I’ve been interested in seeing how corporate development of AI data centers (and their philosophies and ethical considerations) has dominated the conversation, rather than inviting in other local and metaphysical voices to help shape this important human endeavor. This paper explores some of those possibilities (PDF download available here…)
Month: November 2025
Ancient Greeks and Romans on Environmental Harm
Interesting readings from ancient voices and the connection between ecological intentionality and human health / wellbeing…
Ancient Greeks and Romans knew harming the environment could change the climate:
Since at least the fourth century BC, the ancient Greeks and Romans recognised that the climate changes over time and that human activity can cause it.
Oldest Known Figurine to Depict an Encounter Between a Human and a More-Than-Human
Fascinating find!
A clay figurine unveils a storytelling shift from 12,000 years ago (Science News):
A roughly 12,000-year-old clay figurine unearthed in northern Israel has unveiled a surprisingly ancient turning point in storytelling and artistic techniques.
This tiny item, which fits in the palm of an adult’s hand, represents the oldest known figurine to depict an encounter between a human and a nonhuman animal, say archaeologist Laurent Davin of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and colleagues. Meticulous sculpting captured a mythological scene involving a goose and a woman, the scientists report November 17 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
On Bibliomania
I suffer from this affliction and blessing (sometimes to the chagrin of my beloved partner, but she does share my love of reading despite our stacks of books around our home and in our basement)… wonderful article here… I don’t understand people who consume books on a Kindle or just return them when they are “finished” as the book is a living organism with flesh, a spine, organs, veins, and neurons as well:
Literary Hub » Nothing Better Than a Whole Lot of Books: In Praise of Bibliomania:
Books are possessed and possessing, they exist to fortify, to preserve, to radiate their own charged auras. Owning them isn’t the same as possessing the knowledge within, but it’s the second-best thing. There is a sense that I’m keeping these books for when I need them, what Eco compares to having a stocked medicine cabinet for when a certain ailment might strike. Sometimes, like a monk eyeing the encroaching vandals, I feel like I’m fortifying myself as I pile them up on windowsills, leaving the ever more-prevalent censors on the other side. Their very physicality is central to this, because unlike an e-book or text entombed in the cloud, my books don’t rely on the good will of algorithms or tech billionaires; they’ll still be readable long after the lights have gone out (at least by daylight).
The Problem of AI Water Cooling for Communities
It’s no coincidence that most of these AI mega centers are being built in areas here in the United States Southeast where regulations are more lax and tax incentives are generous…
AI’s water problem is worse than we thought:
Here’s the gist: At its data centers in Morrow County, Amazon is using water that’s already contaminated with industrial agriculture fertilizer runoff to cool down its ultra-hot servers. When that contaminated water hits Amazon’s sizzling equipment, it partially evaporates—but all the nitrate pollution stays behind. That means the water leaving Amazon’s data centers is even more concentrated with pollutants than what went in.
After that extra-contaminated water leaves Amazon’s data center, it then gets dumped and sprayed across local farmland in Oregon. From there, the contaminated water soaks straight into the aquifer that 45,000 people drink from.
The result is that people in Morrow County are now drinking from taps loaded with nitrates, with some testing at 40, 50, even 70 parts per million. (For context: the federal safety limit is 10 ppm. Anything above that is linked to miscarriages, kidney failure, cancers, and “blue baby syndrome.”)
The Solution to Being Locked In
Seth describes his situation with LinkedIn posts here, but the refrain is something I’ve been saying for 20 years now… own your own work and have a canonical place for it. Don’t rely on Facebook/YouTube/LinkedIn/X/Etsy, etc., because of the allure of cheap eyeballs and “traffic”… it’s never been easier to have your own domain on your own server and control of your online expressions.
The Hotel California (and subscriptions) | Seth’s Blog:
The alternative is to own your own stuff. To build an asset you control, and to guard your attention and trust carefully.
The best way to read blogs hasn’t changed in twenty years. RSS. It’s free and easy and it just works. It’s the most efficient way to get the information you’re looking for, and it’s under your control. There’s a quick explainer video at that link along with a reader that’s easy to use.
Who Says Blogging is Dead?
My site is having its biggest month in almost 20 years (and its best year since 2007, when I was selling sponsorships and made a decent income from them). I’ve not done much to promote things here besides writing, but I do appreciate the tens of thousands of visitors (not bots) that have stopped by.
We’re about to enter a new age of personal and professional blogging that will swing the pendulum back from the horribleness of social media coalesced around a few corporate platforms. These types of surprising numbers (for me) help convince me that my thoughts are accurate.
Edith Stein’s Finite and Eternal Being
When I first entered into Edith Stein’s Finite and Eternal Being, I realized almost immediately that I was not reading a standard metaphysical treatise. I was stepping into a conversation about how being itself becomes available to us, how the meaning of existence slowly discloses itself through experience, relation, and attunement. Stein calls the book “an ascent to the meaning of being” in her preface and describes it as written “by a beginner for beginners” (Stein, Finite and Eternal Being, Preface). Yet the scope is anything but beginner level. She begins from the finitude that shapes every human life, our embodied and time-bound existence, and traces the ways it naturally presses toward an origin and fullness of being that is not our own. What strikes me is how this ascent mirrors what I am trying to articulate in The Ecology of the Cross. I am trying to understand how cruciform life opens us to deeper belonging in the more-than-human world, and Stein provides a metaphysical grammar for that movement.
Continue reading Edith Stein’s Finite and Eternal Being
Plasma, Consciousness, and the Phenomenological Cosmos: Relational Fields
Most of the visible universe is not solid, liquid, or gas. Instead, it is plasma, an electrified, dynamic, relational medium that shapes stars, nebulae, auroras, and the vast glowing threads between galaxies. Plasma is not a passive substance but a field that responds, organizes, circulates, and transforms, as far as we understand it, according to the classical model of physics (having been a Physics and AP Physics teacher for years). When physicists describe plasma, they speak of currents, waves, resonances, and instabilities with terms that sound far closer to phenomenology’s language of relations than to the inert mechanics of early modern science.
Continue reading Plasma, Consciousness, and the Phenomenological Cosmos: Relational Fields
Edith Stein’s The Science of the Cross
I occasionally get asked about my PhD work and why Edith Stein‘s The Science of the Cross (good article here) is such a big factor in my own thinking and research. I wanted to put together a quick overview of this incredibly important but under-read work.
Edith Stein’s Science of the Cross has become essential for my own work on The Ecology of the Cross because Stein refuses to treat the Cross as a mere doctrinal moment or as raw suffering. Instead, she approaches it as a structure of perception, a way of knowing and inhabiting the real. When she calls it a science, she means that the Cross forms a disciplined way of seeing or something that takes root inside a person like a seed and slowly reshapes how they relate to the world (p. xxvi). Reading Stein in this way helped me name what I’ve been experiencing in my own project in that cruciform consciousness isn’t just theological; it’s ecological. It’s a way of perceiving the world that emerges from relationship, participation, and transformation rather than abstraction. Her work gave me language for something I had long sensed, that the Cross can reorient the self toward the world with deeper attentiveness, humility, and openness.
Continue reading Edith Stein’s The Science of the Cross
Edith Stein’s Letter to Pope Pius XI in 1933
Edith Stein (later St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross as a Carmelite nun) would eventually be killed in a gas chamber by the Nazi’s because of her Jewish heritage. Her letter to Pope Pius XI remains relevant and fresh today, with many societal and spiritual ills and injustices, with government structures and religious organizations remaining either silent or complicit as we approach 2026 and almost 100 years since Stein’s imploring epistle…
EDITH STEIN: “Letter to Pope Pius XI” (1933):
Holy Father!
As a child of the Jewish people who, by the grace of God, for the past eleven years has also been a child of the Catholic Church, I dare to speak to the Father of Christianity about that which oppresses millions of Germans. For weeks we have seen deeds perpetrated in Germany which mock any sense of justice and humanity, not to mention love of neighbor. For years the leaders of National Socialism have been preaching hatred of the Jews. Now that they have seized the power of government and armed their followers, among them proven criminal elements, this seed of hatred has germinated. The government has only recently admitted that ex- cesses have occurred. To what extent, we cannot tell, because public opinion is being gagged. However, judging by what I have learned from personal relations, it is in no way a matter of singular exceptional cases. Under pressure from reactions abroad, the government has turned to “milder” methods. It has issued the watchword “no Jew shall have even one hair on his head harmed.” But through boycott measures–by robbing people of their livelihood, civic honor and fatherland–it drives many to desperation; within the last week, through private reports I was informed of five cases of suicide as a consequence of these hostilities. I am convinced that this is a general condition which will claim many more victims. One may regret that these unhappy people do not have greater inner strength to bear their misfortune. But the responsibility must fall, after all, on those who brought them to this point and it also falls on those who keep silent in the face of such happenings.
Everything that happened and continues to happen on a daily basis originates with a government that calls itself “Christian.” For weeks not only Jews but also thousands of faithful Catholics in Germany, and, I believe, all over the world, have been waiting and hoping for the Church of Christ to raise its voice to put a stop to this abuse of Christ’s name. Is not this idolization of race and governmental power which is being pounded into the public consciousness by the radio open heresy? Isn’t the effort to destroy Jewish blood an abuse of the holiest humanity of our Savior, of the most blessed Virgin and the apostles? Is not all this diametrically opposed to the conduct of our Lord and Savior, who, even on the cross, still prayed for his persecutors? And isn’t this a black mark on the record of this Holy Year which was intended to be a year of peace and reconciliation.
We all, who are faithful children of the Church and who see the conditions in Germany with open eyes, fear the worst for the prestige of the Church, if the silence continues any longer. We are convinced that this silence will not be able in the long run to purchase peace with the present German government. For the time being, the fight against Catholicism will be conducted quietly and less brutally than against Jewry, but no less systematically. Before long no Catholic will be able to hold office in Germany unless he dedicates himself unconditionally to the new course of action.
