Recently, foodie travel writer Tasha Dahl of Minneapolis made the trek south to Mankato for some good local eats. Having experienced Mankato previously, she frequented her usual stops as well as a few new finds on this trip. Read all about her weekend adventure in Mankato!
Let's be clear: North Mankato and Mankato are in different counties. I learned this from fine Kato-ins on my first weekend trip there several years ago. And with each subsequent trip since, I learn something else. But mainly I've gathered that every time I head down from Minneapolis for a weekend, I come back happy. There's something unassuming and comfortable about it. The people of Mankato like to hang out with low pretentions. I wish I could bottle that perfect mix of small town and big city, where everyone knows each other but new things are popping up each month. With so many cult-status eating and drinking establishments serving up fast Mexican, pizza, and practically free diner breakfast, along with a bevy of sweets and treats, it's always quite the caloric affair. Upon each visit, a new place has opened its doors.
And let's talk about the interesting music thing happening for a second: I like that I can be outside at an amphitheater with a rack of ribs among people from farms one night, to a small underground (but on the second floor) venue or the back room of a classic bar and restaurant across town the next. There's a big brewery and nearby gorgeous winery/distillery, a tattoo shop in an old mansion, and a city sculpture art crawl, and while I wouldn't dare insult residents by calling it cosmopolitan, it has its moments. The city blends hipness and familiarity, and that needs to be experienced. Until next time Mankato! You've got me, two counties and all.
Cheers to all my favorite haunts, some I never miss, and others I got to check off my list this time around: Olives, Bluebird Cakery, Friesen's, The Coffee Hag, The What's Up Lounge, The Oleander, Pagliai's, Zanz, Nakato, Chankaska Creek, Mankato Brewery, Wine Café, Jake's Stadium Pizza, The Wagon Wheel, Tandem Bagels, WYSIWYG.


When documentaries set out to chart lives still being lived the process can very easily become extended as it's hard to know when to draw a line under events. Even with that in mind, director Ellen Kuras couldn't have known that it'd take 23 years for her debut feature The Betrayal – a personal exploration of identity and the complex relationship between the US and the Laos fighters and their families whose sacrifices remain unrecognized to this day – to be completed.
During the Vietnam War, the United States government waged its own secret war in the neighboring country of Laos. When the U.S. withdrew, thousands of Laotians who fought alongside American forces were left behind to face imprisonment or execution. One family, the Phrasavaths, made the courageous decision to escape to America. Hoping to find safety, they discovered a different kind of war.
Epic in scope yet devastatingly intimate, featuring an exquisite score by Academy Award winning composer Howard Shore, The Betrayal is a testament to the resilient bonds of family and an astonishing tale of survival.
This marks the end of our LFF08 interviews. Be sure to send over an email to let us know what you thought of the coverage this year and the hiatus of our regular format which will return next week.


In 2015, independent observers from various countries, primarily Western nations, attended the balloting, during which President Lukashenko was still chosen to maintain his position as leader of Belarus. The foreign witnesses made various comments about the selection process and about how the polling appeared.
The Presidential election in Belarus took place this year without incident. According to observers, the selection took place both calmly and transparently. Nearly one thousand witnesses from different countries attended the October 11, 2015 election. The 2015 results calculated that President Lukashenko carried the popular vote with 83.47% selection.
While reviewing material about the 2015 election in Belarus, the most notable and repeated sentiment that was pointed out was that 2015 polling was in no way like 2010 polling. In the 2010 election, President Alexander Lukashenko retained office, receiving 79.67% of the casted votes. However, protests erupted after the election and many activists were arrested, including the runner-up candidate, Andrei Sannikov. Many Western nations felt that these elections exposed the bad practices of the Belarusian government.
General conversation with citizens showed that most were content with Lukashenko's election, as they felt he guards the country from corruption and crime and that his government focuses on maintaining social programs that help children and the elderly. A few did remark that since Lukashenko occupied the office for many years, a new president might be a good change. Overall, people worried less about the long term of the presidency and focused more on the fact that the current government meets the needs of the population.
In writing this article, our hopes were to present neutral opinions based on factual observations of the 2015 Belarusian Presidential election. The unbiased comments are from Western officials who attended the balloting, and these comments allow readers to personally judge the veracity of the participants in the election.


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Every Game of Thrones book you can read after the final season
Missing GoT already? Here's what to check out after the HBO phenomenon's finale.
Caitlin Petrakovitz
May 20, 2019 9:27 a.m. PT
Caitlin Petrakovitz Director of audience
Caitlin Petrakovitz studies the Marvel Cinematic Universe like it's a course in school, with an emphasis on the Infinity Saga years. As an audience expert, she rarely writes but when she does it's most certainly about Star Trek, Marvel, DC, Westworld, San Diego Comic-Con and great streaming properties. Or soccer, that's a thing she loves, too.
It's been more than 20 years since the book A Game of Thrones was released, but mere hours since HBO's eight-season show of the same name wrapped up. Fans have many feelings about the conclusion, and some book readers (OK, fine, maybe it's just me and my friends) are holding out hope that this isn't how the author wanted the story to end. We may never know.
For starters, GoT was not George R. R. Martin's first book. By the time it was published in 1996, Martin was already a three-time Hugo Award winner (once each for best novella, novelette and short story), an established novelist and a screenwriter (including writing episodes for the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone).
Five "official" books and eight HBO seasons later, we all know there's *a lot* more going on in Westeros and Essos than most characters will ever realize.
Disclaimer: CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the products featured on this page.
The official canon of A Song of Ice and Fire books (commonly referred to as ASOIAF) includes everything written within the main books, plus quite a few prequels, some excerpts and a couple of history and art books -- plus the prerelease Winds of Winter chapters and the graphic novels based on the main book series.
In case you haven't read the series, start there. Here's a box set, or here they are in published order:
Buy the paperback set on Amazon
GRRM has been busy over the years. In between writing the ASOIAF series, he's published other books, edited multiple sci-fi and fantasy anthologies, made numerous appearances at conferences and been quite involved with the HBO show.
To ease our pain at still not having any idea when book 6 TWOW will arrive (though GRRM gives updates occasionally) and for those Game of Thrones withdrawals, below is nearly every major related work, including some related only to the TV show. GRRM has long maintained that the series (even thought it started as a trilogy) will be seven books, with the final one rumored to be titled A Dream of Spring.
They're broken down by book canon, show-related and some non-canon works that are just fun to check out. They're not in order, and I'm not trying to say that you should read them in this order. Just have fun living in the sadness of the finale, OK?
The most evil Game Of Thrones characters ranked
Canon of the books
Writings by GRRM
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, aka the Dunk and Egg prequels: This book consolidates three previously published short stories about the adventures of Dunk (future commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall) and Egg (future King Aegon V Targaryen) and are set roughly 90 years prior to the events of the A Song of Ice and Fire series.
The Hedge Knight. Originally published in the 1998 anthology Legends, it currently exists for purchase separately only in its graphic novel format.
The Sworn Sword. Originally published in the 2003 anthology Legends II, it can also be purchased separately only in graphic novel format.
The Mystery Knight. Published in 2010 in the cross-genre anthology Warriors. It cannot be purchased separately at the moment in any format, though Random House previously announced plans to produce the graphic novel version of the novella almost two years ago.
Plans for more of the Dunk and Egg's adventures have been discussed by GRRM more than once.
Buy A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms on Amazon
GRRM
Other released prequels, short stories: There have been a few published stories that take place in-world, and they're also buried in published anthologies.
The Dangerous Women anthology, published in 2013, features an abridged version of The Princess and the Queen, Archmaester Gyldayn's story of the warfare between Targaryen women. You can read an excerpt here.
The Rogues anthology, published in 2014, features Everybody Loves a Rogue, an introduction to the anthology, and an abridged version of The Rogue Prince, or, The King's Brother. This story is a prequel to The Princess and the Queen, and is also "written by" Archmaester Gyldayn.
Fire & Blood: A book of Targaryen history.
Buy Fire & Blood on Amazon
Novellas: These are essentially excerpts of chapters and were published in magazines, either ahead of or directly following the release of their book publication. If you've read all the books, you've probably seen these writings in an updated format, but I've included them for the sake of completeness.
Blood of the Dragon, published in July 1996 in Asimov's Science Fiction, the novella would appear the following month as a Daenerys chapter in Game of Thrones.
Path of the Dragon, published in December 2000, in Asimov's Science Fiction, this novella is based on a Daenerys chapter that had been published in that year's Storm of Swords.
Arms of the Kraken, published in August 2002 in Dragon magazine, this novella would later become the Iron Islands chapters of Feast for Crows that feature the Kingsmoot.
The Ice Dragon: A short story published originally published in 1980, it reads like an in-world fairy tale and is generally accepted as canon (but this is disputed by some).
Buy The Ice Dragon on Amazon
Winds of Winter chapters: Ever since A Dance with Dragons was released, fans have been wondering when the next book will be published. While the pressure hasn't sped up his writing, GRRM had previously taken to releasing some chapters sporadically on his personal website or reading others in person at certain appearances. Below is the list of the chapters, and here is where you can find them:
Arianne Martell (two chapters)
Ser Barristan Selmy
Alayne
Aeron "The Damphair" Greyjoy
Now playing: Watch this: Game of Thrones season 8 finale: Our watch has ended
Written with the involvement of GRRM
The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones. Released in 2014, this history book is filled with fun facts, interesting tidbits and things you never thought you wanted (or needed) to know.
Buy The World of Ice & Fire on Amazon
The Lands of Ice & Fire. This is actually a collection of 12 poster-sized maps. In the same vein as the history book, it features depictions of cities and places not discussed in the books as of yet. It has been stressed that the maps herein do not to represent the entire world and are not intended to be perfect, instead they are more like depictions of the Maester-known world.
Buy The Lands of Ice & Fire on Amazon
Game of Thrones graphic novels. Four graphic novel volumes, each of which consists of six comics, adapting the story of the first book in the series. They offer no new information, but feature a preface by GRRM, as well as commentary from his longtime editor, Anne Groell.
