Tag Archives: history

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

Last month ended with headlines hinting that our first glimpse of extraterrestrial life was just around the corner. 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, … Continue reading

Posted in Exoplanets and Aliens, Science News, Series | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Capital Punishment: It Could be Worse

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 … Continue reading

Posted in Being Catholic, Discursive Detours | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

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 It was the … Continue reading

Posted in Discursive Detours, Journal | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Swiss Guard: Their Finest Hour, So Far

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 … Continue reading

Posted in Being Catholic, Discursive Detours, Journal | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Christmas Sermon for Pagans”: Viewpoints, Nature; and Hope

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 … Continue reading

Posted in Being Catholic, Discursive Detours | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments