I have one of those very ordinary faces that are a dime-a-dozen in a crowd. People are always telling me, “I work with someone who looks exactly like you,” or “I grew up with someone who could be your double; I hated her, come to think of it.” Or, “we had a maid, looked like you.” But this time, I think I may have found a genuine doppelganger, or one who, at least in 1948, looked like me in my own younger years. She was a religious, a novice with the Sisters of St. Francis, of Perpetual Adoration . The one second-from-left! Right? No, that’s no good — too small — go check it out over here . Right? No, seriously, she looks exactly like me, like my Auntie Lillie and like Great-grandmother Emilia, and of course, like my mother. We’re all spookily similar in cheeks, chin and jowls. It’s kind of cool to think that for generations upon generations — perhaps as far back as in Jesus’ time, there were peasant women who looked like us, wandering around, and being told that they looked exactly like someone else! But of course, I could never have worn such cumbersome headgear. I’d be fingering that thing and wrenching my neck like Rodney Dangerfield — Sr. Maria Incarnata of the Disrespected — and they’d eventually throw me out. Anyway, that’s what I would have looked like, younger, and nunnier. These sisters are a great group , by the way, and they have managed to sustain their numbers, even through the lean times. You can read their latest newsletter here (pdf) . Also, since November 22 remembers the beloved martyr St. Cecilia , here are three new-Cecilia’s recently given the habit: Sister Marie Cecile was recently clothed as a novice with the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration More pictures here (dropbox to Investitures 2011) Sister Cecilia Maria received the sacramental habit of the Passionist nuns last February. Additional slideshow here Sister Mary Cecilia was invested in the habit of a Dominican Nun in May of 2010 , and is now a second-year novice. I am told is it mostly her hauntingly lovely soprano chanting in the background in the nun’s rosary video. She does her patron proud. Click here to view the embedded video. + + + + + + + + In appreciation for all of our monastics who pray for us, all, every day even without our asking. Related: The Daily Gift and Reminder: Habit as Witness Dominican Nuns Christmas Soap now available! More: Me, as a Nun, and New Cecilias!
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Me, as a Nun, and New Cecilias!
I realize I’m biased, but with the exception of the Tampa, FL CNN-Tea Party debate, I’ve been rather unimpressed with the debates. There are too many of you on the stage. There is not enough time to get into the substance of your answers. And you are all making it about each other instead of about Barack Obama. I happen to have a radio show on the largest talk radio station in the country, which is also connected to a large media group with television and radio outlets in lots of swing states — not to mention running this site, etc. So if any of you want to come down to Atlanta, I’m sure I can find us a stage, some TV cameras, get a web stream going, invite C-SPAN, and have an actual conversation. Let’s plan on an hour chat. We’ll not debate, but have a conversation. We’ll talk not just about your future plans and past record, but also your background. If you’re interested, let me know. We can get it done and provide Republican voters something more than “tell us specifically what your economic plan will be in one minute or less or you get the damn Google Chat beep.”
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Dear Republican Presidential Candidates
Today President Obama announced the nomination of Princeton labor economist Alan Krueger to head the Council of Economic Advisers. Krueger is already a veteran of both the Obama and Clinton administrations.
Endgame? ZAWIYAH, Libya — For the first time in months, witnesses in Tripoli reported heavy fighting across the capital late Saturday night, even as rebel forces claimed to have encircled the city by taking major towns to its east, west and south. Rebel leaders in Tunis and eastern Libya hailed the beginning of a new uprising in the capital against Col.Muammar el-Qaddafi’s rule. And after months of rebel offenses that crumbled or stalled despite heavy support from a NATO airstrike campaign, it was the first time since the uprising began in February that the rebels threatened Colonel Qaddafi’s ultimate stronghold. “We are coordinating the attacks inside, and our forces from outside are ready to enter Tripoli,” said Anwar Fekini, a rebel leader from the mountainous region in western Libya, speaking by telephone from Tunis. “If you can call any mobile number in Tripoli, you will hear in the background the beautiful sound of the bullets of freedom.” Phone calls to several Tripoli residents from different neighborhoods confirmed widespread gunfire and explosions. And there were reports of frequent NATO jet overflights and airstrikes — a common accompaniment to the drumbeat of the rebel advance in the past week. After reports of the Tripoli fighting began, some residents said that a group of rebel fighters had infiltrated the city from the east and were spearheading the uprising, surprising the pro-Qaddafi forces who had fortified for an attack from the western approach guarded by Zawiyah. Residents added that in recent weeks rebels had also smuggled weapons into the city by boat to the beaches east of Tripoli to prepare. Their claims could not be independently confirmed. Meanwhile, rebel forces closing in on the capital made important gains on Saturday. By afternoon, the rebels had driven Colonel Qaddafi’s forces out of Zawiyah, the strategic oil refinery town 30 miles west of Tripoli. After a week of heavy fighting there, residents began to celebrate in the main square. The Arab news network Al Jazeera reported that Zlitan, a crucial Qaddafi barracks town east of Tripoli, also had fallen to the rebels. They captured Gharyan, the gateway to the south, last week.
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Libya: Heavy Fighting Reported in Tripoli, Rebels Encircle City…
Washington Post : The Obama administration said Thursday that Iran is helping al-Qaeda funnel cash and recruits into Pakistan for its international operations, the most serious U.S. allegation to date of Iranian aid to the terrorist group. Documents filed by the Treasury Department accuse Iran of facilitating an al-Qaeda-run support network that transfers large amounts of cash from Middle East donors to al-Qaeda’s top leadership in Pakistan’s tribal region. A Syrian national who directs the network has been allowed to operate in Iran since 2005, and senior Iranian officials know about money transfers and allow the movement of al-Qaeda foot soldiers through its territory, administration officials said… U.S. officials asserted that the alleged network offered new evidence of Iranian support. “By exposing Iran’s secret deal with al-Qaeda, allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through its territory, we are illuminating yet another aspect of Iran’s unmatched support for terrorism,” said David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. In an editorial that gets into some of the background on this issue, The Washington Times praises the administration for a “long overdue move” that “deserves to be applauded.”
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Iran and al Qaeda
