But first an aside: a nice chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio would work well with this post…
As the entire world is focused on Dr. Jordan B. Peterson and his promotion of what is commonly labeled as the God Hypothesis, there is a much large revolution brewing in the biological and physical sciences. Dr. Meyer opens up this universe for you dear and humble readers. And you humble blogger is chronicling it for your ease of reference.
The specific reason for this continuation was a DATA POINT that appeared in another interview that Dr. Meyer gave, this time to Eric Metaxas. This interview is presented (on the youtube website) as:
“Eric Metaxas interviews Stephen C. Meyer about the ultimate mystery of the universe as drawn from recent scientific discoveries in physics, cosmology, and biology.”
First the DATA POINT. At the 1:00:00 hour mark of the video (please go to this point in the video), Dr. Meyer makes the following claim:
SM: To the new cosmology is moving in a decidedly anti-materialistic direction. Because if you want to explain the origin of the universe as a singularity in matter, space, time and energy, you need a different kind of cause outside of matter, space, time and energy. Many cosmologists and astronomers, Sandidge being one, recognize that that had frankly theistic implications. That we were now painting a profile of a cause that really only God, in a way that Jews and Christians have portrayed Him, has the qualifications.
This statement comes on the back of the Dr. Jordan Peterson, from the social sciences, claim that:
One manner in which to interpret this PHENOMENON is that we are witnessing that which this humble blogger has defined as ORGANIC GROWTH of the Catholic Faith. Once again, here is the definition:
Organic Growth:reconciliation of reason with revelation, of science with faith and of philosophy with theology, SUBJECT TO: that source of our Faith that comes from divine Revelation.
Which brings this humble blogger to chronicle the essence of Dr. Meyer’s claim that the God of science, i.e. the REAL GOD is a Judeo/Christian (read Catholic) God. Here is how Dr. Meyer came to this conclusion (starts at 13:40): (emphasis added)
EM: Ok, so you had an affinity to ask the big question, you obviously had an affinity for science, as an undergraduate what did you think you wanted to do? At what point did you decide to go in the direction that you’ve gone in?
SM: After I graduated, I came to Dallas, I got a job in the ‘80s when the oil market was up and I worked as a geophysicist for Atlantic Richfield company, a big, major oil company back in the ‘80s. And then in the mid-80’s it was down. I had applied for a Rotary Scholarship and I didn’t get it the first time. But I got it the second time and it was able to go to Britain and the big event that occurred for me here was an extraordinary conference, much like this one, but it was about the issue of how science and faith go together. And the conference was at the Dallas Hilton and there were representatives of what was called scientific materialism, what we would call the new atheists and scientists who were theists. And they were discussing the big questions, the origin of the universe, the origin of life and the origin and nature of human conciseness. And I heard about it the night before and I attended as just a walk up. I was just blown away by what I heard. This very first session, one of the most famous astrophysicists in the history of astronomy was there, his name was Alan Sandidge. Sandidge was an agnostic Jew well known for that point of view for most of his career, worked with Edwin Hubble, the great astronomer who had verified that the universe had been expanding, which was crucial to explain that the universe had a beginning and Sandidge shocked everybody by sitting with the other theists, though he was thought to be one of the materialists and in his talk, explained how the evidence for both the beginning of the universe and its exquisite fine tuning, had convinced him that there must be something more than a strictly materialistic account of the universe. And then he proceeded to reveal how he realized that the evidence was pointing in a frankly theistic direction and he didn’t like it. And he was trying to suppress it. And finally he confronted himself and said “wait a minute”, I’ve prided myself my whole life on my scientific objectivity. Now the evidence is pointing toward the God Hypothesis, what is it in me that does not want that to be true. And I was incredibly taken by that honesty.
EM: Well, that’s one incredibly honest man. And that’s rare…
And just to provide CONTEXT to the above, at about the same time this conference in Dallas in 1985 was taking place, or to be more precise, one year later, the post-conciliar church held its Meeting of Prayer for Peace, on October 27, 1986. For those not familiar with the official title of this event, it is better known as Assisi I. (see here)
Don’t know about you dear and loyal reader, but this humble blogger can’t identify any scientists in this get together…
But back to the Meyer interview…
SM: The origin of life discipline by the middle of the 80’s has reached an impasse. There’s been no progress since.
EM: (…) by the mid 80’s, they (scientists) got to the point… scientists were understanding that even though they had been saying since the Miller experiment decades earlier, they were saying that there was this primordial soup and lightning struck and the next thing chemicals arranged themselves and became cells. They were saying in the mid 80’s, suddenly they had gotten to the point of wondering why they didn’t have evidence for this hypothesis.
SM: Like in Apollo 11 ‘Houston we have a problem’ and the problem was, the many problems, but the fundamental problem was discovery of the information bearing properties of DNA and the other large, what they call bio-macro molecules in the cell. Watson and Crick in 1953, they elucidate the structure of DNA, 1957 Crick realizes that the chemical subunits along the interior of that double helix are functioning just like alphabetic characters in a written language. Or digital characters like the 0’s and 1’s in a machine code and that they are directing the construction of the proteins and the protein machines that all cells need to stay alive.
So you have digital information directing the construction of the crucial components of the living cells … and this is all elucidated in the 60’s. And people begin to reflect on this and the origin of life guys say ‘To explain the origin of life, you have to explain this complicated information processing system.’ And that’s where it got really sticky.
EM: Because nobody wants to work that hard…
JM: I mean, how do you get chemistry to produce code?
It turned out to be a really difficult problem. And I first learned about this at this same conference.
(…) I was working in industry, in geophysics doing digital signal processing, which was an early form of information technology and I got absolutely fascinated with the idea that the key to the mystery of the origin of life was actually information; it was code.
And a couple of minutes later, we get this from Mr Metaxas:
Everybody who cares about life, the meaning of life, we think about these things. And we think about how do we know what we know and so on and so forth. So what you’ve just said … you know, most of us here grew up in a world where the Miller experiment, that said that life was created out of the primordial soup with no touch from God or anything like that, we all were taught this in schools. And it was accepted. And when in the 1980’s there were questions about this, nobody contacted us by mail, or phoned and said ‘by the way, that thing that was on the test, we no longer really know if that’s true. We just want you to be clear on that’. (…) That never happened. And that to me is interesting since that’s how as a culture we process stuff. Stuff gets out there… I was always taught that Darwin,… you know Darwin was right and the idea of natural selection and we did this and it’s how it all happened. No one ever contacted me to say ‘by the way, there are a lot of big questions that have come up and even evolutionists like Steven J. Gould at Harvard is asking questions’. That informatioon never gets out.
Now please keep in mind that this is all taking place from the mid 1960’s to the mid 1980’s, which gives the scientist priests a decade (from the mid 1950’s) to get their heads around this big issue.
For further CONTEXT, please note that the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences was established in 1936“and thriving with the blessing of the Papacy ever since.”
So this above dialogue quite neatly explains the state of play in Catholicism, as in Catholicism that the scientists are developing and as the instigator of Assisi once noted:
Oh well!
Another mystery of the “new springtime of the spirit of Vatican II”…
It’s as if they really didn’t believe in the science…
35 years and an entire generation or two of scientists and scientific discovery later, what is the state of play in the “headquarters” of “catholicism”, i.e. in the cranial cavities of those who resides behind the Sacred Vatican Walls?
This… from our friends at Novus Ordo Watch: (see here)
And what is happening in the wider FrancisChurch of the new springtime of the new whatever of the new spirit of the new Vatican II?
For the answer to that question, below is a post from the Campus Reform website which appeared at our favorite catholic secular blog Zero Hedge. (see here) Aside, just to give you dear reader an indication of the serious nature of the Zero Hedge blog and its other readers, see here.
Concluding, here are the money quotes from Dr. Meyer which come at the 1:06:00 mark:
I would say that we can infer a God with those attributes; transcendence, intelligence, great power, and a God who is active in the creation on the basis of the evidence we have in the natural world. We can move from that evidence to that HYPOTHESIS as a best explanation for the EVIDENCE itself.
(…)
(…) There’s a different type of scientific reasoning that we are using and it’s sometimes called the method of multiple competing hypotheses, or the method of inferring to the best explanation. It’s the method Darwin used, and it’s the method we use first to make the case for Intelligent Design and the method that I use to argue that the best candidate for that designing intelligence is actually a God who has the attributes that Jews and Christians have long affirmed.
All this humble bloggers would add here is the observation that this EVIDENCE for this Catholic God Hypothesis is something the Catholic scientists, especially those in Pontifical Academy of Sciences should have known back in those heady days of the mid 1960’s.
Which then begs the question: How did this (below) happen?
And one more thought. Dr. Meyers will most likely never be invited to become a member of the Pontifical Academy of Science in the foreseeable future…
… since the “intellectual” wherewithal of the “spirit of the new springtime of VII” is making a b-line straight for the stone age.
*****
You Can ‘Major’ In Social Justice At This Nearly $70,000/Year California College
Dominican University in California has added a new major, wholly focused on social justice that will begin accepting students in the fall.
The school created the major after a “growing number” of students became interested in social justice careers, according to a university news release. Dominican will be combining courses from its minors entitled “Performing Arts and Social Change” and “Community Action and Social Change” for the major.
Students who major in social justice will have the chance to “examine the links between well-being, social justice, and diverse worldviews.”
Additionally, students will “analyze social injustices and work toward positive social change.”
The major starts off with a class titled “Theory and Practice for Community Action and Social Change,” which “provides foundational frameworks for analyzing oppression, power, and privilege.”
Other courses that students can take range from “Prophets, Psalms, & Social Justice” to “Liberation Theologies.”
Dominican University suggests that possible careers for those studying social justice include “Journalist/Photographer/Filmmaker,“ ”Community Organizer,” “Educator,” “Political Campaign Staffer,” and even a “Socially Engaged Artist.”
The new major is being funded in part by a $30,000 grant from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Religion.
A spokesperson from the California Federation of College Republicans commented on the major to Campus Reform.
“While we feel this program is for psuedo-educational purposes and pushes a certain political agenda, students will be spending $67,385 each academic year ($269,540 after four years) on a bachelor’s degree in social justice,” the spokesperson said.
“The United States is on the precipice of our $1.5 trillion student loan debt bubble bursting; therefore, it is clearly not wise for students to take out nearly $300,000 in student loans just to study social justice.”
The $67,385 per year cost cited by the CFCR spokesperson includes tuition, room and board, books, and other fees.
Dominican University is not the first school to push social justice initiatives, as Campus Reform has reported.
Hamline University in Minnesota has a social justice major boasting classes like “gender politics” and “sexuality, gender identity, and the law.” Tuition for the 2019-2020 academic year at that school is $41,734.
The University of Michigan took the issue further and opened up an entire “social justice-themed” high school where UMich grad students will have the opportunity to teach.
So given that today is the Feast of St. Sylvester which also coincides with New Year’s Eve, your humble blogger was going to prepare a Year in Review post. Yet the most important OCCURENCE of 2018 is so YUGE, that this humble blogger will put it in its own separate post and do a Year in Review at a later date.
The occurence that appeared in 2018 which the Deus ex Machina’s Pierce/Ockham pragmatic model indicated was of major significance can be summed up as the:
Rise of the Ontological Man
So let’s begin…
As my long time readers know, this blog has focused on ONTOLOGY, which is the study of the nature of being, i.e. reality and EPISTEMOLOGY which is the study of the nature of truth. These two disciplines are very closely related since through the study of what constitutes something that is TRUE, we can then understand that which is REAL.
So a person who speaks that which appears to be objectively true is in fact defining that which is real.
Let’s call this our: ONTOLOGICAL MAN.
So how does one recognize an ontological man when one spots him?
I will allow Dr Jordan Peterson to give us some pointers:
Two aspects of the above video which are of major significance are as follows:
The first aspect is an approximation of what constitutes our ontological man. (Emphasis added)
Now, Western culture is phalogo-centric, let’s say it. So let’s say that’s fine. That’s exactly what it is, predicated on the idea of the Logos. That the Logos is the sacred element of Western culture.
Nota bene: What we have in the above is what we call a RECONCILIATION moment between the Natural and the Supernatural sides of reality (ontology). Dr. Peterson explains the Natural significance of the “Logos”, or the Word, while in the post titled (If you are looking for a place to comment, leave citations, etc,…) (see here) Ann Barnhardt explains the Supernatural significance of that same reality. This humble blogger suggests you dear and loyal reader follow Ann’s lead.
As for the Holy Roman Catholic Church, in Her infinate wisdom the Church recognized the significance of the Logos by introducing the Prologue of St. John long before the 16th Century (see here), thereby beating Dr. Peterson to the punch by more than 500 years.
Back to the matter at hand and how the Petersonians see the significance of the Logos:
And what does that mean? It means that your capacity for speech is divine. It’s the thing that generates order from chaos. And then sometimes turns pathological order into chaos when it has to.Don’t underestimate the power of truth. There’s nothing more powerful.
And then Dr Peterson goes on to explain what in our parlance constitutes an ontological man:
Now in order to speak what you might regard as the truth, you have to let go of the outcome. You have to think: “ok, I’m going to say what I think. Stupid as I am, biased as I am, ignorant as I am, I’m going to state what I think clearly as I can and I’m going to live with the consequences no matter what they are. Now the reason you think that, that’s an element of faith.The idea is that nothing brings a better world into being than the stated truth. Now you might have to pay a price for that. But that’s fine. You’re going to pay a price for everything you bloody well do. And everything you don’t do. You don’t get to chose to not pay a price. You get to chose which poison you’re going to take. That’s it.
Yep, that’s it…
And how is this manner of “speaking the truth” working out for Dr. Peterson, you might as dear and loyal reader?
Well, it has made him the most widely know intellectual globally in under two years time. In 2018 he has spoken in front of over 250,000 people in sold out venues on three continents. He has become a best selling author whose latest book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, has sold over 2 million copies to date. And he has become wealthy in the process, just to add that little bit of a capitalist punch to the summation.
Oh, and Dr. Peterson is responsible for an upspring of “Free Speech” clubs sprouting up on the North American college campuses, as per video here. Aside, notice how he starts the lecture by defining terms, a la St Thomas Aquinas? With post-Modernists, you have to always define terms! But I digress…
Which brings us to Ann Barnhardt and an insight into how this ONTOLOGICAL MAN phenomenon is manifesting itself in the ECCLESIASTICAL sub-set of the Visibilium Omnium.
Two websites are especially worthy of mention here at this point. One is Ann Barnhardt’s blog and the other is the Non Veni Pacem blog. These two blogs have taken the observable reality of what can be called the “Two Popes” Dilemma by the horns and have been… well… used the Petersonian suggestion of SPEAKING THE TRUTH.
The “Two Popes” Dilemma can be summarized as follows:
Specifically, it is visibly observable that there are two individuals who live inside the Sacred Vatican Walls. Further, Pope Benedict continues to wear the white tunic, continues to sign himself “Benedictus XVI, pope emeritus,” continues to live “in the enclosure of Saint Peter,” continues to have himself called “Holiness” and “Holy Father.” And finally, Pope Benedict claims that he and Francis, the bishop of Rome “share” the PONTIFICAL OFFICE, “One “Active” and One “Contemplative”. (See here)
So Ann Barnhardt, observing the “Two-Popes” Dilemma, has taken it into her sights and produced this seminal video explaining the essence of what is at the root of the “Two Popes” Dilemma.
Once this video became widely disseminated over the internet, the proprietor of the Non Veni Pacem blog went even higher resolution and drilled further into the “resignation language issue”. The road so far has led to a doctoral thesis and one Abp Miller who’s major contribution to this entire debate is in his use of the word: ONTOLOGY.
In other words, the lineage of the ROOT CAUSE of the “Two Popes” Dilemma is now officially mapped back to and tied to the issue of what constitutes ontological reality.
Now not surprisingly, the folks propping up the “Two Popes” Dilemma will hint that it is the “ontological issue” that is at the base of the problem, but they will not dare name it.
Why would that be?
Hold that thought…
Case in point, here is the translation of a recent Abp Gänswein’s speech. The relevent passage of interest to us is as follows:
Indeed, I must admit that perhaps it is impossible to sum up the pontificate of Benedict XVI in a more concise manner. And the one who says it, over the years, has had the privilege of experiencing this Pope up close as a “homo historicus,” the Western man par excellence who has embodied the wealth of Catholic tradition as no other; and — at the same time — has been daring enough to open the door to a new phase, to that historical turning point which no one five years ago could have ever imagined. Since then, we live in an historic era which in the 2,000-year history of the Church is without precedent.
Now, one way to interpret the sentence “has been daring enough to open the door to a new phase, to that historical turning point which no one five years ago could have ever imagined” is to suggest that what the good Archbishop has in mind something of an ‘ontological’ nature.
Yet we know that, Abp Gänswein knows, that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI knows that: ontology is not something that a mere mortal can alter.
Yes?
“BEING” is something that IS!
Yes?
So unless Abp Gänswein has created a new definition for what constitutes ontology, he is obviously speaking of something quite different.
Yet he is clearly saying that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has somehow created a “fragmented Papacy” and somehow something has changed since the “resignation that wasn’t”, yet that this something has not contradicted the NATURE (ONTOLOGY) OF THE PAPACY.
So what we have is: CONFUSION!
And this confusion has been picked up on Oakes Spalding’s blog, Mahound’s Paradise. In a recent post, which contains the results of a poll as to who Catholics think is the REAL POPE, the following results have been obtained:
Concluding, what appears to be the case is that there are parallel processes at play in both the Natural and Supernatural components of ontological reality that are converging.
The Natural process, as exhibited through the work of Dr Jordan Peterson is bringing ontological reality to bear on explaining the situation of a vast population of citizenry of Western societies.
The Supernatural process, as exhibited through the work of bloggers such as Ann Barnhardt, the proprietor of the Non Veni Pacem blog and Oakes Spalding, among others, are illuminating the ontological reality behind the Francis bishopric of Rome and now more widely on its root cause, the situation in the wider post-conciliar church.
Both these process can be seen as two parts of one whole. The reason why they are transpiring is most likely due to a tipping point being reached among the populations of Western societies.
On the one hand, the secular society is being expropriated of its material means of survival, through high levels of taxation. Case in point are the Yellow Vest protests in France, which are now spreading to the other Western European countries.
On the other hand, the Faithful are being expropriated of their spiritual means of salvation. Case in point are continuous letter from the Faithful to Francis asking to be provided with clarity of post-conciliar church teachings.
