DOG HEAVEN: The Sequel, “Somos la voz de los sin voz!¨

Dog Karma: ¨Dogs hear when there is an opening at the homes of those who love dogs most¨ Kirkepiscatoid

We love dogs here at the Foot of The Volcano.   We love every dog that we have ever met.  Every one, no exceptions.  

As with many ¨difficult¨ everyday circumstances living in villages in Central America there are a large number of dogs who live, breed and feed on the street.   We love them too but their lives are often cut very short as they live from handouts from the kindness of strangers. Some of these ¨outdoor dogs¨ are happier than others (and better cared for too) and actually have families who feed them occassionally and even let them in the tiny houses/huts (mostly one or two rooms with tin roofs and dirt floors filled with big families) too.  But most ¨street dogs¨ are very underfed, hang out outside of little bakeries or Tortillarias and need medical attention (lots) and quite often simply fall through the cracks of their everyday existence and die flat out or get hit by cars.  These animals die because they have no home, no food and no care--they are everywhere to be seen on the dusty streets of most every town and they are a heartbreaking pack of stragglers who many of us dog lovers to meet and do small things to help out...what a challenge we see.

However, there is help growing...there is a solution to this very sad situation at least in one town so far as a group in Antigua started a ¨animal rescue¨ program several years ago...it is quite successful in finding proper medical care, then homes for animals who would otherwise be left to a fate of aimless wandering with little food, shelter, medical attention or love.  There is also a ¨finca¨ about a half hour away on the edge of  a town where an American Woman and her English husband run a huge kennel/hospital program that cares for, the housing and feeding of hundreds of dogs and cats--they have a pet cemetery too (Marcos and several others of my pets are buried there) but they always need financial resources and volunteer help and are almost way past their limit in the number of animals they can house and help HERE...their physical limits have been stretched way past their ability to deal with the enormous needs before them in all the villages of Scatapequez, Guatemala.

Last week I met up with an old friend, Linda G., who is a Canadian living in Guatemala.  She and some friends of hers have organized a NEW group to work with local animal  (dogs and cats) as ¨awareness¨ activists within small pueblos...their aim is to offer a regular ¨Veternarian Doctors without Borders¨  clinics on site in each village and also work with locals in each village to generate a better ability to control both disease and population of ¨orphan¨ dogs and cats...a temporary and permanent placement service is also part of the plan for each town.

Already the mayor of my town has expressed great interest in joining forces with Linda and her pals as it is now clear to all there are solutions for this otherwise mostly ignored and very sad reality for homeless animals...now there is a glimmer of hope where there was none before.

If any of you would like to contact Linda G. and/or the new ¨Aware¨  program directly please send me a note and I´ll connect you--Linda and her gang need all the help and support they can get...even modest donations of supplies or money will help.

Marcos went away today. Marcos went to rejoin Ruth and Walker today.

Marcos loved being picked up and petted but he would bite you if you put him down!

When I returned to Guatemala to retire five years ago I immediately went to visit my friend Ruth N.  Ruth was in her 70´s and was a retired Social Worker (MSW) from St. Louis, Missouri.  Ruth had spent her entire professional career working with Prostitutes (often drug or alcohol addicts)  and had decided to spend her final years working with kids in one of the small aldeas near Antigua.  Ruth, a widow and a Chrismatic Catholic,  had been married twice but never had kids and didn´t know anything about them she told me.  So, Ruth spent the next decade and a half being a strong influence for all things positive and possible in a community in Central America where few families could afford much more than tortillas and beans every day-- Ruth became a person who was a positive, yet modest, force in the lives of hundreds of children over the years she lived in Santa Inez...she was a good neighbor indeed and well loved. 
Shortly after I returned and renewed my friendship with Ruth she fell ill and after a few months died...her friends honored her with a funeral mass at la Merced and her neighbors shoulder carried her coffin through the cemetery and up to a fifth tier crypt in the Public Section of the Antigua Cemetery--exactly as she may have wished, she was well cared for right up through the end of her life. 

Marcos of Ruth

Ruth had two dogs.  One dog was the son of my brown and white Cocker Spaniel and his name was ¨Walker¨...Walker was a black and white beauty who also had gold eyebrows and was born when I had lived in Guatemala almost a decade earlier--a real dazzler and much loved by Ruth´s other dog,  a rescue animal, named Marcos.  Marcos was a Peekeneese/King Charles Spaniel mix and full of macho ¨attitude¨... what a pair made as they joined up with the other doggers at my house to romp on endlessly after Ruth´s death.   A couple of years after they came to live with us, Walker fell ill one night.  The next day I took him to the vet and he died on the examining table (later it was discovered he had a terrible malignant tumor).  So, onward we all continued to go and Marcos adjusted once again to another great loss in his life...first Ruth and then Walker...his best friends.

