Miscellaneous

“[B]lowup risks-to-others are easily concealed owing to the growing complexity of modern institutions.” Nassim Taleb, Antifragile. A page later, Taleb writes, “I want to live happily in a world I don't understand.” I combine those quotes with a consistent piece of investment advice that I have consistently

“When the disciples saw the risen Christ, they beheld “him as a reality in the world, though no longer of it, respecting the order of the world, but Lord of its laws. To behold such reality was different and more than to see a tree or watch a man step

H.I.F. The 4chan online community has struck again. They spread word in their community that bestbookreads.com was holding an online vote on "What's the one book that transformed your life forever?" The 4channers descended on the site and vote Mein Kampf number one

In the 1930s, the Times (London) asked G.K. Chesterton and others to write on the topic of "What's Wrong with the World Today." Chesterton sent back a two-word response: Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely, G.K. Chesterton "For all that ever was wrong, is

"[I]n the agony of Gethsemane the ultimate consequences of our sin had their hour. . . . God permitted his Son to taste the human agony of rejection and plunge towards the abyss. . . Gethsemane was the hour in which Jesus' human heart and mind experienced the ultimate odium of the

My response to a young family member who was getting questions about the Big Bang Theory and was puzzled that a priest came up with the Theory: > The Big Bang theory is nothing for a Catholic to get hung up on. You just need to keep a steady eye

H.I.F. Perhaps the most interesting (and disturbing and scary) article of the month: 10 Lesser-Known American Mysteries [http://listverse.com/2014/04/14/10-lesser-known-american-mysteries/]. Excerpt: > Imagine a place, so rugged and desolate, so empty and uninhabited, that it would be “the perfect dumping ground” for a serial

From Reddit's TIL feature ("sub-Reddit"): "TIL George Washington forbade his troops to burn effigies of the Pope out of respect for Catholics."

Background: When I was the editor of Gilbert Magazine [http://www.chesterton.org/explore-the-acs/gilbertmagazine/], I was responsible for the "Tremendous Trifles" column. It was occasionally hard to find a sufficient amount of interesting GKC material to fill the page, so John Peterson sent me a file full

Yesterday, North Korea held its annual marathon. Congratulations to first, second and third place winner, Kim Jong Un.