Old and young at the piano today.
Great fun composing with our grandniece Molly today.
The Great Liberal Death Wish. Malcolm Muggeridge.
Note / SH: Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, and Harold Laski were prominent members of the Fabian Society, which aimed to promote socialism, abortion and euthanasia through gradual reform rather than revolution. They were influential intellectuals in the early 20th century, contributing significantly to political and cultural discussions of their time. Their legacy impacts us… Read More The Great Liberal Death Wish. Malcolm Muggeridge.
The Beat Generation… cultural catastrophe. By Roger Kimball
“We’ll get you through your children.” —Allen Ginsberg, 1958. The core of the heresy of the Free Spirit lay in the adept’s attitude towards himself: he believed that he had attained a perfection so absolute that he was incapable of sin. Disclaiming book-learning and theological subtleties, they rejoiced in direct knowledge of God- indeed, they… Read More The Beat Generation… cultural catastrophe. By Roger Kimball
Hamas and Iran. Get Real.
Originally published on August 8. Israel today is showing that an horrific war begun will be horrifically won or lost, as with most wars in history. The lesson? Don’t even think of starting such a war unless you are prepared to finish it. For Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart or anyone else to feign moral indignation only shows… Read More Hamas and Iran. Get Real.
FBI Investigating Disappearing Scientists
High Security Research Projects. The FBI is investigating the deaths and disappearances of at least 10 scientists who had ties to sensitive government projects, following online speculation about potential connections among these cases. This investigation includes coordination with various federal agencies to determine if there are any links between the incidents. NBC News Scientific American… Read More FBI Investigating Disappearing Scientists
My Sister Kate: The Destructive Feminist Legacy of Kate Millett
By Mallory Millet. Front Page Magazine. Feminist icon Kate Millett passed away recently in Paris at the age of 82. Her 1970 book Sexual Politics, called “the Bible of Women’s Liberation” by the New York Times, had a seismic effect on feminist thought and launched Millett as what the Times called “a defining architect of… Read More My Sister Kate: The Destructive Feminist Legacy of Kate Millett
“The Issue Is Always” and Only “the Revolution”
Judith Butler, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Mary Daly, Catherine MacKinnon, UNESCO… Dr James Lindsay is an author, mathematician, and political commentator. He has written eight books spanning a range of subjects including education, postmodern theory, and critical race theory. Dr Lindsay is the Founder of New Discourses, an organization dedicated to shining the… Read More “The Issue Is Always” and Only “the Revolution”
“Extortioners, adulterers, tax collectors…”
Love and Penance “No crime, however heinous, can be committed or even conceived which the Church has not power to forgive, just as there is no sinner, however abandoned, however depraved, who should not confidently hope for pardon, provided he sincerely repent of his past transgressions. Furthermore, the exercise of this power is not restricted to… Read More “Extortioners, adulterers, tax collectors…”
When Catholics Must Obey
Catholics resist only dangerous-to-Faith, dubious formulations, but must obey when such formulations faithfully transmit sacred tradition, otherwise known as “the Deposit of Faith”: “Although it clearly follows from the circumstances that the Pope can err at times, and command things which must not be done, that we are not to be simply obedient to him… Read More When Catholics Must Obey
The Jews in Palestine. Robert Spencer.
“In 1140, with the Crusaders still ruling Jerusalem, the Spanish philosopher and poet Yehudah Halevi wrote in his Kuzari, or Book of Refutation and Proof in Support of the Despised Religion, that Jews could be closest to the God of Israel within Israel itself. He himself then set out for the land, only to be… Read More The Jews in Palestine. Robert Spencer.
Was Mark Twain’s depiction of Israel in the 1800s accurate?
Updated 10/6. By JACOB SIVAK | Published: MARCH 10, 2022| Jerusalem Report | (JPOST) The renowned American author and masterful satirist Samuel Clemens, also known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an abolitionist, a supporter of women’s rights and a supporter of Jewish emancipation. His attitude toward Jews is evident in his earliest book, The Innocents Abroad… Read More Was Mark Twain’s depiction of Israel in the 1800s accurate?
The Masterstroke
Revisiting John Lennon’s Anti-Credo
“God” is a song by the English musician John Lennon, from his first post-Beatles solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album was released on 11 December 1970 in the United States and the United Kingdom.[2] The song references the Beatles and other cultural phenomena.[3] As with the rest of the album, Ringo Starr plays… Read More Revisiting John Lennon’s Anti-Credo
He lived, loved and walked there. He wept over Jerusalem. He was scourged, died and Rose again there.
