nick

One of the most terrifying images in history: a transformation from life to death. Gaza in 2023 and 2026!

Just as Hiroshima and Nagasaki were grotesquely out of proportion to the evil of the Pearl Harbor attack, what was done to Gaza is grotesquely out of proportion to the evil of the October 7 attack. What begins as a just cause is often corrupted by war’s self-righteous bloodlust.

Przyznam, że ta nominacja jest bardzo intrygująca. Leon XIV nominował administratorem apostolskim australijskiego ordynariatu dla byłych anglikanów Amerykanina, który jednocześnie dalej będzie ordynariuszem dla byłych anglikanów w USA i Kanadzie.

I turned up for my usual 11.00 mass in my parish this morning. At least, that’s what I thought I would be attending. Instead, it turned out to be a circus. The car park was unusually busy and there were a lot of women dressed as if for a night out on the town or a wedding reception. Inside the church, the cacophony was deafening. Groups of people, the members of which I didn’t recognise, were standing around talking loudly, as if they were in a public house. Yes, it’s First Communion time again! In his pre-Mass announcement, the celebrant not only had to tell the audience—yes, audience, not congregation— that phones should not be used during the ceremony nor should people avail of food or drink. Would it be unreasonable of me to think that any practicing Catholic would not need to receive this information? I don’t wish to be uncharitable but it’s evident from this quasi-blasphemous bedlam that many of the parents/guardians of the children about to receive the Eucharist haven’t been inside a church for many years, probably not since their own confirmation, and my guess would be that they won’t grace a church with their presence again until their children's confirmation rolls around, when the circus will reconvene. As for the children, there’s no reason to think their practice won’t conform to that of their parents/guardians. I don’t know what the spiritual or religious value of this de-sacralised day out is supposed to be. Perhaps someone could let me know.

Hard to think of an issue that has brought greater tension to the Church than homosexuality. I recall seeing data awhile back that it was the Church's vocal stance against homosexuality, more than the abuse crisis, that fueled exodus of young folks in the 90s-00s.

This weekend, I overheard a group of AI safety researchers laughing about how the city of Oakland "is District 9, dude. Don't go there!!" As in, presumably, the alien shantytown. Lighthaven is basically on the Berkeley-Oakland border. And it frankly pisses me off when some EAs and rationalists (who, yes, are not the same! and have both separately said things like this within earshot of me): (a) know nothing about the city they live in, (b) write large swaths of the Bay Area off as dangerous, disgusting places to be avoided*, and/or (c) go out of their way to minimize contact with anyone outside of their community, while claiming to care about epistemic clarity or doing the most good and such. Go outside, I'm begging you. Even, god forbid, in Oakland. I live here, it's nice! Maybe you live and work around here, too - be a good neighbor! Take a chill lap around Lake Merritt and maybe consider funding one of the city's many community-led efforts to make it better. -- * another anecdote: At the last SF EAG, I got multiple swapcard notifications warning me to take uber/waymo away from the conference venue, lest I expose myself to the Tenderloin at 6pm. But like, frankly, I'd *love* for more fresh-out-of-college AI safety fellows to walk through the Tenderloin. Really take in the housing and displacement crisis. You'll be fine, I promise! Let yourself feel some of the ugly impact that the tech industry has had on marginalized people in this city.