I applaud Lana Wachowski: VIDEO (Transgender)

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Wednesday November 21, 2012 · 3:44 PM PST

2012/11/21 · 15:44

I just had to post this comment somewhere, since I was so blown away by this woman and her speech, so much so, that I even had a vivid lucid dream that I actually met her and her brother after watching this video below -- felt like I now strangely actually know her in real life.

Please note: This video (Lana Wachowski receives the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Visibility Award) was already posted in a diary three weeks ago by kossack rserven, but I felt I had my own distinct unique impression of this, which I felt was a respectful contribution, and being relatively new to this site (my 2nd diary), and with rserven's encouragement, I am posting this, which I originally posted as a comment on her last diary. I do hope it is appropriate to re-post this video here today, in homage of yesterday's Transgender Day of Remembrance. See:

I watched her speech just last night and having never seen Lana Wachowski prior to this video, this was the first impression I had of her. Not surprising, apparently, since she and her brother have been rather reclusive and guarded of their privacy (or rather, of their anonymity, as she explains in her speech.) Like the public at large, I only knew of her and her brother's works: The Matrix Trilogy, V For Vendetta, and I just saw Cloud Atlas and LOVED IT!!!, and so, I can only envision her as she is today in this video, an adorable powerful wise sweet endearing pretty woman!

After watching this video, I googled her name to read her wikipedia page and learn a little more of her life story, and in doing so, I saw pictures of her prior to her transformation, and I was struck with the distinct feeling that this here today is her true form, where she shines so very joyously brightly, naturally, and at ease with herself -- I imagine, more at ease than she has ever been before her transformation. And I felt the sadness she must have felt over the years, not being able to let her true beauty shine in the light of day, as a female spirit. Her mannerisms, her gestures, her words, and the way she courts the audience, these so reminded me of several female lovers from my past, and in Lana, they did not feel like learned or adopted affectations, not at all. They felt like her true self naturally sharing of her life journey. Conversely, it was the images of her as a man that seemed "not right" or "not natural," so true, honest and genuine was her female gesture. But then, one might ask, what is male or female nature anyway, for even I, as a man, have a sacred feminine in myself, as the Asian Yin/Yang symbol teaches us. I wished she had come of age in a society where was able to openly adopt that which she was drawn to in private when she was young, and that there was no "binary" gender that demanded she be pegged in a hole that simply did not fit her. Her tale of her near suicide struck deep and painful. How many live with this same unnecessary shame and fear? Too many!

She shines in this speech, and her coming out of her "lifestyle of anonymity" is a noble courageous gesture that we should all honor.

Lana Wachowski receives the HRC Visibility Award

Please do watch the entire speech, for it is all so endearingly inspirational, moving and touching, but this choice excerpt was so sweet and endearing of her brother's love, that I had to point it out.

= TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT (@28m05s) =
'Invisibility is indivisible from visibility'

For the transgender this is not simply a philosophical conundrum, it could be the difference between life and death.

A few short weeks ago after my coming out, three of us, Tom, Andy, and I, were being interviewed, one of the reporters ventured away from the subject of the film, towards my gender.

Imagine that, a reporter!

[Lana smirking.]

[Audience laughter.]

My brother quickly stepped in:
"Look, just so we're clear," he says, "If somebody asks something or says something about my sister that I don't like. Understand, I will break a bottle over their head!"

[Audience roaring cheers!]

[Lana Joyous Loving Laugh!]

Few words express love clearer than these.
...

I would second her brother's words in a New York minute.

Is PBS on the Christian Dominionism cult HIT list?

shinobi9

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 06, 2012 · 12:29 AM PDT

2012/10/06 · 00:29

Though I am new to your community, I have been reading your blogs off and on for almost a year and rather closely these past few months of the election and felt this connection needed to be made. I have been reading about this "cultish" extremist Christian movement (note: I intentionally use this inflammatory term and argue below that such usage has become justified and warrented, since it is integral to appreciating their modus operandi and agenda) for an equally long time, and following the rise of the Christian right for far longer and like everyone here on Daily Kos, and elsewhere, was greatly disturbed to hear during the debate:

Romney vowed to defund PBS if elected president during the event moderated by PBS NewsHour Executive Editor Jim Lehrer. He said, "I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I like you too."

But it was reading HuffingtonPost this morning, when Rick Santorum (someone already linked to Christian Dominionism) rose to Romney's defense, that my suspicion crystallized:

"I've voted to kill Big Bird in the past," he said when asked about his position on the issue. "So, I have a record there that I have to disclose. That doesn't mean I don’t like Big Bird. I mean, you can kill things and still like them, maybe to eat them, I don’t know."

To be honest, with my admittedly suspicious mind as an atheist, it was during the debate on Wednesday evening that I first suspected there was a hidden "clarion call" for supporters of this cult far and wide in Romney's wholly unnecessary (almost non-sequitur) admission of his ill intent to end PBS, something non-believers of the cult found so out of place. In other words, I have this sneaky suspicion that supporters of this cult have a rather strong hatred for PBS, no matter what Romney and Santorum might claim to the contrary, a hatred that is now rearing its ugly head. Why? Probably because PBS, from the broad perspective: is a powerful secular educational force, and from a specific perspective, was behind expository documentaries shedding light upon the rise of the religious right, and the religious right, in true cultish nature, does not want to be exposed, because, like all cults, they can only achieve their strategic objectives clandestine:
e.g.:

With God On Our Side
Three years in the making and featuring more than one hundred interviews with leaders and grassroots activists, WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE captures the spirit of the ever-growing Religious Right and addresses the persistent questions the movement raises: How does a free society draw the line between church and state while preserving a place for religious conviction in public life? How do media images of the Religious Right differ from the reality? And finally, when politicians and religious activists join forces, who holds the reins?

Bill Moyers ~ Full Show: The Resurrection of Ralph Reed
While Romney, Ryan, Rubio, and Eastwood got the lion’s share of attention during the Republican Convention this week, three one-time college Republicans who are now the party’s real power-brokers — Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, and Grover Norquist — were busy doing what they do best: leveraging their political, religious, and financial resources to back pro-corporate, anti-government objectives at the core of the conservative agenda.
The true surprise at the Tampa convention was Ralph Reed’s resurrection. When the former head of the Christian Coalition was discovered to have raked in millions of dollars from the super lobbyist — and eventually convicted felon — Jack Abramoff, Reed wound up in political purgatory. But outraged by the election of Barack Obama, and responding to what he describes as God’s call (via Sean Hannity), Reed returned to start the Faith and Freedom Coalition with the aim of toppling Barack Obama from the White House. To succeed, Reed needs to win the allegiance of many of the trusting Christian followers he had duped and double-crossed while working with Abramoff.

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I applaud Lana Wachowski: VIDEO (Transgender)

Is PBS on the Christian Dominionism *cult* HIT list?

Is PBS on the Christian Dominionism cult HIT list?