The Journeyman – Brandon Kraft https://kraft.blog Musings from Brandon Kraft Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:48:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1-alpha-62470 https://i0.wp.com/kraft.blog/uploads/cropped-wcasia-2025-brandon-scaled-1.png?fit=32%2C32&quality=80&ssl=1 The Journeyman – Brandon Kraft https://kraft.blog 32 32 23454191 Press This 2.0.2: Major Bug Fixes and Improvements https://kraft.blog/2026/03/press-this-2-0-2-major-bug-fixes-and-improvements/ https://kraft.blog/2026/03/press-this-2-0-2-major-bug-fixes-and-improvements/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:48:15 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=154091 A bug fix release for Press This went out and I forgot to post about it… The biggest fix: saving posts that contained external images was throwing a critical error through the REST API. That’s gone now. Also fixed is an annoying one where scraped media was getting inserted at the bottom of the post instead of where your cursor was. Beyond the bug fixes, there are some nice quality-of…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2026/03/press-this-2-0-2-major-bug-fixes-and-improvements/feed/ 0 154091 Introducing FediBoost https://kraft.blog/2026/02/introducing-fediboost/ https://kraft.blog/2026/02/introducing-fediboost/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:15:40 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=152376 A few months ago, I turned on the ActivityPub plugin for this site. I loved it—my blog became followable from Mastodon, posts federated out automatically, and people could reply to my posts from their own instances. This is what indieweb is all about. But something bugged me. My posts were federating from my site’s identity——which is great. But my Mastodon followers on weren’t seeing…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2026/02/introducing-fediboost/feed/ 6 152376 Press This + Gutenberg = ❤️ https://kraft.blog/2026/01/press-this-gutenberg-%e2%9d%a4%ef%b8%8f/ https://kraft.blog/2026/01/press-this-gutenberg-%e2%9d%a4%ef%b8%8f/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:46:30 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=150905 Almost a decade ago, I helped rebuild Press This for WordPress 4.2. It was one of my favorite contributions—a tool that embodied what I love about WordPress: making publishing frictionless. Select some text, click a bookmarklet, and you’re blogging. I even wrote Press This Extended to add the customization options that the “Decisions, Not Options” philosophy intentionally left out.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2026/01/press-this-gutenberg-%e2%9d%a4%ef%b8%8f/feed/ 1 150905 Unexcused Absences https://kraft.blog/2025/09/unexcused-absences/ https://kraft.blog/2025/09/unexcused-absences/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Fri, 26 Sep 2025 21:33:05 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=124470 My therapist and I are working on the premise that the things that trigger us are rooted in childhood in some way. My mom passed away earlier this month, and my children attended the funeral. She died on Wednesday evening, and we had her funeral on Monday. They missed school from Friday through Tuesday. We’re in four different schools—two high schools, a middle school…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/09/unexcused-absences/feed/ 0 124470 Bobbie Kraft, 1944-2025 https://kraft.blog/2025/09/bobbie-kraft-1944-2025/ https://kraft.blog/2025/09/bobbie-kraft-1944-2025/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:48:44 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=124201 My mom passed away almost two weeks ago. The obituary I wrote for her can be read online. Relationships with Moms are complicated, each of us for our own reasons. Mine was wrapped in trauma. Looking at pictures, the younger years of my childhood seemed pretty normal. As I approached a decade of life, my Dad’s alcoholism and other medical issues overwhelmed everything else…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/09/bobbie-kraft-1944-2025/feed/ 1 124201 Understanding the Liturgies to Begin Pope Leo XIV’s Ministry https://kraft.blog/2025/05/understanding-the-liturgies-to-begin-pope-leo-xivs-ministry/ https://kraft.blog/2025/05/understanding-the-liturgies-to-begin-pope-leo-xivs-ministry/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 15 May 2025 17:31:05 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=119112 Starting this Sunday, you’ll hear about a few liturgies to formally begin Pope Leo XIV’s ministry. Leo XIV is the Pope, with full authority, when he accepts his election without needing any additional liturgy or ritual. Similarly, the King of England became the king immediately upon the death of his mother, yet, in both cases, there are rituals associated with the beginning.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/05/understanding-the-liturgies-to-begin-pope-leo-xivs-ministry/feed/ 0 119112 Pope Leo XIV https://kraft.blog/2025/05/pope-leo-xiv/ https://kraft.blog/2025/05/pope-leo-xiv/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 08 May 2025 21:09:21 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=119020 Many blessings to our new Holy Father Leo XIV! With all new popes, we don’t really know how the Spirit will lead them to lead the Church. I remember when Pope Benedict XVI was elected. Local news interviewed me on the narrative that Cardinal Ratzinger was “God’s German Shepherd”—a hardass conservative. As I said then, he was in a different role than he is now. Pope Benedict XVI revealed…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/05/pope-leo-xiv/feed/ 0 119020 Conclave Time! https://kraft.blog/2025/05/conclave-time/ https://kraft.blog/2025/05/conclave-time/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 06 May 2025 18:20:33 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=118948 Tomorrow afternoon for those in Rome or tomorrow morning for those in the U.S. (May 7, 2025 15:45 CEST), the Cardinals will take the short trip from their temporary housing at Casa Santa Marta to the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace to begin the conclave to elect the 267th Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. While I’m sure some elements of the movie Conclave are realistic enough…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/05/conclave-time/feed/ 1 118948 Apostolica Sedes Vacans: Day 2 https://kraft.blog/2025/04/apostolica-sedes-vacans-day-2/ https://kraft.blog/2025/04/apostolica-sedes-vacans-day-2/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 22 Apr 2025 19:03:35 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=118708 As the second day in Rome—and the first full day—without a Pope comes to a close, a few things have happened or been announced since yesterday’s message. The Camerlengo, per the rite of papal funerals that Pope Francis revised last year (Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis), confirmed his death. Pope Francis is currently lying in the chapel at the Vatican apartment building where he lived.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/04/apostolica-sedes-vacans-day-2/feed/ 0 118708 Apostolica Sedes Vacans https://kraft.blog/2025/04/apostolica-sedes-vacans/ https://kraft.blog/2025/04/apostolica-sedes-vacans/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Mon, 21 Apr 2025 15:53:03 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=118675 The Apostolic See is Vacant. In other words, the Pope is dead. Cardinal Farrell, the Camerlengo, announced that Pope Francis died this morning at 7:35 a.m. local time in Rome. The Camerlengo is a position appointed by the Pope (during his life) whose responsibilities include confirming the death of the Pope, sealing the Apostolic Palace (e.g. Pope’s office and…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/04/apostolica-sedes-vacans/feed/ 0 118675 Still at Automattic https://kraft.blog/2025/04/still-at-automattic/ https://kraft.blog/2025/04/still-at-automattic/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 10 Apr 2025 15:03:27 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=118423 Last week, my employer, Automattic, announced a restructuring. “Restructuring” at Automattic isn’t terribly unusual. Team structures change regularly. This one, though, included a layoff or “reduction in force” in today’s jargon, which is the first for Automattic. We’ve had pushes for improving performance management, which has led to an increase in departures, including sometimes a whole…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/04/still-at-automattic/feed/ 0 118423 No Hot Dogs For Me https://kraft.blog/2025/03/no-hot-dogs-for-me/ https://kraft.blog/2025/03/no-hot-dogs-for-me/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:08:39 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=111577 I’ve been on a quest for over 20 years now (what‽) to eat a hot dog in every state. I visited DC in 2006, when I scored a DC hotdog at Ben’s Chili Bowl. When flying out of IAD (in Virginia), one sports bar sold hot dogs, so I was set. Except they ran out of hot dogs for the day already. Sad day. I’m in DC for the first time since then and we flew into BWI (in Maryland).

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/03/no-hot-dogs-for-me/feed/ 0 111577 American Solidarity Party https://kraft.blog/2025/01/american-solidarity-party/ https://kraft.blog/2025/01/american-solidarity-party/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 28 Jan 2025 21:45:53 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=104340 I submitted my resignation as the Travis County Chair of the American Solidarity Party today. Or, well, I think my term officially ended in May 2024, but we never elected someone to succeed. In either case, I’m moving aside to let someone else who can dedicate real energy be involved. The American Solidarity Party isn’t perfect, and I don’t agree with all of their platform.