Hopkins (2001), Keith, A World Full of Gods: The Strange Triumph of Christianity, Penguin Random House 2001 ' In this provocative, irresistibly entertaining book, Keith Hopkins takes readers back in time to explore the roots of Christianity in ancient Rome. Combining exacting scholarship with dazzling invention, Hopkins challenges our perceptions about religion, the historical Jesus, and the way history is written. He puts us in touch with what he calls “empathetic wonder”—imagining what Romans, pagans, Jews, and Christians thought, felt, experienced, and believed-by employing a series of engaging literary devices. These include a TV drama about the Dead Sea Scrolls; the first-person testimony of a pair of time-travelers to Pompeii; a meditation on Jesus’ apocryphal twin brother; and an unusual letter on God, demons, and angels.' 
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Medcalf (1986), Peter, War in the Shadows: Bougainville 1944-45, Collins 1986 Jacket: '... written by an Australian infantryman who, as a nineteen year old, fought in the bloody campaigns on Bougainville, tells the dramatic truth about jungle warfare in the south-west Pacific during the second world war from the point of view of the combat soldier.' 
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Nicholls (2025), Jeffrey, Cognitive Cosmogenesis: A systematic integration of Physics and Theology, ' 2025 ' More than 60 years ago my spiritual advisors (rightly or wrongly) diagnosed in me a divine call to the Roman Catholic priesthood. As soon as I turned 18 I entered the Dominican Order
I quickly fell on love with their leading theologian, Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1275) and read him voraciously. His Latin is so easy and his ideas quite cosmic.
Aquinas revolutionized theology by harmonizing it with the work of Aristotle, the best science available in the Middle Ages. Since the time of Galileo (1562 - 1642) modern science has travelled far beyond Aristotle. We now have comprehensive knowledge of the Universe. We can now see that it is big enough and beautiful enough to be considered divine. It seems obvious to me that it is time to introduce science to theology once again. Just three steps are required:
First, we must assume that the Universe is divine. This makes God observable, amenable to modern science which is based on observation.
Second, it follows, if this is the case, that physics and theology have the same subject and must therefore be consistent.
Third we need open up a new field of research, repeating Aristotle’s ancient journey from physics to theology. In this book I have tried to trace a quantum theoretical path from the unstoppable omnipotent emptiness of the initial singularity to the exquisite complexity of our world. My only guide is the logical constraint placed on omnipotence by consistency.'  
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ACT Heritage Council, Background Information – Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct, Australian Catholic University, ' At its meeting of 7 February 2019 the ACT Heritage Council decided that the Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct was eligible for registration. The information contained in this report was considered by the ACT Heritage Council in assessing the nomination for the Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct against the heritage significance criteria outlined in s10 of the Heritage Act 2004. [. . .] Blackfriars Priory: The Dominican’s intention for Blackfriars Priory was to ensure a church and studentate – a ‘Studium Generale’ – where young men preparing for the priesthood in the Order would be prepared for their work by pursuing courses in philosophy, theology, and those doing subsidiary subjects (Image 5). Those attending the university in Canberra could be housed in convenient proximity. The priory was to include assembly rooms and lecture halls, and from the initial accommodation for about forty it was later upgraded for about one hundred (Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn 1958) back

Albigensian Crusade - Wikipedia, Albigensian Crusade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'When Innocent III's diplomatic attempts to roll back Catharism met with little success and after the papal legate Pierre de Castelnau was murdered (allegedly by an agent serving the Cathar count of Toulouse), Innocent III declared a crusade against Languedoc, offering the lands of the schismatics to any French nobleman willing to take up arms. The violence led to France's acquisition of lands with closer cultural and linguistic ties to Catalonia (see Occitan). An estimated 200,000 to 1,000,000 people were massacred during the crusade.' back

Australian Catholic University, A brief history of ACU: Blackfriars, ' Australian Catholic University (ACU) was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamation of four Catholic tertiary institutions in eastern Australia: Catholic College of Education Sydney in New South Wales Institute of Catholic Education in Victoria McAuley College of Queensland Signadou College of Education in the Australian Capital Territory. [. . .] Through a series of amalgamations, relocations, transfers of responsibilities and diocesan initiatives, more than 20 historical entities have contributed to the creation of the University. [. . .] 2004: ACU, in partnership with the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, acquires Blackfriars. Blackfriars is renovated to house staff and students, the offices of the Catholic welfare agency Centacare Canberra and Goulburn, and the Institute of Child Protection Studies. 2005: Blackfriars was officially opened by ACT Liberal senator Gary Humphries. Described as a new “welfare hub” for the community, Blackfriars has helped ACU researchers, students and staff work in partnership with other key organisations to improve the lives and prospects of children and adults in Canberra, Goulburn and beyond. back

David Gritten (2025_01_07), Iran reportedly executed at least 901 people in 2024, UN says, ' At least 901 people were reportedly executed in Iran last year, including about 40 in a single week in December, according to the UN human rights chief. "It is deeply disturbing that yet again we see an increase in the number of people subjected to the death penalty in Iran year-on-year," Volker Türk said. "It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions." The total is the highest recorded in nine years and marks a 6% increase from 2023, when 853 people were executed. Most of the executions were for drug-related offences, but dissidents and people connected to the 2022 protests were also executed, according to the UN. There was also a rise in the number of women executed. . . . Iran accounted for 74% of all recorded executions worldwide in 2023, according to the human rights group Amnesty International. Those figures excluded China, which Amnesty said was thought to execute thousands of people each year, but where data on the death penalty was classified.' back

Dominican Order - Wikipedia, Dominican Order - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum, postnominal abbreviation OP), also known as the Dominican Order, is a mendicant Catholic religious order founded by the Spanish priest Dominic of Caleruega in France, approved by Pope Honorius III via the Papal bull Religiosam vitam on 22 December 1216. . . .Founded to preach the Gospel and to oppose heresy, the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organisation placed the Preachers in the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ages. The order is famed for its intellectual tradition, having produced many leading theologians and philosophers.' back

Dominican Order, Australian Province, List of Anniversaries of Deceased Friars, back

Exodus 32, The Lord orders Moses to slaughter the worshippers of the Golden Calf, '27 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbour'.” 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29 Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day”.' back

Father Bonaventure Leahy, ACT Heritage Council – Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct, Australian Catholic University, ' Father Bonaventure Leahy Fr Bonaventure Leahy had undertaken architectural training before he joined the Dominican order in Ireland. Prior to working on the Signadou and Blackfriars buildings, he collaborated with other architects on the design and planning of the Chapel at Santa Sabina Convent, Strathfield NSW. The convent was established in 1894 by Dominican Sisters. [. . .] During all stages of construction of the Blackfriars building, students and brothers in the Dominican community are said to have worked under Fr Leahy’s direction and contributed much to the finishing of the Blackfriars building. The temporary Chapel was apparently used as a joinery and carpenter’s workshop, and many of the furnishings in the Prior y were made on-site, as demonstrated in Image 6 (”Blackfriars Priory” 1967).' back

Father Bonaventure Leahy, ACT Heritage Council – Signadou and Blackfriars Precinct, Australian Catholic University, ' Father Bonaventure Leahy Fr Bonaventure Leahy had undertaken architectural training before he joined the Dominican order in Ireland. Prior to working on the Signadou and Blackfriars buildings, he collaborated with other architects on the design and planning of the Chapel at Santa Sabina Convent, Strathfield NSW. The convent was established in 1894 by Dominican Sisters. [. . .] During all stages of construction of the Blackfriars building, students and brothers in the Dominican community are said to have worked under Fr Leahy’s direction and contributed much to the finishing of the Blackfriars building. The temporary Chapel was apparently used as a joinery and carpenter’s workshop, and many of the furnishings in the Prior y were made on-site, as demonstrated in Image 6 (”Blackfriars Priory” 1967).' back

Fred Harter (20256_01_05), War crimes and rebel bishops: Christmas celebrations marred by bitter split in Ethiopia’s ancient church, ' The rift began in 2021 when the province’s senior clergy cut ties with the Holy Synod in Addis Ababa, the capital, angry at its failure to condemn the brutal war then raging in Tigray. When they ordained 11 new archbishops and formed their own synod in 2023, they were promptly excommunicated. A monk using a rope to climb a cliff Monks use a leather rope to climb the cliff face to Debre Damo monastery. Photograph: Fred Harter As Ethiopia prepares for its Christmas, which roughly 36 million Orthodox Christians celebrate on 7 January, the rift shows no sign of healing. At times, it can seem arcane, featuring allusions to ecclesiastical law and ancient myths. But it mirrors the many divisions that still afflict this vast, war-riven nation of 120 million people more than two years after a flawed ceasefire ended the bloodshed in Tigray while seeding fresh conflict in the neighbouring region of Amhara. At his stone home in Debre Damo’s sprawling monastery complex, Menbere Birhanemeskal, a monk, says Tigray’s bishops were right to break away. Like many in this region, he believes a genocide was perpetrated against ethnic Tigrayans, who number 6 million and once dominated Ethiopia’s fractious federation. “Every fighter came with a mission to destroy our people and culture, but the synod remained silent,” says Menbere. Not all Debre Damo’s 300 monks believe that splitting is the right decision, however. At 34, Kiros Fisseha is one of the youngest monks. He believes the church should rise above ethnic politics and work to heal the wounds of Ethiopia’s wars. “Religious leaders should serve all who follow the Orthodox religion, so it is wrong to separate from them,” says Kiros. “I hope they reconcile as one.” During the Tigray war, hundreds of priests were slaughtered. In one district alone, 31 holy sites sustained damage. Massacres took place at churches including one at Maryam Dengelat, about 20 miles south-east of Debre Damo, where more than 160 worshippers were killed at a festival for Saint Mary. Among the dead were teenage choir members who had sung at the local church the day before.' back

