Patron Saint of the Internet, Saint Isidore of Seville

I didn’t know the internet had a patron saint. Did you? He lived in the 7th century, and was known for being the first great Christian encyclopedist. St. Isidore of Seville, Bishop, died in 636. My kind of guy.

 According to Magnificat, Vo. 28, no. 3, May 13, "It was his curiosity about the world around him that made him the greatest scholar of his age. Not only did he write about Catholic theology--he collected information about music, medicine, geography, clothing, war, language, animals, plants, astronomy and physics. He compiled this information and carefully arranged it into textbooks that were used by scholars for generations to come."

I don't care much for Wikipedia, but it's getting harder NOT to use it since AI platforms use it and people grab the first thing that pops up. The phrase, "do your own research" is very hard to do unless you have a personal library pre-internet, and it won't help much with some of the current tech stuff like AI.

I used to have 7 sets of encyclopedias, but I think 3 were for children, so they left the house years ago. Although I own many "cyclopedic" type reference books, I don't call them that. But I do own the 11th, 12th and 13th editions of Encyclopaedia Britannica (inherited from my grandfather) and their history is fascinating although I don't necessarily agree with all that's said about it in the internet article.

The 12th was so focused on WWI (incredible maps) the editors soon had to publish the 13th to bring back some balance to scholarship about the world. Reminds me of the phenomenon we call Trump Derangement Syndrome and the Left/socialists believing the world of blame and evil only revolves around their own myopic viewpoint.

Fake news and alternative facts

I have a huge collection of fake news and alternative facts on my living room book shelves. My favorites are the 11th, 12th, and 13th editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica. They belonged to my grandfather who died in 1968, bound in black leather with sheer paper.  In fact, based on the detailed maps in the 12th, I'd say battles in France in WWI were the most important events of the 20th century. In my office I have about 40" of church history books that indicate not much ever happened before Luther. 1500 years of literature, medicine, science, architecture, agriculture, theology, etc.--just got left out. And of course, my cookbooks are filled with "facts" about coffee, chocolate, eggs, butter and micronutrients that are history but not accurate--but that could all change next week. But the most enduring fake news and alternative facts come from our media which have so disgraced themselves the last 16 years first lying about Bush then glorifying Obama to have rendered themselves obsolete.

How to tell a real peacemaker

Check out their beliefs. Statement on the War in Iraq by the Mennonites (Mennonite Church USA), at the Global Anabaptist Encyclopedia On-line. Also useful for doing some genealogy searches if you have Mennonites in your family tree.

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Wiki-wacky wonks and wobblies

Conservatives should be making a stronger presence in using wikis on the internet. Not all are Wikipedia. All sorts are cropping up in every field, but the liberals are running away with this genre. There is a new Encyclopedia of the Earth that is well financed, supported by liberal think tanks and non-profits, and because it is free, you just know that's where the school children will be going. There is a complete book included chapter by chapter, "Climate Change and Foreign Policy" by the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a Canadian (i.e. global) non-profit. Its agenda: promote the needs of the poor through limits set by the state on technology and social organization or some similar socialist/progressive/Marxist chatter.

I'm sure the contributors to the enclyclopedia will have a long line of credentials behind their names, drawing on our finest academic departments from our most liberal universities. Someone with more sleuthing experience than I, like American Daughter or Amy, needs to take a look at this.

I'm 100% in favor of taking care of God's creation--after all, it's the marching orders for Christians from the Bible, but not when animals, plants and political parties come before human beings in a pantheistic based faith promoted by the left.

PS: You won't want to miss the article on Totems (animal worship in the form of carved statues) and how it can be the basis for environmental laws. It's in the same section as fundamental legal rights for animals.