Oct 31, 2012

SPECIALTY OF THE ¨Dia de los Difuntos¨ : FIAMBRE

As all different families brought food to the celebrations, they became mixed, eventually mixing them together to this all-encompassing salad
Fiambre is a traditional Guatemalan dish that is prepared and eaten yearly to celebrate the Day of the Dead (Día de los Difuntos) and the All Saints Day (Día de los Santos). It is a salad, served chilled, and may be made up from over 50 ingredients.
Fiambre started out from the tradition in Guatemala of taking dead family members their favorite dishes to the cemeteries for the Day of the Dead. As all different families brought food to the celebrations, they became mixed, eventually mixing them together to this all-encompassing salad. Ingredients usually include numerous sausages and cold cuts, pickled baby-corn and onion, beets, pacaya flower, different cheeses, olives, chicken, and sometimes even brussels sprouts or shrimp.
This dish varies from family to family, recipes traditionally passed on to younger generations. Because of this, on the Day of The Dead, it is customary to share your fiambre with other families and relatives.

Thanks to Wikipedia
Thanks to Flickr

Oct 30, 2012

ALL SAINTS and ALL SOULS' DAY: Prayers Ascending (quite literally) from Guatemala with Love

Sumpango, Guatemala
October 31-November 2

Throughout Latin America, All Saints' Day, November 1, and All Souls' Day, November 2, are treated like a single holiday. In Guatemala, the Indian villagers of Todos Santos (which means "All Saints") stretch these celebrations honoring the dead into a three-day-long affair by adding October 31. Families pay homage to the dead on All Souls' Day by decorating the graves of their loved ones and offering flowers, corn, squash, and orange slices at church. They position them on the floor of the church, pour some coffee into the flower blossoms, and then shake droplets of brandy over the whole display.

These solemn offerings are in stark contrast to the highlight of the festival, wild horse races, in which many of the riders have been drinking since the previous night. In the town of Santiago Sacatepequez people fly huge kites in the graveyard and many attach prayers and notes to their deceased loved ones to the kites' tails...¨ HERE

Thanks to The Guatemalan Tourist Bureau
Thanks to Sumpango
Thanks to Elizabeth Bell, Antigua Tours http://www.antiguatours.net/

Oct 27, 2012

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Editorial Board ¨enthusiastically endorse¨ President Obama´s reelection efforts.¨


The New York Times

' editorial board "enthusiastically endorse" President Obama's reelection efforts.
In addition to approving of his handling of the economy, foreign fairs and maintaining a fair, balanced Supreme Court, the paper gives a thumbs up to Obama's work toward LGBT equality. Mitt Romney's archaic policies are less-than-admirable, the paper says:
The extraordinary fact of Mr. Obama’s 2008 election did not usher in a new post-racial era. In fact, the steady undercurrent of racism in national politics is truly disturbing. Mr. Obama, however, has reversed Bush administration policies that chipped away at minorities’ voting rights and has fought laws, like the ones in Arizona, that seek to turn undocumented immigrants into a class of criminals.
The military’s odious “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule was finally legislated out of existence, under the Obama administration’s leadership. There are still big hurdles to equality to be brought down, including the Defense of Marriage Act, the outrageous federal law that undermines the rights of gay men and lesbians, even in states that recognize those rights.
Though it took Mr. Obama some time to do it, he overcame his hesitation about same-sex marriage and declared his support. That support has helped spur marriage-equality movements around the country. His Justice Department has also stopped defending the Defense of Marriage Act against constitutional challenges.
Mr. Romney opposes same-sex marriage and supports the federal act, which not only denies federal benefits and recognition to same-sex couples but allows states to ignore marriages made in other states. His campaign declared that Mr. Romney would not object if states also banned adoption by same-sex couples and restricted their rights to hospital visitation and other privileges.  HERE
 
Thanks to The New York Times, sidebar
Thanks to Towleroad, sidebar

Oct 26, 2012

PRESIDENT OBAMA ROCKETING NOW: 73.1% Chance of Winning re-election! YES! Obamanos!



Nate Silver, who runs the New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight blog, now gives President Obama a 73.1% chance of winning re-election — up more than two points — and predicts 294 electoral college votes and 50.2% of the popular vote.