And in both case, the individuals are realizing that the secular and ecclesiastical institutions and ruling elites are either indifferent or unresponsive, and usually both. So in order to make sense of that which is happening to them, they need to return to the basics, and those basics are speaking the Truth in order to better define the objective reality of their current existence.
They need to define the objective reality of their existence in order to take the appropriate corrective actions.
So the RISE OF ONTOLOGICAL MAN appears to be a corrective measure to offset the current situation of an ontological existence that has become unstable, as if it was built on sand…
This humble blogger has just finished reviewing Ann Barnhardt’s latest video.
This blogger would like to state for the record that he could not identify any error in Miss Barnhardt’s reasoning, logic, or conclusion.
Furthermore, this blogger firmly believes that Miss Barnhardt’s treatise originates from a True premise.
And finally, Miss Barnhardt’s conclusion is in line with the analysis of this humble blogger, which resulted in a conclusion that has been provided on the Deus ex Machina blog in the post on the 5th of August, 2016 titled:
Given that this is Thanksgiving week, this humble blogger would like to draw your attention to one of Deus ex Machina’s favorite blogs, i.e. Musings of a Pertinacious Papist.
The reason for the affinity for the Musings blog is its editorial line. The proprietor of this blog is an active member of the Restoration effort in the Detroit area. He and his fellow Traditionalists are having a very successful run at bringing about the Restoration of all things in Christ. And they are chronicling the Restoration as it proceeds. Hence, the optimistic outlook.
And it’s not just coincidence that the Catholic Church is rising from the ashes in a city like Detroit. (see here)
Now with respect to the Restoration, this same optimistic outlook is shared by this humble blogger, who has noticed just this PROCESS over this long, dark, rigid, modern gnostic, querulous and disillusioned pessimist,pagan Christian era brought about by the promoters of the poison of immanence. These years have been long, but today we can clearly see the end of the dark age of FrancisChurch and the wider post-conciliar church in sight.
So today, I am re-publishing the below Musings post that should prove that “it’s not just me”!
Enjoy!
And one more bit of good news. At the top of this post is that video of Dr. Jordan Peterson’s lecture from the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria in Madrid, Spain. What’s interesting about this lecture is the disposition of the host, who is a very rational women. No radical feminist, she!
Further, for those who follow Spain, you will know that after the death of General Francisco Franco, the International Left descended on Spain and has dominated it culturally if not economically ever since. So witnessing this interview, the sorts of questions that are being asked, the tone of the discussion and the lack of communist protesters are quite quite telling.
At the 1 hour mark, Dr. Peterson has some advice for Francis, the despot of Rome…
And then their is this quite prescient observation from Marco Tosatti about the FrancisDetroit behind the Sacred Vatican Walls:
November 18, 2018 – Resumed Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
It seems that most of the Catholic news nowadays comes in one of two categories, either bad news about malfeasance and corruption in the Church hierarchy or “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” seemingly forced-happy news from establishment Catholic media outlets.
Ignored in both of the above are the quiet signs of improvement in many areas of Catholic life, most connected with the Traditional Latin Mass. Given that this is the week of American Thanksgiving, it’s appropriate to remind ourselves to give thanks for what we do have. For example:
The continuing mainstreaming of the Tridentine Mass, and its increasing prominence in diocesan life. The ever-increasing number of Extraordinary Form Mass sites in metro Detroit and Windsor (and elsewhere) is something unimaginable just eleven years ago. Consider how many options we now enjoy on major weekday Feast Days as one example. In this region, we’re now limited by number of volunteers available to organize and run more Masses rather than by number of willing and interested host churches and clergy.
The ever-increasing number of priests and seminarians interested in learning to serve and celebrate the Extraordinary Form. A perfect example of this was at the All Souls Day Mass on Friday, November 2 at Old St. Mary’s Church in Detroit [photo above]: Brothers from the Franciscans of the Holy Spirit served the Mass, with seminarians from Sacred Heart Major Seminary representing two dioceses sitting in choir. Every one of the Franciscan seminarians repeatedly expressed their gratitude for having been exposed to the Traditional Mass. And stay tuned – there will be more good news along this front in next week’s Tridentine Community News column.
The increasing prevalence of Gregorian Chant and sacred polyphony in parish life. For example, this week this writer heard Gregorian Mass XVIII’s Sanctus and Agnus Dei and the Salve Regína sung at a weekday Mass at an average parish in Las Vegas. That would have been unthinkable in the pre-Summórum Pontíficum era as recently as eleven years ago, when blogs and discussion boards proudly boasted of Ordinary Form choirs taking the daring step of chanting the occasional Communion Antiphon in Latin. Clearly the bar has been raised.
A gradual evolution of where serious Catholicism is found. Prior to Vatican II, many if not most parishes seemed to have been fairly orthodox. Post-Vatican II, only a handful of conservative parishes and ethnic parishes cared enough to maintain traditions. Nowadays there is no mistaking that Tridentine Mass communities lead the charge, but an increasing number of Ordinary Form parishes are shifting to a more traditional presentation of the Faith, at least at certain Masses.
A recapturing of the importance of celebrating the Feasts of the Church Year, and increasing integration of the Church calendar into daily thinking and prayer. Catholic media and many priests’ preaching are helping to rekindle awareness of the sanctoral cycle, Feasts of Our Lady, octaves, and the lives of the Saints.
Rediscovery and rededication to traditional devotions, from the Rosary to Eucharistic Adoration to gaining Indulgences. Even at otherwise “modern” parishes, ground-level support from the faithful is causing a resurgence of popular devotions that often went ignored in the 1980s and 90s. One example is the increasing number of novenas and devotions prayed before or after weekday Masses.
Increasing availability of Confession before and after Mass. If you offer it, they will come, even in Ordinary Form parishes.
The resurgence of traditional art and architecture, both in new church construction and in restorations and un-wreckovations of older churches. The number of church restorations seems to be outpacing wreckovations these days. Communion Rails, High Altars, and serious religious art are making a comeback, and the designers and contractors supporting those efforts are growing in number and busier than ever.
The rise of a whole industry of secondhand and new traditional church goods vendors, as presented in the November 4 edition of this column. The era of 1970s style products is finally starting to pass.
One might ask, with all of this good news, why isn’t the Catholic press more focused on it? Certainly much of the mainstream Catholic press is under control of the bishops, most of whom still seem oblivious to or disinterested in traditional forms of piety and worship. However, web sites, blogs, and social media – and of course this column and Extraordinary Faith – abound with example after example of the resurgent interest in our immemorial traditions, so the encouraging word will spread via other channels.
