The history of a mansion

give peace a chance

the more things change the more they stay the same

Since taking on my shoulders the burden of pastoral care, I have been unable to keep steadily recollected because my mind is distracted by many responsibilities. I am forced to consider questions affecting churches and monasteries and often I must judge the lives and actions of individuals; at one moment I am forced to take part in certain civil affairs, next I must worry over the incursions of barbarians and fear the wolves who menace the flock entrusted to my care; now I must accept political responsibility in order to give support to those who preserve the rule of law; now I must bear patiently the villainies of brigands, and then I must confront them, yet in all charity.

Pope Gregory the Great recognized he had to preserve the rule of law because of barbarians and wolves who would menace ordinary folk.

He didn't have to bow to political correctness.

background here.and HERE:

Rome, his birthplace, was sacked by barbarians when he was only six years old, and barbarian raids around the Italian countryside brought throngs of dirt-poor refugees flooding into Rome, carrying with them a plague that wiped out a third of the region’s ..population.....

It was Gregory who first conceived of a global plan of spreading the Gospel to the empire’s barbarian conquerors, sending St. Augustine of Canterbury, the prior of his former monastery, to England as the head of a mission team.

He organized the first universal system of relief for the poor in Rome, harvesting produce from the Church’s lands and sending teams patrolling the streets to distribute prepared food to the indigent refugees

.

How the original drone made a star

the original drone from WWII 

 from Wikipedia: 

 The Radioplane OQ-2 was the first mass-produced unmanned aerial vehicle or drone in the United States, manufactured by the Radioplane Company. A follow-on version, the OQ-3, became the most widely used target drone in US service, with over 9,400 being built during World War II.

Remember Hope

all the MSM news is negative and spreading confusion and hatred, so it is good to remember that Hope and peace exist, if you have the courage to notices:

and the story of the Piper who brought hope to the soldiers

....................

and there is a lot of videos of Muslim takeover saying prayers in the streets, but is the press noticing when Catholics and other Christians have public celebrations or processions to pray in public?

We have them all the time here in the Philippines:

Ah, but is the MSM noticing the Corpus Christi procession in London? The UK is officially Anglican, but many Immigrants are Catholics: Not just the Irish but Filipinos, Polish and Africans:

and then despite Spanish government becoming more PC and anti life, we see this:

The Dictionary man

Right now, I am investigating Samual Johnson, the dictionary man: 

 Dr. Johnson wrote it. And his life is known also because James Boswell wrote his biography.

what started me on this was this podcast series:

It will take awhile to read or listen to the various books on the subject but hey it keeps me busy.

But one side issue: In his middle age, Johnson spent a lot of time dining with and even living with the Thrale family.

Since Boswell didn't like her, it takes a bit to find little things about her life, such as her husband cheated on her and she had many many pregnancies (10 or 12) of which only four lived to adulthood.

Feminist history might revive her place, and how her life echoes the limitations of women's choices in Georgian England.

Ironically, she escaped from the straight jacket of expectations after her husband died and she married for love: That was bad enough, but her choice was an Italian musician who had taught her children. She later moved to Italy etc. and yes she did write both a history of Johnson and books of travel. 

However she was condemned for this marriage by society, mainly because it meant she no longer was essentially a nursemaid to Johnson, but also because it meant she deserted her daughters.

the rescue

 

It’s a testament to the U.S. military that no amount of equipment is more valuable than a single airman’s life. https://t.co/nAuwzovtnK

— Armchair Admiral 🇬🇧 (@ArmchairAdml) April 5, 2026

all of this reminds me of the story in Michener's Tale of the South Pacific, about a rescue of a pilot

the effort to save a downed pilot (or 2 downed pilots) is not new. 

In Tales of the South Pacific, James Mitchener has a short story, the Milk Run, about a similar rescue effort in World War II: 

 We wasted the flying time of P-4o s, F4U s, and F6F s like it was dirt. We figured the entire mission cost not less than $600,000. Just to save one guy in the water off Munda. I wonder what the Japs left to rot on Munda thought of that? $600,000 for one pilot. Bus Adams took a healthy swig of whiskey. He lolled back in the tail-killing chair of the Hotel De Gink. But it s sure worth every cent of the money. If you happen to be that pilot.

 

Start at page 78.

 the story vaguely resembles this real life rescue of a downed pilot, where air support kept him safe until a submarine arrived to rescue him.

as for those who are against the war: Think of the alternative.

Even the Iraq war's alternative history is horrifying to anyone who unlike CNN knew the murderous Saddam who killed his own people would quickly re purpose his factories for WMD and get back those he sent to Syria.

It is like Gaza: weaponizing compassion so you let those who plan to kill you survive. And deliberately putting missiles and weapons in civilian areas so that civilian casualties can be blamed on those trying to destroy munitions. And of course don't forget all those reporters who are members of Hamas get their stories published as if they were true.

Pretending that Iran would not use a bomb against their enemies might be correct, except that they have spent billions to arm militias in Yemen, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq to destablize the Middle East, and having a bomb would stop anyone from stopping them.

Up to now, the threat of blocking oil kept the west from stopping them.

we won't see anyone bothering to note that removing the US acting as the world police will result in a lot of bad things happening.

putting the war on Irn into context

Iran has been destablizing the Middle East for 49 plus years via their proxies including Hamas in Gaza, Assad in Syria, the Houthis, and by taking over Levanon.

Bit the USA essentially helped the crazies take over by encouraging the dying Shah to leave. And as a result, the Mullahs declared war against the USA: 

And because Jimmy Carter was a Christian who hated war, he did nothing even though attacking an embassy is essentially a declaration of war...So nothing was done. Well, almost nothing.

In those days, Hollywood didn't hate America, so helped rescue some of the hostages, and later a film was made about this: Argo..

I couldn't find free movie on line but it is streaming on Netflix if you have it.

But there was another rescue, of American civilians, arranged by their boss: Ross Perot.

,.....

Pearl Harbor

You know, I wonder when all the conspiracy types are going around saying FDR knew there was going to be an attack and he left it happen so the US could enter the war.

These conspiracy theorists seem to thinking Japan only attacked Pearl Harbor, but they ignore the attacks in Malaysia and the Philippines happened at the same time, and even if Japan had not hit Pearl Harbor, the US would still be at war because the Philippines was a US territory.

in the Philippines it was Dec 8. And although a lot of blog posts say MacArthur was not prepared, they forget he was in charge of the Philippine military... and since he anticipated an air attack he asked for the New Mexico Nat Guard for help. 

These units were brought over to man anti aircraft guns, but were not in the Philippines very long before the attack, and often the guns and ammunition were lacking.

And many of them ended up in Bataan and were in the death march, which is why every year they hold a memorial in New Mexico to remember them, and our Catholic church had a Bataan memorial in the back: four local Apache were in the NG there, and the local priest volunteered to go with them.

from the Taos historical society link:

The infamous Bataan Death March was one of the greatest atrocities of World War II.Death March Route. Approximately 1,800 men from the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery Regiment – also known as the “New Mexico Brigade” deployed to the Philippines in September 1941, during World War II.

I should note that most of those in Bataan and who were in the Death march were local Filipinos: Somethning often left out of the American stories. 

 

When the Regiment reached the Philippines they immediately moved to Fort Stotsenberg, 75 miles north of Manila. Over the coming months, they would train under simulated war conditions. By December things would change drastically.

On December 8, 1941 Japanese bombers made their appearance and the war was on. It was the 200th Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) — the original full Regiment — who is credited as being the “First to Fire” on December 8, 1941. That night, the 515th Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) was formed from the ranks of the 200th. The Japanese landings on Luzon began on December 10, 1941, with more Japanese forces landing on December 12, 1941.

