The musings and meandering thoughts of a crotchety old man as he observes life in the world and in a small, rural town in South East Nebraska. I hope to help people get to Heaven by sharing prayers, meditations, the lives of the Saints, and news of Church happenings. My Pledge: Nulla dies sine linea ~ Not a day without a line.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 7 March 1274), was a Doctor of the Church, Philosopher, Theologian, Jurist, Dominican Friar, and Priest. Known as Doctor Angelicus "Angelic Doctor," and the Doctor Communis "Universal Doctor" his writings serve as a defense and proof of the validity of Christ's authority over all. The Summa contra Gentiles (also known as Liber de veritate catholicae fidei contra errores infidelium, "Book on the truth of the Catholic faith against the errors of the unbelievers"). The Summa contra Gentiles consists of four books. The structure of Saint Thomas's work is designed to proceed from general philosophical arguments for monotheism, to which Muslims and Jews are likely to consent even within their own respective religious traditions, before progressing to the discussion of specifically Christian doctrine.
Book II is dedicated to the Creation (in other words, the physical universe, everything which exists).
Whether you are a history enthusiast, a student of religion, or simply curious about the impact of the Roman Catholic Church on the world, this playlist is designed to provide an informative and engaging journey through its captivating past. Subscribe to the Contemplating History channel for more educational content and immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of history.
Can a superintelligent AI ever truly be contained?
AI safety researcher Roman Yampolskiy argues that sufficiently advanced systems are not just dangerous but inherently uncontainable. In this conversation, he breaks down why virtual boxes fail, how AI agents develop self-preservation drives through Darwinian selection — without being programmed to — and what it means that we're already moving from tools to autonomous agents at scale.
If containment is impossible, what follows?
00:00 The Triad of Risks: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable
00:44 Defining Control: Direct vs. Delegated
01:24 The Containment Problem: Why Virtual Boxes Fail
02:30 Darwinian Drives in AI: Self-Preservation and Resource Acquisition
03:40 From Tools to Agents: The Rise of Self-Motivating AI
05:25 The Global Impact: A Million Uncontrolled Agents
06:26 Complexity and Risk: The Society of Mind
07:30 Is There a Solution? The Logic of Not Building
Roman Yampolskiy is a Computer Scientist and professor at the University of Louisville, specializing in AI safety and cybersecurity. He is the author of AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable.
In 1485 the life of LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT, mother of Henry VII, took a dramatic turn as her son won the Battle of Bosworth and by extension, the Wars of the Roses and she became the most powerful woman in England. It was the culmination of a decades long struggle and Margaret was so overwhelmed she was seen to be crying at Henry’s coronation. Now known as My Lady the King’s Mother, she was made one of the wealthiest people in the kingdom and assumed an important role as the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. In this week’s Plantagenet documentary from History Calling we’ll look at the later life of this famous medieval woman who had risked her very life to help her only child take the throne and was now able to reap the benefits of their joint success. I’ll talk you through her relationships with her son and her husband, Thomas Lord Stanley (including her famous vow of chastity), the unusual legal position Henry granted her, her dealings with her one-time ally, the former Queen, Elizabeth Woodville and with her new daughter-in-law, Princess Elizabeth of York, who married Henry VII in January 1486. We’ll look at Margaret’s role in government, her charitable efforts, her piety and at how involved she was in the major events of her son’s reign, from the births of his children, to the threat to the throne from pretenders to the crown such as Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel. We’ll also consider the arrangements to have her oldest grandson, Prince Arthur, marry the Spanish Princess, Catherine of Aragon, Arthur’s death in 1502 and the death of Elizabeth of York the following year. This video will take you right up to Margaret’s own death, which came just 10 weeks after that of her son in 1509, but not before she guided her 17-year-old grandson, Henry VIII, in the early days of his reign and saw him crowned and married to Catherine. We’ll also look at the grave of Lady Margaret Beaufort in Westminster Abbey, with its incredible effigy.
Bld Fulton Sheen was beatified on Thursday last. I just found out that, like me, he was a Tertiary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. A new Carmelite Blessed!
If you are curious and want to watch, either for the first time or to relive a memory, Fulton Sheen's popular TV show is available on at least three platforms.
Many Americans cherish fond memories of watching Fulton J. Sheen on his weekly television show,Life is Worth Living, which originally aired between 1952 - 1957, and was later revived during the 1960s asThe Fulton Sheen Program.
It was extremely popular at the time, with a viewership estimated to be around 30 million viewers per week. It is regarded as the most watched religious show ever to air on broadcast television.
After the final show aired in 1968, reruns of his television show could still be seen up through the 1990s. His magnetism remained very attractive, even to a non-religious audience.
For those who did not grow up during this time period, it takes a little more effort to watch his programs, but it is still possible to enjoy the wit, humor and wisdom of Fulton Sheen in the 21st century.
Here are three primary platforms where you can enjoy his shows.
Fulton Sheen TV
The Fulton J. Sheen Company, Inc. owns the licensing rights to all of his television episodes and they can be streamed on its new website and app, which can be downloaded on every app store or through Amazon.
EWTN
Many Catholics have come to know Fulton Sheen's TV programs through EWTN and its weekly broadcast of Life is Worth Living. His programs are still available each week, as well as on the EWTN website and YouTube channel.
FORMED
Selected episodes are also available on the Augustine Institute's FORMED platform, which many parishes pay for their parishioners to have free access to.
Even though his programs are over 60 years old, the timeless truths he communicates remain relevant even today.
Modern History TV explores the crucial role of tally sticks in medieval England for recording taxes and transactions. These notched wooden devices were split to create binding receipts, with their official use continuing until a disastrous fire in 1837.
Jason Kingsley, CBE, the modern knight, discusses medieval record-keeping.
Traditional Catholic morning prayers to help start your day in a holy way! The month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. I hope these prayers increase your devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary this month, to share in her sorrows and to and draw you closer to her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Begin each day with morning prayer! This video is a compilation of many traditional evening prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office morning prayers.
France tried to kill the Catholic Church, and the numbers say it failed. In November 1793, a crowd filled Notre Dame Cathedral, not to worship God, but to enthrone a woman as the goddess of Reason on the altar. Priests were exiled, the calendar was rewritten to erase Sunday, and by every measure the eldest daughter of the Church had walked out and slammed the door. But something unexpected is happening in France right now, and it is being led by the very people who were supposed to be lost for good: the young.
There is an old Hebrew word for what they are doing: shuv, to turn back, to return. It is one of the oldest patterns in Scripture. A people walks away, God keeps a remnant alive, and when everyone has declared the fire dead, he breathes, and the bones stand up. Exile, remnant, return. Adult baptisms in France have climbed from around 3,900 in 2015 to more than 10,000 last year, and the largest group of new converts is now 18 to 25. If you have been circling the door of the Church from the outside, take this as your invitation to come home. That door is not locked. It never was. Open a Bible tonight, say one honest prayer, and if you have been away, find a priest this week.
In this video:
• The 1793 enthronement of the goddess of Reason, and the 16 Carmelite sisters who sang their way to the guillotine
• Shuv and the remnant: the Bible's oldest pattern for a faith that looks dead
• The baptism numbers from 2015 to 2026, and why the 18 to 25 group now leads
• Why a blip cannot explain a steady 10 year climb counted by the Church's own records
• The converts are not asking for an easier faith. They are asking for confession and the Eucharist
⏱ CHAPTERS
0:00 The Goddess of Reason on the Altar
1:03 Can a Culture Kill the Faith
2:37 The Day France Tried to Bury God
3:19 Shuv and the Remnant: The Bible's Pattern
5:49 The Numbers Nobody Saw Coming
7:06 The Valley of Dry Bones
9:05 Is This Real or a Statistical Blip
š SCRIPTURE REFERENCED
• Baruch 4: to a people who had strayed, turn and seek him ten times more. Not a trickle back, a flood.
• 1 Kings 19: Elijah is sure he is the last believer left, and God has preserved 7,000 who never bowed to the false god.
• Ezekiel 37: can these bones live? Breath by breath, the dry bones come together and stand up.
• 2 Maccabees: the temple desecrated by a foreign king is cleansed, rededicated, and its lamps lit again.
• Romans 11: God's gifts and his call can never be revoked. His covenant with Israel was never taken back.
⛪ FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS & THE CATECHISM
• Tertullian (around 200): the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Persecution does not end the faith. It plants it.
• St. Augustine: our heart is restless until it rests in you.
• CCC 27: the desire for God is written in the human heart, and this longing never fully disappears. You can pave over it. You cannot delete it.
