What is more surprising? That he got his girlfriend a cushy job and raise, or that he has a girlfriend?

I went to the 30th anniversary party for NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights) last Saturday thanks to a friend and donor’s generosity.

There were sexy acrobats hanging from sheets and lesbian hair from every era and to top it off, Martina Navratilova, the first real, out lesbian I ever saw and the best tennis player too.

In the mdst of the festivities they auctioned off a racquet of Martina’s from the 70s. It was used to win a Grand Slam in mixed doubles. It fetched (with a hug), more than $14,000 via live auction.

And the fearless leader let us all know, they’d “raised enough to cut off Antonin Scalia’s left ball.” It was like Eugene Levy stating that the Jewish media conspiracy had finally achieved it’s goal of worldwide domination via rugelach.

It was a room of many ethnicities, races, genders and finances. I’ve never before been at any hoo hah event where the folks with the most money didn’t seem to be treated like they were from a distinctly superior caste.

I wished I had a bank account with a million dollars in it so I too could write a cheque and give it to Kate Kendall to stuff in her shirt with the other spontaneous donations. Like she said, they can’t wait to close the doors on NCLR. But they won’t do it one day before we have full equality.

Cheney (in familiar aircraft carrier mode) warning Iran today,“You kids knock it off and go to sleep or I’m coming up there and then you’ll see what a real war is like.”

Mark Buchanan uses interesting scientific analogies to understand our social self-creating order (bigger than free will) and Abu Ghraib. He did this in the NYT and you can read it easily here.

Conservative Jews use their own their own traditional process to accept out queer rabbinical candidates at Jewish Theological Seminary. Tradition is made alive and relevant through the interpretation of the present and the authority of living teachers, not just he connection between tradition and the present

Nuggety goodness:

As Solomon Schechter explained a century ago, “It is not the mere revealed Bible that is of first importance to the Jew, but the Bible as it repeats itself in history, in other words, as it is interpreted by tradition.” That is why the fact of Leviticus 18:22 in and of itself did not free the CJLS or any other Conservative Jew from the need to debate the matter of gay and lesbian ordination.

The eminent historian Chancellor Gerson Cohen urged Conservative rabbis in 1972 to shape the movement in a way that was clearly and authentically Jewish but that would “also reflect our own formulation of Judaism, a formulation that will respond to our situation, our needs as Jews in America.” That need is once again clear and urgent. How shall we undertake to meet it?

The proper way to do so, I believe, is not for JTS to promulgate a set of standards for Conservative belief and behavior. It is, rather, to engage Conservative Jews in discussion of what matters to them and why.

Tip ‘o the shtrummel to sra.

The conversation and distributed network is the paradigm of our times and of ancient tribal times too. It is the method for reonciling legal elements that are at odds. It is the way to split the gordian know. I’ve heard Reva Siegal, Yale Law Prof. suggest as much about the history of 14th amendment litigation. That viewed over time as a conversation it makes sense of the otherwise unreconcilable contradiction that there is no literal text in the US Constitution making women full citizens of the US although courts (generally) act as thought we are.

My guess at the secreat behind all of this ? No way for Jews to keep musical theatre without the queers.

Here’s an awesome mash-up: Avenue Jew (I would embed the video if WordPress didn’t make it so difficult to find my API key. Any geeks with ideas?).

This is the most interesting stuff I’ve read that feels both intellectually honest and open to what we may not have known but religions and spiritualities often assume.

To say it more simply: is there some way to find scientfic inquiry or explanation into what we may feel but cannot prove about the interconnectedness of all people, the way thought and intention (sometimes called prayer) affect actions in the world, serendipity, the consciousness of matter. You know all that stuff that gets referred to as soul or God (or another name for it) from spiritual traditions.

I find when I make things (essays, plays, comedy, video etc) that the thing i am making eventually tels me what it needs. Stuart Skorman, an entrepreneur (reel.com, Elephant Pharmacy)I’ve done some consulting with says the same thing about creating a business.

Perhaps this means there is consciousness in everything and if you listen to it, it will tell you what is next. I don’t buy science and spirituality as mutually exclusive. Mostly becasue there are always so much we don’t understand that we can only come to see if we look for it.

I’ve been enjoying this discussion on Andrew Sullivan’s blog. In fact, I’ve been enjoying his blog a lot. It feels a lot more honest about politics than much of what I read in the major papers.

10 Zen Monkeys’ EFF Fundraiser

Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid.

photo: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

I had fun last night performing at the 10 Zen Monkey’s Fundraiser for the EFF. I even busted a few folks twittering during the set :-)

Beth Lisick and Tara Jepsen did a really funny bit with their meshugenah ladies Carole Murphy and Mitzi Fitzsimmons and Will Franken was brilliant. We had a very fun argument afterwards about Israelis and Palestinians. I guess this is how comedians who aren’t easily categorized bond. Beats getting high and talking about failed sexual escapades and poop.

The intention we bring to our acts, affects the outcome of the acts.
The Net and the apps and creative acts that make it grow have been built, for the most part, out of a desire to connect and a desire for open-ness, which speeds genuine connection.

Any geek knows how to feel validated by others and even themselves by fixing problems. It’s a way to make ones head useful and feel present and appreciated by those for whom you solve problems. But any validation and sense of self worth/valuation or (company valuation) built on that alone will lead to an empty looping (something familiar to any geek who has felt befriended only for their laptop tech support skils).

This empty looping possibility is just as true for any organization or system. What makes the connection really genuine and ore self-sustaining is when it is the intentions that connect, not merely the acts.

The best thing about the geeks, the artists, the children or anyone who has maintained their genuine sincerity (with which we are all born) is that they live truly. And the connections made with an honest and vulnerably sincere person and their sincere acts don’t have to be fed by constant problem solving.

I see this on a huge level embodied on the Net. Only geeks would have built it. Not because the have the mad coding skills, but because they wanted to connect as they are with others and the temerity to *assume* other want to as well. This motivatation drives how the Net is being built and which structures, including those operating as businesses work on those structures.

So we have the Net, the digital era, a physical manifestation of the growing web of connection that is wrapping closer inside of us and or thoughts and our questions and our minds and hearts. It is helping shrink the earth like any empire before it.

It is the sincerity that truly links us. All 6.6 billion of us. We all came into this world with it.