if it was religion based inspired least what i learned [10 commandments thou shall not murder] [aka to kill in cold blood or with out reason] [they only shortned it to not kill for posterboards.] [ i can gurrentee this is not what GOD wants i can swear on the bible it self hsi true teachings or reason of teaching was not to murder like this. i can swear it under oath bible so forth. It is nto right no matter what religion says and i state under my religion outlook of Christian which stems from roman catholic i cn swear God woudl not want such things happeing.

a Seed of evil thats close to the truth is the greatest enemy [i feel the devil has planted this hatred like influenced translaters to translate so on like that. and plant a seed of evil and now its blosseming type thing.

Your line "they only shortened it to 'do not kill' for poster-boards" made me grin. Seems like an early instance of "dumbing down" and the "sound-bite".

Glad to see a devout Christian understanding what real evil is and not just a knee-jerk response to some stuff that squicks you, like what it appears was going on with the U.N assembly. Thanks, hon. *hugs*

funnything is each time homosexual is spoken about there is a bigger picture like sadam gommora not stated [so thos word for word types cant play here] angels came in form of man [which in my book means mankind in that day] and demand sport or knowith them in forcefull way [rape] let alone there was more going on but lesson was not to gamble faith. [leviticus what if it was mis translated not to lay witha man ina womans bed or somthing maybe. or Man it self mankind in older translatoins means group so what if it ment ogies as that i can see as not loyal to your partner.] [oi then furries are in trouble on that one lol

I hear you.

I guess I'm not going to be vacationing anywhere in the Middle East, any part of Africa including South Africa, the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, (granted that was never a vacation hotspot anyway), or Jamaica. I might be keeping any aid donations in my pocket, too; why should I help any of those countries to live when they'd kill me on sight? I'll probably be checking labels for country of origin while I'm at it. Oh, and the United Nations? Lucy, they got some 'splainin' to do before I trust or support them again.

Well, I doubt that the Caribbean nations will be sending out death-squads to clean up their streets of gay folk any time soon, but it is disheartening to hear of how strong homophobia is in countries that have such close ties to us... Try to remember that it was their delegates, not the common people, who voted for this. The commons probably haven't even heard of the vote at all, let alone what it was about and it's final outcome.

Still... *sigh*

That's entirely possible. Sadly, it's hard to punish the government without hurting the people, too. And this cannot go unpunished.

I hope something could be done in the way of protecting LBGT folk in the wider world- the idea that someone could be executed simply for being gay is ludicrous in this day and age...

I guess I can understand where the Organization of Islamic Countries is coming from; the Qur'an says quite specifically that homosexuality is unacceptable, while Mohammad's collected sayings condemn lesbian sex as well and require the death penalty for gay sex. Christian African countries I find harder to understand; Jesus made a new covenant between God and His children based on the Ten Commandments, which don't even mention homosexuality, (just adultery), so why are they trying to re-introduce that bit of Mosaic Law? And the Bahamas, Jamaica and especially Cuba, (where they need every tourist dollar they can get), AFAIK are neither Islamic nor Fundamentalist Christian countries, so why don't they want gays to come and spend money in their tourist-driven economies? It's just stupid!

Today Uganda, tomorrow THE WORLD!

The U.N. never was something we could completely trust. Too many opportunities for the Wrong People to worm their way up into positions of influence and then unleash their evil unto the world: smokescreen.

I'd go even further: any assemblage of people made up of the richest, most powerful and influential people will be hard to trust with the welfare of "common" people. The everyday Joe, who is as likely to be an honest, hard-working person with not problems with gays, or IS gay, isn't likely to be in that position of power...

The U.N was a great, but naive idea- the concept failed to take into account human biases and fears...

I..............I seriously don't have words for this...............

Neither do I, except for this: this is one of the few times I've been glad that the U.N doesn't have any real teeth. The whole concept of the U.N was so cool, and they sincerely try, most of the time, but when they fail, they fail hard. *mope*

With how the world is... I don't think I ever EVER want to leave Canada... Infact I want to almost stand at our boarders and make sure none of those crazy fuckers get in here and try to poison our system. I like having rights, sure we gotta still deal with homophobes, but some pepper spray (or a gun I wish) will really help with those problems.

