UPDATE: Wild Blur Younder! Surgery, Angels in Central America, Heros, a Fiesta, Archangel San Miguel!

Santo Hermano Pedro

Santo Oscar Romero

A WEEK IN AMERICA CENTRAL!

LAST TUESDAY:

I´m having a little eye surgery tomorrow...it´s a slight tear in my Retina...as usual I get the heebee jeebes when I have to ¨go under¨ for a few...please say a little prayer for my well-being and please God let my nervous tension fall away...I´ll be back with a full report and a eye patch for a few days/daze.

My best to all of you, siempre
Leonardo Ricardo


EYEBALLING PROGRESS:

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON:

Last Wednesday afternoon (one week ago) afternoon (after sleeping it off and getting up to take a pill and eat fresh fruit salad) the surgery was 6:00 A.M. this morning...I´ve got a eyepatch and only a slight dull pain. The Opthamoligist, said all went well and I should heal nicely if I follow her instructions over the next week (follow up visit Friday)...Anesthesilogist, was also seemed very professional, although a regular nurse which seemed odd...it was like being treated well and I didn´t feel anything even when they put the needle in my wrist vein...they are both from the country of Columbia and have studied in Europe, South/Central America and The United States they said.

Back to the King size bed (where all five dogs of various sizes and breed are guarding me like carefully...how do they know?)...Violetta is cleaning, the sun is streaming down and the birds are chirping...thanks be to God there are so many blessings in my life (Juan Carlos laid out my clothes for me at the C.O.D./crack-of-dawn and my dear friend Judy came and picked me up/brought me home...the Sunrise this morning was spectacular).

More soon and thank you for all the kind words, friendship and prayers...love to all,

Leonardo Ricardo

FRIDAY UPDATE: Had my followup eyecheck this morning. The Doctor has ordered me to stay in bed all weekend with my head askew...more healing needs to take place inside but I see much better...slight irritation outside and I have new meds. It will be hard to stay in bed´...I´m not the type, but I will (and hold my head askew when reading about all of you in blogland).

MONDAY UPDATE: I stayed in bed most all of the weekend with my head Spiro Askewed. I went early this morning for the update on my eye. The Doctor said it had not improved and suggested another intrusive surgery that is four times more expensive than the first she performed. I calmy asked her to review/write down what she has done to date. I asked for her to write down exactly what she did do and what she wants to do (incidentally the price of the second surgery went up from the original amount she quoted and I pointed that out to her in her own writing from her own notes)...so, thank goodness I have a high placed friend in our Capitol City and tomorrow I will see ¨the most professional¨ Opthamoligist in the Country...he is also widely respected and a Harvard graduate. We will see what he has to report. Meanwhile, I´m trying to see what part Medicare would pay on a torn retina surgery should I opt to come Stateside for the operation...I´ve got wonderful options in terms of cities to go to and friends that would welcome me for a recovery period that may be a week or so. Therefore, tomorrow will reveal quite a lot. Love to almost all,

MORE UPDATE AUGUST 25th (today is my Birthday)

Tomorrow at 11:OO to around 1:OO I will be having retinal surgery...I saw FOUR of the FOUR top specialists (thanks to a dear friend getting me special appointment) in our Capitol City today and two of them will officiate on my retinal tear surgery tomorrow...my vision, as it turns out is 20/20 and they all insist it must STAY THAT WAY! So, off I go, I´m scared again, but hope to be home resting tomorrow late afternoon...apparently I will be in bed for more than a week but I can see a little T.V. and check the computer too...so, I´ll be in touch with all of you dear people whom I love and wish the best for in all that you do. Hasta la vista (literally)

Love,
Leonardo Ricardo


JUST GOT HOME. August 26, 2009, Late Afternoon!

It went really, really, well, the Doctors were fantastic the Anatheisioligist was REALLY GOOD DOCTOR (not nurse) and they repaired the torn retina completely...no pain now, but I´m still numb in the forehead area and I will take meds tonight and every 6 and 12 hours after that...must stay close to bed but I wanted to thank you so much for your kind wishes, checking ups and prayers for me...I´ve been as guarding angeled as one could be...more love, avalanches of it, with friends Elizabeth, Tom and Cathy escorting me in for the surgery and waiting hours. Wow. Yours, Len (can you imagine fs had eleven hours worth of this stuff, she´s a far braver patient than I)! FS! My hero!

AUGUST 27th, THE FOLLOW UP!

GREETINGS FREINDS (I typed fiends the first time because I´ve got a patch and my typing ain´t all that exact)...had my day after check up in BIGTOWN, thanks to Elizabeth and Tom driving me in, and the lead doctor who did my surgery, who is the head of the super efficient eye clinic and a Harvard Man, said to me while finishing the brightlight intrusive checkathon that, ¨this is not good...it´s PERFECT! Your retina is attached.¨ Thanks be to God, to him and his associates (a team of three doctors and three nurses worked on me for two hours), my highplaced friend who ¨connected me¨, and ALL OF YOU (interestingly the Episcopal/Anglican Cathedral was/is two blocks away and I passed it going and coming these last days...I don´t attend it anymore for various reasons, mostly Bishop related and unimportant in the big picture of things)...I hang with more with the Romans Catholics these days (who ignore the Bishop of Rome and the local Cardinal like they don´t know who you are talking about when their names are mentioned blankness sets in...mostly, and we use The Book of Common Prayer for our services).

I´m off to bed. All is well, and thank you for being here for/with me!

Giant Abrazos,

FRIDAY MORNING

Had a great night sleep. All seems well, slight prickly sensations (there are some stictches inside) but have pain killers, antibiotic drops, and blood pressure pills (and Oatmeal Cookies)...I removed patch (per instructions of Doctor) and looked at, and cleaned around, my little eye opening that seemed to be emerging from a state of bewilderment)...read GAFCON, chuckled about Mrs. Crabapple Kennedy, the priestess, which seemed to get my mind functioning again...tooth ferrie, her husband is the toothy ferrie extraordinare with overly bite (one really ought be vaccinated when listening/reading their silly, yet sometimes contagious, poisoness stuff) HERE

Thanks all, back to bed.

BLACK EYED FRIDAY EVENING SERVICING!

I just did my little eye maintainance every eight hour project and I have a full fledged black eye...I knew it would come to this...I mean how good can someone look after a serious eye surgery (two of them in a week)? Thank goodness it is fully hidden under my plastic venilated eyebubble guard and I´ve put a strip of tape directly over the outside of the guard and it covers the worst part...so many new experiences to behold on a rainy vainey day...as if anyone could see me anyway.

MONDAY MORNING AND ALL IS WELL/UPCOMING ATTRACTIONS

I had a quiet weekend with the exception of watching OUR FRIEND Father Jake/Terry on a video produced by The Diocese of Washington and suggested to me by HRH Mimi, Absolute Queen of Southern Louisiana/beyond HERE.

Up and down I went but mostly rested on my right side and celebrated with millions all over the world the life and farewell to another American Hero, Senator Ted Kennedy.

My left eye seems to be improving and now when I look through it I see the top of Juan Carlos´ head (forehead but no eveballs yet) and then the rest appears underwater and fluidlike still...but this is good as the surgeon told me this is exactly what would happen this week as the injected gas disappears slowly and full vision reappears...presto!

I´m still having a big party on Saturday Night for the local FREE library/learning center I´d planned for months ahead (not knowing I´d have eye difficulties)...it´s a fundraiser and some very nifty people are coming...the house is being whipped into shape with fresh paint/etc. by Juan Carlos and some other wonderful helpers and Violetta and I will plan the menu today and the gardner, Chepe, has been planning/replanting parts in my little garden for weeks...the bar is a open affair and their will be a guitarist the first hour in the garden (hope it doesn´t rain) singing heartbroken/wrenching Mexican love songs (I told him to keep it low and less hopeless and more feliz)...all ought be well as I prepare later this week for another Doctor visit at the Capitol (he said I could proceed with the party but I´ll probably wear a patch to the party and sit more than usual as I´m normally running about).

