Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I take commercial puffery with a grain of salt, but that 2,492 carat diamond from the Karowe mine does seem "epic". It's also what I'll be talking about this week: along with the Karowe mine, Botswana, what diamonds are and where they come from, and why I see Botswana's recent history as a success story. Of sorts. One-Pound Diamond: and a Quick Look at Botswana Comparing and Contrasting: Botswana and the United States Wealth, Fertility Rates, Statistics — — "Democracy", and Dan Backslide Diamonds Graphite and Diamond: Same Element, Different Crystal Form Formed in the Depths, Rushed to the Surface On the Shores of Arkansas To Be Continued Congo Chaos and Lebensraum for Mountain Gorillas Blood Diamonds, Mountain Gorillas: and Working With What We've Got More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Diamonds and how they are formed, comparing and contrasting Botswana and the United States. Blood diamonds, gorillas, and working w...

I could ignore the current presidential fracas: claiming that I'm too 'spiritual' for worldly matters, or can't abide the pervasive political posturing and pandering. But that's not an option. Neither, for me, is getting "political" in the sense of declaring that, if elected, candidate A will doom us all; while candidate B is America's only hope. Those attitudes aren't new, and that's another topic. 1 This week I'll be talking about why I don't fit into current political pigeonholes: or, rather, why I fit into several. Acting As If What I Believe Matters Political Pigeonholes and the Big Picture Sex, Death, and Immigrants Hawk? Dove? Long-Term Goals Fear and Politics Love, Hope, and Making Sense More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Catholic teachings do not conform to American political labels. Not when I consider the big picture. I look at beliefs, fears, and long-term goals.)

There's more than sex change and gender theory in the Vatican's new "ethics document": assuming that what hit the fan this week is the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith's "Dignitas Infinita", on Human Dignity. "Dignitas Infinita", "Infinite Dignity", runs to a little over 12,600 words in my language. " Dignitas Infinita " on Human Dignity ("Infinite Dignity") Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (April 2, 2024) ( from https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/.../rc_ddf_doc_20240402_dignitas-infinita_en.html (April 10, 2024) ) I'll be taking a very, very quick look at it. But I'll get started with something Pope Francis said a month ago. Pope Francis, Gender Ideology, and Being Human Rules I Live With, and an Explanation New "Ethics Document", Old Ideas "Dignitas Infinita": "Balanced, Challenging" More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Why a new ethics...

"Urbi et orbi" is Latin for "to the city and to the world". Or, rather "To the city and to the world" is English for "urbi et orbi". Either way an "urbi et orbi" message is both for folks living in Rome and for everyone else. There's a plenary indulgence involved, too, and that's another topic.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (What Pope Francis said on Christmas Day: embedded video and a link to the text. And, VERY briefly, how I see what he said.)

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.

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!...

This week I’ll talk about the SpaceX Starship and ispace test flights. Whether or not they were successful depends on who’s talking. I’ll also look at the usual hand-wringing over threats to the status quo. News and Views “We Will Keep Moving Forward” Fireball After Four Minutes: Starship’s Orbital Test Flight Starship Planned Mission Timelines: April 17 and 20, 2023 Changing the Game, and Why That’s a Good Thing Neocolonization, Environmental Racism and Gentrification: EEK! Villainy Runs Rampant as Chaos Stalks the Streets! Defending the Status Quo: A Cautionary Tale “My End of the Boat”, Obligations and Being Catholic More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The SpaceX Starship and ispace test flights, how SpaceX is changing the game, and hand-wringing over threats to the status quo.)

I'll be talking about ChatGPT, artificial intelligence, and why I don't think we're doomed. Search Engines, Iron Gall Ink and Me Prolonged Paragraphs, Abundant Adjectives: a Prolix Style From Another Age It's New, it's Scary and it's (Not) the End of Creative Writing ChatGPT and Three Fears 1. Loss of Economic Security (or Maybe a New Job) 2. Loss of Originality: Being Homogenized Diversity and a Discerning Chatbot 3. Loss of Creativity (Quoth the Chatbot: "Nevermore"?) Twitter Terror and the Chatbot of Doom Psst! Know Where a Buddy Can Get a Nuke? "It Can Only be Attributable to Human Error" From "I Read it in a Book" to "I Saw it Online" Nostalgia, Memory and Job Security More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Chatbots and three fears. ChaosGPT: Twitter terror and the chatbot of doom. Accepting change, and why I do not think creative writing is ...

I started writing about the Antarctic Snow Cruiser, "one of the colossal engineering flops of history". Or, my opinion, a basically good design that was rushed into service. The Snow Cruiser and Little America III reminded me of imperial ambitions and a massive attitude adjustment, the Collier's "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" series, Moon buggies and Elon Musk. Make that Moon buggies and looking ahead to permanent bases on the Moon and Mars. And why I think living in Minnesota is okay, even if humans aren't "perfectly adapted" to my home state's environment.... ...Loving God and neighbors was important two millennia back, it’s important now, and will be important when Sargon of Akkad, Julius Caesar and Dag Hammarskjöld seem like contemporaries.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (What went wrong with the Antarctic Snow Cruiser, why Antarctica mattered. Mars tractors of 1954, Moon buggies of 1971-1972, Living on Mars: opinion...

I'd like to say that my 'Marlowe's Faustus' series follows some grand scheme, marching down a well-organized path toward a profound conclusion. But it doesn't, so I won't. I started re-reading Christopher Marlowe's "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus," a little bit at a time, a year and a half ago. My idea was to polish and re-post a "Faustus" series I'd done back in 2012. That's not what happened.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . This week: an Elizabethan era entertainment district, attitudes and values. Faustian fascination. And Wagner, who may be like Palaestrio, Jeeves and Haroud Hazi.

(From Luisa Madrid, La Guardia and Wagner Archives; used w/o permission.) (Queens Pride Parade; Queens, New York City (2018)) My news feed tells me it's Pride Month. Or LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Wikipedia's page implies that the correct term is LGBT pride.... ...Decades of experience, spanning McCarthyism's dying gasps and the efflorescence of political correctness, suggest that I'll offend someone: no matter what I say or how I say it. So I'll start by saying why I don't think my native language, English, is perfect.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . June is Pride, LGBTQ+ Pride, or maybe LGBT Pride Month. I talk about pride, dignity, and good intentions. Plus respect, and how I fit a profile.

Derek Chauvin, a police officer, killed George Floyd about a month ago. I don't know whether a court will call that homicide a murder, or assign some other label. I do know that there was and is no apparent excuse for ending Mr. Floyd's life.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . News and Views A Drive-Through Nap The Mystery of the Transferred Tazer Duality and Death St. Cloud, Minnesota: An Arrest, Social Media and Riots Good Neighbors and Ersatz Facts Rumors and Looting Fear and NASCAR Flags Prudence and Perspective "A Highly Charged and Emotional Time" Freudian Slips, a "Cavalier" Comment Moral Panic, Then and Now "A Day of Reckoning:" He Said, She Said Attitudes "Hooray for Our Side" Irish Lives Matter??? Cartoons, Slogans and Some Logic Statue Panic? Public Safety and Making Sense Minneapolis: [insert feared technolog...

Apollo 11's Lunar Module reached Mare Tranquillitatis fifty years ago this month. I remember hearing Neil A. Armstrong announce the landing site's name: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." A few hours later, Armstrong opened the Lunar Module's MESA — a storage locker built into the lander's side. A television camera in the MESA showed us Armstrong's, and humanity's, first step onto another world. Back on Earth, one out of every five people were watching: at home, in pubs, at cafes, in New York's Central Park and at shop windows. Pope St. Paul VI watched at the Castle Gandolfo observatory.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Pope Francis is like a canary in the coal mine, identifying toxic trends in our society, then, offering hope as he suggests Christian solutions to current issues. The expression, a canary in the coal mine, is a saying which refers to caged canaries miners would bring with them into mine tunnels. These birds were used in Britain,  right up until 1999  as a way to warn miners if gases like carbon monoxide collected in the mine. Noxious gas would kill a tiny canary before miners even knew they were in danger. Now the phrase, a canary in the coal mine,  alludes to someone whose sensitivity delivers early warnings to society. Our popes have often perceived subtle shifts away from gospel values before most of us even notice. continue

Today's tech and social norms aren't what they were in my youth. It's exciting. Or bewildering. Or unstable. Or dynamic. or any of a myriad other options. Change happens, even if I don't approve. What matters is making good choices. More about that later. These are the 'Good Old Days' I'll indulge in nostalgia. Occasionally. Parts of my past are nice places to visit. But I wouldn't like living there. Taking a stroll down memory lane lets me see the best times places, people and experiences. It's a 'best-of' selection. But I certainly don't yearn for the days before social media, smart appliances, and online search software. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

'Tis the season to kvetch about Christmas: because it's too commercial, too religious, or whatever. I won't do that. I'll look at why we celebrate instead. Also Scrooge and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Besides, I think enjoying the holiday and doing what I say I believe makes more sense...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

'Tis the season for frantic shopping, eye-popping light shows in suburban front yards, and Christmas television specials. It's also the start of Advent. This is a season when we look back at ancient hopes for a Messiah, and our Lord's first arrival. And look ahead to when Jesus will be back.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Today's Mass is something new, introduced by Pius XI in 1925. We've had it on the last Sunday in Ordinary Time since 1970. Focusing on who and what our Lord is seems like a good way to wrap up the Church calendar. That's how I see it. Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 25:31 - 46 . That's the one starting with "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him...." It's an important part of the Gospels, and not what I'll be talking about today. I'd better explain that. I'm okay with what the Church says about Mass, including how the annual schedule works. I'm not a religious scofflaw, disdaining the laws of God and man. But I don't try to coordinate these 'Sunday' posts with what happens in Mass. I figure it's not a problem, since I'm a Catholic layman — and you're probably not here looking for a homily.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This universe is bigger and older than some folks thought, a few centuries back. I don't mind, at all. Besides, it's hardly new information. We've known that we live in a big world for a long time. " 4 Indeed, before you the whole universe is as a grain from a balance, or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth." ( Wisdom 11:22 ) If that bit from Wisdom doesn't sound familiar, I'm not surprised. It's not in the Bibles many Americans have. The one I read and study frequently is the unexpurgated version.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Tomorrow is Halloween. I hope you have a good one. I mentioned St. Wolfgang of Regensberg, All Hallows' and All Souls' Day, and the autumnal equinox, last year. Also Gaelic and Welsh traditions, jack-o'-lanterns, and Easter eggs. Enjoying my culture's traditions, within reason, makes sense. To me. It's arguably better than bitter bewailing stuff I can't change: and don't want to.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .