration's feet to the fire in an effort to force them to move forward in our struggle for freedom. As we all know by now, those pleas often have fallen on deaf ears. Our disappointment, anger and frustration is totally justified. What is not justified is to allow those emotions to intrude on our ability to be intelligent voters this election day. We cannot and should not shoot ourselves in the collective foot because of the administration's actions.Why is it important to vote? Let's get right down to it: If the House and Senate fall into Republican Tea Party hands on November 2nd, the LGBT community will be facing the most hostile United States Congress in our history. The election of these bonafide Teabagging wing-nuts could cause chaos, fear and intimidation in our political process. Their ascendancy to power would validate some truly dark and despicable forces operating in American politics. If we think it is hard to achieve equal rights now just try and do it in a Tea Party dominated Congress.
--David Mixner
The politics of hate & the unintended consequences
Just two years into his term, some 46 books demonizing the president have been published, The Daily Beast's John Avlon reports. By this time in his presidency, there were only five anti-George W. Bush books. The anti-Obama trend is just another measure of the new intensity of politics. "If any Republican thinks that this cycle will stop with the next president, they underestimate the ways that politics follows the lines of physics—every action creates an equal and opposite reaction," Avlon writes. "This will become the new normal."--Daily Beast
Understanding the Buddhist teaching of non-self
There are Buddhists who are caught in the notion of non-self. This is a shame, because the Buddha taught impermanence and non-self to help us overcome all notions, including the notion of a separate self. But it does not help if you are caught in the notion of non-self.There are always some people who are ready to embrace a doctrine, a notion, a dogma, and they miss the real teaching. A monk sitting under a tree was asked by a lady passing by, "Venerable, did you see a lady pass here? He said, "No, I did not see a lady go by. I saw a combination of bones and flesh, and the five elements."
This is ridiculous. The monk was caught in the notion of non-self. You can imagine how disappointed the Buddha is when he has a student like that, a student who is caught in the Buddha's teaching of impermanence and non-self. The teaching of impermanence and non-self only aims to show us everything is connected to everything else, the teaching of interbeing. Without this, the other can not be. One wave is made of all other waves. One electron is made of all other electrons. Nuclear physicists of our time are beginning to speak in this language.
In India, during the sixth century, so many monks and laypeople were caught in the idea of non-self that there was a strong reaction on the part of those who understood Buddhism better. They created a school of Buddhism that taught there was a self. In the beginning, it looked like they were teaching just the opposite of what the Buddha said, but in fact they were more intelligent than the others...They realized that even when you accept the teaching and the practice of non-self and impermanence, you are still a person.
--Thich Naht Hanh
10/26/10
Choosing party over country: the GOP strategy that will come back to haunt them
The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.--Senator Mitch McConnell
Unknowing
The answer, the eternal home, will never, never be found so long as you are seeking it, for the simple reason that it is in yourself -- not the self that you are aware of and that you can love or hate, but the one that vanishes when you look for it. As soon as you realize that you are the Center, you have no further need to see it, to try to make it an object or an experience. This is why the mystics call the highest knowledge unknowing.--Alan Watts
(photo taken by my ex and good friend, Byron, this past weekend)
10/25/10
Learning to be here
Once a psychiatrist asked Suzuki Roshi about consciousness. "I know nothing about it," Suzuki said. "I just try to teach my students how to hear the birds sing."
--Zen Mondo
10/24/10
The freedom that comes with restraint
An important part of our practice is that we exercise restraint. As the Buddha says, restraint over the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body is good, as is restraint in terms of our actions, our speech, and our thoughts.What’s good about it? Well, for one thing, if we don’t have any restraint, we don’t have any control over where our lives are going. Anything that comes our way immediately pulls us into its wake. We don’t have any strong sense of priorities, of what’s really worthwhile, of what’s not worthwhile, of the pleasures we’d gain by saying no to other pleasures. How do we rank the pleasures in our lives, the happiness, the sense of well-being that we get in various ways? Actually, there’s a sense of well-being that comes from being totally independent, from not needing other things. If that state of well-being doesn’t have a chance to develop, if we’re constantly giving in to our impulse to do this or take that, we’ll never know what that well-being is.
-- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "The Dignity of Restraint"
10/23/10
Free at last
I believe that man must get of his illusions that enslave and paralyze him; that he must become aware of the reality inside and outside him in order to create a world which needs no illusions. Freedom and independence can be achieved only when the chains of illusion are broken.--Erich Fromm
This episode of Project Runway captures the enterprising & creative spirit of America
Watch this second to last episode here.
10/22/10
A gay teenager ends his life after being bullied
Terrel Williams took his life on October 13, just hours after being attacked by five other high school students, and pushed and thrown into a brick wall at Clover Park High School in Lakewood, WA.
10/21/10
10/19/10
This just in: Clarence Thomas’s wife "reaches out" to Anita Hill, asking for apology. That takes a lot of nerve & denial
Read this late breaking story here from the NYTimes.ABC News quoted from the Mrs. Thomas' voicemail:
“Good morning, Anita Hill, it's Ginny Thomas,” it quoted from the voicemail. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. Okay have a good day.”
10/18/10
10/15/10
Now is the time to meditate
If you wish to take up meditation, it must be now or never.--Steve Hagen
10/14/10
10/13/10
Obama begins to understand what helped make Reagan successful at a being a leader: marketing, PR, and public opinion
Mike Allen's Playbook shares these excepts from this coming Sunday's NYTimes Magazine article "The Education of a President":Obama reflects on what he called the “tactical lessons” of his first two years: He let himself look too much like “the same old tax-and-spend Democrat,” realized too late that “there’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects” and perhaps should have “let the Republicans insist on the tax cuts” in the stimulus. He said he and his team took “a perverse pride” in focusing on policy while ignoring the need to sell it to the country and that he realizes now that “you can’t be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion.”
