text:
Marian Visions and End Times
End Times
Apparitions Justification
Our Refuge and Hope
From: "Michael J. Coppi" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 21:10:40 -0400
There is currently available material INEVITABLY pointing out that the reign of Mary's Immaculate Heart is near.
It is admittedy difficult to step outside *today*, say in one's backyard, and sense that end times may be rapidly approaching. There are 3 points to consider here:
1) To reiterate, the "End of the World" is not what is being dealt with, but rather the "End Times" [the end of the current satanically influenced age of materialism and consumerism].
2) Prayer has the power to mitigate, postpone, or even cancel certain forecasts.
3) World conditions can change very rapidly.
While it may be difficult to envision tribulations occurring "close to home", it must be remembered that the benefits foreseen far outweigh the necessary "purifications". The Warning for instance, which will illuminate *all* earthly souls to the Light of God, should be highly anticipated.
There is currently a plethora of reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary around the world, with a compelling sense of urgency. She is pleading with, and calling her children back to God, as never before in history.
For the last several years, Our Lady has spoken of a special time which She is waiting impatiently for. An extraordinary and particular time of world history unlike any since Adam's time. On Christmas Day, 1995, the Virgin Mary revealed that we have entered that time.
My personal interest in Marian Apparitions originally stemmed from the Garabandal prophecies (Warning/Miracle/Chastisement). As many others, I was very curious about narrowing down the timeframe of these events.
But it seems that we are on the threshold of something of an even larger magnitude. There has been another important message allegedly received through a Marian priest, Father Stefano Gobbi, on December 5, 1994 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico:
"I CONFIRM TO YOU THAT, BY THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000, THERE WILL TAKE PLACE THE TRIUMPH OF MY IMMACULATE HEART, OF WHICH I FORETOLD YOU AT FATIMA, AND THIS WILL COME TO PASS WITH THE RETURN OF JESUS IN GLORY, TO ESTABLISH HIS REIGN IN THE WORLD. THUS YOU WILL AT LAST BE ABLE TO SEE WITH YOUR OWN EYES THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH" ("Marian Movement of Priests" Message #532; National Cenacle of the M.M.P.;"The Apple of My Eye".)
This goes along with a few of the many predictions that have been made about these apparent "end times" including one by Saint John Bosco that peace will come upon the earth before the end of "2 full moons in the month of flowers" (March, 1999)
There have been many other predictions indicating that we are now living in the end times - these materialistic, worldly, satanic times - the time between the 1st and 2nd Coming of Christ.
The "Warning" will probably be the first event to come - the event that will signal the beginning of great prodigies to come - the beginning of the end of this era of time. There are some very definitive indications that it may come this year (1997).
... Other alleged messages from Our Lady indicate that the Antichrist will not hesitate in assuming power after the Warning.
What is commonly referred as the "Warning" is a moment of enlightenment due to be sent upon the earth. The Warning will be a revelation of our sins before God. Everyone would be well advised to anticipate this event and therefore be as prepared as possible.
To the unsuspecting and to the non-believers, the Warning could indeed be frightening. At the least, it will leave many people shocked and confused as to what has happened. That is why so many people will seek answers, and hopefully return permanently, to the Church.
Here is a reference to the Warning:
Obviously, everyone will know it when this happens. Recent messages indicate that it is *IMMINENT* (within the next 12 months). This particular event has been predicted for many years, and there is EVERY reason to believe that the time of fulfillment has arrived.
Here are some definitions of the Warning (based on messages allegedly received by our Heavenly Mother by various visionaries throughout the world)...............
As originally described (in 1961 at Garabandal, Spain):
"The warning comes directly from God and will be visible to the whole world and from any place where anyone may happen to be. It will be like the revelation of our sins and will be seen and felt by everyone, believer and unbeliever alike, irrespective of whatever religion they may belong to..."
Compare this to an message received more recently (within the past 7 years) at Scottsdale, Arizona:
"The time is coming when every man, woman, and child on this earth will know that God exists. All will have a glimpse at the state of their soul These seconds will seem like an eternity......."
And with what Maria Esperanza of Betania has said:
"There is coming a great moment, a great day of light. The conscience of this people must be violently shaken..."
And with what Christina Gallagher of Ireland has said:
"There will come a sign when everyone in the world will experience an interior awareness and will know that this is of God and will see themselves as they really are..."
Also by Our Lady to Fr. Gobbi:
"A new fire will come down from heaven and will purify all humanity, which has again become pagan. It will be like a judgement in miniature and each one will see himself in the light of the very Truth of God.
A summary of other items to be discussed in future posts:
1) The "End Times", not the "End of World"
"End Times" do not refer to the "end of the world" (last judgment & resurrection of the dead) per se, although it *is* possible that these events will follow the "End Times" within a short period of time... Possibly, time will no longer have meaning, or we will simply lose "time consciousness" (this doesn't necessarily mean time will not continue to pass universally as it always has). Thus, the passage that "no one knows the day or hour" will hold...
2) Awakening to the Signs
..Mary is preparing us, just as John the Baptist paved the way for Christ's initial entrance into the world. She is affording us an opportunity to return to God in ways that no generation has ever been privileged to. But, then again, no other generation has needed it as much...
3) Millennial Perspectives
..From the accounts of many visionaries, prophets, and mystics, we are left with the impression that, by the year 2001, the reign of the Two Hearts will be in place, a Golden Age of the Church will ensue (which accounts for the fact that the Virgin continually asks that basilicas, churches and chapels be built), and there will be great happiness and cooperation in the world - a time when human decency and respect will transcend all of our shortcomings...
4) An Approaching New Era
..So what will the "new era" bring? No one knows for sure, but Mary's words at Fatima spoke of a "period of peace", insinuating a beginning and an end. That is to say that after the Era of Peace, the world may once again enter into hard times, leading possibly to the final Apocalypse...Physically speaking, the earth will be miraculously renewed and mankind will be blessed by God in every way (according to many messages). This necessarily seems to indicate that we will have undergone a chastisement by God after which we will "awaken to a new dawn"...
5) Divine Justice Withheld
..We are God's creatures, but have drifted away from our creator. If we don't make the necessary changes (even in spite of the Warning - God's final "remedy" to alert people to their sinfulness), He will send a chastisement, not so much as punishment, but to encourage, in no uncertain terms, His children to return to Him. God permits tribulation & chastisement to perfect and save souls...
6): Likely Future Scenarios
..Certainly, at least one date *has* been definitely set. At Garabandal in the early 1960's, a precise date for the Miracle *was* given. But overall, God is "managing" the timeframe - preordained events that are to transpire before and after the "set" Miracle may be "changed" (timewise and intensity-wise. All time intervals are "flexible". ...
7) Seeking Spiritual Refuge
..So devotion to Mary - veneration, confidence and love - especially through the Brown Scapular and the Rosary, is how we mystically seek refuge in Mary's Immaculate Heart. St. Louis de Montfort tells us that such devotion "is a sure means of going to Jesus, because the attribute of the Blessed Virgin is to lead us surely to Christ, just as Jesus Christ's attribute is to lead us surely to the Eternal Father..."...
Please be assured that I claim no degree of pious-ity nor to be on a deeper spiritual level than anyone else. I am simply reporting on an event I have studied, and reiterating information obtainable from the Bible, the Religious community, and visionaries in contact with Heavenly Intercessors.
Standard caveats:
1) It is not recommended for anyone to dwell SOLELY on such matters (Marian Visions/End Times). Rather, the apparitions and any associated speculation should ENRICH one's spirituality.
2) PLEASE understand that this subject is NOT meant to be "frightening" but, rather, *informative*. Any predicted events are Biblically based and in no way intended to create "worry". As we are *reminded* of the possible imminence of such events, the key is *preparedness*.
3) And PLEASE don't consider that what I have speculated on *will definitely* happen. It is simply hypothesis based on available evidence; an extrapolation of clues.
4) Allow me to emphasize that I am IN NO WAY a prophet (or anything close to one) myself. I'm far (VERY FAR) from being infallible.
5) Although manifestations of the past and present seemingly (CLEARLY, to me) indicate that End Time issues are rapidly approaching, *I could be wrong* - in these interpretations.
6) Not that they're *my* interpretations so much as they are those based on private revelation received through, Catholic for the most part, visionaries and other cited sources. I deem the information to be reliable, but that is my viewpoint.
7) Although I believe that the described events will undoubtedly take place in time, I'm not forcing these views on anyone. They may or may not come to pass in the near future.
8) Please be assured that I claim no degree of pious-ity nor to be on a deeper spiritual level than anyone else. I am simply reporting on matters I have studied, and reiterating information obtainable from the Bible, the Religious community, and visionaries in contact with Heavenly Intercessors.
9) Not that I'm comparing myself to him AT ALL, but I could end up going the way of Jonah. Come to think of it, I think I'll go plant a few gourd seeds right now. Maybe even get a little insecticide to keep the worms off.
10) These disclaimers are not meant to protect *me* so much as they are meant to prevent anyone *else* from being led astray by "undue" expectations.
Should anyone care to, they are free to reprint anything I have posted in this forum. The material is not Coppi-righted. (It's a good thing the Bible isn't copyrighted, and that Matthew/Mark/Luke/John, et al, didn't complain of infringement). Not that I'm comparing myself in ANY WAY to the writers of the Gospel. I'm far (VERY FAR) from being infallible.
- Mike Coppi, email@example.com
From: "Michael J. Coppi" <email@example.com
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 1997 15:33:44 -0400
There are several indications that lead to this conclusion. Here is one:
Conchita of Garabandal revealed that she was told (by Our Lady) that after the death of John XXIII that there would be only 3 more Popes to the end of times.
She never defined what these times that are ending are, but we may safely conclude that they refer to the Satanic times. Specifically this century during which he has been unleashed, and generally - the time between the First Coming and the Second Coming of Jesus.
At any rate, John Paul II will certainly be the last Pope before Marian prophecies are fulfilled, the last Pope before the triumph of her Immaculate Heart, the last Pope before the end of this era ("the end times" - the end of the world's present way of existence [sinful, Godless, materialistic - worse than in the days of Noah - see Matt:24 36-39]) - the last Pope of the Marian age.
It does not in any way mean the end of mankind, but to the ending of an old "style" of life. Even when the Last Judgment Day eventually comes, it will not be an "end", but a "change" (to "glorified bodies").
Based on all that is transpiring, it seems that that the end of "time" will come soon, and that an era of peace will follow (perhaps 1000 years) Time will cease to be recorded as it has in the past when the era of peace dawns. Afterall, that is one definition of the "end times". Possibly, time will no longer have meaning, or we will cease to be conscious of its passage.
Larry Mayka of this forum once gave a very good description of the "end times"...
[The] belief [was] common for almost 2000 years among both mystics and (until recently) theologians, that after a great period of tribulation the Church would enjoy a long era of peace; such would then by followed by a final attack on the Church, at which point God would intervene and bring history to an end. The commentary in the Bible [Catholic Press, 1950, imprimatur by Cardinal Stritch] interprets Apocalypse 20:2 as follows:
"...that, after the destruction of hostile kings and the chaining of the dragon, the Church will enjoy a long era of peace. During this era Christ will reign over the souls of men, and Christians, through their influence over the world, will reign with Christ. Satan will be prevented from extending his kingdom."<