The 200th and later the 515th could not do much damage as their powder train fuses only had a range of 20,000 feet and the bombers were flying at 23,000 feet. The main Japanese invasion forces landed December 22, 1941 and the decision was made to withdraw the forces into Bataan.

The 200th covered the retreat of the Northern Luzon Force into Bataan and the 515th for the South Luzon Force. They were able to hold the Japanese air and ground attacks back, thus saving the bridges – and the North and South Luzon Forces found a clear, safe passage to the Bataan peninsula.

 More here

The 200th Coast Artillery (AA) has a distinguished military legacy. The unit was established in 1939 from elements of the 111th Cavalry, New Mexico National Guard. The 111th Cavalry had its origin in the territorial militias of the 1850s and fought in the U.S. Civil War, in the Spanish-American War as “Rough Riders,” and in World War I.

 

After the 200th was inducted into federal service, recruits joined from all walks of New Mexican life. They enlisted in centers in Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Clovis, Gallup, Santa Fe, Silver City and Taos. Many young men deferred going to college. Many chose to leave their small towns and rural villages for the first time in their lives.

On January 6, 1941, the 200th was sent to the Anti-Aircraft Training Center at Fort Bliss, Texas, where draftees augmented its ranks. At the end of the training, the 200th was cited as the best anti-aircraft unit in the U.S. Armed Forces. In August, General George C. Marshall's action letter ordered the immediate dispatch of the 200th to the Philippines. By the end of the month, the 200th set sail from San Francisco, California.

 One webpage noted they were sent to the Philippines because many spoke Spanish. Another trivia not noted: their ranks included Anglos, Americans of Mexican heritage, and from various AmerIndian tribes. 

The attack on Manila came when people were in church for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec 8. 

Lolo was at home with his family, and helped his mom and small cousin walk to our nearby farm, about 4 miles north of town, where they stayed until they knew it was safe. His older brother and cousin joined the anti Japanese guerillas... his cousin was captured and died in the notorious Red House, but Lolo was too young to join until the end of the war, when Mac Arthur returned, and then he joined his brother but mainly to patrol to keep the streets safe. 

the Edmund Fitzgerald

The reason we remember this shipwreck is that a songwriter made a ballad about the tragedy.

which says a lot about how artists frame the way we remember our history

,,,,

Smithsonian Magazine has an essay on the ship, the shipwreck and why we remember it.

Half a century ago, on an unseasonably warm fall day, the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald set off from the western edge of Lake Superior with a cargo full of iron ore. Within hours, a ferocious storm gathered in strength, ultimately producing 60-foot waves and sinking the prized vessel. There were no survivors. The exact cause of its demise remains unknown.

Over the decades, many ships have faced a similar fate on the Great Lakes, a part of the world that some say is more dangerous than the open ocean. But the tragedy of the Edmund Fitzgerald looms the largest in our collective national memory—and it led to changes in the maritime industry that dramatically improved the safety of shipping.

 there is a podcast with the author of a book about the tragedy at the link

In this episode, host Ari Daniel speaks with author John U. Bacon about what made the Edmund Fitzgerald famous even before it sank, what we know and don’t know about the crew’s final moments, and the ship’s lasting legacy.

Bacon: Commercial sailors will tell you that the Great Lakes are actually more dangerous than the ocean, which seems, to me, crazy. Daniel: To jump in for context here, these lakes are just enormous. Lake Superior alone is about half the size of Florida. Even so, you might not guess that navigating these waters could be more perilous than sailing on the ocean. Bacon: So the salties, the guys in the oceans, they all laugh about the Great Lakes until they’re on them. And they stop laughing pretty quickly. When it’s smooth, it’s gorgeous and it’s pretty simple. But when it’s not, it gets ugly very fast for a lot of reasons. One, the salt on the oceans squashes down the points of the waves. It weighs them down and it also spreads them out. So you get these big but smooth roller coasters—still not fun and still can be dangerous. But by and large, you’re probably going to get over it. It’s not going to be pleasant, but you’ll get there. On the Great Lakes, there are peaks like mountaintops, and they’re twice as close together. Daniel: Which means that during a bad storm, waves the size of a four-story building can come at you every four to eight seconds. Bacon: And that’s how ships crack. They actually crack. And this has happened many times in the Great Lakes.