Buy Volume One of the graphic novels on Amazon
Published order of canon stories
A Game of Thrones (ASOIAF Book 1)
The Hedge Knight (Dunk & Egg story 1)
A Clash of Kings (ASOIAF Book 2)
A Storm of Swords (ASOIAF Book 3)
The Sworn Sword (Dunk & Egg story 2)
A Feast for Crows (ASOIAF Book 4)
The Mystery Knight (Dunk & Egg story 3)
A Dance with Dragons (ASOIAF Book 5)
The Princess and the Queen (Targaryen prequel)
The Rogue Prince, or, the King's Brother (Targaryen prequel)
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Dunk & Egg compilation)
Fire & Blood: (Targaryen Collection)
The Winds of Winter (ASOIAF Book 6)
????!?
A Dream of Spring (ASOIAF Book 7)
?? Never???
The Night King came and went.
HBO show-related books
3D Pop-Up Guide to Westeros from Game of Thrones: A book of detailed pop-ups of show locations including Winterfell, King's Landing and the Wall. (There's also a more expensive limited edition that includes a collectible astrolabe.)
Game of Thrones Storyboards: Collection of show storyboards from the series.
Game of Thrones Sketchbook: Exactly what it sounds like, with each page containing some background designs.
Living Language Dothraki: This is actually a book and a learning CD to help you pronounce and learn to speak Dothraki, and comes complete with basic phrases, step-by-step grammar guides and vocabulary exercises.
Game of Thrones: In Memoriam: An account of all the show's dead up to season 5.
Game of Thrones: The Poster Collection Book, Volume II and Volume III: Exactly what it sounds like, these books are made up of removable posters, with the first including a detailed map of Westeros.
Game of Thrones: The Noble Houses of Westeros Seasons 1-5: This book is an illustrated look at the show, with photography, sigils, profiles, and family trees and histories. It can only be found used on most sites around the web (including Barnes & Noble).
Inside HBO's Game of Thrones: Released in 2012, this book covers the production of the show through its first two seasons and includes a preface by GRRM, spectacular set photos and interviews with cast members.
Inside HBO's Game of Thrones, Seasons 3 & 4: Like the original, this 2014 book features behind-the-scenes look at the making of the successful show.
Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion: Published in 2013, this funny book features Tyrion's best one-liners paired with illustrations.
More related works
The Official A Game of Thrones Coloring Book. Featuring almost 100 pages of drawings for you to obsess over.
Game of Thrones Tarot: Let the characters help clear up your future.
Limited edition Game of Thrones Moleskines: For your own lists.
Beyond the Wall. A collection of essays about author GRRM and his influences.
The Art of Ice & Fire, Volume I and Volume II. Both books feature paintings and artwork inspired by ASOIAF.
A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook to A Game of Thrones. Published in 2012, this official cookbook features a foreword by GRRM.
Various games, both virtual and board games, including:
Game of Thrones Catan: The classic tabletop game with some GoT additions.
Game of Thrones Trivia: Based on the first four seasons of the HBO show.
Game of Thrones Risk Board Game, Skirmish Edition: Risk with a decidedly Westerosi twist.
Monopoly Game of Thrones Edition: The official Hasbro version of the classic.
Game of Thrones Clue comes with a double-sided board so you can solve murder mysteries in either The Red Keep or Meereen.
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series, a video game based on the TV show, is available in various formats including Android, iOS, Amazon, PS3 and Xbox 360, with in-app purchases for each playable "episode."
PC game A Game of Thrones: Genesis, which is also available on Steam.
Game of Thrones: The Game, available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows machines.
A Game of Thrones, The Card Game. A massive collection of cards from Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) based on the book series and first released in 2002.
A Game of Thrones, The Board Game. Also by FFG and based on the book series, the first edition was released in 2003, with the second edition in 2011.
Battles of Westeros. A two-player board game from FFG and based on the books, it was released in 2010.
Like I said in the beginning, there's a lot out there to (attempt to) satisfy you until either Winds of Winter is released or the Game of Thrones prequel arrives on HBO.
Game of Thrones stars, from season 1 through today
This post was originally published June 20, 2015, and is updated about as slowly as books are released.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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GOP Has Big Hoosier Dreams Next Year
By Shira Toeplitz
Posted October 5, 2009 at 5:41pm
In an attempt to recover the three Indiana seats they lost in the 2006 cycle, House Republicans are again setting their sights on the Hoosier State.
After failing to give any Indiana Democrat a tough challenge last cycle, Republicans already have a candidate in place against Rep. Baron Hill and said they are on the verge of recruiting competitive candidates to run against Democratic Reps. Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth.
Local and state Republicans are especially looking to target Hill and Donnelly, who they believe could be vulnerable in 2010 and beyond. Next year's races could also put some of the GOP candidates in a strong position to run again in 2012 after redistricting, which Hoosier State Republicans are poised to control.
Many Republicans view Hill's district as their best shot at picking up an Indiana seat next year, in part because it's the only district in which they have fielded an official candidate. But out of the three competitive districts, Hill's southern Indiana territory has also more consistently voted for Republicans.
Attorney Todd Young (R) entered the race against Hill in January, but it's unclear whether he might have some company. Former Rep. Mike Sodrel (R), who has faced off against Hill in the past four elections, has not ruled out running for a fifth time.
"Not prepared to make any statement for or against at this point,— Sodrel said in a phone interview on Monday. "Let's put it this way: I have not discounted that possibility, but I'm certainly not ready to make an announcement either.—
Indiana Republicans say it's unlikely that Sodrel will run next year, especially after only garnering 38 percent of the vote last time around.
National Republican Congressional Committee officials have met with Young, and GOP aides have said they would prefer he run against Hill instead of Sodrel.
Young already has the backing of several statewide officials, and former Vice President Dan Quayle is scheduled to do a fundraiser for him next month. Quayle, a former Senator from Indiana, is related to the candidate's wife.
But even Indiana Republicans acknowledge that Young will face an uphill climb against Hill.
"He needs four or five things to go right,— one Indiana operative said. "If those things break for him, then I think he's got a real chance.—
The 9th district might be particularly alluring not because of the 2010 cycle but because of the 2012 cycle. Indiana Republicans are poised to control redistricting for the first time in a couple of decades next year.
Hill is also rumored to be mulling a gubernatorial bid in 2012. Any candidate who can mount a good campaign in 2010 would be in a strong position to run again in 2012, when it could be an open-seat race.
Young said in an interview that he was not thinking ahead to 2012 because his goal is to win next year.
"Candidly, I don't think much about that,— Young said. "From the beginning, I thought this district was very winnable on the one-cycle plan.—
Democratic pollster Fred Yang, who works for Ellsworth and Hill, said Hoosier Democrats have performed better in midterm election cycles because Indiana has typically voted for Republican presidential contenders. Hill, for example, lost re-election to Sodrel in 2004, then won his seat back in the 2006 midterm cycle.
But the 2008 cycle was different because a Democratic presidential candidate won Indiana for the first time in several decades.
"The thing about Indiana is it tends to go against the grain,— Yang said. "I can only speak for the 8th and 9th. They're both used to running in very tough districts regardless of who is president.—
Although most Republicans still view the 9th district as their best pickup opportunity, that could change if their desired candidate gets into the race against Donnelly. State Rep. Jackie Walorski is "thinking about it— and "seriously considering a bid— against Donnelly, according to a source close to her.
"She has been a candidate of interest certainly to the NRCC and others since [Rep. Chris Chocola] lost in 2006,— the source said.
The NRCC attempted to recruit Walorski last cycle, but she declined to run. She may change her mind this time around, though, because the national mood is poised to favor Republicans in 2010. President Barack Obama carried Donnelly's district by a 9-point margin in 2008, but President George W. Bush won there in 2004 by 13 points.
What's more, the district could also be a prime target in redistricting. With Rep. Peter Visclosky (D) representing a safe Democratic seat to the west of Donnelly's district and safe Republican districts on all other sides, the 2nd district is a logical target for Republicans to redraw in their favor.
Walorski could ultimately be in a strong position if she loses in 2010 but runs again in the redrawn territory in 2012.
Many GOP operatives familiar with the state said Ellsworth's 8th district would be the toughest to take back in 2010. Even though Republicans have carried the district on the state and national level in recent cycles, Ellsworth won his election and re-election with at least 61 percent of the vote each time.
Evansville surgeon Larry Buschon (R) is considering a bid, according to several sources in the state, but he has not made an announcement yet.


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A Prayer on Washington's Birthday
A Prayer on Washington's Birthday (TO READ IN BOOK FORMAT, OR TO PRINT THIS ARTICLE)
"On April 23, 1891, in the city of Philadelphia, a book of only twenty-four hand-written pages was purchased at public auction…. The tiny volume mentions no hidden treasure, no secret formulas, no quick roads to wealth; rather its title, The Daily Sacrifice, and its contents show that it is a prayer book, with petitions planned for the morning and the evening of each day in the week.
"Listen to only a few of its contrite pleadings: 'Pardon, I beseech Thee, my sins, remove them from my presence, as far as the East is from the West, and accept… me for the merits of Thy Son Jesus Christ'!
"'Remit my transgressions … and cover them all with the absolute obedience of Thy dear Son… Jesus Christ, offered upon the cross for me'!
"'O blessed Father, let Thy Son's blood wash me from all impurities… that I may know my sins are forgiven by His death and passion'!
"'I humbly beseech Thee to be merciful to me in the free pardon of my sins, for the sake of Thy dear Son, my only Savior, Jesus Christ, who came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance'.
"Who wrote these reverent prayers, expressing a deep consciousness of sin, yet even more, a victorious faith in the mercy of God's Son…. These were the prayers of George Washington."[1]
Dear God of our Christian forefathers, the unseen yet all-powerful Creator of our Union and the Director of its destiny:
On this day, in memory of George Washington's birth, we praise you for your providence which raised up Christian leaders, such as Washington, the father and the saver of our country.
Bless us today with similar, Christ-confessing statesmen who will govern our Republic wisely in agreement with our Constitution, in order to preserve our civil and religious liberties, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life protected from all enemies both foreign and domestic, both spiritual and political!
To that end, endow our elected representatives with ample wisdom to govern by transforming their minds through your biblical law and gospel passages, as Washington's was, so that with your divine help they may aspire to act morally and unselfishly in the position entrusted to them!
Thank you for all of your past, national mercies!
Forgive us of all our present, national sins and of our national ingratitude toward you!
We pray this prayer with confidence and conviction, heavenly Father, because we pray it according to your stated will, assured by your express promise, and in the blessed name of our divine Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, hear us! Remember your pledges to help! Act on them! Amen!
"If we would preserve our liberty as a nation, we must educate our youth religiously" (George Washington).
"George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Va., on the 22d of February, 1732. His father and mother were considered good church-members of the Church of England and had the reputation of being active in its affairs. His grandfather on his mother's side was also a vestryman [a layman who, in an assembly of others, would act upon the business of the church]. A number of his ancestors made special gifts to the Church. He had been baptized within two months of his birth, and how he valued Holy Baptism is shown by the fact that he mentions it in his records. When still a boy, he wrote some stanzas in honor of Christ's birth. Before he was twenty, he was repeatedly chosen as sponsor for the children of his neighbors. His marriage to Martha Ball was solemnized in the parish-church of which he was a member and a communicant as long as he lived. It is said that, whenever he had an opportunity, even during his travels and military campaigns, he would attend divine services. According to the records he was a vestryman of his church for more than twenty years. His writings indicate that the fear of God was in him. There is no reason why we should not believe that he was a man like the centurion in the days of St. Peter of whom it is said that he was 'a devout man and one that feared God'…. He died on the 14th of December, 1799, at Mount Vernon."[2]
"Washington was so completely dedicated to his Redeemer that he wrote the Marquis de Lafayette: 'I am not ashamed to call myself a Christian, and I earnestly try to be one'. In a memorial address, commemorating the first President's death, General [Henry] Lee [III] declared, 'Washington, the savior of his country, did not disdain to acknowledge and adore his great Savior'. The United States experienced its mightiest benedictions when its leaders most reverently exalted the Lord Jesus, and, conversely, our heaviest hardships came upon us when we opposed and neglected the Gospel of His grace….
"The climax in Washington's struggle for our liberty came … when our cause seemed hopelessly lost. Many of our troops perished in below-zero weather at Valley Forge; others, half-starved and only thinly clad, were being urged to desert. In comfort and warmth at Philadelphia, Americans, enemies of Christ, attacked Washington, trying to undermine his leadership. Now, where did our country's father find strength to carry on? His officers noted that once every day, often after their staff meetings, Washington would walk into a secluded, near-by woods – but for what purpose none of them knew. Then one day pro-British Isaac Potts, a millowner and minister, passing through that grove, heard a solemn, pleading voice, and stopped. Peering through the thickets, he saw Washington, commander-in-chief of our revolutionary forces, kneeling in earnest prayers, tears streaming down his cheeks. Reverently Isaac Potts listened to the end of the intercession, and then, as Washington arose, he quickly returned to his home, no longer a Tory, but pledged to the American cause; for, he wrote, 'If there is anyone on this earth to whom the Lord will listen, it is to George Washington… Under such a commander there can be no doubt of our eventually establishing our independence, and that God in His providence has willed it so'."[3]
"Do you believe that Christ is your God and Savior? George Washington had the victorious faith which unhesitatingly and uncompromisingly answered 'Yes', and it brought him power, guidance, blessing, and finally heaven…. Have Christ's assurance chiseled on Washington's granite tomb at Mount Vernon, 'I am the Resurrection and the Life'."[4]
[1] Walter A. Maier, Go Quickly and Tell (Saint Louis: Concordia, 1950), page 63.
[2] Martin S. Sommer, "Bicentennial of the Birth of George Washington," The Concordia Pulpit for 1932, Martin S. Sommer Editor-in-Chief (Saint Louis: Concordia, 1931), page 501.
[3]Maier, 64-65.
[4] Maier, 80f.


We are half way through the challenge over at Crafting When We Can Challenges. As always the entries are fabulous so if you want to join in hop over and leave us your blinged up cards.
This Challenge we don't have an image sponsor but our wonderful Team Leader, Challenge co-ordinator and all round wonderful person who runs this Challenge Ang has put up the fabulous prize.
A $10 gift voucher for the crafty store of the winner's choice.
The only terms are that it must be a craft or stamp company, and the company of choice must sell gift vouchers in $10 denominations.
My card for this challenge is made up of Tonic dies. I have used the largest Art Nouveau layering die to make the rocker, and a combination of the Live the life you image frame and the sentiment from If friends were flowers frame set. I cut another butterfly and layered up the wings. The little flowers were made using petite petal punches and the pearls are from The Works. All the card stock is from a DCWV Christmas card stack.
Hop over to the CWWCC and leave your blinged out project and if you've followed the rule you are in with a chance of wining Ang's fab prize.


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Archive for the 'September 12' Category
Feast of St. Franciscus Ch'oe Kyong-Hwan, St. Lawrence Mary Joseph Imbert and His Companions, and Sts. Paul Chong Hasang, Cecilia Yu Sosa, and Jung Hye (September 12) 1 comment
Above: Korea, 1836
SAINT FRANCISCUS CH'OE KYONG-HWAN (1805-SEPTEMBER 12, 1839)
Korean Roman Catholic Catechist and Martyr, 1839
Also known as Choe Gyeong-Hwan and Peuranchiseuko
His feast day = September 12
imprisoned with
SAINT LAWRENCE MARY JOSEPH IMBERT (MARCH 26, 1796-SEPTEMBER 21, 1839)
French Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary to Korea, and Martyr
Also known as Saint Laurent Marie Joseph Imbert and Saint Laurent-Joseph-Marius Imbert
His feast transferred from September 21
Former feast day = June 10
SAINT PIERRE PHILIBERT MAUBANT (SEPTEMBER 20, 1803-SEPTEMBER 21, 1839)
SAINT JACQUES HONORÉ CHASTÁN (OCTOBER 7, 1803-SEPTEMBER 21, 1839)
French Roman Catholic Priests, Missionaries to Korea, and Martyrs, 1839
Their feasts transferred from September 21
SAINT PAUL CHONG HASANG (1795-SEPTEMBER 22, 1839)
Korean Roman Catholic Seminarian and Martyr, 1839
son of
SAINT CECILIA YU SOSA (DIED IN NOVEMBER 1839)
Korean Roman Catholic Martyr, 1839
Her feast transferred from September 20
SAINT JUNG HYE (DIED IN DECEMBER 1839)
September 20 = Feast of the Martyrs of Korea
One of my goals in renovating this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints' Days and Holy Days, is to emphasize relationships and influences. The chain of saints I uncovered when I began to take notes on St. Franciscus Ch'oe Kyong-Hwan fulfills that purpose.
Whenever government officials, such as monarchs–in this case, usually Queen Sunwon, the regent of the young King Yi Hwan (reigned 1834-1849) of Korea–persecute Christianity, they do so out of, among other factors, fear. They perceive the faith and its adherents as serious threats. When one considers the case of Korea in the 1800s, the foreign origin of Christianity, one must conclude that nativism, xenophobia, and fear of Western imperialism were factors in Korean politics. One must also acknowledge that national security became an excuse for the morally inexcusable, as national security frequently has, does, and will continue to do.
St. Franciscus Ch'oe Kyong-Hwan came from a Catholic family. When our saint's grandfather had converted, so had the family. St. Franciscus, born in Taraekhol, Hongjugan, Ch'ungchon'ong, Korea, in 1805, initially belonged to a wealthy family. During one of the occasional persecutions, during which the royal government executed many priests and expelled the rest, the family relocated to Seoul. Then they ran afoul of the law and lost the majority of their wealth. Subsequently the family moved to a village of Mount Suri and became tobacco farmers, as well as the nucleus of a Catholic community.
St. Franciscus, a married man and a father, was a catechist. He taught the faith in his name at night, during good times and dangerous times. In 1836 St. Pierre Philibert Maubant, a priest and missionary from the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, selected Thomas, son of St. Franciscus, to travel to Macao, to study for the priesthood. The family was proud.
In 1839, when official persecution resumed, St. Franciscus remained faithful. He raised money to help prisoners, buried martyrs, buried all the sacred objects in the village (to prevent their desecration), and continued to work as a catechist. At night, on July 31, 1839, authorities arrested the Catholic villages for being Christians and forcibly marched them to Seoul. St. Franciscus, in prison, refused to renounce Christianity, therefore suffered tortures and beatings. He found the time and will to catechize fellow prisoners, though. His wife, Maria, witnessed his death via beatings on September 12, 1839. She renounced the faith before returning to it and becoming a martyr via beheading.
Thomas, ordained a priest in 1849, served as a missionary in remote Korean villages.
St. Franciscus was in prison with St. Lawrence Mary Joseph Imbert.
St. Lawrence, born in Margane, France, on March 26, 1796, left his farming family to become a priest and a missionary. He, ordained a priest in 1819, joined the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, which sent him to China in 1820. There, from April 1821 to January 1822, our saint taught at the General College, Penang. Two years in Vietnam followed before St. Lawrence returned to China. He, based in Szechuan province in 1824-1836, founded a seminary in Moupin. On April 26, 1836, St. Lawrence became the Vicar Apostolic of Korea and the Titular Bishop of Capsa. He spent the rest of his life in Korea.
St. Pierre Philibert Maubant was a priest in Korea. He, born in Vassy, Calvados, France, on September 20, 1803, became a priest in 1829. The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris assigned him to Korea; he arrived on January 12, 1836.
Saint Jacques Honoré Chastán was another priest in Korea. He, born in Marcoux, Basses-Alpes, France, on October 7, 1803, became a priest in 1826. The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris assigned him to Thailand then to what is now Malaysia then, in 1836, to Korea.
Sts. Lawrence, Pierre, and Jacques labored faithfully in Korea. They had help from a layman, St. Paul Chong Hasang, born in 1795. St. Paul had grown up in a Catholic family. He understood martyrdom well; his father Yak Jong Church, had died for the faith in 1801, during an official persecution that also claimed the lives of all Catholic priests in Korea. During occasional persecutions St. Paul encouraged his fellow Catholics to remain faithful and tried to convince the royal government that the Church was not a threat. Our saint also lobbied bishops to send more priests to Korea and proved instrumental in the creation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Korea by Pope Gregory XVI in 1831. He was studying for the priesthood when the persecution of 1839 began.
Authorities arrested Sts. Lawrence, Pierre, Jacques, and Paul on September 6, 1839. The priests, beaten and tortured, died at Saemant'o on September 21, 1839. St. Paul died the following day.
St. Paul's mother and sister became martyrs also. St. Cecilia Yu Sosa, born in Seoul in 1761, died in prison, after repeated whippings, in November 1839. The following month her daughter, St. Jung Hye, died for the faith.
The Church has recognized all these martyrs. In 1925 Pope Pius XI declared them Venerables then beatified them. Pope John Paul II canonized them in 1984.
THE FEAST OF JOHN HENRY HOPKINS, JR., EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND HYMNODIST; AND HIS NEPHEW, JOHN HENRY HOPKINS, III, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MUSICIAN
THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE
THE FEAST OF JOHN BAJUS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs
Saint Franciscus Ch'oe Kyong-Hwan,
Saint Lawrence Mary Joseph Imbert,
Saint Pierre Philibert Maubant,
Saint Jacques Honoré Chastán,
Saint Paul Chong Hasang,
Saint Cecilia Yu Sosa, and
Saint Jung Hye
triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death:
Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving,
to be so faithful in our witness to you in the world,
that we may receive with them the crown of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 51:1-12
Psalm 116 or 116:1-8
Posted August 13, 2018 by neatnik2009 in Saints of 1800-1809, Saints of 1810-1819, Saints of 1820-1829, Saints of 1830-1839, September 12
Tagged with St. Cecilia Yu Sosa, St. Franciscus Ch'oe Kyong-Hwan, St. Jacques Honore Chastan, St. Jung Hye, St. Lawrence Mary Joseph Imbert, St. Paul Chong Hasang, St. Pierre Philibert Maubant, Yi Hwan
Feast of Frederick J. Murphy (September 12) Leave a comment
Above: College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, Circa 1906
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-det-4a12944
FREDERICK JAMES MURPHY (AUGUST 16, 1949-SEPTEMBER 13, 2011)
U.S. Roman Catholic Biblical Scholar
Also known as Rick Murphy
Rick Murphy represented, perhaps better than anyone else on campus, what it means to teach, to do research, and to offer oneself wholeheartedly to a community such as ours. He was an internationally renowned and prolific scholar and a significant, if always unassuming, presence on campus. But what motivated him was our students and his desire to give them the many tools they will need to make their own marks on the world.
Students loved Rick, and their experience in his classrooms hints at what made him so special to all of us. Nothing was better than simply to hang out with Rick. He knew and loved politics, opera, classical and contemporary music, literature and history, theology. In his fifties he learned to pilot a plane, and in that same period he assembled, by himself, from the ground up, a computer that was years ahead of its time.
But more than all of this, everyone wanted to be around Rick because he had an endless supply of himself to give. I came to Holy Cross 40 years into my life and considerably more than a decade into my academic career. But I learned anew from Rick how to be a colleague, what it means to be a friend, and, in the past five years, I learned from him how a person can confront a devastating illness with such dignity and lack of self-pity as to truly astound.
So we learned from Rick, from his approach to life, from his words, from his ideas and ideals, from his books and articles, but more than anything from the way he lived-an unparalleled life of dignity and integrity that changed us all and that leaves a cherished, everlasting legacy.
–Dr. Alan Avery-Peck, Kraft-Hiatt Professor in Judaic Studies, College of the Holy Cross, 2011
Professor Frederick J. Murphy comes to my Ecumenical Calendar of Saints' Days and Holy Days via The New Interpreter's Bible (12 volumes, 1994-2002).
Murphy, a graduate of St. John's High School, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, became an internationally renowned scholar. After graduating with his B.A. from Harvard University in 1971, Murphy joined the Society of Jesus. During his seven years as a Jesuit, he taught high school, earned his B.D. from the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and worked with poor people in South America. Our saint married his wife, Leslie, in 1980; the couple had a son (Jeremy) and a daughter (Rebecca). Murphy returned to Harvard, where he earned his M.A. then, in 1984, his Ph.D.
Murphy's academic community, to which he contributed much, was the College of the Holy Cross, a Jesuit institution in Worcester, Massachusetts. From 1983 to 2011 our saint was Professor of Religious Studies, specializing in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, Second Temple Judaism, the Historical Jesus, and apocalypticism. Murphy, the recipient of the Distinguished Teacher of the Year award in 2001, became the first Class of 1956 Professor in New Testament Studies in 2007. He was a respected colleague and professor. Like all excellent teachers, our saint taught not only the subject matter, but also intangible and no less valuable lessons. Caitlin LoCascio-King, Class of 2006, wrote the following tribute:
I was shocked and saddened to read about the passing of Prof. Murphy in my Holy Cross email earlier today. A 2006 graduate, I was a religious studies major and a member of the Student Advisory Committee for the Religious Studies Department. More importantly for this email, my fourth year I had the pleasure of creating a one-on-one course with Prof. Murphy regarding the synoptic gospels. My first year, he taught the religious studies courses for the FYP program. His students all raved, and I was determined to meet this man and take a class. My third year I took Introduction to the Old Testament with him and quickly learned what they were talking about. Based on that experience, I set my mind to creating a seminar with him and ultimately he agreed to help me form one on the gospels.
Each week, he and I would meet in his office for a couple of hours and discussed various topics on the three gospels, their applicability to ancient times, modern times, the Old Testament, the New Testament and, inevitably, our own personal lives. That seminar was more reading and more work than almost any other class I took in my four years on the Hill, but it was one of my most memorable. He taught me how to think, how to write, how to hone a critical eye. But what he really taught me was self-confidence, a new understanding of my view on academics and that sacred book and the ability to really delve into anything I work on. I can say with confidence that Prof. Murphy knew more about the gospels than I will ever forget. But I certainly will never forget him.
Murphy wrote books and articles. He contributed an article, "Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature," to Volume VII (1996) of The New Interpreter's Bible. His books were:
The Religious World of Jesus: An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism (1991), winner of the Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award in the Humanities;
Pseudo-Philo: Rewriting the Bible (1993);
Fallen is Babylon: The Revelation to John (1998), for the New Testament in Context series;
Breviary Lives of the Saints: February-May: Latin Selections with Commentary and a Vocabulary (2003);
Breviary Lives of the Saints: September-January: Latin Selections with Commentary and a Vocabulary (2003);
An Introduction to Jesus and the Gospels (2005);
Early Judaism: The Exile to the Time of Jesus (2006); and
Apocalypticism in the Bible and Its World: A Comprehensive Introduction (2012), published posthumously.
Murphy died on September 13, 2011, after a long illness. He was 62 years old.
One wonders how many more students Murphy would have helped and how much more he might have contributed to Biblical scholarship had he lived longer.
We thank you for the faithful legacy of [Frederick J. Murphy and all others]
Posted August 13, 2018 by neatnik2009 in Saints of 1950-1959, Saints of 1960-1969, Saints of 1970-1979, Saints of 1980-1989, Saints of 1990-1999, Saints of 2000-2009, Saints of 2010-2019, September 12
Tagged with Alan Avery-Peck, Frederick J. Murphy
Feast of William Josiah Irons and Genevieve Mary Irons (September 12) Leave a comment
Above: St. Mary Woolnoth Church, London, England, United Kingdom, 1900
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ggbain-50412
WILLIAM JOSIAH IRONS (SEPTEMBER 12, 1812-JUNE 18, 1883)
Anglican Priest, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator
father of
GENEVIEVE MARY IRONS (DECEMBER 28, 1855-1928)
English Roman Catholic Hymn Writer
With this post I add two saints–a father and a daughter–to the Ecumenical Calendar of Saints' Days and Holy Days.
Joseph Irons (1785-1852) had been a priest in the Church of England and a friend of John Newton (1725-1807), also a priest thereof. In 1808, however, Irons became an Independent, i.e. Calvinist, minister. He, a High Calvinist and a hymn writer, served at, among other places, Hoddeston (1812-1815), Sawston (1815-1818), and Grove Chapel, Camberwell (1818-1852). He seems to have been strongly anti-Roman Catholic, especially at the end of his life. His second son was our saint, William Josiah Irons (1812-1883), born at Hoddeston. The son became a High Church Anglican. The son's daughter became a Roman Catholic.
William Josiah Irons (B.A., Queen's College, Oxford, 1833; D.D. from the same institution, 1854) took Holy Orders in the Church of England. He served as the following:
Curate of St. Mary, Newington (1833-1837);
Incumbent of St. Peter's, Walworth (1837-1838);
Vicar of Barkway (1838-1840);
Incumbent of Brompton (1840-1870);
Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, London (1860-1883);
Bampton Lecturer (1870);
Rector of Wadingham (1870-1872); and
Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, London (1872-1883).
The last assignment made our saint a successor of John Newton, who had held that post.
William Josiah Irons cared deeply about ecclesiology and liturgy. He was also an advocate for the poor and free public education. The prolific writer thus blended liberalism with ecclesiastical conservatism. He argued against laws which harmed poor people and for the continued establishment of the Church of England. Our saint supported profound social and political changes while arguing for the continued union of church and state.
