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Showing posts with the label history

St. Patrick's Day: Shamrocks, Saints, Leprechauns, and Me

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St. Patrick's Day is a public holiday in Ireland (Republic of and Northern), Newfoundland, Labrador, and Montserrat. It's a day when folks wear something green. I've heard that some even drink green beer. Why anyone would think green beer is a good idea is beyond me, and that's another topic. Chicago celebrates by turning the city's river green. If today's holiday post looks familiar, maybe you're remembering the one I wrote three years back. This one was going to be shorter. But aside from eschewing asides about Ptronius Maxiums, a Roman Emperor whose body got tossed in the Tiber, and Suffolk County's Evacuation Day 1 — fact is, I ended up adding a few paragraphs, and polishing the rest: Pick a Peck of Prickly Problems Protest, Perspectives, and — King Lear?! Previous Prickly Problems "...I am a Sinner" — St. Patrick, Shamrocks and All That Shamrocks Legends and a Forbidden Pit Saints Due Process New and Improved Fo

Half-Million-Year-Old Structure: Rethinking Cavemen, Origins

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Wood generally doesn't last long if left out in the open. That's why finding interlocking logs near the Kalambo River is such a big deal. Well, part of the reason. They've been submerged, it that's the right word, in wet sediment. For something like a half-million years. Which makes them part of the oldest known wooden structure. Ancient Builders on the Kalambo River Luminescence Dating and Carbon 14: a Nerdish Digression Finally Finding Kalambo Falls Cavemen, Labels, and Me Lincoln Logs Long Before Lincoln This Doesn't Change Everything : But It's a Big Deal 'Friends, Romans, Hominins...' Good News, Bad News, and (Slowly) Changing Attitudes We're Learning More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The Kalambo River structure: interlocking logs that are a half-million years old. New data leads to rethinking old assumptions about "humans".)

Jezero Sediment, TOI-715 b: Headlines and Extraterrestrial Life

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Last month ended with headlines hinting that our first glimpse of extraterrestrial life was just around the corner. " Discovery Alert: A ‘Super-Earth’ in the Habitable Zone " Pat Brennan, NASA News (January 31, 2024) " Scientists More Hopeful Than Ever That Perseverance Has Already Found Life on Mars " Carly Cassella, ScienceAlert (January 24, 2024) A week later, there's the usual politics and pandemonium in the news: but no space aliens. I'm not surprised. I'm not disappointed, either. I am, however, excited about what we've found in Jezero crater, and a new world that's not quite Earth 2.0. Perseverance on Mars: Sediment and Speculation Bacteria and Mars TOI-715 b: Habitable? Maybe — Worth Studying? Definitely! Extraterrestrial Life: Bat-People and Making Sense Anyway Evidence, Logic, and — Maybe — Extraterrestrial Life Earth 2.0, Reality, and an Op-Ed 'Because Aristotle Says So'?! Belief, Preference, and God Mor

Capital Punishment: It Could be Worse

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It seems that, no matter how bad things are: they could be worse. Take Alabama's recent execution of a Mr. Smith, for example. There's been discussion of whether or not using nitrogen gas was okay, along with the ongoing capital punishment debate. But at least the State of Alabama didn't defray expenses by livecasting the execution: despite pay-per-view being a well-established part of our society. I'll be talking about capital punishment this week: along with Hammurabi's laws, the breaking wheel, and a trend that might be good news. Death Sentences: An Ancient Practice The Breaking Wheel But We've Always Done It This Way Statistics, a Little History, and Science Nitrogen Asphyxiation: Bad News, Good News Excessive Bail, Excessive Fines, Cruel and Unusual Punishment Graphs and Charts, Numbers and — Maybe — a Trend Growth Curves: Executions Go Down as Population Goes Up Acting As If Human Life Matters Responsibility and Dignity: For Everyon

Doom, Gloom, and Dystopias: But Hope is an Option

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This week I'll be talking about what's changed over the last century, what hasn't, and why I think progress isn't inevitable. On the other hand, I don't think we're doomed. That last may take explaining. Yesterday's Future O Tempora, O Mores, O Wow! Progress is Inevitable Possible "...The Good or Evil Performed by Nations ... in a Cosmopolitical View..." Science, Religion, Progress, and — Maybe — Mything the Point Truth, Facts, Science: and Hope Works in Progress ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Blind optimism does not make sense. Neither does blind pessimism. I look at what has changed in the last century, what has not: and works in progress.)