 

Art lesson of the week: The Night Watch

you know about flash mobs where people enter into a public space and sing?

Well, this one is a classic example of staging a miniplay to advertise a painting exhibition:

 The Night Watch is one of the classic paintings by Rembrant:

The painting was commissioned around 1639 by Captain Banninck Cocq and seventeen members of his Kloveniers (civic militia guards). Eighteen names appear on a shield, painted circa 1715, in the center-right background, as the hired drummer was added to the painting for free.

so who were these guys? Again Wikipedia:

Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire.

They also patrolled the streets at night to keep the city safe, but according to Grok did not arrest criminals.

Did the Schutterij Arrest Criminals? No, the Schutterij did not have a primary or dedicated role in arresting criminals.

Criminal apprehension and prosecution were handled by the schout (sheriff or bailiff), a judicial official appointed by local lords or city councils. The schout's duties explicitly included: Investigating crimes. Apprehending suspects. Presenting them to magistrates for trial. Enforcing sentences (e.g., executions).

In  contrast:

Schutterij members, as part-time volunteers, occasionally supported these efforts indirectly—such as aiding in crowd control during disturbances or guarding prisoners—but this was not their core function.

and like many groups, their civic duties gradually were replaced by professionals and the groups became a social club. 

By the 18th century, the schutterij had largely become ceremonial and ineffective for active policing, leading to its replacement by professional forces under King William I in the 19th century

more here:

Rembrandt's famous The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, better known as The Night Watch (1642), was an ambitious and not entirely successful attempt to show a group in action, setting out for a patrol or parade

and here is a video lecture about the actual painting.

The Gothic crisis of Rome: Modern parallels

Every time I read about the millions of migrants who want to settle into Europe or the USA, one is of course sympathetic to them. 

 Except some might not be able or willing to assimilate: more of a problem in Europe where the migrants who might be willing to assimilate are often shunned by locals into ghettos with unemployment etc. so their children are being groomed by Islamicist radicals.

In contrast, in the USA,  Hispanics often assimilate with earlier Hispanics who are proud US citizens. Which is why ICE raids are upsetting to many normal Yanks, who would back ICE getting rid of gangs but not their hardworking neighbors.

 But whenever immigration is discusssed,  the clueless don't see a problem, and indeed the USA manages to accomedate all sorts of immigrants and the fight over immigration of outisiders resemble the Knownothing riots against the Irish more than what is actually going on.,. 

But when it comes to Europe, I see the Gothic refugees from the Huns asking Rome to let them in to live in safety. 

 From AncientWar History site: The Gothic crisis...

The emperor allowed them in if they assimilated and obeyed Roman laws. Which worked until a famine hit.

Read the whole thing: But essentially the tribes ended up rebelling and conquering/destroying Rome.

The events of 376-382 AD represented a pivotal turning point in European history.

The Visigoths’ admission had been intended as a controlled solution to frontier defense, but instead exposed Rome’s vulnerability to mass migrations.

Several critical lessons emerged:

1. The Limits of Assimilation: Rome’s traditional strength in absorbing foreigners faltered when facing entire nations retaining arms and identity. '

2. Military Revolution: Adrianople demonstrated cavalry’s dominance over infantry, foreshadowing medieval warfare.

3. The Foedus System’s Danger: Theodosius’ settlement created the template for later barbarian kingdoms that would fracture the West.

4. Chain Migration Effects: Hunnic pressure didn’t cease with the Gothic settlement, continuing to displace other tribes into Roman territory....

