Tuesday, July 31, 2007

M. Auguste Ciparis at St. Pierre in 1902 !

Page 117 of Angelo Heilprin's 1905 classic, MONT PELEE and THE TRAGEDY OF MARTINIQUE.

"When I was at Morne Rouge on June 2, [1902] I knew that Ciparis was still confined there in a temporary lazaret which had been established by the faithful priest of that district, Pere Marty, but circumstances did not permit me to see him at the time, and, unfortunately, the opportunity for an interview never presented itself.

"It was a good service to history, however, to have the statement of this negro taken by so accurate a recorder as Mr. George Kennan, who had preceeded me by a number of days, and who had placed the facts which he gave to me in a published form (Outlook, July 26, 1902).

"At the time of Mr. Kennan's interview Ciparis was still showing the effects of the frightful burns which his back and legs had received, but was sufficiently composed to give a clear and dispassionate account of the physical conditions that presented themselves to him.

"As he stated his own experience, he was waiting for the usual breakfast on the 8th [of May, 1902, Ascension Thursday], when it suddenly grew dark, an dimmediately afterwards hot air, laden with ash, entered his room through the door -grating.

"It came gently but fiercely.

"His flesh was instantly burned, and he jumped about in agony, vainly calling for help.

"There was no help to come...."

TO BE CONTINUED, AGAIN !!

UTEP Prospector: Later, gator!

Until last week of August 2007!

Enjoy the all - too - short vacation, guys.

Go ahead! Sweat out getting that Pell Grant Renewal for Fall 2007, and the Stafford Secured and Un - secured Loans, too.

(Assuming that's what they're called; come to think of it, I'm not too sure these days myself.)

And, hey! Let's not forget Perkins, if they're still around, too!

"Good luck, everyone..."

George Santayana's famous quote !

Adapted from: Richard M. Klein's article "The Florence Floods," in the book Ants, Indians, and Little Dinosaurs, page 287.

"As George Santayana warned us in his Reason in Common Sense,

when experience is not retained ... infancy is perpetual.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. "

Monday, July 30, 2007

"MONT PELEE and THE TRAGEDY OF MARTINIQUE"

"A study of the great catastrophes of 1902, with observations and experiences in the field."

By ANGELO HEILPRIN -- President of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia and London: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1905.

Pages 116 - 117, of the Chapter "After the Conflagration."

"The incidents connected with the escape of the negro prisoner from Saint Pierre form one of the most striking episodes in the destruction of that city, and furnish a personal experience which is of interest in the light that it throws upon the problem of the catastrophe.

"So unique a record is perhaps not to be found in all the pages of history, and even the from the lighter vein of romance it would be difficult to extract anything that has more extraordinary relations.

"From Thursday until Sunday Auguste Ciparis was lingering in the dungeon of the city jail, knowing nothing, beyond his own wounds, of the world's tempest that had rocked over him.

"He was burned to flesh and bone, but he knew not that others had been burned like him, and more.

"His cell was windowless, and all that could be seen of the outer world came by way of the grated aperture in the upper part of the door.

"No sound penetrated to his cell, not even the tread of the keeper's footsteps came to relieve the silence of this desolate abode."

TO BE CONTINUED !!

The Latest Brackettville, Texas News !

The Brackett News, Thursday, July 26, 2007.

http://www.thebrackettnews.com/

"Former Justice of the Peace Pleads Guilty."

"More Heavy Rain Predicted."

"Judge Fritter rescinds resignation..."

"Deacon Jim Bader's Bader Ranch cows loose again."

"Young geoscientists explore Uvalde County geology."

"Area ninth graders explored some of the rich geology in Uvalde County on July 9 - 10 as participants in Young Geoscientists, a two - day field study sponsored as part of the GeoFORCE Texas Program.

"Students representing 10 Southwest Texas school districts including Brackettville, Del Rio, Dilley, Eagle Pass, Hondo, La Pryor, Nueces Canyon, Pearsall, Rocksprings and Uvalde, took part in the year's field study.

"Mr. Mike Flores and Ms. Haley Hale represented Brackettville at the recent event hosted by Southwest Texas Junior College (SWTJC)."

PHOTO CAPTION:

"Young Geoscientists students and instructors pose for a group shot near the historical markers in Ft. Inge County Park just south of the City of Uvalde.

"In the background is the 140 - foot high Mount Inge, the remains of an extinct volcano."

Friday, July 27, 2007

Move over, Johnny Depp !

Now, some real "Pirates of the Caribbean !"

