How Some Cartoonists See Gun Violence in the USA

Cartoon courtesy: The Toronto Star (Dec. 27, 2012)

Cartoon courtesy: The Economist (London: Dec. 22, 2012)

The Quotation of the Week (December 30, 2012 - January 5, 2013)

A quotation of Leo Tolstoy on 'writer,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo of a dance of light (Toronto: April 5, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

Merry Christmas!

Mary with baby Jesus

Doodle (Dhaka: January 1, 1993) © Jerome D'Costa

Today is the Christmas Day, the day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. 

On this day, may the joy and love of Christmas be with you and your near and dear ones!

To read more on Christmas, visit my past blog posts at: Today Is the Christmas Day!

The Quotation of the Week (December 23 - 29, 2012)

A quotation of Dale Evans on 'Christmas,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

The Cartoon I Like

A cartoon on the National Rifle Association (NRA) of the USA and the children and teachers shot dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut

Cartoon courtesy: The Toronto Sun (December 18, 2012)

The Quotation of the Week (December 16 - 22, 2012)

A quotation of Lady Mary Wortley Montague on 'civility,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

A doodle of butterfly (Toronto: 2011) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Domestic Terrorism Hits Connecticut Elementary School

We offer this white space surrounded by black border as a symbol of death that visited 20 innocent school children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, USA, on December 14, 2012

Graphics (Toronto: Dec. 14, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

After shooting his mother dead at home, 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, reports the Associated Press. He entered two classrooms in the school and shot them dead. More than 600 children, ranging from kindergarten to Grade 4, attend this school, which is located in one of the wealthiest counties in the USA.

President Barack Obama expressed his grave sadness and called for action against such inhuman actions. 

The USA is notorious for easy availability of all kinds of guns in the name of freedom and individual rights. As a result, besides legitimate owners, many criminals, mentally-imbalanced persons and domestic terrorists can acquire arms under the existing liberal gun laws. 

The US politicians of different parties need to rise up and break the shackle of numbness and take a bold action against easy availability of arms in the country. When one or more persons kill others, it is domestic terrorism bringing in a lot of bleeding of hearts. It must be tackled head on. This violent culture must be stopped for the greater good of the Americans. There was a time in the long past when Americans needed to bear arms for expanding their frontier. Those days are over. In the new situation now, if the politicians still fail to rein in the gun culture, shame on them. They will be failing badly in their responsibility of saving American lives in face of domestic terrorism. We do hope that the American public also will demand of their politicians to make their country safe from senseless gun violence.

We offer our sincere anguish and condolence to families of the victims -- both school children and adults. May their souls rest in peace.


  

Today is the 12-12-12

Today is the 12th day of December, 2012

 Artwork (Toronto: Dec. 12, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

Today is December 12, 2012. This day of 12-12-12 is being considered most auspicious by some who want to do something today that will bring good or good fortune to oneself, to the family or to the society.

Some have already fixed this day as the day of their wedding. Others have kept this day to inaugurate their new business ventures.

We sometimes get obsessed with certain numbers and think that those numbers will bring a good fortune or a bad one.

I have seen some Chinese who buy lottery tickets if they find the tickets have certain numbers. They avoid tickets having certain other numbers. The Chinese usually consider 8 as the very lucky number. That’s why they started the Bejing Olympics on August 8, 2008 in the evening (p.m.) at 8 hours, 8 minutes and 8 seconds!  They also consider 3, 5, 6, and 9 as lucky. To them 4 and 13 are unlucky numbers.

The Bible has numbers that occur frequently in it. Some of these are: 3 (the Trinity; Christ rose from the dead after three days), 7 (on the seventh day God rested from his work of creation; seven Sacraments given by Christ), 9 (nine gifts of the Holy Spirit), 10 (the Ten Commandments of God), and 12 (Twelve sons and twelve Tribes of Israel; and 12 (the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ).

Numbers also play a vital role in different other religions, horoscope and palmistry.

The numerology has been playing a great role in the lives of peoples.

Do numbers have any real effect on mankind?

I don’t think so. It’s only a state of mind, it’s only a matter of attitude we have toward numbers. One number is good and another is bad – how can that be? If there wasn’t a number (whether good or bad/lucky or unlucky), how could the other number be there?  Numbers are not magnets that they will attract good luck or bad luck towards them!

Are those, who are born on lucky-number days, the most clever, intelligent, rich or free from any problem? Do those, born on unlucky-number days, face disasters and failures all their lives? Is it worth wasting one’s time in worrying about or avoiding the unlucky numbers? You find the answers for yourself.

The Quotation of the Week (December 9 - 15, 2012)

A quotation of Saint Don Bosco on 'doing good,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Eight Scholastics of the Brothers of Holy Cross in Bangladesh Take the Final Vow

(L-R) Brothers Nicholas Tolentino CSC, Provat Placid Purification CSC, Placid Rebeiro CSC, Shimul Andreas Rozario CSC, Sanchoy Mathias Rozario CSC, Sumon Joseph Costa CSC, Toren Joseph Palma CSC and Chayan Victor Corraya CSC -- eight scholastics of the Brothers of Holy Cross in Bangladesh -- took their final vow on November 23 at St. John the Baptist Church of Tumilia

Photo @ the courtesy of Brother Binoy Gomes, CSC

Eight scholastics of St. Joseph’s Province of the Brothers of Holy Cross in Bangladesh took their final vow on November 23 at St. John the Baptist Church of Tumilia in Gazipur District, Bangladesh.

Bishop Subrato Lawrence Howlader, CSC, the auxiliary bishop of Chittagong, concelebrated the solemn Mass, where dozens of priests, Brothers and Sisters of Holy Cross as well as some other Congregations participated. Several hundred lay men and women, including parents and relatives of the scholastics, were also in attendance. A cultural show and banquet followed the Mass.

On the previous day, scholastics from the parishes of Rangamatia and Nagori came to join their compatriots at Tumilia with their relatives and well-wishers, who sang and danced on the way. After an hour of the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, all the scholastics underwent a gaye-holud (turmeric-smearing) ceremony according to a local custom. This ceremony symbolizes the purification of the body and soul. 

Presently, 92 Brothers of Holy Cross are labouring in the vineyard of Bangladesh. They mainly run and teach in schools in the Archdiocese of Dhaka and the dioceses of Chittagong, Dinajpur and Mymensingh.  

The Quotation of the Week (December 2 - 8, 2012)

Three quotations of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on 'freedom,' 'change,' and 'dying for an idea,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa