Are we alone? Do we want to know?

It was near Green Bank, W.Va., in 1960 that a young radio astronomer named Frank Drake conducted the first extensive search for alien civilizations in deep space. He aimed the 85-foot dish of a radio telescope at two nearby, sun-like stars, tuning to a frequency he thought an alien civilization might use for interstellar communication.

But the stars had nothing to say.

So began SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a form of astronomical inquiry that has captured the imaginations of people around the planet but has so far failed to detect a single “hello.” Pick your explanation: They’re not there; they’re too far away; they’re insular and aloof; they’re zoned out on computer games; they’re watching us in mild bemusement and wondering when we’ll grow up.

Now some SETI researchers are pushing a more aggressive agenda: Instead of just listening, we would transmit messages, targeting newly discovered planets orbiting distant stars. Through “active SETI,” we’d boldly announce our presence and try to get the conversation started.

Naturally this is controversial, because of . . . well, the Klingons. The bad aliens.

Read the rest here.

Actually it's not the Klingons I'm worried about. You can reason with Klingons. Klingons aren't usually genocidal in their conquests. I'm more concerned with... the Borg.

On a serious note, this is actually a legitimate concern. Let's assume for the sake of argument that we are not the only intelligent species in the universe. This seems pretty likely when you think about it. And let's further assume ad argumentum that one or more species have unlocked the secret to interstellar space travel. This proposition is much more problematic since it would require that most everything we think we know about the laws of physics is wrong. But again for the sake of discussion...

Anyone who is capable of hopping from one solar system to another is going to be so far beyond us in technological development, that we might as well still be living in caves. Add to this the extremely unlikely proposition that we are the only intelligent and predatorially aggressive species around and well... you get the picture.

At the very least I think this deserves some discussion at higher levels and some consensus before we start posting interstellar coming out announcements. What these people are doing is rather akin to sending out an invitation to everyone on the block to a party at your place, except you're not the only one who lives there, AND you don't know any of the neighbors. These "scientists" seem to be assuming that we are living in a high quality neighborhood, maybe the Upper East Side of the Milkyway. When in fact we might be living in the galactic projects of Spanish Harlem.

In short, I'd like to know a little more about the neighbors before we invite them over for dinner. If for no other reason than to be sure that we aren't likely to end up as the main course.

Russian Orthodox Church on the Discipline for Receiving Holy Communion

On February 3 2015 (NS) the Holy Synod approved the below linked document which lays out the current discipline for the reception of the Holy Mysteries of the Altar by the lay faithful. The executive summary is that it cautiously encourages the faithful to commune more frequently than the old custom of once or twice a year, while reiterating the necessity of approaching the chalice with great reverence. This means observing the pre-communion fasts, recent confession and prayerful participation in the services of the church. Details of which may be found in the document

To many the discipline described in the document may seem somewhat strict and it may not fully reflect the practice in their own parish, diocese or jurisdiction. Your mileage will vary. The final authority on participation in the Holy Sacraments is your spiritual father (confessor) under the authority of your bishop.

The document may be read here.
HT: An anonymous blog reader

Behold Islam

For those who may have missed it, ISIS was kind enough to record their destruction of the museum in Mosul and its priceless collection of antiquities.

Reports: ISIS has begun killing Christian prisoners

I am unsure of the reliability of the reports, but given their track record there is no reason to believe that anything other than martyrdom awaits these tragic victims. Through the prayers of the Great and Holy New Martyrs, may God give them the strength to endure their Calvary.

HT: Blog reader John L.

RIP: Leonard Nimoy

Very sad news. May his memory be eternal.

The terrifying rate at which smokers die from smoking

Two-thirds of smokers will die early from cigarette-triggered illness -- unless they choose to kick the habit, according to new research from Australia.

The study of more than 200,000 people, published this week in BMC medicine, found about 67 percent of smokers perished from smoking-related illness. That rate is higher than doctors previously estimated.

