There’s nothing like a little pepper spray in the face to get folk’s attention.

At the University of California, Davis an unfortunate campus fracas featuring the “Occupy” movement and an assertive police force has got the nation’s attention.

Last week the “Occupy” movement organised a series of protests on the UCD campus. When tents went up on Thursday, the University Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi gave a 3PM Friday deadline for the encampment to disperse. The protesters ignored the directive.

At 3:30PM on Friday the police were sent in on the Chancellor’s orders. When a group of students linked arms and sat on the ground, police unloaded pepper spray into their faces.

The graphic image (above) of UC Davis Police Lieutenant John Pike spraying seated, passive students spread online immediately.

Students and faculty are now holding the Chancellor responsible for what they consider overly-aggressive action, and calling for her resignation,

In an email to students a professor, Bob Ostertag, stated

Throughout my life I have seen, and sometimes participated in, peaceful civil disobedience protests in which sitting and linking arms is understood by both police and citizens as a posture that indicates the clearest possible way available to them, protesters’ intent to be non-violent.

The Chancellor (In the photo below) has since commented that the students were forewarned and that the issue needs further discussion.

If our policies do not allow our students enough flexibility to express themselves, then we need to find a way to improve these policies and make them more effective and appropriate.

Courtesy of The California Aggie

Was the situation justified or have the authorities gone too far? Are the times (or policies) a-changin? How would you react if this happened at your school?

UPDATE: Our favorite web reaction to the incident can be seen below. Title: A quiet afternoon at UC Davis.

Thanks to Gizmodo!

Netflix has had a rough few months. In July, they angered customers by bumping up their prices. Then, in October, they saw record losses, as thousands of subscribers fled.

But one move is likely to make up for it all.

They’re bringing back Arrested Development!

The show’s revival became news a couple weeks ago. An announcement of a feature film preceded by a handful of new episodes left fans wondering where they could watch. Having beat out Hulu and Showtime, Netflix will be the series’ new home.

Since Netflix started licensing original series, the service has been seen as a potential savior for ill-fated productions that get shuttered over the objections of a cult following too narrow to sustain them. But rescuing a show that comes with a built-in audience–albeit one too small to survive on TV–may be a safer strategy than creating a new property out of whole cloth.”

New episodes won’t be available until 2013, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be excited now!

Luke 4:14-15, 18-19 (NIV)

¹⁴Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Reflection

Some of us have gone to school with people who later went on to become celebrities. There is a sense that we know them better than others do and we may even feel a sense of kinship. Here we see Jesus returning to his home town and his reputation is going ahead of him. His public ministry is just starting and there is an excitement to hear what this rising celebrity has to say. There were probably many familiar faces in the crowd when he got up to speak and maybe even people he spent considerable time with growing up. But how well did they really know him? The magnitude of what Jesus said to them is huge. This was the beginning of a brand new era. The time was ripe for God’s great rescue of the poor and the oppressed. Salvation was standing right in front of them uniquely in the person of Jesus. Anyone who just wanted to see Jesus in old familiar ways missed this. Anyone who was satisfied with hearing some good teachings or seeing some miracles didn’t understand. But for those who embraced this message and embraced Jesus as he was presenting himself, this was a great moment of hope.

Responding to the Transmission

At times we can be like the crowds, familiar with Jesus but content to just hear about him or watch from a distance. But today, let’s proclaim this gospel message of why Jesus came. Let’s proclaim that this is the year of the Lord’s favor. And as we proclaim this, let’s place our whole life before Jesus and pray that this message would resonate with our being and that we would live in and out of this hope.