A partial list of his published works follows:
On the Whole Doctrine of Final Causes: A Dissertation in Three Parts, with an Introductory Chapter on the Character of Modern Deism (1836);
On the Apostolical Succession: Parochial Lectures (Second Series) (1838);
A Manual for Christians Preparatory to Confirmation and Communion (1844);
The Judgments on Baptismal Regeneration (1850);
Metrical Psalter (1857);
Brompton Metrical Psalter (1861);
Proposed Surrender of the Prayer-Book and Articles of the Church of England: A Letter to the Lord Bishop of London, on Professor Stanley's Views of Clerical and University "Subscription" (1863);
The Bible and Its Interpreters, Its Miracles and Prophecies; with a Conspectus of the Argument and Notes (1865);
Hymns for Use in the Church (1866);
Christianity as Taught by St. Paul (1870);
Psalms and Hymns for the Church (First Edition, 1873; Second Edition, 1875; Third Edition, 1883); and
New Legislation for the Church: Is It Needed? A Letter to His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England (1874).
Irons also wrote and translated hymns. He, for example translated the Dies Irae from the Roman Catholic requiem mass and wrote "Sing With All the Sons of Glory" and "Father of Love, Our Guide and Friend."
A daughter by Sarah Albinia Louisa Shadwell (died in 1887), his second wife, was Genevieve Mary Irons (1855-1928). She, a convert to Roman Catholicism, wrote hymns, which she submitted to magazines, which published them. Her signature hymn was "Drawn to the Cross, Which Thou Hast Blest" (1880), which appeared in various publications, such as Corpus Christi (1884), a Roman Catholic manual for Holy Communion. Published information about her life has proven scarce, but that which I have located indicates that she was a devout Catholic and a capable poet.
THE FEAST OF SAINT BERNADETTE OF LOURDES, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF HEINRICH THEOBALD SCHENCK, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF ISABELLA GILMORE, ANGLICAN DEACONESS
THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM FIRMATUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT
thank you for those (especially William Josiah Irons and Genevieve Mary Irons)
Posted April 16, 2015 by neatnik2009 in Saints of 1820-1829, Saints of 1830-1839, Saints of 1840-1849, Saints of 1850-1859, Saints of 1860-1869, Saints of 1870-1879, Saints of 1880-1889, Saints of 1890-1899, Saints of 1900-1909, Saints of 1910-1919, Saints of 1920-1929, September 12
Tagged with Genevieve Mary Irons, John Newton, Joseph Irons, William Josiah Irons
Feast of Kaspar Bienemann (September 12) Leave a comment
Above: Altenburg, Circa 1650
KASPAR BIENEMANN (JANUARY 3, 1540-SEPTEMBER 12, 1591)
German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
One of the pleasures of consulting hymnals of different denominations is expanding my grasp of hymnody. Not surprisingly, hymnals of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) contain translations of German hymns–fine ones.
Kaspar Bienemann (1540-1591), a native of Nuremburg, was a son of a burgess of that city. Our saint studied at Leipzig, Jena, and Tubingen. Emperor Maximilian II (reigned 1564-1576) sent our saint to Greece, the part of the Ottoman Empire, as the translator for a diplomatic mission. In Greece Bienemann took the alternative surname Melissander, or "Bee man." Upon his return to Germany our saint became a professor at Lauingen, Bavaria. Later he served as the abbot at Lahr then as the pastor and General Superintendent at Pfalz, Neuberg. The Synergistic Controversy forced his resignation.
The Synergistic Controversy focused on the role of human free will in salvation. The official position of the Lutheran Church was that three causes–God's Word, the Holy Spirit, and human free will not resisting God's Word–cooperate to convert a person. Other Lutherans–Gnesio-Lutherans, or Flacians–so named after Matthias Flacius (1520-1575)–affirmed total depravity (in the style of Double Predestinarian Calvinists), therefore the inability of human free will to respond positively to God's beckon. The term "synergistic" referred to the incorporation of human free will into the process of salvation, as in the Formula of Concord, Article II, which makes clear that this theological position is not Semi-Pelagianism. (I read the germane text in my copy of the Book of Concord.) Bienemann was a Flacian.
This argument sounds like one between Double Predestinarian Calvinists and Arminians or Single Predestinarian Lutherans or Calvinists, does it not? As for me, I grew up a United Methodist (therefore a proponent of free will as an agent in salvation or damnation) and have become a Single Predestinarian Anglo-Lutheran.
Bienemann's life continued. He received his D.D. from the University of Jena in 1571, the same year he became tutor to Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Sachsen Weimar. Two years later, however, the Crown Prince's father, Duke Johann Wilhelm, died, and the Crown Prince was a minor. A regent controlled the ducal court from 1573 to 1583, when Friedrich Wilhelm began to rule. With the regency came the influence of Calvinists in the ducal court, so our saint lost his tutoring job. By 1578 he was pastor and General Superintendent at Altenburg, where he died in 1591.
The English translation of the first stanza of one of our saint's hymns, Herr, wie du willst, so schick's mit mir, as The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) contains it, reads:
Lord, as Thou wilt, deal Thou with me;
No other wish I cherish.
In life and death I cling to Thee;
Oh, do not let me perish!
Let not Thy grace from me depart
And grant an ever patient heart
To bear what Thou dost send me.
That text fit well into the life of Kaspar Bienemann.
THE FEAST OF SAINT HERMENEGILD, VISIGOTHIC PRINCE AND ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINT HUGH OF ROUEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP, ABBOT, AND MONK
THE FEAST OF MIKAEL AGRICOLA, FINNISH LUTHERAN BISHOP OF TALLINN
Kaspar Bienemann and others, who have composed hymn texts.
Posted April 13, 2015 by neatnik2009 in Saints of 1540-1559, Saints of 1560-1579, Saints of 1580-1599, September 12
Tagged with Flacians, Gnesio-Lutherans, Kaspar Bienemann, Kaspar Melissander, Matthias Flacius, Semi-Pelagianism, Synergistic Controversy, The Book of Concord, The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, The Lutheran Hymnal (1941)
Above: Christ Pantocrator
Heeding Wisdom's Call
The Sunday Closest to September 14
Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Proverbs 1:20-33 (New Revised Standard Version):
Wisdom cries out in the street;
in the squares she raises her voice.
At the busiest corner she cries out;
at the entrance of the city she speaks;
How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?
Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called you and you refused,
have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
and because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
I also laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you,
when panic strikes you like a storm,
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
They will not call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
would have none of my counsel,
and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
and be sated with their devices.
For waywardness kills the simple,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but those who listen to me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.
Psalm 19 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament shows his handiwork.
2 One day tells its tale to another,
and one night imparts knowledge to another.
3 Although they have no words or language,
and their voices are not heard,
4 Their sound has gone out into all lands,
and their message to the ends of the world.
5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun;
it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
it rejoices like a champion to run its course.
6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
and runs about to the end of it again;
nothing is hidden from its burning heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect and revives the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure and gives wisdom to the innocent.
8 The statutes of the LORD are just and rejoice the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is clear and gives light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean and endures for ever,
the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold more than much fine gold,
sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.
11 By them also is your servant enlightened,
and in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can tell how often he offends?
cleanse me from my secret faults?
13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not get dominion over me;
then shall I be whole and sound,
and innocent of a great offense.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.
Wisdom of Solomon 7:26-8:1 (Revised English Bible):
She [Wisdom] is the radiance that streams from everlasting light, the flawless mirror of the active power of God, and the image of his goodness. She is but one, yet can do all things; herself unchanging, she makes all things new; age after age she enters into holy souls, and makes them friends of God and prophets, for nothing is acceptable to God but the person who makes his home with wisdom. She is more beautiful than the sun, and surpasses every constellation. Compared with the light of day, she is found to excel, for day gives place to night, but against wisdom no evil can prevail. She spans the world in power from end to end, and gently orders all things.
Isaiah 50:4-9a (New Revised Standard Version):
The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens–
wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face from insult and spitting.
The Lord GOD helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
It is the Lord GOD who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
Psalm 116:1-8 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 I love the LORD, because he has heard the voice of my supplication,
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.
2 The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me;
O came to grief and sorrow.
3 Then I called upon the Name of the LORD;
"O LORD, I pray you, save my life."
4 Gracious is the LORD and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
5 The LORD watches over the innocent;
I was brought very low, and he helped me.
6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul,
for the LORD has treated you well.
7 For you have rescued my life from death,
my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.
8 I will walk in the presence of the LORD
in the land of the living.
James 3:1-12 (Revised English Bible):
My friends, not many of you should become teachers, for you may be certain that we who teach will ourselves face severer judgement. All of us go wrong again and again; a man who never says anything wrong is perfect and is capable of controlling every part of his body. When we put a bit into a horse's mouth to make it obey our will, we can direct the whole animal. Or think of a ship: large though it may be and driven by gales, it can be steered by a very small rudder on whatever course the helmsman chooses. So with the tongue; it is small, but its pretensions are great.
What a vast amount of timber can be set ablaze by the tiniest spark! And the tongue is a fire, representing in our body the whole wicked world. It pollutes our whole being, it sets the whole course of our existence alight, and its flames are fed by hell. Beasts and birds of every kind, creatures that crawl on the ground or swim in the sea, can be subdued and have been subdued by man; but no one can subdue the tongue. It is an evil thing, restless and charged with deadly venom. We use it to praise our Lord and Father; then we use it to praise our Lord and Father; then we use it to invoke curses on our fellow-men, though they are made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and curses. This should not be so, my friends. Does a fountain flow with both fresh and brackish water from the same outlet? My friends, can a fig tree produce olives, or a grape vine produce figs? No more can salt water produce fresh?
Mark 8:27-38 (Revised English Bible):
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples,
Who do people say that I am?
They answered,
Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others one of the prophets.
He asked,
And you, who do you say that I am?
Peter replied,
You are the Messiah.
Then he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him; and he began to teach them that the Son of Man had to endure great suffering, and to be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes; to be put to death, and to rise again three days afterwards. He spoke about it plainly. At this Peter took hold of him and began to rebuke him. But Jesus, turning and looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter.
