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I ran across remarks made by a Utah politician earlier today. [Wednesday, August 28, 2024] This isn't the source I stumbled on, but it’s the one I could find when I tried searching for it, later.... (a little) more at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Quoting Spencer Cox on responses to the Pulse Nightclub mass murder, sharing my experience as someone off the 50th percentile, and loving neighbors anyway.)

My interest in the Olympics is mild at best. This year, I’m glad that I lack a deep emotional connection to what’s happening in Paris. Mainly because of the remarkable “Festivité” show. I don't think this year's performance art at the big sporting event's opening ceremony will affect its popularity. Too many folks get too excited about other folks showing what they can do for that. And a drag show — that we're told was not made to look like Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" — apparently doesn't clash with the Olympic Charter's high ideals. 1 Even so, I think this communiqué/bulletin from the Vatican makes sense.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The Festivite part of the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony is still in the news. I look at why French bishops, the Vatican, and I, do not approve.)

Pope Francis visited the Vatican's exhibits at an international art show last Sunday. So this week I'll talk about the Venice Biennale, why "With My Eyes" doesn't horrify me, share a couple quotes, and show pictures from "Con i miei occhi". Venice Biennale Arte 2024: Propriety, Changes, and Context Plentiful Protest Possibilities That's Odd: Labels, People, and Art Groucho Marx, Samuel Clemens, and "The Whole Law and the Prophets" "Strangers" and "Foreigners", an Etymological Aside Pop Art, Patriotism, and Perceptions Loving America Anyway Living in Isaiah's World A Glimpse Behind Cattelan's Feet at the Venice Art Biennale "Con i miei occhi" / "With my Eyes" "A City of Refuge", "The World Needs Artists", and Pope Francis Moses, George Washington, and Me Personal Perspective, Catholic Concerns More at A Catholic Citizen in America (Pope Francis...

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".)

Headlines are supposed to get attention. That's what these did: "Vatican approves blessings for same-sex couples in landmark ruling" (Reuters) "Pope Francis Allows Priests to Bless Same-Sex Couples" (The New York Times) "Vatican Issues Guidelines for Same-Sex Blessings" (The Wall Street Journal) I'm not sure about "The 'spirit' of 'Fiducia supllicans'" in The Pillar. Maybe it's attention-grabbing for the publication's demographic. Anyway, what Pope Francis said — what he actually said, not what editors say he said — is not what I'm going to write about this week.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Monday headlines about same-sex marriages and the pope. Excerpt from Vatican News. A link to Fiducia Supplicans. Why I am not writing about it this week.)

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.)

Text characters, the ones used online at any rate, include symbols that aren't letters of the alphabet, punctuation, or numbers. So far, so obvious. I was replying to comments this afternoon, and figured I'd use the emoji/dingbat/whatever "okay" hand sign. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But I also figured that, since folks who don't live in my part of the world read this, I'd better do a little research.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (An unexpectedly naughty gesture &mdash or &mdash why I used a snowflake symbol.)

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.

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,...

On his way back from World Youth Day in Lisbon, Pope Francis said that folks who aren't perfect can be Catholics. Since he was a tad more specific in how he expressed the idea, we got headlines like this: "Pope Francis restates Catholic Church is for everyone, including LGBTQ+ people" (ABC News). This week I'm taking a quick look at the news, and a longer look at why I'm okay with being Catholic. Pope Francis and the News Being Catholic — Two Millennia of Wildly Improbable Survival Definitions — Acting Like it Matters Happiness, Lust, Sin and Making Sense Wheat, Weeds, and What Pope Francis Said Not 'Just Us' Sodom, Gomorrah, and Lot's Guests — or — Evil is Not Nice Responsibility More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Pope Francis: the Catholic Church is for everyone, including LGBT. A quick look at news, a longer look at why acting like I am Catholic makes sense.)

On this date in 1598 William Shakespeare submitted "The Merchant of Venice" to the authorities. The play was entered in the Stationers' Register as "The Marchaunt of Venyce or otherwise called The Jewe of Venyce". Before I say anything else, I'd better make something clear. In my considered opinion, late 16th century England is not early 21st century America.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The Merchant of Venice: Elizabethan England is not today's America, and other more-or-less obvious observations. Plus a good idea or two.)

