Mining Polymetallic Nodules From the Bottom of the Sea: Pros and Cons

 I came across an interesting article in Wired Magazine recently,  The Mining Industry’s Next Frontier Is Deep, Deep Under the Sea | WIRED.  The article was about polymetallic nodules. I had not previously been aware of these nodules.

"...One March day in 1873, some of these subaqueous artifacts were dragged for the first time into sunlight. Sailors aboard the HMS Challenger, a former British warship retrofitted into a floating research lab, dredged a net along the sea bottom, hauled it up, and dumped the dripping sediment onto the wooden deck. As the expedition’s scientists, in long trousers and shirtsleeves, eagerly sifted through the mud and muck, they noted the many “peculiar black oval bodies” that they soon determined were concretions of valuable minerals. A fascinating discovery, but it would be almost a century before the world began to dream of exploiting these stones."

A quick (and pessimistic) prediction about Donald Trump

Data: Axios research; Timeline: Jacque Schrag/Axios

This diagram appeared in an Axios newsletter I receive each afternoon.  As you can see, it compares the dates of upcoming legal events for, and related to, Donald Trump, to the GOP 2024 presidential primary calendar.

Feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne

 

I have always liked this painting by Leonardo DaVinci of St. Anne, Mary, and the child Jesus.  Sts. Joachim and Anne are the patrons of grandparents.  Also St. Anne was my mom's patron saint; her Confirmation name.  Appropriate since she had twelve grandchildren. And my sister's twin sons were born 40 years ago today.  Appropriate for me too, now that I have grandchildren. Mom  visited the shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec when she visited friends in Canada.

I like the DaVinci picture because of the softness and love of the faces. And it is a reminder that Jesus had a family, and that Mary had parents.

On Bodily Autonomy

There is an interesting article on the NCR site today, by David E. Decosse, Dobbs, abolition and women's right to bodily integrity | National Catholic Reporter (ncronline.org)  He discusses the Dobbs decision, slavery, and abolition; but not in the way we have usually seen those subjects related to one another.

We may not agree with the author in every respect, but the article is well thought out, and worth discussing.

From the article: 

Barbie

I see that the Barbie movie is set to be released July 21.  So a few reflections on a doll which has enjoyed one of the longest runs of popularity, 64 years. I had one of the early Barbies (not the original one in the striped swimsuit), and Barbie and her stuff still appear on my youngest two granddaughters' Christmas wish list.  But she's really not the same doll, she has morphed and evolved since 1959, when she was first sold. 

In the early sixties, she was all the rage among the pre-teens.  Everyone had one. Except me (or so I thought). My mom didn't approve of Barbie, said she wasn't going to buy me one.  She thought that it was a toy company ploy to get girls to keep buying stuff. That it encouraged materialism, and besides, no one's body actually looked like that. She wasn't wrong about those things. But my favorite cousin had one, and my friends all had one.  So Mom said I could have one if I bought her with my allowance, or birthday money. Well, birthday money was already spent.  I had an allowance of 50 cents a week, so I decided to go that route.  

Open, deep, well-ordered hearts

This is my homily for this past weekend, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A.  The Sunday readings are here.

How do you decide what to read?

I subscribe to too many news sources and journals - more than I can keep up with.  One of them is a print magazine known as The Deacon (formerly known as Deacon Digest, I believe).  Yes, there is a magazine for every interest group, even deacons.

Everyone around here knows I am a deacon.  I mention it, on average, once every four or five sentences.  The casual reader might conclude that I have an interest in, perhaps even passion for, the diaconate.  And they'd be right.

Based on that knowledge of what makes me tick, you might expect that I would devour every issue of The Deacon from front to back.  But so far, it hasn't worked out that way.

I received an email today promoting content in The Deacon.  I'd genuinely like to know: would any of these teasers motivate you to click through and read the article?  Here they are: