Friday, November 29, 2013

Canada Military News: DON'T B AFRAID CAMPAIGN- speaks out against homophobia- We have been gender illiterate since 1969

 and we're Catholic folks.... our Canada is young, beautiful, educated and savvy..... 2 Official languages and over 200 cultures.....  #weallmatter





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BLOGGED:

FROM CANADA WITH LOVE- Pope Francis says gays must NOT be judged or marginalized- blesses Bikers- says feed and help the poor, incarcerated, homeless, helpless- it's time






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BLOGGED
CANADA MILITARY NEWS: Disabled have great sex lives folks and always have/CHINA teaching disabled children and youth about embracing their sexuality and it's healthy/ SEXTING- what it means global articles/ PLATO - Asexual- Platonic love and friendships work and millions and millions like the honesty of asexality/ MASTERBATION is healthy folks- get used 2 it/August 9 2015 update- PARTY TIME IN TORONTO -God bless our Canada



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UPDATED JUNE 2014-   HEROES/HEROES/HEROES


Sunday, June 15, 2014 - 12:46pm | THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONCTON, N.B. — Hundreds of people running for three fallen Mounties put their race on hold today to shake the hands of officers as a memorial in front of an RCMP detachment was dismantled.




'I forgive you' Scott Jones says to man who stabbed him
AARON BESWICK TRURO BUREAU
Published June 12, 2014 - 9:18am
Last Updated June 13, 2014 - 9:40am
Shane Matheson gets 10-year prison sentence for attempted murder

PICTOU – Scott Jones stared at Shane Matheson on Thursday morning.
“Shane,” he said, pausing until the 20-year-old convicted for stabbing him twice in the back and slashing his throat looked up at him.
“Nothing can justify what you’ve done to me, but I forgive you.”
Matheson, who’d pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Jones and spent the first half of his sentencing hearing staring at the floor in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Pictou, kept his eyes fixed on Jones’s for the remainder of the victim impact statement.
Before he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 2013 stabbing outside a New Glasgow bar that left Jones paralyzed, Matheson said to him: “I’m sorry I put you in that chair. I didn’t even know you.”
Scott Jones of New Glasgow was attacked and stabbed on Thanksgiving weekend. (CHRISTIAN LAFORCE / Staff)The court learned about forgiveness Thursday from a 28-year-old confined to a wheelchair.
“My journey?” Jones repeated when asked about his road to forgiveness.
“It’s been a journey surrounded by people who care about me and love me and have been so supportive. When you have that love around you and then you consider someone who hasn’t had that love around him at all his whole life, it’s pretty easy to arrive at forgiveness.”
During the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2013, witnesses saw two intoxicated men yell back and forth across a downtown New Glasgow street.
One, Jones, was an openly gay musician, choral director and world traveller who was out with friends after celebrating the opening of an art gallery.
The other, Matheson, was a 19-year-old with a Grade 9 education and on social assistance — an angry young man who was high on drugs and carrying a kitchen knife, the court heard Thursday, and had been physically abused during a childhood spent in and out of foster care.
Jones’s next memory is of falling to the ground and not being able to move his legs.
Matheson turned himself in to New Glasgow police a few hours later.
As his case plodded through the court system, he spoke weekly with his sister and began rebuilding his relationship with his mother.
Jones spent the next five months in hospital, dealing with the physical and emotional trauma of learning that Matheson’s knife had severed his spinal cord.
That his feet would never work a piano’s pedals again. That he’d never go for another walk in the woods or feel the freedom of dance.
“My whole self has been shaken by this attack,” said Jones.
From his hospital bed, he started the Don’t Be Afraid campaign.
He still believes Matheson attacked him out of hate for his homosexuality.
The campaign — to tell people to be proud of their differences and not let isolated acts of violence scare them — took flight. Friends, family and New Glasgow town council were joined by artists from around the world in having their pictures taken and posted on social media holding multicoloured posters with the slogan Don’t Be Afraid on them.
“It’s been a testament to the amount of love I’ve had around me,” Jones said of the campaign.
“I feel like I’m riding a wave of love.”
Jones is now living in Halifax, where he is a resident conductor with the Nova Scotia Youth Choir, is building a choir formed out of the Don’t Be Afraid campaign and is taking up the sport of rowing.
Before Matheson was led away by sheriff’s deputies to begin serving his sentence, reduced to roughly nine years with credit for time served, Justice Nick Scaravelli had a message for the young man.
“Mr. Matheson, you have a choice. You can lean on the past as an excuse to do nothing. Or you can take the opportunity to accept services, continue your education and become a productive member of society.”




CANADA MILITARY NEWS: U Are A Child of the Universe- U Have the Right 2 Be Here- DESIDERATA- Max Ehrmann, A Prayer, Bevreavement Prayer- some feel good inspires

CHILD OF THE UNIVERSE (Lyrics) Desiderata by Max Ehrmann
















Desiderata by Max Ehrmann
Max Ehrmann's inspirational poem - Desiderata


Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
(Max Ehrmann)

 One Solitary Life- Dr James Allan 1926

He was born in an obscure village
 
The child of a peasant woman
 
He grew up in another obscure village
 
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
 
Until he was thirty
 

He never wrote a book
 
He never held an office
 
He never went to college
 
He never visited a big city
 
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
 
From the place where he was born
 
He did none of the things
 
Usually associated with greatness
 
He had no credentials but himself
 

He was only thirty three
 

His friends ran away
 
One of them denied him
 
He was turned over to his enemies
 
And went through the mockery of a trial
 
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
 
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
 
The only property he had on earth
 

When he was dead
 
He was laid in a borrowed grave
 
Through the pity of a friend
 

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
 
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
 
And the leader of mankind's progress
 
All the armies that have ever marched
 
All the navies that have ever sailed
 
All the parliaments that have ever sat
 
All the kings that ever reigned put together
 
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
 
As powerfully as that one solitary life
 

Dr James Allan 1926.
 



One Solitary Life
 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jdt_K-MEBw

This is a narration called One Solitary Life done by James A. Francis. It is put to pictures showing the impact one life made. Jesus' life!

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"Walk A Mile In My Shoes"
(As recorded by Joe South)
If I could be you and you could be me for just one hour
If we could find a way to get inside each other's mind
If you could see me through your eyes instead of your ego
I believe you'd be surprised to see that you'd been blind.
Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes.
Now your whole world you see around you is just a reflection
And the law of common says you reap just what you sow
So unless you've lived a life of total perfection
You'd better be careful of every stone that you throw.
Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes.
And yet we spend the day throwing stones at one another
'Cause I don't think or wear my hair the same way you do
Well I may be common people but I'm your brother
And when you strike out and try to hurt me its a-hurtin' you.
Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes.
There are people on reservations and out in the ghettos
And brother there but for the grace of God go you and I
If I only had the wings of a little angel
Don't you know I'd fly to the top of the mountain, and then I'd cry.
Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes.

JOE SOUTH- " WALK A MILE IN MY SHOES "


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Shane gets 10 years and apologizes 4 putting scott in a wheelchair 4 life





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 CANADA-  NOVA SCOTIA-  Don't Be Afraid campaign against homophobia



Editorial- December 2- incredible article...
Don't be Afraid- respect others - u respect urself 


Don't be Afraid- from Argentina


Don't be Afraid- each person matters 


Don't be Afraid- love over hate 



Don't be Afraid




Don't Be Afraid Campaign



Don't Be Afraid- moms-dads- grandparents- we love our children desperately ... PERIOD



Don't Be Afraid Campaign- fighting homophobia 

LOVE OUT OF HATE

Fear not, says Jones



On the Don’t Be Afraid Facebook page is a photo of a laughing Scott Jones, the young New Glasgow man who was repeatedly stabbed on Oct. 12 in New Glasgow by someone he didn’t know, leaving him partially paralyzed.

Jones, 27, in a wheelchair, holds a sign with an expanding rainbow in the background and these words in the fore­ground:
Don’t BE Afraid. Be.

Be who you are, be not afraid, just be yourself — those are some of the ideas that swirled around the Don’t Be Afraid event held in Jones’ honour Thursday night on Got­tingen Street in Halifax.

A fundraiser for Jones, who faces challenges practical and financial as he copes with a life-changing disability, the event was also part of the campaign of acceptance launched on social media by the choral director and church organist, who believes he was attacked because of his sexu­ality.