“…as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs…”. Roman 11: 28 “This guilt [for the death of Christ] seems more enormous in us than in the Jews, since according to the testimony of the same Apostle: ‘If they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of… Read More He lived, loved and walked there. He wept over Jerusalem. He was scourged, died and Rose again there.
Tin Man was asked…
if today’s bumper sticker is a logical / quasi – dogmatic contradiction. Tin Man sipped his oil by the river and said, “No, even in a playful sense, the bumper sticker doesn’t hold up logically. It’s a clever pun (playing on the sound/structure of “my dog ran over my homework” or similar “my [thing] ran… Read More Tin Man was asked…
How to Respond If Your Child ‘Comes Out’
The Communist Manifesto discusses the idea of abolishing the family, arguing that the traditional family structure supports capitalism and patriarchy, making individuals dependent and alienated. Marx and Engels suggest that the family, as it exists in bourgeois society, is a product of historical conditions and can change as society evolves. October 11, 2022 | Maria Keffler. GospelCoalition.com… Read More How to Respond If Your Child ‘Comes Out’
Pardon the Language and Write This Down
Steve Bannon to the NYTs Ross Douthat: on the seriousness of Technofeudalism Technofeudalism refers to a new economic system dominated by Big Tech, where data replaces traditional capital as the primary resource of power and profit. Proponents argue that modern capitalists no longer prioritize reinvesting in productivity or innovation. Instead, they create monopolistic platforms that extract… Read More Pardon the Language and Write This Down
Could Walking Be the Only Exercise Your Body Was Designed For?
Discover why a 10-second measurement predicts your lifespan better than blood pressure or cholesterol — and why the answer is how fast you walk. This video explores piezoelectric bone remodeling, hippocampal neurogenesis, and the inverted pendulum physics of human gait. Learn why walking three times a week literally grows brain tissue, and find out why… Read More Could Walking Be the Only Exercise Your Body Was Designed For?
The Crackpots
Updated. Candace Owens has reportedly hired a Jewish lawyer in the Macron case. We’ll see if the report holds. “The MAGA movement is experiencing internal conflicts, with factions like those led by Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene criticizing Donald Trump’s policies, particularly his handling of the Iran war. These divisions highlight growing tensions within… Read More The Crackpots
The Dark Wood
Canto I of Dante’s Inferno. by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321).translated by Stephen Binns. Midway along the journey of our days__I found myself astray in a dark wood,__for lost was right direction in that maze.How hard a thing to speak of how it stood:__how dense the wood, how difficult the course.__The very thought renews the chill of… Read More The Dark Wood
Existential Anxiety
“… I discovered a strange coincidence. Among those who survived the carnage of the Great War, two of the 20th century’s greatest religious thinkers had faced one another across exactly the same stretch of the Front on the devastated hillsides to the west of Verdun in June 1916. Both went on to describe their war… Read More Existential Anxiety
Robert Frost and Ezra Pound
“When war broke out in September 1939, Pound began a letter-writing campaign to the politicians he had petitioned months earlier.[296] On 18 June 1940, after the fall of France, he wrote to Senator Burton K. Wheeler: “I have read a regulation that only those foreigners are to be admitted to the U.S. who are deemed… Read More Robert Frost and Ezra Pound
Pseudoscience and Origins
“A little error in the beginning becomes a great error in the end.” — St. Thomas Aquinas. “He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’” –Lk.16:31. “See to it that no one makes a prey of you… Read More Pseudoscience and Origins
The Shocking Alternative by C.S. Lewis.
Return to the beginning. Notes: This is an illustration of C.S Lewis’ third talk of the third radio series called ‘What Christians Believe’. This became Chapter 3 of Book 2, in the book called ‘Mere Christianity’. One need not accept Lewis’ notion of a “mere’ Christianity to appreciate the insights which are sketched here and… Read More The Shocking Alternative by C.S. Lewis.
The Strange Journey
Vijay Kumar Verma. Life…is a strange kind of journey. Not loud.Not always clear.But deeply, quietly… real. Some days,it wraps you in sunlight—like everything finally makes sense. And some days…it casts a shadow over your soul,and you’re left searching for piecesyou didn’t even know you lost. We walk…and walk…and somewhere along the way,we lose ourselves. Only… Read More The Strange Journey
Why is the Pope All But Recommending Islam To Us When Men are Dying?