š SOURCES & FURTHER READING
• The Revolution: from 1790, priests forced to swear an oath to the state, the Christian calendar abolished, around 30,000 priests exiled, hundreds killed. In 1794, 16 Carmelite sisters of Compiegne climbed the scaffold singing, one voice at a time.
• December 2024: Notre Dame's doors opened again and the Mass returned to the same stones, and Pope Francis declared the 16 sisters of Compiegne saints, the seed and the harvest in the same month.
• The numbers: adult baptisms rose from around 3,900 in 2015 to more than 10,000 in 2025, over 160% growth, with 2024 up about 31% and 2025 up 45%, the highest total in over 20 years of records.
• The largest single group of new adult converts is now young people aged 18 to 25, the most secular generation France has ever produced.
• The reopened Notre Dame drew more than 11 million people in a single year, and Bibles began selling out.
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The twin brothers were doctors in the early Church and did not require payment for their services.
Ss Cosmas and Damian were holy physicians who sought to heal both body and soul in the early Church.
The twins studied science in Syria, where they also studied medicine. They practiced their profession in Aegeae, where they earned a great reputation for healing the sick, not only thanks to their knowledge but also to miracles attained through their prayers.
The people of the East call Cosmas and Damian “unmercenary physicians,” a term for those who heal for love, not for profit, because they worked for free.
They are among the many patron saints of doctors, but also of surgeons in particular.
Here is a traditional prayer asking for their intercession.
O glorious martyrs of Christ, Saints Cosmas and Damian, you gave your lives for the love of God, benefiting your fellow man, and crowning your martyrdom with an open and loyal profession of your faith. You taught us to love God above all things, and to love our fellow man as ourselves, professing always, and without fear, the religion of Jesus.
Augmenting amongst the faithful populace many miracles, you are glorious indeed. Through your intercession, which brings about deliverance of these miracles, we pray to you for your aid in all things. May your patronage never be far from us in the illness of our body and soul.
Oh great protectors, Saints Cosmas and Damian, assist us with your love and free us from all evils.
The fallout after the verdict following the trial has led to rancour and recrimination between men and women throughout America?
The anecdotal and the social media evidence is that women and men in marriage in relationship at work and in society have found themselves sharply disagreeing with each other over the verdict and the trial.
The Slate lawyer columnist Jill Filippo described a sharp gender divide in those demanding prison were overwhelmingly conservative men, while women especially mothers, were convinced that emblematic of all suffering women and mothers, Lindsay Clancy deserved not to be found accountable for her actions.
The essay that I thought introduced a degree of interpretive perspective that ought to be widely known was written by Tara Tika TARATHIEKE, entitled The Return of Witchcraft. Our introduction says she wanted to look at the cultural return of witchcraft and its origin in the shift away from Christianity and how cultural shifts have opened a vacuum in which the obsession with the glamour and control, (the essence of witchcraft have entered.
Before getting any further, it’s probably worth pointing out that the difference between men and women in their reaction to the Clancy trial verdict should not be presented as sympathy versus accountability which is what it looks like at first sight.
It is in fact two different objects of sympathy and competition with each other. The feminine or feminist response locates compassion in the mother who has either failed or been failed by others. I will masculine in response as compassion located in sympathy for the three children murdered by their mother and the need to protect children from motherhood when it turns violent or destructive.
But what lies behind the change of culture that has led to women turning against the safety of their children?
From The Golden Legend of Blessed Jacobus Voragine (ca. 1260) translated by William Caxton in 1483.
HERE FOLLOWETH THE LIVES OF SAINTS COSMAS AND DAMIAN
Cosmas and Damian were brethren germane, that is of one father and of one mother, and were of the city Egea, and born of a religious mother named Theodora. They were learned in the art of medicine and of leechcraft, and received so great grace of God that they healed all maladies and languors, not only of men but also cured and healed beasts. And did all for the love of God without taking of any reward.
ST. DAMIAN ACCEPTS A GIFT
There was a lady which had spent all her goods in medicines, and came to these saints, and anon was healed of her sickness, and then she offered a little gift to St. Damian, but he would not receive it. And she sware and conjured him by horrible oaths that he granted to receive it, and not for covetise of the gift, but for to obey to the devotion of her that offered it, and that he would not be seen to despise the name of our Lord of which he had been conjured. And when St. Cosmas knew it, he commanded that his body should not be laid after his death with his brother's. And the night following our Lord appeared to St. Cosmas and excused his brother.