Larry is referring to the "7 day =3D 7000 years" concept. The period of tribulation referred to is the combination of apostasy, schism, and chastisement which we are beginning to experience, will worsen during the reign of the Antichrist, culminate with the 3 Days of Darkness, and end with the dawning of the new era.
Another "indication" that was recently pointed out by Richard Ryzner is the probable:
...significance of one generation (40 years in Biblical times) with Pentecost. He [theologian "Scott Hahn"] develops the significance from both Old and New Testament documents. He also indicates that in 1960 Pope John XXIII invoked the Holy Spirit and called for "A New Pentecost for the Church". The Biblical basis shows that during these 40 year periods much chaos and turmoil exists which is completed by renewal. Of course, the year 2000 would complete the 40 year period since Pope John invoked the Holy Spirit.<
Lest any Catholics deny that we anticipate such events, remember that at Mass we pray...
In the CREED: "We LOOK for the resurrection of the dead, and life everlasting."
During the Eucharistic prayer: ...CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN.
In the "Our Father": THY KINGDOM COME... As WE WAIT IN JOYFUL HOPE FOR THE COMING OF OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
A few weeks ago, Mark Lerch pointed out the following:
It is easy to use and abuse Scripture to toss arguments back and forth: "You know not the hour nor the day" <-->"Cannot you see the signs of= the times?"
One thing is for certain. If Jesus did not want us to look for the signs of his return, he most certainly would have informed the Holy Spirit to avoid inspiring the authors of the gospels to load them with passages concerning the signs of his return.
There is confusion to be sure, but it's evident that *something's* going on. It seems that this *something* has a lot to do with the coming Reign of Mary's Immaculate Heart, and the accompanying return of Christ's Peace to the world. And it's only logical to assume that a great Miracle, as foretold of at Garabandal, to be preceded by a worldwide Warning, will usher in this new era.
But even if there are still some people held back from receiving this evangelization ..., that situation will surely change quickly following the Warning.
These very people will tend to overwhelm nearby missionaries in their quest for guidance in the Faith, just as priests will be overloaded by people seeking Confession. Thus mankind *will* quickly come to know God We're not yet "perfected", but the Warning will hasten our perfection.
Fr. Jacov Martin, theologian, indicates that we have apparently come to an important cross-road in the history of the world:
"...it is my opinion that all the apparitions of Our Lady that appear today in the world, together with the apparitions in Medjugorje, are indeed the last ones, and after that, Our Lady will not appear anymore, any place else."
This directly corresponds to the widely held theory that Mary is here, through God's special Grace, to help guide us through these troubled times, and that the visions will cease before the Warning. She has constantly told us that the time of suffering has been shortened - of which we should be eternally greatful - but if the Warning is to come first before the trials, chastisements and Miracle, the apparitions wil end soon.
Indeed, Marian experts say, that John Paul II's actions, on a whole, are to be taken as another sign of the times, since he is said to be the Pope that Our Lady spoke of at Fatima - the Pope who will bring into the world the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
To backtrack a little, let's review some very significant words spoken by Pope Paul VI in 1977, one year before his death:
"There is a great uneasiness, at this time, in the world and in the Church, and that which is in question is the faith. It so happens now that I repeat to myself the obscure phrase of Jesus in the Gospel of St. Luke: 'When the Son of Man returns, will He still find faith on the earth?'
It so happens that there are books coming out in which the faith is in retreat on some important points, that the episcopates are remaining silent and these books are not looked upon as strange. This, to me, is strange. I sometimes read the Gospel passage of the end times and I attest that, at this time, some signs of the end are emerging..."
Now, in his book "Crossing the Threshold of Faith", John Paul II states:
"If victory comes it will be through Mary. Christ will conquer through her, because He wants the Church's victories now and in the future to be linked to her."
Later speaking of Fatima, he noted the words spoken by Our Lady which "NOW, AT THE END OF THIS CENTURY, SEEM TO BE CLOSE TO THEIR FULFILLMENT."=
Those words of Mary were, of course, the promise of THE TRIUMPH OF HER IMMACULATE HEART and "AN ERA OF PEACE FOR MANKIND."
And just as John Paul II speaks of Mary, so she speaks of him and his sufferings due to errors in the faith and division in the Church. She tells us how, in these final times of trial and purification, after which "there will spring up...the new era foretold and announced by the Pope [recall his forecast that the year 2000 will see a "change in men's hearts"]... he invites us all to cross the bright thresholds of hope."
Some say the Pope has specifically stated that we are approaching the final times [that is, the end times followed after some period by the Last Day]. It is alleged that he is the only Pope in all of mankind's history, to say that "we are living in the time of the Apocalypse".
To us, the Blessed Virgin Mary is a sign of sure hope, a sign of motherly love, a sign of Divine Mercy. Since 1981, reports of her intercessions are constant and everywhere. She has intervened in such a way as to shorten the great period of trial which mankind must endure due to being "dominated by the Spirits of Evil." She has set back "further and further" the spiritual warfare which already exists from fully manifesting itself in a physical way.
- Mike Coppi, email@example.com
From: "Michael J. Coppi" <email@example.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 21:47:54 -0400
The purpose of Marian Apparitions...............
We forget, too often, that God has created the world, that He governs it and that His Mother is Queen not only of Heaven, but also of earth. She therefore has the right to come when she wants, where she wants, as she wants: She is in her domain! She is here to "wake us up".
Jesus through Julia Kim in Naju, Korea on 5/16/91 -
"My Mother came into this world as the Heavenly Prophetess and My Helper who will lead you to My brilliant and glorious revelations."
With the world in such a condition as it now is, when so many souls are being lost, how can the Mother of men, who is so powerful, not come quickly to rescue her children? She is powerful enough and good enough to concern herself with us by using all the means God places at her disposal
Mary through Julia Kim in Naju, Korea on 8/27/91 -
"I came to the world as the Lord's Helper to save you in this age fallen into danger. When you renounce everything and follow me completely, my role as your true Mother and the Lord's helper in saving the world will soon be manifested clearly...
... The reason why I was chosen to be the Lord's Helper was to give the opportunity of salvation to everyone. Keep in mind that you were also chosen to be my helpers."
from "Mary's Touch":
>>In concerning ourselves with Marian messages and signs, it is important that we go deeper than what we can see and hear externally and try to understand the motives in the Hearts of OurLord and Our Lady for giving us messages and signs. Undoubtedly, Our Lord is giving us supernatural signs not to satisfy our curiosity but to induce some important changes in our hearts and in our lives, as He changed water into wine at the wedding in Cana.
The nature of the changes God desires in us has already been explaind in the Gospels. The Church that Our Lord established has been guiding, healing and nurturing the faithful in their efforts to live Our Lord's teachings for the past 2000 years.
The saints have been the living examples of how we must conduct our lives But human minds are weak and unsteady, and easily get distracted and misled. Frequently we read and ear the Gospels, but remain spiritually blind and deaf to the contents.
Invaluable spiritual treasures are always available to us through the Church, but we often turn our eyes elsewhere, following erroneus ideas and pursuing vain goals.
It is because of such spiritual complacency, apathy and unreliability that God has been prodding, encouraging and warning us by sending us the Mother of the Savior, who is also our true spiritual Mother.
Our Lady is the ultimate reflection of God's Love and Mercy. God filled her with such an abundance of His Love, Mercy ad Goodness that she could identify herself as te Immaculate Conception Itself in Lourdes, totally free from aything that is evil or unholy.
God created this Mother of God the Son in order to reveal His infinite Goodness and Love for us. By God's Will and by the merits of her Divine Son, she is the only one who can turn the tide of evil which is currently enwraping and pressing down heavily upon the entire world<<..........
Mary through Julia Kim in Naju, Korea on 2/2/95 -
"My messages of love will be the brake that suppresses disorder. All the children in the world must hurriedly understand my messages of love and accept them."
Thus, what is at stake is the salvation of each one of us as well as the status of the Church and the fate of the world. Our Lady is bringing to us the message of hope that God wills to rescue us from our current spiritual and moral crisis.
Mary through Julia Kim in Naju, Korea on 2/4/88 -
"As my messages are founded on love, mercy will overflow into any soul who repents and practices the messages." In order to help this happen, we must make a drastic rearrangement of our priorities, and begin living Our Lord's teachings faithfully as explained in the Gospels and as taught by His Church.
Jesus through Julia Kim in Naju, Korea on 7/1/96 -
"When you make Me known, follow Me, and make My Mother known...you must lighten the dark world by hurriedly propagating to everyone the salvation that has been won through My immeasurable pains on the Cross..."
By means of her spiritual messages, Our Lady is repeating and explaining to us the Lord's teachings in the most loving and persuasive manner as our Mother and as the final attempt by Heaven to change us.
Mary through Julia Kim in Naju, Korea on 1/30/88 -
"Those who practice my messages are accepting me and, therefore, wlll experience a renewal of their souls."
So, when The Blessed Virgin Mary says that we should understand, practice and spread her messages, she is actually asking us to return to the original teachings entrusted to the Church by Christ, and to evangelize the whole world with these teachings.
St. Augustine -
"If you love God, draw all to the love of God."
>>We should never treat the messages frm Mary like the daily newspaper, which we read, and then throw away. God's truth is eternally beautiful and life-giving. He entrusted this precious, awesome truth to His Catholic Church for us and is now refreshing our faith by means of Our Lady's messages and signs.<<
Everywhere that the Most Holy Virgin appears, she insists, without tiring, upon the necessity of returning to God our Savior. As Mother of Christ, she wants to lead us to Him Whom she gave us.
The world needs to be reminded of this reality - to be told that the Infinitely Just God will punish those who obstinately reject His love; that He will chastise those nations in the world who are guilty and hardened in evil............
Jesus through Julia Kim in Naju, Korea on 9/22/95 -
"Because My Mother's loving and kind words from the past several centuries have been ignored, sin has reached a saturation point, even within the Church."
Message from the Blessed Virgin as "Queen of Prophets" to a Priest from the Marian Movement:
"Many among you will wait until it is too late, and then, as in the times of Noah, what will you say when the Ark is closed and the deluge comes? So it will be in the end times...the Ark will close on those who will be saved, but the others will be destroyed..."
Mary through Julia Kim in Naju, Korea on 6/27/96 -
"...This is an age of a great degradation, more corrupt than at the time of Noah and the Deluge and at the age of Sodom and Gomorrah. For this reason, a great disaster lies ahead, but the release of God's wrath is being delayed because you gather and pray together... Open your hearts widely and accept the grace mhumbly and meekly.
However much grace I bestow on you, you cannot receive it unless you open your hearts. There may be souls near you who had received graces but turned against them. See to it that nobody is forgotten or given up, because they have to overcome temptations that entail deceptions and refuse all the compromises that are being made at the secular spirit..."
1/15/89 -
"I wish to rescue the world by the victory of my mercy and love. Therefore, if you pray with me, with confidence in me, holdinnng my hands, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. It will surely triumph."
6/27/93 -
"...If my words are well accepted and practiced, the chastisement to fall upon all of you will turn into a Second Pentecost, and the Church will be renewed by the irresistable power of the Holy Spirit and Love."
2/4/94 -
"Depending on whether you accept my words well or reject them, the time of the Second Pentecost and Purification can be advanced or delayed. Therefore, become simple and innocent...listening to your Mother and rushing to her. Then, you will be saved through a new Resurrection and a new birth, and this world will surely be saved..."
11/21/95 -
"When you follow me believing, trusting and relying on me, I will carry out my plan at your side through amazing methods. God the Son, Who is my Son, will establish a Kingdom of Glory filled with Love, Peace and Joy through you; and, through Him, there will be a Resurrection and a new Pentecost in this world."