September is San Miguel the Archangel month...I live in one of the many San Miguel named Pueblos in Latin America where he is Patron Saint. This month also comes Independence Day (from Spain)...this place will rock with fireworks and celebrations, processions featuring a statue of San Miguel for visiting private homes for overnights (a honor to host him) each night of the month, regular marching bands and events in the Plaza...a good time and happy time and I´m Thankful to be here and to be healing and seeing for the lively events.

UPDATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AFTER DOCTOR (I KNOW, THIS THREAD WILL COME TO A END SOON)

I´ve just returned from my one week away from the surgery and the surgeons (2) gave me a BIG thumbs up...my retina is in place, the tear repaired, the healing will continue for a few weeks, but, wow, I can´t tell you how thrilled I am to be so well taken care of...thank you all for being here.

Love,
Leonardo

THE END (of the eye stuff)

Well, not quite:

Today, September 24, 2009. I will have another surgery on my left eye this afternoon...after a seemingly strong recovery, another tear happened yesterday and a more ¨extrensive¨ proceedure will take place at 2:30 today...estimated recovery time 3 months (although I ought be up and about I´ll only have the use on one eye)...just when I thought banging into thesides of doors and missing my ¨mark¨ on canvas was over and only a temporary annoyance...geesh, I´ve always been the artful dodger but this time I´m trapped (and scared)...¨God help me accept the things I can not change¨ comes to mind. Acceptance can be a very freeing word into action...think I´ll chant it, think it and give it another try...it works. I trust God, bottom line, no matter what and the whimpering must cease. Back to bed now for a few more wink/twitches...lol You should see my King size bed; covered/surrounded by five dogs (that know something is ¨up¨)

Love to all, siempre

Leonardo Ricardo



THURSDAY EVENING SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Just returned home from having a two hour surgery...the Doctor says that it all went well and I´m happy to be alive and repairing...the left eye is being treated for a surge in retinal tears and they have injected some kind of oil for six months to keep the heavily lasered walls up...or something like that. All is well, I may not be a coward afterall (I´ll let you know when all the pain killers wear off).

Love to all,

Leonardo Ricardo

WEDNESDAY EVENING SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Today was the second check up after last weeks surgery. I´ve spent most of the time since last Thursday in and around bed...it´s hard for me to keep quiet as I have so many creative thoughts that run through my mind (I want to jump up and paint painting or do some designing) but, alas, my dear friend Doña Irene gave me a very serious ¨talking to¨ and I listened to her (because she knows many things and has a great sense of humor too). The Doctor checked the surgery recovery and then checked my ¨good eye¨ and reports that all is well. Things are looking very healthy for me and I thank God (and nature taking it´s course), and the blessing of good people around me that have helped me through this difficult and disorienting adjustment/fear...the very thought of losing my eye sent me into a panic that I´ve not known for decades and I´m happy to report peace of mind has returned and I intend to make good use of my ¨gifts¨...I say thank God over and over to myself because I believe that God helped me go through my difficulties...when I feel overwhelmed and powerless I always ask God to help me accept the things I can not change (and change the things I can)...my Doctor was/is another miracle worker and a kind/wise fellow and for him I am filled with gratitude.

Reality and the world around me are fascinating to view...it just takes some paying attention to...I´ll be more attentive because of this health challenge because I don´t want to miss anything.


·Thanks to Flickr Photo Sharing
·Thanks to Irene de Grinnell
·Thanks to Elizabeth, Tom and Cathy
·Thanks to Luis Hernandez
·Thanks to Dr. Luis Felipe Hernandez Mutute
·Thanks to John Holden
·Thanks to Judy Sandlier and Gene
·Thanks to Tom, Paul and Mom/Joyce
·Thanks to Lisa Jensen
·Thanks to Juan Carlos Castillo Fuentes
·Thanks to Violetta the Great

ATTENTION RELIGIOUS RIGHT: Are you responsible when thugs bash our heads in? Why is it you who make America hate and fear us?