Marcos was quite popular amongst friends and guests at our house throughout the remainder of his life but he clearly was slowing down in the last two years...his strut and tail wagging faded and his attention became directed into a world of his own understanding-- Marcos was becoming senile.  So it was that Marcos lived in his own world for the last year of his life--always a good eater even though he became a very good sleeper also and there were many times that I thought he had slipped away from us--but no, up until yesterday Marcos was very much alive until he simply couldn´t get up anymore...he cried, and cried with great pain all through last night and this morning Dr. Hugo his longtime physician took the pain away to stay...we were there, we saw Marcos go away today...Marcos doesn´t live here anymore as he´s gone to rejoin Ruth and Walker again...he did it with his eyes wide open and didn´t even tremble or cry.

Lord hear my prayer for Marcos, Walker and Ruth and their happy reunion today.

DAVID KISULE KATO, THE BIOGRAPHY: There is a ¨call for materials¨ regarding the real life work and legacy of LGBTI African Anglican/Activist David Kato, R.I.P.

Anglican, Integrity Uganda Member, David Kisule Kato, R.I.P.

Submissions on the life and times of Ugandan activist David Kisule Kato

¨This is a call for materials for a biographical book on the life, work and legacy of David Kisule Kato – the deceased Ugandan human rights defender for sexual (and other) minorities. The biography is being developed and written by researchers in the Law, Gender and Sexuality Research Project of the Faculty of Law at Makerere University – Kampala.

We are interested in a range of materials including essays, fiction, poetry, web blogs, art, crafts, photographs, film, documentaries, speeches, diaries, letters and other correspondence, music, academic publications, etc. that reflect any aspect of the life and work of David Kato. We invite materials from family, friends, lovers, partners, colleagues, allies, students, other human rights defenders and advocates, social justice activists, sexual minorities, academics, clerics, parliamentarians, journalists and anyone else with something (whether positive or negative) to say about David Kato’s life, work and legacy. Materials about the different commemoration activities and memorial events held after David’s death are also welcome.

The materials will be collected alongside interviews and focus group discussions conducted in rural and urban Uganda among those who knew David Kato. Although the main language of the biography will be English, relevant materials written in Luganda, Kiswahili, French, Portugese, Spanish and any other African tongue will be translated for inclusion. The deadline for submission is 16th December 2011. All received materials will be duly acknowledged.¨  HERE

David Belongs to All of Us Now:  African Activist  HERE

Please send material to:

Stella Nyanzi
Law, Gender and Sexuality Research Project,
Faculty of Law,
P. O. Box 7062, Kampala – Uganda.
Email:
snyanzi@law.mak.ac.ug
 or
stellanyanzibah@googlemail.com

·  Thanks to Stella Nyanzi, Kampala
·  Thanks to Law, Gender and Sexuality Research Project, Uganda
·  Thanks to Gay Kenya, Denis Nzioka, sidebar
·  Thanks to African Activist, sidebar

JUST LIKE YOU: We LGBTI People are blessed by being the authentic human beings that God created us to be!

JUST LIKE YOU: We LGBTI People are blessed with being the authentic human beings that God created us to be.

JUST LIKE YOU:  Pride becomes a Reality too!

·   Thanks to Gay City News,  HERE

GAY PRIDE: ONE DAY AT A TIME, MOMENT BY MOMENT, BREATH BY BREATH, TRUTH BY TRUTH, SIDE BY SIDE WITH EVERYONE ELSE!

Openly gay New York Times op-Ed columnist Frank Bruni writes about what he believes is one of the biggest reasons marriage equality finally made it's way to New York state: those who once opposed same-sex marriage had their minds changed by the gays and lesbians in their lives

New York Times op-Ed columnist Frank Bruni

"Why such widespread backing, from such surprising quarters? One major reason is that the wish and push to be married cast gay men and lesbians in the most benign, conservative light imaginable, not as enemies of tradition but as aspirants to it. In the quest for integration and validation, saying 'I do' to 'I do' is much more effective — not to mention more reflective of the way most gay people live — than strutting in leather on a parade float. We’re not trying to undermine the institution of marriage, a task ably handled by the likes of Tiger Woods, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Edwards and too many other onetime role models to mention. We’re paying it an enormous compliment..¨ HERE

·  Thanks to Mr. Frank Bruni
·  Thanks to The New York Times
·  Thanks to The Daily News, New York
·  Thanks to The FAMILY, FRIENDS, COWORKERS and LOVED ONES of LGBTI PEOPLE!