Yesterday, Silver gave President Obama a 71 percent chance of winning re-election on November 6, with 291 electoral college votes, and a 50.2% of the popular vote.
Perhaps this will stop Romney’s lies about his “momentum,” which is spelled, “backward.”

Thanks to the New Civil Rights Movement, sidebar
Thanks to the New York Times
Thanks to Nate Silver

Oct 24, 2012

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: ¨President Obama’s got it right. We should invest in the middle class, education and innovation¨


Bill Clinton’s New Ad: ‘President Obama’s Got It Right.’

“The stuff some folks are saying about President Obama sounds kind of familiar,” Bill Clinton says in this new ad for President Barack Obama. “The same people said my ideas destroyed jobs—they called me every name in the book.”

“Well we created 22 million new jobs and turned deficits into surpluses.”

“President Obama’s got it right. We should invest in the middle class, education and innovation. And pay down our debt with spending restraint and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. Sound familiar?” HERE

Thanks to The New Civil Rights Movement, sidebar
Thanks to David Badash

RACES TO WATCH: Openly LGBT Candidates in groundbreaking runs for political office!


The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today announced its annual “Races to Watch” list featuring openly LGBT candidates, naming 12 candidates involved in groundbreaking runs for political office this year. Victory has endorsed a total of 180 out candidates for 2012, an all-time high, with a record 8 candidates running for the U.S. House and Senate.

“We’re going to be watching every single race closely, so it’s very hard to choose just a dozen,” said Tiffany Muller, Victory’s vice president for political operations. ”While each of these races are important for different reasons, they represent what a truly groundbreaking year this has been for LGBT politics. These 12 are expected to be close, and we’ll be fighting all the way up until Election Day,” Muller said.

The following are Victory’s “12 Races to Watch” for 2012. Find out about all 175 Victory Fund-endorsed candidates at www.victoryfund.org.
  • Tammy Baldwin – U.S. Senate (Wisconsin) – Would be the first openly LGBT American in the U.S. Senate.
  • Josh Boschee – North Dakota House of Representatives – Could become the first out member of the N.D. legislature.
  • Kate Brown – Oregon Secretary of State – Second highest-ranking elected official in the state.
  • David Cicilline – U.S. House (RI1) – Running for his first reelection to Congress in a tight race.
  • Sean Patrick Maloney – U.S. House (NY18) – Would be the first openly LGBT member of Congress from N.Y.
  • Marie Mayor – Delaware House – Could become the first out state legislator in Delaware.
  • Tim Brown – Ohio House of Representatives – Tim would become the only openly LGBT Republican state lawmaker in the U.S.
  • Kyrsten Sinema – U.S. House (AZ9) – Would the first out bisexual elected to Congress.
  • Stephen Skinner – West Virginia House of Representatives – Could become the first openly LGBT state lawmaker in W.V.
  • Andy Staton – Delaware Senate – Could become the first out state legislator in Delaware.
  • Mark Takano – U.S. House (CA41) – Could become the first openly LGBT person of color in Congress.
  • Richard Tisei – U.S. House (MA6) – Would become the first out Republican elected to Congress as a non-incumbent.

Oct 23, 2012

THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA!


Thank you Mr. President for representing the voice of all Americans everywhere with fair minded and sensible practices, directness and most of all HONESTY!   OBAMANOS!   Onward for the November 6th WIN!  

Oct 21, 2012

MITT ROMNEY AND THE PUTREFICATION OF AMERICAN EQUALITY

Ongoing damaged junktalk by the Republican presidential candidate, all-around liar, bigot and pretentious and self-righteous danger to U.S. equality. 
Romney May Stop Hospital Visitation for Gay Couples

¨It’s known that Romney stands against rights for LGBT people. He signed the National Organization for Marriage pledge to stand against marriage equality, appoint Supreme Court Justices who would also stand against equal rights for gays and lesbians and fight to write discrimination against us into the US Constitution.

This, despite at one point saying he would be “better than Ted” Kennedy on gay rights.

This week, Romney apparently believes that when my husband is in the hospital, I do not have the right to visit him and that it should be up to each state to decide whether or not I am the next of kin. He believes that a lesbian spouse like Janice Langbehn visiting her dying wife in the hospital is a “privilege” and not a right.

In an interview with Buzzfeed today, Romney adviser Bay Buchanan told Chris Geidner:
“Governor Romney also believes, consistent with the 10th Amendment, that it should be left to states to decide whether to grant same-sex couples certain benefits, such as hospital visitation rights and the ability to adopt children.”
In April of 2010, recognizing the extraordinary miscarriage of justice and horrifying stories of families being split apart while fathers, mothers, husbands and wives were barred from visiting one another in the hospital, Barack Obama signed an Executive Order stating that any hospital which receives government funding (including Medicare and Medicaid) shall recognize the relationships between gays and lesbians...¨ HERE

Thanks to Talk About Equality, sidebar

Oct 20, 2012

¨Romney's world view is couched in a religion that makes stark raving evangelical-inspired Christian-Zionist aggression of the kind W Bush practiced when he took us to war look positively mild.¨

Neoconservative Jingoism Plus Mormon Delusion Equals Perpetual War
If he's elected let's pray Romney isn't a good Mormon! Let's hope he's faking it!
 
¨...As the father of a Marine who was sent to fight in two stupid wars by an evangelical Protestant president I know how presidential theology can exacerbate stupidity. So I shudder to think that we might elect an even more religiously deluded and theologically-motivated president than W Bush was.

And yes, I know one is not supposed to criticize other people's religion in polite conversation. And yes I was once myself a member of the stupid Religious Right as I describe in my book Crazy For God , then I changed my mind. But there's nothing polite about needlessly sending Americans like my son to their deaths.

We Americans have the right to ask what our presidential candidates believe that may impact our lives. Romney's world view is couched in a religion that makes stark raving evangelical-inspired Christian-Zionist aggression of the kind W Bush practiced when he took us to war look positively mild. If Romney is a good Mormon he believes that the United States is the New Jerusalem and/or Zion. If Romney is a good Mormon he also believes that anyone endorsing models of life outside of Mormon/American xenophobic boundaries is warned in the Book of Mormon in (2 Nephi 10:16) as follows:
"And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles. And I will fortify this land (the USA) against all other nations. And he that fighteth against Zion shall perish, saith God. For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish..."
In other words from the Mormon "perspective" too bad for the country or person who embraces non-US models of government outside the United States. Too bad for those unaware of the "fact" that they are "fighting against God and His Zion" if they disagree with American policy. And since those not like us are fighting against God when they take on America then naturally they must be dealt with very harshly...¨  please read it all, HERE

Thanks to AlteNet / By Frank Schaeffer

Oct 19, 2012

wow! wow! wow! -- THE SALT LAKE CITY TRIBUNE: ¨The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.¨

¨The President has earned a second term¨
¨From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign: "Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?" The evidence suggests no clear answer, or at least one that would survive Romney’s next speech or sound bite. Politicians routinely tailor their words to suit an audience. Romney, though, is shameless, lavishing vastly diverse audiences with words, any words, they would trade their votes to hear. 

In considering which candidate to endorse, The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board had hoped that Romney would exhibit the same talents for organization, pragmatic problem-solving and inspired leadership that he displayed here more than a decade ago. Instead, we have watched him morph into a friend of the far right, then tack toward the center with breathtaking aplomb. Through a pair of presidential debates, Romney’s domestic agenda remains bereft of detail and worthy of mistrust. Therefore, our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.¨ HERE

Thanks to The Salt Lake Tribune, The Editorial Board
Thanks to President Barack Obama


ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW IN THE PHILIPPINES: ¨...will prohibit excluding, refusing or dismissing any person from public programs and services and educational institutions on the basis of disability, age, health status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity and religion¨

 
 

Cebu becomes first province in the Philippines to pass anti-discrimination law

The Cebu City Council on Wednesday passed a landmark anti-discrimination ordinance on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, age, health status, ethnicity and religion.
 
The landmark ordinance will prohibit excluding, refusing or dismissing any person from public programs and services and educational institutions on the basis of disability, age, health status, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity and religion, according to a report in the Sun Star.

The law will also prohibit discriminating against any organisation or group. It also makes it unlawful to deny medical and other health services, transportation and other facilities based on those biases...¨ please read it all, HERE

Thanks to Cebu City Council, Philippines
Thanks to Fridae Asia, sidebar

Oct 18, 2012

DE-MITTING MATTERS: ¨I care about those less fortunate and the elderly, and think it is our collective responsibility to ensure their well-being, but in Romney's eyes, these people are victims and moochers.

Loving families are not defined by Mitt Romney
¨PLEASE DE-FRIEND ME IF YOU PLAN TO VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY¨

¨If you plan to vote for Mitt Romney, you are putting a nail into my civil rights coffin, and I'd rather not have friends who think I deserve anything less than equal treatment under the law. Romney supports DOMA (which directly and negatively impacts me, restricting my partner Russ, our kids, and my federal protections and tax benefits under the law), and has noted his support for an anti-marriage equality amendment as well.

While you may see your vote for him as one about the economy (and we can debate who'd be better for that until the cows come home), what you INTEND by your vote really doesn't matter. Your vote means that you are supporting someone who not only thinks I'm not equal to you, but who works vigorously to ensure my "less-than" legal status. Your vote for him means that you are totally fine with me being treated with disrespect.

Now, you may see this as an indication that I am being too "single minded", and I'll admit that when you're denied even the simplest of human considerations, it makes it difficult to look beyond that. But this is about much more than my treatment under the law. Who I am and what I believe passionately in are also things which Romney discounts.

I believe in full and fair treatment of ALL people, but Romney believes that women should not receive equal pay for equal work. I believe we need to take care of our earth, even if it means tightening our belts, but Romney favors further deregulation over environmental concerns. I think it is our duty to support things like art and culture (I view them as essential), but Romney disparages the role these play in enriching our lives; he sees them as extraneous and will cut public funding. I believe, just as education is a right, healthcare is as well, but Romney wants to abolish the Affordable Care Act. I care about those less fortunate and the elderly, and think it is our collective responsibility to ensure their well-being, but in Romney's eyes, these people are victims and moochers.
In short, who I am isn't just who I love, it is the things I feel passionately about. And Romney stands against almost all of them...¨    HERE

Thanks to The Bilerico Project, sidebar
Thanks to  Kergan Edwards-Stout

FROM SAINT LUKE TO MITT ROMNEY WITH LOVE: ¨Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.¨


But woe unto you that are rich! for you have received your consolation.

 Woe unto you that are full! for you shall hunger

CLICK ON LINK

 And why behold you the speck that is in your brother's eye, but perceive not the beam that is in your own eye?
 
 
CLICK ON LINK

Oct 17, 2012

PRETTY IS AS PRETTY DOES: Mormon Pastor/Bishop Romney on the run!

Former Governor and LDS ¨Pastor and Bishop¨ Romney getting a taste, in his face, of his own not-so-real-reality!
A ugly glimpse of the Mitt Romney we've come to know during this ¨election season¨ happened last night.  Suddenly, during the U.S. Presidential debate, the perma-smirk of Mitt Romney failed him and we all got to see the emotionally twisted real and selfish greedster, who profits-by-destroying-the-lives-of-others.

 Romney's tough talk can't cover his real record on China
click on link

Romney's Bain Capital Is Sending Many Jobs to China the Day Before the Election
click on link

¨Pastor/Bishop¨ Romney, the liquidator and opportunist-on-the-run, was fully revealed to us last night as he attempted to show off his grand, yet empty of solid fact,  country-saving style recovery plan.

http://www.romneytaxplan.com/
click on link

Again, over and over again,  selfseeking/preening Bishop ¨Pastor¨ Romney attempted to smear the personal character of President Obama instead of  cleanly spelling out his own recovery vision/illusion for America. 
 
The Self Destruction Of The One Percent
click on link

Romney seemed content to tell us of the many acts of self-less service he says he rendered to the ¨needy¨ at his Mormon Church and underscore what a fine fellow he was/is when others, not him, are ¨down on their luck.¨  

 The One Percents Titanic Self-delusion
click on link

Sadly, Romney was/is willing to go to any length with slurs, lying and outright slander to diminish the hard work of President Obama over the past four years. 

Obama team believes President Obama reset the race
click on link

Fortunately, LDS Bishop Romney, revealed for all of us to see, a prancing and shallow second rate salesman and opportunist politico last night.  He may be filled with ideas and ideals of a Romney perfect world but I think they are sugar-rush-plum fantasies and falsehoods dancing in his head.

The Truth Is, Romney Is A Flat Out Liar
click on link

Better to know now, rather than later.

Presidential Debate: Romney Lied 31 Times
click on link

Leonardo Ricardo on Wednesday

Thanks to The New York Times, sidebar
Thanks to The Daily Kos, sidebar
Thanks to The Bilerico Project, sidebar
Thanks to The New Civil Rights Movement, sidebar
Thanks to New America Media, sidebar

Oct 16, 2012

PRESIDENT OBAMA WINS THE DEBATE (Romney needs to stop pretending to have a real bottom line)

President Obama WINS the debate!  Onward to reelection November 6, 2012

IS DEATH ALWAYS SAD? On May 15, 2007, long-time gay rights foe Jerry Falwell was found dead on the floor of his office at Liberty University.


Jerry and George, together again at last
A bygone era: Jerry Falwell, left, with Alabama Gov. George Wallace, right, about 1986 or 1987. Photo Credit: Alabama Department of Archives and History.

On May 15, 2007, long-time gay rights foe Jerry Falwell was found dead on the floor of his office at Liberty University. Falwell had made a career of gay baiting from his tirade against Tinky Winky, an allegedly gay Teletubby in 1999, to blaming 9-11 on God’s wrath stemming from a mixture of gays and “abortionists.”

¨As information concerning Falwell’s demise percolated to the level of national news a few commentators wasted no time celebrating. Christopher Hitchens wrote his infamous commentary, “Faith Based Fraud,” in Vanity Fair and ran the gamut of television news programs. Bill Maher dedicated the final three minutes of his New Rules segment to Falwell (who had been an occasional guest on Maher’s previous show) to the new rule “death isn’t always sad.” Even Fred Phelps chimed in claiming Falwell was burning in hell.

Phelps notwithstanding the celebrants, who extended into the general public, were pleased that someone who had been a politically powerful voice for regression had finally met his end. Still others, perhaps the more conscionable among us, were shocked by the notion of delighting in the death of another human being. Yet this idea is so deeply embedded in our lives that we tend to miss it...¨ there is more, HERE

Thanks to QNotes, sidebar
Thanks to Alabama Department of Photo Archives
Thanks to Jason Yonce defeatedcreek@yahoo.com
Published: October 16, 2012 in Guest Commentary

EQUALITY:  Here and or in the great beyond?

Oct 15, 2012

I VOTED FOR BARACK OBAMA TODAY: My absentee ballot is winging it´s way to the good old U.S.A.!

Dear Barack and Joe,

It was my pleasure to vote for you today.  My vote for your reelection is a very small thank you for all that you have done for me and people like me...my family.  I send you my best wishes for a landslide of a vote of confidence on November 6th, afterall, what will be is what is clearly healthy for Americans both at home and abroad...four more years!

Gracias a Dios for Barack Obama, Joe Biden and every other Democrat I voted for too (and I did),

Leonardo Ricardo
Leonard Clark Beardsley
Guatemala, Central America
October 15, 2012

Oct 14, 2012

THE ALL-AMERICAN CHOICE: "...who would you rather have as neighbors and fellow citizens, people like the late Sgt. Donna Johnson who died a hero, or a pack of toxic crazies demanding that everyone die except them?¨


¨I've said it before, I'll say it again, I love Fred Phelps!¨

¨He's the best thing ever to happen to the cause of gay lib. He does so much for us just be being his own repulsive reptilian self. Our enemies are stuck with him like burrs on a shaggy dog. No matter how hard they try to distance themselves from him, when they look at him they see themselves as through a mirror very darkly. Fred and his crew take all of their carefully reasoned and expensively packaged arguments as to why gays and lesbians are less than everyone else and smears shit all over them.

Now, he and his little inbred tribe are going to picket the funeral of Sgt. Donna Johnson, a lesbian soldier killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber...¨ there is more, HERE

Thanks to Counterlights Peculiars, sidebar
Thanks to Doug
Thanks to Fred Phelps

Oct 12, 2012

SANTA MUERTE: Part of the global economy worship a goddess of death and treasure

Santa Muerte
¨Goddess of those who smuggle drugs and people, and goddess of the whole international economy. She doesn't care what's traded, shares, shoes, oil, real estate, guns, grain, drugs, plutonium, or people, just so long as there's a profit. Our demand for smoke, blow, cheap labor, big profit margins, and easy wins creates a lot of brutality and suffering around the world. Such a global economy worships a goddess of death and treasure.¨

Thanks to Counterlights Peculiars, sidebar
Thanks to Doug, HERE

MY HERO! Vice President Joe Biden´s Grand Slam!

Joe Biden, Vice President of The United States of America
Last night I watched the Vice Presidential debate on CNN International. Last night I clearly recognized that Congressman Paul Ryan is playing a game of political pretend.   He pretends he's a knowledgeable leader and friend of the middle class.  Unfortunately, for Mr. Ryan, he can no longer be considered a serious contender for Vice President of the United States because of his inability to be truthful, although the man seemed well prepared, he wasn't honorable, as he twisted and turned real facts into weapons constructed to support self-serving lies.  The man is a disgrace to his Nation and Political Party.  Thankfully, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, captured the debate opportunity and exposed the bigtalking opportunist for what he is:  A selfish, grandstanding, instrument of big business (medical industry and oil) and pridefilled shallow hot-shot on the run...as I read this morning elsewhere, ¨Sarah Palin with no lipstick¨...simply another candidate as a Fox News loose cannon talk-show-filler for hire. 

Thank you Joe Biden.  Today  I will vote for you and President Obama by eballot from Central America and mail in my confirmation of doing so.  Four more years of wisdom is coming my way and you have continued to earn my trust and loyalty.  Thank you for all that you do (and sometimes for what you don't do).  Leonardo Ricardo

TRUTH and DECENCY:  Thank you Vice President Biden

VP Debate: Paul Ryan Lied 24 Times
HERE

Oct 11, 2012

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF UGANDA: Lies, demonizing of Christians and ignorant, dangerous and loathsome pastoral behavior for the deceased continues!

¨No funerals for unserious Christians at the Anglican Church of Uganda¨

Archbishop-elect Stanley Ntagali
¨A Church in Gulu town has announced that it will no longer conduct funeral services for uncommitted Christians and those who are not known by the churches in their respective areas.

The Vicar for Christ Church, Godfrey Luwum, made the announcement during the service on Sunday. He said the decision was arrived at during a meeting of the top management of the Church of Uganda.

“Top leaders of the Church of Uganda have come to a decision that the Church will no longer hold funerals or send-off prayers for unserious Christians. These are people who never attend church services and do not generally participate in church-related activities,” Luwum said.

However, the Archbishop- elect of the Church of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali said: “That is not true, it is not the position of the Church. Maybe, it is a statement from an individual.” (click here for an example of the ongoing lies of the Anglican Church of Uganda HERE)

Luwum said the decision follows several disturbing incidences where funeral services have been conducted believing the deceased were followers of Jesus Christ, only to discover they practised witchcraft.
 
He added that in future, before a funeral service is conducted, the family will have to prove that the person was a committed Christian attached to a particular Anglican Church.

Luwum said that families of those who lived outside the region or abroad would be asked to produce a letter of introduction from their churches...¨ there is more, HERE

Thanks to Three Rivers Epsicopal, sidebar
Thanks to New Vision, Uganda

Stop the promoting of ignorance, fear and hate at The Anglican Church of Uganda

Oct 9, 2012

A PASTORS CHALLENGE: ¨I assumed my attraction to men was only physical and that periodic encounters with men had been a kind of addiction, but not related to who I really was.¨


¨It was 1983 and I was about to graduate from a Christian college. I was terrified of the future because of my big, scary, dark secret. Finally, with a mixture of fear and shame, I scheduled an appointment with the school’s director of counseling. I told him my secret: I was attracted to other guys. I also told him that more than anything, I wanted to be free from those desires and live a normal life. He assured me that such change was possible, but would probably take about a year of therapy. Since I was due to graduate, I was referred to a Christian counselor in the city where I would soon begin seminary.

The new counselor, a sincere man with an MSW degree, also affirmed that change was possible. We began a counseling relationship lasting one year. “I’ve never met a homosexually-attracted man who had a good relationship with his father,” he told me. “Hmmm,” I thought, “my Dad and I have always been pretty close.” I told him so, and the counselor began a process of deconstructing my relationship with my father. He explained that my inability to bond with my father resulted in a quest to repair that relationship through bonding with other men. He was the expert and I was desperate, so I believed him. Thus began a journey toward becoming ‘normal’ that lasted nearly twenty years.

