Last week in NYC, during Fleet Week.
5/31/12
A challenging Zen lesson on letting go
Thank God for real journalism: the NYTimes blows the lid of Cardinal Dolan's secret payments to sexually abusive priests
The moral leadership of the Catholic Church becomes even more tattered by these allegations. From the NYTimes
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York authorized payments of as much as $20,000 to sexually abusive priests as an incentive for them to agree to dismissal from the priesthood when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee. Questioned at the time about the news that one particularly notorious pedophile cleric had been given a “payoff” to leave the priesthood, Cardinal Dolan, then the archbishop, responded that such an inference was “false, preposterous and unjust.”
A ground-breaking legal decision this morning: 1st District Court of Appeals rules DOMA unconstitutional
Many Americans believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and most Americans live in states where that is the law today.
One virtue of federalism is that it permits this diversity of governance based on local choice, but this applies as well to the states that have chosen to legalize same-sex marriage.
Under current Supreme Court authority, Congress' denial of federal benefits to same-sex couples lawfully married in Massachusetts has not been adequately supported by any permissible federal interest.Developing story
Romney embraces the birtherism tactics of Donald Trump. Once a bully, always...
None of this is surprising from a man who used to relentlessly taunt a gay class mate in prep school with the phrase "ata girl." He used this taunt to win friends then like he uses birtherism to try to win the presidency today. Character is immutable.
5/30/12
My photos from Auschwitz: the long shadow of the human condition, which we all share
Romney plays the race card: releases his birth certificate!
Birtherism is racism thinly disguised. Plain and simple. Shameful.
If Mr. Romney is so dedicated to transparency, why doesn't he release tax returns for the last 10 years, like President Obama did?
5/29/12
5/28/12
Zen lesson on solitude
My favorite piece of music is the one we hear all the time if we are quiet.
--John Cage
(photo of the rich Polish plains taken our my recent trip)
5/13/12
Some thoughts and pictures from this past week in Poland
The smart, kind, and hard-working people of Poland have touched my heart. This Catholic country of 38 million has endured waves of invasions by the Germans, Russians, Czechs and others in its long and checkered history. This people are resilient, savvy, educated, and glad to be free of Communism. Many of the men and women here are beautiful, inside and out. Having traveled to over 60 countries, I am totally taken by Poland -- for its rich history, many sites, good food, optimistic spirit, relative lack of American tourists, cheap prices, and pleasant climate.
Young Polish people are traveling and working all over the world, and returning home with their own ideas about gay people. The LGBT movement here is about 15-20 years behind the U.S. but younger people, with more progressive social attitudes, are challenging the Catholic Church's teachings on abortion and homosexuality. Yesterday, we saw something unusual: an out gay couple walking hand-in-hand through the center of Wroclaw, a big college town. We also met with the head of the LGBT movement here in Poland, drank many vodka shots with him and his friends, and have a good sense of the challenges for Polish gays.
This building was a gift from the Soviets in the 1950's and is called the Palace of Culture.
Here we are drinking and noshing with gay and straight friends in the kitschy Soviet-era bar at the Palace of Culture.
Poland is very modern with new construction projects all over the country. I see more construction cranes in Poland than in the U.S.
This is from the Baltic Sea city of Gdansk, in the old quarter.
This is the shipyard in Gdansk where the Solidarity movement was formed, beginning in 1980.
Young Polish people are traveling and working all over the world, and returning home with their own ideas about gay people. The LGBT movement here is about 15-20 years behind the U.S. but younger people, with more progressive social attitudes, are challenging the Catholic Church's teachings on abortion and homosexuality. Yesterday, we saw something unusual: an out gay couple walking hand-in-hand through the center of Wroclaw, a big college town. We also met with the head of the LGBT movement here in Poland, drank many vodka shots with him and his friends, and have a good sense of the challenges for Polish gays.
We are in front of a gnome from the 1980's which was the symbol of an performance art movement started in Wroclaw to protest the absurdity of the Communism and the Soviet-backed regime. The gnome is perched on the tip of a middle finger. You get the idea! (Maybe we should borrow the symbol to protest the anti-gay policies of the GOP.)
Nick Hanauer, the venture capitalist, destroys the trickle-down theory of economics at TED
In short, a burgeoning and strong middle class creates healthy economics as American learned in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1980, George Bush Sr. got it right when he called supply side economics "voodoo." That's what the 2012 election is all about.
We must witness the violence against LGBT people, and do something to change things
Svyatoslav Sheremet, head of Gay Forum of Ukraine, is beaten as he met with members of the media to inform them that a scheduled gay-pride parade was cancelled.
On this Mother's day, giving thanks for their love...
And this man and his family share and live my values, including treating women with dignity, respect, and full and equal rights.
5/12/12
The beauty of this moment...from "American Beauty"
And maybe a metaphor for our lives. You tell me.:)
Thanks to Doug P. reminding me of this.
Zen lesson
Nirvana may be the final object of attainment, but at the moment, it is difficult to reach. Thus, the practical and realistic aim is compassion, a warm heart, serving other people, helping others, respecting others, being less selfish.- The Dalai Lama
5/11/12
Quote of the day
Just when I think the radicals who run the GOP controlled House of Representatives can't be more craven or more cruel, they pass a budget like this one. For a party that cynically aligns itself with rabidly right-wing Christianists, I have one question when looking at how this budget sets out their priorities - more money for the bloated Military-Industrial Complex and tax breaks for the richest 1% while slashing programs that help the needy and the most vulnerable among us: What Would Jesus Do indeed?