Tobacco smoke can boost the risk for least 13 types of cancer. The earlier you quit, the better.  “The relative risks of adverse health effects increase with increasing intensity of smoking,” the study states, “measured by the amount of tobacco smoked per day, and with increasing duration of smoking.”

Read the rest here.

It's been roughly twenty years since I smoked with any degree of regularity. It's probably been three or four years since I've smoked at all. But I still miss it. There's just nothing like sitting on the front porch after a nice dinner with a good quality cigar. Why is it that everything fun in life is likely to kill you?

Is Washington Ready for the Death of Obamacare?

The possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon eliminate federal subsidies for people buying health insurance through the Affordable Care Act is the biggest story in politics and economics that no one wants to talk about. But the stakes in King v. Burwell, which the court will hear on March 4, could scarcely be higher: If the plaintiffs prevail, millions of people in 34 states who bought insurance on federal exchanges would suddenly lose the subsidies that make it affordable. Consequently, most would lose their coverage. A Rand study pegged the number at 9.6 million people, with premiums soaring 47 percent for those still able to afford them. “Everyone agrees this would be a cataclysmic hit to the insurance market,” Michael Kolber, a health-care attorney at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, said at a Feb. 13 Bloomberg Intelligence panel on King v. Burwell.

The immediate effect of a ruling against the ACA would be to hurl the political system, and no small part of the economy, into chaos. Yet there’s little sign that Washington is preparing for that scenario. Democrats won’t talk about what they would do because they don’t want the court to believe they could contain the fallout. Republicans don’t want to talk because they’re loath to admit that, even after voting 67 times to repeal or defund the ACA, they have no plan to help the millions who would be affected. (But they’d sure love the court to kill the law anyway.) Hospitals and insurers understand that bewailing their financial plight might not help their cause. Instead, they’ve channeled their warnings into amicus briefs.

Read the rest here.

Illinois: Can the most corrupt and dysfunctional state be fixed?

The most portentous election of 2014, which gave the worst-governed state its first Republican governor in 12 years, has initiated this century’s most intriguing political experiment. Illinois has favored Democratic presidential candidates by an average of 16 points in the past six elections. But by electing businessman Bruce Rauner it initiated a process that might dismantle a form of governance that afflicts many states and municipalities.

Rauner, 58, won his first elective office by promising to change Illinois’s political culture of one-party rule by entrenched politicians subservient to public-sector unions. This culture’s consequences include:

After more than a dozen credit-rating downgrades in five years, Illinois has the lowest rating among the states. Unfunded public employees’ pension liabilities are estimated, perhaps conservatively, at $111 billion, the nation’s largest such deficit as a percentage of state revenue. Currently, public pensions consume nearly 25 percent of general state revenues. The state owes vendors $6.4 billion in unpaid bills, and more than 1 million people have left Illinois for less dysfunctional states in the last 15 years. Debt per resident is about $24,989, compared with $7,094 in neighboring Indiana.

Read the rest here.

Let my prayer arise...

Scenes from the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts at Optina Monastery on the First Wednesday of Great Lent.

Poll: Over a quarter of British Muslims have sympathy for the Charlie Hebdo terrorists.

This morning the BBC published details of a major poll of the attitudes of Britain’s Muslims. The headline on the front of the BBC website linking to the research states: “Muslims ‘oppose cartoon reprisals’”. This of course relates to attitudes within the Muslim community towards the recent Charlie Hebdo attacks.

It’s a reassuring headline. It’s also wrong. Many Muslims - a majority - do indeed utterly oppose the murderous killings in Paris. But a very, very large number of Muslims don’t. Presented with the statement “I have some sympathy for the motives behind the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris”, 27 seven percent agreed with the statement. A further 2 per cent refused to answer the question. And an additional eight percent said they were unsure whether they had some sympathy or not. 

Read the rest here.

ISIS Burns 8000 Rare Books and Manuscripts

While the world was watching the Academy Awards ceremony, the people of Mosul were watching a different show. They were horrified to see ISIS members burn the Mosul public library. Among the many thousands of books it housed, more than 8,000 rare old books and manuscripts were burned.