My story is similar to many others I've heard. A childhood centered in church and family. A growing awareness that I was attracted to guys, not girls, coupled with systems of massive denial. My identity was centered in being a good boy, an obedient son, a committed Christian. Inner nudges toward ministry set me on a path that included a Christian college and seminary - places where being gay was just not an option. I couldn't imagine a life that didn't include a wife, children, and the respect of others for being a Christian role model.

Being a pastor and practicing spiritual disciplines did nothing to diminish the power of my innate sexuality. I eventually got married to a remarkable woman, hoping the Christian counselors were correct that it would be a sign of my 'healing.' No doubt a very bad decision, though I'm deeply grateful for the two wonderful children who came out of our marriage.

In 2001 the unthinkable happened. On the day after my 40th birthday, I met a man with whom I experienced an overpowering emotional connection. Until then I assumed my attraction to men was only physical and that periodic encounters with men had been a kind of addiction, but not related to who I really was. A very brief 'fling' with this man ended when he challenged me to be completely honest with myself. A gay, Jewish agnostic man demonstrated greater integrity than this married Christian pastor, and his words began what ultimately resulted in my coming out...¨  please read Ricks story, HERE

Thanks to Ex-Gay Narratives, sidebar
Thanks to ¨Rick¨

Oct 8, 2012

CONSEQUENCES/DISCIPLINARY ACTION: Employee of a bus company in Singapore used gay slur on a female passenger!

Singapore: Bus driver to face disciplinary action for gay slur

by Sylvia Tan

In a first of its kind case to be reported, an employee of a bus company in Singapore will face disciplinary action after using a gay slur on a female passenger in public.

SBS Transit has confirmed that it will take disciplinary action against its driver for verbally abusing a passenger.
 
Leona Lo, a public relations consultant and transgender woman, reported being called an “ah kua” by a SBS Transit bus driver at the Bedok Temporary Interchange on Tuesday morning. The derogatory term in the Hokkien dialect is commonly used to taunt effeminate men or transgender women...more, HERE

 Thanks to Fridae Asia, sidebar
 Thanks to Sylvia Tan
EQUALITY:  Erasing hate from our lives.
 

Oct 7, 2012

14 YEARS LATER - REMEMBERING MATTHEW SHEPARD: The young college student had been viciously attacked and bludgeoned, and then tied to a fence and left to die. Matthew was targeted because he was gay¨



Matthew Shepard, member of The Episcopal Church

On October 7, 1998

¨Aaron Kreifels was riding his bike through a field in Wyoming.
He wasn’t expecting that day to be different from any other beautiful sunny afternoon in the vast plains surrounding Laramie, but that day would change many lives.
Aaron spotted what he initially thought was a scarecrow next to a fence. Then he noticed a glisten of blood. The sun sparkled on what he barely recognized as a face.
Aaron had discovered 22 year-old Matthew Shepard, clinging to life.

The young college student had been viciously attacked and bludgeoned, and then tied to a fence and left to die. Matthew was targeted because he was gay.
Most of you know what happened next. Matthew held on for five more days and as his parents held his hand and prayed — Matthew slipped away quietly on October 12th, leaving in his wake a new movement for equality.

The outcries for justice and for greater protections were immediate and resonating.
Since then, Matthew’s mother Judy has made it her personal mission to protect all young LGBT people from Matthew’s horrific fate. In founding the Matthew Shepard Foundation, she has created safe spaces in and outside of schools for kids, and worked with parents to ensure their children learn to erase hate from their lives...¨  please read it all, HERE

Thanks to LGBTQ Nation, sidebar
Thanks to President Barack Obama

Equality:  Erasing hate from our lives

Oct 6, 2012

DON'T SUBJECT YOURSELF TO A WARPED VERSION OF CHRISTIANITY!



FLEE TOXIC CHURCHES AND CLERGY

The following article was written a couple of years ago, and I'd like to reprint it here:

¨As I've often written, many clergy within the institutional Church preach and teach the false gospel of legalism, perfectionism, and exclusion and thereby do immeasurable harm to the emotional and spiritual lives of those who allow themselves to be exposed to that kind of toxic religion.
The only Gospel to be found in Christianity is the Gospel of grace (God's unmerited favor); faith (trusting God over and above seen circumstances); love; peace; reconciliation; inclusiveness. Any other gospel is a false gospel!

If you allow yourself to be subjected to preaching and/or teaching other than the Gospel of Christ (the "Good News" that all of our sins have been forgiven by the Sacrifice of Christ), flee those churches, or other such venues, as fast as your legs can carry you!

Moreover, if you take seriously the rhetoric of those who claim to speak for God and for the Bible, and who teach and preach a false gospel, you are not only being subjected to a warped version of Christianity that is really not "Christianity," but you are making decisions about your spiritual and emotional life that are based on lies and perversions of: the grace of God; the teachings, ministry, and Sacrifice of Jesus; the Bible; Christianity itself...there is more http://christianglbtrights.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Getty Images
Thanks to The Reverend Dr. Jerry Maneker 

Oct 5, 2012

ROMNEY IS BEING FITTED: ¨I SWEAR TO TELL THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH¨ (for the next debate)

When Holy Mormon Underwear is not enough protection from telling naked lies.
Hello, human diary. It is I again, Mitt Romney, your better.

¨These commoners continue to confound me. Of all the things my campaign has focused on over the last few months, now it is firing a large television bird that is gaining the most attention? I have already clearly explained to them that we will need to fire that bird in order to pay for the required tax cuts for job creators, by which I mean myself. If we do not fire large swaths of people, we will not be able to create jobs, and the number of people who will need jobs will be much greater after we have fired them all so it make sense to fire as many of them as possible in order to create those jobs.

Wealthy Americans have no use for improperly tall television birds. I have watched that show before, and found it boring, pedantic and entirely implausible. Why do these obviously lower class residents not simply eat the large bird? Why are unidentifiable creatures allowed to live in garbage cans—is there no law enforcement at all, in America? And C should not be for Cookie. C should be for Capitalism, or perhaps for Credit Default Swaps. At the least we ought to be teaching these irritatingly perky little urchins about proper wealth management techniques.

My apologies, Mr. Diary, I am just reminded of how misguided these commoner units are. In better news, my post-debate experiment in forgoing all sleep continues. So far everything seems to be going smoothly.¨ HERE

· Thanks to The Dialy Kos, sidebar
· Thanks to Superficial, photo

Oct 4, 2012

DISHEARTENING, DISGUSTING, GRANDSTANDING and SLICK DRIVEL: The Mitt Romney’s Circus of First Debate Lies

“Mitt Romney’s Circus of Lies,” and a fact-check page .
Leonardo Ricardo says: I think the polls will narrow and Romney (with his slick drivel) will advance slightly because of his speedy *shell-game* showmanship. 

The first debate illustrated clearly, at least to me, the difference between our responsible/thinking, steady-as-he-goes President Obama and a socio-pathiclike opportunist candidate Romney on the run. 

Romney turned my stomach with lies, grandstanding and simpering attempts to portray good-will and ¨godliness¨ by repeatedly mentioning *our creator* as if he knew God´s will personally (implying Obama didn´t). Mitt is seriously damaged goods and illustrates a very scary prospect for any elected official requiring personal, public and national accountablity. 

Mitt Romney *portrays* a good character, but it´s clear by his actions and thoughts that he doesn´t *have* good character. Mitt Romney is not presidential material and not representative of our best and basic nature and our wholesome attempts to ¨love thy neighbor¨ as United States citizens...all of our neighbors with equality.


American Bridge says: “consider these a resource to help make sure that Mitt Romney doesn’t get away with saying things that aren’t true” HERE



Oct 1, 2012

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE and HASTE MAKES WASTE: ¨Anglican church deadlocked over new leader¨



¨A Church of England panel meeting in secret to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to reach agreement on who should be the new leader of the world's 80 million Anglicans, a newspaper reported on Sunday...¨ HERE

·  Thanks to Three Rivers Episcopal, sidebar
·  Thanks to Thinking Anglicans, sidebar
·  Thanks to Preludium, sidebar
·  Thanks to Reuters