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, eminent Prelate of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, reminds us that Mary's primary exhortation, issued with maternal solicitude, is "Do whatever He tells you."
- Mike Coppi, email@example.com
From: "Michael J. Coppi" <email@example.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 02:31:32 -0400
As the debate over the necessity of physical protection during times of tribulation is waged, it is perhaps most important to note the 3 places of refuge described by Our Lord:
Our Blessed Mother at Fatima in 1917:
"My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God"
Let's examine just how we go about seeking Mary's "refuge". Is she going to throw down some sort of impermeable tarp for us to hide under? That would hardly be the *spiritual* refuge expected of a Divine Mother. Pope John Paul II effectively summed up that the ROSARY is our primary link to our mother in heaven:
"The call for repentance is maternal and...is associated, as always, with the call for prayer...Our Lady of Fatima points to the ROSARY, which can justly be defined as 'MARY'S prayer' - the prayer in which she feels particularly united with us...That is why the maternal message [of the Mother who desires every man's salvation]...recommends the ROSARY."
At Medjugorje, Mary says:
"...surrender to God that day after day you will discover His Will through prayer." And Pope Leo XIII once said: "There is nothing more excellent than...lifting up supplications to the Blessed Virgin Mary as [we] meditate on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary...The Rosary is the protection of the Mother of God against the enemies of the Catholic Church...The great Virgin of the Rosary is the most potent help of Christians."
Sister Lucia of Fatima also urges us to pray the Rosary......
"... there is no problem... no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls."
Fr. Ignatius O'Brien, O.P. (a Dominican thelogian) says:
"The Rosary is the prayer that unites us to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for with our attention focused on the [particular] mystery...our hearts beat in unison with hers...we keep her company and become *Children of her Heart*...through this...PRAYER OF THE HEART...she opens wide her heart to us... Our union with [God] is assured through her; it is impossiblle to find Our Lady and not experience the Divine attraction. It is through her that Christ draws all things to Himself...She does not stand in His way...He is sovereign in Her Heart...Our union with God is assured through her..."
Fr. Bertrand de Margerie, SJ, (a Jesuit theologian) says:
"...In [the mysteries] we meditate on the virtues of the Mother of God and her Son. In the Rosary, we open ourselves to receive spiritual visits from Mary, who is eager to share with us the virtues of her Immaculate Heart...Through the Rosary, the Mother of God comes to us with Him and imprints His image on...our stained hearts..If we place no obstacle to thee grace she wishes to obtain for us, we wil experience...Mary's presence...The recitation of the Rosary is thus transformed, if God so wills, into an intimate experience..."
Regarding the Rosary, St. Dominic put it simply:
"God has left us the ROSARY that we may learn with Mary's help to pray easily, and simply in holy trust".
The Brown SCAPULAR is the other badge we wear to show our devotion to, and desire to be protected by Mary. The great promise made by the Blessed Virgin given to Saint Simon Stock on July 16, 1251 concerning the Brown Scapular was: "Whoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire."
The Brown Scapular is a Sacramental, and is a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace. The Scapular is the promise of Mary's prayer. It is the masterpiece of the love of the Heart of Mary Pope Pius XII commented:
"The SCAPULAR will be for all the sign of our consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
The Miraculous Medal is another important "gift" from Mary.
The Miraculous Medal, with an image personally dictated by Our Lady, is also very important. She appeared to St. Catherine Laboure' with an image of this Medal, saying: "Have a medal struck after this model. All who wear it will receive great graces; it should be worn around the neck."
So devotion to Mary - veneration, confidence and love - especially through the Brown Scapular and the Rosary, is how we mystically seek refuge in Mary's Immaculate Heart. St. Louis de Montfort tells us that such devotion "is a sure means of going to Jesus, because the attribute of the Blessed Virgin is to lead us surely to Christ, just as Jesus Christ's attribute is to lead us surely to the Eternal Father.."
In his spiritual program proposed for the last three years of the millennium, Pope John Paul II also speaks of the value of personal consecration to Mary, portraying her as a model of faith, radiant hope, and of love towards both God and neighbor. He expounds on the Blessed Virgin as a model in worship, since she is the creature most closely associated with the Messiah. We are encouraged to associate ourselves with Mary in a new Advent. Jesus Christ is formed in the souls of those devoted to the Immaculate Heart. And, in turn, the Father manifests Himself through Jesus Christ.
The ever-virgin mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, occupies a place in the Church second only to that of Christ. Since Christ became human through Mary, and since the Church is Christ's Mystical body, she holds this pre-eminent position. The Blessed Virgin is close to us as our spiritual mother, and deserving of the special love due her as mother of Christ and mother of the Church.
As we already know, God willed that Christ come to us through Mary. The Son entered our world through her and He alone brought salvation. The key to the Divine plan for this understanding therefore is that Mary was the door through which God willed salvation to come. For she is "full of grace" and as Mother of God is more intimately associated with the mysteries of Jesus Christ. True, Mary is but a creature, but she is the only other being in Heaven (besides Christ Himself) in bodily (glorified) form (due to her Assumption).
The *easiest* route to Heaven is: Mary ---> Jesus ---> the Father. God gives His Graces through Mary's Immaculate Heart (united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus). And so we can begin to understand the meaning of the Gospa's messages of Medjugorje: "Members of all faiths are equal before God...Salvation is available to everyone, without exception. Only those who refuse God deliberately are condemned."
Seeking Mary's intercession, then, is the safest course of action for those of us who "know" her but she, on the other hand, "knows" all men, and therefore excludes none of them from the love of her Immaculate Heart. In other words, when we say that Mary is the Mother of all men, it does not necessarily mean that all men believe in her and accept her as Mother but that she accepts them anyways. That is her great mystery as Mother and as Queen.
On November 13, 1965, during her last apparition at Garabaandal, the Blessed Mother said, "I have come for all my children, with the desire to draw them closer to our Hearts..I hold them all in my mantle." She thus universally extended her motherhood to all people. Mari Loli said, "There is no mother as good and understanding as the one we have in heaven."
Mary is our spiritual mother.
Here is a stanza composed by the Garabandal visionaries while in ecstasy:
Christians, follow the Virgin
With humility and fervor,
Ask her that she prepare you a place
In the heavenly dwellings.
It is true that Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5), but the Blessed Virgin Mary is a mediatrix with her Son, but His heart pierced with a lance and the Immaculate Heart of Mary transfixed with a sword of sorrow, were made one when the Sacrifice of the Cross was offered for our salvation.
Because of this, the Church has honored Mary with the title of Co-Redemptrix since the very first century of Christianity. Although she has, of course, received much praise from being considered as our Advocate a dogma offically declaring her as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate is expected, but has yet to be proclaimed.
Certainly she deserves this distinction. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), No. 969-970 (Lumen Getium):
"The motherhood of Mary...continues uninterrupted... Taken up to Heaven, Mary did not lay aside this saving office, but her manifold intercession continues to bring us gifts of eternal salvation...Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.
Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men...flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it".
As Co-Redemptrix, Mary was called in a unique way to share the suffering endured by her Divine Son for our Redemption. On Calvary, Mary stands alone among all creatures in her knowedge and understanding of the sad and tragic consequences of sin. In her Immaculate Heart, the Most Holy Virgin sees the beauty and value of each immortal soul and the heights of holiness to which the grace of God can lead it. Mary knows the great dignity of the human person as a child of God.
Is it possible that God does not grant Mary's requests? Every prayer that comes from her mouth is like a law emanating from the Lord: "The law of clemency is upon her tongue" (Pr 31:26).
St. Bernard wonders why the Church calls Mary "Queen of Mercy"; he replies ("Salve Regina," Serm. I, No. 3): "It is because she opens at her will the abyss of divine mercy, so that no sinner, whatever the enormity of his crimes, can perish, if he is protected by Mary".
Saint Gregory VII adds (Register, letter 47):
"The more she is holy, the more eminent is her dignity, the sweeter she is toward the sinner who wishes to be converted."
300 years ago, St. Louis de Montfort wrote: "It is through the most Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ has come into the world and it is also through her that he ought to reign in the world...In these last times she will be better known and revealed by the Holy Spirit in order to make her Son better known, loved, and served..
In these last times, Mary must show forth more than ever her mercy, to bring back and lovingly receive poor sinners who will be converted, and her strength against the enemies of God, wicked and hardened, who will cause terrible revolutions and seduce many by their promises and threats!...Mary will be terrible to the devil and his followers, like an army set in battle array."
The Virgin Mary is making her final appeals at Medjugorje, et al. They are made in the most loving way, because love is the essence of human life. As quoted from the Imaculata:
"Love is the charity of the Holy Spirit - the very breath of the soul. The body is subject to the soul and the soul must be subject to God who made it. The infernal goal of the enemy of souls is to destroy all moral order and to foment hate in order to destroy all that is of God, who is Love Itself. The malignant cancer of materialistic humanism has infected the entire world. The devil has come to wage war against the Woman and her offspring who keep the commandments of God and give witness to Jesus Christ. It is not possible to be constantly exposed to this deadly virus of hate and not become infected with it, unless we give ourselves absolutely and unconditionally to the Immaculate. Listen to the requests of your Mother and beg her for the grace to obey them perfectly. The very least that is commanded of all Christians is a radical amendment of life."
At Fatima, Mary came as our Mother to plead with her children to unite their hearts in prayer and to cease offending God, Who is Love and, "...Who is already so much offended".
>>Jesus told us love is the very basis of everything. We have to remember what St John says in 1 Jn. 4:18 - "In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love."<<
Our Lady on December 4th, 1996:
"...if you live united with God who is Love itself, He will fill you with His Grace, and filled with His Love you wll be able to bring it to your neighbors..."
Mary's primary messages lead us back to Jesus. She encourages prayer, sacrifice, fastig and conversion to the Gospels. As our Mother, she is consoler of our souls, leading us back to God's grace. Through her intercession, and by her example of humble submission, she desires that all hearts be open to our Lord.
In an Address given at Rome on 10 January 1979 Pope John Paul II said:
"The Church's veneration for the Madonna - a veneration which surpasses the cult of any other Saint and takes the name 'hyperdulia'..."
The highest type of worship or adoration, referred to by theologians as "Latria", is accorded to Jesus Christ. The honor paid to Mary and the saints is infinitely lower. When it is given to the saints, it is referred to as "dulia" and when it is given to Mary it is referred to as "hyperdulia" because it surpasses the veneration given to the angels and saints combined.
Veneration given to Mary is in no way idolatrous, because it is rendered to a creature and is not a substitute or an alteration to the worship owed to the Divinity. Indeed, the more Mary is venerated, the more she draws all mankind to her Divine Son and to the Father.
We do not "worship" Mary. Worship can ONLY be offered to the Creator, God Himself as well as Jesus Christ His only begotten Son.
We "honor" and "venerate" Mary according to her dignity as Mother of Jesus. By honoring her, it is the Catholic intention of praising God for creating her.
- Mike Coppi, email@example.com =
[ed. note by ARB: Originally posted on the Marian Apparitions List of Catholicity. Very similar to Bud Macfarlane, Sr.'s talks on Marian Apparitions: for information on free tapes of his talks and other Catholic audio tapes, see the Mary Foundation's Web page]


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But now the snow is all gone, so we're busting out the rollerskis and hiking poles again. Today, Kanata Nordic racers had a training session in the Gatineau Park. We all hiked from the Old Chelsea Picnic Ground, up Penguin hill and then my parents and I continued on Trail 1, while the racers did Skyline Trail, which is very rocky and ragged, so not so great for the vision impaired. It was an overcast and gloomy sort of day, but not much beats being in the forest, smelling the fall smells and breathing the fresh air while going up and down windy forest trails. It's one of my favourite types of training. There were lots of people out on the trails today, some walking with dogs, some nordic walking with big backpacks, lots running with ski hiking poles like ourselves. My parents and I did about 2.5 hours of ski hiking, consisting of ski striding with our poles up the hills (as I'm doing in the photo), jogging down the hills and jogging or ski walking on flats.
After training, we stopped off at Fresh Air Experience to pick out some skis for me. I've decided that it's time for me to act like a real racer and acquire more than just two pairs of good racing skis. I brought my two pairs of skis (classic and skate) with me to the store, and Duncan tested them for me to figure out what kind of conditions they are best for, so that I can buy two more pairs that will be good for different conditions. It turns out my two pairs are best for powder or hard-packed conditions, which I apparently knew without realizing it, because when Duncan asked me what I found the skis were good for I told him that the skate skis were horrible in that crazy 15 km race in Vancouver with the wet soppy snow. Duncan said his testing confirmed that those skis would be better for powder or hard-packed snow. So my new pair of skate skis is going to be better for wet conditions. For my classic skis, I said that they are really good for everything, but then amended that maybe they were not so good for Klister skiing (Klister is a horribly sticky grip wax that is used for hard-packed icy conditions in classic skiing). I was pleased to find out that I was right - based on the testing Duncan did with Fresh Air's very cool ski testing machine, my classic skis had no Klister pocket, so they would be no good on Klister days. So I will be getting a new pair of Klister skis. Unfortunately, they didn't have these two types of skis for my height and weight, so I've been put on the list of racers waiting for new skis and they will keep an eye on their new arrivals for skis that will fit what I'm looking for. I was super impressed with the way I was treated at Fresh Air today. I've always been treated super nice by Chris and everyone else there, but I've never had such special racer treatment before. If ever, anyone is looking for cross country ski equipment or bicycles in the Ottawa area and beyond, I highly recommend Fresh Air Experience. They have the best prices, very knowledgeable staff, and you can shop online. And as you can see, they really get to know their customers. And that's my positive rant for the day.
We were supposed to have a development training camp for the Eastern half of the country next weekend, but as there is no snow in Mont Ste-Anne, QC, it probably won't happen. The coaches are making the call on Monday. Either option is fine by me, since going to this camp meant that I couldn't attend my friend's wedding. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.
I'm going rollerskiing in the Gatineau Park tomorrow morning, and I really hope it doesn't rain as much as they're calling for! If anyone is readying this, please think of snow for me. I'd like to try out my new skis when I get them and to actually get off the pavement before races start!
And that's the end of this lengthy update. Good night from Ottawa!

subset: commoncrawl


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E-learning systems are quite common these days. More and more people are turning to free MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) to expand their skills in..
In his book So good they can't ignore you, Cal Newport systematically (and often humorously) builds a case against the popular career advice of following..
Open Badges with Doug Belshaw Jobs and careers are changing, education is changing, many skills seem to have an ever shortening "shelf life." We need..
I've been perfecting the art of New Year's goal-setting for about eight years now, and 2016 was probably my best year so far. I lived..
A Post-Industrial Design School There's this weird and wonderful place on the Lower East-Side of New York. It's called Orbital and bills itself as a "studio for..
We have a lot of articles on this magazine about various forms of learning and different experiences, but how about E-180 itself? How do we..
I've mentioned this in our newsletter a few times and it's probably apparent from the topic selection; I believe that learning has a lot of..
A Discipline for a New Era We are learning all the time, whether we are conscious of it or not. The dynamics of learning have..
Like many, we are taking a few weeks off over the holidays but we thought our readers might still enjoy some quality reads during that..


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Yesterday, Gul Bahao's Nargis Latif delivered a lecture on the need for scientific research at an assembly of 500 (five hundred) "A" level students at the City School PAF chapter. Amidst burst of applause Nargis recalled how James Watt (the inventor of the steam engine) and the Wright brothers who invented the airplane who were teenagers like themselves were harbingers of the industrial revolution.
Nargis said that research is not a status symbol and should not be considered synonymous with impressive degrees, sophisticated laboratories and plenty of money. On the contrary giving the example of Gul Bahao she said that its innovations have been conducted in slum areas using waste and therefore inexpensive. However, she quickly recalled that she herself having a masters degree from Karachi university has been using her academic knowledge while working for Gul Bahao.
Exhorting the students to go into research in Environmental work Nargis said, Waste management is a very exciting field as it encompasses the entire industrial and metropolitan life. There is so much to pick and choose from. She revealed that Nadir Choudhry an ex student of the City school holding a masters in Computer Science and presently working in Sweden is running Gul Bahao's website. According to her hundreds of people are regularly visiting this website. Many college and university students and research workers are taking help from it for their projects and theses etc.
The founder of Gul Bahao said that Gul Bahao has a long standing relationship with Karachi's educational institutions. Many schools and universities are source of Gul Bahaos funding through providing recyclable waste free of cost. Some of the schools have even asked their students to bring their waste material from their homes.
Nargis listed the following immediate goals of Gul Bahao:
- Putting up Pakistan's first Research Centre on Waste Management
- Providing cheap housing through its innovation of Chandi Ghar.
Concluding, Nargis said that after spending more than 80 million rupees and seventeen years on its research work , Gul Bahao is poised to help the country get out of its socioeconomic morass. Comparing the work of Gul Bahao with that of the innovator James Watt, the innovator, she said that Gul Bahao has laid the foundation for a technological revolution in Pakistan.


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Melbourne's Best Bush, Bay and City walks lives up to its name. It includes 44 walks spread across 7 chapters (see below), with something for everyone, from 2.5km easy strolls in historic city areas and wild marine sanctuaries, to relaxing 5km strolls in parklands and by the river, up to hillier, longer walks in the Dandenong Ranges for those who enjoy really striding out. There is also a dedicated 'Bayside' chapter for those who love to take in the sea air on their stroll. I have had the best time discovering and enjoying Melbourne on foot – it is certainly a city that repays the easy effort of getting 'up close and personal' and uncovers its wonderful secrets best when explored on foot. Melbourne's Best Bush, Bay and City Walks is available in all good bookstores and online stores or you can purchase it directly from Woodslane Press
I have also attached a sample walk from the book (Walk 1 – Fed Square and Southbank) in low resolution pdf format which you can download by clicking here, so you can get a feel for the format of the book: Melbourne pages 12-17low
Chapter 1 – Inner City
Federation Square & Southbank
Parliament Hill & Fitzroy Gardens
The Shrine and Botanic Gardens
Foodies Walk – Carlton & Queen Vic Markets
Melbourne Heritage & Laneways
The Arts Precinct
Emerald Hill Heritage Precinct
Herring Island & Como House
Albert Park Lake
2. North
Yarra Bend & Dights Falls
The Royal Park & Zoo
University Precinct
Woodlands Historic Park
Yellow Gum Park, Plenty River
3. South East
Braeside Park
Australian Gardens, Cranbourne
Lysterfield Lake
Churchill National Park
4. South West & SW Bayside
Williamstown Maritime History
Altona Coastal Park
Werribee Park & Mansions
Point Cook Homestead Coastal Park & Homestead
Cheetham Wetlands
You Yangs Regional Park
5. East
Banksia Park & Heide
Kokoda Track Memorial Walk
Mt Dandenong Summit
Eastern Sherbrook Forest
RJ Hamer Aboretum
Warrandyte Gold Heritage Trail
Sugarloaf Reservoir
6. West
Brimbank Park
Pipemakers Park, Marybinong River
Organ Pipes National Park
Long Forest Conservation Reserve
7. SE Bayside
Port Melbourne to Webb Dock
St Kilda to Station Pier
St Kilda Icons
Elwood Foreshore and Canal
Brighton Beach Boxes
Red Bluff
Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary


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As an immunomodulator in the management of upper and lower respiratory tract infections, allergic disorders of the upper respiratory tract, skin and soft tissue infections, dental and periodontal infections, ocular infections, bone and joint infections and urinary tract infections
Key ingredients:
Tinospora Gulancha (Guduchi) is a potent antimicrobial that has immunostimulatory properties, which helps in increasing the level of antibodies. This helps in building up the body's resistance to infections.
Licorice (Yashtimadhu) enhances immunostimulation and increases macrophage (white blood cells that ingests antibodies) function in vitro. It is also an antiviral agent and an expectorant, which is beneficial in asthma, acute or chronic bronchitis and chronic cough.
Indian Bdellium (Guggulu) has anti-inflammatory properties, which soothe sore throat and help reduce inflammation. As an antioxidant, Indian Bdellium helps in maintaining overall health.
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In our previous episode, Henrik Frystyk Nielsen said: > > At 12:03 12/16/98 +0100, email@example.com wrote: > >Added support for the message digest authentication protocol as defined > >in <draft-ietf-http-authentication-03>. > > Looks great! This is a very important new feature and really concludes the > HTTP/1.1 implementation in libwww - thanks! You're welcome. It was fun doing it. > Just one minor thing - global.h (which I think is a md5 header) is missing > from CVS - would it be possible to add it? > Thanks for the quick check. I had merged that file inside md5.h. However, I think that I made one change inside HTDigest.h rather than HTDigest.html, which explains why I could compile it without problems. Murphy's law :-/ I just commited the check. Also, there was a typo in my last file. I tested my implementation against Agranat's test site [1], and not against Agrawal (a known personality from the Distributed Systems field). -Jose [1] http://digest-test.agranat.com/ [2] http://www.w3.org/Amaya/Received on Wednesday, 16 December 1998 10:34:27 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 6 January 2015 21:33:48 UTC


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The National Rifle Association, the influential lobbying group that is a driving force behind America's lax gun laws, on Tuesday released its first statement since the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 26 people. Read the statement below:
National Rifle Association of America is made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters — and we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown.
Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting.
The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.
The NRA is planning to hold a major news conference in the Washington, DC area on Friday, December 21.


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Noel Mitchell's arrival in the Loughgall hot-seat failed to produce immediate rewards on Saturday afternoon as an injury-time strike left PSNI with full points.
Mitchell had little time to impose his influence at Lakeview Park following a midweek appointment as Brian Adair's replacement.
His focus over the next few training sessions and matchdays may prove divided between game preparation for a Loughgall side struggling for form and discussions with a playing squad considered vulnerable to attention from rival clubs given the Villagers' disappointing campaign to date.
Daniel Burns' departure was confirmed prior to the Bob Radcliffe Cup final on Boxing Day, with Chris Kingsberry opting to follow Adair out of Lakeview Park following the latter's decision to resign from his manager's post. Adair and Kingsberry have both agreed deals with NIFL Championship Two-based Dollingstown as players under the management of a former Loughgall midfielder, Gary Duke.
Club officials have revealed to the 'Times' positive feedback from a meeting with the players last week to discuss the future.
Neil Alderdice's backroom position as part of the gaelic football team at Crossmaglen will restrict his availability but Ryan Moffatt, the Loughgall captain, added coaching and preparation to his responsibilities before the PSNI match.
Mitchell has been a familiar face at Lakeview Park due to his role within the Regions' Cup selection panel. Marcus Dallas, the former Coagh player, is also on the books at Loughgall.
The experienced coach has appointed Stephen Uprichard as his assistant manager, the pair having previously worked together at Coagh United.
Loughgall lost out last weekend to a deflected injury-time goal but will be aiming for an upturn in fortunes tomorrow (Saturday) against Institute in the Irish Cup.
"I'm delighted that Noel and Stephen have agreed to become our new management team," said Loughgall chairman John McCann in a statement on the club website. "They both come as highly-respected and experienced coaches in local football and everyone at Lakeview is looking forward to their arrival.
"We can now approach the remainder of the season with a degree of optimism and expectation."
Kick-off will be 3 o'clock.


