Happy New Year from the Foot of the Fuego Volcano (all is well)

 

Mi casa es su casa - 2013 - Len Clark/Leonardo Ricardo

Sacatepequez, Guatemala, Central America

Hong Kong: Out of the closet

¨Hong Kong’s 2nd Pink Season wrapped up earlier this month after more than two months of activities. It’s been an amazing time here and the feeling of change in the air is almost palpable. It’s been a long time coming. When the Hong Kong Lesbian &; Gay Film Festival (HKGLFF) started up in 1989, homosexuality was still a criminal offence here. (It was repealed in 1991). The LGBT community that the film festival played a big part in kickstarting took another two decades before it felt confident enough, last year, to create the Pink Season. At times, it has felt like nothing would ever change.

It doesn’t feel like that anymore. The HKGLFF and the Pink Season are both symptoms and causes of the changes in attitude to LGBT issues we are starting to see all around us. I write ‘symptoms’ because the two institutions have only arisen as our community has grown strong enough and free enough to mount them; and ‘causes’ because each provides a foundation from which to build a cultural bridge to the wider community. The film festival and the Pink Season are both better educators of the public than any school programme or government propaganda ever could be. They have helped drive the cultural change from which political change here is coming. They have helped us become, openly, part of Hong Kong. We are not quite yet seen as ‘normal’ here, but it now feels like we are getting there.

It might seem odd to write this only weeks after Hong Kong’s Legislative Council voted not even to debate whether the Government should consult the public’s attitude to LGBT issues. Odder when the Secretary of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, Raymond Tam, commented after the vote that now was not the time to consider change as there was no public consensus for it. As often in LGBT history, the gerrymandered voting and the very enunciation of the conservative position caused a reaction to our benefit...¨ read it all, HERE

Thanks to Fridae, Asia
Thanks to Nigel Collett

Attention GAFCON BISHOPS and other ZEALOTS/BIGOTS/DEMONIZERS of LGBTI ANGLICANS/others: ¨Scientists Have New Theory Why Homosexuality May Run in Families¨

Scientists Discover Epigenetics May Be Responsible for Homosexuality

¨Theories of Causes of Homosexuality

Homosexuality used to be thought of as a result of a domineering mother and an ineffectual father. Religious zealots still believe it’s a “choice” of a “gay lifestyle.” The hereditary link has been established, but because of twins’ studies, scientists knew it wasn’t just a genetic link. In identical twins, there’s about a 20 percent chance that if one twin is gay, the other will be too. If genetic change were responsible for homosexuality, you’d expect a much higher match.

Scientists Have New Theory Why Homosexuality May Run in Families

The new study, published by William R. Rice, Urban Friberg, and Sergey Gavrilets. Homosexuality as a Consequence of Epigenetically Canalized Sexual Development. Review of Biology, 2012%3B 87 (4)The Quarterly Review of Biology, December 11, 2012, concludes that epigenetics that switches genes on and off may explain why homosexuality is passed on in families.

Here’s How It Works

The gene expression is regulated by temporary switches called epi-marks. They constitute an extra layer of information attached to our genes’ backbones that regulates their expression. Epi-marks direct when, where, and how much a gene is expressed during development.
Different epi-marks protect different sex-specific traits from being masculinized or feminized – some affect the genitals, sexual identity or sexual partner preference. They protect fathers and mothers from excess or underexposure to testosterone.

These epi-marks are usually erased between generations. However, they can cause reverse effects when the epi-marks are transmitted across generations from fathers to daughters or mothers to sons, resulting in feminization of some traits in sons, such as sexual preference, and similarly a partial masculinization of daughters...¨ there is more, HERE 

ONE TIRESOME/OUTSPOKEN/GRANDSTANDING MOUTH-RUNNETH-OVER DUDE: CNN CANCEL Piers Morgan, but keep the prime-time show (maybe hosted by John Avlon/Suze Orman or someone clever, warm and nifty)

Piers Morgan really ought be on Fox News and not CNN (I´ll never have to watch him again)

ATTENTION CNN INTERNATIONAL:  Dump Piers Morgan, por favor! (nothing to do with guns, pro or con)

My own ¨turn off the running mouth of Piers Morgans prime time spiget¨ campaign  has been being waged for months (seems like a lifetime).  I live in Central America and watch cable T.V.   Most of the programming is in Spanish so I treasure my prime time evenings watching CNN International in English (Fox News is also available but although I have a strong stomach, I have NO stomach at all for the junktalk and lies they churn out).  Therefore,  here I sit at the foot of the volcano absolutely thrilled to have all the notable CNN International hosts visit my home...that is, until the Piers Morgan show kicks in.  Then, I run to my computer afterward and write hate mail.