Tridentine Masses This Coming Week
Tue. 11/20 7:00 PM: Low Mass at Holy Name of Mary, Windsor (St. Felix of Valois, Confessor)
Sat. 11/24 8:30 AM: Low Mass at Miles Christi (St. John of the Cross, Confessor & Doctor
Today brings some more good news for the Traditionalist camp from the entire Visibilium Omnium.
In the psychological (ontologically -the conscience) sub-set of the Visibilium Omnium, the term “traditionalist” is becoming a designation for individuals who are not only conservative, but have an idea of what it in fact means to be conservative. In other words, the process by which “tradition” arises and its ontological basis.
Of note, two individuals who have frequently used the term “tradition” and “traditionalists”, and have identified themselves as such, are Dr. Jordan Petersonand Dr. Steve Turley.
Nota bene: According to Dr Turley, “tradition” is even making inroads into the fashion industry and trending in haute couture circles! Who would have thunk?
Over in the ecclesiastical sub-set, this information comes by way of a post that appears on the Eponymous Flower blog. In the post titled New Entrants to Seminaries of Tradition — SSPX Has Best Year Yet, we read that the Indefectible Church is a setting records for new seminary entrants.
Of note is the SSPX, who has had their biggest year, EVAHHHH!65 new entrants for 2018/2019 academic year!
DEO GRATIAS!
Of further note, the post-conciliar hierarchy is also noticing this Traditionalist trend. Case in point is a tweet from no less than an Australian bishop. Here is the screen grab from the Eponymous Flower blog (see post here)
What makes the above more than a run of the mill OBSERVATION, but in fact a SIGNIFICANT EVENT is that… one can say… at tweet like this, coming from a young bishop in Australia can not be considered as a “career enhancing” move in the current climate of FrancisChurch’s FrancisWorld.
Actually, it could be read as an insult to the HippieChurch that still hasn’t departed us for their just reward!
Another set of EVENTS that could be considered SIGNIFICANT is the post-CDF activities of one Gerhard Cardinal Muller. Of late, the good Cardinal has been making waves. Most recent example: in a post at Life Site News, we get a report that according to Card Muller, the current post-conciliar pedophile crisis is on account of a loss of discipline brought about by the “spirit of the new springtime of VII”. Shock!
Today, we feature another aspect of Card. Muller’s activities. Lately, the former Prefect of the CDF has been meeting with Traditionalists… bah, members of the Indefectible Church. Case in point, a post and photo at the Eponymous Flower appeared that presents just this, and it is this photo that your humble blogger embedded at the top of this humble post. (see here)
Now moving onto the POLITICAL sub-set of the Visibilium Omnium, we get election results from Bavaria, the “arch-conservative Catholic” capital of Germany. In yesterday’s vote, it would appear that the forces of conservatism and tradition have made major gains. Totaling up the vote percentages of the Christian Social Union (35.5%), the conservative Free Voters (11.5) and the arch-conservative Alternative for Germany (11%), we get a grand total of 58%. In addition to the these overtly conservative parties, the Free Democrats, who claim they are economic conservatives got another 5%. This brings the grand-grand total to 63%.
What is also of note is the disintegration of what can be termed the FrancisChurch party, the SPD (western socialists – crypto communists). The SPD in Bavaria went from 20.6% in the last elections down to 10% in this one. This trend, as Dr. Turley points out is occurring in other Western crypto-communist parties of the lands that are considered a part of Western Civilization.
Furthermore, as Dr. Turley points out, another correlated PROCESS that is taking place is what is known as the “De-Diabolization” (Devil from Greek) of the Traditionalist electorate. This term refers to the beginning of an acceptance of the ideas promoted by these individuals and parties in the wider public domain.
In other words, the OVERTON WINDOW is shifting. Traditionalism is now beginning to be considered acceptable and within the range of acceptable opinions that can be held by respectable people.
The deeper meaning of this phenomenon this humble blogger will explain in a follow up post. But for now, enjoy the latest victory in the wider Restoration PROCESS.
Below, the Zero Hedge post on yesterday’s results, and HERE is the post from the Conservative Treehouse. Dr. Turley’s take is HERE.
Voters in Germany’s economically dominant southern state of Bavaria delivered a stunning rebuke to the ruling Christian Social Union, in an election that delivered another crushing blow for the parties in Angela Merkel’s grand coalition in Berlin.
With all eyes on Sunday’s Bavaria election, moments ago the first exit polls showed a historic collapse for the ruling CSU party, which has ruled Bavaria continuously since 1957, and which saw its share of the vote collapse from 47.7% in the 2013 election to just 35.5%, losing its absolute majority and suffering its worst result since 1950, as voters defected in their droves to the Greens and the far-right Alternative for Germany.
German newspaper Welt called the election “the most painful election defeat of the past 50 years for the CSU”. As predicted in the polls, the CSU experienced a “historic debacle” in the Bavarian state elections, according to Welt. The CSU was followed by the Greens which soared in the election, more than doubling to 18.5% from 8.6% in 2013, the Free Voters also rose to 11% from 9.0%, in 2013.
Meanwhile, the nationalist AfD are expecting to enter Bavaria’s parliament for the first time ever with 11% of the vote, and as such are setting up for their post-election party. Party leader Alice Weidel already is having the first beer in the small community of Mamming in Lower Bavaria.
Meanwhile, the other establishment party, the left-of-center SPD also saw its support collapse from 20.6% in 2013 to just 10% today.
The full initial results from an ARD exit poll are as follows:
CSU: 35.5 %
Grüne: 18.5 %
FW: 11.5 %
AfD: 11.0 %
SPD: 10.0 %
FDP: 5.0 %
Linke: 3.5 %
Sonstige: 5.0 %
Visually:
The breakdown by gender did not show any marked variations when it comes to CSU support, although more women voted for the Greens, while far more men supported the AfD:
There was a greater variation by educational level, with highly educated voters tending more towards the green GRÜNE (G/EFA) and liberal FDP (ALDE) then the average, while low/middle educated voters tended more towards CSU (EPP) and AfD (EFDD)
This was the worst result for the CSU since 1950.