Read the rest here.

When compared to their other barbarous crimes the book burning looks pretty trivial. But I have to admit that there is something deep inside me that reacts with visceral horror to the deliberate destruction of books, artifacts and cultural heirlooms.

Chicago Police Running "Black Site" Detention Facility

Chicago's police department is detaining US citizens for days on end in a secret compound where suspects have no contact with the outside world, the Guardian reports today.

Lawyers have compared the off-the-books interrogation warehouse in Chicago's Homan Square neighborhood to the CIA's so-called black sites offshore that are used to interrogate terrorists.

Police at the site in Chicago reportedly carry heavy military gear, and huge armored tanks are parked outside.

"There are usually questions about whether these arrests are justifiable or constitutional," Anthony Hill, a criminal defense attorney, told Business Insider. "Suspected criminals are just picked up and thrown into the back of unmarked cars by police officers wielding assault rifles and wearing bulletproof vests. Describing the process as highly militarized would be fair."

"It's a black hole," Hill added.

Read the rest here.
HT:  Pugchief

I really wanted to keep the first few days of Lent somewhat edifying on the blog. But this just needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete

Pope Francis Proclaims Oriental Orthodox Saint a "Doctor of the Church"

Did Pope Francis just declare a non-Chalcedonian (Oriental Orthodox) monk and saint to be a Doctor of the Church?

Details.

On the Eve of the Great Fast

Please forgive me for any offense or injury I may have caused, especially on this blog.

Limited posting for the next few days.

Venezuelans' long waits yield soap, and intelligence agents

Caracas (AFP) - With long, everyday waits in line to buy milk or toilet paper, Venezuela's economic crisis is proving ever more painful, as President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government struggles with the inflation-wracked, collapsing economy.

"This country never was like this. Before, we had the freedom to buy, invest, to grow," said a man who only gave his first name Hernando, perched on a lawn chair to soften the hours-long wait expected outside a Caracas market.

Read the rest here.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité

Former film star Brigitte Bardot, France’s iconic blonde bombshell and “sex kitten” who reigned supreme from 1952 – 1973, has been on trial five times for insulting Muslims and “inciting racial hatred.”

The prosecutor in her fifth trial, Anne de Fontette, wants a heftier fine and a tougher sentence: the equivalent of $24,000 and a two month (hopefully) suspended jail term.

What crimes has Bardot committed in the land without a First Amendment, in the land of Hate Speech laws that are being slickly exploited by non-persecuted Muslims?

Bardot has written: “I am fed up with being under the thumb of this population which is destroying us, destroying our country.”

Read the rest here.

Not usually a big fan of Breitbart, but in this case they pretty much have it nailed. 

Coptic Orthodox Pope Canonizes the 21 New Martyrs of Egypt & Libya

The Coptic Orthodox Church has announced that the murder of the 21 Egyptian Christians killed by the so-called Islamic State in Libya will be commemorated in its Church calendar.

Pope Tawadros II announced that the names of the martyrs will be inserted into the Coptic Synaxarium, the Oriental Church’s equivalent to the Roman Martyrology. This procedure is also equivalent to canonization in the Latin Church.
 
According to terrasanta.net, the martyrdom of the 21 Christians will be commemorated on the 8th Amshir of the Coptic calendar, or February 15th of the Gregorian calendar. The commemoration falls on the feast day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

Read the rest here.

Well that was quick. But honestly, sometimes there is just no need for prolonged hearings and investigations. Great New Martyrs of Egypt and Libya pray for us!

Episcopal Church is sharply rebuked by court

Apparently there are limits to the amount of bad faith legal maneuvering the courts will put up with.

HT: The Archer of the Forest

Not liberal enough (Anglicans)

Window celebrating former Archbishop and champion of womyn's ordination to be removed after students brand him ‘homophobic’

Once again, liberals demonstrating that they are among the most illiberal people around.