THOU SHALT NOT POKETH EYES OUT: The Anglican Covenant--borne out of a combination of hate by the Global South Primates and a lustful desire for power...

His ¨Punitiveness¨,  Homophobic Archbishop Drexel Gomez, remains chairperson of The Anglican Covenant ¨design group¨ even after retirement  HERE

¨...The Anglican Covenant was borne out of a combination of hate by the Global South Primates and a lustful desire for power that only can be satisfied by being the absolute ruler. In this case, Robert Duncan, John David Schofield, Jack Iker, Peter Jensen, Peter Akinola, Micael Nazir-Ali, Henri Luke Orombi and several others want to play "god". They have placed scripture as the end all and be all AND have positioned themselves as the only true doctors of the church that not only can understand scripture but can interpret it as well!¨

¨His Hatefulness¨ Archbishop Peter ¨Massacre at Yelwa¨  HERE Akinola, retired of Nigeria

¨Homosexuality and lesbianism, like divorce, breed a society of single parents which gives rise to a generation of bastards. And in the context of much poverty and lack of education, this further produces an ill-bred generation of hooligans, portending much terror to the peace and stability of the society.

Homosexuality and lesbianism thrives on many sexual aberrations and improvisations typical of human selfishness and greed in the name of pleasure and self-actualization.¨  Archbishop ¨Big Petey¨ Akinola HERE

¨What do they hate? They hate any and all LGBT persons who have been called by our Savior to be included in the full life of the church. They hate women, especially those in powerful positions such as priest, bishops and presiding bishops. These primates and would be pretenders to the throne will not even take communion with the Presiding Bishop of our Episcopal Church.¨

The ¨Gafcon¨ schismatic vultures circle in Singapore

The Punitive Anglican Covenant:  ¨Various Anglican Provinces will be forced out of the Anglican Family because ¨what you are doing is an offense to the integrity of the Family¨  Archbishop Drexel Gomez HERE

¨The Windsor Report gave the Global South the opportunity to band together to steal property from the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, and soon, the Church of England. While they were doing that, providing a safe haven for thieves and deposed bishops and priests, we were distracted by the wonderful Archbishop of Canterbury telling us we had violated the Windsor Report and slapping our wrists. And we, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America took it. We wrung our hands and tried to figure out how to play nice because that is what everyone asked us to do and we are the good child and follow our parents command.¨

¨His Deposedness¨  ACNA Archbishop Bob Duncan,  the deposed  TEC bishop of Pittsburgh

¨Then the Global South/FCA and all the alphabet soup came up with this Anglican Covenant thingy. We talked about and through it for four iterations. All the while GAFCON and the Jerusalem Document was formed/written, the ACNA Province was formed and made Robert Duncan a provincial ruler -- yep, a deposed bishop gets to play with the big boys while we were wrestling with the iterations of the Anglican Covenant...¨ please read it all, By Fred Schwartz HERE

·  Thanks to Real Anglicans, sidebar
·  Thanks to Fred Schwartz
·  Thanks to Stop the World, Jake´s Place, sidebar
·  Thanks to Father Jake and Father Terry

GLEEFILLED ERUPTIONS AT THE FOOT OF THE VOLCANO: THANK YOU! GOD BLESS YOU! PEACE BE WITH CITIZENS OF NEW YORK!

Step by step, moment by moment and sometimes even breath by breath we LGBTI citizens fight our way out from under the darkest part of the forest of real life faking ...tonight we bask in the sunnier place/space called equality along with you, our brothers and sisters, coworkers, loved ones and loyal/trusted friends.
THANK YOU NEW YORK -- WE´RE FREE AT LAST TO LET THE SUN SHINE IN!

Göran Koch-Swahne Enters Hospice Care: He is a lovely man, a truly gentle man, whence comes the word "gentleman". Göran is the very essence of a godly gentleman...Grandmère Mimi

Göran and Jack at our gathering in Leeds,  Grandmère Mimi HERE

From IT at  The Friends of Jake :

¨Long time friend at Fr Jake's and Friends-of-Jake Göran Koch-Swahne, a Swedish priest and formidable Biblical scholar, has been ill for some time, and has now entered hospice. I am assuming this means the same in Sweden as it does here. Notes are being put on his  facebook.