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/01/american-solidarity-party/feed/ 0 104340 No Bishop In Austin https://kraft.blog/2025/01/no-bishop-in-austin/ https://kraft.blog/2025/01/no-bishop-in-austin/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Mon, 20 Jan 2025 17:33:48 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=101117 At Roman Noon today, Pope Frances named Austin’s Bishop Joe Vasquez as the Archbishop-Elect of Galveston-Houston. What does this mean for Austin? It’s about the same as 2009 when I last wrote about this. Correction from last time, effective immediately, Bishop Vasquez is still the bishop of Austin, but, he is limited to acts of governance aligned to what a diocesan administrator is…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/01/no-bishop-in-austin/feed/ 0 101117 Short-Form Communication https://kraft.blog/2025/01/short-form-communication/ https://kraft.blog/2025/01/short-form-communication/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 14 Jan 2025 19:20:15 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=100967 Short-form communication hurts. The Texas Tribune published an article about Gov. Greg Abbott’s outrage about Texas A&M’s “sponsoring a trip to a DEI conference”. Taking five minutes, this is just the same stupid political noise that is hurting far more than it is helping. The outrage comes in response to a message on X from a random conservative who included screenshots of the e…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2025/01/short-form-communication/feed/ 0 100967 A Week In The Life https://kraft.blog/2024/10/a-week-in-the-life/ https://kraft.blog/2024/10/a-week-in-the-life/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Wed, 23 Oct 2024 14:10:17 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=89864 Life flows through seasons, which feel completely normal while you’re in the midst of them, but looking back, it’s hard to remember what they were like. With that in mind, I wanted to outline the last week and detail the end of the week. The schools were on holiday for Indigenous People’s Day, but O had a marching band clinic. Dropped her off at 7:45 a.m. at school.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2024/10/a-week-in-the-life/feed/ 0 89864 Conflation Hurts https://kraft.blog/2024/10/conflation-hurts/ https://kraft.blog/2024/10/conflation-hurts/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Mon, 14 Oct 2024 20:30:36 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=86004 The last few weeks have been hard for those in the #WordPress community. I’m trying my best to focus on the work ahead, but recent events have made that more challenging and complicated for folks on the ground. I have friends who work or have worked at WP Engine, and I obviously have friends at Automattic. I am very loyal to Automattic, WordPress, and the open-source concept.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2024/10/conflation-hurts/feed/ 3 86004 Contributing to WordPress https://kraft.blog/2024/09/contributing-to-wordpress/ https://kraft.blog/2024/09/contributing-to-wordpress/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Fri, 27 Sep 2024 19:55:38 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=82133 I know the big dogs are fighting (and disclaimer I work for one of the big dogs and I used to make my living building websites using a theme framework the other one owns now), but a ton of contributors contribute because they want to help the community. Not because they were sponsored, though I found a company that would pay me to do what I’d do anyhow, but because they felt the empowerment…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2024/09/contributing-to-wordpress/feed/ 1 82133 Fire and Bus https://kraft.blog/2024/09/fire-bus/ https://kraft.blog/2024/09/fire-bus/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Fri, 06 Sep 2024 15:04:26 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=77153 The first couple weeks of school have been an eventful one for our kiddos. On the first day of school, at 5:30 a.m., we received an automated call from the school district. There was a fire at the middle school—do not come to campus today. The night before, a microwave in a classroom caught fire and damaged a wing of the school. The fire likely started due to the power cord coiled under…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2024/09/fire-bus/feed/ 1 77153 MBA https://kraft.blog/2024/05/mba/ https://kraft.blog/2024/05/mba/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Mon, 20 May 2024 03:20:16 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=74484 I’m proud to share that I walked the stage at commencement a little over a week ago to be awarded a Master of Business Administration in Business Analytics from the Dillard College of Business Administration at Midwestern State University. What’s next for me? Nothing different. My work at Automattic has been slowly shifting from engineering to business leadership. Within that scope…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2024/05/mba/feed/ 3 74484 Magellan: My Trip Around The World https://kraft.blog/2024/03/magellan-my-trip-around-the-world/ https://kraft.blog/2024/03/magellan-my-trip-around-the-world/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 26 Mar 2024 03:09:02 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=72901 I’ve been with Automattic for nearly 11 years. The company is fully distributed, so there are no offices, but we have regular meetups and in-person events. I’ve been to quite a few places worldwide, including across the US, Canada, Italy, Spain, Ireland, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Montenegro, The Netherlands, and so forth. This month, I did something new. I circumnavigated the globe.