As the FT notes, the campaign was dominated by the divisive issue of immigration, in a sign of how the shockwaves from Merkel’s disastrous decision to let in more than a million refugees in 2015-16 are continuing to reverberate through German politics and to reshape the party landscape.
Alarmed by the rise of the anti-immigration, populist AfD, the CSU tried to outflank them by talking tough on immigration and picking fights with Ms Merkel over asylum policy.
But the strategy appeared to have backfired spectacularly by alienating tens of thousands of moderate CSU voters and driving them into the arms of the Greens.
Meanwhile, as support the CSU and SPD collapsed, the result confirmed the Greens’ status as the rising force in German politics. Running on a platform of open borders, liberal social values and the fight against climate change the party saw its support surge to 18.5%, from 8.4% in 2013. Meanwhile the AfD won 11%, and for the first time entered the Bavarian regional assembly.
“This is an earthquake for Bavaria,” said Jürgen Falter, a political scientist at the University of Mainz.
The CSU had governed the state with an absolute majority for most of the last 60 years. “It was Bavaria and Bavaria was the CSU. That is now no longer the case.”
The latest collapse of Germany’s establishment parties highlights the shaky ground the grand coalition in Berlin is now resting on as all three parties in the alliance, Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, the CSU and the SPD, are haemorrhaging support. Some are now questioning whether the coalition, already frayed by personal rivalries and near constant bickering over policy, can survive a full term in office.
“This outcome throws ever more doubt on the future of the grand coalition,” said Heinrich Oberreuter, head of the Passau Journalism Institute and an expert on the CSU. “Based on current polls, if an election were held now, the CDU, CSU and SPD would not even command a majority in the Bundestag.”
The CSU will now be be forced to form a coalition government — a humiliating outcome for a party that has run Bavaria single-handedly for 49 of the last 54 years. Its preference is probably for a three-party coalition with the Free Voters, a small party that is mainly focused on local politics. It could also team up with the Greens, though it would be highly reluctant to do so: the two parties are deeply divided over immigration, transport and environmental policy.
“This past year, I have been doing a National Study on the TLM only parishes in the USA. Currently, there are around 70 of these but they are exploding in numbers with each passing year because the TLM priestly vocations are outpacing Novus Ordo priestly vocations by more than 7 to 1. My preliminary numbers are exceeding my initial expectations.”
And Francis, the Great Accuser of Rome can’t do squat about it!
The following guest post was written by frequent contributor Fr. Donald Kloster, parochial vicar at St. Mary’s in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
I’ve been mulling over many questions lately that pertain to the families of those who enter a Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) vocation to the Priesthood and/or Religious life. A related query is how well the Traditional Latin Mass retains those children now being brought up within the Traditional Latin Mass since their early childhood or at least from the time of their earliest memories.
My experience with those raised in the Latin Mass prior to the Second Vatican Council tells me that the knowledge and retention of the faith is promoted by the Vetus Ordo.My Novus Ordo observations tell me that it leaks faithful like a faulty gasket of an engine leaks oil.
The Novus Ordo culture has produced a plethora of faithful who know very…
Your humble blogger has not written anything this week. Reason being, it was one of those weeks where one just needed to step back and OBSERVE, in order to better assess the “lay of the land”, as a military strategist would say.
And from where your humblest of bloggers sits, it has been a SIGNIFICANT week at that. Allow me to indicate some DATA POINTS behind the above assertion.
First, the post below from Doug Lynn at the Burning Platform blog via Zero Hedge. (see original here) When you read this article, please note the themes and the word usage. For my long term readers, these will be very familiar, from the need to identify and conform to “OBJECTIVE REALITY”, to the manner in which the Collectivists (Cultural Marxist post-Modernists) corrupt the language, to the manner in which the NARRATIVE is deployed to obtain and then hold onto POWER, to the entire theological sub-structure of the US (proxy for Western Civilization) that is trying to replace CATHOLICISM as the founding “secular cult” with some form of “pseudo-rationalist crypto-pagan RELATIVISTIC animism”.
Back to the article below, notice the attitude taken toward infanticide!
These are secular people who are writing these things!!!!!!!!
Nota bene: Why did this humble blogger write “CATHOLICISM as the founding secular cult” you might ask dear and loyal reader? Well, because it is becoming clear that the CATHOLIC Faith’s bi-modal reliance not only on Faith, but also on REASON is what has not only CREATED our CIVILIZATION, has allowed it to be SUSTAINED and most importantly, allowed it to be VIABLE. And it is the CATHOLICS FAITH’S resilience, durability and most importantly, SUPERIORITY that is the bane of the post-Modernist IDEOLOGUES and the target of their RAGE.
Nota bene: The above assertions are taken from observations taken from material produced recently by just two academics, namely Dr. Jordan Peterson (superior nature of Christianity, Catholicisms “over-reliance” on REASON) and Dr. Turley (Christianity as founding cult of Western Civilization).
And these academics are becoming more numerous by the day. Aside, this humble blogger is beginning to track Heather McDonald. Worth your time dear reader to do likewise. Here’s a video with a 10 minute sample:
And the frequency with which the word “TRADITION” appears in these academic’s material, is truly amazing.
So it’s not just me that has been making these above claims!
And lastly, this blogger needs to mention that Dr. Steven Turely has been doing some spectacular work. Aside, I thought I was on the optimistic side about the oncoming RESTORATION, but he really takes the cake. But I digress…
In just a couple of his recent videos, Dr Turley makes the following observations: the Danish government is re-introducing Christianity as the base ethos for their national broadcaster (Danish culture), the disintegration of the collectivist “Uni-Parties” in Germany and wider Euroland and the rise of the Rational Nationalist movements and even the trend toward “dressing modestly” on the part of women. And that is just to name three…
I will stop here. Please read the below post and watch the attached videos.
When reading, please also keep in mind how the situation behind the Sacred Vatican Walls fits into this larger picture. And when mediating on the situation in the FrancisVatican, please keep in mind the observation made by Mr. Lynn:
Even if the “illusions of narratives” can be generated, reality can never be denied for long.
And from the evidence that can be observed from sensory data, the Rubicon has been crossed!
The Tyranny Of “The Collective” By The Illusions Of Narratives
1 : oppressive power especially : oppressive power exerted by government
4 : an oppressive, harsh, or unjust act : a tyrannical act
It is a fact the election of Donald Trump exposed certain undeniable realities in the United States for those willing to see. Perhaps first and foremost of the various revelations is the bona fide existence of The Collective. Also known as the Uniparty or The Establishment, The Collective is comprised of the following: The Democratic Party, Republican’s in Name Only (RINOs), Neo-conservatives (Neocons), the Mainstream Media, the Corporatocracy, globalists, elite bankers and unelected government bureaucrats and officials; also often referred to as The Deep State or Military Industrial Complex.
All of these entities have attained singularity through the decades while, for the most part, retaining some “plausible deniability” of their collusive connectivity prior to the 2016 Presidential Election. But now the veil has been lifted. As The Collective has unified in polar opposition against everything Trump, so has its immorality and lawlessness been additionally exposed; like nude streetwalkers performing dirty tricks in broad daylight on busy corners.
Over the past half century, if not before, The Collective has politicized, and weaponized, everything it could subvert. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to the courts, from professional football to late night comedy, from Hollywood to advertising, from social media to education, from race to gender, to sex. Especially sex; and in ways seemingly derived from the nightmares of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.
Paradoxically, however, it is more often the values of conservatives only that are called into account. The Collective will string up blacks like Clarence Thomas via high-tech lynchings and bully free-thinking Afro-Americans like Kanye West, Candace Owens, and Stacy Dash by labeling them “Uncle Toms”. The Collective will pass judgement on conservative Supreme Court nominees with no evidence beyond slander and innuendo. In fact, it is The Collective desiring One World Under Them, which wields Orwellian Newspeak terminology such as racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobe, and Islamophobia, like the proverbial pitchforks and torches.
The Collective sows the politics of personal destruction in order to reap the whirlwinds of division. It shills rancor and broken dreams in order to form a new reality in its own image. A world where timeless moral principles are set aside for (they claim) the good of all.
Notwithstanding, The Collective’s new religion is as phony as Michael Avenatti’s concern for clients.
Now social media companies have purged “thought criminals” on their respective platforms, even as the rogue special counsel investigator, Robert Mueller, has exploited imaginary crimes in order to conceal actual government corruption and, likely, treason. The Collective preaches the tolerance of transgender men in the bathrooms of our daughters and wives while actively bullying and defaming those they consider as dissidents. Falsehoods from contrived, and illegal, government “leaks” are published and broadcast as being true while real facts are slandered as “fake news”.
A public that can no longer distinguish between truth and fiction is left to interpret reality through illusion. Random facts or obscure bits of data and trivia are used either to bolster illusion and give it credibility, or discarded if they interfere with the message…
When opinions cannot be distinguished from facts, when there is no universal standard to determine truth in law, in science, in scholarship, or in reporting the events of the day, when the most valued skill is the ability to entertain, the world becomes a place where lies become true, where people can believe what they want to believe. This is the real danger of pseudo-events and pseudo-events are far more pernicious than stereotypes. They do not explain reality, as stereotypes attempt to, but replace reality. Pseudo-events redefine reality by the parameters set by their creators. These creators, who make massive profits selling illusions, have a vested interest in maintaining the power structures they control.
– Hedges, Chris (2009). “Empire of Illusion”, Nation Books, New York, NY, 2009, page 51
Kabuki Theater? Or Political Darwinism? Either way, conservatives lose political ground whenever they swallow the moral premises of The Collective. This is because The Collective utilizes deception to conceal their actual motives while simultaneously gaslighting and blackmailing conservatives by means of conservative values.
In a manufactured reality, pseudo-events are designed to create consensus in order to manipulate outcomes. In other words, The Collective spins illusion by means of narrative.
In the gun control and immigration debates, for example, The Collective doesn’t really care for “the children”. In truth, they use “the children” as a means to consolidate political power. Certainly, The Collective weaponizes the morality of conservatives against said conservatives; and whenever the twisted virtue of The Collective is accepted, the new global religion expands.
Consider the Kavanaugh debacle. Underlying all of the Supreme Court nomination theater, the desire of those opposing the judge is simply this: To project a woman’s right to choose. Whether or not Kavanaugh is actually a threat to that right is beyond the point. He is perceived as a threat to “Roe v. Wade” by his opponents. This means a man’s reputation has now been slandered, and without any real evidence, in order to protect a woman’s right to abort her fetus at will.
At the same time, it’s quite possible The Collective has staged the Kavanaugh production in order to further decimate America’s institutions in pursuit of global objectives.
You win, they win. You lose, they win.
Dirty politics are merely a subset of politics; and politics define Man’s relations with Man. If the U.S. Constitution was set-up to facilitate political, economic, and religious freedom – then wouldn’t an ideal system designed to control the masses, tear down these same conceptions? And how would such a system take hold? Perhaps by combining opposites through a twisted sort of immoral ecumenicalism: law plus corruption, androgyny, race and gender divisions by means of political correctness, slander, accusations, and lies – and all for the purposes of a new global singularity.
It’s no surprise how The Collective confounds the logical. It loudly laments children being separated from their parents at the border AND Judge Kavanaugh for threatening the freedom of mothers who choose separation in the womb. If old-fashioned virtues such as logic, reason, morality, and law, no longer apply in politics today, then progress now simply requires faith; or, rather, what people believe. Even so, who says the theological premises currently conveyed by The Collective should be accepted at all? They do. That’s who.
Unfortunately, in all circumstances electronically programmed, or manufactured, the consensus remains real nevertheless.
Therefore, the actual enemy of common sense and decency currently, is not only The Collective, but more so those who support The Collective with their votes, and by believing its lies, innuendo, accusations, and slander. Therein also lies the dialectical dilemma of the mushy-minded middle; including Republican Senators like Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski: As The Collective descends further into criminality, corruption, and dishonor, these blind centrists now lament the lack of “cooperation” and “compromise” in America.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
– Yeats, William Butler (1920). “The Second Coming”.
Only one of the bi-modal goalposts has significantly moved over the past six decades, yet the lukewarm lament the widening gyre and blame both teams. In the long term, these people cannot save the nation.
So is it all just politics, or reality television? The differences, of course, are in the consequences. Reality can never be denied for long and this is reality: We’ve passed the point of no return. America is circling the drain. All of her institutions are under attack currently and, barring any great and unforeseen circumstances, won’t survive. In order to truly drain the swamp, a lot of people would have to die. Conversely, so, too, must others be removed prior to the establishment of the New Faith.
Therefore, a larger question remains: Who dies and who survives?
The Russian investigation has decimated the trust of fifty-percent of the country in the voting system. The credibility of the FBI and Department of Justice (DoJ) has been destroyed in the eyes of the other fifty percent. Half of America hates Trump as Congress now experiences abysmal approval ratings. Most recently, the Kavanaugh affair has acted as a splitting maul in a country of felled trees; while the Supreme Court nomination process, and likely the Court itself, now falls to the sound of “timber”.
Is it that simple? As easy as left and right, he said, she said, and black and white? Either way, there are no participation trophies awarded in Political Darwinism. Many on the right are playing the voting game while The Collective establishes its new religion. In truth, The Collective will sacrifice everything you have and blame you all the way down. Be assured it is their plan because compromise is no longer an option. The Rubicon has been crossed and there are those who will die to defend their New World Order. How about you?
Another alternative theory for the optimistic tone could be due to the fact that God designed His creation in a very rational, logical and ordered manner. Just as the laws of math and physics apply to inanimate objects, and are objectively real and provable, so are other laws that deal with the behavior and interaction of His creatures and human beings.
In that post, we noted that researchers have uncovered a mathematical function which exists in Natural Law, a function which governs the SPREAD OF IDEAS.
What appears to be the case is that:
Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society.
Extending the above SCIENTIFIC CLAIM into the ECCLESIASTICAL sub-set of the Visibilium Omnium, it could be restated as:
When just 10 percent of the CLERICAL population holds the unshakable belief that it is the “spirit of the new springtime of the Second Vatican Council” that is the ROOT CAUSE of the disintegration of the post-conciliar church , their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society and the inevitable Restoration will be at hand.
Nota bene: Notice the Jesuits from Tampa… Could be one of those funky “reverent” NO masses, but the setting and surroundings smell of Catholicism!
And just as a reminder, I have included the original research post below (see original here).
I will leave off on this pleasant note and wish you all a pleasant weekend…
*****
Discover Tipping Point for the Spread of Ideas
Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. The scientists, who are members of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center (SCNARC) at Rensselaer, used computational and analytical methods to discover the tipping point where a minority belief becomes the majority opinion. The finding has implications for the study and influence of societal interactions ranging from the spread of innovations to the movement of political ideals.
“When the number of committed opinion holders is below 10 percent, there is no visible progress in the spread of ideas. It would literally take the amount of time comparable to the age of the universe for this size group to reach the majority,” said SCNARC Director Boleslaw Szymanski, the Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor at Rensselaer. “Once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like flame.”
As an example, the ongoing events in Tunisia and Egypt appear to exhibit a similar process, according to Szymanski. “In those countries, dictators who were in power for decades were suddenly overthrown in just a few weeks.”
An important aspect of the finding is that the percent of committed opinion holders required to shift majority opinion does not change significantly regardless of the type of network in which the opinion holders are working. In other words, the percentage of committed opinion holders required to influence a society remains at approximately 10 percent, regardless of how or where that opinion starts and spreads in the society.
To reach their conclusion, the scientists developed computer models of various types of social networks. One of the networks had each person connect to every other person in the network. The second model included certain individuals who were connected to a large number of people, making them opinion hubs or leaders. The final model gave every person in the model roughly the same number of connections. The initial state of each of the models was a sea of traditional-view holders. Each of these individuals held a view, but were also, importantly, open minded to other views.
Once the networks were built, the scientists then “sprinkled” in some true believers throughout each of the networks. These people were completely set in their views and unflappable in modifying those beliefs. As those true believers began to converse with those who held the traditional belief system, the tides gradually and then very abruptly began to shift.
“In general, people do not like to have an unpopular opinion and are always seeking to try locally to come to consensus. We set up this dynamic in each of our models,” said SCNARC Research Associate and corresponding paper author Sameet Sreenivasan. To accomplish this, each of the individuals in the models “talked” to each other about their opinion. If the listener held the same opinions as the speaker, it reinforced the listener’s belief. If the opinion was different, the listener considered it and moved on to talk to another person. If that person also held this new belief, the listener then adopted that belief.
“As agents of change start to convince more and more people, the situation begins to change,” Sreenivasan said. “People begin to question their own views at first and then completely adopt the new view to spread it even further. If the true believers just influenced their neighbors, that wouldn’t change anything within the larger system, as we saw with percentages less than 10.”
The research has broad implications for understanding how opinion spreads. “There are clearly situations in which it helps to know how to efficiently spread some opinion or how to suppress a developing opinion,” said Associate Professor of Physics and co-author of the paper Gyorgy Korniss. “Some examples might be the need to quickly convince a town to move before a hurricane or spread new information on the prevention of disease in a rural village.”
The researchers are now looking for partners within the social sciences and other fields to compare their computational models to historical examples. They are also looking to study how the percentage might change when input into a model where the society is polarized. Instead of simply holding one traditional view, the society would instead hold two opposing viewpoints. An example of this polarization would be Democrat versus Republican.
The research was funded by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) through SCNARC, part of the Network Science Collaborative Technology Alliance (NS-CTA), the Army Research Office (ARO), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
The research is part of a much larger body of work taking place under SCNARC at Rensselaer. The center joins researchers from a broad spectrum of fields – including sociology, physics, computer science, and engineering – in exploring social cognitive networks. The center studies the fundamentals of network structures and how those structures are altered by technology. The goal of the center is to develop a deeper understanding of networks and a firm scientific basis for the newly arising field of network science. More information on the launch of SCNARC can be found at http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=2721&setappvar=page(1)
Szymanski, Sreenivasan, and Korniss were joined in the research by Professor of Mathematics Chjan Lim, and graduate students Jierui Xie (first author) and Weituo Zhang.
So given that today is the Feast of St. Sylvester which also coincides with New Year’s Eve, your humble blogger was going to prepare a Year in Review post. Yet the most important OCCURENCE of 2018 is so YUGE, that this humble blogger will put it in its own separate post and do a Year in Review at a later date.
Today brings some more good news for the Traditionalist camp from the entire 
The following guest post was written by frequent contributor Fr. Donald Kloster, parochial vicar at St. Mary’s in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Your humble blogger has not written anything this week. Reason being, it was one of those weeks where one just needed to step back and OBSERVE, in order to better assess the “lay of the land”, as a military strategist would say.
The Deus Ex Machina Blog 