Storytelling is a very "human" thing. But not all of us are storytellers. And some of us don't even care for reading stories. Which is just as well, since we're not supposed to be all alike. "Fiction is Lies" Giving and Getting Impressions Coming at Reality from Different Directions "Little Less Than a God" Imaginary Worlds and Human Dignity More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Fiction and truth, human nature and creativity, remembering who and what we are. Looking at reality from different directions. Attitudes and impressions.)

NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) December 25, 2021. By July of 2022, the JWST had settled into position at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point: about 1,500,000 kilometers, 930,000 miles from Earth. Then, after deploying its heat shields and mirrors, the JWST started sending back remarkable images. 1 And, even more remarkable, it was still called the James Webb Space Telescope. I've no idea why NASA didn't admit their mistake and submit an acceptable name. Particularly when 'everybody knows' that James Webb was one of THOSE people: More at A Catholic Citizen in America . The James Webb Space Telescope is still named after a NASA chief, despite protests. This week I talk about how America has changed since my youth. Except for how it hasn't.

I'll be talking about today's Pakistan: particularly what it's like being a Pakistani Christian, Hindu or Sikh. Or, for that matter, the 'wrong' sort of Pakistani Muslim. The list of at-risk Pakistanis depends partly on who's talking. A few weeks ago, someone asked me to write about what Pakistani Christians are enduring. Finding more-or-less current news or information on that general topic wasn't nearly as easy as I'd hoped. What I did find told me that what's happening now has very deep roots. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . The story so far, from before the Indus Valley civilization and Vedic period to the East India Company, independence and blasphemy laws.

(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.

(From Birczanin, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) If no news is good news, then there's good news from Manyava, Ukraine. Or maybe it's Maniava. I've seen both transliterations of Манява. In Polish, I gather that it's Maniawa.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A look at the Bohorodchany Iconostasis, a masterpiece of Baroque art; its travels from 1698 to the present, and Ukrainian history.)

(From Erin Whittaker, U.S. National Park Service; via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) I stopped for several hours at the Grand Canyon on my way back from San Francisco. This was about five decades back. The massive gulch wasn't on the the most direct route, but I'd decided that seeing the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater on the way was a good idea. I haven't been back since then, which suggests that I was right. I'd bought a big topographic map of the Grand Canyon while living in San Francisco, and had it with me when I was there. At the Grand Canyon, that is. Near where the South Rim Visitor Center is now, probably.... ...I was flattered, and surprised, when two tourists from Thailand asked me if I was Jewish. I explained that I'm a gentile — although I don't remember my exact words.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Throughout the ages, Saints and sages have pondered the big questions. Who are we? What are we? Why are our lives so messed up? Storytellers and movie makers — these groups overlap — also reflect on human nature from time to time. Sometimes they use use space aliens as placeholders for ideas and ideals, strengths and failings. I'll be talking about that, and why I don't "believe in" space aliens: but think we may have neighbors. Then again, maybe we don't. Which hasn't kept folks from wondering "what if?"... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Eight people didn't go home Tuesday. Someone attacked at least five folks at Young's Asian Massage in Acworth, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb. Two were dead when police arrived. Another two died in a hospital. A fifth victim is still alive, but wounded. Police found three more bodies at the Gold Spa in northeast Atlanta. They found another at the Aromatherapy Spa, across the street. Six of the eight victims are Asian women. A couple guys died, too. Atlanta-area law enforcement identified and caught a suspect. That was Tuesday.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A presidential election is looming in my country. We have one every four years. Maybe I'd get more attention by demonizing or deifying a candidate. Or saying that nobody should vote, because "they" put subliminal messages in ballots. Oddly enough, I haven't heard that claim. Or I could express deep despair over the demonizing, deifying and drivel that dominates news and social media. I could do any or all of the above. But my heart wouldn't be in it. I am quite sure that no candidate is a fascist, the antichrist or a pawn of the Illuminati-pixie cabal. I don't even think the Illuminati-pixie cabal exists. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .