By the middle of the 6th century, the Emperor Justinian had spread his Byzantine Empire around the rim of the Mediterranean and throughout Europe, laying the groundwork for what he hoped would be a long-lived dynasty. His dreams were shattered when disease-bearing mice from lower Egypt reached the harbor town of Pelusium in AD 540. […]

It has been interesting to watch the development of the response to the virus. At first, a significant minority of people derided the initial warnings about the virus and the recommended responses. One need only watch saved news clips to see both major news and political figures deriding the findings and recommendations of health professionals. […]

With this coronavirus crisis and response and now the invocation of the Defense Production Act, I am beginning to get a very vague idea of how our parents and grandparents must have felt. But, let me emphasize, a very vague idea. Back during World War II, gasoline, sugar, various foods were rationed. They were rationed […]

As with most Americans, I have been watching and reading about the coronavirus, COVID-19. What has created some facepalm moments for me have been the overreactions that one can read in the media. Not surprisingly, they boil down to two extremes. One is the failure to believe anything that is being said while the other […]

As we are trying to fight the Coronavirus outbreak, it may be helpful to review some statistics and data. Part of the reason for reviewing the statistics is the memés that are being found all over social media, and especially on one of the news networks, that appear to say that the COVID-19 efforts are […]

I have now seen several posts commenting on how car crashes kill more than the Coronavirus has, or how this or that kills more people than the Coronavirus has. The post then goes on to make fun of the concerns about the virus. Moreover, the media is blamed for spreading exaggerated information. Those posts show […]

Originally, this was a post on Facebook. This is an update to that post. The update is at the end of the article. The article above is an excellent article. I recommend it be read by those who have relatives with investment funds that they will have to manage on that relative’s death. The link […]

I feel a certain sadness about the Boy Scouts of America. I was a Boy Scout in my time. As pointed out, like with the Catholic Church, “Most of the newly surfacing cases date to the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s; the organization says there were only five known abuse victims in 2018. The Boy Scouts […]

This past Sunday I was supply priest at a parish in the Greek Metropolis. This is a parish that I have visited many times in the last 9 years. It is one that has no permanent priest but survives on supply priests every Sunday. It was the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, so, not surprisingly, […]