¨I keep hearing all of this nonsense about us lgbts attacking people, about us using intimidation and violence to oppress people, about us somehow being ugly aggressors.¨ A. McEwen

¨...Where were you when organizations like Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council, the Traditional Values Coalition, and Focus on the Family unconsciously gave reasoning for groups of roaming thugs to bash our heads in, chase us out in heavy traffic, beat us to bloody pulps with nail embedded boards, and hang us from fences on dark and lonely roads?

Matthew Shepard, R.I.P.

How is it that you can dare call us aggressive when for over 30 years, you have done everything in your power to make America hate and fear us? please read it all, click HERE

·Thanks to Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, at the right sidebar
·Thanks to Flickr Photosharing

+AKINOLA/+OROMBI/ALERT: Preachers of prejudice, fear and hate ought be banned from entering the United States!

Anglican Bishops Peter Akinola/Nigeria, Henri Orombi/Uganda preach/instigate prejudice against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender citizens.

To The United States Department of Homeland Security, The United States Department of State and The United States Treasury Department,

Please review the visa in passport status of Anglican Bishop Henri Orombi/Uganda and Peter Akinola/Nigeria. These priestly not-so-gentlemen have been promoting discrimination within the United States and over the past six years by defaming and instigating/preaching prejudice against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender United States Citizens and others at The Episcopal Church and beyond.*

*
Archbishop Akinola; "Gays Produce Hooligans" click HERE

¨Abp. Akinola and the Massacre of Yelwa¨ click HERE

¨Gays Condemn New Homophobic Anglican Sect¨ click HERE

¨Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria has backed legislation to outlaw gay churches, gay organisations, gay HIV prevention programmes and gay human rights advocacy.¨

¨Henry Orombi, the Archbishop of Uganda, excommunicated heterosexual bishop, Christopher Senyonjo, after he spoke out against the persecution of lesbian and gay Ugandans.¨

¨The anti-gay diatribes of both men help fuel of the atmosphere of homophobic hatred, discrimination and violence that exists in their countries.¨ click HERE

¨Promoters of Hate"

Michael Savage, ¨outspoken American radio presenter¨

'Shock jock' hits back at British ban

¨Smith published the list - which includes Islamist extremists, American anti-gay preachers and Russian gang members - on Tuesday, accusing those named of "stirring up hatred" and "fostering extremism or hatred".

China Daily Newsmakers
Updated 2009-05-07

An outspoken American radio presenter barred from entering Britain said yesterday he would sue the British government for defamation after his name was published on an official list of "promoters of hate".

Michael Savage (right), a so-called "shock jock" radio host who has a right-wing talk show called The Savage Nation, described British Home Secretary (interior minister) Jacqui Smith as a "lunatic" and said he had set his lawyers to work on the case.

Smith published the list - which includes Islamist extremists, American anti-gay preachers and Russian gang members - on Tuesday, accusing those named of "stirring up hatred" and "fostering extremism or hatred".

"For this lunatic Jacqui Smith ... to link me up with skinheads who are killing people in Russia, to put me in league with mass murderers who kill Jews on buses, is defamation," Savage said on his show, excerpts of which were aired on BBC radio yesterday.

"As a result of this, I am going to sue her."

Savage, who says he has between 8 and 10 million listeners across the United States, urged them to support him by canceling any travel plans to Britain and by boycotting goods made in the United Kingdom. click HERE

·Thanks to The China Daily News, Newsmakers
·Thanks to Peter Tatchell, United Kingdom
·Thanks to Stop The World, at the right sidebar
·Thanks to U.K. Gay News
·Thanks to Flickr Photosharing

ANGLICAN COVENANT ACCOMPLICES: To Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, ¨You want us to sign what, with whom?¨

Dear Bishop Rowan

Denial and Pretend can be DEADLY to Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender (and often Heterosexual Women) Episcopalians/Anglicans throughout The Anglican Communion. Please take a moment and review RELIGIOUS REALITY in the PAST and in the NOW:

A Kaleidoscope of Horrors

From the Christian emperor Justinian in the sixth century until the eighteenth century, Christian communities around Europe regularly put homosexuals to death by burning, beheading, flaying, drowning or hanging them. The ancient Christian thinkers Tertullian, Eusebius and John Chrysostom all argued that same sex relations deserve the penalty of death...In medieval Europe, secular laws often invoked the authority of the bible to execute homosexuals. Bologna adopted the death penalty for sodomy in 1259. Padua followed suit in 1329; Venice in 1342; Rome in 1363; Cremona in 1387; Milan in 1476; and Genoa in 1556. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain actively sought out sodomites to be burned. In the hundred and twenty five years after Calvin taught in Geneva, there were thirty burnings, beheadings, drownings, and hangings of homosexuals in that city. Scores of men and boys were hanged for homosexual activity in Georgian England. Before the advent of modernity, women in Europe were also vulnerable to execution if convicted of lesbianism. The history of churches' treatment of gay people has for over a thousand years been a history of hatred, persecution and death. To this day, standard Christian textbooks devoted to moral theology and commenting on homosexuality are usually trite treatises because of their complete silence on the long-standing brutality meted out to homosexuals by churches, whether Roman Catholic, Anglican or Protestant. For homosexuals, the history of the Christian church has been a kaleidoscope of harrowing horrors.

Their fortunes have now changed. Physical violence has mutated into rhetorical violence, although there are still nine countries today where homosexual behavior is punishable by death.¨ Essay by Philip Kennedy, click HERE

Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia·Unrepentant

Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen is reinforcing opposition to homosexuality in the church. Jensen said US Anglicans have become promoters of homosexuality in defiance of Anglican teachings and the Bible.¨ read it all, click HERE

Anglican Archbishop Henri Orombi of Uganda (Guilty/Unauthorized Provincial Border Crossings)·Unrepentant

March 25th, 2009 ¨The Christian community in Uganda has now declared war on the lives of Gay Men and Lesbian Women in that Country...and they have been abetted by American leaders in the anti-gay and ex-gay ministries.¨ read it all, click HERE

and

"The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) this week reported this intensified persecution of homosexuals in Uganda. The increased pressure on pro-gay organisations comes after the Anglican Church of Uganda launched a strong campaign against homosexuality." read it all, click HERE

and

"Results of the Police investigation. Fabricated charges. The good pastors (Ssempa, Male, Ssemuju, Kayira) who are god’s chosen anti-gay warriors were actually fabricating evidence to bring down a rival. All in the name of .. the Anti-Gay Agenda.¨ read it all, click HERE for Gay Uganda

Anglican President Bishop Mouneer of Egypt and The Anglican/Episcopal, Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East·Unrepentant

A letter to deposed bishop Bob Duncan of The Episcopal Church

¨I don’t know what to call it, a tragedy or comedy, for the faithful to be disciplined by those who tear the fabric of our Anglican Communion.Please be assured of my support and that the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa will continue recognize you as a faithful bishop. You are faithful to Jesus Christ, to the Church catholic, to the Anglican Communion, to the Windsor Process, and to your diocese. I find no fault in this. I trust that you will continue the ministry to which God has called you.¨ read it all, click HERE

Anglican Presiding Bishop Greg Venables of The Southern Cone of South America(Guilty/Unauthorized Provincial Border Crossings) ·Unrepentant

¨The behavior of conservative primates and advocacy groups at the recently-concluded Primates Meeting in Alexandria, Egypt and the comments of Bishop Gregory Venables in this interview with George Conger suggest a change in the strategy of the anti-gay faction in the Anglican Communion.

As always, with Venables, it is necessary to sift through the many unsupported assertions he presents as facts, but in this instance, that is worth the effort. To wit..¨ read it all, click HERE

Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria (Guilty/Unauthorized Provincial Border Crossings)·Unrepentant

"With the full blessing of the Anglican Church of Nigeria and its leader, Archbishop Peter Akinola, the Nigerian government has begun legislating one of the world's most repressive anti-gay laws.