Never did I write to CNN before this past year.  I always was a contented viewer and I absolutely appreciate the great, and in depth, coverage that CNN International/team brings to me from around the World...better than BBC or any other International News service in my opinion.  But, alas, I HAVE to do something when night after night I've been subjected to the grandstanding, outspoken, ill-mannered, tiresome, and just plain full-of-himself (why?) British person named Piers Morgan as he smothers his guests with HIS opinions on everything.  I started writing letters to CNN.  I started complaining about Piers Morgan, not his guests, to CNN.  I stressed that everynight I've watched this puffed-up fellow overtalk, outshout, spew his personal opinion over the guests that he interviews I sicken.  I tire. I squirm. I search better programming from Venezuela or Mexico.  His non-interviewed guests,  all of which, or, mostly of which, have good reason for being his guests as they are notable somebodies in everyday life -- important anybodies, UNLIKE Piers Morgan, and/or are  regular people with important personal stories to share just sit there!  Good luck being heard!

Piers Morgan is oppressive and apparently loves to hear the sound of his own voice.  Interviews are usually done with two people participating.  The interviewer asks sharp and to the point questions but really, specifically, is interested in the VOICE and opinion of the guests.  Not Piers Morgan.  Piers Morgan uses guests as a opportunity to hear what HE has to say!  He attempts to show us, the audience, how much HE KNOWS (about most any subject) and uses his guest as a foil/opportunity or background topics for his own grandstanding.  Tiresome lot.  Egodriven fool.  Where is the hook? 

Piers Morgan is an ex-employee of Rupert Murdoch (he strokes Ruperts ego regularly on OUR prime time).  I think CNN ought let Piers Morgan go back to Rupert Murdochs collection/land of doubletalking not-so-reality shows or ¨weighted¨ newpapers.  No doubt Piers-a-plenty will find a better opportunity at News Corp or elsewhere than at CNN International where sanity prevails and viewers really DO want to hear what the interviewed have to say!  Piers must go, but, as you can see, it's not just me (it appears that even the BRITISH don't want Piers Morgan back)! http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/26/petition-british-dont-want-piers-morgan-back/

Nochebuena Guatemala: We wish you a Merry Christmas 2012



Un bebé descansa en la espalda de su madre en Guatemala

FELIZ NAVIDAD
2012
Aqui/Here



REFLECTIONS AT THE FOOT OF THE VOLCANO: Fascinating People, Beautiful Places and Memorable Things!

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu,  Nobel Laureate emeritus, fearless living Saint and beloved champion of the marginalized, the oppressed and despised LGBTI people of Africa and beyond.

¨Churches say that the expression of love in a heterosexual monogamous relationship includes the physical, the touching, embracing, kissing, the genital act - the totality of our love makes each of us grow to become increasingly godlike and compassionate. If this is so for the heterosexual, what earthly reason have we to say that it is not the case with the homosexual?¨ Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu

ATTENTION MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT -- UGANDA: ¨God does not discriminate among our family¨ Archbishop Desmond Tutu

***

The Rev. Lawrence Rosebaugh, a 74-year-old priest spent most of his life living among the poor in Central and South America, was shot to death Monday during a robbery in Guatemala.

"As a priest, he was not the collar type of priest, When you looked at him, you'd think he was the poorest of the poor. And those are the ones he served..." Sam Hladyshewsky, a former priest and close friend

REAL PEOPLE, REAL SAINTS: The Rev. Lawrence Rosebaugh, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, worker amongst the poorest of the poor--murdered

***

Estimados Amigos,

I've lived in Latin America for over 20 years and I've always felt the underlying, as well as surface blasting, passion of Los Latinos while enjoying their great hospitality and earning many of their friendships too...  Leonardo Ricardo/Leonard Clark Beardsley

VIVA LATIN AMERICA -- Always/siempre there thrives a spiritualife, religious enthusiasm and outward displays of authentic happiness are celebrated around me.

***

 

Beverly Emiko ¨Mom¨ Nakatani Sakai, February 1, 2012, Antigua, Sacatepequez, Guatemala, Central America, Rest in Peace

One of my favorite stories Beverly shared was of Pearl Harbor Sunday...she rushed her little sister home from Sunday School (she didn´t have a house key but knew where one was hidden to unlock and get in on emergencies)...she kept looking up at the sky to see the many airplanes circling about with O´s on their wings...the skies were black with smoke. Beverly´s Mom was a head nurse at Queens Hospital (Queen Anna of holy Anglican memory/history) and working hard to take care of the wounded and critically injured as they entered for care...it always struck me that Beverly was doing the same thing, taking good care of others on that deadly Sunday in Hawaii. Part of a fine family of notable Japanese Americans. Americans who have been a positive force in all of our lives for generations..(her favorite color was blue).  Leonardo Ricardo/Leonard Clark Beardsley

Beloved Beverly Emiko Nakatani Sakai ¨Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory¨

***

When I was a little kid. A kid in Grade School. I remember each Valentines Day we´d have a Valentines Day Party in our classroom. I think the Mom´s brought in refreshments and the last couple of hours in the afternoon on Valentines Day were devoted to frolicing about, playing lovey-dovey games and opening the individual Valentine mail boxes we had wrapped and decorated for OURSELVES! Yes, there they were all those former shoe boxes now all decorated with cupids, hearts and various throbs of electriclike love designs! Surely you remember them, that is, if you were a kid when kid´s were still celebrating holidays like Valentines day in Grade School...?   LeonardoRicardo/Leonard Clark Beardsley

http://leonardoricardosanto.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-school-daysdaze-valentine-boxes.html

***

Bachelor of Psychology-Pedagogy and Master of Sexuality, Mariela Castro

¨Bachelor of Psychology-Pedagogy and Master of Sexuality, Mariela Castro is known internationally as a champion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights in Cuba.

PLEASE MEET MARIELA CASTRO: Internationationally known champion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and intersex right in Cuba

***

“The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary views the serious process leading to this decision as an example of confronting social dilemmas within the framework of tradition and halachah,” or Jewish law, Hanan Alexander, chair of the seminary’s Board of Trustees, said in the statement. “This decision highlights the institution’s commitment to uphold halachah in a pluralist and changing world...”

TRADITION AND HALACHAH: ISRAEL’S MASORTI MOVEMENT TO ORDAIN GAYS AND LESBIANS AS RABBIS

***

¨According to research to be published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, scientists across New York, Essex and California have found evidence that gay men and lesbians remind homophobes of themselves, causing an aversive reaction and instilling fear. The study also claims that the root of the problem lies in the homophobic attitudes in which they were brought up as a child...¨

HOMOPHOBE MELTDOWN/HEEBIE-JEEBEE ALERT: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology have found evidence that gay men and lesbians remind homophobes of themselves...

***

¨Gay marriage celebrated its third anniversary in Iowa on Tuesday.  In was on April 3, 2009 that the Iowa Supreme Court handed down its unanimous Varnum v. Brien decision which brought marriage equality to the Midwest... ¨

THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF GAY MARRIAGE IN IOWA: Varnum v. Brien decision brought marriage equality to the Midwest/U.S.A.

***

¨The Land of Eternal Spring¨ Our world around us takes on the spirit of lush fertility and it´s put to good use...it stimulates me and my art grows...  Leonardo Ricardo/Leonard Clark Beardsley

KEEPING ON MESSAGE/FASCINATING RHYTHM: The ¨Land of the Eternal Spring¨ renews itself once again

***

¨Men like Freud, Kinsey, Marx, and Darwin, all pioneers in their own fields, had to combat the customs of their cultures to make their contributions to human knowledge.

Similarly, older historical figures, amongst them Socrates, Galileo, and Columbus, all had to contend with their prevailing cultures and authorities. The concern herein is not with the actual discoveries and contributions made by such men, often at extreme and deeply personal levels of self-confrontation, but with the fact that they had to question, deny, defy and combat the stultifying and entrenched values of their cultures with risk to their own welfare.

With many of their achievements, they set the world stage for the progress of science, technology, and, with the work of the humanist enlightenment philosophers, advanced the concepts of individual freedom...¨

ATTENTION ARCHBISHOP OF YORK AND OTHERS : We don’t need religious moral guidance for good conduct, something which religions acquired from our innate sense of ethics and human goodness, and then perverted.

***

Recently, at this blog/comment section, a Lesbian, not-so-much-a-friend-as-a-remote-acquaintance, suggested to me that ¨Gay¨ men actually treated women with less respect than their/her due. I was flabbergasted and looked throughout the web for ANY information to back up such a, to me, unfair, blusterous and insulting claim. There was/is none, zip, empty, void, zero. Today I found this ¨commentary¨ at Bilerico Project and it´s the closest thing I ´ve found on the subject of Gay Misogynist speculating...it´s linked below but I especially identified with this part: ¨...if a friend were to call me out for perceived misogyny, I would no doubt listen, for I have found that I become a better person from examining my failings.¨ I´ve listened, I´m still listening and willing and able to listen. However, I still think ¨Gay¨ men and our respect, admiration and in most cases great trust and friendships with women is the standard amongst us...that basic warmth and natural acceptance of *others* is most often present in our friendships with Lesbians, Bisexual women and Heterosexual women too. Leonardo Ricardo/Leonard Clark Beardsley

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY: ¨...what makes someone a misogynist, and am I one?

***

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is an international group of Anglicans concerned about how the proposed Anglican Covenant would radically change the nature of the Anglican Communion

LONDON – With diocesan synod voting in the Church of England completed, and with 26 dioceses having rejected the proposed Anglican Covenant, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition is preparing for the next steps in its international campaign, including the appointment of a new Moderator, the Revd Malcolm French, a parish priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. The Revd Jean Mayland, a retired priest, will be the No Anglican Covenant Coalition Convenor for the Church of England...¨

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT: ¨Coalition Plans Next Steps¨

***

PRESIDENT OBAMA WINS! ONWARD WE GO (all of us together, thank you very much)!

REELECTED! GREED, PREJUDICE, BIGOTRY, FEAR AND HATE REJECTED

VALIDATED!

 

¨God, gods, and goddesses willing, we may be watching the beginning of the end of homophobia as a political force.¨  http://counterlightsrantsandblather1.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-big-gay-night.html

 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 2012 from our blog to your home

Leonardo Ricardo/Leonard Clark Beardsley

HELLO MELLOW: ¨All in all, though, 2012 shows that gay people who break down that closet can have it all¨

2012: GAYEST YEAR EVER

"The fact is, I'm gay." Anderson Cooper's long-awaited announcement sums what it meant to come out in 2012. Again and again we heard the same sentiment — from pop singer Mika's equally anticipated confirmation, "If you ask me am I gay, I say yeah," to actor Andrew Rannells casually remarking about relating to a gay character, "I am gay in real life, so I definitely get it." — proving that coming out today is in many cases a non-event, and certainly secondary to other achievements.

Yes, a lot has changed in the 15 years since Time magazine ran that cover of Ellen DeGeneres declaring, "Yep, I'm Gay," and even in the six since Lance Bass told People, "I'm Gay." Entertainment Weekly published a cover story this summer called "The New Art Of Coming Out," concluding, "The current vibe for discussing one’s sexuality is almost defiantly mellow."

Yet most of this positive change has happened in familiar territory.

Former NFL star Wade Davis' coming out was a first, as was current professional boxer Orlando Cruz's. And Lee "Uncle Poodle" Thompson from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo helped broaden the overall discussion about LGBT people. But there are a few people on this list who were less valiant, like Republican Sheriff Paul Babeu, and still others who remained quiet about their sexuality to the day they died. The debate over balance between privacy and responsibility is still one worth having, and clearly there are more arenas where LGBT people need space to shine.

All in all, though, 2012 shows that gay people who break down that closet can have it all.

Who had the 50 Most Powerful Coming Outs of 2012?

click on the link to see:
http://www.towleroad.com/2012/12/2012_gay_coming_out.html#ixzz2Fk39SoAt

Thanks to Towleroad, sidebar

FROM GUATEMALA WITH LOVE: Giving thanks and a few petitions for a better future are in order

¨Much has been speculated by foreign writers about the “end” of the Maya calendar, including that it is the end of the world. According to Professor David Stuart (Mesoamerican Center at the University of Texas), much of this evolved out of the book Mexican Mystique (1975), which we all read in our classes at the university. Written by an author who is not an anthropologist, it was arguably one of the very few books with any reference, at that time, to the Maya calendar.

We perpetuated the end-of-the-world notion in the bibliographies of the papers (and others in books) that were written in the late 1970s. The end of the world could happen in 2000, in the Maya world of 2102 and don’t forget Armageddon. In the late ‘70s, that was somewhat exciting.

Meanwhile, the Mayas kept their 5,000+-year-old Cosmovision, which includes the calendar, much to themselves. Keeping it away from the Spanish since 1524 had worked in Guatemala. With no religious freedom in Spain or England in the 16th century, the Spanish required that everyone attend the Catholic Church. While Mayas were exempt from the Inquisition, the language, cultural and geographical barriers kept them isolated much from the Spanish descendants and “ladinos” (Spanish culture Guatemalan) over the centuries. We knew little of the Maya ceremonies and had not even heard of a Maya calendar.

As we approached the “end of the world” on Dec. 21st, 2012, many of us began to inquire more. Indeed, the Mayas considered the date of the beginning of the new Maya cycle in the calendar as a re-birth of their civilization. Their calendar began in August 3114, B.C. and remains in use today. With a 20-count “month,” there are 20 nahuales (or protectors). Times that by 13 cycles, you get 260 days for the sacred calendar (which is also the duration of pregnancy). Two circles work together so the agricultural calendar is 365 days (20 x 18 days + 5 days for feasting). There are many cycles, including a 52-year cycle and many more. Professor Stuart indicates that the Maya calculations go into octillion years (yes, that is a lot of zeros). On Dec. 21st, 2012 we are coming up to the 13 Baktún, which marks a BIG new cycle (much like a millennium x 5+).

It is fun to find out one’s nahual. With 20 protectors, these include: aq’ab’al (bat), imox (crocodile), k’at (spider), iq’ (hummingbird), kej (deer), kan (snake), q’anil (rabbit), kame (owl), b’atz’ (monkey), toj (shark), aj (armadillo), tz’i’ (coyote), tz’ikin (eagle, quetzal), i’x (jaguar), ajmaq (bee, buzzard), e (wild cat), kawoq (turtle), no’j (woodpecker), ajpu (conch shell) and tijax (fish). All nahuals have positive and negative aspects (but what you do with those is up to you).

How will the Maya celebrate? With Maya ceremonies and giving thanks. I am sure a few petitions for a better future will be in order. ¨ HERE

Thanks to The Revue Magazine, HERE
Thanks to Calixta Gabriel, Maya Calendar
Thanks to Elizabeth Bell, Antigua Tours HERE

VIVA LATIN AMERICA -- Always/siempre there thrives a spiritualife, religious enthusiasm and outward displays of authentic happiness are celebrated around me.

Estimados Amigos,

I've lived in Latin America for over 20 years and I've always felt the underlying, as well as surface blasting, passion of Los Latinos while enjoying their great hospitality and earning many friendships too. 

Often there are a great many everyday living difficulties for the folks at the lower wage earning/less opportunity scale to face.  They face their ¨circumstances¨ bravely and work hard, literally from before the sun rises and well into night!

Various cultures in Latin America have larger populations of poor people than others. But, never have I known any group of people in the New World to be unkind or unwelcoming to strangers.  It's all about hospitality. ¨Mi casa su casa¨ is REAL even amongst the most modest of folks.

Never have I not noticed the air-thick amusement, even joy, that surrounds even the most immediate and tiresome of many daily routines from picking coffee to selling melons in the open markets to operating sewing machines in large factories in larger cities.  Most duties are dealt with energetically, humbly and passionately.  Latinos are a forceful, inventive and enthusiastic loyal working people (mostly). Many of my neighbors meet everyday challenges many Norte Americanos, like me, never would ever face, want to face,  or even know about.  Meanwhile, they are working in landscapes that are both varied and breathtakingly stunning from lush forests and endless rural beaches to stark deserts, mountains and even ski slopes .

Always/siempre there lives a spiritualike, religious enthusiasm and outward display of happiness that is celebrated on a regular basis around me.  Celebrated with birth parties, all night death vigils and/or the honoring of Saints and local town patrons, 15 year old ¨coming out¨ parties for young ladies, Baptismal/First Communion luncheons, endless parades, contests, pagents, rodeos, religious processions and everyday anniversaries, endless soccer/fútbol  games and birthday parties!   Even funerals are a major event on the Calle Real where I live with brass bands following shoulder held coffins and mourners in black with them making their way to the main square where there will be a well-attended (often overflowing) mass and then the procession continues to the village cemetery internment...flowers, flowers everywhere.

GLEEFILLED, is the word that best expresses the world around me from Mexico (Viva Mexico), Central America (Viva Guatemala), the Caribbean (Viva Puerto Rico) to Argentina, Peru and Chile.  I am blessed to have lived, loved and participated at all levels of life, social life, business life, everyday retirement life in America Latina. I feel welcome, safe and at home dulce home -- Gracias a Dios! 

Leonardo Ricardo/Leonard Clark, Guatemala, Central America

LATIN AMERICANS RANK HAPPIEST PEOPLE ON THE PLANT

¨A poll released Wednesday of nearly 150,000 people around the world says seven of the world's 10 countries with the most upbeat attitudes are in Latin America.

Many of the seven do poorly in traditional measures of well-being, like Guatemala, a country torn by decades of civil war followed by waves of gang-driven criminality that give it one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Guatemala sits just above Iraq on the United Nations' Human Development Index, a composite of life expectancy, education and per capita income. But it ranks seventh in positive emotions.

 

"In Guatemala, it's a culture of friendly people who are always smiling," said Luz Castillo, a 30-year-old surfing instructor. "Despite all the problems that we're facing, we're surrounded by natural beauty that lets us get away from it all."

Gallup Inc. asked about 1,000 people in each of 148 countries last year if they were well-rested, had been treated with respect, smiled or laughed a lot, learned or did something interesting and felt feelings of enjoyment the previous day.

In Panama and Paraguay, 85 percent of those polled said yes to all five, putting those countries at the top of the list. They were followed closely by El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica...¨ enjoy reading it all, HERE

Thanks to Elizabeth Bell, Antigua Tours HERE

ENOUGH WITH THE SELF-SERVING HATE-MONGERS OF UGANDA: Ntagali enthroned as President Museveni hurrangs against homosexuality

The deadly and Orombi-face-saving, self serving, LGBT deprecating Anglican CLOWNS of Uganda (congratulate themselves) Former archbishop of the Church of Uganda Henry Orombi (L) hands over the pastoral staff to his successor Stanley Ntagali during his enthronement at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe in Kampala yesterday.
PHOTO BY STEPHEN WANDERA

DEMONIZING GAY PEOPLE IN UGANDA:

 

YOU CALL IT WHATEVER YOU LIKE! I CHOOSE ARROGANCE, DANGEROUS ENGENDERING OF CRIMES OF HATE, PLAIN STUPIDITY/CARELESSNESS and/or PANDERING TO EVIL FOR PROFIT/RECOGNITION

¨The Rt. Rev. Stanley Ntagali was yesterday enthroned as the eighth Archbishop of the province of the Church of Uganda, at a function where President Museveni urged leaders and the public to desist from promoting homosexuality.

Archbishop Ntagali, 57, was sworn-in and handed the Provincial staff at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe, taking over from retiring Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, who has been at the helm of the Anglican Church in Uganda for nine years...¨   HERE

For many years now.  As long as this blog, Eruptions At The Foot Of The Volcano, has been covering the ugly antics of those who would harm others at church/beyond church in Uganda, we have not remained silent on the topic of the degeneratelike leadership. Leadership of the various religiouslike leaders and many public servants in Uganda and their ¨marginalizing/demeaning of LGBT Christians/others¨ accomplices/supporters from abroad. 

Here are a few unattractive and unfortunate real life Uganda recollections from our blog:

Bishop Orombi and the All Africa Anglican Bishops Conference: Anti-LGBTI Fear/hatemongers extraordinaire, Entebbe, Uganda.

 http://leonardoricardosanto.blogspot.com/2010/08/attn-african-anglican-bishops_22.html

Note:  Deposedfrom TEC  anti-Gay Bishop of the ¨continuing¨  renegade ACNA (not a member of the Anglican Communion), Bob Duncan, front right, gave the sermon at the enthronement of the Rt. Rev. Stanley Ntagali this past weekend.

The ¨fear meant to be instilled in the Ugandan Homosexual community after the death of David Kato (pictured above) is broken by God¨

Remember Anglican David Kato who was murdered because of fear and hate generated in public?

