Array-ne December 14, 2002 - The New Orleans Police Department will commemorate the 30th anniversary of an incident known as the Howard Johnson sniper. During the encounter, which lasted about 24 hours, the sniper killed three police officers, including Deputy Superintendent Louis Sirgo, the Department’s second-in-command, before the sniper was killed by police gunfire. On this date the sniper fired on several police officers at the Central Lockup, fatally wounding an 18 year old police cadet, Alfred Harrell and wounding a police lieutenant.
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All who wear it will receive great graces - Blessed Mother
On the night of July 18, 1830, St. Catherine Laboure, a novice of the Daughters of Charity, was awakened from her sleep by a little child of extraordinary beauty and radiance whom Catherine recognized to be her guardian angel. He led her to the chapel sanctuary. After a few minutes Catherine saw a Lady descend the altar steps and proceed to seat herself in the Directors chair in the sanctuary. Catherine threw herself at the Ladys knees, conversed with her. The Lady told her that God wished to entrust her with a mission. The vision predicted the troubles which would come to France both in the near and distant future, but she gave words of confidence to Catherine. She gave the remedy Come to the foot of the altar . . . There graces will be shed upon all, great and little, who ask for them. Graces will especially be shed upon those who ask for them.
It was a November 27 of the same year that the Medal itself was given. In the same sanctuary Our Lady reappeared, a dazzling vision of light in which she held a globe in her hands which she told St. Catherine represented the whole world, France especially, each person in particular. On each finger there were three rings studded with gems, from the gems came rays which symbolize the graces I give to those who ask for them. The gems from which rays do not fall are the graces for which souls forget to ask. At this point the golden ball vanished from Marys hands, her arms swept wide in a gesture of motherly compassion, from her jeweled fingers the rays of light streamed upon the white globe at her feet. On the globe was a serpent crushed beneath Our Ladys feet. An oval frame formed around the Blessed Virgin, and within it in letters of gold Catherine read the words: O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
The voice spoke again: Have a medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces: they should wear it around the neck. Graces will abound for persons who wear it with confidence. The tableau revolved, and Catherine beheld the reverse of the medal she was to have made. It contained a large M surmounted by a cross. Beneath the M were the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the one crowned with thorns, the other pierced with a sword. Twelve stars encircled the whole. The vision then disappeared. Later at the request of her confessor, who was charged with having the medal struck, Catherine asked the Virgin in prayer if there should be words on the back to balance those on the front, and she received the verbatim reply: The M and two hearts express enough.
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I’ve only had two days of class - two three hour classes with a two hour break between - and it boggles me how draining it is to sit and listen all day. By the time I get home I’m completely incapable of forming a coherent sentence. This however does not stop me from knitting. I can’t talk about what I’m knitting because it’s for x-mas gifts and I don’t want to worry about hiding my blog from my family, but the current project is coming along nicely.
So here’s my observation. I’m in a program with 18 other students, 2 of whom are male. This doesn’t surprise me, I expected it. Coming from a Psych degree at the University of Guelph (70:30 female to male) I’m used to it. During our ice-breakers/introductions one of the guys twice commented on being in the minority. This got me thinking. I can’t even imagine a woman in the same situation standing up and saying I see Im in the minority.” Its interesting how much this little statement draws attention to how people take for granted that men are used to being surrounded by other men. Theyre used to the boys club. As women, when were the minority in a classroom or workplace, its nothing to remark on. We take for granted that this will be the case. Unless its a traditionally female discipline, then men are treated like some precious commodity. Yes, Im a little bitter, but I think its fair. And mostly I just think its important to notice these things. That way we avoid getting complacent and thinking that theres no work left for feminists. Me, I think its great that an Arts Admin program is mostly women. Maybe ten years from now the big cultural organizations wont be dominated by old white guys in the leadership roles, itll be interesting to take part in that shift.
Just a thought.
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British newspapers have been almost willing the England team to lose to Poland so they can get their pound of flesh, in this case the England manager Sven Goran Erikkson. I would say this was a typically nasty piece of good ole British xenophobia (these Swedes, they come over here, take our jobs, steal our women) but knocking the England football manager is a way of life.
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-ne When reflecting upon cohabitation and sexual relations before marriage, it may appear that critics over-accentuate the role of passion or sex. There is a prominent Catholic theologian, Dr. William May, who despite having a wife and children is often criticized by progressives as being too rigid, even though many of these same critics are either ex-priests or religious, thinkers in bad marriages, or clergymen who think that they can challenge the lived experience of this layman who finds the road of fidelity to the Church teachings as the correct one. He writes: I realize that at times there may be tender and affectionate acts of genital coition between persons who are unable to give each other spousal love. And there is present an element of tragedy, of poignant sadness, and this precisely because something of crucial human significance that ought to be present is missing: the ability to give spousal love, an ability that is made possible only by the covenant of marriage. The struggle to keep love within its proper limits, as testified by the Scriptures and the Church, can only make us stronger in living out this love fully when it is consecrated in marriage. I say most because a select few are called to find their most intimate companionship in a single-hearted love of God alone.
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I knew, kind of, that Sunnyvale was in this place called silicon valley, and there were a lot of electronics companies down here, and frankly that was as appealing to me as meeting Elf’s friends. I hadn’t expected to be this thrilled with it all, but I walked around in a daze that entire weekend (although getting laid the first night I was there probably contributed a little to the mysticism), It was only maybe 6 months before I moved down to the valley to work at the aforementioned McAfee Associates with my boyfriend and a couple friends. This experience at a tiny startup run by a maniacal founder (the first of many) further solidified my view of the valley, one that I find hard to articulate. Even back then before the tech boom (and some would say especially back then) there was this electricity (ahem) that just seemed to well up out of the ground in silicon valley. It provided a breeding ground for the kind of creativity and ‘lateral thinking’ (to use a hackneyed phrase) that allowed growth of people and ideas that never would have occurred otherwise, and I don’t mean this in a happy, hippy sense — This was a matter of companies having the resources to try untested ideas, solutions, and ways of doing business, and for every ten of them that failed, for every dozen engineers who were just in it for the money, you had one really overwhelmingly good idea, or one really brilliant engineer (or executive) that never would have had a chance otherwise to succeed. One of the things that’s always struck me about the valley is it’s juxtaposition of old and new — Shiny glass and metal buildings housing flash-in-the-pan software companies, next to a ramshackle 60’s era strip office, two or three offices of which are occupied by a company that just makes electronics components to order that have been doing it since the 70’s. To find the hints, however sparse, of the energy that drives this place independent of the drab urban sprawl that most see when they travel into or through the valley. when most people look at Infinite Loop and see an embodiment of the valley, I see it as only one face of it — And a Johnny-come-lately at that. I can think of a thousand times I’ve felt a kind of surge and thought, Yeah, this, THIS is the valley! I haven’t thought about it as much lately, since I now work in the limbo that is the peninsula — not quite San Francisco, not quite silicon valley — and I’m not prowling around the back streets of Sunnyvale and Mountain View, but I’m aware of it’s continued blight upon the valley, if for no other reason than I can still think of more former companies than new ones. But that heartbeat’s still there, I can feel it and I can see it, and I believe it’s stronger than anything the valley’s suffering from today.
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