His message: “Acknowledging and letting go of fear can lead to a deeper level of acceptance. Don’t be afraid to face your fear; don’t be afraid to love and accept yourself."

Those ideas resonated on Thursday on Gottingen Street with performances by the You Gotta Sing! Chorus and the Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble at the Mi’kmaq Native friendship centre.

Musicians, artists and audience members turned out in force at seven venues to support the effort and raise funds for Mr. Jones.

The event, said one speaker, was “to say we are not afraid and that hate doesn’t stand here in Halifax."

Campaign co-ordinator Charlotte Marchessault, a friend of Jones, says he was recovering in intensive care when he had the idea to start an awareness campaign about homo­phobia .

“It’s not really about him, it’s about having a more open­minded society," says Marchessault.

The attack on Jones, who is openly gay, shocked Nova Scotians and people around the world, many of whom have been signing on to the Facebook page and holding fund­raisers of their own for the personable musician.

A preliminary hearing for Shane Edward Matheson, 19, of Trenton, has been set for Feb. 19 and 20 in Pictou on several charges related to the attack, including attempted murder.

In a society that prides itself on upholding the human rights of all, a violent attack against someone for who he or she is — whether it be race, sexuality, gender, religion or political affiliation — cannot be tolerated.

In the face of a hateful, cowardly act, Mr. Jones is to be congratulated for having the energy and courage to create something positive out of what must be an enormous per­s onal loss.

And we applaud the musicians, organizers and the Got­tingen Street community for holding and attending this event to help make our society one where diversity — par­ticularly among young people who are just finding their way in the world — is cheered and celebrated.

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Inner Ninja-














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 CANADA- ON SAME GENDER RELATIONSHIPS:  1969-  we know... we were there... and we walked the talk 4 freedoms, equality, basic human rights, protection of our children, homeless, pay equity, disabled, aged, racism and so on..


O CANADA-

The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 (S.C. 1968-69, c. 38) was an omnibus bill that introduced major changes to the Criminal Code of Canada. It was introduced as Bill C-150 by then Minister of Justice Pierre Trudeau in the second session of the 27th Canadian Parliament on December 21, 1967.[1] On May 14, 1969, after heated debates, Omnibus Bill C-150 passed third reading in the House of Commons by a vote of 149 (119 Liberals, 18 New Democrats, 12 Progressive Conservatives) to 55 (43 Progressive Conservatives, 11 Créditistes, 1 Liberal).[2] The bill was a massive 126-page, 120-clause amendment to the criminal law of Canada.
It proposed, among other things, to decriminalize homosexuality, allow abortion and contraception, and regulate lotteries, gun possession, drinking and driving offences, harassing phone calls, misleading advertising and cruelty to animals. The bill was described by John Turner, Trudeau's successor as Minister of Justice, as "the most important and all-embracing reform of the criminal and penal law ever attempted at one time in this country".[3] Trudeau famously defended the bill by telling reporters that "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation", adding that "what's done in private between adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code".[4] The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 is known in French under the title Loi de 1968-69 modifiant le droit pénal.



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 CANADA - MILITARY- SAME GENDER RIGHTS-  Gay Lesbian Policy in the Canadian Military- 1992