Times like this I think as Canada as a safe haven for gays... too bad we seem to drop the ball too often on gay people seeking asylum from their psychotic country's, I think if anyone is leaving their country.. even if ONLY because they are gay, they should be granted asylum here. No one deserves that kind of treatment for just being who they are.

Agreed. The thing that stuck with me was the whole idea that being gay was no longer on the list as a "good enough" reason to fear for one's life. That's what infuriated me. *head-desk* You've pegged it pretty much spot on, there.

Goodbye Human Rights. Hello Sharia.

Possibly, but, to be clear, those countries that have executed homosexuals in the past based upon Sharia law have been doing that for decades and will certainly continue to do so, vote or no vote. The biggest effect this ruling will have the gay community will be on the asylum-seekers. Folks who have fled their nations because of anti-gay persecution now might not be given asylum with refugee-status "just for being gay in a country that routinely murders them".

*sigh* More miserable people who have to hide in the closet for fear of their lives... Me, I'm hoping, and counting on, a huge outcry over this from human-rights associations like Amnesty International.

Well well. Its a little first step, to accept Sharia international. I'm sure there will be more in the future. Step-by-step.
Also, i wonder where all our friendly Ultra-left people are now. Probably they are to busy trowing rocks and molotovs at policeman to notice that. Oh, i guess that will be accepted, because it is some part of religios stuff....so its okay for them. Free Religion is more important then human lifes.

Here in the U>S, it's the right politics-followers who "throw rocks" (bigotry, rude epithets, etc). The left are the ones who tend to fight for human rights, better wages and treatment for workers and better policies to help the poor... I'm pretty sure "accepting Sharia law" will not happen here, if only because this country is very racist/intolerant towards Muslims, at the moment.

No, human-rights groups will be making some stink over this ands I'm sure there'll be another vote, hopefully with more nations represented- supposedly, many representatives weren't even present to vote on this matter, leaving the ones that had a poor view of homosexuals to do the voting. Not sure what happened, there, actually, but that seems to be what it looks like to me.

It's not about "free religion", it's about who we control- religion in a lot of places is really nothing more than a totalitarian-regime's excuse for their rules. They lean on "but it's my religion's belief that women have no souls and are just property to breed with. Don't talk to my wife, she is not a person by my religion"- they'd never actually SAY that in those specific words, but it's what they might mean. It's obviously bullshit and obviously about control, little more, in my opinion.

Same thing with the gay question: fear of gays (or whatever group is being demonized that week) to keep the populace marching with you, the gays fear for their lives, and that fear is used to control all of them. Fear.

"What is the opposite of hate? Understanding."

"What is the basis of hate? Fear."

"What destroys both? Understanding."

"What happens when you understand? Love."

Hmm, wouldn't that be xenophobia and not racism since there is technically no muslim race? Every race has muslims...

Sorry to be picky, LOL.

I called it racist/intolerant for a specific reason: a LOT of people forget that anyone can be Muslim and think that ALL Muslims are Middle Eastern, when they are certainly not. I've known black Muslims, Caucasian Muslims and I currently live in a building where a good quarter of the residents are Indian Muslims (from India, not Native Americans). I said racist because these bigoted idiots see an olive-skinned person with a strong nose, thick black hair, full beard and large, expressive eyes, they think "Muslim", not "Middle Eastern" because, to them, they are the same, even if the person turns out to be Polynesian and atheist! This happened to a friend of mine who's father was Welsh and his mother was from the Polynesian Islands: he had a very strong Roman nose, warm brown skin and had a habit of wearing a long, thick, black beard. His appearance occasioned rude comments from the bigots and confusing, but friendly, conversations with actual Middle Eastern folk who assumed that he could speak Arabic or Urdu!