May God the Father bless Göran, God the Son heal him, God the Holy Spirit give him strength. May God the holy and undivided Trinity guard his body, save his soul, and bring him safely to God's heavenly country; where God lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Michelle Obama to Archbishop Desmond Tutu: "You are a special person...a very healthy person". Meanwhile, ++Rowan Williams ¨challenges exploitation¨ with dangerous and exploiting Anglican schismatics in Kenya

¨U.S First Lady Michelle Obama ended her week-long visit to South Africa by meeting the Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu - and getting a bit of a workout.¨

Cape Town —

¨...They visited the famous Cape Town Stadium in which some of the 2010 World Cup games were played, where the First Lady encouraged young people to protect themselves against HIV/Aids and use sport to stay healthy.

¨merits of healthy living.¨

¨U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama shows off her football skills as she advises children on the merits of healthy living.

"You are VS - very special people," said Tutu in his cheery voice soon after he stepped into the room filled with young people and the media. He encouraged the youth to reach for the stars so that they can be anything they want to be in life.

The First Lady began her speech by joking with the Archbishop: "You are also a special person". Obama backed Tutu's words by telling them that one has to be a "VHP" - very healthy person - to inspire very special people...¨  please read it all, HERE

Meanwhile in Kenya —

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury fails to mention the Anglican Church of Kenya´s unhealthy OPPOSITION to the now-in-place, new inclusive Constitution that the Church fought to defeat!

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams (right) and his Kenyan counterpart, GAFCON schismatic chairman, Eliud Wabukala during golden jubilee celebrations at ACK Cathedral, Nakuru on June 19, 2011.

Dr Rowan urged the church to take centre stage in efforts on peace and reconciliation. 

¨Speaking at Nakuru's ACK Cathedral in a commemoration of the church's 50th anniversary, Archbishop Williams told church leaders they must stand up against land and money grabbers. "It will pit you against some of the most powerful individuals but God is always on the side of the righteous," the principal leader of the Church of England said.

He said that the church in Africa must be at the forefront in challenging greed and exploitation especially at a time of strife. He said the church in Kenya, Congo, Nigeria, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Pakistan are going through especially tough times and the faith and resilience of the faithful in these countries is a shining beacon to Christians in other parts of the world.

Archbishop Williams lauded the Kenyan church for its role in national healing and reconciliation following the 2007 post-election violence. He urged Christians to act as a force of peace and reconciliation in the country ahead of next year's polls. "You must learn to live together as neighbours, loving and caring for each other as Christ has directed," the clergyman said.

Archbishop Williams was accompanied by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala who will play host to him until June 23. The church leader is expected to pay a courtesy call to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga on April 22 before proceeding with the next phase of his African visit to Eastern Congo. HERE

ANGLICAN CHURCH LEADERS HAVE LOST THE TRUST OF KENYANS

Out of touch Anglican Church in Kenya Archbishop Eliud Wabukala recently was elected as Gafcon schismatics chairman

¨The actions and omissions of the Church leadership over the past five years point to a deepening crisis. The church seems unable to find the voice of the populi, which should concern the hierarchies of the Pentecostal, Anglican and Catholic denominations.¨
HERE

·  Thanks to All Africa, sidebar
·  Thanks to Andre van Wyk
·  Thanks to Archbishop Desmond Tutu
·  Thanks to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama
·  Thanks to Photo/SULEIMAN MBATIAH , Kenya
·  Thanks to The Daily Nation, Kenya





SAVED AT LAST: Although the Devil and dangerous assorted other villains messed with my computer we survived (whew, once again)!

Dulce Serena de Gonzalez y Leonardo Ricardo

Dear Friends,

Thanks for being so patient and kind.  Thanks to many of you who helped try and resolve my little bitty, yet quite nasty, computer problem with blogger -- I would like to announce that thanks to the wonders of MAYA GENIUS from a nearby village, I´m back, fully functioning and ready to dip into addressing the various items of prejudice, bigotry and hate that have long since burned all the way out from inside of me (possibly did some damage to the hard drive too)...but, alas, we´re having a rainstorm, a biggie rainstorm which even makes the MAYA MIRACLE more certain!  So tomorrow, floating or not, I´ll be looking for all of you!  You´re NOT a glum lot and thanks again for your online loyalty.

