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US Catholicism: The Pew Big Tent

  US Catholicism; 47% of Adults Have Connection   BIG TENT CATHOLICISM – PEW STYLE   US  Adults The Following Are Mutually Exclusive Categories Total 20% Catholic : They say they are Catholic when asked about their present religion. 20%     The following do NOT identify as Catholic when asked about their present religion     27% 9% “ Cultural Catholics ”: They  say “yes” if they consider themselves Catholic in any way ( ethnically, culturally, or family ties ) but do not identify as Catholic religiously   29% 9% “ Connected to Catholics ” they say “yes” if they have a Catholic parent, spouse or partner or ever attend Catholic Mass. But do not identify as Catholics religiously or as Cultural Catholics or as Former Catholics 38% ...

Leisure the Basis of Culture

One of the foundations of Western European culture is leisure.  The Greek word for leisure  schole, is the origin of Latin scola, German Schule, English school. The name for the institutions of education and learning means "leisure". The original meaning of the concept of "leisure" has practically been forgotten in today's leisure-less culture of "total work." We must confront the contradiction that rises from our overemphasis on the world of work. "One does not only work in order to live, but one lives for the sake of one's work," quoted by Max Weber. Aristotle: the sober, industrious realist, says  "We are not at-leisure in order to be at leisure." For the Greeks, "not-leisure" was the word for the world of everyday work; and not only to indicate its "hustle and bustle," but the work itself. The Greek language had only this negative term for it as did Latin neg-otium "not-leisure." Aristotle's...

America's Biggest AI Concerns

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  Statista: Biggest AI Concerns in the US by  Tristan Gaudiaut,   Nov 28, 2025 From chatbots to deepfakes, artificial intelligence is reshaping daily life - but not without raising major concerns among the population. According to a survey conducted by Statista Consumer Insights in the U.S. this year, people's manipulation and misinformation, as well as job replacement, are the top concerns regarding AI. All three issues were mentioned by more than 40 percent of American respondents, with manipulation (46 percent) and misinformation (45 percent) coming first. Among other major worries, the environmental impact of AI (power consumption) is cited by 27 percent of adults surveyed. Furthermore, while 41 percent believed "millions of jobs could be replaced", 23 percent viewed their job as threatened. You will find more infographics at Statista

World Arms Industry

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  Statista: Largest Arms Companies by Sales Value by  Tristan Gaudiaut   Dec 3, 2025 The world's 100 largest arms-producing companies saw their combined revenues surge to a record $679 billion in 2024, a 6 percent increase from 2023, according to the latest annual report published by SIPRI on December 1, 2025. The rise is largely attributed to escalating geopolitical tensions, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and a global rush to modernize and expand military arsenals. As shown by our infographic, the top U.S. firms - Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics - saw robust growth last year (between 3 and 8 percent), with Lockheed Martin remaining the world's largest military company, at nearly $65 billion of arms revenue. The sales of those firms reflect both new contracts and ongoing production challenges, particularly in programs like the F-35 fighter jet. The first European defense company, the UK-based firm BAE Systems, is ranked fourth, with ...

POPE FRANCIS ADDRESS TO CONGRESS

  ADDRESS TO JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS United States Capitol, Washington, D.C. Thursday, 24 September 2015   MISSION Pope Francis is clearly addressing each and every person in our nation, just as Bishop Malesic in his pastoral letter addressed each person in this diocese. Both focus upon the spiritual reality that each person has a mission in life, a set of unique personal and social responsibilities to exercise. Each person's gifts and talents are related to other persons and social institutions but not derived from them.  God created unique persons. Subsidiarity, a core principle of Catholic social teaching, recognizes that institutions and larger organizations exist to subsidize, i.e. support, smaller organizations (e.g. households, families, work groups) and persons exercising their responsibilities.  Most of human life is shaped by each person's interpersonal network consisting of concentric circles containing about 150 persons: about five cl...

Retirement Communities

The extension in affluent societies of average person's life span to seventy-five or more healthy years at the same time when government, business, or pensions enable people to retire in their sixties has resulted in conceptualizing the stages of life into three almost equal stages. 1. A first stage of physical and intellectual development of about thirty years. Although most physical development occurs in the first fifteen years of life, intellectual development often continues with bachelors, masters, and doctorates, and even postdoctoral residencies. (In my own case, high school was followed by two years of Jesuit novitiate. It was a good preparation for being a contemplative serving others.  College at Saint John's University followed. They were at the forefront of liturgical and church reform during the Vatican Council. An interdisciplinary doctorate in social psychology was followed by postdoctoral research in psychophysiology formed the biological/social and personal fra...

Statistical Profile of Lake County Older Adults

  Click on 2024 Center for Community Solutions Study – Statistical Profile of Older Adults in Lake County   Regular text is from the above report ; my comments are in italics AGE DEMOGRAPHICS Lake County encompasses 23 cities, villages, and townships. The area is home to 66,841 adults over 60, accounting for 28.8 percent of the county's total population. The growth is particularly pronounced among the population ages 85 and above. Increasing numbers of the oldest residents is expected to increase demand for supportive services including home-delivered meals, housekeeping, home modification, in-home care, and social connectedness. The entire community will need to adapt to these changes.  While the entire community will have to adapt to these changes, the volunteer efforts of Lake County elderly in the 60-74 age group, 20% of the population, many of whom are in the process of retiring, can provide much of the support needed by elderly as that reach age 85+ In the bott...