I criticize Obama for not moving fast enough on LGBT issues, but he is moving on our issues, unlike the GOP who ignore us
Building a more perfect union means standing against anyone trying to write inequality into our laws and our Constitution – and repealing divisive and discriminatory laws like DOMA. And it means ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell once and for all. This is a promise the President has made in no uncertain terms. For the first time in history, the Secretary of Defense has testified in favor of ending this policy. For the first time in history, we have a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who has argued forcefully for allowing gay men and women to serve their country without having to subvert their integrity. And for the first time in history, the House of Representatives has passed repeal. Now we’ve got to keep pushing the Senate to do the right thing and get this done.--Valerie Jarrett, Special adviser to the President.
10/12/10
Jon Stewart & GOPer Eric Cantor have a good talk
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Exclusive - Eric Cantor Extended Interview Pt. 2 | ||||
| ||||
MSNBC's new branding spot is an anthem to the USA
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
10 good men in politics
From the Good Men Project: they asked fifteen political thinkers, commentators, and journalists—including Cokie Roberts, David Brooks, Andrew Sullivan, John Podesta, Chris Wallace, Andrea Mitchell, Joan Walsh, Thomas Frank, and Jonathan Capehart—for their nomination of a “good man” in politics. Read the whole article.The Top-10 Good Men Politicians
10) Mitch Daniels
9) Bernie Sanders
8 ) Mark Strama
7) Richard Lugar
6) Jeff Flake
5) Al Franken
4) Anh “Joseph” Cao
3) Cory Booker
2) Paul Ryan
1) Carl Levin
The transformative power of zen
The worldly life of people who have mastered Zen is buoyant and unbridled, like clouds making rain, like the moon in a tree, like an orchid in a recondite spot, like spring in living beings. Their actions is not self-conscious, yet their responses have order.--Hung-Chih
10/11/10
Giants advance to National League Championship!
A close victory for SF Giants and a sweet (and warm) night here. Yeah!
The "extraordinary gift" of being LGBT, on this National Coming Out Day
I have long held the belief that those of us who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender have been given an extraordinary gift. We are forced to go inside ourselves and determine, once and for all, that we are good. If we have anything at all to give the world, we are going to find it somewhere along that journey.--Chad Allen
Honda named "greenest" car company...again
The Union of Concerned Scientists crowns Honda with the greenest title once more. This is just one of the reasons everyone in my family drives a Honda-made car (I drive an Acura).
10/10/10
A beautiful October day with the Blue Angels in SF
Today I had the pleasure of watching the Blue Angels flying over my beloved San Francisco. What a perfect day. And hopefully next year during this Fleet Week in San Francisco, our LGBT servicemen and women will be serving openly and proudly. One can hope.
Oklahoma gay teenager takes his life...after attending a hate-filled city council meeting on LGBT issues
Sadly, we lose another talented and sensitive young gay man who takes his own life after attending a vitriolic and homophobic city council meeting and having been harassed for years in high school. Enough is enough. We will never stop until all LGBT people are recognized and honored for their intrinsic self-worth. Never.
More on the danger of tea party politicians for gay people...in their own words
From a speech today:I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don't want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option--it isn't. There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual. That is not how God created us.
--New York GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino
10/9/10
What an enjoyable and wonderful day...
After such a busy period of work for the last six weeks, I feel so fortunate to be able to relax today.After leaving Jeff's place this morning, I picked up my friend Richard and we went to a super yummy breakfast place, Kate's Kitchen. Then spent several hours at The SF Arboretum shopping and buying unusual plants during the semi-annual plant sale. Later Richard and I worked in my garden back for most of the day. (Well, we did drive to Home Depot in Colma and had an In-n-Out burger along the way.:))
Tonight, my friend Michael and I saw the fascinating movie "Social Network," and had a wonderful time talking about life after it. Then I caught up with my good friend Malcolm who lives on the Columbia River.
Then back to Jeff's to hang with him after his Cowboy Junkie's concert. So glad to enjoy all of it.
10/8/10
Man of the day: Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize winner and indefatigable fighter for democracy
One amazing and courageous man who is imprisoned in China for speaking his mind. Read about him here.
I am glad to see marriage equality activists taking our fight to the HQ of the Mormon Church, the leaders of the Prop 8 movement
Last night over courageous 4000 activists confronted the Mormon Church over their homophobia, their disinformation about LGBT people, and backing of Prop 8. Read about it here.For more background on the Mormon Church's management and financing of Proposition 8, watch this excellent documentary. It is shocking and disturbing to learn the truth:
"Happiness is a how, not a what"
Happiness is a how, not a what;a talent, not an object.
--Hermann Hesse
10/7/10
If you ask a good man...
If you ask a good man: "Why are you seeking God?," he will reply: "Just because he is God!"
"Why are you seeking the truth?" "Just because it is truth!"
As life lives on for its own sake, needing no reason for being,
so the just man has no reason for doing what he does.
--Mister Eckhart
Holding our LGBT groups accountable for results
In my opinion, the groups who have been performing well given their resources are the American Foundation for Equal Rights, Servicemembers United, and Get Equal. Not sure about all the others but HRC seems not to be effective given its vast resources.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)