g_b Gratitude is vitamins

[dunno76]

Gratitude is vitamins

If forgiveness is medicine for the soul, then gratitude is vitamins. -
Steve Maraboli (OM | Rekindling the Light Within
 )

  
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If you believe the doubts in your mind, you won't achieve the dreams in
your heart. - Marinela Reka (OM | Rekindling the Light Within
 )

  
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To love is to recognize yourself in another. - Eckhart Tolle (OM |
Rekindling the Light Within 
)

  
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___

Best Manila File Folder Plane Maker in the World -  Boeing can build
eight 777 in a month; Luca Iaconi-Stewart can build  one too – over
a period of 5 years. I was totally blown away by his  dedication, focus
and passion in seeing his project through. Be WOW here.


___
Book with Agoda and save up to 75% on your hotel

g_b Gay Marriages Confront Catholic School Rules

[asfan]

http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?


Gay Marriages Confront Catholic School
Rules
By MICHAEL PAULSONJAN. 22, 2014
 
SAMMAMISH, Wash. — Eastside
Catholic prides itself on teaching acceptance. At the end of Crusader Way, by
the school’s entrance, banners hang celebrating “relationships” and exhorting
passers-by to “remember to take care of each other.” Students use a
sign-language gesture to remind one another of the school’s emphasis on
unconditional love.

But now the school is unexpectedly grappling with how
it defines both love and acceptance. Last month, a well-regarded vice principal
was forced to leave his job as soon as administrators became aware that he had
married a man; in the weeks since, the suburban Seattle school has been roiled,
first by protests in support of the vice principal, and then by the resignations
of those who sought his departure. The chairman of the school’s board resigned
last month, and on Tuesday, Eastside, a middle and high school with about 900
students, announced the resignation of its president.

The ouster of Mr.
Z, as the former vice principal, Mark Zmuda, is known, comes amid a wave of
firings and forced resignations of gay men and lesbians from Roman Catholic
institutions across the country, in most cases prompted not directly by the
employees’ sexuality, but by their decisions to marry as same-sex marriage
becomes legal in an increasing number of states.
 
This month, the band
and choir director at a Catholic school in Ohio was fired hours after he told
the school’s president that he planned to marry his boyfriend; in December, a
French and Spanish teacher at a Catholic school in Pennsylvania was fired days
after telling his principal he was applying for a marriage license in New
Jersey. Similar ousters have taken place at Catholic schools, universities and
parishes in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Missouri, New York and North
Carolina.
For Catholic school and church leaders across the country, the
iss
ue is clear. The Roman Catholic Church opposes same-sex marriage, and
school officials, including Mr. Zmuda, generally sign contracts saying they will
abide by church teachings so that their lives can be models for their
students.

But for some young Catholics, the firings are mystifying,
particularly given the new tone set by Pope Francis. At Eastside Catholic, some
students have taken to crafting banners with the quotation “Who am I to judge?,”
words uttered by the pope when asked about gay priests; others have been trying
to reach the pope via Twitter, hoping he will somehow intercede.

“He made
it safe for people to raise issues and questions that, in the past, they were
shut down for,” said Nancy Walton-House, whose son attended Eastside. “There’s a
lot of hope, and maybe some naïveté, about how fast things can
happen.”

Eastside’s senior-class president, Bradley Strode, a 17-year-old
wrestler and lacrosse player, is seeking a meeting with the archbishop of
Seattle, arguing that even if the church’s doctrine does not change, its
employment practices should.

“It was just shocking that the Catholic
Church would turn its back on a teacher for something that didn’t affect his
work performance,” he said. “Gay marriage was something I never really thought
about before, but everyone can agree that employment discrimination is
wrong.”

 “Pope Francis has often reminded us of the limitless mercy of
God, for Jesus came to bring his father’s mercy,” Archbishop Sartain said. “At
the same time, Pope Francis has also reminded us of our responsibility as
Catholics to live the timeless truth of church teaching on a wide variety of
topics, including the sacredness of traditional marriage.”

Some students
have quietly expressed support for the decision to remove Mr. Zmuda, but the
prevailing sentiment at the school has been upset, reflecting, in part, the
shifting attitudes toward same-sex marriage among young people.

“A lot of
it is just generational,” said Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at
Notre Dame who studies the religious lives of teenagers. “It’s a distinct
minority who thinks there’s something wrong with same-sex relationships, and
that’s a big change from older generations.”

Eastside Catholic, faced
with intense blowback and sustained publicity over the removal of Mr. Zmuda, has
defended its decision but is clearly concerned about the impact on applicants
and donors as some students, parents and alumni ask what the ouster means about
the school they have chosen and cheered.

This month, in a step many in
the school community have found confusing, administrators gave a short-term
contract to a choreographer who, in a show of support for Mr. Zmuda, had
announced on talk radio that she was engaged to her girlfriend.
 
“It’s
great that they’re keeping me, but it’s a little confusing,” said the
choreographer, Stephanie Merrow, 41, who taught the school’s students to dance
in a 2012 production of “Footloose,” and is now doing the same for this year’s
production of “G

g_b Survey at Indian Psychiatrist Society Conference by SamapathikTrust

[Bindumadhav Khire]

Hello ALL,
We have conducted a survey at ANCIPS-2014- Annual National Conference of Indian 
Psychiatrist Society at Balewadi Satdium, Pune on 17/18/19th Jan 2014- a 1 
question survey on whether IPC377 should be read down-and the results will be 
announced at a PRESS CONFERENCE on Thursday in PUNE.
Wait for the results.

Regards
Bindumadhav Khire
President Samapathik Trust, Pune

g_b Press conference in Pune on Friday on survey results

[Bindumadhav Khire]

Hello All,
The press conference for announcing the results of survey on IPC377 done at 
Indian Psychiatrist Society Annual Conference will be 
on Friday at 4.00 pm at Pune Patrakar Bhavan.

Regards
Bindumadhav Khire
President
Samapathik Trust, Pune

g_b It starts and ends with the person in the mirror

[dunno76]

It starts and ends with the person in the mirror

When  I was trying to figure out the cause and the solution for my
anguish in  life, I looked in the mirror and found the person
responsible for both. - Timber Hawkeye (OM | Rekindling the Light Within
 )


  
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___

No matter what the situation, remind yourself "I have a choice." -
Deepak Chopra (OM | Rekindling the Light Within
 )

  
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___

If you aim higher than you expect, you could reach higher than you
dreamed of. - Richard Branson (OM | Rekindling the Light Within
 )

  
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___

Everything you can imagine is real. - Pablo Picasso (OM | Rekindling the
Light Within  )

  
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___

Wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. - Paulo
Coelho (OM | Rekindling the Light Within
 )

  
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___

"Lifting our rear foot while we stride forward" means to let go of the
past and focus on what we should do today. - Master Cheng Yen (OM |
Rekindling the Light Within
 )

  
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___

Far too many people are looking for the right person, instead of trying
to be the right person. - Gloria Steinem (OM | Rekindling the Light
Within  )

  
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___



Nature  can put on a thrilling show. The stage is vast, the lighting is
dramatic, the extras are innumerable, and the budget for special effects
is absolutely unlimited.

- Yann Martel, Life of Pie (more Yann Martel quotes and sayings
 )
___

Today,  I will look around and enjoy all the beautiful things that are
around  me rather than yearn for things that are beyond my control and
become  miserable.

- Author Unknown
___
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g_b ToI - Gays in China come out against sexuality change therapy

[gaymanproud31]

A news report in today's ToI: 
 

 
 A wire connected to his genitals, a Chinese man says doctors administered 
repeated electric shocks as he watched a pornographic film -- part of treatment 
he hoped would eliminate his sexual attraction to men.





 

 RELATED 
 




 BEIJING: A wire connected to his genitals, a Chinese man says doctors 
administered repeated electric shocks as he watched a pornographic film -- part 
of treatment he hoped would eliminate his sexual attraction to men. "I thought 
I'd try and see if there was a chance I could become a normal person," said the 
25-year-old, who asked to be identified only by his surname Zhang.
 "I didn't want to cause my family trouble, or disappoint them."
 Zhang's treatment shows the extreme end of a lucrative industry in China 
claiming to "correct" the sexualities of gay men and lesbians, who often face 
tremendous social pressures to live as heterosexuals.
 "If I had a reaction (to the films) I would receive a shock," said Zhang, who 
said he paid for the initial treatments himself after deciding life as a gay 
man would be "too tough".
 "It wasn't a massive shock, but it was painful."
 China officially classed homosexuality as a mental disorder as recently as 
2001, although some attitudes -- especially in larger cities -- have become 
more tolerant in recent years.
 Nonetheless gay men and lesbians in China, who are often only children, still 
have to deal with their parents' expectations of marriage and children.
 "Conversion therapy", as it is sometimes known, has more than a century of 
history around the world, but has fallen out of favour with medical authorities.
 It persists in countries from Singapore to Britain and the United States -- 
where reports of electro-shock use have added to momentum for a ban.
 Zhang was treated three years ago, but five clinics contacted by AFP in the 
last month claimed to offer "sexuality adjustment" through various means, some 
of them including hypnosis, drugs and electric shock therapy.
 The Haiming Psychological Consulting Centre in Beijing touts the use of 
electricity on its website, saying: "After each shock, the person will quickly 
interrupt their thought, and separate from their fantasies."
 A member of staff at the hospital told AFP that the shock treatment -- in 
30-minute sessions every few days -- was used only "in extreme circumstances".
 'Not an illness' The American Psychological Association, which judges same-sex 
sexual and romantic attraction to be "normal and positive", concluded in 2009 
that "efforts to change sexual orientation are unlikely to be successful and 
involve some risk of harm".
 The Pan American Health Organization, the Americas office of the UN's WHO, 
said in a 2012 report that conversion therapies "lack medical justification and 
are ethically unacceptable".
 California banned the practice -- often linked to Christian groups who view 
homosexuality a sin -- for minors last year, and other US states look set to 
follow its lead following an activist campaign.
 Now Chinese groups are following their lead. Beijing's LGBT Center said in a 
statement last month that such methods "deeply damage homosexuals' physical and 
mental health, and worse infringe on their self-respect".
 Two activists connected with the Center, which is partly funded by the US and 
British embassies, posed with a sign reading "Homosexuality is not an illness" 
outside a clinic they said offered conversion therapy, and hope to persuade 
health authorities to revoke such facilities' licences.
 Some clinics are moving towards counselling and prescribing anti-depressant 
drugs, said Wei Xiaogang, founder of the Beijing-based "Queer Comrades" group.
 "Now it's more like therapy, like talking, because people want to make money, 
it's all about business," he said.
 'I wanted to die' Several clinics contacted by AFP said that they saw 
homosexuality as changeable in people for whom it was not "innate".
 But Liu Wei, 21, a salesman in the southern province of Guangdong, said: "I 
have a lot of friends who received the treatment, it has made some of them 
nervous wrecks".
 He visited a hospital last month to ask about treatment under pressure from 
his father, he said, and a doctor told him his sexuality could be changed "if I 
made a decision to break up with my partner, and dedicate myself to the method".
 The physician told Liu to "watch films and when I fantasized, use an elastic 
band wrapped around my hand to hurt myself".
 Even the doctor admitted the success rate was low, he said, but he was still 
considering it because his family relationships were "very tense".
 For Zhang, the treatment first killed his sex drive but went on to exact a 
greater toll -- he became depressed, resigned from his job, went into debt to 
pay his medical fees, and eventually considered suicide, he said.
 "I was suffering from headaches, I couldn't stand it, I wanted to die, I 
wanted to stop."
 But ultimately he accepted that