HONORING IN MEMORY -- DAVID KATO: ¨Bishop Senyonjo* spoke of David Kato as a selfless leader who served the gay community in Uganda to challenge discrimination and stigma for homosexuals.¨


¨On Wednesday 26 January 2011 David Kato, Ugandan gay man, activist, human rights defender, man of courage, the real McCoy – as they say, was beaten to death in his home near Kampala. He lived without trimmings, literally and metaphorically. David lived his life on the edge with no protection from the sickening homophobia unleashed by political and religious leaders in Uganda and their supporters in the US.¨   Sokari Ekine

¨The blood of David Kato is on their hands and on the hands of those politicians and religious leaders both in Uganda and in the US who have led the campaign of hate against LGBTIQ people: David Bahati, Red Pepper (Uganda’s tabloid newspaper); Martin Ssempa, Ugandan Minister of Ethics; Nsaba Buturu, Archbishop of Rwanda; Onesphore Rwaje; Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda; Bishops of the All African Bishops Conference; Prime Minister of Uganda Apolo Nsibambi; Rev Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi; Archbishops Akinola and Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria; Peter Karamaga; the National Anti-Homosexual Task-force Uganda; Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and his wife Janet Museveni; Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe; Pastor Mulinde of Trumpet Church Uganda; Lou Engle; Rick Warren; Scott Lively and Dan Schmierer of the ‘ex-gay’ group Exodus International; Jon Qwelane; Bishop Lawrence Chai of Free Apostolic Churches of Kenya; Sheikh Ali Hussein of Masjid Answar Sunna Mosque; the African Union’s African Commission on People and Human Rights who denied Coalition of African Lesbians observer status; and all those who voted at the UN General Assembly Human Rights Committee to delete the reference to killings due to sexual orientation condemning unjustified executions.¨ HERE

THE OBSESSION WITH SEX and ¨KILLING GAYS¨ IN UGANDA: “Young people, commit your sexual organs to the Lord...¨ Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi

"People should respect nature and the great creator who modelled man and woman. He wasn't blind and he knows why he created a man's parts and a woman's parts. Why should anyone try to undo that?" Henry Luke Orombi, HERE

Their lot, the ¨political and religious leaders¨ of Uganda is a dangerous lot and they not only oppress their LGBT population but actually strive to seek out LGBT citizens (and family and friends), humiliate them, outcast them, put them on trial, jail them and even KILL them if MP David Bahati gets his way.   It's doesn't seem to be enough that Anglican David Bahati (his spiritual counselor is Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi) has been pushing his ¨Kill the Gays¨ Bill in the parliament of Uganda since 2009 up to TODAY,  but he is joined by finacially supportive American ¨C¨ Street buddies, and many fundamentalist religious bigots on the North American Continent, Africa and Asia too! Ugandans are supplied with endless hatefilled support, money and selective scriptural propaganda against ¨Gay people¨ by non-expert, right wing, hate mongers such as Scott Lively, author of  The Pink Swastika,  holocaust revisionist  ´pastor´ Lively and other christianlike groupies smear Gay people daily and have been declared HATE GROUPS officially by the Southern Law Center.

As the public FEAR and HATE level is generated against LGBT citizens in Uganda it seems that little is done about the vertical corruption that  grossly infects GOVERNMENT and everyday society in Uganda.  Nothing is done about rampant alcoholism, sex slavery, child witchburning, vertical corruption and even out of control inflation!   Three term, some say tyrant/dictator, President Museveni, also Anglican (and everything else, as he accepts prayers/blessings from country witch doctors at election time for endorsements) seems to despise LGBT Citizens.  As a magic, and passionate, vote getting tool to earn the esteem, on the backs of others, he his fellow politico cohorts ignore the inhumane, poverty stricken public truth with instigating petty/professional insane actions and vile words against LGBT Ugandans. Meanwhile, real crime thrives in the Pearl of Africa.  

Often, superstitiously and selective scripturally blaming most everything on a never proven claim that ¨Ugandan children are being bought into homosexuality by Westerners¨  drives passion into deadly fear because leaders promote the idea that HOMOSEXUALITY is un-African.  All lies.  All meant to perpetuate fear, anger, reassure false pride and keep the gay threat alive so BIG MEN at church and in public life can plunder and do their despotic mischief.  HONORABLE and CAPABLE WISE MEN/WOMEN in public life, are few in Uganda, self proclaimed religious and righteous or not. Many are common thugs, thieves, grandstanders, opportunists and/or simply resentfilled, feardriven religious emotionally and spiritually ill puritans on the run from truth and the everyday reality as they play the  ´gain whatever you can game´ along with tainted politicians.¨   Leonardo Ricardo

 

The angry/strident and hateful face of Ugandas First Lady, Janet Museveni (she wants to be President after her husbands third term ends).

Malicious Janet Museveni, Member of Parliament and First Lady of Uganda

"In God's word, homosexuality attracts a curse, but now people are engaging in it and saying they are created that way. It is for money The devil is stoking fires to destroy our nation and those taking advantage are doing so because our people are poor," she said. Mrs. Museveni advised the youth not only to listen to messages on how they can make money but also focus on spiritual growth. "You know that you will lose everything else when you lose your soul.¨

http://leonardoricardosanto.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-obsession-with-sex-and-killing-gays.html

 

Retired Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, the head of the St. Paul Reconciliation and Equality Centre (SPREC).