Out of my sight, Satan!
You think as men think, not as God thinks.
Then he called the people to him, as well as his disciples, and said to them,
Anyone who wants to be a follower of mine must renounce self; he must take up his cross and follow me. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel's will save it. What does anyone gain by winning the whole world at the cost of his life? What can he give to buy his life back? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this wicked and godless age, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
O God, because without you we are not able to please you mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Feast of the Confession of Saint Peter the Apostle (January 18):
https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/feast-of-the-confession-of-st-peter-the-apostle-january-18/
Isaiah 50:
Wisdom of Solomon 7-8:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/week-of-proper-27-thursday-year-1/
James 3:
http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/week-of-6-epiphany-saturday-year-2/
Mark 8:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/week-of-proper-1-thursday-year-1/
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/week-of-proper-1-friday-year-1/
Matthew 16 (Parallel to Mark 8):
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/week-of-proper-13-friday-year-1/
Luke 9 (Parallel to Mark 8):
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/second-day-of-lent/
Thou Art the Way:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/thou-art-the-way/
Be Thou My Vision:
http://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/be-thou-my-vision/
The lessons from Proverbs and the Wisdom of Solomon personify divine wisdom as a woman. The Greek word for wisdom gives us a female name, Sophia. As one who admires (yet does not understand) womankind, I find the idea of wisdom as feminine (while sheer might is masculine) sensible. These are metaphors, of course, so we ought to look through them to the truth behind them. God exists beyond our notions of sexuality and gender, but we do not.
Anyhow, the theology of Sophia did influence that of the Logos, which the Johannine Gospel identifies with Jesus. That is a summary of part of the history of Christian thought. Just making objectively lineage does not interest me, however. The implications of the Sophia-Logos connection do fascinate me, but I leave those for another day. The existence of that connection does provide me with a beginning point for theological rumination.
If people knew what was good for them and acted accordingly, they obeyed the words of divine wisdom, a figure which the Wisdom of Solomon describes as
a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
–7:26, New Revised Standard Version
Thus we read, for example, of the afflictions of the suffering servant in Isaiah 50, the dangers of the wrong uses of the tongue in James 3, and the impending suffering and execution of Jesus in Mark 8. If more people knew what is good for them and were to act accordingly, they would heed the words and example of Jesus, the Logos of God. If more historical figures, long since dead, had known what was good for them and acted accordingly, they would not have crucified Jesus or consented to his execution. There would have been less suffering. The suffering servant did not have to suffer, but the combination of his fidelity and the perfidy of others caused that suffering.
I like to study the lives of the saints, canonized and/or beatified or not. In my tradition, Anglicanism, history makes saints. And, as the keeper of my own Ecumenical Calendar of Saints' Days and Holy Days, I do not depend on even my own ecclesiastical authorities to define who is a saint worthy of recognition. So, as I research church history, I read about many people I have come to admire. A vast number of them are martyrs and many others have suffered greatly due to their Christian faith. Often the persecutors have belonged to other religions or have been Atheists, but sometimes professing Christians have oppressed and even killed each other. I wonder how I would have acted had I been in the places of the saints I admire. The honest answer in my conscience troubles me; I would most likely have used my tongue to curse, not bless. I have done done so in less trying situations.
I have much yet to learn from divine wisdom and the Logos. In this I am far from alone. So, setting aside all recrimination, especially self-condemnation, may we, aware that we are in the same boat, support each other in our journeys toward lives of increased wisdom.
Published originally at ORDINARY TIME DEVOTIONS BY KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR on October 20, 2011
Posted October 20, 2011 by neatnik2009 in Revised Common Lectionary Year B, September 12
Tagged with Proper 19
Saints' Days and Holy Days for September Leave a comment
Image Source = Wilder Kaiser
1 (Dionysius Exiguus, Roman Catholic Monk and Reformer of the Calendar)
David Pendleton Oakerhater, Cheyenne Warrior, Chief, and Holy Man, and Episcopal Deacon and Missionary in Oklahoma
Fiacre, Roman Catholic Hermit
François Mauriac, French Roman Catholic Novelist, Christian Humanist, and Social Critic
2 (F. Crawford Burkitt, Anglican Scholar, Theologian, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator)
David Charles, Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Minister and Hymn Writer
Martyrs of New Guinea, 1942 and 1943
William of Roskilde, English-Danish Roman Catholic Bishop
3 (Jedediah Weiss, U.S. Moravian Craftsman, Merchant, and Musician)
Arthur Carl Lichtenberger, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church and Witness for Civil Rights
James Bolan Lawrence, Episcopal Priest and Missionary in Southwestern Georgia, U.S.A.
Sundar Singh, Indian Christian Evangelist
4 (Paul Jones, Episcopal Bishop of Utah, and Peace Activist; and his colleague, John Nevin Sayre, Episcopal Priest and Peace Activist)
E. F. Schumacher, German-British Economist and Social Critic
Joseph and Mary Gomer, U.S. United Brethren Missionaries in Sierra Leone
William McKane, Scottish Presbyterian Minister and Biblical Scholar
5 (Carl Johannes Sodergren, U.S. Lutheran Minister and Theologian; and his colleague, Claus August Wendell, Swedish-American Lutheran Minister and Theologian)
Athol Hill, Australian Baptist Biblical Scholar and Social Prophet
Teresa of Calcutta, Foundress of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity
William Morton Reynolds, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Episcopal Priest, Educator, and Hymn Translator
6 (Charles Fox, Anglican Missionary in Melanesia)
Aaron Robarts Wolfe, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
Allen Crite, Artist
William F. Albright and G. Ernest Wright, U.S. Biblical Scholars and Archaeologists
7 (Beyers Naudé, South African Dutch Reformed Minister and Anti-Apartheid Activist)
Elie Naud, Huguenot Witness to the Faith
Jane Laurie Borthwick and Sarah Borthwick Findlater, Scottish Presbyterian Translators of Hymns
John Duckett and Ralph Corby, Roman Catholic Priests and Martyrs in England, 1644
8 (Nikolai Grundtvig, Danish Lutheran Minister, Bishop, Historian, Philosopher, Poet, Educator, and Hymn Writer)
Gottfried Wilhelm Sacer, German Lutheran Attorney and Hymn Writer; and Frances Elizabeth Cox, English Hymn Writer and Translator
Shepherd Knapp, U.S. Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
Søren Kierkegaard, Danish Philosopher and Theologian, and Father of Existentialism
9 (Martyrs of Memphis, Tennessee, 1878)
Francis Borgia, "Second Founder of the Society of Jesus;" Peter Faber, Apostle of Germany, and Cofounder of the Society of Jesus; Alphonsus Rodriguez, Spanish Jesuit Lay Brother; and Peter Claver, "Apostle to the Negroes"
Lynn Harold Hough, U.S. Methodist Minister, Theologian, and Biblical Scholar
William Chatterton Dix, English Hymn Writer and Hymn Translator
10 (Alexander Crummell, U.S. African-American Episcopal Priest, Missionary, and Moral Philosopher)
Mordecai Johnson, Educator
Nemesian of Sigum and His Companions, Roman Catholic Bishops and Martyrs, 257
Salvius of Albi, Roman Catholic Bishop
11 (Paphnutius the Great, Roman Catholic Bishop of Upper Thebaid)
Anne Houlditch Shepherd, Anglican Novelist and Hymn Writer
John Stainer and Walter Galpin Alcock, Anglican Church Organists and Composers
Patiens of Lyons, Roman Catholic Archbishop
12 (Frederick J. Murphy, U.S. Roman Catholic Biblical Scholar)
Franciscus Ch'oe Kyong-Hwan, Korean Roman Catholic Catechist and Martyr, 1839; Lawrence Mary Joseph Imbert, Pierre Philibert Maubant, and Jacques Honoré Chastán, French Roman Catholic Priests, Missionaries to Korea, and Martyrs, 1839; Paul Chong Hasang, Korean Roman Catholic Seminarian and Martyr, 1839; and Cecilia Yu Sosa and Jung Hye, Korean Roman Catholic Martyrs, 1839
Kaspar Bienemann, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
William Josiah Irons, Anglican Priest, Hymn Writer, and Hymn Translator; and his daughter, Genevieve Mary Irons, Roman Catholic Hymn Writer
13 (Peter of Chelcic, Bohemian Hussite Reformer; and Gregory the Patriach, Founder of the Moravian Church)
Godfrey Thring, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
Jane Crewdson, English Quaker Poet and Hymn Writer
Narayan Seshadri of Jalna, Indian Presbyterian Evangelist and "Apostle to the Mangs"
14 (HOLY CROSS)
15 (Martyrs of Birmingham, Alabama, September 15, 1963)
Charles Edward Oakley, Anglican Priest and Hymn Writer
James Chisholm, Episcopal Priest
Philibert and Aicardus of Jumieges, Roman Catholic Abbots
16 (Cyprian of Carthage, Bishop and Martyr, 258; and Cornelius, Lucius I, and Stephen I, Bishops of Rome)
George Henry Trabert, U.S. Lutheran Minister, Missionary, and Hymn Translator and Author
James Francis Carney, U.S.-Honduran Roman Catholic Priest, Missionary, Revolutionary, and Martyr, 1983
Martin Behm, German Lutheran Minister and Hymn Writer
17 (Jutta of Disibodenberg, Roman Catholic Abbess; and her student, Hildegard of Bingen, Roman Catholic Abbess and Composer)
Gerard Moultrie, Anglican Priest, Hymn Writer, and Translator of Hymns
Zygmunt Szcesny Felinski, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Warsaw, Titutlar Bishop of Tarsus, and Founder of Recovery for the Poor and the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary
Zygmunt Sajna, Polish Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr, 1940
18 (Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-General of the United Nations)
Edward Bouverie Pusey, Anglican Priest
Henry Lascelles Jenner, Anglican Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand
John Campbell Shairp, Scottish Poet and Educator
19 (Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury)
Emily de Rodat, Founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Villefranche
Walter Chalmers Smith, Scottish Presbyterian Minister and Hymn Writer
William Dalrymple Maclagan, Archbishop of York and Hymn Writer
20 (Henri Nouwen, Dutch Roman Catholic Priest and Spiritual Writer)
John Coleridge Patteson, Anglican Bishop of Melanesia, and His Companions, Martyrs, 1871
Marie Therese of Saint Joseph, Foundress of the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus
Nelson Wesley Trout, First African-American U.S. Lutheran Bishop
21 (MATTHEW THE EVANGELIST, APOSTLE AND MARTYR)
22 (Philander Chase, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, and of Illinois; and Presiding Bishop)
C. H. Dodd, Welsh Congregationalist Minister, Theologian, and Biblical Scholar
Charlotte Elliott, Julia Anne Elliott, and Emily Elliott, Anglican Hymn Writers
Justus Falckner, Lutheran Pastor and Hymn Writer
23 (Amos Niven Wilder, U.S. Congregationalist Minister, Poet, Literary Critic, and Biblical Scholar)
Bernhard W. Anderson, U.S. United Methodist Minister and Biblical Scholar
Elizabeth Kenny, Australian Nurse and Medical Pioneer
Francisco de Paula Victor, Brazilian Roman Catholic Priest
24 (Anna Ellison Butler Alexander, African-American Episcopal Deaconess in Georgia, and Educator)
Henry Hart Milman, Anglican Dean, Translator, Historian, Theologian, and Hymn Writer
Juvenal of Alaska, Russian Orthodox Martyr in Alaska, and First Orthodox Martyr in the Americas, 1796
Peter the Aleut, Russian Orthodox Martyr in San Francisco, 1815
25 (Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany, African-American Educator; her sister, Annie Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany, African-American Dentist; and their brother, Hubert Thomas Delany, African-American Attorney, Judge, and Civil Rights Activist)
Euphrosyne and her father, Paphnutius of Alexandria, Monks
Herman of Reichenau, Roman Catholic Monk, Liturgist, Poet, and Scholar
Sergius of Radonezh, Abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Sergiyev Posad, Russia
26 (Paul VI, Bishop of Rome)
Frederick William Faber, English Roman Catholic Hymn Writer
John Bright, U.S. Presbyterian Minister and Biblical Scholar
John Byrom, Anglican then Quaker Poet and Hymn Writer
27 (Francis de Sales, Roman Catholic Bishop of Geneva; Vincent de Paul, "The Apostle of Charity;' Louise de Marillac, Cofounder of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul; and Charles Fuge Lowder, Founder of the Society of the Holy Cross)
Eliza Scudder, U.S. Unitarian then Episcopalian Hymn Writer
Martyrs of Melanesia, 1864-2003
28 (Jehu Jones, Jr., African-American Lutheran Minister)
Joseph Hoskins, English Congregationalist Minister and Hymn Writer
Lorenzo Ruiz, Roman Catholic Martyr
29 (Mary Ramabai, Prophetic Witness and Evangelist in India)
Francis Turner Palgrave, Anglican Poet, Art Critic, and Hymn Writer
30 (Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury)
Posted May 21, 2011 by neatnik2009 in Saints--Monthly Guides, September 1, September 10, September 11, September 12, September 13, September 14, September 15, September 16, September 17, September 18, September 19, September 2, September 20, September 21, September 22, September 23, September 24, September 25, September 26, September 27, September 28, September 29, September 3, September 30, September 4, September 5, September 6, September 7, September 8, September 9


text:
Xiomara Castro's victory in Honduras is a win over imperialism
Could this open a hopeful chapter in the history of a country marred by interference by the United States and Canada?
Owen Schalk / December 4, 2021 / 8 min read
Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro of the left-wing Liberty and Refoundation Party. Photo by El Periódico.
In the November 28 elections in Honduras, voters granted a resounding victory to Xiomara Castro of the left-wing Liberty and Refoundation Party, also known as "Libre." Castro campaigned on a platform of "democratic socialism" which she asserts will "pull Honduras out of the abyss we have been buried in by neo-liberalism, a narco-dictator and corruption." Her other proposals include decriminalizing abortion, reducing bank charges for remittances, and tackling poverty and corruption, which she believes to be the "true causes of migration" to the United States. She has also stated that she will seek to rewrite the Honduran constitution, which was written while the country was under a US-backed military dictatorship in the 1980s.
The Libre party was formed in the aftermath of a 2009 military coup that deposed Castro's husband, Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009). The military repression that followed this deeply unpopular coup plunged Honduras into a period of instability characterized by widespread state and paramilitary violence against journalists, social movements, and the political opposition.
Following the 2009 coup, Honduras had the highest homicide rate in the world and, according to Reporters Without Borders, it became the most dangerous country for journalists in the first quarter of 2010. Scores of activists were murdered in the following years, including Lenca land defender Berta Cáceres, who was one of the most famous activists not only in Honduras, but the entire region. Cáceres was killed in her home after organizing a successful resistance to the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project being constructed by Honduran energy company Desarrollos Energéticos, S.A. (DESA) with a Canadian company called Hydrosys. In the following years, it was discovered that former DESA President David Castillo ordered the hit. Three of the eight people arrested for her murder received training at US military institutions, including the infamous "School of the Americas" in Fort Benning.
After 12 years of right-wing rule by the strongly US-backed National Party, which retained power through a series of elections riddled with fraud (even the Washington-based OAS described the 2017 election of Juan Orlando Hernández as "characterized by irregularities and deficiencies, with very low technical quality and lacking integrity"), Castro's victory represents a new and hopeful chapter in the history of a country marred by imperialistic interference from the United States and its allies – namely Canada.
On December 1st, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly tweeted "Congratulations @XiomaraCastroZ for making history in #Honduras as the first female President-elect! I look forward to working together on regional priorities: #democracy, inclusive growth, #SRHR and towards fighting corruption." This statement is interesting for what it omits: Canada's ardent support for the coup that overthrew Castro's husband and its silence on the human rights abuses overseen by the National Party from 2009 to 2021.
For the first half of the twentieth century, Honduras was a nation colonized by US capital, its soil stolen in order to grow huge amounts of bananas to profit American companies. During the 1950s and 1960s, domestic capitalist structures grew within this neocolonial framework, resulting in the creation of two bourgeois political parties: the Liberal Party and the National Party. After a period of military rule from 1963 to 1982, the regime oversaw a restrictive transition to a liberal democratic system in which the Liberals and Nationals continued to dominate.
Canadian investment—particularly in the mining sector—began to assume a prominent place in the Honduran economy during the second half of the twentieth century. Canadian mining interests were extremely organized, forming into the Asociacion Nacional de Mineros (ANAMINH), through which they pressured the government to maintain a neoliberal norm in the extractive sector. Historian Tyler Shipley writes: "As early as the 1990s, Canadian mining companies were poisoning Honduran soil and water, killing fish in rivers and toxifying entire communities; one region was described to me as being 'condemned to death.'" Canada soon became the largest foreign mining investor in Honduras. By 2014, the president of ANAMINH went as far as to assert that "90 percent of foreign mining investments in Honduras are Canadian."
Meanwhile, Montréal-based Gildan Activewear employed 18,000 workers in sweatshops and industrial parks. It was the largest private employer in Honduras. By 2009, Canada had over $600 million invested in the Honduran economy, making it the second-largest foreign investor in the country. Therefore, when President Zelaya indicated a willingness to transform the economic base of the country in accordance with activist demands, Canada came to regard him with suspicion.
Zelaya, as a businessman and Liberal Party member, was by no means a stranger to the Honduran elite. However, he expressed a willingness to make concessions to the country's increasingly organized social movements, a fact which alienated him from the entrenched oligarchy. As social movements continued to organize, he made important changes in the form of free school enrolment, stricter environmental protections, and a 60 percent increase to the minimum wage. He also announced plans to convene a constituent assembly to rewrite the dictatorship-era constitution and announced a moratorium on new mining concessions—the latter of which likely perturbed the Canadian government, given that, in the words of one Latin American official, "As far as I can tell, the Canadian ambassador here is a representative for Canadian mining companies." Indeed, in 2009, a consortium that included Canadian capital offered the Zelaya government $1.75 billion in investment if he lifted the moratorium.
On June 28, 2009, the Honduran military arrested Zelaya, condemning his plans as unconstitutional. He was exiled to Costa Rica while the National Congress read a letter of resignation that Zelaya claimed was forged. President of the National Congress Roberto Micheletti was sworn in an interim president as the coup government planned its next move.
The region swiftly condemned the coup. The governments of Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, and Paraguay immediately made their disapproval clear in no uncertain terms, and soon every government in the hemisphere had condemned Zelaya's removal. The Canadian government, meanwhile, waited an entire day before releasing a mealy-mouthed statement in which it called on "all parties to show restraint." In fact, the only harsh words from Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) Peter Kent in the coup's aftermath were in regard to Zelaya's planned return to Honduras, when he "call[ed] for restraint in the timing of President Zelaya's return." For months, Canadian officials also pointedly refused to call the military's removal of the elected president a coup, referring instead to the "ongoing crisis" within Honduran politics.
Negotiations in Costa Rica between Zelaya and the coup plotters broke down, and the new government hastily organized elections that November. The election occurred in the context of military lockdowns, a massive police presence in the streets, and a muzzled press. This dubious process saw the election of Porfirio Lobo Sosa of the National Party, who was inaugurated on January 27, 2010, while half a million people protested in the streets. Absurdly, Kent congratulated the coup government on "peaceful and orderly" elections run "freely and fairly."
After his dubious victory, Lobo passed legal immunity for the coup perpetrators and reversed the moratorium on new mining concessions. Canadian companies leapt at the opportunity to expand their holdings even more. From Shipley's Ottawa and Empire:
There were 154 mining and energy concessions already granted before the moratorium, almost all falling on or around Indigenous territories, of which nearly 100 have been owned by Canadian companies at one time or another during their operation. In 2011, 200 additional concessions were requested; of those, 150 were requested… on behalf of the Canadian company Breakwater Resources Ltd.
A number of other Canadian mining companies that own huge concessions in post-coup Honduras are Maya Gold Company, First Point Minerals, Standard Mining, and Goldcorp.
After Lobo's inauguration, Kent referred to the arrival of a new government as "the beginning of a process of renewal." He remained silent on the growing number of assassinations of prominent social activists, including LGBTQ rights activist Walter Trochez, who was kidnapped, beaten, and murdered by men in police uniforms just a few weeks before the inauguration.
February 2010 was a particularly violent month for anti-coup activists. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported that:
On February 3, 2010, 29-year-old Vanessa Zepeda Alonzo, who was active in the Resistance Front and was affiliated with the Social Security Employees Union, was found dead in Tegucigalpa. According to eyewitnesses, her body was thrown out of a car. Likewise, on February 15, 2010, Julio Funez Benitez, an active member of the resistance who belonged to the SANAA Workers Union, was holding a conversation on the sidewalk outside his residence in the Colonia Brisas neighbourhood of Olancho when he was killed with two shots fired by unknown gunmen traveling on a motorcycle. Finally, on February 24, 2010, Claudia Maritza Brizuela, 36 years-old, was killed in her home. She was the daughter of union and community leader Pedro Brizuela, who participates actively in the resistance.
Throughout 2010 and 2011, the Harper government was in the process of negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Honduran coup government. By the end of 2011, 650 human rights workers were facing criminal charges in Honduras and a climate of terror reigned throughout the country, none of which provoked a peep of criticism from Ottawa. Meanwhile, the Harper government assumed a more active role in a supposed "process of renewal" occurring in Honduras by participating in the Honduran Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was convened by the coup government itself. Canada's representative to the commission, Michael Kergin, later justified the coup against Zelaya by claiming that he was a puppet of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. He also excused the bone-chilling levels of murder and repression in the country since 2009 because, in his words, "there is in Honduras a traditional culture of violence."
In 2013, National Party candidate Juan Orlando Hernández was elected in another deeply compromised election. His campaign was financed with $11 million from Washington and, as it later turned out, money stolen from Honduras's national pension fund. Protests erupted in the streets at these revelations, but Ottawa showed no concern. In 2014, the Harper government wrapped up successful negotiations on the Canada-Honduras FTA. Minister of International Trade Ed Fast described the FTA as evidence of Canada's desire to "support positive change" in Honduras. Meanwhile, Harper accused the Venezuelan government of "turn[ing] back the clock on the democratic progress that's been made in the hemisphere."
In 2016, the Trudeau government remained totally silent when Berta Cáceres, one of the most renowned and visible human rights activists in the Western Hemisphere, was shot dead in her home in La Esperanza. At the same time, Canadian capital retained a keen interest in Honduras. At the unveiling of a memorial to Cáceres in Fredericton, New Brunswick in August 2021, Tracy Glynn outlined the continued depths of Canadian investment in the country:
After the US, Canada is the largest foreign investor in Honduras. Canadian investments in the country are concentrated in mining, sweatshops and tourism. Meanwhile, hundreds of environmental activists, journalists, lawyers, peasants and LGBTQ activists have been killed by Honduran authorities since the coup. When Cáceres was murdered, a loud message was sent: no activist is safe in Honduras.
Xiomara Castro's victory last month confirms that, even with the widespread horrors of state repression in post-coup Honduras, the resistance of the Honduran people remains alive and well. While her victory alone will not bring instant change, and while it is doubtless that she will face severe pushback from the domestic oligarchy as well as vested interests in North America, her victory is a clear sign that the people of Honduras remain opposed to the kind of harsh neoliberal governance that Ottawa and its private-sector allies wish to impose upon them.
Owen Schalk is a writer based in Winnipeg. His areas of interest include post-colonialism and the human impact of the global neoliberal economy. Follow him on Twitter @OwenSchalk.
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text:
By Esme Choonara
Strike forces Stagecoach owner to drive his own bus
Drivers at Stagecoach Bluebird in the north east of Scotland are set to strike on Friday of this week over pay.
The drivers, members of the Unite union, held a successful strike on Tuesday of last week.
Millionaire Stagecoach boss Brian Souter did his bit to help management's attempts to break the action by driving a bus in Aberdeen on the strike day.
Despite this, the strike had a big impact – especially on school bus routes across Moray and Aberdeenshire.
Management have responded by upping the offensive and imposing a pay deal on the drivers.
They even had the cheek to tell the press that they were doing it because they worried about strikers being able to pay their bills in difficult economic circumstances.
Yet it is precisely because of these worries that drivers are fighting for a wage of £10 an hour – and for some recognition for the stressful and skilled job that they do.
Stagecoach can easily afford to pay its workers more. It is a highly profitable company that currently controls about 14 percent of bus operations and 25 percent of rail services in Britain.
While many workers worry about the impact of the recession, Stagecoach has boasted that it is benefiting from more people trying to save money by using public transport.
Last month Stagecoach reported that six-monthly profits on its bus operations had leapt 9.2 percent. Profits on British rail operations were up 8.3 percent.
Workers are set to strike again on Monday of next week.
London bus activists' meeting
London bus workers in the Unite union met last week to make plans to step up their pay campaign. Reps and activists from different bus companies reported a strong mood for action.
The union is campaigning for a 5 percent rise or £30,000 a year for drivers at all London bus operators.
Union activists discussed a legal challenge to the injunction that stopped workers at Metrobus from striking last month, and plans to ballot workers across London for strikes.
Some activists also raised questions about why Unite is still funding the Labour Party when the government has failed to revoke the anti-union laws.
Management have used the pause in strike action to try to persuade workers at some companies to accept new offers – so far without any success.
There is a danger that some companies will use the chance of back pay in the run up to Christmas to try to persuade groups of workers to settle – though many feel such a cheap ploy will simply infuriate them.
Union activists are keen to keep up the campaign's momentum. Richie Moore, Unite rep at Leyton bus garage, joined a group of bus workers protesting outside the London mayor's question time at City Hall on Wednesday of last week.
He told Socialist Worker, "We want equal pay at all companies and we want them to treat us with a bit of respect.
"We keep this city coing but we are underpaid and undervalued. I hope we'll all be coming out on strike together – 25,000 bus workers could shut the city down."
Topics Scotland, Strike
UCU ballots: vote yes to strikes
Post strike in Plymouth
'We will not cross a picket line, Ken'
Strike at Milton Keynes Citizen


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According to our crystal ball, summer will have arrived with serious sunshine by the end of June! So join us at Jeremy's for a 'Barbecue with Bordeaux' evening on Thursday 27th June, a reception in the garden followed by a four-course dinner with the main course from the barbecue, and some delicious Bordeaux wines introduced by our entertaining local wine expert and customer, Charles Metcalfe.
Bordeaux? You are probably thinking red. But there'll be a zippy rosé along with nibbles for apéritif, our excellent white Graves to drink with a summery fishy starter while the barbecue sizzles up an accompaniment to the first red, cheeses matched to a second red, and Sauternes with a strawberry assiette to finish.
Bordeaux is one of Charles' specialist subjects - he goes there several times a year, and selects red Bordeaux for state dinners at the Guildhall. The Queen, he remembers, at her 80th birthday lunch at the Guildhall, drank her usual gin and vermouth and left the wine.
Come and join us and learn what she was missing. £60 per person all inclusive, please either book online or call the restaurant 01444 441102. 7.30pm for 8pm.
Just a quick note, we do have a few spaces left for Bank Holiday jazz a la carte lunch this coming Monday, featuring Bob Barnard, from 12 noon. Please call or book online if you fancy joining us.


From Middle English Italy, Italie, from Old English Italia ("Italy"), from Latin Ītalia ("Italy"), via Ancient Greek Ἰταλία (Italía), from Oscan 𐌅𐌝𐌕𐌄𐌋𐌉𐌞 (Víteliú) (meaning "land of bulls" in Oscan; usually assumed to be a cognate of vitulus ("calf"), despite the different length of the i).
A country in southern Europe. Official name: Italian Republic.
Rome is the heart of Italy [...]. She was, is, and must ever be, her capital.
This page was last edited on 12 April 2019, at 06:50.


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Even in the yard nature abounds. One of the many butterflies that dry their wings in the morning.
The boat almost ready for launch. Just waiting for the transporter.
Flew back to Trinidad a week or so ago and have been working long hours to get the boat ready to go back in the water. Those of you that have spent tie on the hard know how dusty, dirty and noisy it can be as well as unhealthy.
My plans this year are to paint the hull with anti-fouling, wax topsides and replace the Volvo type stuffing boxes.I employed a cruisers 15 year old son to help with the sanding and waxing. Justin of Rio Luna was a great help as I was able to reduce the time living on the hard to eight days with his help.
The boat is currently Med moored to the dock at Peakes. The situation is calm at nights but every afternoon the rain squalls move in and it can get wild. I have so many lines out it looks like a spider web.
Been wondering if I would come back to Trinidad again to do work on the boat. I think probably not. I suppose once the prices here were quite competitive but anymore there equal to what you would pay in the States.Chagauramas is a filthy harbor full of debris. About once a day I have had to remove a piece of timber that was scratching my new anti fouling.Next time will probably go back to the States or Grenada.I think either place woulld be less cost with as good or better services.
While visiting Portland I had a chance to hook up with a lifelong friend. Bugsy (Gene) Carlson and I used to spend the Spring, salmon fishing on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. Bugsy is an avid fisherman and usually gets the limit. As the up river brights were running we set out at 0530 for the hunt for the elusive finned creature of the deep. The morning was glorious as we watched the sun rise over Mt. Hood and the Columbia River.
We spent 7 hours fishing and saw only one fish landed. We were giving it another 15 minutes when I decided to check my rig. I picked up the rod and started to reel in when I felt that tell tale bite . I set the hook and the battle was on! I played the 25 pound beauty for about 20 minutes. The fish ran 6 times and vaulted out of the water once.