Friday, December 29, 2006

"Il Generale Inglese sta molto, molto male."

The Natives are Friendly, by John F. Leeming, former British POW in a WW II Italian concentration camp.

When the WW II era French Army of Africa declared war on the monkeys, and lost.

As told by an Italian Sergeant Major to the English POWS in his charge.

Pages 72-74

"Among his reminiscences were some about the monkeys in Abyssinia [today's Ethiopia]. According to his account, large congregations of monkeys lived in the hills on each side of the railway-line which ran from Addis Ababa to the port of Djibouti [today's Somalia].

"They were highly intelligent animals, an dlived on peaceful and friendly terms with the Abysinians and the French engineers who worked on the railway. The railway was of the greatest interest to them, and mother monkeys used to bring their little ones down to the track each day to see the train go past.

"The Maresciallo [Italian Sergeant Major] assured us that it was a regular thing at certain points along the track to see ten or twelve mother monkeys each holding a little monkey by the paw and grasping another on her shoulder. When the engine-driver saw he spectators he would blow the whistle, the monkeys would wave and chatter with pleasure, and continue waving until the train was out of sight.

"One day, however, a drunken French soldier picked up his loaded rifle as the train was passing the monkeys and fired into them. He killed one of the babies.

"The next time a train passed this spot the monkeys were there in great numbers, and they had armed themselves with stones. The train was attacked with a hailstorm of rocks and boulders, and when it had passed almost all the windows in the coaches had been broken and the engine-driver and several passengers had been cut by splintered glass.

"That was the start of a real war. The Frenchy authorities put armed guards on the train, with orders to shoot monkeys on sight. The monkeys counter-attacked by rolling large boulders on to the track, damaging signals, and generally playing havoc.

"For more than four months a bitter struggle went on: thousands of monkeys were shot; the railway became so damaged that it was operated only with the greatest difficulty; passengers and staff were injured; all glass on the trains had to be replaced with wood.

"At last the French authorities decided that they had had enough. Orders were given to cease fire, and for some weeks as a train reached where monkeys usually gathered the train stopped and a sack of food pleasing to monkeys was put off beside the rails.

"The monkeys were quick to realize that an amende honorable was intended. A week later rocks were no longer thrown at trains, and a month later mother monkeys again brought their little ones to see the trains go past.

"The Maresciallo explained thatthis was the reason why all trains from Djibouti to Addis Ababa had promiment notices in them reading Anyone annoying the monkeys will be imprisoned.

"[British POW] Sergeant Bain's suggestion that when the Italians went to war with Abyssinia they made a formal treaty with the monkeys, who proved most valuable allies in the campaign, and, in fact, did most of the fighting, was not well received by the Maresciallo. He walked away offended."

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Thursday, December 28, 2006

WORLD OF UTEP'S FIRST ANNUAL:

"NATIVE AMERICANS AS WARM AND LOVING FUZZIES BOOK BLURB AWARD!"


UTEP Dept of English: Southwest Fiction, Spring 2004.

Book blurb for: Lucia St. Clair Robson, Ride the Wind.

"The astonishing, beautifully written epic story of a white woman who became a Comanche, of Indians free in spirit, at one with the land, driven by fate to

Ride the Wind

"In 1836, when she was nine years old, Cynthia Ann Parker was kidnapped by Comanche Indians from her family's settlement.

"She grew up with them, mastered their ways, and married one of their leaders. Except for her brilliant blue eyes and golden mane, Cynthia Ann Parker was in every way a Comanche woman. They called her Naduah -- Keeps Warm With Us. She rode a horse named Wind.

"This is her story, the story of a proud and innocent people whose lives pulsed with the very hearteat of the land. It is the story of a way of life that is gone forever.

"It will thrill you, absorb you, touch your soul, and make you cry as you celebrate the beauty and mourn the end of the great Comanche nation."


Wednesday, December 27, 2006

"Is the Bible Reliable?"

Rev. Luis Palau, true-blue Christian, goes after Biblical Flakes and Scholarly Imposters!

¡Adelante, DESTINO! ¡Ora, UTEP! ¡Ora, MEChA!

His book: God is Relevant: Finding Strength and Peace in Today's World

Adapted from pages 72 - 74

IS THE BIBLE RELIABLE?

"The question isn't, Are the New Testament documents reliable? But, Are they trustworthy?"

"The question isn't Are the New testament documents reliable? But, Are they trustworthy?