Read the whole thing.

The article concludes:

Ultimately, the Gothic crisis proved that even calculated imperial policies could unleash uncontrollable forces when dealing with mass migrations. The lessons resonate through history, from the Viking Age to modern refugee crises—when desperation meets political miscalculation, the consequences can reshape civilizations.

terraces

We have lovely terraces in the mountains of Luzon, and when I lived in Zimbabwe I vacationed in the eastern part where abandoned terraces were on the hills behind the mission where I was staying. I just posted about these little known terraces on my Africa Blog.

So I asked Grok about what ancient countries had terraces: Mainly posted for my own information and I put it in italics so you know it a quote.

Terracing, the practice of carving flat, arable platforms into sloped terrain, emerged independently across various ancient civilizations as a solution to cultivate land in hilly or mountainous regions. Below is a concise overview of the history of terraces in the ancient world, focusing on key countries and cultures that developed them. ### **Origins and Purpose** Terracing likely began as early as the Neolithic period (ca. 10,000–2,000 BCE) when agriculture spread and populations needed to maximize arable land. Terraces prevented soil erosion, managed water runoff, and created stable fields for crops in challenging terrains. The practice was labor-intensive, often requiring stone walls or earthworks, and reflected advanced agricultural and engineering knowledge. ### **Ancient Civilizations with Terracing** 1. **Mesopotamia (Modern Iraq, ca. 3000 BCE)** - **Evidence**: Early terraces appeared in the hilly regions of Mesopotamia, particularly in the Zagros Mountains. Sumerians and later Babylonians used terracing to cultivate crops like barley and wheat in sloped areas. -

 **Significance**: Terracing supported irrigation systems, channeling water from rivers like the Tigris and Euphrates. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (if historical, ca. 6th century BCE) may have been a terraced structure, though evidence is debated. 2. **China (ca. 2000 BCE, Shang and Zhou Dynasties)** - 

**Evidence**: Terracing developed in the loess plateaus and hilly regions of the Yellow River valley. The Chinese used terraces for millet, rice, and later wheat, with sophisticated water management systems. - 

**Significance**: By the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE), terracing was widespread in northern and southern China, enabling rice paddies in mountainous areas like Yunnan. The Longji Rice Terraces, though later (Yuan Dynasty), reflect this ancient tradition. 3. 

**Andean Civilizations (Modern Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, ca. 2000 BCE)** 

 - **Evidence**: The Inca (ca. 1200–1533 CE) and their predecessors, like the Wari and Tiwanaku (ca. 500 BCE–1000 CE), built extensive stone-walled terraces (andenes) in the Andes Mountains. - 

**Significance**: Terraces supported crops like potatoes, quinoa, and maize at high altitudes (up to 4,000 meters). Sites like Machu Picchu and Pisac showcase advanced engineering, with irrigation channels and microclimate control. 4. **Mesoamerica (Modern Mexico, Guatemala, ca. 1000 BCE)** - **Evidence**: The Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures terraced hillsides in regions like the Yucatán and Guatemala for maize, beans, and squash. - 

**Significance**: Terracing complemented chinampas (floating gardens) and allowed agriculture in rugged terrains. Sites like Kaminaljuyu show early terracing efforts by 1000 BCE. 5. 

**Ancient Israel and the Levant (ca. 1500 BCE)** - **Evidence**: Terracing appeared in the hilly regions of Judea and Samaria, used by Canaanites and later Israelites for olives, grapes, and figs. - 

**Significance**: Stone terraces, still visible today, stabilized slopes and conserved water in arid climates. Biblical references to vineyards and orchards suggest terracing was widespread by the Iron Age (1200–600 BCE). 6. **Yemen (Sabaean Kingdom, ca. 1000 BCE)** - **Evidence**: The ancient South Arabian civilizations, particularly the Sabaeans, built terraces in the highlands of Yemen for crops like frankincense, myrrh, and grains. - **Significance**: Terracing supported oasis agriculture in desert regions, tied to sophisticated dam and irrigation systems like the Marib Dam. 7. 