ARCHBISHOP ROWAN POSTURES IN KENYA (as I mudwrestle the computer devil in Central America)

Greetings Friends,

I am experiencing some computer difficulties and will resume regular postings shortly (I believe the devil andor Archbishop Orombi screwed up my Blogger connection but they won´t win the battle for my hard drive or soul)...meanwhile, Rowan Williams, is PONTIFICATING about vertical corruption in Kenya amongst despots and everyday thieves...what a shame he missed that important real life topic at the Anglican African Bishops Conference in Entebbe, Uganda last year...oh well, NO SENSE RISKING the discussion of real life issues amongst stickey fingered prelates at the ANGLICAN COMMUNION (Zimbabwe, NIGERIA, Uganda and ACNA come to mind ),

TWO FACED GRACE - BISHOP OROMBI: Killing children is a growing ritual in Uganda and 50,000 children have been sold into slavery as Bishop Henry pushes ¨ecclesiastical protection¨ to the ¨posionous¨ Episcopal Church of North America!

The Devil and Archbishop Henry Orombi,  Christian chairty ought begin at home!

OVER 50,000 children in Karamoja, Uganda have been sold or hired out by their parents since 2001.

¨Many of them such as Peter Lopiding, 62, have done it to get money for food to feed their families.
Only weeks after the transaction, the money runs out and they regret selling their children.

Mzee Peter Lopiding, 62, is glued to his stool, Eche Cholon, under a tree at the bus stop at Iriri trading centre in the newly-created Napak district.

A Gateway bus from Kampala arrives and the door opens. Lopiding carefully looks at every disembarking passenger, with the hope that his daughter will be one of them. She isn’t. And as usual, he is disappointed.

He cannot count how many times he has come to the bus stop with the hope that his daughter will be one of the passengers from Kampala.

Three years ago, an ‘aid worker’, gave Lopiding sh50,000 and took his 14-year-old daughter to Kampala. His family was starving and they needed to buy food. Besides, with the girl gone, Lopiding had fewer mouths to feed. He bought sorghum, the staple food in Karamoja, for his family of 10 but after a week, the money was gone.

But the ‘aid worker’ had not told him the truth. Lopiding thought he was only hiring out his daughter and she would come back after a while.

“He took my daughter to Kampala and promised to let her visit us often. It is now three years and she has not returned. Every day, I sit here with the hope of receiving her,” he says.

Like Lopiding, many poverty-stricken Karimojong parents have been duped into selling off their children. According to UNICEF, over 50,000 children from Karamoja have been sold or hired out since 2001. HERE

“The only sacrifice is the blood of Jesus because it is pure and washes
away sins.” Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, of the Church of Uganda
blamed devil worship for child sacrifice.¨

Child sacrifice in Uganda

Many children all over the country every year have been increasingly killed in cold blood by traditional healers and witch doctors.

The epidemic is on the rise and now is the time to hear the fading
voices of these children and advocate for action against these ritual
killings

According to the 2008 Uganda Crime Report, ritual murders rose by 80% from
the previous year with children emerging as the target victims. In 2009, an nter-ministerial anti-human sacrifice/trafficking task force under the Uganda Police was set up to combat the ritual murders.  HERE

· Thanks to Frederick Womakuyu
· Thanks to Olandason Wanyama
· Thanks to New Vision, Kampala
· Thanks to End Child Sacrifice, Uganda

DEMOLISHING THE BOOGEYMAN: Some things in life don’t come with a manual and so there are no easy ways around them

‘’私は同性愛者です。’’ = ‘’I AM GAY’’

The damage can be so unpredictable that preparing for it futile.
 
¨...Well, whatever happens when you dare to mention those three little words, happens! Be strong! Be fierce! Because, whether you belief you were born ‘’this way’’; or forced into ‘’it’’; had an unpleasant childhood experience and somehow ended up ‘in it’’; just curious and tried and couldn’t stop trying ‘’it’’. Whether you belief in the nature vs. nurture theory; you are here and you are queer and that’s how it’s gonna be! So stand resolute in your PRIDE and don’t be afraid! Put your Mac and Cover Girl lip balms on and bellow those three words. Because in doing so you fight your fear, show your pride and armor yourself from all negativity that’s ahead.¨  please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Queer Jamaica, sidebar
·  Thanks to From Tops 2 Bottom,   HERE
·  Thanks to Google Image Results/Photo, ¨todaysfacilitymanager¨

OUTVOTING THE BOOGEYMEN AT THE U.N.: “affirms that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms …

¨...without distiction of any kind¨

¨ The UN Human Rights Council has passed a historic resolution calling for universal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.

This is the first time the body has passed a resolution which focuses specifically on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The resolution also commissions a study on anti-gay discrimination and violence and establishes a panel to look at the issues.