"Consider the options.

"Option No. 1. The writers were disciples of Jesus Christ who recorded accurately what they saw and heard. What they saw and heard was unique (and so powerful) that it captivated them and changed their lives. Within a generation after Jesus Christ stepped off the scene, they recorded what they had seen an dheard so others woul dbe captivated by the same message -- and person -- and have their lives changed, too.

"Option No. 2. Or the writers were followers of Jesus Christ who in their zeal divinized him after his death. Their intentions were supposedly good, but their writings and teaching don't correspond with reality. Instead, their writings represent idealistic Messianic wish fulfillment, nothing more.

"Option No. 3. Or the writers maliciously divinized Jesus for their own selfish ends. They hoped to profit by the creation of a new, superior religion to replace Judaism, which was under attack and, for all practical purposes, soon to be destroyed.

"The last option is ludicrous: all the evidence points in the other direction. It was Christianity, not Judaism, that came under the fiercest of attacks. As Pascal pointed out, why would the writers subject themselves to intense persecution and brutal martyrdom to perpetrate what they knew full well was a blatant hoax?

"The second option is equally preposterous: too many other people knew Jesus. tens of thousands had listened to what he said, had seen what he did, and knew that he'd died. How could they have possibly thought they could get away with the idea that Jesus was indeed God's Son, raised from the dead, unless the truth was on their side?

"The first option is the only rational explanation. All other options pale in comparison. The writings of the New Testament -- miracles, prophecies, and all -- have the ring of truth as C.S. Lewis used to say. He turned from atheism to classic Christianity after noting, among other things, that mythmakers and false religionists don't write like this."


Amen to all the above, Rev. Mr. Palau!

And a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and to all your family and friends everywhere...




Friday, December 22, 2006

"Maligayang Pasko!"

In Joseph's Workshop

By: St. Josemaría Escriva, founder of Opus Dei.

Page 16.

"If we want to live this way, sanctifying our profession or job, we must work well, with human and supernatural intensty.

"I would like to remind you now, by way of contrasts, of a story from the apocryphal gospels:

Jesus' father, who was a carpenter, made ploughs and yokes. Once, a certain important person asked him to make a bed. But it happened that one of the shafts was shorter than the other, so Joseph did not know what to do.

Then, the child Jesus said to his father:

Put the two shafts on the ground and make them even at one end.

Joseph did so. Jesus got at the other end, took the shorter beam of wood and stretched it until it was the same length as the other. Joseph, his father, was full of astonishment at this miracle and showered embraces and kisses on the Child saying:

How fortunate I am that God has given me this child!

"Joseph would give God no such thanks, he would never work in this way. He was not one for easy solutions and little miracles, but a man of perseverance, effort and, when needed, ingenuity."

Note: St. Escriba credits this lying story to something called Gospel of the Childhood, "falsely attributed to St. Thomas."

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Saint Patrick's Cathedral, El Paso, Texas!

Annual Posadas:

Tomorrow, Thursday, starting with 5:15 Pm Mass.

Be there or be square.

Oh, yeah!

"Please bring a side dish to share with others. The School Cafeteria will (or should) be open to take all goodies."


See you there...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Military men and women in harms way, everywhere, whether regular, guard or reserve, sea, land, or air

All friends, relatives, enemies and benefactors.

On campus, off campus, you name it.

¡Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!

¡Ora UTEP! ¡Ora, MEChA! ¡Adelante, DESTINO!

UTEP's Copy Mine and Copy Yours and Copy Todo!

¡Temporada de posadas y tameladas!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Oops! Belated congratulations to December 2006 UTEP Graduates:

(1) Ex neighbor Gabriela Ballard, Criminal Justice major.

(2) Ex compañera de clase Ines Estorga, English and American Lit major.

"Go get 'em folks, grad school starts next month!"

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Death of a Nationalist, by Rebecca C. Pawel.

Rebecca C. Pawel and UTEP's Spring 2007 Detective Fiction Classes:

A new literary star in the firmament?

Right off hand, I'd say so! By age twenty-five her first novel was in full swing, and the lead character was already busily establishing his family, as UTEP Detective Fiction professors define the term.

Death of a Nationalist, by Rebecca C. Pawel

"A Carlos Tejada Alonso y León Investigation."

As Cara Black, author of Murder in the Marais, tells us:

"Taut and gripping. Death of a Nationalist captures civil war-weary Madrid, from the bomb-blackened buidings to the eerie deserted Metro.

"Pawel paints the sights, sounds, and hunger of the city with a raw, insightful brush wonderful and rare in a first novel."

To which Dan Fesperman, of Lie in the Dark fame, adds:

"With prose as straigtforward as an officer's salute, Rebecca Pawel weaves an intriguing tale amid the gloom of war-torn Madrid.

"It is a humane and moving portrait of a divided people coming to grips with the virtues of enemies and the villainy of friends."

To all of which, yo, sus humilde servidor, can't but agree:

"Forget the mere fact that the author's last name is curiously similar to that attributed to the late Pope John Paul II by novelist James Michener: Pawel.

"Folks, this ain't your average run of the mill example of some specialized UTEP Spring 2007 Chick-lit Detective Fiction class.

"Not when the manly heroe feels kinda down and glum at the realization that he's just summariy executed the wrong chick by blowing her away in a dark alley some place.

"But hell, as even he realizes: war is like that sometimes. Besides the ersatz coffee really sucks.

"The author hooked me big time early on with these memorable lines:"

We think the murderer's a Red, Lieutenant, Jiménez explained.

Sergeant Tejada reflected that saying a Red was a murderer was rather like saying that the sun rose in the east. Why do you think that, Guardia? he asked.

The victim was a guardia civil, sir. Rank of corporal, sir.

"That did it for me. From that point on I was hooked, big time!"

Death of a Nationalist, by Rebecca C. Pawel.

"Available at the UTEP Library's browsing section..."

"¿Qué fue de fulano, de zutano, perengano?"

Adaptada de: "Mi respuesta ante la vida," por Padre Joel Santos, msp; Inquietud Nueva (enero-febrero 2001).

Pensando de mi propia vida y los años ahora pasados, unos que podemos calificar como muy buenos, otros menos, y la gente que hemos conocido através más que un mero medio siglo, es facil estar en acuerdo con lo que nos dice a los principios de su muy ameno comentario el Padre Joel Santos, msp.

En sus propias palabras:

"Cuando se encuentran antiguos amigos o compañeros de escuela, la conversación recae espontánea sobre los compañeros:

"¿Qué fue de fulano, de zutano, perengano?

"Y vienen los comentarios.

"Al hacernos desfilar, son tremendas las constataciones:

"Unos viven triunfando y felices, otros desorientados sin hacer prácticamente nada, otros totalmente fracasados.

"Y pensar que todos tuvieron la misma oportunidad para triunfar en la vida.

"¿Por qué, entonces unos triunfan y avanzan, y otros se hunden en la conformidad de la vida, quedándose estériles para siempre?

"¿Será acaso por falta de carácter, decisión, valentía, optimismo?

"Creo que sí...."

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

¿Hay vida extraterrestre?

Una adaptación de: Inquietud Nueva, enero-febrero 2001. Por P. David Barrera, msp.

"Parecería el título de algún artículo de revista futurista o tal vez un promocional de algún programa de Jaime Maussan, pero es también una duda y un cuestionamiento curioso que algunos fieles se hacen ante las supuestas evidencias de vida en otras partes de universo.

"¿Qué pasaría con la revelación cristiana?

"¿Podría explicar ésta una nueva concepción del universo?

"¿Se derrumbaría la Iglesia?

"Son abundantes los testimonios y los testigos de estos fenómenos que juran haber tenido contacto con seres de otros mundos."

Pero, también:

"Como proponía santo Tomás de Aquino desde el siglo XIII:

Nada entra en la inteligencia que no haya pasado por los sentidos.

"Así que mientras no se dé ese histórico encuentre entre el hombre de la tierra y esos supuestos extraterestres, lo más que podemos hacer es teorizar, sospechar o imaginar."

Y, como un buen ejemplo de la mendacidad popular respeto tales encuentros:

"J.J. Benitez, autor de los Bestsellers: El caballo de Troya y de Los astronuatas de Yahvé, basándose en los Evangelios apócrifos, sostiene en estos libros hipótesis curiosas e inverosímiles como que Jesús es un extraterrestre, y los ángeles son en realidad astronautas, con la intención principal de hacer tambalear los principios de la revelación cristiana y mostrar a una Iglesia miedosa como que oculta la verdad.

"Porsupuesto que un católico serio y estudioso no se confunde ante estas extrañas explicaciones.

"Sabe que la fe no tiene nada que temer ante el eventual descubrimiento de otros seres inteligentes.