**Philippines (ca. 1000 BCE)** - **Evidence**: The Ifugao people in Luzon began constructing the Banaue Rice Terraces, potentially as early as 1000 BCE, though some date them to 200 BCE. - **Significance**: These terraces, often called the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” supported rice cultivation in steep Cordillera mountains, with intricate irrigation from forest watersheds. 8. **Greece and the Mediterranean (ca. 800 BCE)** -

 **Evidence**: Ancient Greeks and Minoans terraced hillsides in regions like Crete and the Peloponnese for olives, grapes, and cereals. - 

**Significance**: Terracing maximized limited arable land in rocky terrains, supporting city-states’ economies. Similar practices appeared in ancient Rome and Cyprus. ### **Common Features Across Cultures** - **Materials**: Terraces were built with local materials—stone in the Andes and Levant, earth in China, and mixed methods elsewhere. - 

**Irrigation**: Most terracing systems included water management, like channels (Andes, China) or cisterns (Levant, Yemen). - **Crops**: Terraces supported staple crops suited to local climates, from rice and maize to olives and grains. -

 **Cultural Impact**: Terracing enabled population growth, surplus food production, and complex societies in challenging environments. ### **Sources and Notes** - Limited archaeological records and oral traditions (e.g., Ifugao) make precise dating difficult for some terraces. - Web sources, like historical geography studies, and posts on X discussing ancient agriculture corroborate these findings, though no single post provides a comprehensive overview. - For further details, I can search X or the web for specific regions or provide visual descriptions of terrace systems if requested. This summary covers the major ancient civilizations known for terracing. If you want a deeper dive into a specific region or culture, let me know!

lighthouse: A light to guide one home

 So today's rolling wallpaper on opening windows was that of a lighthouse.

The lighthouse is a common symbol for hope for Christians. They are a symbol of the light in the times of darkness and danger, and a reminder that the Lord will guide us home.

Which got me to thinking: Who invented the lighthouse?

...

more history here:

a webpage that has links to essays and books about lighthouses LINK

Political murders didn't start yesterday

in the 1960s, the political murders were often right wing against those fighting for civil rights.

But the demonstrations, riots, and crimes/bombings/attacks on the left are usually remembered through the mist of nostalgia.

Here is an article by a friend/mentor (and ghostwriter of his biography?) of President Obama that sort of disappeared into the memory hole.

New York Times fluffy article about his time as a student radical.

Wayback machine link

''I don't regret setting bombs,'' Bill Ayers said. ''I feel we didn't do enough.''

italics mine. 

Mr. Ayers, who spent the 1970's as a fugitive in the Weather Underground, was sitting in the kitchen of his big turn-of-the-19th-century stone house in the Hyde Park district of Chicago.

sounds like he made a lot of money somewhere. Crime pays for rich radicals (but not so much for the poor guys who end up in jail). 

The long curly locks in his Wanted poster are shorn, though he wears earrings. He still has tattooed on his neck the rainbow-and-lightning Weathermen logo that appeared on letters taking responsibility for bombings. And he still has the ebullient, ingratiating manner, the apparently intense interest in other people, that made him a charismatic figure in the radical student movement.

Ah yes. Charismatic. Lots of sociopaths and narcissists are charming. 

But that puff piece article in the NYTimes and other big shot media doted on his stories.

And when was that article published? 

In the NYTimes early morning ediction, on Sept 11 2001, the day of the terrorist attacks.

he claims he never killed anyone, but the San Francisco police union. begs to differ

and a lot of other radicals from those days are presented as heroes in stories and the innocent Ayers and his cohorts in revolution usually minimize the stories of those they harm.