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PHOTOS: Broad Street Run 2016
The first male finisher was 24-year-old Abebe Mekuria of New York, NY who finished with a time of 48:43 and a pace of 4:52/mi.
The first female finisher was 27-year-old Crystal Burnick of Skippack, Pa. who finished with a time of 57:05 and a pace of 5:42/mi.
Here are the top 10 finishers:
Abebe Mekuria, 24, New York NY, 48:43 48:43, 4:52/mi
Mathew Kiplagat, 33, White Plains, NY 48:51 4:53/mi
David Fuentes, 29, Austin TX 49:28 4:56/mi
Matthew Forys, 30, New York, NY 49:43 4:58/mi
Carlos Jamieson, 28, Washington DC 49:47 4:58/mi
Andrew Weaver, 25, Baltimore MD 49:50 4:58/mi
Tyler Andrews, 25, Arlington VA 49:56 4:59/mi
Justin Garrard, 29, Philadelphia PA 50:07 5:00/mi
Japheth Kiptanui, 31, Huntington NY 50:37 5:03/mi
Darryl Brown, 33, Exton PA 51:23 5:08/mi
Check results here.
Up to 40,000 runners were expected to run, shutting down 10 miles of the major roadway.
#inspiration #broadstreetrun pic.twitter.com/U0uh2Yo47w— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) May 1, 2016
The run started at the Central High School Athletic Field at Broad Street and Somerville Avenue. The race finishes inside the Philadelphia Navy Yard at the end of Broad Street in South Philadelphia.
Map of Start Area:
Course Map:
Map of Finish Area
A fleet of city tow trucks were on Broad Street early Sunday morning, clearing vehicles in order to make the route ready the run.
Philadelphia police had warned cars parked on Broad Street must be moved by midnight or risk being towed.
For information on what transportation to take, detour information on SEPTA bus routes and helpful links and tips for race day visit SEPTA and BroadStreetRun.com


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The Universe has proven to be far more intriguing in its composition than we knew it to be. It is a dark Universe where 23% of its mass-energy density is made up of weakly interacting (and, as yet, undetected) non-baryonic particles (a.k.a. dark matter) and 73% is as yet unknown physics (a.k.a. dark energy) that is driving an accelerated expansion. To shed new light on these mysteries, we combine the gravitational lensing power of 25 massive galaxy clusters with HST's enhanced panchromatic imaging capabilities (WFC3 and the restored ACS) to test structure formation models with unprecedented precision. We have dubbed our program CLASH, which stands for:
Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble.


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Disclosure - Settle | Album review
On its fantastical debut, Settle, Disclosure demonstrates that truly great dance music is simply soul music. But it's more complicated than it sounds.
Would you dance as hard to "Mother Popcorn" or "I Feel Love" or "Temptation" or "100% Pure Love" if they were merely instrumentals? No, of course not. Dance music is not Garfield Minus Garfield—there is no deeper meaning or revelation found by erasing the star. Without vocals, dance music can feel like a technical diagram of steps, black footprints against plain white.
This is a concept that Disclosure fully understands and demonstrates on Settle. The debut of the young U.K. electronic duo wisely sports vocals on every track. The songs tend to run for about four minutes, a fraction of the length of the typical club mix, which means that while the brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence are ostensibly a traditional house act, they aspire to pop radio. That is not to say every cut on Settle is an undeniable banger because it features a human voice. As the recurring SNL skit Deep House Dish beat into a laughless pulp, house music is the realm of the anonymous diva, interchangeable belters who hit the expected notes with ersatz feeling. "Voices" alone will not make the latest teenage Adele-clone-come-lately Sasha Keable a household name. But you can't just plug in a major chart star and expect gold. See: the latest Calvin Harris album.
There are only a few truly sublime tunes on this album, but they elevate everything. "White Noise," featuring AlunaGeorge, lands early. In a deep London accent, Aluna Francis sings above her weight class, "Lately I've been thinking if you wanna get tough, then let's play rough," a Betty Boop cooing with brass knuckles. The Lawrences hammer hard on keyboards. It's hard to pinpoint why exactly this single stands head and shoulders about not just this album but all recent dance singles. Similarly, a clutch of numbers at the close climb to peaks. Eliza Doolittle flits over a heart-quickening two-step on "You & Me." Next, Jamie Woon and Jessie Ware swim in sumptuous androgyny on "January" and "Confess to Me." Ware whispers before wailing; Woon ducks and weaves between the beat. Frankly, Disclosure might have precocious knowledge of the technical workings of a house song, but the two are not doing anything earth-shattering underneath. There's a hard un-tiss-un-tiss with stabs of synthetic piano eighth notes. And yet…. It lies in the way the divas ride the cuts. It's surfing versus floating into shore on a raft.
Disclosure are crafty enough to plug in some sample-based thumpers such as "When A Fire Starts to Burn" and "Grab Her!" and a few of those oohing and aahing anonymouths to sustain the groove and goodwill of those few stellar tracks. The lesson here: Truly great dance music is simply soul music. But it's more complicated than it sounds.


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DETROIT — Toyota's offers of subsidized leases and interest-free financing prompted a sales surge and touched off an industrywide incentive tussle that drew shoppers into showrooms last month.
Toyota, whose United States sales had fallen 12 percent in January and February after it recalled more than eight million vehicles worldwide, said Thursday that its March sales rose 41 percent compared with those in the month a year earlier.
Sales of the 14 models that Toyota has recalled since November rose 48 percent last month, with demand for two models on the recall list, the Rav4 and Highlander, more than doubling.
Meanwhile, the Ford Motor Company said its sales rose 40 percent, and General Motors reported a 43 percent increase for its four brands not being shut down or sold. G.M.'s sales were up 21 percent over all, as Pontiac and the other doomed brands nearly exhausted their remaining inventories.
Sales rose 43 percent at Nissan, 22 percent at Honda and 15 percent at Hyundai.
Ford and G.M. were each offering zero-percent loans, while Toyota's Asian competitors also dangled some combination of zero-percent deals and lease discounts to shoppers. In contrast, Chrysler, despite offering similar deals, reported a decline of 8 percent.Continue reading the main story
The result was the country's best new-vehicle sales month since September 2008, excluding the government's monthlong cash-for-clunkers rebate program last year. Sales increased 24 percent, the industry's largest year-over-year increase in eight years.
Toyota indicated Thursday that it expected to continue offering big discounts in April — the March offers expire Monday. Its competitors will most likely need to follow suit to keep up, said Jesse Toprak, vice president for industry trends at TrueCar.com, which tracks vehicle pricing.
"Toyota's incentives convinced consumers who were on the fence to go out and buy a car now," Mr. Toprak said. "Chances are you're going to see these levels of incentives into the summer."
Toyota said about 60 percent of its sales were to past customers, who were given two years of free maintenance.
An official said sales of its Prius hybrid car slowed drastically several weeks ago after two widely publicized incidents in which Prius drivers said their cars accelerated out of control. Sales picked up again after investigations by the police and Toyota engineers suggested the incidents might have been caused by the drivers rather than the cars.
"It doesn't matter how good the deal is, I don't believe anyone would buy a new car or truck from a brand they didn't trust," Don Esmond, senior vice president for automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., said on a conference call.
Data from Edmunds.com, which tracks vehicle sales and provides car-buying information, showed that G.M. and Ford each spent about the same amount per vehicle on incentives last month as they did in February. No-interest financing deals generally cost automakers less than cash-back rebates, even though consumers might save more from a zero-percent loan.
But Toyota's incentive spending jumped 44 percent, or nearly $700 a vehicle, to $2,256, a record.
G.M.'s vice president for United States marketing, Susan Docherty, said a quarter of vehicles sold were new for the 2010 model year and came with few discounts. She said that G.M. was now disciplined enough to not rely heavily on incentives.
"We've been down that road before, and we know it's a dead end," Ms. Docherty said on a conference call. "It's really important that we earn our market share. We're not interested in buying it."
Ford, too, said it hoped to entice consumers by promoting its vehicles as good values, not with discounts. It plans to begin a campaign next week around that philosophy, said Ken Czubay, Ford's vice president for United States sales and marketing.
"Our product is the difference at Ford," Mr. Czubay said "When you add value to the product, you don't have to go after the incentive game."
Mr. Esmond at Toyota said big incentives were not part of the company's long-term strategy but appropriate right now because the company "needed a little bit of a kick-start."
Mr. Toprak said it was too soon to tell whether Toyota was starting to condition its customers to shop only when incentives were available. "They're probably better off spending the money now and keeping consumers in the brand than trying to recapture them after going to another brand," he said.
Last month, the deals were so popular that Toyota sold about 500 more of the recalled models in March than in January and February combined. Sales of the Camry sedan, which temporarily lost its title as the nation's most popular car as sales fell 22 percent in the previous two months, were up 33 percent in March.
"February was tough, but once the new incentives came out it was good times again," said Barry Jackson, general manager of Sandy Springs Toyota, north of Atlanta. "Toyota has never been known for big incentives on their cars, so people are taking advantage."
Mr. Jackson said his dealership sold or leased 23 new vehicles on Wednesday, including two Prius hybrids to a man who had never owned a Toyota and originally came in looking for only one. "He ended up leasing two of them because the payments were so low," he said.Continue reading the main story


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Past EU/MEetings
EU/ME organizes a yearly EU/MEeting, a successful series of workshops.It is usually dedicated to a specific theme and done in association with a local research group or research partner.
- EU/MEeting 2001 with UK Local Search Group (London, UK).
- EU/MEeting 2002 on Multi-Objective Metaheuristics (Paris, France).
- EU/MEeting 2003 on Real-Life Applications of Metaheuristics (Antwerp, Belgium).
- EU/MEeting 2004 on Design and Evaluation of Advanced Hybrid Meta-Heuristics (Nottingham, UK).
- EU/MEeting 2005 on Metaheuristics and Large Scale Optimization (Vilnius, Lithuania).
- EU/MEeting 2006 on Combination of Metaheuristics and LS with Constraint Programming techniques (Nantes, France).
- EU/MEeting 2006 on Adaptive, Self-adaptive and Multi-level Metaheuristics (Málaga, Spain).
- EU/MEeting 2007 on Applications of Metaheuristics in the Service Industry (Stuttgart, Germany).
- EU/MEeting 2008 on Metaheuristics in Logistics and Routing (Troyes, France).
- EU/MEeting 2009 on Discussing the future (Porto, Portugal).
- EU/MEeting 2010 on the 10th anniversary of the metaheuristic community (Lorient, France).
- EU/MEeting 2011 on Client-centered Logistics and International Aid (Vienna, Austria).
- EU/MEeting 2012 on Metaheuristics for global challenges, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- EU/MEeting 2013 on Metaheuristics for all, Hamburg, Germany.
- EU/MEeting 2014 on Metaheuristics and Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey.
- EU/MEeting 2014 in memory of late Professor Arne Løkketangen, Molde, Norway.
- EU/MEeting 2015 on Metaheuristic Applications, Madrid, Spain.
- EU/MEeting 2016 on Design and Analysis of Metaheuristics, Antwerp, Belgium.
- EU/MEeting 2017 on Metaheuristics for a better world, Rome, Italy.
Important dates and events in the EU/ME history
- 2000 - Creation of EU/ME - The EUropean chapter on MEtaheuristics
- 2001 - Official endorsement within EURO
- 2001 - First web site and already 500 members are counted
- 2004 - The number of members reaches 1000. EURO is forced to set new rules to handle big groups.
- 2007 - EU/ME website is upgraded and run under a CMS
- 2010 - Change of the name to EU/ME the metaheuristics community
- 2013 - Creation of a VNS section
On March 4-18, 2000, EURO organised a EURO Winter Institute on "Metaheuristics in Combinatorial Optimisation" in Lac Noir, Switzerland. Both for the participants and the organisers (Alain Hertz and Marino Widmer), it was a great success. During the Winter Institute, seventeen young researchers worked together and shared experiences for fifteen days. This resulted in a group of seventeen motivated young researchers, eager to continue their joint work in their future careers. The organisers, Alain Hertz and Marino Widmer, and also Manuel Laguna, encouraged the participants to create a EURO working group, to stimulate ongoing co-operation in this field of research.
The topic of the Winter Institute was "Metaheuristics in Combinatorial Optimisation". It was decided to create a new group working in the field of metaheuristics to allow us to include people that use and develop metaheuristics for other than combinatorial optimisation problems.
In Europe and around the world, there exists already a large community working on that subject. The MIC (Metaheuristics International Conference) conference that takes place every two years, is a great success each time. EMO (International Conference on Evolutionary Multi-Criterion Optimisation), EuroGP 2001 (4th European Conference on Genetic Programming Congress on Evolutionary Computation), GECCO 2001 (Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference) and CEC 2001 (Congress on Evolutionary Computation) are other recent conferences in that field. Many workshops and streams in conferences or workshops are dedicated to metaheuristics. Also, mailing lists are growing and the modern-heuristics mailing list is one of the most important today. Moreover, the Journal of Heuristics provides an outlet for the work done by researchers in the field of metaheuristics.
Marc Sevaux, Kenneth Sörensen and Christelle Wynants decided to found a working group on metaheuristics to provide a forum for researchers, to intensify the joint European research and to maintain complete and updated information about events, papers, surveys, new algorithms, free positions, etc. One of the first acts of this new working group was to create a comprehensive web site of metaheuristics-related topics.
In January 2001, the EU/ME working group was officially endorsed by EURO and given the status of EURO working group. Since then, the group has continued to increase its member base.


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- 21h30
- Event Facebook
Billets à l'avance / Advanced tickets:
$10.00 au Divan Orange ou via le web ici: http://indiemontreal.ca/fr/olenka-the-autumn-lovers-gabrielle-papillon-jane-erhardt/
$12.00 à la porte/ at the door (si il en reste/ If not sold out)
Olenka & the Autumn Lovers
Folk Rock / Indie / Pop
The band, fronted by Polish singer/songwriter Olenka Krakus, has a sound that mingles a strong Eastern European influence with elements of North American country and folk music. The band's diverse instruments (cello, violin, accordion, trumpet, saxophone, lap steel, mandolin and glockenspiel) provide a unique musical backdrop to Olenka's sophisticated, often narrative, form of songwriting. Influenced by her memories of Communist Poland and by the country's folklore, Olenka investigates themes of social injustice and personal responsibility, populating her songs with melancholy outcasts from both Polish and Canadian landscapes. O&AL's music has been compared to that of Beirut, The Decemberists, Wilco, Arcade Fire, Cat Power, Gillian Welch, Gogol Bordello, Lhasa, and Tom Waits.
Hailed as "one of finest new songwriters in Canada," (Tom Power, CBC) singer-songwriter Gabrielle Papillon sings stories real and imagined. Words, melancholy melodies, and lush harmonies are her currency.
- jane-ehrhardt.com/
- myspace.com/janeehrhardt
- facebook.com/pages/Jane-Ehrhardt/288868581131100?fref=ts
Jane Ehrhardt
Folk \ Pop
"Pour comprendre l'univers poétique qui berce la création de cette auteure-compositrice-interprète, vous pourriez vous replonger dans les décors pittoresques des romans de John Steinbeck, avec The Grapes of Wrath (Les raisins de la colère) et Of Mice and Men (Des souris et des hommes), par exemple. Cette artiste aime bien s'inspirer du siècle passé pour mieux interpréter ce qui l'entoure aujourd'hui." - Antoine Léveillée (Voir Montréal)
Jane Ehrhardt writes touching, poetic songs that are charged with critical observations, dreams, memories, hopes and reveries. Few people can remain indifferent when she delivers them with her deep, rich voice. As a solo performer, she can bring a room to a hushed standstill as the crowd hangs on to each well-placed note and word. With her band, she takes listeners through a whirlwind of emotions and sounds, ranging from folk-rock to soul and from country-bluegrass to lullabies.