"The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, leader of the global Anglican communion, has declined to criticise this church-endorsed homophobic persecution. Instead he embraces Akinola and the Nigerian church, appeasing their prejudice in the name of Anglican unity."

This searing attack on Dr. Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, appeared today on The Guardian's blog site. Read it all, click HERE

and

¨The founding fathers of the U.S. inserted 'In God we Trust' in their coins; modern anti-Christ agents in the name of civil liberties are hell bent to erase God not only from the American currency, but also from the entire public domain, including schools," Akinola said, read it all, click HERE

and

¨Today, 26 June, 2009, a report from the LGBT African Coalition says that three homosexuals were arrested by the Edo State police command in Benin City, Nigeria. They were paraded like common criminals and displayed on television. The command Public Relations officer has said they would be charged to court as homosexuality is a criminal offence in Nigeria.¨ read it all By Colin Coward+, Director at Changing Attitude, United Kingdom, click HERE

Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez of The West Indies, retired. Chairperson of The Anglican Covenant Design Group, currently. ·Unrepentant

¨The news from Jamaica for gays is not good; it's among the least gay-friendly countries in the western hemisphere. The one LGBT organization--JFLAG--posts on its web site this notice: "Due to the potential for violent retribution, we cannot publish the exact location of our office." Laws against homosexuality are actively enforced bringing the wrath of the conservative government on offenders. But worse is the riptide of homophobia that is rampant at the local police and civilian level. Beatings, murders, torture, slashings of gays--or those suspected of being gay--are not uncommon. In the Jamaica News and Reports pages accompanying this story are a dozen grim reports about the conditions for gays in this impoverished and touristy sunshine country that was once a British colony.¨ Read it all, click HERE

The Most Rev. Dr. Eliud Wabukala, Anglican Archbishop of Kenya (Guilty/Unauthorized Provincial Border Crossings)·Unrepentant

"It's better to be a thief than gay in Kenya," Mathenke says. Both are often punished by death, but being the latter means never revealing yourself to the public and remaining perpetually closeted. It means dealing with homophobes at day and pleasuring them at night.¨ read it all, direct from Kenya, click HERE

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams·Unabridged

"Words can generate deeds and he who verbally incites strife is as guilty as those who physically creates strife." - Aesop


·Thanks to Gay Uganda at the right sidebar
·Thanks to Philip Kennedy, God's Good News for Gays
·Thanks to Father Jake, at the right sidebar
·Thanks to Gay Jamaica, Crime and Punishment
·Thanks to Father Colin Coward, Changing Attitudes, U.K.
·Thanks to Timothy Kincaid, Box Turtle Bulletin
·Thanks to Episcopal Cafe, at the right sidebar
·Thanks to The Guardian, United Kingdom
·Thanks to The Sydney Morning Herald
·Thanks to Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, sidebar
·Thanks to Lionel Deimel, ¨No Anglican Covenant¨ logo
·Thanks to David G., The Hearse Ride, (new logo coloring)
·Thanks to Flickr Photosharing

THIS IS NOT A FALSE ALARM: Join the anti-Anglican Covenant campaign!

¨This is as good a place to start out anti-covenant campaign as any. But it is not the only front on which the battle should be fought. I will explain why.

The inclusive party in TEC (from now on referred to as just "TEC") have won the war. Okay, they still have a few battles to fight, some of which they'll win and some of which they'll lose. But, like the allies when they had taken the Normandy beaches, they know that, although it's going to be a slog, victory is already in the bag.

TEC's courageous and prophetic action will start a domino effect through the other, non-fundamentalist, churches of the Americas and, even, influence the grass roots of Roman Catholicism.¨ read it all at ¨Mad Priest¨ by Father Jonathan, click HERE


· Thanks to Mad Priest, Church of England, at the right sidebar
· Thanks to Dimitri of Nebraska and Uzbekistan for the ¨Bell¨ photo (Convention Center, Portland, Oregon)
· Thanks to Flickr Photosharing
· Thanks to Lionel and Grandmere Mimi for the ¨Anglican Covenant¨ logo