Ayers was never charge in the bank robbery by his fellow travelers, that resulted in the death of Peter Paige who was driving the bank truck, and it is almost hard to find the names of the two police officers they killed escsaping... Officer O'Grady and Waverly Brown, were merciful when the apprehended the suspects, and didn't shoot the nice lady on sight when they stopped her, and this hesitation resulted in her hidden collegues to murder them after they had lowered their guns....

And I was living in Minnesota at the time and remember when the left lamented the jailing of another radical lady who was peacefully living in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis so they implied she shouldn't be prosecuted for crimes many years earlier because she was a good person.

Well, as Jesse Ventura  sarcastically pointed out: she was not a good person, because she robbed a bank and murdered an innocent nurse who was merely standing there waiting to deposit money.

The group almost got away with it, but Mrs. Opsahl's son kept the case alive, .

another story of her murder .

notice they never felt guilty when they thought they got away with it, but after they were caught, they said they were sorry. 

Well, duh.  

 Just wait awhile, and the political assassin and those who helped him murder Mr. Kirk will be seen as heroes.

Sigh. 

Remember

 

Container ships: the Box that changed the world

See previous post about the container ship collapse that I added an update video.

I am posting this because I know only a little about shipping: My father's work was coordinating shipping of his company's product, and when I was in Liberia, I had to go out on a small vessel to evacuate patients from oil tankers etc. that had to go around Africa due to the closure of the Suez canal.

Monrovia had an artificial harbor built by the USA but it was too small to accomadate large vessels.

But my knowledge of shipping is obviously over 40 years old, and one of the reason I am posting about this is to update my knowledge which predates the the container ship revolution...

this article says that container ships began in the 1960s but didn't hit smaller countries until the late 1970s due to the cost of the sophisticated equipment and rail lines to move the merchandise.

many experts consider container shipping one of the key transport revolutions of the 20th century. The use of standardized containers saves tremendous costs, as the goods are packed only once and can be transported over long distances using various modes of transport – truck, rail, or ship. Time-consuming unpacking and repacking are no longer required...

so here is a video on how they organize putting containers on a ship:

at .

a discussion on the maritime trade is discussed here:

the Maritime History podcast hasn't posted for awhile but the older podcasts are quite interesting for anyone interested in deep history.

endowned by the Creator

the Constitution says human rights come from God. Why is this important? The good bishop explains:

I’d like to respond to a disturbing contention from Senator Tim Kaine, during a recent confirmation hearing. pic.twitter.com/hvaYlQQybi

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) September 4, 2025

the idea that our rights come from a higher power means that even the poor and weak have human rights.

In the modern world, it means the bioethicists who want to expand the idea of personhood so that the mentally handicapped can lose their basic rights and be used for experimentation, transplants, or just killed outright sound like the eugenicists who inspired the Nazis who see the weak and poorest as useless eaterd

when in 40 years we have gone from jusifying aborting our inconvenient children to encouraging the eldelry to kill themselves to encouraging ocieties to kill old people,  one does wonder about where are the ethicists that point out that idea that civilization defends the weak? 

 hIstorian Tom Holland has done quite a bit of thinking on this and as a historian of the Classical world and Islam has later written books on how Christiainty is behind much of the human rights ideas of today's world: and what not every secular writer reading it noticed why: Because the Cross changed the idea of glorifying power (to a Roman, the cross meant to show the power of Rome over those who rebelled against secular authority) to the idea that it is the weak who are important.

How, Holland wondered, did the Roman world in which power was the rightful preserve of the powerful, to be used in service of the self as much as one had the power to get away with, become the modern world in which human beings—even vulnerable women—had dignity, and in which power was to be used (in principle, even if not in practice) to protect the weak and vulnerable and oppressed? The tyranny of the strong over the weak still happens, to be sure. But the strong must now mask their tyranny and oppression—hide it behind closed doors, lie about it, recast it in a benign light.Holland’s quest to answer this question resulted in Dominion.

the Jesuits did it

 Yes. I am being sarcastic.