* PLEASE NOTE: Retired Anglican Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo was excommunicated by Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi and the Anglican House of Bishops/Uganda, his monthly pension denied (after 50 years of service to the Anglican Church as a priest and bishop) because he ministered to LGBT suicidal outcasts in Uganda in his retirement.  (he continues his mission to serve under daily threats of death)

Thanks to The Daily Monitor, Uganda
Thanks to EPHRAIM KASOZI
Thanks to The Rt. Rev. Christopher Ssenyonjo, St. Paul Reconciliation and Equality Centre
Thanks to Sokari Ekine
Thanks to Preludium, sidebar

¨We are united tonight in grief. Tomorrow shall we unite in resolve to ban weapons whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of people? ¨ Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, Washington D.C.

Arise, cry out in the night,?
as the watches of the night begin;?
pour out your heart like water?
in the presence of the Lord.?
Lift up your hands to him?
for the lives of your children

 Lamentations 2.19

 

GUN CONTROL: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

At the Foot of the Volcano: A Candlelight Vigil For Connecticut Victims

 

A gunman today shot and killed 20 children and eight adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. President Barack Obama this afternoon delivered a four-minute speech to the nation regarding the tragic massacre.  

6:30 p.m. UPDATE:

Service tonight at 7 at Trinity, Newtown - two families directly affected. Service tomorrow at noon at St. John's, Sandy Hook. Read full update from the Bishops here.

A STATEMENT FROM THE BISHOPS - DEC. 14, 2012
Dear Friends in Christ:

We are shocked and overwhelmed by the horrendous tragedy of the school shooting in Sandy Hook. We hold the victims, their families, and all who are affected by the shooting in our thoughts and prayers for healing and strength. We pray that those who have died will be held in the arms of our loving God whose heart aches for those affected by this tragedy.

We bishops have been in touch with the Rev. Mark Moore, the rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook which is adjacent to the school were the shooting took place. We have also communicated with the leadership of Trinity Church, Newtown, and we understand that the Rev. Kathie Adams-Shepherd, rector of Trinity Church is on the scene ministering to the bereaved.

We are departing immediately for Newtown/Sandy Hook to be of whatever assistance we can. We will be in contact when we have additional information.

We invite all clergy to open our churches for prayer.

Please keep all who have died, the one who has perpetrated the shooting, and all affected by this incident in your prayers. May the God who we await this Advent season bring us hope and new life in Jesus the Christ.

Faithfully, Ian, Laura and Jim

The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas
The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens
The Rt. Rev. James E. Curry

A message from Bishop Marc Handley Andrus on Connecticut shooting

The mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, is a terrible tragedy that takes our total attention, everything we can bring to bear in prayer. We know that we must look at, wrestle with, understand, and confront the root causes of these mass shootings that are occurring with greater and greater frequency across our country, and indeed throughout the world, and I commit myself to this work; it is essential. For the murderer to wear a mask, black clothing, and body armor, as some reports have said, in order to attack a school full of children is clearly the work of a deranged mind, but I suspect that beyond the individual gunman’s sickness there is something of terrible enormity in our culture that we must comprehend.

 

Now though is not the time for that work, or even to speculate about it beyond naming it. This is the time for mourning, and for standing with the families and loved ones of the victims; with the people of Newtown and Connecticut as a whole; and the Diocese of Connecticut. Standing, mute, most likely (as who has words for this sorrow?), but standing with hands upturned to a God who is completely, lovingly present with all that lives and dies on this planet.

I and the Diocese of California are standing in prayer with the Diocese of Connecticut, as we seek to absorb unspeakable sorrow. http://www.diocal.org/pcn/news/message-bishop-marc-connecticut-shooting

+Marc Handley Andrus
Bishop, Diocese of California

Statement from Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde on the shootings at Newtown, CT

Thus says the Lord:?
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.?
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,?
because they are no more. Jeremiah 31:15-17

We are united tonight in grief.

Tomorrow shall we unite in resolve to ban weapons whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of people?

And to make it as easy to get mental health care as it is to buy a gun?

I join Dean Gary Hall of Washington National Cathedral in calling on our national leaders to enact more effective gun control measures. We know from experience that such calls go unheeded. But what if this time, you and I took up this issue and wouldn’t put it down until something was done? You will be hearing more about this from the dean and me in the days ahead, but for the moment, let us join in lamentation, in mourning and in prayer. Today we grieve, but soon we act.

Arise, cry out in the night,?
as the watches of the night begin;?
pour out your heart like water?
in the presence of the Lord.?
Lift up your hands to him?
for the lives of your children Lamentations 2.19

http://www.edow.org/news/articles/2012/12/14/statement-from-bishop-mariann-edgar-budde-on-the-shootings-at-newtown-ct

GUN CONTROL: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

A DANGEROUS/CARELESS MOMENT THAT OUGHT NOT BE REPEATED -- Ugandan Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga receives Papal ¨Blessing¨ -- Update!