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Ancient philosophy is one area of classical studies where contemporary relevance can hardly be denied. Philosophers still study their ancient predecessors, in order to gain from them the combined inspiration and irritation that have been central to philosophy since the Presocratics. There may be a distinction between those whose interest in the ancients is primarily philosophical and those for whom it is historical; but both groups have much to learn from each other.
It was once a commonplace of scholarship to say that Epicureanism and Stoicism sought to provide individuals with guidelines for living after the old certainties of the city-state had been swept away by Alexander the Great. Like all commonplaces this is only partially true, and provokes a natural reaction; the city-state had not, for centuries if ever, provided that much certainty, and Plato and Aristotle too were concerned with how life should be lived, not just with conceptual analysis. But that hardly means that Stoicism may not have something to say about how people should live, in antiquity and even now, whether in a direct way -- as is suggested by the popularity of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius in the nineteenth century and indeed more recently1 -- or indirectly, as providing grist for the philosophical mill. The end of the twentieth century is a time at least as much in need of moral guidance and a sense of values as the third century B.C. It may be no accident that a scholarly debate has recently developed over just how close the link is between Stoic ethics and Stoic physics,2 given that no-one would propose reviving the latter.
In this context B(ecker)'s book is an audacious thought-experiment. Imagine that Stoicism had survived from antiquity, and had adapted itself to subsequent discoveries in natural science and psychology; or else -- what B. in ch.2 describes as his own less ambitious project -- simply try to construct a Stoicism for today. What would it look like? What might it have to offer us? What features would be needed for it to qualify as Stoicism at all? And what does B.'s book have to offer the historian and classicist, as opposed to the twentieth-century practical moral agent?
For B., a Stoic moral philosophy is one that sees virtue as the one value with which no others can be compared, and interprets virtue in terms of an individual's organised and coherent plan for living his or her own life, based on an understanding of the natural world, of which we are a part, even though that world can no longer be understood in the ancient way as teleologically organised. Stoicism therefore denies that facts and values are ultimately distinct; and it emphasises the individual's particular nature and situation,3 while stressing that ethics should be concerned with an individual's whole life: "Living virtuously is the process of creating a single, spatio-temporal object -- a life" (p.20); the Stoic sage is, precisely, the virtuoso performer in life (pp.106ff. But too much attachment to a plan is counter-productive, pp.141, 157; the Stoic must be adaptable.) As for the ancient Stoics, it is the way you live and what you try to achieve that matters, not what you actually achieve, for that is beyond your control. What an individual's aims should be is determined by an understanding of human nature and psychological development, B.'s modern equivalent of the ancient theory of oikeiosis or "appropriation".
B. sets out his theory in chapters each followed by a Commentary, which includes consideration of the relation of B.'s theory to ancient Stoicism in so far as we can reconstruct the latter. It is therefore in the Commentaries that discussion, often extensive and with copious quotation, of the ancient material is to be found. After two brief introductory chapters, one sketching the historical influence of Stoic ideas and the second outlining the possibilities for Stoic treatments of ethics today, ch.3 argues that ethics should be based on our knowledge of the world, and examines the way in which agents can or should calculate the way in which they should behave in each situation. "Practical reason assesses the soundness of normative propositions for various purposes. Ethics tells us which ones are sound all-things-considered" (p.14). Individuals operate within institutions of various types; a terminology for the types of rules that characterise these is developed (p.18). And concern should be with one's life as a whole, not just with individual situations.
On p.21 B. argues that concern for a whole life sets Stoic ethics apart from Epicureanism. An Epicurean's life is indeed, as B. notes on p.148, not going to be such a complex overall project as a Stoic's, just because, as Martha Nussbaum has rightly complained, Epicureanism models ideal human life on that of the Olympian gods to whom rather little that matters ever actually happens.4 Nevertheless, a recent discussion of Epicurean katastematic pleasure by Jeffrey Purinton5 does see it precisely as the overall aim to which individual kinetic pleasures contribute if properly selected. And Epicurus as well as the Stoics argued that the sage will be happy on the rack (Diogenes Laertius 10.118, cf. B. pp.146-148; Cicero, Tusculans 5.(XXVI).73, cited by B. on p.153).
The Commentary to ch.3 surveys the sources for ancient Stoic ethics, and explains B.'s decision to avoid Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius because of their emphasis on theology and practical therapeutics rather than on moral theory, suggesting that this may reflect Arrian, Epictetus' reporter, rather than Epictetus himself. B. then surveys the modern literature on the relation between physics and ethics in ancient Stoicism, and considers the relation between the ancient Stoic emphasis on particulars and their corporealism, arguing for a non-reductive materialism as the modern equivalent.
Ch.4, together with an appendix which is definitely for formal logicians only, outlines the logical mechanisms by which "ought" is to be derived from "is". B.'s "normative logic" involves three normative operators, "ought", "requirement", and "indifferent". The logic provides a calculus of what happens when different norms conflict (including a requirement to choose arbitrarily when there is no reason to rank one course of action above another, the Buridan's Ass situation: p.40), and takes account of the requirements that arise from participating in a particular institution. Moral propositions are normative ones that take all considerations into account, "all-things-considered", and there are no norms superior to those generated in this way (p.42).
Ch.5 develops the interpretation of following nature as following the facts, and rightly argues that Stoicism is neither fatalism nor romantic heroism (p.44). One might however question B.'s "Stoics would not now (if they ever did) infer that we ought, all-things-considered, to serve as designed" (p.43; my emphasis). For ancient Stoics would I think argue that if we understood the full plan of providence for the universe we should "serve as designed" (i.e. as providence has designed life for each individual one of us). But, because not even the sage has such understanding (only God does), even on the ancient view we have in practice to use a calculus like B.'s, based on the limited amount we do understand.
B. proceeds to discuss the operation of practical reasoning, now applying the logic developed in ch.4 to psychological contexts, and to restate in modern terms the process of "appropriation" (oikeiosis), i.e. the development of our attachment to various satisfactions, and ultimately -- in some cases -- virtue. B. argues that this is "roughly consistent with contemporary developmental psychology" (p.56) and that oikeiosis to knowledge, in particular, is borne out by "modern studies of cognitive development" (p.57). Individual autonomy and responsibility are not excluded by determinism, and even Calvinistic predestination does not alter the quality of a life (pp.63-68).
Ch.6 continues the psychological analysis of agency and the development of character traits. Psychological fitness is enjoyed like physical fitness, and what it is will vary according to social roles, even for the sage (pp.105ff.). Extreme antisocial dispositions exclude healthy agency, though healthy agency, as opposed to virtue, is compatible with "a good deal of criminal conduct" (p.104). It is just because virtue is concerned with all the projects in one's life as a whole that it is the perfection of agency, at least for those whose psychology has developed in the best, i.e. natural and Stoic way (pp.114-118).
An aspect of the Stoic sage that has seemed repellent to many both in antiquity and more recently is his rejection of pathos. As B. (pp.128-9) along with other scholars points out, it is incorrect to describe this as a rejection of emotion; alongside the excessive and misguided emotional reactions which they rejected as pathe, the Stoics recognised eupatheiai or "good emotional states". One may sympathise with B.'s rejection of emotional vulnerability as a part of excellence of character: "is there some good reason for wanting people to be hurtable?" (p.109). What may raise eyebrows, however, is B.'s emphatic rejection of the idea that the sage is unfeeling. On p.98 (and similarly on pp.109 and 145) B. argues that what is at issue is not the repression of emotions, but feeling emotions "as long as the agent is dispositionally equipped to modulate those emotions when circumstances change", and on p.100 that it is virtuous to have deep attachments provided they do not impede appropriate action, his example being parents who can rescue one child even though the other has died. At p.131 he maintains that a Stoic sage could have emotions more extreme than would be allowed by Aristotelian "moderation of the passions". To be sure, B. does not claim that his picture is that presented by ancient Stoicism; on this as on other issues it is part of his basic hypothesis that Stoicism can change and develop, and that if history had been different it would have changed and developed, while remaining Stoicism. He traces the emphasis in ancient Stoicism to "ancient preoccupations with self-sufficiency" (pp.109-110; see also pp.131-132). If the scope in ancient Stoic doctrine of the eupatheiai, joy, watchfulness, and wishing, was restricted to true good and evil as its proper objects, so that the only proper objects for joy are one's own and others' virtue, the Stoic approach may seem even more remote from ordinary ways of thinking.6
If virtue is the organising of one's own life, we need an account of why justice is an aspect of virtue. The answer is grounded, for B. as it was for the ancient Stoics, in human nature and development:7 virtuous people will "act in a principled way towards others" and will co-operate with one another as a result of "both their primal benevolence and their narrow self-interest", and "they will find solutions to distributive questions that are rational and stable in a given social environment with a given set of resources" (p.112). "Genocidal projects based on false anthropology are logically unsound, among other things" (p.48).
There are two problems here. One is why, in this case, injustice is so common -- though this problem is less for B. than it was for the ancient Stoics, whose critics found it easy to taunt them with the question why, in what the Stoics regarded as a providentially organised universe, the sage was as rare as the phoenix. The other is that B.'s Stoicism does not prescribe any particular solutions to the question of how societies and their economies should be organised -- of what arrangement or arrangements actually are just, as opposed to why justice is important or what is involved in claiming that an arrangement is just. In this B.'s Stoicism is a true heir of ancient Stoicism, whose lack of practical political theory has been pointed out by Julia Annas.8
B. might well reply that his book is concerned, precisely, with a general moral theory and that answers for particular situations are precisely, as he throughout stresses, particular. However, both B. and the ancient Stoics have more to say, even if in general terms, about individual conduct than they do concerning political organisation; and this emphasis can easily lead to an acceptance of the status quo for society as a whole.9 Put it in another way, emphasis on reforming individuals as moral agents functioning within institutions can lead to a failure to criticise those institutions themselves. B.'s revived Stoicism seems limited in what it has to offer to a world where not just standards for individuals' conduct but ones applied in public policy are urgently needed to replace, or supplement, the moral vacuum of the market.
The short final chapter is concerned with one of the most distinctive, and most criticised, doctrines of the Stoa in antiquity, the claim that virtue alone is sufficient to ensure happiness. B. shows a certain impatience with protracted discussion of this issue (p.138); in antiquity too the issue may well have been one that interested critics more than the Stoics themselves. (Another example, pointed out by B., is that of determinism; pp.67-8.) B. rightly argues that for the Stoic virtue and external "goods" (or in his terminology "non-agency goods") are not always alternatives (p.140). Nevertheless, where we can have only the former but not the latter, "the effective exercise of agency always brings joy, even in the midst of misery. Its sustained exercise in difficult, complex, richly varied endeavours is deeply engrossing and profoundly pleasurable. Sustained over a whole life, it is, in the end, satisfying for most of us -- nonempty, surely, even if trivial on a cosmic scale" (p.148). That, for B., is just how human life is. One might observe here that if, as suggested above, Epicureanism shares more with the Stoic position than B. allows, this reinforces B.'s claim that the Stoic approach is the one suited to human nature; and one might also observe that, in the absence of a religious belief such as the Christian doctrine of grace, it may not make that much difference in the end for how we live our lives whether we agree with the ancient Stoics that this world as a whole is well-organised, or whether we simply accept that it's the one we have to live in. The facts about what will and will not work remain the same.
What, though, is the interest of this book for professional classicists? B. is well-informed both about the sources for reconstructing ancient Stoicism and about the most recent scholarly discussions. His book could hardly be recommended as an introduction to ancient Stoicism for beginning students -- the interplay between ancient and modern would get too much in the way for that. But this is not the book's intention. Those who are already familiar with ancient Stoicism will find that B.'s discussions throw much light on the significance, and sometimes the shortcomings, of points of the ancient theory. Moreover, much of our evidence for the ancient Stoa is hostile; B.'s treatment, in the first person, can give us an idea of what Stoicism might be like from the inside, as it were.
1. Cf. Vice-Admiral James Stockdale, quoted in Epictetus: The Discourses, ed. C.J. Gill. London: J.M. Dent, 1995, 347-349. 2. Cf. especially Julia Annas, The Morality of Happiness. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 173-176, and the other literature noted by B. pp.25-26. 3. Something which, as B. notes (p.77), Bernard Williams has repeatedly advocated; for criticism of Plato and Aristotle on this score cf. his Shame and Necessity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993, 94ff., 159ff. 4. Martha C. Nussbaum, The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994, 212-238. 5. Jeffrey S. Purinton, 'Epicurus on the telos', Phronesis 38 (1993) 281-320. 6. Cf. Sharples, Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics. London: Routledge, 1996, 70 and 141. 7. Cf., Cicero, De officiis 3.21 with Gisela Striker, Essays on Hellenistic Ethics and Epistemology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, 180,. 8. Cf. Annas, above n.2, 306-311. 9. Williams, Shame and Necessity (above n.3) 115-116 describes the Stoic claim that the slave's mind is free, even if his body is not, as "repulsive" and a "fantasy". W. describes the Stoics here as arguing that "life cannot be ultimately or structurally unjust". But, if the identity of providence and fate is to be given full weight, the ancient Stoics are committed to more than that; it is not just that this slave, here and now, can be free in spirit though not in body, but also that it is better for the world as a whole that he should not be free in body. Cf. my comments at Phronesis 38 (1993) 345.