THEIR MARTYRDOM
And when Lysias heard their renomee he made them to be called tofore him, and demanded their names and their country. And then the holy martyrs said: Our names be Cosmas and Damian, and we have three other brethren which be named Antimas, Leontius, and Euprepius. Our country is Arabia, but Christian men know not fortune.1
THEY ARE THROWN INTO THE SEA
Then the proconsul or judge commanded them that they should bring forth their brethren, and that they should all together do sacrifice to the idols. And when in no wise they would do sacrifice, but despised the idols, he commanded they should be sore tormented in the hands and feet. And when they despised his torments, he commanded them to be bound with a chain and thrown into the sea, but they were anon delivered by the angel of our Lord, and taken out of the sea, and came again tofore the judge.
And when the judge saw them, he said: Ye overcome our great gods by your enchantments; ye despise the torments and make the sea peaceable. Teach ye me your witchcraft, and in the name of the god Adrian, I shall follow you.
And anon as he had said this two devils came and beat him greatly in the visage, and he crying said: "O ye good men, I pray you that ye pray for me to our Lord." And they then prayed for him and anon the devils departed.
Then the judge said: Lo! ye may see how the gods had indignation against me, because I thought to have forsaken them, but I shall not suffer my gods to be blasphemed.
CAST INTO A GREAT FIRE
And then he commanded them to be cast into a great fire, but anon the flame sprang far from them and slew many of them that stood by. And then they were commanded to be put on a torment named eculee, but they were kept by the angel of our Lord, and the tormentors tormented them above all men, and yet were they taken off without hurt or grief, and so came all whole tofore the judge.
CRUCIFIED, STONED, SHOT WITH ARROWS, AND BEHEADED
Then the judge commanded the three to be put in prison, and made Cosmas and Damian to be crucified, and to be stoned of the people, but the stones returned to them that threw them, and hurt and wounded many of them. Then the judge, replenished with woodness, made the three brethren to stand by the cross, and commanded that four knights should shoot arrows to Cosmas and Damian, but the arrows returned and hurt many, and did no harm to the martyrs. And when the judge saw that, he was confused in all things, he was anguishous unto the death, and did do behead all five brethren together.
BURIED TOGETHER WITH THEIR BROTHERS
Then the Christian men doubted of the word that St. Cosmas had said, that his brother should not be buried with him, and as they thought thereon there came a voice which cried and said: They be all of one substance, bury them all together in one place. And they suffered death under Diocletian about the year of our Lord two hundred and eighty-seven.
MIRACLES OF SAINTS COSMAS AND DAMIAN
The Husbandman and the Snake
It happened that a husbandman after that he had laboured in the field about reaping of his corn, he slept with open mouth in the field, and a serpent entered by his mouth into his body. Then he awoke and felt nothing, and after returned into his house. And at even he began to be tormented and cried piteously, and called unto his help the holy saints of God, Cosmas and Damian, and when the pain and anguish increased he went to the church of the saints, and fell suddenly asleep, and then the serpent issued out of his mouth like as it had entered.
The Woman Attacked by the Devil
There was a man that should have gone a long voyage, and recommended his wife to Cosmas and Damian, and left a token with her that, if he sent for her by that token she should come to him. And the devil knew well the token, and transfigured himself in the form of a man, and brought to the woman the sign of her husband and said: Thine husband hath sent me from that city to thee for to lead thee to him.
And yet she doubted for to go with him and said: I know well the token, but because he left me in the keeping of the saints Cosmas and Damian, swear to me upon their altar that thou shalt bring me to him surely, and then I shall go with thee.
And he sware like as she had said. Then she followed him. And when she came in a secret place the devil would have thrown her down off her horse for to have slain her. And when she felt that, she cried to God and to the saints Cosmas and Damian for help, and anon these saints were there with a great multitude clothed in white, and delivered her, and the devil vanished away. And they said to her: We be Cosmas and Damian, to whose oath thou believedest, therefore we have hied us to come to thine help.
The Man With the Cankered Thigh
Felix, the eighth pope after St. Gregory, did do make a noble church at Rome of the saints Cosmas and Damian, and there was a man which served devoutly the holy martyrs in that church, who a canker had consumed all his thigh. And as he slept, the holy martyrs Cosmas and Damian, appeared to him their devout servant, bringing with them an instrument and ointment of whom that one said to that other: Where shall we have flesh when we have cut away the rotten flesh to fill the void place?
Then that other said to him: There is an Ethiopian that this day is buried in the churchyard of St. Peter ad Vincula, which is yet fresh, let us bear this thither, and take we out of that morian's flesh and fill this place withal.
And so they fetched the thigh of the sick man and so changed that one for that other. And when the sick man awoke and felt no pain, he put forth his hand and felt his leg without hurt, and then took a candle, and saw well that it was not his thigh, but that it was another. And when he was well come to himself, he sprang out of his bed for joy, and recounted to all the people how it was happed to him, and that which he had seen in his sleep, and how he was healed. And they sent hastily to the tomb of the dead man, and found the thigh of him cut off, and that other thigh in the tomb instead of his.
Then let us pray unto these holy martyrs to be our succour and help in all our hurts, blechures and sores, and that by their merits after this life we may come to everlasting bliss in heaven. Amen.
We said when abortion was "legalised" that it was a slippery slope tht would lead to the murder of the elderly. Canada has proven us right. May Britain not follow suit!
The fight to terminate future generations before they ever take their first breath has resulted in the necessity to fight to stay alive once you’re deemed too great a burden.
“The high tide,” King Alfred cried. “The high tide and the turn!” This battle cry of Alfred the Great, as imagined by G.K. Chesterton in his epic poemThe Ballad of the White Horse, came to mind when the British Parliament inflicted a surprise defeat on the culture of death earlier this month.
The U.K.’s Parliament has overseen the rise of the death-culture for decades, its enactment of egregious laws contributing to the nation’s slow but sure sinking into the quagmire of its own suicidal decadence. It was a surprise to everyone, therefore, when Members of Parliament voted to reject the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, thereby preventing its being passed into law. After a passionate debate lasting four hours, 286 MPs voted to reject the bill, whereas 270 voted in its favor.
This was a shock. The French government had voted to legalize assisted suicide in July, following earlier decisions to legalize euthanasia by the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Spain. It was considered a foregone conclusion that the British government would follow suit.
The surprise defeat of the dealers in death was largely due to the successful lobbying of Parliament by groups advocating rights for disabled people. It seems that the disabled, the sick, and the elderly are finally realizing that the cultural acceptance and legal enforcement of assisted suicide represent a threat to their right to life. Even government agencies have come to this obvious conclusion. The U.K.’s Department of Health and Social Care stated that the passing of the bill would have placed “subtle pressure” on disabled people to end their lives.
Disability rights advocates celebrated the vote as a “victory” for the disabled, the terminally ill, and for “everyone this bill would have put at risk.” A spokesman for Assist Us To Live, “a collective of disabled and terminally ill people campaigning for our lives,” thanked the Members of Parliament who had voted against the bill and told the BBC that palliative care systems are “dangerously underfunded” and that disabled people “fight every day” for the “support to eat, wash, leave our homes, and work.”
Reading between the lines—or looking beneath the surface—of the push for legalized euthanasia, it is clear that the culture of death is itself growing old and tired and is unable to look after itself. Having pushed the contraceptive culture and having promoted systemic infanticide of children in the womb, the death-culture has seen the plummeting of birth rates and the consequent aging of the population. There are fewer young people to support the burgeoning number of old people. Once the final solution to the “problem” of fertility is solved through the killing of children, it’s only a matter of time before the culling of the elderly becomes an economic necessity. This is the culture of death’s other “final solution” to the problems it has itself created.
Once assisted suicide is accepted by a culture, it will soon be expected that those who are a burden on society, who are not able to contribute economically and are a drain on resources due to the health care they need, will seek the “assistance” needed to end their lives. “Assistance” becomes expectation and coercion—and, finally, coercion becomes compulsion. Those who do not have the financial resources to pay for their medical and health needs will be sentenced to “assisted” death.
In such a scenario, the only people who will see their natural deaths in old age will be the rich, who can afford to keep themselves alive with the care they need, and those who have raised children lovingly, who will be looked after by their children and grandchildren. This is the inevitable consequence of abandoning the dignity of the human person through the pursuit of economic prosperity. When man is reduced to being merely homo-economicus, one who exists solely to serve the economy as a producer and consumer of wealth, he will be discarded as soon as he is no longer economically viable.
At long last, it seems that the elderly and disabled are beginning to see the writing on the wall. They are beginning to understand that they will have to fight for the right to live; they will have to fight for the right to life. Those who fight for the right to life are declaring war on the culture of death. Might we hope indeed that the surprising victory for life in the British Parliament is the high tide and the turn.
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