The resolution, which passed 23-19 with three abstentions, “affirms that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms … without distinction of any kind”...please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to Pink News, Europe
·  Thanks to  Jessica Geen
·  Thanks to The United Nations, Human Rights Council

THE SHEER HYPOCRISY OF DR. ROWAN WILLIAMS: “...decisions not based upon the Church's own position, but was simply one of bigotry and discrimination...¨

Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Open up or Step Down!

 ¨The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement has joined with other Christian organisations and individuals in calling for openness, transparency and integrity in the appointment of bishops within the Church of England¨

¨The plea follows the recently leaked letter written by the late Colin Slee, former dean of Southwark Cathedral, who exposed the turmoil in which the Church of England leadership found itself in trying to block the appointment of openly gay priest Jeffrey John to the post of Bishop of Southwark.

Archbishops Williams and Sentamu are ¨less than honest¨

Dr Slee, as well as writing a highly critical account of the behaviour of Archbishops Williams and Sentamu, revealed in his letter that there are a number of gay bishops who have been “less than honest” about their personal relationships, “who, in a conspiracy of silence, have been appointed to senior positions”.

The Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of LGCM, commented: “This latest revelations about the Church of England causes me grave concern and confirms the hypocrisy and institutional homophobia that led to the blocking of Jeffrey John to the bishopric. Furthermore it encourages a 'don't ask, don't tell' situation which will lead to a seriously compromised leadership and moral example.”  please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to The Church of England, Anglican Communion
·  Thanks to Ekklesia, sidebar
·  Thanks to The Very Reverend Colin Slee, R.I.P.
·  Thanks to The Reverend Colin Coward, Changing Attitude
·  Thanks to The Reverend Sharon Ferguson, Chief Executive LGCM, U.K.
·  Thanks to The Very Reverend Jeffrey John

A GRACIOUS MESSAGE: From Bishop Michael Ingham, Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada...

¨We are, and continue to be, respectful of genuine differences of conviction among faithful Christians. In a spirit of mutual respect, it is now time to move forward together.¨

The Right Reverend Michael Ingham, Bishop of New Westminster, Anglican Church of Canada

Top court won't hear Anglican property dispute

¨Thursday, June 16, 2011 the Supreme Court of Canada released its Decision refusing Leave to Appeal from the November, 2010 decision of the BC Court of Appeal. At that time, the Court of Appeal upheld the Trial judgment which found that the four parish properties under dispute are to be held in trust by the Diocese of New Westminster for those who wish to worship in the Anglican Church of Canada. We are thankful that the litigation launched against the Diocese of New Westminster is now at an end...¨ HERE

·  Thanks to Wounded Bird, HERE
·  Thanks to Diocese of New Westminster, Anglican Church of Canada
·  Thanks to Bishop Michael Ingham
·  Thanks to CTV News, HERE
·  Thanks to Janet

THE BOOGEYMEN DEFANGED: Changing the language of prejudice.

¨...racial and gender intolerance has become the lingua franca of leading politicians...¨

South Africa has been referred to as the global capital of rape.

More recently we've become the international headliner for ´corrective rape´, which refers to the rape of a lesbian purportedly as a means of ´correcting´ her sexual orientation or gender identity.¨

¨Rape is made permissible by sexist and homophobic discourses. To dismantle these master narratives that prejudice women and stigmatise lesbian, gay and transgender people means confronting both the language and the messengers. From the homophobic or misogynist dinner-table joke to the sexual "banter" of our political leaders, the language that underpins gender oppression needs to be resisted. Language and action are mutually reinforcing.

Attaching new social meaning to sex, sexuality and gender

¨Eradicating the language of prejudice requires that we actively attach new social meanings to sex, sexuality and gender. Advancing the constitutional values of equality, dignity and protection of diversity is key to this process. These inspire a common language of humanity which is compelling because it is antithetical to apartheid discrimination. If we collectively and consciously give social currency to these values we will develop a shared ethic of social inclusion.¨

Seem Familiar?

¨But the opposite has been happening -- racial and gender intolerance has become the lingua franca of leading politicians. Progressive post-apartheid legislation and jurisprudence that uphold the rights of women and sexual minorities are repudiated in the dominant political discourse...¨  please read it all,   HERE

·  Thanks to Gay Uganda, HERE
·  Thanks to Mail and Guardian Online, South Africa/United Kingdom
·  Thanks to Melanie Judge, Human Rights 

BOOGEYMEN - THE ENDANGERED SPECIES: Minneapolis - ¨We're not always one big happy family in our community, but we are family...¨



Exposing the Boogeymen

¨The forces arrayed against us, and all progressive communities, have one message: you are not part of America, have no place here, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that you and yours are erased from the face of the earth.¨  wellness meets up at Netroots Nation,  Dr. Jillian T. Weiss HERE