Canada

As of 1992, lesbians, gays and bisexuals are allowed to serve openly in the military. A study of gays and lesbians in the Canadian military has found that after Canada’s 1992 decision to allow homosexuals to serve openly in its armed forces, military performance did not decline.[15]
The study is the most comprehensive academic study by US researchers of homosexuality in a foreign military ever compiled and reflects an exhaustive inventory of relevant data and research. Its title is "Effects of the 1992 Lifting of Restrictions on Gay and Lesbian Service in the Canadian Forces; Appraising the Evidence".
  • Lifting of restrictions on gay and lesbian service in the Canadian Forces has not led to any change in military performance, unit cohesion, or discipline.
  • Self-identified gay, lesbian, and transsexual members of the Canadian Forces contacted for the study describe good working relationships with peers.
  • The number of military women who experienced sexual harassment dropped 46% after the ban was lifted. While there were several reasons why harassment declined, one factor was that after the ban was lifted women were free to report assaults without fear that they would be accused of being a lesbian.
  • Before Canada lifted its gay ban, a 1985 survey of 6,500 male soldiers found that 62% said that they would refuse to share showers, undress or sleep in the same room as a gay soldier. After the ban was lifted, follow-up studies found no increase in disciplinary, performance, recruitment, sexual misconduct, or resignation problems.
  • None of the 905 assault cases in the Canadian Forces from November, 1992 (when the ban was lifted) until August, 1995 involved gay bashing or could be attributed to the sexual orientation of one of the parties.
A news article by Canadian journalist, Jon Tattrie, reported on the changed attitude towards the presence of homosexual members of the Canadian Forces in his article "Being Gay in the Military" (Metro Ottawa), quoting Canadian Forces spokesperson Rana Sioufi as saying: “Members who are same-sex partners are entitled to the same respect and dignity as heterosexual married couples or common-law partners.”[16]
In the past 20 years, the Canadian Forces has gone from being a homophobic organization that actively hounded out gay and lesbian members to one of the world’s leading advocates of open integration.
—Jon Tattrie, "Being Gay in the Military", Metro Ottawa, August 20, 2010[16]


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Same-sex marriage in Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia





On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world, and the first country outside Europe, to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition. Court decisions, starting in 2003, had already legalized same-sex marriage in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories, whose residents comprised about 90% of Canada's population. Before passage of the Act, more than 3,000 same-sex couples had already married in those areas.[1] Most legal benefits commonly associated with marriage had been extended to cohabiting same-sex couples since 1999.
The Civil Marriage Act was introduced by Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal minority government in the Canadian House of Commons on February 1, 2005 as Bill C-38. It was passed by the House of Commons on June 28, 2005, by the Senate on July 19, 2005, and it received Royal Assent the following day. On December 7, 2006, the House of Commons effectively reaffirmed the legislation by a vote of 175 to 123, defeating a motion of the Conservative minority government to examine the matter again. This was the third vote supporting same-sex marriage taken by three Parliaments under three Prime Ministers in three different years, as shown below.

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Sidney Crosby on gay rights: 'I think everyone has a right to play'





Bruce Bennett
Sidney Crosby provided comment regarding Russia's anti-gay legislation during Hockey Canada's orientation camp on Sunday.
The climate around the 2014 Sochi Olympics is unique. With the host nation taking an extreme approach to anti-gay legislation, athletes participating in the games have come into focus for their thoughts on the matter. Considering the NHL Players' Association's intimate relationship with the You Can Play Project -- an organization that advocates equal rights regardless of sexual orientation -- some players have been put in a difficult position.
Many have chosen to provide no comment as a strategic approach to avoid distraction. Some of the more prominent players have voiced their opinions or, at the very least, insinuated them.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby made his views abundantly clear during the first day of Hockey Canada's orientation camp, as he voiced his disagreement with the anti-gay legislation, via ESPN.com:
"I think that everyone has an equal right to play and I think we've been supportive of that. With the Olympics and the controversy around that I think those decisions and those laws aren't necessarily something that I agree with personally ... their laws and their views."
The atmosphere around the 2014 games is seemingly going to be as big a storyline as the competition itself. Many outlets -- specifically those based in North America -- have voiced the opinion that the athletes should find someway to protest or signal that the anti-gay legislation is not acceptable.
As the games get closer, this pressure will intensify.
Considering Hockey Canada and USA Hockey won't be holding traditional on-ice sessions during their orientation camps, it seems likely that this is a subject that will be addressed at great lengths.











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 BEST COMMENT:
According to this article, Don't Be Afraid was created by Scott Jones and his friends as he has been recovering from his injuries and learning to live with his paralysis. This campaign is beautiful in its message and intent, and in itself says nothing about the charges against, or eventual court judgement of the accused. The charge against the accused is not "homophobia", but attempted murder, and the court case begins in February. Given the information in the article, I don't see how Mr. Jones is a pawn. Furthermore, this campaign is beautiful and positive in its intent and impact.