Pope Blesses Uganda's Rebecca "Kill The Gays" Kadaga

Ugandan Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, who last month promised the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act as a "Christmas gift to Christians," yesterday appeared in Vatican City to receive the blessing of the Pope.

From the website of the Uganda Parliament:

Kadaga who led a delegation of Ugandan legislators to the Vatican expressed delight at meeting the Pope and visiting St Peter’s Basilicca. “I think this is a moment that cannot be repeated. We have been reading about him, hearing stories about St.Peter’s Basilica but now we are here physically. I think it is something that I will remember all my life. Its a very great moment and I thank God for this opportunity,” she said minutes after meeting the Pope. The Speaker dedicated to all Ugandans readings from the book of St. Mark which the Pope quoted in several languages during the Vatican mass.¨ HERE

UPDATE:

Uganda parliament to adjourn until 2013 without action on anti-homosexuality bill. HERE

Thanks to Towleroad, sidebar
Thanks to Joe.My.God., sidebar
Thanks to Warren Throckmorton, sidebar

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Producers turn to LGBT community to crowd-fund Australian film about homophobic bullying

¨He had to defend himself by being violent¨

¨Meet Dean Francis and Stephen Davis who are trying to crowd-fund Drown, their hard-hitting micro-budget drama that tells the story of a heroic but homophobic Australian lifesaver to raise awareness about bullying and how young people are affected by "societal values".

Both Dean Francis and Stephen Davis have had such deep personal encounters with bullying as boys that they continue to draw on those experiences in their adult professional lives.

 
Francis, who is the director and co-producer of Drown, says he was so tremendously moved by Davis's acclaimed play that follows three lifesavers on a big night out when jealousy, homophobic fears and unrequited lust culminate in a tragic booze-fueled episode of bullying that he's inspired to adapt it for the big screen. One of the young men, Len, an heroic but homophobic surf lifesaver finds himself attracted to Phil, a younger, openly gay lifesaver but is unable to cope with his emotions.

Written by Glasgow-born Davis and performed by the Queensland Theatre Company in 2001, Drown was inspired by the playwright's experiences as a 14-year-old boy who witnessed a male friend being stripped and humiliated by group of older male friends but was afraid to try to stop the attack.

Francis says he looks back at his time in school with "utter terror" as bullying was a daily occurrence at his all-boys school. He had to defend himself by being violent. His 2005 controversial but powerful short film Boys Grammar about school-yard violence and intimidation had Australia talk about the issue of bullying in schools...¨ please read it  all, HERE

Thanks to Sylvia Tan
Thanks to Fridae Asia, sidebar
Thanks to Dean Francis and Stephen Davis

ACCEPTANCE IS THE KEY: Tomorrow I will have experienced 34 years of continuous recovery away from active alcoholism!

My life is still coming into sharper focus and my sobriety date is December 13, 1978

My anniversary being/living sober is tomorrow.  Each year, at this time of year, I review my life in sobriety that has manifested itself before me in the form of ongoing adventures, clarity, character revelations, choices made, chances (both taken and not), sadness, happiness, boredom, depression/glee and general self-accountability. Things done wonderfully well and things that I could have done better while learning how to ¨be¨ fully present in my own life.  You know, *everyday living* events, emotions and outcomes that I would have not have seen, or participated in, if I had continued drinking heavily -- way past heavily -- and if I had not lived the 69 years I now have lived.  

I am dazzled, not dazed, yet still sometimes out of focus, when viewing/evaluating the results of so many years away from my active alcoholism disease.  I know myself quite well now.  At 34 years sobereve, I've noted there is still much to be done as NEW, maturing, growing older experiences have challenged me.  There is no place to hide, which is a good thing, but still takes some getting used to, when sitting/running around in the front row of my own life. Some of the physical edges of life are starting to delay/decay a little.  Older people always said that.  Now I am starting to understand what ¨getting old isn´t for cowards¨ meant.  I am actually HAVING a, fully/mostly, typical vertical life experience.  Born, grown, primed up and out, educated/played, hard worker, well traveled, retired and now it's the time of for aging into mature adulthood process.  What a trip it has been, gracias a Dios (for the lifting of active alcoholism -- I couldn't not drink) but, naturally, true to my disease, I want more of all the great beauty and adventure that has been gifted to me...more or everything that I love (addictively). 

Acceptance is the key.

I have deep oceans of thanksgiving for the endless life adventures that have come my way in sobriety.  I have HUGE depth of/first hand knowledge of the world and many of the people living in it in their various cultures and social circumstances.  People, places and also things that have abundantly woven themselves into my very custom life journey in sobriety.

I am grateful.  I am grateful to all of you, living and beyond this life, who have touched me, liked me, loved me, helped me and sometimes sternly fought with me, in order that I find my way in reality.  For me, sobriety almost equals reality. There must remain my willingness to see things as they really are and not just as I wish or insist or even still pretend that they must be.  I am quite dazzled with my everyday witness as I see both you and me better...on a clear day I can see forever.

Mil gracias for being here with me.  I love my family and I love my friends and billions of other human beings too,

Leonard Clark/Leonardo Ricardo
Guatemala, Central America