My first impression of Netroots Nation - a love letter

¨I presently sit in my first (but not my last) Netroots Nation lgbt conference and I am overwhelmed by the ideas and talent of my fellow conference mates. I have been in session for only a few hours and I don't know what I've enjoyed more - finally meeting bloggers whom I have admired from afar for a long time (Pam Spaulding, Jeremy Hooper, Joe Jervis, Zach Ford, Mike Rogers, Rod McCollum), or being exposed to all of this enthusiasm emanating from these amazing people

One thing that shines out for me is the fact that I am a long way from being that college student who ran from the library in tears in 1991 after being bombarded with information that as a gay man, I was a threat to children, morality and values...¨  read it all direct from Netroots Nation, by A. McEwen, HERE

Fundie Watch: Recently Filed HERE

·  Thanks to Bilerico Project, sidebar
·  Thanks to Dr. Jillian T. Weiss
·  Thanks to Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, sidebar
·  Thanks to A. McEwen
·  Thanks to Fundie Watch

EXPOSING THE BOOGEYMAN*: ¨The time for discrimination — especially the insidious bigotry that has been wrapped in the cloak of faith — to end.¨



 “History has not been kind to the Southern Baptist Convention’s record on minorities, and it is making the same awful mistake today by perpetuating abuse against gay people.”

“We call on the Southern Baptist Convention to stop misusing the Bible to promote religion-based bigotry and start recognizing the enormous pain and suffering caused by its mistreatment of LGBT people, particularly vulnerable youth...¨ please read it all, HERE

¨It’s time for religious entities like the Southern Baptist Convention to apologize for the immense harm they’ve done to our community, and to stop providing cover for politicians to disguise their political bigotry as courageous...”

EXPOSING THE BOOGEYMAN: Removing the religious disguise and revealing political bigotry.

¨In some cases the boogeyman is a nickname for the devil.¨

The Bogeyman may be called "Boogerman" or "Boogermonster" in rural areas of the American South, and was most often used to keep young children from playing outside past dark, or wandering off in the forest. "The boogerman'll getcha" is a phrase many young Southerners heard...¨  please read it all, HERE

¨Gay Pride is Killing the Boogeyman¨  Josh Thomas
 HERE

·  Thanks to Joe.My.God, sidebar
·  Thanks to Q Notes, sidebar
·  Thanks to Wikipedia
·  Thanks to Matt Corner

Gay Pride Killed The Boogeyman: A terrifying and dangerous specter; hobgoblins, corrupted truth, concealed lies revealed and a self-destructive behavior demise!

WHEW! Who knew?

It was a close call. A scary experience to be a ¨Gay¨ child born inside a body that looked (my older sister said I was ¨adorable¨) like everyone elses body...yes, it´s true, except for a few additions and deletions I was very much like you, and other kids, in a world around me that deeply astounded me.  I was a daily ¨pledge of allegiance¨ swearing, all Americano ¨war baby¨ but I don´t think my interest in the ¨magic of new¨ and my liking of the ¨red, white and blue¨ was  much ¨different¨ than any other childs point of view.  Everything for me as a child was ¨normal¨ and childlike/fascinating and my fastgrowing matched the marks where my parents recorded my upward thrusting on my bedroom closet door (but those marks promising great heigth never made me into a tall heterosexual...oh my!).


My beloved Mother and Father were Republicans. Who could have anticipated that I would come home from Second Grade one day with a ¨All the way with Adalei¨ button pinned to my shirt?

In my young life, every person, every adventure, every new experience was exciting to me. I participated in those very same as other children living experiences however with a slightly off-putting, pride dimming secret of   ¨who was I¨ really and what is that different yet authentic part of/in me that is a bit shadowy?...I wasn´t special as a child but I was different and I knew it too.  I knew my innermost fine tuning and wiring was a little different than most of the you´s outside my front door...most all of the you´s down the block and through the front doors of Grant, Finch, Havermale schools and then onward to Shadle Park and Narbonne high school.

I ran as fast as I could and faster than most would and won the jeweled ¨N¨ at graduation

 I joined the track team (and every other team, club and group) and ran and ran as fast as I could and probably much further than I should have...fast and far away from the finish line of discovering the actual person inside of me. Running seemed good so I did it in all my affairs--I ran away speedily and successfully when people wanted to get too close to me. I sprinted  harder to be an achiever so others wouldn´t be ¨better than¨ me (feeling the slightly defective in me)...sometimes I ran with bottles of beer in me to make me go faster and sometimes drinking slowed me down and I´d come in last last last as the emotionally healthier people ran past, past, past me. Sometimes I ran with my head looking down even when there was no race and I ran into several dead-ends, cement walls and fell face down on the ground.