"The Memoirs of Pere Labat, 1693 - 1705"

Adapted from: "Cass Library of West Indian Studies No. 8, The Memoirs of Pere Labat, 1693 - 1705."

Page 147 located in the chapter titled "Voyage to San Domingo."

"The parish church was in a street on the left of the square.

"The altar was the ugliest, worst decorated, and dirtiest affair one could possibly see.

"I cannot help saying that I was much scandalized by th elittle respect shown by the people for their religion.

"They came to church laughing and chaffing each other as if they were about to see some show or entertainment.

"Especially was this the case with those on the outside of the church, who leant on the top of the [adjoining] fence and spoke to each other much louder than I preached, continually introducing the name of God in their conversation in a manner I could not tolerate.

"I warned them to stop talking three or four times as gently as I could, but as this did no good, I was obliged to complain to some officers, who compelled them to keep silent.

"After Mass a good man told me that I must be more tolerant with the people on the coast if I intended to live with them."

Now, from the chapter titled "Captain Daniel: Pirate."

Pages 147-148.

"This pirate [Captain Daniel], finding himself short of food between the Saints and Dominica, dropped anchor at these islands [The Saints] during the night.

"Since it was peace - time no watch was kept on shore, so it was easy to for the pirates to land and seize the curé's house and other houses as well.

"The pirates then ocnducted the curé and the settlers they had captured on board their ship, and posted men to guard the hcurch and landing - place.

"They were kindness itself to their prisoners and explained that they only desired wine, brandy, chickens and other stores."

[THEN THE PIRATES ASKED FOR THE LATIN MASS, ALBEIT THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO OTHER, HEH, HEH!]

"After they had collected these items the pirates asked the curé to say Mass on their barque, and he was unable to refuse this request.

"They sent for the church ornaments, and put up an altar on the poop under an awning, and then chanted Mass lustily.

"A salvo of eight cannons marked the commencement of the service, they fired a second salvo at the Sanctus, a third at the Elevation, a fourth at the Benediction, and lastly a fifth after the Exaudiat, while the prayer for the King [of France] was followed by the most hearty Vive le Roi.

"Only one incident slightly marred this ceremony.

"One of the pirates adopted an offensive attitude during the Elevation, and on being rebuked by the [pirate] captain, he replied insolently with a horrible oath.

"Daniel promptly drew his pistol and shot him through the head and swore by God that he would do the same to anyone else who showed disrespect to the Sainte Sacrifice.

"The priest was quite startled, for this affair occurred close beside him, but Daniel said,

Do not rouble yourself, my father.

It is only a coquin who has been punished for disrespect and will not forget his duty.

"Quite an effective method, as one percieves, to prevent the poor fellow repeating his offence.

"When Mass was over, the body was thrown into the sea, and the pirates rewarded the priest for preaching on board their ship.

"They gave him several valuable presents, and as they learned that he had no slave to wait on him, they presented him with the negro that I had been asked to reclaim.

"I showed my authority to M. Auger, who ordered the Commandant of the Saints [Islands] to seize the negro and send him to Guadeloupe.

"The Carmelites told me that they would be very glad if I could arrange to purchase the slave form M. Vambel, and I was able to do so in a manner very satisfactory to them."

A real wowser of a first hand account !

Thursday, July 26, 2007

"The Pain Perplex"

Adapted from: Complications, by Atul Gawande, MD.

Page 120.

"During the Second World War, for example, Lieutenant Colonel Henry K. Beecher conducted a classic study of men with serious battlefield injuries.

"In the Cartesian view, the degree of injury ought to determine the degree of pain, rather like a dial controlling volume.

"Yet 58 percent of the men -- men with compound fractures, gunshot wounds, torn limbs -- reported only slight pain or no pain at all.

"Just 27 percent of the men felt enough pain to request pain medication, although such wounds routinely require narcotics in civilians.

"Clearly, something that was going on in their minds -- Beecher thought they were overjoyed to have escaped alive from the battlefield -- counteracted the signals sent by their injuries.

"Pain was becoming recognized as far more complex than a one - way transmission form injury to ouch."

This whole book is a fascinating read!

"Outbreak of Holy Spirit Virus !!"

Where?

St. Mary Magdalene's Catholic Church in Brackettville's Charismatic Wednesday Night Meeting!

Profile?

"Be on the alert for symtoms of inner HOPE, PEACE, JOY AND LOVE.

"The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to this virus and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions.

"This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.

"Some signs and symtoms of the Holy Spirit Virus:

"A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experience.