Swiss Guard: Their Finest Hour, So Far

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Whether they're called the Swiss Guard, Papal Swiss Guard, or Pontificia Cohors Helvetica, those 135 men wear what may be today's most colorful full dress uniforms. Although they look like something straight out of the Renaissance, the uniform's not much over a century old. Up until 1914, when Pope St. Pius X died, each pope had tweaked the design a bit. Maybe because our next Pope, Benedict XV, came on duty about the same time that World War I started, the Swiss Guard's then-commander, Jules Repond, did the uniform redesign. Or authorized it, at any rate. I gather that the blue, red, and yellow stripes are Medici family colors. The Basque hat reflects Swiss Guard uniforms painted by Raphael. 1 And none of that's what I was going to be talking about today. Background: Vatican by the Tiber — Popes, 16th Century Politics — And Unpaid Troops May 6, 1527: Death and Honor — Remembering the Rearguard: 147 Against 20,000 — Reputations — And Raphael
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One, maybe two, articles by C. S. Lewis reappeared about a half-dozen years back. Not that they'd been invisible. Collectors had the articles in their copies of The Strand Magazine, but "A Christmas Sermon for Pagans" and "Cricketer's Progress" hadn't made it into lists of work by Lewis. Maybe it's just one new 'Lewis' article. "Cricketer's Progress: A Famous Reputation and What Became of It", was written by a "Clive Hamilton". Sure, Lewis published his first book under the Clive Hamilton pseudonym. But Lewis isn't known as a sports journalist. 1 And that's another topic. Anyway, I'll be talking about "A Christmas Sermon for Pagans" this week. Or, rather, I'm sharing a few excerpts; and talking about whatever comes to mind. "A Christmas Sermon for Pagans": No Longer Forgotten "... 'Objective' Right or Wrong...." "...Nature is ... A Kind of Machine fo

Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A: Cool Images of Hot Gas

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That's more than just a pretty picture. Well, part of a pretty picture. It's our latest look at the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. Webb's high-resolution cameras are showing details that scientists have never seen before.... ...That's what I started talking about this week. But the Cassiopeia A supernova's underwhelming appearance, or maybe non-appearance, reminded me of famines, coffeehouses, and other malign menaces. So here's what I had, Friday afternoon: Spotting an Invisible Supernova, Coffeehouses, — [disconnecting] [reconnecting] — Flamsteed's Star, and Another Supernova Four Ways Stars Explode: a NASA/JPL (very) Short Video Cassiopeia A: Might have been a FELT Transposing the Invisible: Infrared Astronomy Cosmic Scale and a 15-inch Telescope "...To Follow Knowledge like a Sinking Star...." "On to God!" — "Truth Cannot Contradict Truth" More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Latest NIRCam image from

Advent Sunday: Kyrie, Then Death

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Several dozen students in the Islamic City of Marawi were allowed to start their First Sunday of Advent Mass in a university gymnasium. Then, when they got to the "Lord, have mercy" part, a bomb went off. Four of them died. Many — I've seen both 42 and 72 reported — were injured. I'll talk about that, along with whatever else comes to mind. I've been running a fever, so this week's post may be — interesting. Well, of course. It's supposed to be interesting. But — you get the idea. I hope. Mass in a Gymnasium Rebuilding: Eventually Prayer and Neighbors An Abrahamic Aside Under the Circumstances…. Getting a Grip — or — Seeing Humanity as “Us”, not “Me” and “Them” The Mystery of the Missing Domain — and Something Serious More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (An Advent mass interrupted by a bomb. Rebuilding a city with several names. Priorities, prayer and neighbors. An Abrahamic aside and an unwell week.)

Advent: Remembering, Being Vigilant, Doing My Job

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Quite a bit has changed over the last couple millennia. And some things haven't. One of the things that hasn't changed is human nature: which is good news and bad news, depending on how I look at it. I'd started writing about that, when my oldest daughter and I ran into an all-to-common opinion about religion. The narrator of a video we were watching said that religion was silly. Then he said something like 'isn't that an unforgivable sin?' The phrase is fairly common in English-speaking cultures. It's "Biblical" in the sense that it refers to a sentence in Matthew. Since I'm a Catholic, I do not think the unforgivable sin is using the wrong fork at a formal dinner. I'll get back to that. At any rate, here's my shorter-than-planned review of (comparatively) recent events, along with how I see sin (original, unforgivable and otherwise); and why Advent matters: Politics, Ideas, and Technology: 20 Centuries in 138 Words After th

Holiday Season 2023: Here We Go Again

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Advent doesn't start for another week, but my country's Christmas season is already off to a running start. I've mentioned Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Buckster Bunny and "I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas" before. Maybe I will again, but not this week. This is another 'clip post': excerpts from stuff I’ve posted before.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A quick pre-Advent review: Deborah, Barak, and Jael,wife of Heber; Judith and editors; examination of conscience. Also the Macy parade and Buckster Bunny.)

Free to Agree With Me: Cancel Culture and Freedom of Expression

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I'll be talking about a cartoon, a bishop, and brittle bigwigs. But first, an explanation or three may be in order. Politics, Pigeonholes, and Me Conservative? Liberal? Republican? Democrat? No: Catholic Out of Step: a Half-Century-Plus and Counting Protecting Americans From Unsanctioned Ideas Caricature and Sensitivity "...War Rages as Outcry Grows...." Self-Appointed Guardians of Freedom and Decency: Then and Now American and Catholic He Said WHAT? Resources: Political Life From a Catholic Perspective Irks, Ilks, Ethics, and Being Catholic Cancel Culture: New Phrase, Old Habit (Only) Free to Agree With Me is Not Freedom "Leaves of Grass", Underground Comix, and "Banned in Boston" More at A Catholic Citizen in America . How I see a cartoon, a bishop, and brittle bigwigs. Also politics, pigeonholes and me; caricature and unsanctioned ideas; and McCarthyism as cancel culture.

Medieval Monkish Medicine: Scientific Before Science was a Thing

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Looks like word is getting around, among historians at any rate, that the "Dark Ages" weren't an abyss of superstition and ignorance. I see that as good news, and recommend reading the rest of Meg Leja's Smithsonian Magazine article. I've highlighted parts of this excerpt, and talked (briefly, for me) about the medical angle of post-Roman Europe under Respecting Ancient Authorities: Above and Beyond the Call of Reason .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The Medieval roots of modern medicine: excerpt from a Smithsonian Magazine article, how I see monastic medicine and the Renaissance.)

Veterans Day, 2023: A Few Minutes' Worth

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105 years ago, a bunch of VIPs signed off on stopping the debacle we call World War I. The November 11, 1918, armistice was a very big deal at the time; and still is. Although for different reasons. Here in the United states, we called November 11 Armistice Day until 1954. Then it was re-named Veterans Day. It's related to Remembrance/Poppy Day and Volkstrauertag. 1 Veterans Day was and is a time to remember and honor all who have served in my country's armed forces. That strikes me as a good idea.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (This is a day when we honor those who have served in the armed forces. I look at current events, why armed force can be necessary, and a Pogo comic strip.)

Choices, Change, Technology, and Using Our Brains

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This week I'll be looking at: Parts of that "...Progress of the Century..." lithograph A few lines from three poems by Tennyson What's changed over the last couple centuries What hasn't I'll also explain why I don't "believe in" Progress with a capital "P". On the other hand, I'd rather be living today than in 1923 or 1823. That's partly because we've made considerable progress, lowercase "p", on the technology side of our lives. And some remarkable lowercase progress on the social side, too. I've been running a fever this week, so the discussion of P rogress and p rogress is a whole lot shorter than I'd planned. Which may be a good thing. This week's post may be a trifle more digressive than usual. You have been warned. Mottoes and Viewpoints Principles Steam, Reform, and Poisoned Candy A Long-Overdue Change (Optionally) Rational Animals The Candy Man Could "Forward!&q

Hamas, Harvard, Ukraine and Alaska Air: Looking for a Bright Side

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All is not right with the world. But all is not wrong, either. Take Sunday night's air disaster that didn't happen, for example. Alaska Air 2059 Underground (Literally) Schools in Ukraine Hey, Everybody! See What We're Doing! — Improv by Hamas Meanwhile, Back in the States Civilian Homes, a Little Extra Shielding — Tomayto, Tomahto. Loving Neighbors: Not Easy, But I Must Bogeymen, Assumptions, and Attitudes: Past and Present Politics, Religion, and Not Missing 'the Good Old Days' "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" — Article 32 and "Protocols" — "Several Experts" and the Reptilians Spears, Pruning Hooks, and Making Sense in the Meantime Double Effect: It's Complicated "This is Not Us" "Yeh Hum Naheen" Academic Freedom and Responsibility A Civilization of Love: Something to Work Towards A "...Competent and Sufficiently Powerful Authority...." Poetry, Future Generations,

Sednoids and the Mysterious Missing Planet X

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As I've said before, this isn't the world I grew up in. Back then, the Solar System had nine planets, assorted moons, and asteroids. Plus, of course, the sun. Now we've got planets, dwarf planets, minor planets, natural satellites, trans-Neptunian objects, plutoids, comets, centaurs, and small Solar System bodies. Just to keep things interesting, definitions for the new labels overlap. Some labels, like plutoids, didn't catch on; and it all keeps changing as we collect more data. This week I'll be talking about sednoids, another subset of trans-Neptunian object; 1 along with whatever else comes to mind. "All the News That's Fit to Print" — and Some That Isn't 'COMET PILLS! GAS MASKS!! GET 'EM WHILE YOU CAN!!!' Sedna, Sednoids, and Orbits: Traces of a Missing World? Beyond the Kuiper Cliff: An Unexpected Void and Wandering Worlds Charting the Borderlands of Sol Out of the Ecliptic, Beyond the Kuiper Belt To be Continued

Unidentified Phenomena, Being Human, Taking Reality As-Is

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NASA's "UAP Independent Study Team Report" used the words stigma, destigmatize, or destigmatizing about a dozen times. At 31 mostly-text pages, that works out to one of those words every two and a half pages. That's nowhere near the frequency I've seen for terms like "communist threat" or "climate change" in fevered philippics, but it was enough to get my attention. Particularly since I'm both a nerd and a convert to Catholicism. That's given me opportunities for experiencing scorn and/or bemused puzzlement: along the lines of 'how can you believe in that stuff'; or 'well, I don't believe in...'. Oh, boy. Before getting around to perceived existential threats and B movie space monsters, I'd better talk about "believe in". More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (UAPs and UFOs. Beliefs, assumptions, and science fiction movies of the 1950s. Extraterrestrial intelligence as a perceived exis

Silly Headlines and Space Aliens, Serious Science and UAPs

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Monday, I wondered what I was going to write about this week. Then I read that scientists found methane and carbon dioxide in a not-really-Earth-like planet's atmosphere — and saw a silly headline or two.... ...Anyway, K2-18's atmosphere is mostly on hold for now. Instead, I'll talk about (alleged) space alien bodies, Nazca Lines and (human) mummies. And I'll take a look at NASA's UAP report. A quick look. It's been one of those weeks. Nice Weather, a Drought, and Me "Two mummified alien corpses..." ??? "Experts", Extraterrestrials, and Exclamation Marks "Nazca Mummies" and — — The Skull of Doom Speculation and the Nazca Lines K2-18b: Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and — Plankton?! Existing UAP Reports: Acknowledging Possibilities Attitudes Questions More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (My take on science news this week: allegedly alien mummies, K2-18b and organic gasses, a NASA UAP report. Unwarranted ass

Prescription Quest: Another Month's Epic Saga

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First, the good news. Two days of this month's quest for a prescribed medication have passed without incident.... ...Sometimes the authorization gets processed in a timely fashion: and includes a 'do not provide before' date which matches the day on which my current supply runs out. Sometimes that doesn't happen. Last month was one of those times. What follows is my account of last month's epic prescription quest; a saga fraught with suspense, drama, defeat, and ultimate triumph — — Along with what I see as at least a partial explanation for why a seemingly-straightforward process is anything but. Controlled Substances Act: It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time "Reefer Madness", "Captain Planet", and Perceptions Scheduling Scary Substances August, 2023: Another Chapter in Brian's Saga Red Tape and Me A Glitchy AI and the Value of Typing Exercises Living in a Less-Than-Ideal World A Frustratingly Inappropriate "25&quo