…and women are being raped. See the protest here
He lost everything but God’s love
I’m Brennan. I’m an alcoholic. How I got there, why I left there, why I went back, is the story of my life. But it is not the whole story. I’m Brennan. I’m a Catholic. How I got there, why I left there, why I went back, is also the story of my life. But… Read More He lost everything but God’s love
Garrigou-Lagrange: Everything Which Comes to Pass is Foreseen…
“Everything which comes to pass has been foreseen by God from all eternity, and has been willed or at least permitted by Him“. ”Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Prov. 19:21) Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange “Nothing comes to pass either in the material or in the spiritual… Read More Garrigou-Lagrange: Everything Which Comes to Pass is Foreseen…
Christ’s Victory Over Death and Postmodern Despair
[Photo: Religious Art in Film. Franco Zefferilli’s Jesus of Nazareth.] The Easter cards we see in ordinary stores give little hint of the shock of the disciples at seeing the empty tomb and beholding the risen Christ. And certainly not of the terrible trauma and ignominy which Our Lord had just gone through: the betrayal,… Read More Christ’s Victory Over Death and Postmodern Despair
AI: “Humanity’s Attempt to Make God”
A wise man. An accomplished man, “John Lennox is the Oxford mathematician who’s spent decades bridging science and faith. We talked about why John 1:1 reveals we live in a word-based universe, how to recognize God-breathed scripture, why scientific explanations don’t exclude God, and his fascinating take on AI as humanity’s attempt to “make God.”… Read More AI: “Humanity’s Attempt to Make God”
Historians Clash Over Islam
Glen Scrivener reacts to Dominic Sandbrook’s recent comments on LBC regarding Tom Holland’s views on Islam. They concern a line Holland said on the Triggernometry podcast. See Sandbrook and Holland here. Implications of Holland’s Views This exchange underscores the complexities surrounding discussions of religion and history, particularly in the context of modern societal values and… Read More Historians Clash Over Islam
John Paul II on the Ideal and the Real
Consider our own real lives. “How strictly are couples expected to abide by the Rule? To answer that, we must remember that all of this must be understood within St. John Paul II’s personalistic vision of man. The integral vision of the person is seeing each person in who they are and who they are… Read More John Paul II on the Ideal and the Real
Crazy political zealotry, Far Left and Right.
Back to the Gospel. I’m aware of what some might criticize as his own form of soft theological and political Leftism, but Bono is certainly correct to this extent: Yahweh. U2 “Take these shoes-Click clacking down some dead end street-Take these shoes-And make them fit-Take this shirt-Polyester white trash made in nowhere-Take this shirt-And make… Read More Crazy political zealotry, Far Left and Right.
Days We Left Behind
Paul McCartney after approximately 1966 surged to become the band’s most melodic songwriter. This cover constructed by the Ethan Gontar channel, A.I. > two young Irish ladies, I think does justice to both the song and its original singer / songwriter. [See also the link to the Tony Bennett and Diana Krall collaboration below.] McCartney… Read More Days We Left Behind
Few Care For Terror State Iran, Many Hate Jews Viscerally.
“Flagrant public executions of protesters by the thousands by the Iranian regime in January moved residents to cheer on the initial days of attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces as Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28.” — More U.S. Bishops Call for Confronting Antisemitism Recognizing our bond with the Jewish people as brothers and… Read More Few Care For Terror State Iran, Many Hate Jews Viscerally.
The Mystery That Dwarfs
“For the scientist who has lived by faith in the power of his reason, the story ends like a bad dream” —Robert Jastrow, American NASA astronomer, physicist and cosmologist. “Around every circle another circle can be drawn, under every deep another deep opens” —Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Someone said, “A little philosophy and science will take… Read More The Mystery That Dwarfs
The Church and Toleration
The Church is intolerant in principle because she believes; she is tolerant in practice because she loves. The enemies of the Church are tolerant in principle, because they do not believe, and intolerant in practice because they do not love.” —Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange.
Alastair Campbell gets schooled by Ukrainians on Zelenskyy corruption and hypocrisy
One need not be rooting for Vladimir Putin (I certainly don’t) to see the corruption game going on in Ukraine with no interference from the European Union. Here Alastair Campbell, the self-styled “Leftist Internationalist” stands corrected after being schooled by Ukrainian activists about Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy
G. K. Chesterton and The Eternal Thank You
In her biography of G.K. Chesterton published in 1943, Maisie Ward tells of this remarkable trait of the great convert and Catholic apologist: “(He) liked everybody very much, and everything very much. He liked even the things most of us dislike. He liked to get wet. He liked to be tired. After…[a particular period of]… Read More G. K. Chesterton and The Eternal Thank You
Can random chords actually make music? If so, how?
Tom Donald is the founder and principal of the London Contemporary School of Piano. A composer, and educator who has revolutionized piano education through his emphasis on chords, improvisation, and real-world experience. A passionate advocate for adult amateur musicians, he helps students tap into their inner genius and achieve musical transformations. Donald has taught over… Read More Can random chords actually make music? If so, how?