"An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

"A loss of interest in judging other people.

"A loss of interest in conflict.

"A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symtom.)

"Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

"Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

"Frequent attacks of smiling.

"An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

"An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

"Please send this warning out to all your friends. This virus can and has affected many systems. Some systems have been completely cleaned out because of it."

UTEP's Summer II: Ancient History !

Congratulations to all August graduates !!

¡Ora, UTEP ! ¡Ora, MEChA !

¡ Adelante DESTINO ! ¡ Viva MPO !

Latest whimsical St. Mary Magdalene Parish Memo!!

Memo to:

Parish Faith Sharing program Committee members JANIE DeHOYOS and LOURDES ZAMORA.

"Because so many non - Catholics are confused about the chaos and anarchy of the last 40 years due to the bitter struggle for supremacy between the American Catholics and the Roman Catholics here in the U.S.A., we'll be doing our own Faith sharing with any number of ministers starting this Fall, using the enlcosed materials.

"Maybe you, too, could find a use for some of it here at St. Mary Magdalene's Whole Parish Faith Sharing.

"If so, help yourself.

"If not, that's o.k., too, as there are many non - Catholics looking for explanations for the chaos and anarchy, explanations we'll be only too glad to give them!

"TWO EXAMPLES: (1) The would - be cardinal struck dead barely three days before he was to be rewarded by the Pope, why had he been so insane as to state, in effect, that Christ's Crucifixion wasn't enough?

"Thereby denying Sacred Scripture and the Roman Catholic Church's own teachings?

"And, just maybe signing his own death warrant?

"For blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

"(2) Why did Pope John Paul II's retreat master say that If we want a union organizer, we go to a Catholic Priest. If we want the Word of God, we go to a Prostestant Minister?"

"Thanks!

D...

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

"So, what do Mr. Clay Hunt of Brackettville and Ms. Alyssa Lyra Pitstick have in common?"

Answer: "They've both attended the famous Angelicum in Rome !"

"Now, thanks to Pope Benedict Sixteenth, are we ready for the Big Rat and Mole Hunt?"

How about Hans Urs von Balthasar ?

If the thesis behind Alyssa Lyra Pitsick's half of "Balthasar, Hell, and Heresy: An Exchange" -- with an American Catholic, Edward T. Oakes, S.J. writing his own defense of the would - be cardinal, is to be beleived, and I personally do, Balthasar not only blasphemed the Holy Spirit, he died for doing so.

Writing in First Things magazine, December 2006, Number 168, Pitsick tells us:

"Only his unexpected death, three days before the ceremony, prevented him from being made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.

"By reputation , he is generally considered a conservative theologian.

"Hew wrote a book about how important it was to him to be Catholic.

"Of all people, one might reasonably expect Balthasar to qualify as an ecclesial theologian.

"But does he meet his own criteria?

"It is a question asked reluctantly; however, the doctrine in question is by no means marginal to Christian faith:

"The mystery of Holy Saturday stands with Good Friday and Easter Sunday at the center of Christ's redemptive work.

"What one believes of Christ's descent into hell necessarily affects what one believes about Christ and salvation through Him."

"The contrast between Balthasar's theology of Holy Saturday and the traditional Catholic doctrine confronts us with the grave but necessary question whether the work of a theologian so reputedly Catholic is in fact compatible with the Catholic faith."

My own knee - jerk blogger's opinion?

In a nutshell, it isn't "compatible."

Not even close!

And so, if we freely adapt some of the opinions expressed by Saint Robert Cardinal Bellarmine around 400 years ago, that even Roman Catholic (and hence not just American Catholic!) theologians are indeed vulnerable to Satanic seduction, and in Balthasar's case maybe 'way more than that, then mere seduction, we might say, in old - fashioned biblical terms: "he died in his sins."

Which would go far to explain why he was struck dead in so timely a manner: this wretchedly perverse and unhappy fellow just might have made a diabolical pact with Satan and was awarded accordingly in proportion to his offense of formal, published blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner quotes Rabbi Milton Steinberg !

In his book, When Bad Things Happen To Good People, page 13.

"As Rabbi Milton Steinberg has written, Consider the pattern of human affairs: how falsehood, having no legs, cannot stand; how ewvil tends to destroy itself; how every tyranny has eventually invoked its own doom.

Now set against this the staying power of truth and righteousness.

Could the contrast be so sharp unless something in the scheme of things discouraged evil and favored the good ?"

While Rabbi Kushner cites Rabbi Steinberg's book, Anatomy of Faith, I'm not having much luck so far in locating this quote, though I've a copy of the book itself !

On interlibrary loan from the old Pan American College Library of Edinburg Texas, where my mom graduated back in the 1960s...

Monday, July 23, 2007

"Ms. Garcia earns Dean's List honors at Texas A & M Corpus Christie."

"Texas A & M University - Corpus Christie has announced Ms. Analisa Clarissa Garcia of Brackettville as one of the the honorsees for the Dean's List for the 2007 Spring Semester.

"Ms. Analisa Clarissa Garcia is majoring in Chemistry at the College of Science and Technology.

"To qualify, undergraduates must be enrolled full time with a minimum of 12 semester hours and must earn a grade point average of 3.65 or better on a 4.0 scale."

The Brackett News, Thursday, July 19, 2007.

Today's Catholic has a special section on Pope Benedict and the Latin Mass, etc.

To try your luck with online edition, just click on:

http://www.satodayscatholic.org/

"Capt. Alvin McClure makes his comeback."

"Kinney County Jail Captain Alvin McClure made his long awaited return to work after being bitten on the left hand by a rattlesnake.

"McClure joked that with all the unexpected attention he received, it was just sad that he was not running for public office."

www.thebrackettnews.com

"Proud mama! Sarah Terrazas' two daughters graduate from college."

One from Temple Community College, and the other from UTSA .

The Brackett News, Thursday, July 12, 2007.

Doctor Atul Gawande:

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science.

"Complications is a book about medicine that reads like a thriller." MALCOLM GLADWELL.

"Gawande has taken the art of physician narrative to a new level." The Nation.

For me, well, hey! Since we've just got it from Kinney County Interlibrary Loan, I suspect I'd better get to reading it.....

www.picadorusa.com

"What's New at UTEP ?"

www.utep.edu/prospector

"Making UTEP Student Friendly!"

¡ Guau ! Wow !

"UTEP LiveMAIL Fiasco !! "

Boy, now that is news !! (heh, heh!)

Summer II rapidly coming to a close !!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

German "Catholic" priests now in open rebellion ??

www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=51676

Germans, true to type go with the heretical flow !

"Whopee, so why should we care ?"

George Cardinal Pell: The Inconvenient Conscience...

Adapted from: First Things, May 2005. Number 153.

Quote from John Henry Newman's Letter to the Duke of Norfolk. (quoted, in turn, he says, " in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.")

"Conscience is not a long - sighted selfishness, nor a desire to be consistent with oneself; but it is a messenger from Him, Who, both in nature and grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by His representatives.

"Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ."

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

"If you want to know who dies in Harry Potter, the answer is simple: God"

Adapted from Lev Grossman's commentary: Time, July 23, 2007, page 15.

"Harry Potter lives in a world free of any religion or spirituality of any kind.

"He lives surrounded by ghosts but has no one to pray to, even if he were so inclined, which he isn't.

"What does Harry have instead of God?

"[Author Joanne] Rowling's answer, at once glib and prfound, is that Harry's power comes from love.

"This charming notion represents a cultural sea change.

"In chosing Rowling as the reigning dreamer of our era, we have chosen a writer who dreams of a secular, bureaucratized, all - too - human sorcery, in which psychology and technology have superseded the sacred.

"When the end comes, where will it leave Harry?"

More from Raht's The Romance of Davis Mountains and Big Bend Country ...

Page 378:

"1913 Jack Howard, river guard, was killed by Lina Baiza, who also wounded J.A. Harrick, Inspector of the Texas Cattle Raisers Association. A year later Baiza was killed near Pilares, Mexico, by officers of the law."

Penelope D. Johnson: Equal in Monastic Profession..

Adapted from: Johnson, Penelope D. Equal in Monastic Profession: Religious Women in Medieval France.

Page 184.

"The presence of second - rate priests in poor nunneries contributed to spiritual and moral necrosis, a decay that could not be halted with orders and punishments in place of the badly needed financial remedy."

"NECROSIS -- The pathologic death of living tissue."

Humm ... maybe we can apply this to the American Catholic Church of today, huh ??

UTEP's Administration Finally Meets its Match !!

"Liberal institution collapses and it's no big surprise"

Adapted from George Will's column in The San Antonio EXPRESS - NEWS, Monday, July 16, 2007.

"Antioch College officials met with alumni, faculty and community members to answer questions regarding the decision to suspend operations at the college in July 2008." -- Photo caption --

"Although laugable, Antioch was not funny.

"Former public radio correspondent Michael Godfarb matriculated at what he calls the sociological petri dish in 1968.

"In the first week, he twice had guns drawn on him, once in fun and once by a couple of drunken ex - cons -

"whom one of my classmates, in the interest of breaking down class barriers, had invited to live with her.

"A true Antiochean still, Goldfarb says:

"I do think I was made stronger for having to deal with these experiences.

"Steven Lawry -- Antioch's fifth president in 13 years -- came to the college 18 months ago.

"He told Scott Carlson of the Chronicle of Higher Education about a student who left after being assaulted because he wore Nike shoes, symbols of globalization.

"Another left because, she told Lawry, the political climate was suffocating:

"They all think they are so different, but they are just a bunch of conformists.

"Carlson reports that Lawry stopped the student newspaper's practice of printing announcements containing anonymous, menacing threats against other students for their political views."

Oh, my goodness! Shades of UTEP's Dr. Peter Golding's Interuniversity Studies 2350 (or whatever it's called!), back in Spring 2004...




UTEP shaken by Shakespearean - style homicide ...

"UTEP criminal justice faculty slain by husband"

By Victor Santana - Melgoza, Entertainment Editor, UTEP Prospector, July 11, 2007.

"On July 1, Joni Arnett Eastman [26], lecturer in the criminal justice departement, was shot to death.

"The El Paso Police Department confirmed that her husband, 49 - year - old Walter Eastman, committed the murder before killing himself in the couple's West Side home.

"Dr. Eastman had a successful dentistry practice in North East El Paso and the couple had two small children."

www.utep.edu/prospector

Saturday, July 14, 2007

"The Gospels -- Direct testimony or late writings ?"

The debate on dating the Gospels is still open ...

Adapted from Marie - Christine Ceruti - Cendrier's article in the homiletic & pastoral review, Jnauary 2005.

"Nearly every day new clues are found indicating that the Gospels were originally written close to the time of Jesus.

"Let's be straightforward: I believe the Gospels to be direct testimonies that tell real and non - mythic or symbolic facts.

"I do not believe it by fideism -- not because of my faith -- but because I have rational, scientific, carefully researched reasons to do so.

"Indeed, we who affirm the absolute historicity of the Gospels are now only a small minority.

"Although this truth of the faith was strongly asserted by the Second Vatican Council and has been believed by millions of Catholics throughout the centuries of Christianity, we nowadays seem to be considered as outsiders.

"Let's examine here the different aspects of the situation..."

And so, she does ! And we do, too!

Thus she tells us:

"Nearly every day new clues are found indicating that the Gospels were originally written close to the time of Jesus.

"As noted above, based largely on speculation, many exegetes continue to assert that the Gospels were written after A.D. 70 by authors who never knew Jesus, any of the Apostles or any other eyewitnesses to Jesus.

Later on she adds:

"Here we reach the biggest mystery of today's Christian exegesis -- with the exception of Orthodox exegesis:

"All these discoveries testify that our faith is not in vain, that it rests upon real historic facts and should be welcomed with a relevant enthusiasm; instead, they are met with silence or worse."

Marie - Christine Ceruti - Cendrier is a professor in the Department of Theology of the European Humanities University, Minsk, Belarus. She and her husband Gianni, an Italian diplomat, reside in Rome. This is her first article in HPR.

Hooray for Cardinal Francis Arinze, "El Africano" !!

"Pro multis means for many, Vatican says"

www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=47719

Friday, July 13, 2007

Grit July / August 2007 !!

"The case of the disappearing honeybees"

Adapted from: Laura Weldon, Grit, July / August 2007.

"Honeybees are absolutely critical to the health of the environment." She quotes one Kim Flottum.

"Honey isn't the whole story on bees.

"Honeybees are responsible for about a third of the food we consume.

"Apples, sunflowers, cherries, melons, squash -- you name it, they pollinate it.

"More than 4,000 natural pollinators, including butterflies and bumblebees, actually live in North America, but habitat loss and modern farming practices have left much of the workload to the busy bee herself, Apis mellifera.

"In recent years, the honeybee population has been decimated by pests and diseases ..."

A good read!

For more info, our author suggests, among others:

www.Xerces.org (she tells us to click on "Pollinator Conservation").

Three Long Horn Breeds of Cattle !

No. 1:

Ankole - Watusi

"The Ankole - Watusi is an extremely heat - tolerant animal that's easily recognized by its broad - based and long horns.

"In North America, the breed is raised for beef, genetic conservation and the rodeo industry.

"East Africans prize the Ankole - Watusi for its milk, which contains 8 to 10 percent butterfat."

"Calving ease, disease resistance and ability to browse are among the breed's other traits."

Adapted from Grit, July / August 2007.

More on this breed:

www.AWIR.org

UT Pan Am Prez cleared of do'n it with state funds !

"She has reimbursed $7,069 for using university staff"

Adapted from: MELISSA LUDWIG, San Antonio Express - News Staff Writer, Thursday, July 12, 2007.

"University of Texas Pan American president Blandina Bambi Cárdenas has reimbursed the university $7,069 after an audit by the University of Texas System found maintenance work and lawn care done by university staff at her Edinburg home was personal, not business related.

"Spurred by an anonymous tip, the audit blamed sloppy accounting rather than ill intent on Cárdenas behalf."

Oh, my, let me see:

"I'm female, I'm Hispanic, I'm a victim of bad, wicked (thus hopefully male) enemies!"

In any case, Bambi seems to have had enough sense to pony up and otherwise keep her mouth shut.

"Thieves loot little league snack shack"

"Thieves broke into the Kinney County Little League concession stand the night of [July] 3, and cleaned out more than $500 worth of sodas, chips and candies."

www.thebrackettnews.com

"Councilwoman Flores submits petition to fire city secretary"

"Upon her late arrival to the regular Brackettville City Council Meeting, Alderwoman Mary Flores, hand delivered a petition to Bonnie Mayes calling for her removal as City Secretary and then quietly took her seat on July 10.

"The petition, however, did not include any signatures and was filled with grammatical and typographical errors."

Both items from:

The Brackett News, Thursday, July 12, 2007.

www.thebrackettnews.com

Thursday, July 12, 2007

"Egresa Cecytec Morelos 125 nuevos profesionalistas"

Adaptada de LINDA MILAN, Zócalo / Piedras Negras, Sábado 7 de Julio de 2007.

www.zocalo.com.mx

"En lucida ceremonia que tuvo lugar en las instalaciones del plantel se llevó a cabo la graduación de la XI generación de profesionistas en Administración y Electricidad, egresados del Centro de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos General Roque Gonzálex Garza, de Morelos, Coahuila."

¡ Viva Morelos, Coahuila !

¡ Y el monasterio de las monjas Carmelitas discalzadas allá !

"Nieva en Buenos Aires después de 89 años !"

"Sorprende a argentinos el manto blanco; desde 1918 no veían ese espectáculo."

El Zócalo / Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. Martes 10 de Julio de 2007.

" ¡ Gladis fue a la casa de su rival ! "

"Disputan a navajazos el amor de un hombre"

"Primero se dan de golpes, luego una saca el arma, la otra se la quita y le da por la espalda..."

"When we need a labor leader we go to our parish priest..."

WHY DO CATHOLICS BECOME EVANGELICALS ?

Adapted from: Homiletic & Pastoral Review, article by Father Gerald J. Mendoza, December 2006.

"..when we need the word of God we go to the
Prostestant pastor."

WHY DO CATHOLICS BECOME EVANGELICALS ?

"In an article entitled The Glory and Power of the Gospel, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa -- preacher to the papal household -- in a retreat for 1,500 priests and seventy bishops has shockingly described the state of the Catholic Church in Latin America by noting that Catholics there proclaim that,

When we need a labor union we go to our parish priest; when we need the word of God we go to the Prostestant pastor,

"and that,

In Latin America the Catholic Church has made an option for the poor and the poor have opted for the Protestant Churches.

"Ralph Martin too, has noted that, in 1991, Pope John Paul II called a consistory to examine what could only be described as a hemorrhage of the Catholic faithful to Evangelical Protestantism."

Good reading? You betcha' !

UTEP Senior Engineering Major Leonardo Barreda !!

He's been accepted as an intern by the NASA Academy...

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

Read on ....

www.utep.edu/prospector

"Alamo Village to host annual gunfighters competition."

The Brackett News, Thursday, July 5, 2007.

www.thebrackettnews.com

"With an outstanding panel of judges, Virginia Shahan will host the Eighth Annual Gunfighter Competition at the famous Alamo Village on Saturday, July 7."

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

"Spofford Mayor dies at 95."

The Brackett News, Thursday, July 5, 2007.

www.thebrackettnews.com

Mr. J.B. Herndon

February 15, 1912 - June 30, 2007.

R.I.P.

Monsenhor Fernando Areâs Rifan ...

