Should we tolerate GAYS? No (audio)

Wisdom Quarterly; Sonali Kohlhatkar (uprisingradio.org), S.N. Walters, Tolerance Trap 1

The Tolerance Trap

Texas Governor Rick Perry, speaking in San Francisco last week, likened being gay to being an alcoholic. “Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle...” he said, “you have the ability to decide not to do that.”

“I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic,” he added, “but I have the desire not to do that. And I look at the homosexual issue the same way.” 

 

His controversial remarks come on the heels of the Texas Republican Party expressing its support for so-called “reparative therapy” for homosexuality -- a discredited counseling treatment to “cure” people of homosexuality.

• AUDIO: Segment with Suzanna Walters (entire show)
• David Feldman asks, "Is Rick Perry gay?" answers, yes
• VIDEO: There IS a cure for homosexuality! (Rated R)

What's Republican Perry doing with that pig in his mouth, cannibalism, swallowing? (DFS)

 

We're here, please tolerate us

The progressive response to the idea that homosexuality is a choice is the assertion that people who are gay are born that way, perhaps with a gene that makes them prefer people of their own sex, or in Judeo-Christian terms, “God made them that way.”

Westboro Baptist vs. US Army

Northeastern University Sociology Professor Suzanna Walters has a problem with this approach. She maintains that using the “born this way” approach to gay liberation reduces the LGBT movement to one that will be happy with “tolerance” or “acceptance” by mainstream American society.

 

Gays are evil! God hates them! (Westboro)

But is tolerance something worth fighting for? In asking to be tolerated, aren’t gay rights advocates simply asking society to tolerate the LGBT community like one tolerates anything that is uncomfortable or undesirable?

What does Buddhism say?

In her ground breaking book The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions Are Sabotaging Gay Equality, Walters demands liberation over acceptance and warns against declaring victory for gay rights too soon.

Analyzing pop culture’s depictions of gay characters, the marriage equality movement, scientific research into homosexuality, and religious approaches, she makes the case that nothing less than full equality and a societal transformation is worth fighting for. More

GUEST: Prof. Walters is Director of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, author of All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America.

Bob/David explain Overcome, a Christian Center for Reparative Therapy

Dr. Buddha, Master Physician (Prescription)

Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; BuddhaNet.net; Molly Hahn

Cats are good friends when they sleep in under the Sun (Molly Hahn/buddhadoodles.com)

 

The Buddha and my cat (Dee McIntosh/flickr)

The Buddha sets out the Four Truths as a formula a doctor would use to deal with a patient, a suffering person.

 

1. The Buddha first establishes the basic affliction, which is determined to be the problem of liability to disappointment and unsatisfactoriness; living beings are in pain.

2. Thereafter, he makes a diagnosis. That is, he explains the cause for this disease. This is the second truth, namely, that craving is part of the problem [explained in full in the 12 causal links of Dependent Origination], and craving is the link we can do something about right here and right now.

Accept what is. Let go of judgment. Remain aware of it. And you will know and see (BD).

 

3. As a third step a good doctor gives a prognosis, the possibility of the cessation of the problem. That is to say, a doctor determines whether a cure is possible. Is there some means of bringing about the end of our affliction, our problem, the pain we are sore from, complaining about, and seeking a cure for? Fortunately for living beings, the Buddha says YES: Suffering can be ended in this very life! We can stop all our suffering.

4. Finally, in the fourth step, perhaps the most important from the standpoint of the ailing patient, the doctor prescribes the course of treatment. The Buddha prescribes a fourth truth: the Noble Eightfold Path, the way to the end of all suffering, the treatment, the actions to take for enlightenment that leads to the goal of nirvana, which the Buddha very specifically defined as the final solution, the antidote, the cure, "the end of all suffering."

Posing nearly naked in Islamic IRAN (video)

I. Rony, Ashley Wells, Seven, Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian; FEMEN.org; Stealthy Freedoms of Iranian Women (facebook)

Iranian harlots with totally exposed heads and faces and not a male relative in sight.

Sexism in a matter of point of view. We worship capitalist exploitation, they worship patriarchal Islam. In either case, women suffer just the same (Evans)

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US/Israel aching for war on Republic of Iran

TEHRANGELES, California - Western imperial capitalist corruption has arrived in beautiful Islamic Iran with, of course, a Facebook page. Thank you, FBI. Sure, we like it and think it's "beautiful" and "liberating." But we're raised on imperial corruption. We would likely feel this was a tragedy if we were living in a happily modest country on the verge of being attacked by Israel and its Western allies, most notably the warlords of the CIA and Pentagon. (We already half-ruined the country along with England when we deposed one leader and installed another favorable to our exploits). There are more Iranians than Jews in America, most of them in L.A., but one would never know it by exposure to the mainstream media.
 
("Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi) about The Richest City Under the Sun in the form of a cartoon/graphic novel about a precocious young girl during Iran's Islamic Revolution following British(MI5)  and American (CIA) subterfuge

Topless in New York City

• Don't forget to be afraid of Boko Haram today! :) And be terrified of "Kony" enough to support sending US troops into Africa. Heck, why not be afraid of all dark skinned people while you're at it? Terror is the mantra in our US/MIC "War on Fear"
• Topless FEMEN protesters say no to Islamic sexist
• NY: Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society Book Club goes topless for the love of books and reading
• "It's horrific": Muslim girls around the world react to the Nigeria kidnapping Oh, no! Help us, CIA!
• Ill-advised selfie leads to American guy's arrest
• Wango Tango (Shakira, Paramore, Maroon 5, Ariane Grande...) out competes United We Stand in LA Saturday
• Glenn Greenwald: the explosive day we revealed Edward Snowden's identity to the world
• North Korea's Kim Jong-un is worth how much?!
• Oakland company on verge of revolutionizing solar

• 

  Vatican oppresses nuns, who also wear hijabs
  Catholic Pope Francis, Vatican CEO (not to be confused with the Eastern orthodox pope), is throwing nuns under the bus for sharing his beliefs

Spread of Buddhism: from its origins in Afghanistan (Gandhara) and India (Magadha) to Iran

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Women posting hijab-free selfies

Jezebel, wanton woman, an Eve, a Lilith!

Saeed Kamali Dehghan (Guardian.co.uk)
"Stealthy Freedoms of Iranian Women" was set up 10 days ago and has since attracted thousands of photos. 

 

Thousands of Iranian [Persian, Ariyan] women are taking off their veils and publishing pictures of themselves online, igniting a debate about the freedom to wear or not wear the hijab [the mandatory headscarf demanded by ultraconservative, puritanical Wahabbi Islam, a fundamentalist and extremist faction sponsored by the U.S. and its tentacles].

• Western Globalists created Wahhabi-terrorism to destroy Islam and justify global war 

A Facebook page set up by London-based Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad 10 days ago has attracted more than 130,000 likes, with women across Iran sending unveiled pictures taken in parks, at the seaside and in the streets.

 

"My stealthy freedom while driving in the streets of Tehran," wrote Maryam alongside an image showing her behind the wheel. "I like to feel the wind blowing on my face."

• Alinejad is not opposed to the hijab -- her mother is veiled -- but she believes we should have the freedom to choose.
  

Iranian beauties in L.A. (kcet.org)

Another post showed a mother with her daughter. "The beautiful seaside in Kish [Island]," the younger woman wrote. "We strolled on the rocks and experienced the cool breeze flowing through our hair. Is this a big request?"

 

A young woman from the city of Fuman, in the northern province of Gilan, sent a picture of her in the woods. "I took this picture stealthily in the spring," she wrote. "It makes me feel happy." Another young woman was pictured unveiled just next to a big billboard in Tehran' Yas sports complex asking women to respect the Islamic hijab.

 

Alinejad told The Guardian she had been bombarded with messages and pictures since launching Stealthy Freedoms of Iranian Women. "I've hardly slept in the past three days because of the number of pictures and messages I've received." More

The N.W.O. wants a new world order, which means invading Iran. It's amazing. Look at a map: Iran is squeezed between Iraq and Afghanistan and therefore of strategic importance.

The Bitter Buddha, comedian Eddie Pepitone

Wisdom Quarterly; John Rabe (Off-Ramp/SCPR.org), Eddie Pepitone

Budai AK-47 (Mr. Will Coles)

Most comics use the F-word in their live acts like it's an article. But when Eddie Pepitone [a regular on the Jimmy Dore Show] uses it, it comes from the heart, or maybe his ample gut [which is good luck to rub].

 

The 54-year old comedian and actor (Law and Order: Criminal Intent, The Beat, Now and Again), who lives in North Hollywood, California, is finally seeing a glimpse of the fame his friends and colleagues have wished for him for years.

• VIDEO: "The Bitter Buddha" (comedy)

He's a regular on the club circuit, gained fame through appearances on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, and is the star of the documentary "Eddie Pepitone: The Bitter Buddha," by Steven Feinartz, which is now out on DVD.

 

Ya gotta feed'em the right nuts for their teeth!

Host John Rabe sat on a blanket with him at his favorite park in North Hollywood where he meditates and feeds the squirrels with his wife Karen. "And we're a little pedantic to other people in the park," he says, "because we see them feeding squirrels things like bread and even peanuts, and we're like 'No, no, no! Walnuts are the best for them because the shell works their teeth.' So we've gotten this reputation for being the squirrel pains in the asses." More

• AUDIO: Listen to the episode now

"Buddha 2" of trilogy at The Louvre (video)

Dhr. Seven (trans.), CC Liu (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly; Louvre; AnimeAnime.jp; Yushi Makari (OtakuMode.com); Kevin Ouellette (Eigapedia); Domenico (Debris2008); Ashley Wells (ed.)

Osamu Tezuka's "Buddha 2" (Owarinaki Tabi)

 

The official website dedicated to the trilogy "Buddha" is bringing out Toei Animation's adaptation of the famous eight-volume comic (manga) by Osamu Tezuka.

 

"Buddha" was created by the Japanese master in the 1970s and dedicated to the life of Prince Siddhartha, who became the Buddha. Toei has finally released the first full length trailer devoted to the second chapter, the completion of which has been postponed until 2014.

 

The second video is a long form manga, about nine minutes, which recaps the first movie and anticipates the next with some pictures of the second published last year.

 

(See full below) （主題歌：浜崎あゆみ）『手塚治虫のブッダ－終わりなき旅－』予告編 (MC)

 

Jess and Sid "Saintly Young Men" manga (Geraldford)

In the first chapter of the trilogy we saw a young prince wonder about the social differences between people, differences that led him to a better position among them. He falls in love with a bandit girl, Migaila, and learns some hard lessons about life, love, and about himself. He is starting to find his own vision of life and disappointment (dukkha, "suffering").

 
In the second part, we see the comeback of Sayuri Yoshinaga, interpreter, and Kanze Kiyokazu (performer at the Noh Theater) in the role of Siddhartha's mother and father, the latter always having been played by Hidetaka Yoshioka. 

 

The returning Nana Mizuki, Kenichi Matsuyama, is a thief seeking revenge. And the comedian Tetsuo Nakanishi plays the role of Brahmā, who appears to Siddhartha in the guise of an old man in a position to offer him a path to enlightenment. (Who better to play the role of a supreme cosmic deity than a comedian?)

 

"Buddha 2" (full-length trailer)

 (Animeanimeno1) BUDDHA 2: 手塚治虫のブッダー終わりなき旅―2014年公開決定 (AA)

 

(otakumode.com)

In both movies we hear the original song by Ayumi Hamasaki from the second film, entitled "Pray." This is the first time in 12 years that this author, who is well known in Japan, returns to do the music for a work of anime.

The film's release is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2014. The world premiere will be launched in Paris. For the event, the French capital will open one of the halls of the Louvre Museum. This is the first time for a preview of this type at the Louvre. There have been lectures and even screenings but never a world premiere. The film's cast and the staff will be present. Commendably, the manga "Buddha" was published in Italy by Hazard. 

 

Italiano 

"Bouddah 2" (Debris2008/flickr.com)

Il sito ufficiale dedicato alla trilogia, che la Toei Animation stà realizzando per adattare in animazione il celebre manga di Osamu Tezuka, Buddha creato dal Maestro giapponese negli anni settanta e dedicato alla vita del principe Siddharta, il Buddha, ha finalmente diffuso un primo lungo trailer dedicato al secondo capitolo Buddha 2: Tezuka Osamu no Buddha ~ Owarinaki Tabi (Osamu Tezuka's Buddha: Awakening) la cui uscita era stata rimandata al 2014.Il secondo video è un lungo filmato, circa 9 minuti, di ricapitolazione/anticipazione riferito al primo film con alcune immagini del secondo pubblicato lo scorso anno. Nel primo capitolo della trilogia abbiamo visto un giovane principe interrogarsi sulle differenze sociali fra gli uomini, differenze che pure lo hanno portato in una posizione di supremazia fra di loro, innamorarsi di una banditessa, Migaila, ed imparare alcune dure lezioni sulla vita, sull'amore e su se stesso iniziando a individuare una propria visione della vita e della sofferenza. 

 

Nella seconda parte torneranno Sayuri Yoshinaga, interprete ed Kanze Kiyokazu (interprete del teatro Noh) nel ruolo della madre e del padre di Siddharta, quest'ultimo sempre interpretato da Hidetaka Yoshioka, la stessa Nana Mizuki, Kenichi Matsuyama, un ladro in cerca di vendetta, ed l'attore comico Tetsuo Nakanishi che interpreterà il ruolo di Brahma, che appare a Siddharta nelle vesti di un vecchio in grado di offrirgli un cammino verso l'illuminazione...( a chi, d'altronde, meglio di un comico il ruolo di una divinità cosmica?) In ambedue i filmati è possibile ascoltare la canzone originale canta per questo secondo film da Ayumi Hamasaki, intitolata "Pray", è la prima volta, dopo dodici anni che questo autrice, molto nota in Giappone, torna impegnarsi su una musica per un'anime. 

 

L'uscita del film è prevista per l'8 febbraio l'anteprima mondiale del film sarà realizzata a Parigi, e la capitale francese per l'occasione aprirà una delle sale del Museo del Louvre, è la prima volta che si tengono anteprime di questo tipo al Louvre, conferenze, proiezioni vi sono già state ospitate ma non si era mai avuta un'anteprima mondiale. Sia il cast che lo staff del film dovrebbero essere presenti al completo. Il manga di Buddha è stato meritoriamente edito in Italia da Hazard.

The Future: sutra, time travel, cartoon (video)

Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly translation based on Ven. Thanissaro, Anagata-bhayani Sutta, "Discourse on Future Dangers" (AN 5.78)

The future: where you and I will spend the rest of our lives...when cartoons have been rendered useless by the lolcats (Tom Tomorrow/thismodernworld.com)

 
"Meditators, five future dangers are enough, when considered, for one living in a remote setting -- heedful, ardent, and resolute -- to live for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized. What five?

Mr. Peabody & Sherman use the Wabac (Way Back) to travel in time

 
1. "One reminds oneself: At present I am young, dark-haired, endowed with the blessings of youth, in the first stage of life. But a time will come when this body will be beset by old age. When one is overcome by old age and decay, it is not easy to practice the Buddha's teachings. It is not easy to reside in seclusion in peaceful forest or wilderness dwellings [beneficial for rapid success in Buddhist serenity and insight forms of meditation].

