due to the great potato famine, which in modern times leads Ireland to be to my knowledge the only country with a famine museum and multiple emergency food aid orgs that has the proud but sad honor of always being the first on the ground around the world during food crises. 🇮🇪 🥔
reason #1293 to 😘 ☘️

and it more than that: the people of Éire have a soft spot born out of their history for 2 reasons here: the first place to be colonized by the Brits which led them to being the poorest country in Europe for centuries, **and** the country that had the largest ever movement of population out…

yeah it is the corn sweat heatwave. 100º feels like temp here in SoGa at 9:00pm. 🥵

St. Ignatius of Loyola is the patron saint of soldiers, retreats, and the Jesuits. He is also considered a patron saint for people facing difficult choices, recovering from unexpected events, physical sickness, and spiritual darkness.

And really good basketball and education. oh and also July 31.

[and even as both an ex-Catholic and an ex-Southern Baptist (fun childhood) making me a decades old anti-theist in the style of Christopher Hitchens, I can still appreciate the tradition in the hope that it will lead to a sane American on the world's stage to counter Herr Orange]

all h/t to:
thelampmagazine.com/issues/issue...

receives a premonition of the confrontation that awaits him on the other side of the world. But whereas Karras places his faith in technological progress, trusting in the promises of psychiatry, Merrin recognizes that unaided human reason cannot solve all of the problems of the soul.

The differences between the two Jesuits cannot be reduced to a simple conflict between tradition and modernity: Merrin, like Karras, is a man of science, who first appears while taking part in an archaeological dig in Iraq, where the elderly priest

the reality of the supernatural and sees exorcism as an archaic ritual rendered obsolete by modern science. By contrast, Father Merrin represents the "old" Jesuits and the old Church, at once courtly and austere, always unflinchingly certain that the Enemy he faces is very real.

A product of the tumultuous years following the Second Vatican Council, The Exorcist also reflects some of the tensions of postconciliar Catholicism. Father Karras represents the stereotype of the "new" Jesuit priest formed in the 1960s, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist who discounts

He is portrayed as a veteran exorcist with a deep understanding of the supernatural and the devil, contrasting with the more modern, scientific approach of Father Karras.

But ofc the two most famous Jesuits are:
Father Lankester Merrin in the film "The Exorcist" is indeed a Jesuit priest. This is confirmed by his appearance alongside Father Damien Karras, another Jesuit, and by the film's depiction of Father Merrin's background and beliefs.

That's why Americans (who tend to be some of the most conservative around the world) Catholics who were first over the moon that they might have one of their own, had their joy quickly turned to angst and anger that, as Loony Loomer yelled, The Pope's a MARXIST!!!

Leo is also the first Pope from the Society of Jesus, aka the Jesuits, the Catholic order known for fighting for social justice, knowledge, science, and the arts.

You have so many platforms, and @profgalloway.com also, so can you in the future still talk about the debt, but explain to the misinformed that no, China doesn't hold the majority of our debt, or even the majority of our foreign, debt? 2.6%, not 45%+. Thanks! 🧧 💸

I just wanted to mention this since I've heard many people when polled on this exact question of the US spending wild on the "Chinese credit card" or how *they* are our true bankers, the average Joe thinks the Chinese holdings are 40%, 50%, or even a majority.

I am not arguing that if China suddenly decided tomorrow to completely liquidate every US single dollar it held (tho that would be tricky, since it would certainly depress the prices/rates) that it would not be bad.

As of April 2024, foreign countries own approximately $7.9 trillion in Treasury securities — or 22.9% of total US debt.

The other 77% of our massive US debt is of course held by the US.

China holds approximately $759 billion of US debt, making it the second-largest foreign holder after Japan. This represents about 2.6% of the total U.S. debt. The largest foreign holders of US debt are Japan, with $1.1 trillion, followed by China.

youtube.com/watch?v=kmpx...