Sunday/Fishermen

I watched CNN for an hour with the Lunar New Year shooting at the dance studio in Monterey Park before any broadcaster mentioned the word 'Asian.'

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The concern over anti-Asian violence in the U.S. is curious when the government actively supports anti-Asian educational policies.

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Ehrlich made himself (in)famous when he in his 1968 bestseller The Population Bomb predicted that “The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970’s the world will undergo famines-hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.” Instead of rising as Ehrlich predicted, the global crude death per 1,000 people has fallen from 12.5 in 1968 to 7 in 2019 before ticking up to 8 in the pandemic year of 2020.--Bailey
For some reason, 60 minutes had a long segment on Ehrlich, as if he were not the poster child of foolish doomsaying. And, AND he has a new book!

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Sunday/Fishermen

In today's gospel, Christ recruits the apostles. There is no preaching, no Sermon on the Mount. He walks along the shoreline and asks people to join him. One wonders how this happened because the gospel is intent on making some points. All these men were working guys, guys recruited actually at their boats. Several were working with their families. The gospel describes no discussion. No debate. The men simply hear the call and leave, following him. This debate over the importance of the spiritual over the day-to-day has always been painful in the gospel, but it is astonishing that Christ's early appeal to working, family men is accepted without reservation.