"Before this disagreeable, distressing, unwelcome thing happens, let me make an effort for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized, so that -- endowed with this instruction (Dharma) -- I will live in peace even when old.
 
"This is the first future danger that is enough, when considered, for one -- heedful, ardent, and resolute -- to live for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized.

"Free Birds" - Going back in time to get turkeys off the menu

 
2. "Furthermore, one reminds oneself: At present I am free of illness and discomfort, endowed with healthy digestion: not too cold, not too hot, moderate and agreeable. But a time will come when this body will be beset by illness. When one is overcome by illness, it is not easy to practice the Buddha's teachings. It is not easy to reside in seclusion in peaceful forest or wilderness dwellings.

"Before this disagreeable, distressing, unwelcome thing happens, let me make an effort for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized, so that -- endowed with this instruction -- I will live in peace even when sick.
 
"This is the second future danger that is enough, when considered, for one -- heedful, ardent, and resolute -- to live for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized.

Original Mr. Peabody Dog and Boy Sherman (1959), "Rapunzel"

 
3. "Furthermore, one reminds oneself: At present food is plentiful, and alms are easy to come by. It is easy to maintain oneself by gleanings and patronage. But a time will come when there is famine: Food will be scarce, alms hard to come by, and it will not be easy to maintain oneself by gleanings and patronage. When there is famine, people will congregate where food is plentiful. There they will live packed and crowded together. When one is living packed and crowded together, it is not easy to practice the Buddha's teachings. It is not easy to reside in seclusion in peaceful forest or wilderness dwellings.

"Before this disagreeable, distressing, unwelcome thing happens, let me make an effort for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized, so that -- endowed with this instruction -- I will live in peace even when there is famine.
 
"This is the third future danger that is enough, when considered, for one -- heedful, ardent, and resolute -- to live for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized.

Family Guy/original "Back to the Future" blend

4. "Furthermore, one reminds oneself: At present people are living in harmony, on friendly terms, without quarreling, like milk and water, looking at one another with eyes of affection. But a time will come when there is danger due to an invasion by savage outsiders. Taking power, they will surround the countryside. When there is danger, people will congregate where it is safe. There they will live packed and crowded together. When one is living packed and crowded together, it is not easy to practice the Buddha's teachings. It is not easy to reside in seclusion in peaceful forest or wilderness dwellings.

"Before this disagreeable, distressing, unwelcome thing happens, let me make an effort for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized, so that -- endowed with this instruction -- I will live in peace even when there is danger.
 
"This is the fourth future danger that is enough, when considered, for one -- heedful, ardent, and resolute -- to live for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized.

Traffic? The first "movie" (30 secs) ever filmed in Los Angeles, 1899

  
5. "Furthermore, one reminds oneself: At present the community (Sangha) -- harmonious, on friendly terms, without quarreling -- lives in comfort with a communal recitation [of the guidelines of the path-to-liberation]. But a time will come when the community is split. When the community is split, it is not easy to practice the Buddha's teachings. It is not easy to reside in seclusion in peaceful forest or wilderness dwellings.
 
"Before this disagreeable, displeasing, unwelcome thing happens, let me make an effort for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized, so that -- endowed with this instruction -- I will live in peace even when the community is split.
 
"This is the fifth future danger that is enough, when considered, for one -- heedful, ardent, and resolute -- to live for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized.
 
"These are the five future dangers that are enough, when considered, for one -- heedful, ardent, and resolute -- to live for attaining the not-yet-attained, reaching the not-yet-reached, realizing the not-yet-realized."

Literal time travel

 

Time travel may already be a functional reality

(C2C/DiscloseTruthTV) "Time travel is possible and already being done" according to attorney Andrew Basiago from the US government's Project Pegasus (DARPA/CIA). Basiago and his father served in the secret program. He blows the whistle on the current state of the cover up and surveillance technology being deployed. This includes chronovision, a natural quantum-access time-visualization technology to see events recapitulated in time through a TV-like box, suggesting that "time" -- along with various alternative timelines -- is constantly occurring rather than dead and gone. Events leave a cyclical residual signal that can be amplified, as was discovered during investigations of Gregorian chant harmonics, as well as incipient signals of future events. These fading signals, like ripples in a pond, can be amplified in the lab -- and this has already been done. Elite physicists, like Fermi of Fermilab fame, were well aware of this discovery and its theoretical, experimental, as well as practical implications. One device, Basiago explains, "generates a hologram of a past or future event...by driving an electromagnetic signal through an octagonal, an eight-sided array of bismuth crystals." Time travelers like Basiago were trained in its use. Basiago last saw these technologies in 1972, when he left the program. However, he is convinced that chronovision has been implemented by the US intelligence community to aid in its widespread spying programs.

• AUDIO: Basiago on Teleportation, Time-Travel, Mars

Who is Andrew D. Basiago? His father was a project principal, and he became a project participant. He a is a lawyer, writer, 21st century visionary, and future presidential candidate (Barry Obama was also involved in Project Pegasus and Mars travel). He is an emerging figure in the Disclosure Movement leading a campaign to lobby the US government to tell the truth and disclose its involvement in various mind bending controversies. Beyond mindboggling time travel, near instant travel to Mars to see the life forms living there, and "quantum access" to past and future events. He has been identified as the first of two major planetary whistleblowers predicted by ALTA, the Web Bot project that analyzes the content of the Web to discern future trends.

My cartoon ART is your perception

Amber Larson, Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Arkiharha (Scandinavian comic artist Saara, 18, Weekday-Illusion and Arkiharha.Sarjakuvablogit.com)

What artist would ruin her art by telling anyone what it actually meant? It's as personal to me as it is to you...unless Maroon 5 discovers you on Flickr. Then it's as personal as Adam's agent says.  Following interpretations not that of the artist! (Arkiharha/flickr)

The artist Arkiharha, Saara, writes in Finnish.

What is "art" but a statement, one transcending language? A flag should bear no words. Words, on the one hand, formalize ideas. Images, on the other hand, allow for free-form associations, eidetic, ripe connotations, sly symbolic suggestions, eerie emaciated thinking full of emotions...

See. See me. Who do you really see?

It's a different use of cognition, exploiting this or that hemisphere of the brain, if that theory of a difference holds any weight. We use both sides all of the time!

What it means to the artist is interesting, but what it means to the viewer is almost all that actually matters. 

I'm a fat American on the Web. I search startpage.com and kuh-ching. I find it! My dream dating site for seniors -- Carbon Dating. Ooh, look at these elder honeys. What should I write? Hi, my is Joe Blow, and I've got lots of cash... This is funnier than the Finnish version.

 

Cry or don't cry. It's better not to cry, crybaby.

This is why artists tend to avoid defining their works. Why add a definitive interpretation that might wipe out other equally valid interpretations? It's "Zen."

Why ask me what I mean when we could all be asking, "What does it mean to me?"? Questions are only for those who question.

Is there any meaning in the ravings of artists and lunatics?

Is there any sense in the assertions of critics and passive lovers of art? I mean, what does "Pussy Riot" mean exactly? Nadia can explain, but people will think something else.

• Pussy Riot: What was lost (and ignored) in translation?

Even "Buddhist art" -- which often symbolizes a narrative or lesson more than existing for its own sake or for devotional abuses -- is what it is to the viewer more than the maker. To be sure, most makers have something in mind. 
 
But in the end, it's the art that meets the eye, the beauty that beholds it more than the beauty beheld by the eye that counts.
 

Despicable Me for all to see

I know! I'll become an "artist"! Then I can really live!

I saw a dead steer in the sun, worm oozing from its eye. I cried. My tears watered the desert. I took a death cross, set it in the sun, smoked, and let the worms win.

Girls night out! But I met a guy. It's every gal for herself! Look at the time. Where is she? Let's forget our pact and leave without her! You look different in the morning.