"Realmente podría haber vida en otros lugares, pero eso es una posibilidad, no una certeza y si la hubiera, tal vez recobraría mayor luz aquella palabra del Señor:

Tengo otras ovejas que no son de este redil, a ellas también las llamaré y oirán mi voz; y habrá un solo rebaño como hay un solo pastor (Jn 10, 16)

Nota: Platicando por mi humilde parte, me asombró mucho al leer este comentario la primera vez, allá en Piedras Negras, Coahuila, en los pricipios del año 2001.

Porque me acordaba de una cierta tarde soleada, unos viente-cuatro años atras.

Era domingo, y después la comida, un padre viejo benedictino, Padre Placido Blanco, más unos cuantos de nosotros sus fieles fumábamos nuestras pipas.

De repente, el sacerdote venerable nos habló sobre el tema del evangelio que él acabó de leer nos durante la misa.

Y no tardó en compartir con nosotros su opinión respeto el evangelio de aquel día, precisamente de Juan 10:16, y nos dijo que muchas veces él había pensado igual, que tal vez Jesús refería a un lugar muy lejos de la tierra: un otro mundo.

¿Pero, quién sabe?

"SIMENON, un escritor genial, creó un personaje singular: MAIGRET."

"MAIGRET: sagaz, reservado e inteligente.

"La novela policíaca ganó así en dignidad, humanidad y lógica."


Los escrúpulos de Maigret

"Xavier Marton no tenía, precismente, aspecto de transgresor de la ley.

"Era un hombre tímido, dependiente de unos grandes almacenes, lector voraz de tratados sobre enfermedades mentales.

"Aparecio un día en el despacho de Maigret, para anunciarle su convencimiento de que Giséle, su esposa, intentaba asesinarle.

"Maigret apenas le escuchó.

"Horas después, ni recordaba su nombre.

"Pero, Xavier Marton fue asesinado.

"La investigación obligará a Maigret a abismarse en lecturas de psicología médica, hasta convertirse casi en un especialista en psicosis pasionales..."

"¡Martes, el doce de diciembre, 2006!"

El Dia de la gran fiesta de la Virgin de Guadalupe

"Tuesday, the twelfth of December, 2006!"

Patroness of all America

"Outside the UTEP Library at 10 am this morning you could still hear the echoes from the Matachine drums coming all the way across from Ciudad Juarez !"

Monday, December 11, 2006

Free Writing, San Antonio, Texas: Spring of 1984!

"Writers of the Yellow Prose and the Massacre of the Little Big Horn"

Thanks to the collective literary efforts of these copy editors, copy boys and typesetters, the pivotal battle between the White Man and the Red Man may have well been the one with reality, and thanks to the all-American Press, Custer's crowd didn't stand half a chance!

"From out of the dawn of history they rode with ink stained fingers and imaginations soaring beyond all reach of objective reality, these precursors to the early Twentieth Century's more famous, or at least more ballyhooed, Writer's of the Purple Prose, personified by the likes of Zane Grey.

"These hardy pioneers blitzed the front pages of newspapers from Minnesotta to Paris, France -- from Little Rock, Arkansas to New York City.

"All the glamor of Custer, all the brooding strategy of Sitting Bull were no match for them: for oft times they themselves were nameless, lurking both by day and by night in the remotest recesses of the newspaper offices, all across America.

"You might find them patiently hunched over, setting tiny metal type while perched a top absurdly uncomfortable stools.

"Their bloodshot eyes were hidden under the shade of dark green visors, as they twitched in nervous anticipation, awaiting the next rush of wind from the front office with its teletype machine and copy editor.

"Then it happened.

"A breathless copy boy would all but break his skinny neck and stub his grimy little toes in his haste to be sure he had the next instalment of yellowish scratch sheet covered with the cryptic scrawl of his editor ready to give to the typesetter -- and -- we may well suspect! To the typesetter's own creative writer's imagination.

"If the copy boy was exceptionally bold he might wait expectantly, trimbling with his excitement as he watched for the magical transformation that he knew with a simple but profound faith had to happen, as his latest delivery of chicken scratch morphed into wild, inflammatory newspaper headlines and leads.

"But, alas! Usually in vain. Because a pair of bloodshot eyes, suddenly awash with an onrushing tide of steely grey, would transfix the youth and but one word would be uttered:

"Git!

"Only his thin, drooping shoulders would show the lad's disappointment, assauged perhaps by the consoling thought that if he simply stuck it out long enough, the day would surely come when he, too, would be a thoroughly salted and hard-bitten young veteran.

"And then, he, too, would be initiated into that most exulted of fraternities with its tendrils everywhere; the mere whisper of whose collective name struck terror into politician, soldier, and Indian Chief.

"He, too, would then and there become a member of the Writers of the Yellow Prose."




¡Guau! "The Official Men's (and Women's and Teen's) ACTS Spin!"

http://www.actsmissions.org/history/

Problems?

You bet!

Problem Number One: "The ACTS Retreat represents the wishes of the Director and team in selction of presentations."

Problem Number Two: "No two ACTS retreats are exactly alike. There are certain events that are required but each retreat is unique because of the individuality of each team."

Problem Number Three: "The ACTS and the Cursillo Retreats do the work of the Holy Spirit and both are needed. The ACTS Movement shall always be grateful to the Cursillo Movement for its beginnings and its foundation."

Personal note:

I'm pretty I've more or less met Father Patrick Cronin -- 'way back -- and he's a pretty solid citizen.

On the other hand, I could be wrong, as one priest -- I think his name was something like "Don" and not "Pat" -- was telling us one Sunday how he'd just come back from Ireland and what a let down the old country seemed. So, maybe there were two(2) priests there.

Anyway, around 1990 to 1992, whenever I wasn't in Mexico, I sometimes went to Mass at the church in Selma, as did the daughter and her family of one of my own mom's long-time comadres from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Selma is just a mile or two -- so to speak -- up IH 35 from San Antonio. A swell bunch of people!

I still cherish a lot of good memories of that place, Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Friday, December 08, 2006

December 8, 2006:

"Today we celebrate one of those points in History that is as well a point in Eternity, that same Eternity that otherwise literally cannot be bound by any so-called points related to space or time, that Eternity that is forever today, yesterday and tomorrow."

December 8, 2006:

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

December 8, 2006:

"A Holy Day of Obligation, like Sunday!"

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Forty Years ago at Camp Pendleton, California...

"While we lucky many were trudging up hill and down dale as members of the 3rd Replacement Company, Marine Replacement Draft Number 3017, Camp Las Pulgas and Staging Battalion, a.k.a. The Gateway to the Pacific.

"Soon it would be our turn to load up on the big birds and make that fateful flight as individual replacements for Wes PAC Ground Forces, a euphenism for Viet Nam..."

Source: The Pendleton Scout, Thursday, Nov. 10, 1966

TWELVE RANDOMLY SELECTED CURRENT MOVIES SHOWING ON BASE THAT WEEK IN THE FALL OF NINETEEN SIXTY-SIX:

1) The Nanny
2) Battle of the Bulge
3) Psychopath
4) The Bellboy
5) Fireball 500
6) Night of the Iguana
7) What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?
8) Ride Beyond Vengeance
14)Tarzan and the Valley of Gold
15) Ambush Bay
16) The Sleeping Car Murder
17) Lady L

"Combined Action Program School, III MAF, Da Nang, Republic of Viet Nam on 17 May 1969 Class 9-69."

Or at least so my own certificate reads! That and the fact that yours truly was one "Sgt D.P. Morony 2276948," and that I'd apparently survived the easy-going two week shake and bake class.

However, the coveted "Director's" signature on my certificate was not that of Colonel Edgar Danowitz as I might have wished, as shortly after recruiting me and a bunchola of others the preceeding March, he had gone up to the DMZ to take command of the 9th Marine Regiment, at least one of whose battalions was a.k.a. "The Walking Dead."

Instead, the bottom of my certfiicate reads "C.R. Burroughs Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps."

Thirty-six years later I was reading some rock 'em sock 'em soldier-of-fantasy story by an otherwise hightly talented literary lady ding-a-ling, in which one Colonel Burroughs loses it an goes all bipolar with a locked and loaded .45 issue Colt, in headquarters, no less.

Humm.. so maybe that's how he go to be our C.O.!

Anyway, I only had one encounter in the field with him up close and personal, and as I recall he was a typical Old Corps hardcase, most likely with beacoups combat command experience himself going back to WW II.

Strictly no nonsense, a Marine's Marine....

Lech Walesa's Service in the Polish Army:

A real Soldier's Story...

Pages 183-184 of the same book as we've cited below.

"So it was that, on March 10, 1981, at the government's headquarters in Warsaw, in a room adjacent to the premier's office, I found myself, to my surprise, face to face with Colonel Wladyslaw Iwaniec, who had been my commanding officer during my military service.

"I was stationed in a big barracks in Koszalin, where at least a dozen units had been garrisoned.

"One of my unit, a corporal like myself, called Jurek, had come back from patrol blind drunk.

"He was a powerful man -- he carried a punch that would fell an ox -- and on this occasion he was also armed with a machine gun.

"[S]o the officer commanding our platoon asked me if I could deal with him.

"I said that I would on condition that he wasn't sentenced; they could lock him up at the barracks but there was to be no question of a court martial.

"I went out to Jurek, who was standing in the middle of the parade ground facing a great crowd of soldiers.

"As soon as anyone moved a bit too much for his liking, he swung around with his gun -- it was loaded with live rounds ( a normal thing for a soldier going on patrol ).

"[I] persuaded him very gently to give up his weapon and let me put him to bed. He gave in.

"Apart from this incident, there's nothing much to tell about my life in uniform.

"I had the good luck to get leave after winning the prize for target shooting.

"A little later, I was sent to NCO school at Swiecie, and after nine months I returned to my unit, where I was given a squad.

"I didn't mind the discipline and I didn't have any trouble from my men.

"I managed to get further with them through good humor and jokes than others did through shouting.

"I taught Morse code to the soldiers in the company and ran courses in electricity and radio navigation.

"I remember our general giving me my corporal's stripes.

"He took a good look at me, then he said:

I can see old Pilsudski was down your way.

"I already had a mustache and must have looked rather like him -- or so I thought."

Lech Walesa's advice to a greedy Polish Catholic Priest!

Page 310

"Fear takes many forms: there's fear in the face of suffering, fear if not having enough time, fear of not being able to explain oneself, fear of not doing well enough, fear of death.

"How is one to cope?

"I once knew a priest who was putting money to one side so that he would be able to afford a nurse when he was no longer able to care for himself.

You saved your millions for nothing, I told him.

If you're struck down by by some terrible disease, no one will come to care for you despite your money. But if you've been kind and generous when you were in good health, many will help you for nothing.

Source: Walesa, Lech. A Way of Hope. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc. 1987.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Salute to US Marine Sergeant Major Bradley A. Kasal!


"Even the pagan Roman Legions had a special award for the soldier who saved the life of a comrade in combat!"


Source: DAV Magazine, November-December, 2006.

TAKE NOTE: One of the benefits that comes with lifetime membership in the DAV is a lifetime subscription to this magazine!

"On Nov. 14, 2004, Marines were fighting house-to-house in Fallujah, Iraq."

The story goes on to say some Marines were pinned down by intense enemy fire and unable to escape from one corner of the action, a place later dubbed "hell house."

Then-First Sergeant Kasal, "a Weapons Company first sergeant for 3rd Battalion, Ist Marine Regiment, Ist Marine Division," said:

"I'm not going to leave Marines behind in the hands of insurgents at any cost. I was told they were wounded. I was afraid of them ending up on television being beheaded later. I knew we had to get there fast, we had to get in [into Hell House] and get them."

As the article continues, author D. Clare tells us:

"The house was a death trap. Upon entering, Kasal killed one insurgent at extreme close range. [¡Ora, UTEP! The author is talking a quema ropa here, you can bet on it!] AK-47 gunfire was erupting from all directions, and he took his first hit from behind."

While bandaging one wounded and left-behind Marine, Kasal protected him by covering an incoming enemy grenade.

When other Marines followed their First Sergeant's leadership example by also fighting their way into Hell House, Kasal refused treatment until the other wounded Marine was "treated and evacuated."

"In battle, Kasal was shot seven times and sustained more than 40 shrapnel wounds.

"According to the Marine Corps, he lost more than 60 percent of his blood from the wounds.

"Kasal lost four and a half inches of leg, and underwent more than 20 surgeries."

To me, personally, a really first class colored photo on the same page as this article says it all; it shows a tableau of three Marines, with Kasal in the middle still holding his regulation side arm.

And the caption tells us:

"Still holding his 9mm Beretta, a seriously injured First Sgt. Brad Kabal[sic.] is carried from a house by Lance Cpls. Chris Marquez [¡Ora, MEChA!] and Dan Shaffer [¡Ora, UTEP!] on Nov. 13, 2004. Though Kasal has yet to be recognized for his deeds, they have already become the stuff of legend for this generation of Marines [¡Adelante, DESTINO!]."

To which I can only say by way of an addition: "Amen to all that!"

Because Marines like Sergeant Major Kasal are the "stuff of legend" for all generations of Marines!

"Greater love hath no man than this: to lay down his life for his friend."



Sunday, December 03, 2006

Congratulations to all December 2006 UTEP Grads!

Especially to those newly minted tough young coaches, Guadelupe Aguilar, Jr. and Emilio Arce.

Not to mention those who are completing their Alternative Certification gigs such as Sam Gomez, Diana Savina, Claudia Ann Porras, and-or their MBA's like Maxie Starr Flores, plus Port Arthur, Texas, August Science grads like Jo Simien, etcetera más etcetera + so many more!

¡ Ora, MEChA! ¡Ora, UTEP! ¡Adelante, DESTINO!

¡Mexico!

"Del catolicismo al milagro santero"

Fuente: El Zócalo de Piedras Negras, Coahuila, miércoles 11 de abril de 2001. Alhelí Lara.

"Según cifras oficiales, la distribución de credo religioso en el país [La República Mexicana] es la siguiente:

Un millón 21 mil 326 practican otras religiones...

"Existen 5 mil 444 asociaciones religiosas, de las cuales: 2 mil 694 son católicas, mil 272 bautistas, 14 orientales, 57 presbiterianas, 9 judías, 7 luteranas y 6 metodistas.

"[Unos] 63 millones 285 personas mayores de 5 años son católicas [mientras] 3 millones 447 mil 507 son protestantes evangélicas. [También] 57 mil 918 son judíos. Fuente: INEGI

Además, según la autora, nos dice el sacristán mayor de la Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México. José de Jesús Aguilar:

"[En] México se buscan soluciones rápidas, mágicas y fáciles para los problemas, por ello no es raro encontrar católicos en el Mercado Sonora.

"El catolicismo ha reconocido que, en teoría, el 80 por ciento de los mexicanos son fieles a esta religión, pero sólo el 50 por ciento la practica.

"Y para los protestantes el panorama no es mejor, de acuerdo con un estudio de la Universidad International de Columbia, en México y América Latina una de cada dos personas que fueron protestantes abandonaron su credo.

"Entre las razones estuvieron la conducta del propio desertor, el dudoso manejo financiero de su iglesia, el desacuerdo con la actitud de los miembros de su congregación, el abuso de sus lideres o las presiones de amigos y familiares.

"En contraposición, la santería y otros cultos tienen cada vez más seguidores...."







Inquietud Nueva, Revista Católica de Evangelización.

Año VII No. 43 Ene. - Feb. 1992

¿Es la T.V. la mejor Niñera de Nuestros Hijos?

Así nos opina la Doctora María del C. Hidalgo y M.:

"Hay programas de televisión muy buenos, magníficos, divertidos, inteligentes, creativos.

"Hay programas de televisión asquerosos, nefastos, deprimentos, tontos, deformadores de la mente infantil.

"¿Cuáles son los que ven sus niños?"

For the Reds, Polish Catholic Priest-collaborators must have been a gold mine!

Up to 25% were in contact with Communist Secret Police!

"Hummm .. so how many might have wound up on Pope Paul II's staff at the Vatican, between 1978, say, and 1990?''


Source: National Catholic Reporter, June 2, 2000

"Cardinal apologizes for Polish Church"

"Cardinal Josef Glemp of Warsaw apologized on behalf of the Polish church for communist-era collaboration by Catholic priests, as well as for anti-Semitism and luxury lifestyles among the country's clergy.

"In a May 20 [2000] sermon marking Jubilee celebrations in the Warsaw arcdiocese, Glemp said that some Polish priests had been importuned or blackmailed into supporting communism, while others had shown a far-reaching loyalty to communist power for the sake of a quiet life or a few wretched coins.

"Up to 10 percent of Catholic priests are believed to have collaborated with a regime-ruled Patriot Priest organization, although surviving communist archives have suggested as many as one in four [25%] were in contact with the secret police.

"[Cardinal] Glemp also apologized for priests' anti-Semitism and incompetent and arbitrary management of the church's goods.

"Anti-Semitic remarks by priests were frequently reported during the 1990's, while a national church synod cautioned clergy in 1999 to give up their luxury lifestyles and ensure accountability in finances."