- Kevin Sessums
Portrait of a young man as a bully: Mitt was "vicious"
Jason Horowitz at the Washington Post reports that Romney led what could be described as an assault on a fellow student thought to be gay: John Lauber, a student Cranbrook High School in Michigan, didn't fit the 60s-era mould of "masculinity,":
John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.
"He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenaged son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.
A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.
The incident was recalled similarly by five students, who gave their accounts independently of one another. Four of them — Friedemann, now a dentist; Phillip Maxwell, a lawyer; Thomas Buford, a retired prosecutor; and David Seed, a retired principal — spoke on the record.
Further in the Washington Post:
In an English class, Gary Hummel, who was a closeted gay student at the time, recalled that his efforts to speak out in class were punctuated with Romney shouting, “Atta girl!” In the culture of that time and place, that was not entirely out of the norm. Hummel recalled some teachers using similar language.
Rachel Maddow asks why Romney was laughing today about this incident when discussing it today. I am not laughing. Nor was John Lauber or any fair minded person. Very disturbing.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Andrew Sullivan concludes: "Romney was a high school bully of gay or effeminate kids and is also a brazen liar."
5/10/12
RIP: The great Porsche designer Tony Lapine
Tony Lapine died recently in a retirement home in Germany. But his design influence lives on, having produced some of the most futuristic and influential cars of the 1970s and 1980s: Porsche 924, 968, and 928. These cars are still beautiful. Read this article on Tony.
Obama's decision: letting go of fear & fully embracing love
"[T]oday Obama did more than make that logical step. He let go of fear. He is clearly prepared to let the political chips fall as they may. That's why we elected him. That's the change we believed in. The contrast with a candidate who wants to abolish all rights for gay couples by amending the federal constitution, and who has donated to organizations that seek to 'cure' gays, who bowed to pressure from bigots who demanded the head of a spokesman on foreign policy solely because he was gay: how much starker can it get? My view politically is that this will help Obama. He will be looking to the future generations as his opponent panders to the past. The clearer the choice this year the likelier his victory. And after the darkness of last night, this feels like a widening dawn."- Andrew Sullivan
Further, Rachael Maddow makes the case that Obama has had the most pro-gay policies in history, and now his official personal views are in synch with those. Watch this highly informative segment from last night's show:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Finally, I share these moving words from Charles Blow about Obama's decision today:
There is no wrong time to do the right thing. But the calculation of delay can erode the virtue of acting on what your conscience is telling you. The courage required in the present is greater than the comforts afforded by the future.
Not everyone will be happy. Important positions are not always popular. But they are necessary. Leaders with vision understand this.
As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable.” In fact,
Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
Risking the objection of some supporters is part of the sacrifice. But King also said that “a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
I don’t know about you, but I prefer leadership from leaders.
It is a natural impulse of all people to live freely in their own truth. President Obama yesterday lent his voice to affirming the basic humanity of gay and lesbian communities.
Standing up for what one truly believes is one of the greatest things a person can do. And, in the end, I believe that most Americans respect the courage of conviction and the pursuit of fairness, even if they have not come to accept same-sex marriage or even homosexuality.
Courage in politics isn’t always plentiful, and justice in the world isn’t always swift. Could Obama have moved more quickly? Maybe. But the important thing to remember is that he did move.
Amen. Forward -- let's re-elect Barack Obama and make this country a more perfect Union./Joe
5/9/12
My president believes all people are equal, including the LGBT. And makes history!
Barack Obama:
I've always believed that gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly and equally. I was reluctant to use the term marriage because of the very powerful traditions it evokes. And I thought civil union laws that conferred legal rights upon gay and lesbian couples were a solution.
But over the course of several years I've talked to friends and family about this. I've thought about members of my staff in long-term, committed, same-sex relationships who are raising kids together. Through our efforts to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, I've gotten to know some of the gay and lesbian troops who are serving our country with honor and distinction.
What I've come to realize is that for loving, same-sex couples, the denial of marriage equality means that, in their eyes and the eyes of their children, they are still considered less than full citizens.
Even at my own dinner table, when I look at Sasha and Malia, who have friends whose parents are same-sex couples, I know it wouldn't dawn on them that their friends' parents should be treated differently.
So I decided it was time to affirm my personal belief that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
I respect the beliefs of others, and the right of religious institutions to act in accordance with their own doctrines. But I believe that in the eyes of the law, all Americans should be treated equally. And where states enact same-sex marriage, no federal act should invalidate them.
Zen lesson about being consumed by anger
When you give in to aversion and anger, it’s as though, having decided to kill someone by throwing him into a river, you wrap your arms around his neck, jump into the water with him, and you both drown. In destroying your enemy, you destroy yourself as well.
- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
A quote for the day after the passage of Amendment One
Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.- Winston Churchill
Today I am sad and angry at the forces of discrimination: many churches, the GOP, NOM, and other anti-gay institutions. But make no mistake, we will never give in to fear and hatred. We know that all people are equal, even those who vote against our rights and are blinded by ignorance.
Love is the light of the world and our love will be celebrated in the end./Joe
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