Yes, it is more properly bigotry, not racism. I quibble on the xenophobia, though, as that means "fear of strangers", almost literally from the Greek. Modern usage has it to mean "fear of outsiders" or "fear of cultures not our own"- racial overtones on the word abound, though, and most folks that I've seen who use the word at all tend to use it to mean racist as much as to mean fearing the strange/unknown.

Be picky, it's sometimes the only way to get people to use the language properly!

There are a few cases where understanding leads to even more fear. Imagine a grizzly bear cub. "Aww, he's so cute. Hmm, wha-OMG MOMMA BEAR!" Sorry if the humor seems a little inappropriate.

Nah, no worries, there. Humour, if handled respectfully (it is a weapon, after all. LOL) is more than appropriate. When I say understanding, though, I mean actual going out and learning about something from unbiased sources, or living with the situation or people you hope to understand better. The guy facing the grizzly gained understanding, of a sort, just too late to find it useful. LOL

Seriously? ewww, this is a step back in an otherwise seemingly proud progressiveness on furthering human rights... disgusting yes. very.

Yes, yes it is. It blew my mind when I read the article... The nations that have had a record of persecuting and executing homosexuals and transgendered people can now pretty much keep doing that. It's the asylum-seekers I worry about, now- they will have to find another "reason" to petition for refugee status, now that being gay in a country where it's a death-sentence is no longer valid... I'm waiting for Amnesty International and similar groups to make some noise over this...

Ugh, what is with people? I've known plenty of LGB's(no T's yet) and they're just like normal people. Sure, I've had one bad experience with a gay person, but that doesn't mean I hate all gays. Why are people so afraid of them though? Is it because they're different? Well take a good fucking look in the mirror world. WE'RE ALL DIFFERENT IN OUR OWN WAYS Some are smarter than others, some have different eye or hair colors, some people are skinny and some aren't. They're all different. So what is the big fucking deal if someone loves someone of the same gender? Should they not be allowed to be happy, whereas a man can beat and abuse his wife and she's not happy and no one really gives a flying fuck? I should at least be glad most of those I know that are LGB live here in Canada

As for the stoning and such, well, unfortunately we can't to much about it. Especially in Canada, since we'd rather not infringe on peoples religious beliefs, in case we really PO'd them xP

So much for getting smarter as we evolve

We can do more about things like stoning women for minor " offences"- when we can get together a world law, that might change. World public outcry can make a difference, too- we just have to keep at it. It's not a matter of religion, in my opinion- it's a matter of dignity and human rights. Stoning someone for supposedly committing adultery, when the only "witnesses" allowed are the men is not a fair judgment upon anyone. The woman doesn't get to speak on her own behalf- it's her brothers, husband or husband's male friends who do, and if someone wants a cheap way to get rid of a troublesome female- say, one who keeps insisting upon having a mind of her own- then she just doesn't have a chance. The system is far too easy to abuse, and the ladies have no say in it.

Well, what I meant by that is it's in their own cultural customs that men can get away with doing things like that

*hugs tightly* Honestly, don't want to sound like a prick or anything, but we should consider ourselves lucky we don't live in countries that do those things. The women are often treated like slaves or dirt in some of those countries. Something needs to be done, but who will be the one to step up to the plate

Human-rights can be a sticky thing: how do you ensure that all are treated equally, without infringing upon someone's cherished beliefs? How does a religion really survive the ages? By changing with them. Islam needs to do some changing, where the treatment of women is concerned. Mind you, it seems to only be in the most extreme belief-sets that women don't have souls, are merely property for breeding and so on. Most Muslim countries don't force the ladies to be cattle, wear burkhas or the veil, be silent around men or act submissive around them, just some isolated sects- the Fundamentalists of their faith. Much like Fundamentalists here, they use an extreme interpretation of their religious writings to base their hatreds and abuses upon. We have similar assholes who preach hatred of gays, that women should be in the home, kowtowing to their men and other vileness, and they're Christian. It's the same crap: a bunch of insecure males who think the only way to ensure they stay at the top is oppress females, homosexuals, and anyone else they don't like or who aren't like them (other races, colours, religions, political viewpoints).

*Head-desk*

Yup. Sheesh. One of the reasons that list of reasons and people not to execute without cause was important was in the matter of refugees seeking asylum. Now, being gay isn't enough- they have to find another reason, EI: their tribe, or their religion, is being actively persecuted. Being gay is pan-national/cultural/religious, so it's apparently not "important" enough of a reason to be terrified for one's life. Fuck.

Yeah, really. :-\
So how was your first American turkey day?

I think it was my second, actually- possibly my third. Good, good, and Kani's mum knows how to cook a bird. YUM! I made a whole bunch of cookies and guava pie. Tastes a bit like apple/pear pie with pear texture. More yum.

Sounds awesome.

Was boring this year for us. No oven, so we went to a movie.

Aw, bummer. Why no stove? Is it broken?

Stove yes, oven no. And broken, yes.

You said it best, WHAT THE FLYING FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!???!!!???
Thats just wrong, completely wrong.

Makes me want to do something crazy, like organize a march of LGBT people (plus their sympathizers and supporters) upon the U.N buildings in New York in amass-protest. *wonders if someone is doing just that- she hopes so*

Disappointing but really not surprising. Not every country can be as awesome as the US. However, I don't think any "real" rights or protection were lost here. Do you think officials in second- and third-world countries are going to stop and say "hey, let's see what the UN says about this"? The UN is a big honkin' joke.

"And the 'un' un-nazied the world, forever."

Huh. To be frank, the U.S. isn't all that awesome, when it comes to human rights, either. But, at least you guys fucking TRY. I understand that the U.N is pretty much a symbolic body, where the delegates hope they'll be listened to and looked to as a good example of international conduct, but I'm not so naive to think that a group with an army of their own that isn't even allowed to fire their weapons at need is going to be truly listened to, in the end, if things were to get heated.

No, the thing that bothers me most about this whole thing is the idea that being gay or transgendered isn't enough of a good reason to be afraid for one's life. That "no execution without cause" paper listed reasons you couldn't just off a particular group (religious, racial, tribal, political, etc)- gays were removed from that list, meaning that any asylum-seekers in the future may have a harder time in getting their very real reasons for fleeing their nation recognized. Being gay is no longer enough of a reason, apparently, to be given refugee status.

Idiocracy FTW :)

That movie scared me, especially since I started to pay attention to U.S politics in my efforts to learn how your system works. My god, some of the most egregious morons to ever grace this Earth their droolery.... It boggles the mind.

Two words about this idiocy that will explain it all to anyone using Google:
Operation Condor

Yeah, let's support the nuts on the right, so that the nuts on the left will have even more recruits to hate us. Oh, and let them think they are untouchable so they try for a member of the US Congress. Oi!

It's amazing that the Russians and Americans didn't end up fully 'depopulating' the Earth with that kind of stupid thinking. I swear... One of these days, the big countries are going to step in an ant hill like that and find out it's too big to get out of. Suddenly, self-replicating machines sound a lot less cool when you realize that it can be applied to drone warfare ala Terminator. I wish those kinds of fiction where just science fiction and not a G** D*** blueprint.

Your paranoia is sensible.. and reflects all too closely things I've thought about. And had nightmares over. Geez. Get out of my head, man!

I like to consider myself a moderate with mostly left leanings, with some more conservative outlooks. Conserve the environment for the future of our species, conserve money and not spend it on wars we shouldn't be involved in... Things like that. Responsibility is something I hear the Republicans drone on about a lot, but rarely see them actually practice. To me, responsibility is the trait of the true conservative person, and one I'd vote for if htey ran for office. Otherwise, I'll have to consider those on the left who might come off as "nuts" to folks who don't look at the world in a long-seeing way. Too much short-term greed in the way of long-term health and prosperity, in my opinion.

There will be blood.

I sincerely hope not. But, in all honesty, there likely will... homosexual blood, more's the pity.

oh no, I meant imma go down there and kick ass so hard that they'll be tasting my steel-toed sneakers for weeks

Awesome. Me, I just wanna go down there, myself and bonk heads together until they start thinking. Yes, I am fully cognizant of the fact that blunt-force head-trauma is no way to induce good thought, but damn, it'd feel gooooood.

Maybe they'll make Alertpay give us back cub porn while they're at it XD

Um, eeeewwwww? I sincerely hope that was a joke...

X3 *cackles*

africa have record regard with gays??
if I remember correctly, most of the middle countries (those infected with the islam extremism) kill gays on sight.

In fact, South Africa does have a fairly good record. It's a big country.

Other nations are mentioned in the article I linked to with good human-rights records regarding homosexuals.

Aaaand, I think you meant "continent"? *just being playful, hon*

XD I did. Brain doesn't function well on no sleep.

Erf. I know how ya feel, hon. I routinely have to go through periods of six, four, even two, of sleep. Insomnia blows. Dunno how the heck I function, some days.

You do know that much of Africa isn't Muslim, right? In fact, a good half of the nations are Christian, with a smattering of other faiths---> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:R.....frica_crop.png Anyway, there are nations in Africa with good human-rights records regarding homosexuals- they're mentioned in the article I linked to this journal.

note the "most of the middle", I never said "all".

I did- the countries I'm guessing that you're thinking of are mostly on the northern third, though... But yeah, it's hard to believe that there are places on that continent that allow gays to live, let alone be tolerant of them. *has a sad*

Religion masquerading as hatred, and insects trying to halt progress. This is only a temporary setback, a regretful one. The last vestiges of a dying age are trying to spread their influence, but they are slowly losing.

One can only hope that, along with that dying off of old, hateful religious ideas, that the good things religion has done doesn't go with them.

*nods* In a perfect world only positive aspects of things will remain...

Well, I'm fully aware that the world isn't perfect, but it's certainly something we can all strive for!

True, I'd rather live in a world where people are much better educated.

It's a lot harder to lie to people that have critical thinking skills. Education helps but of course there is brainwashing efforts in some 'educational' (especially when you dare question it) circles. Luckily, when the majority is able to communicate and understand even the most basic foundations, that stops cold. It's really easy to provide/find counterexamples when someone's lying... Even by accident/luck. The old lies start to fall like dominoes.

Another easy way to detect lies is watching someone's face. Most people tend to exhibit some sort of facial twitch or eye movement when they are dishonest.

They might be giving you dishonest info, but if they themselves happen to believe said info, you won't get the "tells" for lying. That's how the real liars get their lies to be seen as truth: get at least someone with influence to believe in them.

Which is why I said most people. The skillful liars are dangerous people.

>^__^<

Hopefully, not all educators have a brainwashing curriculum. I like the kind of courses that give students multiple perspectives on topics like history, then get them to question them. It's rare and hard to find, but if you manage to find a school with that kind of policy, you'll get more critical thinkers from there. I'm mostly self-educated, since I couldn't afford tuition, but auditing courses is a lot cheaper and you can get a surprising amount of knowledge that way. Also, comparing info via their sources (see which sources match up, especially for bias), running them through search-engines to find the origin, look for how each variation of the story is "spun", and you can get a good idea of what's really going on in the world. Always get your news from multiple sources, avoid everything from the Fox network (or any subsidiary owned by Rupert Murdoch- he sells lies for a living, and not only admits it, he dares to call it "entertainment"!), compare notes, root out the urban myths (Snopes.com is awesome for that) and you're good to go.

Fox? Seriously you kid? They're the fair and balanced network! (Sigh, yeah like all the others - fairly biased towards their owner's political whims and balanced like a see-saw to whatever their statisticians say people want to hear)

Had an argument recently with a lady who got incensed with me when I said FOX lied to it's viewers. She killed the conversation cold. It had all started with the Bengazi nonsense... LOL

Oh, and I think I like you. *grins*