grace

… filling in the negative space with positively everything

The Bully Pulpit

According to Wikipedia, a bully pulpit is  “a public office or other position of authority of sufficiently high rank that provides the holder with an opportunity to speak out and be listened to on any matter. The bully pulpit can bring issues to the forefront that were not initially in debate, due to the office’s stature and publicity.”

In the current Houston mayoral race, however, the bullies have taken over the pulpit. And in what’s supposed to be a non-partisan race, they have emerged from the partisan hacks on both sides.

When I first started paying attention to the mayoral race, I thought, “This is great: for the first time in a long time, the three most viable candidates for the position have similar positions on the issues; and, for the most part, those are positions I agree with. We’ll be able to vote for the BEST of three candidates, rather than the lesser of several evils.”

As a staffer for former City Council Member Gordon Quan, I knew a bit about Peter Brown and Annise Parker, and was inclined to support Brown. Then I went to a couple of mayoral forums and saw what the candidates had to say on the issues. That was my introduction to Gene Locke. After seeing and hearing his answers to a variety of tough questions, I thought he was the best candidate to lead Houston. And when his campaign came knocking on my door, I wholeheartedly agreed to support Gene as his social media strategist. Then, as his liaison for Asian/Pacific American outreach. Then, as his liaison for Young Professionals.

Which Houston Mayoral Candidate REALLY Supports Equality?

This issue is really important to me, because I have family and friends in the LGBT community who are still treated as second-class citizens when it comes to equal civil rights.

There is a New York Times article going around on Twitter that Annise Parker may make history as “the first openly gay woman to be elected mayor of a major American metropolis.” In it, however, Parker says “I always told voters the truth…” then goes on to state she has “no current plan to offer [same-sex benefits] for a referendum.”

I’m shocked that Annise Parker, the “openly gay” candidate, does NOT support same-sex benefits. The NYTimes article reports:

In a televised debate on Oct. 25, for instance, she was asked if she would push for a referendum to give benefits to the same-sex partners of city workers. A similar measure was soundly defeated in the past.

Ms. Parker has lived with her partner for 19 years and has two adopted children, so she has a personal stake in the question, but she replied that, while she supported the idea, she had “no current plan to offer that for a referendum.”

“Personally it’s very important,” she said, “but, as mayor of Houston, do I want to engage resources in fighting that battle, or do I want to tackle the budget? Do I want to tackle drainage? Do I want to try to put more police officers on the street? It’s the difference between the personal and what this city needs.”

TAO : The Art Of…

Wikipedia on Tao:

While the character itself translates as ‘way’, ‘path’, or ‘route’, or sometimes more loosely as ‘doctrine’ or ‘principle’, it is used philosophically to signify the fundamental or true nature of the world.In Taoism, Tao both precedes and encompasses the universe. As with other nondualistic philosophies, all the observable objects in the world [...] are considered to be manifestations of Tao, and can only operate within the boundaries of Tao. Tao is, by contrast, often referred to as ‘the nameless’, because neither it nor its principles can ever be adequately expressed in words. It is conceived, for example, with neither shape nor form, as simultaneously perfectly still and constantly moving, as both larger than the largest thing and smaller than the smallest, because the words that describe shape, movement, size, or other qualities always create dichotomies, and Tao is always a unity.

One of my favorite books is The Tao of Physics – it discusses how Eastern mysticism and quantum physics share basic tenets that are fundamental to life, the universe, and everything. Like how we exist amidst the dualities of order and chaos, and somehow attain balance. How we change, and are changed by, our universe through actions and reactions. And how we are all made from, and connected by, forces we can’t currently perceive.

This isn’t a post about metaphysics or physics, though. This is about “The Art Of…”- a series of posts I’m starting that happen to involve the same basic tenets as Tao & physics. But as addressed through Art.

« go back — keep looking »

  • Art Not Ads!

  • Flickr

    OrtizArtInHall2OrtizArtLobbyLoungeCrowdScene2Hotel Sorella - grand stairway version 2Hotel Sorella - Bistro AlexCollageInLoungeCityCentre streetscape pedestrian at Hotel SorellaCityCentre Sculptures by DesignCityCentre Houston Motor ClubBehindTheBar

  • tweets...

    Posting tweet...