At the feet of your Holiness, requesting your apostolic blessing,
(Signed) Dr. Edith Stein, Instructor at the German Institute for Scientific Pedagogy, Münster in Westphalia, Collegium Marianum.
Stargate Returns!
I’m very (very) excited about this news and can’t wait to see what the new series has in store for us… Stargate is one of those shows I’ve long clung to as a fan and loved the mythology since the original movie that I saw as a college kid way back in the ’90’s. Exciting times!
Stargate Returns! – Joseph Mallozzi’s Weblog:
Yes, it’s true. 14 years after the franchise aired its last episode (SGU’s “Gauntlet”), a new Stargate series has been greenlit by Amazon. And it’s not a reboot or a wholesale reimagining that will wipe the slate clean on 17 seasons and some 350 hours of Stargate history. It’s a new series that will be the perfect jumping-on point for first-time viewers while, at the same time, honoring the existing past.
Edith Stein and Laudato Si’: Recovering the Interior Life of Creation
Here’s a “study guide” and reflection to go along with these thoughts if you’re interested!
Most readers of Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ approach it as an ecological document. It is that, of course. It gives us the vocabulary of “integral ecology,” names the Cry of the Earth Cry of the Poor (Leo Boff), and pushes Christians to confront the ecological devastation happening right in our backyards. But reading it alongside one of my favorite thinkers, Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), has helped me see the encyclical in a deeper light. It is not only a call for ecological reform. It is a call for a renewed way of perceiving the world.
Continue reading Edith Stein and Laudato Si’: Recovering the Interior Life of CreationOpenAI’s ‘ChatGPT for Teachers
K-12 education in the United States is going to look VERY different in just a few short years…
OpenAI rolls out ‘ChatGPT for Teachers’ for K-12 educators:
OpenAI on Wednesday announced ChatGPT for Teachers, a version of its artificial intelligence chatbot that is designed for K-12 educators and school districts.
Educators can use ChatGPT for Teachers to securely work with student information, get personalized teaching support and collaborate with colleagues within their district, OpenAI said. There are also administrative controls that district leaders can use to determine how ChatGPT for Teachers will work within their communities.
The Wonder of Bodegas
I love bodegas and am always so happy to discover a new one, whether in New York City or Garden City, SC!
New York’s Bodegas Are Here to Stay – The New York Times:
Even if their hours and the items they stock on their shelves change, there is one thing that will perhaps never disappear from the bodega — the human touch.
“It’s the warmth that we give to our customers,” said Ms. Kim. “It’s very, very important that customers know that we see them and know that we’re there.”
More-reliable email in WordPress
Great news!
More-reliable email in WordPress 6.9 – Make WordPress Core:
Emails sent from WordPress will be more reliable in WordPress 6.9 thanks to a few updates and bug-fixes to the wp_mail() function.
End of Farmer’s Almanac (Not the Old One But Still)
I’m a huge fan of the Old Farmer’s Almanac (not the one shutting down), but still hate to see this.
A lesser-known Farmers’ Almanac will fold after 2 centuries, citing money trouble (AP):
The Farmers’ Almanac, not to be confused with its older, longtime competitor, The Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire, said Thursday that its 2026 edition will be its last. The almanac cited the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the book in today’s “chaotic media environment.” Access to the online version will cease next month.
ChatGPT and Search Engines
Interesting numbers for Google, etc…
Are AI Chatbots Changing How We Shop? | Yale Insights:
A very recent study on this topic was conducted by a group of economists in collaboration with OpenAI’s Economic Research team. According to this paper, most ChatGPT usage falls into three categories, which the authors call practical guidance, seeking information, and writing. Notably, the share of messages classified as seeking information rose from 18% in July 2024 to 24% in June 2025, highlighting the ongoing shift from traditional web search toward AI-assisted search.
Lignin instead of OLED?
Fascinating… more things like this, please.
Scientists turn wood waste into glowing material for TVs and phones:
An eco-friendly substitute has been developed for the light-emitting materials used in modern display technologies, such as TVs and smartphones.
The new material uses a common wood waste product to create a greener future for electronics, removing toxic metals and avoiding complex, polluting manufacturing methods.
Researchers from Yale University and Nottingham Trent University have designed it.
Overnight at USS Yorktown with Ben
Ben and I are just getting back from his Scouts trip and overnight at the USS Yorktown in Charleston. I’ve been to the Yorktown several times over the years and have done overnight stays on the ship with middle school groups I’ve taught, but getting to spend the last few days with my son on board was such a great experience.
Sitting in the theater watching The Fighting Lady: The Lady And The Sea (1945) with him last night and hearing how silent and engaged all the boys were during the movie about the ship’s early role in WWII was incredibly moving (warning, there’s some ethnic and racial slurs in the film as was the style of the time, but it’s still an interesting timepiece).
I’m also glad to see Gov. McMaster taking seriously the ongoing pollution from the aging ship and working on ways to remediate some of it to protect the incredible beauty and diversity of Charleston Harbor’s ecosystem, which was in the news this week! We enjoyed watching the dolphins play in the water this morning, and I hope that unique area thrives for many more decades and centuries to come.