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Photo by A. R. Coster, Topical Press Agency/Getty Images One of the subtlest and most surprising legacies of the First World War—which the United States entered more than 100 years ago, when the country declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917—is its effect on our language. Not only were newly named weapons, equipment, and military tactics being developed almost continually during the War, but the rich mixture of soldiers’ dialects, accents, nationalities, languages, and even social backgrounds (particularly after the introduction of conscription in Great Britain in 1916) on the front line in Europe and North Africa produced an equally rich glossary of military slang. Not all of these words and phrases have remained in use to this day, but here are 20 words and phrases that are rooted in F...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli archaeologists have found an ancient comb dating back some 3,700 years ago and bearing what is likely the oldest known full sentence in Canaanite alphabetical script, according to an article published Wednesday. The inscription encourages people to comb their hair and beards to rid themselves of lice. The sentence contains 17 letters that read: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.” Experts say the discovery shines new light on some of humanity’s earliest use of the Canaanite alphabet, invented around 1800 B.C. and the foundation of the all successive alphabetic systems, such as Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin and Cyrillic. The mundane topic indicates that people had trouble with lice in everyday life during the time — and archaeologists say they...

After eating, a female gloomy octopus (left) tosses away empty shells. This requires an unusual position of the tube-shaped structure called the siphon, suggesting that the throw is deliberate.Credit: P. Godfrey-Smith et al./PLOS ONE (CC BY 4.0) For the first time, octopuses have been spotted throwing things — at each other1. Octopuses are known for their solitary nature, but in Jervis Bay, Australia, the gloomy octopus (Octopus tetricus) lives at very high densities. A team of cephalopod researchers decided to film the creatures with underwater cameras to see whether — and how — they interact. Once the researchers pulled the cameras out of the water, they sat down to watch more than 20 hours of footage. “I call it octopus TV,” laughs co-author David Scheel, a behavioural ecologist at Alas...

Once upon a time here in Pennsylvania, not long ago, we boasted great pro-life leaders from both political parties. To cite a key example from each party, among Republicans, we had Sen. Rick Santorum, perhaps the leading pro-life voice in the U.S. Senate. Among Democrats, we had Gov. Robert Casey Sr., the namesake of the landmark Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, which Casey regrettably lost, though that decision was at long last reversed in June 2022, with the Dobbs ruling. Among our state’s governor and two U.S. senators, we typically could rely on at least two solid pro-lifers, sometimes from both parties. A stark switch came in 2014, when Pennsylvanians elected as governor Democrat Tom Wolf. Our state suddenly had the nation’s first and only governor to have served as an escort at ...

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio – articles – email ) | Nov 07, 2022 Jesus engages us and prompts our active participation in His divine plan through the Sacred Liturgy, as guided by the doctrinal teachings of the Church. Theological study helps deepen our understanding and enriches our freedom as disciples. The distinction between Catholic doctrine and theology provides the key to understanding every magisterial teaching, including the extensive documents of the Second Vatican Council. The relationship of the Church’s teaching with Tradition and Sacred Scripture provides the unifying principle of theological understanding. Some say that we have overlooked the transformative purpose of Vatican II. We were too defensive in response to the hostility of Protestants and secularists, the...