I always had it.  My secret.  My later to be known as ¨Gay¨ secret.  My innermost extra friendly attraction to people of my same sex secret was always perking along somewhere inside my great passion for life and friendships.  It sometimes expressed itself, but mostly didn´t as I was a tad ¨shy¨ (when it came to sexual matters). I especially liked being a boy into man. I liked girls and women too but it wasn´t with the same deep/bold feelings of brotherhood, of likeness, of glowing admiration and most physical and very personal  identification I knew amongst the gender that was my own-- it wasn´t about sex as a child, it was about the magnetic, and now I think genetic, desire to be amongst/closer to people like me....a powerful magnetic attraction that has lasted my whole life through and never lost power...a natural high voltage continously and automatically recharged by living honestly.

My imagined boogeyman emerged from the shadows of other peoples thinking.  I had believed for a while a lot of shame maiming anti-LGBTI slander...but, one day/night  my own terrified being finally accepted the authentic person that God created in the person of me! I´d been saved from the self-destructive in me.  One more surviving/living example of a hobgoblin turned personal innerghost that was slain and buried in the graveyard of other peoples demands, expectations, ignorance and out right lies.  R.I.P. self-deceiving! Other peoples expectations of what ought be isn´t truthful or right or normal for people like me. I now dance on the grave of injustice, abuse and flat out bigotry.

¨Bless us all, each and every one¨

Thanks be to God for the Gay Pride Life of my ongoing understanding.  Please God, keep the rainbow people parading through my everyday life...all of us, our extended family members, straight and gay and of every political stripe!

Peace be with you

¨JUST MARGARET¨ is a gigante understatement! Our very own volcano roars a ¨MARGARITA SIZED¨ tribute of welcome delight each night!

So here you have it!  Hot off the Sacatapequez prensa... Margaret+ of Virginia is knocking us out with her kind, wise, brilliantly colorful and wonderous ways down here South of them border(s) way past Mexico way...ole´ anyway, as she brings us armloads of friendship and joy each day! 

Today marks one week since ¨Just Margaret¨ arrived in the little village under the volcano and Margaret is doing sooo good moving around in the hood!  It´s true, the neighbors are dazzled (they think she is my daughter) and her Spanish teacher thinks Margaret, our Margarita, your Margaret will no doubt soon be a numero uno student and most likely top of the class as well as nominated for alcaldesa of the ¨Land of Eternal Spring!¨

Thank you Joel and all Episcopalianos in Richmond, Old Virginee for sharing your very good source of Good News with us...we love her and we´re doing our best to keep her comfy, well cared for/fed and happy and healthy (despite a few little not-so-scary volcanic outbursts during each night-- never forget the lava flows down the Esquintla side to the South -- gracias a dios).

Rejoice! Margaret+ begins week two mañana and all is well/swell!  We´re having a little luncheon party Sunday in celebration of our ongoing good luck because we now have received Margarita+  and have her all to ourselves!

Leonardo Ricardo y Juan Carlos y los vecinos on the Calle Real (at the foot of the volcano)

·  BIG THANKS TO JUAN CARLOS/PHOTOS (I think they are all from our garden)

COMING TO GRIPS WITH HOMOPHOBIA IN UGANDA/AFRICA: ¨Yes, I do believe that I am equal to you, heterosexual person.... no reason for me to believe otherwise. Period¨

¨...I am glad to observe that the gay Ugandan community is coming to grips with our kuchuness.¨

HERE

·  Thanks to Gay Uganda, sidebar
·  Thanks to The ¨Kuchus¨ of Uganda

 Thanks to ¨Homosexuality:  A Wind of Change?¨ HERE

·  Thanks to Zambia Weekly
·  Thanks to The former presidents of Botswana, and Zambia. Kaunda!

WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER COVENANT? ¨We have the Baptismal Covenant. We have the creeds...¨



Archbishop Martin Barahona, Bishop of El Salvador and Primate Emeritus of Central America

“The Windsor Report,” he said. “It’s just a report. When did it become like The Bible? The Covenant. Why do we need another covenant? We have the Baptismal Covenant. We have the creeds. What else do we need?”

Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury enthusiastically suggests that the individual Church of England diocese synods endorse the Anglican Covenant (and everything/anything else he threatens them/us with)
  HERE

WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER COVENANT?

HERE