James Webb Space Telescope - Wikipedia, James Webb Space Telescope - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ' The James Webb Space Telescope (often shortened to JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. This will enable investigations across many fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars, the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.. back

Josh Green (2025_01_07), I’m the Governor of Hawaii. I’ve Seen What Vaccine Skepticism Can Do., ' Within 48 hours, we assembled an extraordinary emergency medical team of about 75 volunteer nurses and doctors to fly to Samoa. Organizations such as UNICEF and the Health Care Association of Hawaii provided essential medical supplies, including vaccines. The team’s willingness to drop everything to help a neighboring Pacific nation was nothing short of extraordinary. Our plane landed in Samoa on Dec. 4, 2019, first thing in the morning. Over the next day and a half, alongside a few hundred Samoan health care workers, our team traveled from village to village and vaccinated tens of thousands of people. By the time our plane took off for Hawaii the next afternoon, we had helped curb the measles epidemic. Health data released later that month showed a dramatic decline in cases, the result of Samoa’s vaccination rate reaching 95 percent.The measles epidemic in Samoa was a heartbreaking example of how quickly things can go wrong when vaccination rates are allowed to fall. A tragic human error in 2018 involving improperly prepared vaccines led to the deaths of two local infants, shaking public confidence. Though the vaccine was confirmed to be safe, many parents became hesitant to immunize their children. . . . Mr. Kennedy and others fanned the flames of this fear with misinformation. The people of Samoa shared with me that they got very little news from outside their community, but in the months before the 2019 epidemic they had been bombarded with social media posts claiming that vaccinations were unsafe and would harm or even kill their children. Activists from other countries, including Mr. Kennedy, claimed vaccines were dangerous. Many Samoans were afraid to vaccinate their children, and by late 2019 the epidemic was raging, overwhelming Samoa’s national health care system. back

Matt Neal (2024_01_04), Nostalgia alert: Here are 30 albums turning 30 in 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ppiohVRZ0s7 Music 1 songs Queer Garbage Garbage (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition/Remastered) back

Michelle Boorstein, Anthony Faiola & Stefani Pitrelli (24_01_05), ' Vatican to name San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy as new D.C. leader, ' The Vatican on Monday will name one of the country’s leading liberal Catholic prelates to run the prominent D.C.-area archdiocese, according to multiple individuals, sending to the nation’s capital as a second Trump administration begins a cleric known for a pastoral approach to migrants and for the “radical inclusion” of the LGBTQ+ community. You are what you read. Reveal your 2024 reader type with Newsprint. San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy, who has led a diocese that runs the length of California’s southern border with Mexico for a decade, will take over an archdiocese still bruised by a major sex and mismanagement scandal that broke in 2018. McElroy, who holds a political science doctorate from Stanford University, is considered by some Catholics to be a leading intellectual aligned with Pope Francis — and, by others, too direct at times on secular politics. Just after Donald Trump’s first presidential inauguration in 2017, McElroy said “we must all become disrupters,” citing the use of the military to deport undocumented people, the portrayal of refugees as enemies and Muslims “as forces of fear rather than as children of God.” “Given the fact that the president-elect has indicated a willingness to challenge certain constitutional assumptions, there’s only one bishop in America who has thought deeply about the intersection of public life and Catholic theology, and that’s Bob McElroy,” said Michael Sean Winters, a longtime columnist for the National Catholic Reporter news site. If McElroy is named, Winters said, then “the pope is sending to the capital city the one American bishop who has a profound understanding and has thought about the American Constitution and religion for his entire adult life". [. . . ] Massimo Faggioli, a Catholic theologian at Villanova University, called McElroy “the most progressive Catholic bishop and cardinal at this time in the United States.” His appointment would be “a statement and a response to the political direction the country has taken".' back

Parthenope - Wikipedia, Parthenope - Wikipedia, rhe free enxyclopedia, ' Parthenope is a 2024 coming-of-age drama film written, produced and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. An international co-production between Italy and France, the film stars Celeste Dalla Porta, Stefania Sandrelli, Gary Oldman, Silvio Orlando, Luisa Ranieri, Peppe Lanzetta and Isabella Ferrari. . . . The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw dismissed the film as being "facile" and "conceited", accusing Sorrentino of "pure self-parody" and likening the film to a long-form advertisement for expensive cologne. Cineuropa's Davide Abbatescianni defines it Sorrentino's "less accomplished feature film, technically impeccable but narratively weak," adding how Dalla Porta's character "is too cryptic," making the audience "struggle to understand her behaviour, her arrogance and audacity, and the many bombastic and didactic conversations she's part of." back