Bispo Eleito Coadjutor da Administraçao Apostólica Pessoal Sao Joao Maria Vianney.

"Nascido na cidade poema de Sao Fidélis, R.J. em 25 de Outubro de 1950, filho único de pais católicos Sr. Bady José Rifan, bancario, e Sra. Jovelina Areâs Rifan (Dna. Jove) florista e dona de casa, fez seus estudios primários e secundários em Sao Fidélis, entrando no Seminário diocesano aos 12 anos de idade."

"PAPAL LETTER ON NINETEEN SIXTY - TWO MISSAL"

"Summorum Pontificum"

We might try cruising along on this link, to find original Zenit article!

"Good luck.."

http://www.zenit.org/article-20071?!l=english

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

GABRIEL GARCIA MORENO (1821 - 1875) ...

Adaptada de: Ponce, Pilar. Gabriel Garcia Moreno. Madrid: historia 16 - Quorum, 1987.

Página 132.

"El 6 de agosto de 1875 García Moreno caía asesinado frente al palacio presidencial a plena luz del día, con veinte heridos en el cuerpo, entre las cuales se contabilizaron catorce machetazos.

"Protagonizaba así una de las escenas más sangrientas y recordadas en la historia política del Ecuador.

"Virtualmente destrozado por la acción del machete y los disparos recibidos, tuvo una agonía inexplicablemente larga ya que, según cuentan, fue trasladado aún con vida a la iglesia de la Compañia de Jesús, muy cerca del lugar de los hechos, donde finalmente murió."

Página 135.

"Personalmente considerado como santo o diablo, fanático religioso o católico devoto, traidor o forjador del Estado ecuatoriano, su herencia política quedó marcada así mismo por la ambiguedad."

Monday, July 09, 2007

"Inglaterra sta molto, molto male !!"

Adapted from: Dalrymple, Theodore. Our Culture, What's Left of It, Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2005.

"The Uses of Corruption"

page 197.

"When I worked in East Africa, I saw an instructive contrast between an Italian and a British construction project within a few miles of each other.

"The British construction workers were drunken, violent, debauched, and dirty, without shame or dignity.

"Utterly egotistical, yet without much individuality, they wrecked hugely expensive machinery when drunk, without a moment's regret, and responded with outrage when reprimanded.

"They intimidated their managers, who made little attempt to control them.

"They were truly representative of a population that has lost any pride in itself or in what it does, and that somehow contrives to be frivolous without gaiety.

"By contrast the Italians were hardworking, disciplined, and clean, and could enjoy themselves in a civilized way even in the African bush, drinking without drunkeness or that complete loss of selfc- control characteristic of today's British.

"Unlike the British they never became a nuisance to the local population, and everyone saw them as people who had come to do a job of work.

"At once more social and more self - reliant than their British counterparts, they were men whose dignity had not been destroyed by a culture of dependence."

Outrage by apostate bishops over Pope Benedict's decree !!

"I will obey the Pontiff, but it is a day of grief. The reform is canceled."

"Pos , ¿qué crees guey?" (je, je)

Monsignore Luca Brandolini tells all !

"Here is the full interview granted by him to [the] Italian daily La Repubblica (Sunday edition):

"The episcopal ring which I carry on my finger belonged to archbishop Annibale Bugnini, the father of the Conciliar liturgical reform.

"I was, at the time of the Council, a disciple of his and a close co-worker.

"I was close to him when he worked in that reform and I always recall with how much passion he worked for liturgical renewal.

"Now, his work has been canceled."

To read the whole she-bang:

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/

Friday, July 06, 2007

"Sacred Heart Badges and Photographs of Our Lady in the Middle East"

Adapted from Crusade, an American TFP publication, May / June 2007.

By Gary Isbell.

"As 2006 ended, TFP - America Needs Fatima sent 10, 000 Sacred Heart badges and beautiful photographs of Our Lady of Fatima to our troops in Iraq.

"Major James Harvey, who has been enthusiastically active in the distribution, is our contact in this endeavor."

"Why are snipers a routine part of the Holy Father's security?"

Ans., from This Rock, February, 2006.

"In addition to being the spiritual head of the Catholic Church, the pope is the temporal head of Vatican City.

"In other words, he is a head of state.

"The U.S. president and the queen of England have fully armed security details, so it should not be a surprise that the Pope does as well.

"Do not forget that John Paul II survived an assassination attempt in 1981.

"It makes sense that the Vatican would seek to prevent anyone else from trying again to harm the pope."

"Do Jews Believe in Purgatory?"

Taken from This Rock, February, 2006, a Catholic religious publication.

Page 42.

"Do Modern Jews believe in purgatory, as 2 Maccabees 12:45 speaks of prayers for the dead?"

ANS.

"Although the theology of the afterlife is not highly developed in Judaism (which is due in part, to Judaism's emphasis of this life), traditional modern Jews offer prayers and memorials on behalf of their deceased loved ones.

"They do not recognize the Catholic doctrine of purgatory per se, but their actions are in line with Catholic concern for the souls of the deceased.

"In any event, the books of Maccabees are usually not included in the modern Jewish canons of Hebrew Scripture and are considered by most modern Jews to be apocryphal."

THE ROMANCE OF DAVIS MOUNTAINS AND BIG BEND COUNTRY ...

By Carlysle Graham Raht. This is a 1963 reprint of his circa 1918 original, when the main man was still very much around!

Adapted from pages 64 - 65, where he is talking about the Great Comanche War Trail that ran from Texas 'way down into Mexico....

"Among the habitual tenants of this great trail, the Comanches were easily the lords.

"Their flag of sovereignty was lowered to one necessity only -- the lingua franca of the Trail, the Spanish language.

"This concession was granted because the Kiowa, the Utah, the Cheyenne, the Apache, and Comanche, each in time, learned some Spanish from his Mexican captive while the captive in turn became a good Indian, and at the same time a good intrepreter.

"[S]o it came about, as has often happened among the languages of the world, that the tongue of the vanquished became the tongue of the warrior.

"This was aided in many ways by the language common to the Indians of the Spanish Southwest, so that on the trail these Indians of divers races and tongues had a common language which was foreign to each one of them."

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Junction, Texas to Mexico City !!

Eighty - two days by covered wagon in 1890.

Two English ladies with Winchesters ready to hand !!

Plus a tag - a - long homeboy or two for escort ...

Texas Ranch Life, by Mary J. Jaques, reprint of 1894 ed.

Pages 264 - 265.

"Having passed Bracketville [sic.], Fort Clark, and Las Moras Creek, we entered Spofford Junction seven days after leaving Fort Territt and at once perceived a great improvement in the roads.

"Spofford Junction is a station on the South Pacific line, where it joins the Mexican International Railway, which was opened for traffic on March 1, 1888.

"About fifteen miles from Eagle Pass we came across a large cow outfit, and traveled with it some distance.

"Mr. Langford, the boss, [furnished] us with information concerning our route.

"This being Sunday, and grass and water plentiful, we determined to halt for the night where we were and enter Eagle Pass the following morning..."

Monday, July 02, 2007

UTEP Dean of Students fed up with IT !!

"SGA to hold new presidential elections"

By Thalia I. Longoria, Editor in Chief, the UTEP Prospector, June 27, 2007.

Note:

Every since Mr. ART LONGORIA was cheated out of his rightful place in last year's (2006) UTEP Student Government Association elections, things have gone from bad to worse, or so it seems!

"Three months after the 2o07 Student Government Association elections began, the presidential position is still up for grabs.

"The four candidates that ran for president in March could be the only choices for the upcoming election, or the new senate could choose to add more people to the ballot."

Finally, after further discussion of a variety of election issues:

"UTEP's Information Technology (IT) may no longer take part in SGA elections, Dean of Students Julie Wong said.

"Whether you like the people running it or not, that (SGA) is where students go to voice their concerns, Wong said.

"Not having an SGA -- that would be crazy."

Try this site for more info:

www.utep.edu/prospector

Jesus Christ + Groucho Marx = Godspell ??!!

"Count Godspell as one of God's good gifts "

Adapted from Today's Catholic, June 22, 2007.

By Patsy Pelton.

SAN ANTONIO . "From the song, All Good Gifts, in the musical Godspell, the lyrics speak to the audience to see that all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above ... then thank the Lord.

Throughout the four performances of Godspell, held June 7 - 10 at St. Pius X Church, the audience did just that -- thank the Lord for the gifts and talents of the young people of the cast, technical crew, directors and supporting adult members.

"One major hurdle happened three days before the first performance when the actor portraying Jesus had to step down.

"[UTSA student Josh] Hernandez, as music director, had been at every rehearsal.

"He said yes to the need to be Jesus."

As the actor tells us:

"I prayed to get it all together in time for the first show.

"Hernandez played the part flawlessly, down to the Groucho Marx parody and vaudeville - style aside comments throughout the production..."

Pick up this current issue at any San Antonio Diocesan Church to read more !!