At a time when the JFK files are inflaming every nutcase conspiracy theory, maybe looking into older conspiracy theories should be seen and put into contrast to today's news.

First, the background of the assasination is discussed here:

...

So where do the Jesuits come into the plot with an infamous conspiracy theory?

 it starts with the dirty little secret that Catholics are disliked and outsiders in the USA back then, and immigrants (many of whom were Irish Catholics) were greatly disliked. 

This should give one pause, since there are parallels in today's world, where immigrants and Muslims are outsiders and greatly disliked.

 and then there is this: John Wilkes Booth was a Catholic convert, many of those involved had Catholic links, and Mary Suratt's son escaped with the help of Canadian Catholics.

more from NatCathRegister:

all the conspirators met at the boarding house owned by Mary Surratt. Mary Jenkins Surratt was a Catholic, having converted before her marriage to John Surratt in 1840. Everyone who had rooms in her house was a Catholic. Her son John, Jr.—who escaped capture and trial for a time by seeking sanctuary in a Montreal church rectory and then as a Papal Zouave—was a Catholic...  Another accomplice, David Herold, had studied at Catholic colleges including Georgetown. Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set Booth’s broken leg, was a Catholic.  

So far we only have a bunch of confederate sympathizers who happen to be Catholic. 

 so where do the Jesuits come into this?

fast forward to Charles Chiniquy's theory of Lincoln's Assassination. Why would the Jesuits do such a thing? Because Lincoln had once been hired by him as a lawyer to defend him against libel charges.

duh. 

Does one sort of wonder at the grandiosity of a person making such a claim? Why would Jesuits do this to revenge a guy who was in trouble not just with the law but with his bishop, and who later made a living writing Anti Catholic propaganda?

Nope that doesn't make sense... But hey conspiracy theorists don't have to make sense: they just cherry pick some details and weave the story from one sided minor details to confirm their prejudices.

And back then, lot of folks back then automatically believed Catholics were bad in the same way that there are lots of people out there who hate Muslims or immigrants with brown skin, not for their deeds but because a small minority of them commit crimes.

But like in today's world, conspiracy theory theorists can get rich off by pushing their ideas.

Indeed, Chiniquy made a good living being a professional anti Catholic at a time when anti (Irish Catholic) immigration feelings were high, and his paranoid fantasies continue to be recycled by professional Anti Catholic Jack Chick.

Irish Central has an article about the anti Irish/anti Catholic hysteria at that time helped the public assume Mary Surrat was guilty:

backstory: Her silence enabled her son, who was involved in earlier plots but not in this one, escape.

so a Catholic conspiracy, or just a loving mother willing to do so that her son escape a lynch mob mentality of the courts?

 Robert Redford has a movie about it:

The forgotten massacres of World War II

 Urban fighting is one of the most dangerous fight in a war. Buildings can hid snipers, boobytraps, etc. but as soldiers go house to house, the attacking soldiers need to watch out for innocent civilians hiding for safety in these buildlings.

Ah, but what do you do when the departing soldiers deliberately kill these civilians? That is what happened in Manila.

 

After the Japanese left, they headed north to the mountains to hide, and later battles in rural jungles was terrible but not given a lot of publicity.

The Japanese soldiers, often starving, would attack villages for food, killing everyone. If the soldiers tried peacefully to ask for food, villagers, knowing about the murders in other villages, often would given them poisoned food.

Sigh.

My husband's brother and cousin were guerillas who hid in the mountains and helped the American armies.

My husband was still a young teen, but at the end of the war, his brother recruited him and other teens to patrol the towns to keep people safe.

I post this to remind people two things: One: that a similar house to house battle would have happened if the Allies had to invade Japan, hence the willingness of President Truman, who after all was a battle veteran of World War I to drop the atomic bomb. And two: this was genocide. And the genocides of the Japanese against civilians is often left out of the history books.