Don’t Be Afraid: World wraps arms around Scott Jones

 November 28, 2013 - 9:00pm BY FRANCES WILLICK EDUCATION REPORTER



 Members of Xara Choral Theatre perform at the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre in Halifax for the Scott Jones fundraiser on Thursday. More than 40 performers took part in the event which raised money for Jones, a New Glasgow musician and choral director who was left paralysed after he was stabbed last month. (RYAN TAPLIN / STAFF)

 Members of Xara Choral Theatre perform at the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre in Halifax for the Scott Jones fundraiser on Thursday. More than 40 performers took part in the event which raised money for Jones, a New Glasgow musician and choral director who was left paralysed after he was stabbed last month. (RYAN TAPLIN / STAFF)



Just choose love.”
“Just be yourself.”
“You think you are normal, but you are just hetero.”
Those are some of the messages that friends and supporters of Scott Jones want to share with the world.
A new campaign called Don’t Be Afraid encourages people to speak out against homophobia and to share their words of support and love.
And Jones’s own message: “Acknowledging and letting go of fear can lead to a deeper level of acceptance. Don’t be afraid to face your fear; don’t be afraid tolove and accept yourself.”
Jones is the New Glasgow man who was left paralyzed after he was attacked on Thanksgiving weekend. A Trenton man was charged with attempted murder and will have a preliminary hearing in February.
Jones believes he was targeted because he is gay.
For now, the campaign is primarily promoted through a Facebook page called Don’t Be Afraid, which features photos of people holding a colourful sign with that message and a caption expressing their own thoughts.
Campaign co-ordinator Charlotte Marchesseault says Jones had the idea to start an awareness campaign about homophobia while he was still in the intensive-care unit. A friend designed a pin with the Don’t Be Afraid logo, and Marchesseault made a poster based on the design and began taking photos of people holding the sign.
“It’s really not about him. It’s about having a more open-minded society,” said Marchesseault, a friend of Jones’s.
So far, photos have been sent from across Nova Scotia, Montreal, British Columbia, the U.S., Argentina and France. But Marchesseault says she expects the word to spread even further.
“Scott is a really motivational person,” she said. “All the attention he’s getting from what happened to him, it’s not because of what happened to him. He’s a really awesome person as well.”
Organizers of the campaign say it’s still in the early stages and they hope to take their message from Facebook into the offline world through future events. In the meantime, though, all are invited to make their own Don’t Be Afraid sign and post photos on the Don’t Be Afraid page.
Support for Jones was front and centre on Gottingen Street in Halifax on Thursday night as music lovers gathered at seven venues for fundraising events.
The event, called Gottingen Street for Scott Jones, kicked off with a smudging ceremony and choral performances by the You Gotta Sing! chorus and the Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble at the Mi’kmaq Native Friendship Centre. Jones is active in the music and choral community in the province.
Christina Murray, co-artistic director of Xara, said even though the ensemble has a packed schedule, she didn’t think twice about answering the call to participate in the fundraiser.
All the attention he’s getting from what happened to him, it’s not because of what happened to him. He’s a really awesome person as well
“Because so many of the girls in my group grew up with him, they were like, ‘We have to do this,’” she said.
Murray said she knew as soon as she met Scott at a choral camp when he was 12 or 13 that he was special.
“Right from then, I was like, ‘That’s a firecracker. That guy is going to go far.’ He was just vibrant and just on it. He was just fabulous, even really young.”
Georgia Richards, a friend of Jones’s who co-ordinated the evening, said even though more than $100,000 has already been raised through other efforts, every penny will help.
“He obviously has a new chapter in his life to deal with, and it’s going to be very costly,” she said.
“This is very real. Scott’s life has been changed dramatically, and even though he’s being a super-champ about it doesn’t change it. I believe we have a community obligation to respond to these things.”
Jones’s sister, Sherise Jones, said the support for her brother has been incredible.
“We’re overwhelmed and amazed and just so grateful and appreciative to everyone involved,” she said.
She said Jones has his ups and downs but he’s concentrating on the Don’t Be Afraid campaign.
“That’s our focus, now — the future. And making sure this doesn’t happen again to anyone.”


 




 comment:
 It makes you shake your head in amazement that someone would actually be attacked, with a knife, who may be considered Gay and then this, paralysis. Mind you, I am of the opinion that the young man accused of the crime would have given the blade to someone, it was only a matter of time and a target. There is a lot of rage in that young man

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1170674-don-t-be-afraid-world-wraps-arms-around-scott-jones?from=most_read&most_read=1170674

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