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2024/03/magellan-my-trip-around-the-world/feed/ 2 72901 Personal Web Presence https://kraft.blog/2023/12/personal-web-presence/ https://kraft.blog/2023/12/personal-web-presence/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Fri, 15 Dec 2023 01:50:40 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=70725 I’m in the midst of an identity crisis. Regarding Internet identity and community, my presence on Twitter felt most interconnected. I’ve had my website(s) longer, and they mean more to me than Twitter. But with the changes over there and the disruption to much of my community, coupled with a general dislike for Musk’s governance thus far, the community I had is gone. It’s sad.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2023/12/personal-web-presence/feed/ 1 70725 ADHD https://kraft.blog/2023/08/adhd/ https://kraft.blog/2023/08/adhd/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 24 Aug 2023 21:13:11 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=67783 I don’t post on here as often as I used to. In the early days of the site (like 20 years ago? What the hell?), I would post just random things all the time. Twitter, I think, gave me a different place to scratch that itch coupled with the movement that everyone needed their own personal brand. Your website conveyed your personal brand and you can’t write anything there that isn’t brand-safe! So…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2023/08/adhd/feed/ 2 67783 Joining the Student Advisory Board https://kraft.blog/2023/02/joining-the-student-advisory-board/ https://kraft.blog/2023/02/joining-the-student-advisory-board/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 02 Feb 2023 17:34:09 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=64359 In addition to my full-time work at Automattic and the family, I am also a MBA student at Midwestern State University. I’m proud to share that I’m joining the Student Advisory Board for the Dilliard College of Business Administration. MSU is primarily a traditional campus-based university, but their MBA program does offer all courses required for the degree online. While the program isn’…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2023/02/joining-the-student-advisory-board/feed/ 0 64359 Statement on Frank Pavone https://kraft.blog/2022/12/statement-on-frank-pavone/ https://kraft.blog/2022/12/statement-on-frank-pavone/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Sun, 18 Dec 2022 16:00:51 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=63564 News broke that that Vatican has removed from the clerical state (e.g. defroked) Frank Pavone. Pavone is most known for founding “Priests for Life” as a pro-life group, which has been extreme in some tactics—including a video with an aborted child on a “table that is sometimes used for Mass”, the explanation he gave when people called out putting the remains on display on an altar.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/12/statement-on-frank-pavone/feed/ 0 63564 Now Using 2023 https://kraft.blog/2022/11/now-using-2023/ https://kraft.blog/2022/11/now-using-2023/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Wed, 16 Nov 2022 22:25:31 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=63169 I switched the site over to using Twenty Twenty Three yesterday with my first “real” experience with the Site Editor. I’ve created some small single-page sites with the Block Editor, but hadn’t spent real time with it. It’ll take me a little bit to get used to it, but this is overall a positive move toward unlocking WordPress site development to more people. Yes, it means that more…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/11/now-using-2023/feed/ 1 63169 ActivityPub https://kraft.blog/2022/11/activitypub/ https://kraft.blog/2022/11/activitypub/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 10 Nov 2022 21:27:03 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=63152 What the hell—added ActivityPub support to the site so you can follow the site via @kraft via Mastodon or your favorite ActivityPub-powered social site.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/11/activitypub/feed/ 7 63152 Finally Caught It https://kraft.blog/2022/09/finally-caught-it/ https://kraft.blog/2022/09/finally-caught-it/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Sat, 03 Sep 2022 22:04:46 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=63119 After avoiding a positive test result for over two years, the walls fell and I contracted COVID-19. It has laid me out a bit. Worst than the worst flu I’ve had. I’ve had some coughing and breathing difficulty, but not anywhere close to the pneumonia I’ve had previously. I’ve heard folks talk about how they’re normal mentally for a couple hours, then experience brain fog. I’ve had similar…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/09/finally-caught-it/feed/ 1 63119 Incident at the Elementary School https://kraft.blog/2022/08/incident-at-the-elementary-school/ https://kraft.blog/2022/08/incident-at-the-elementary-school/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 25 Aug 2022 22:07:13 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=63113 At my kids’ elementary at dismissal time, there was an incident of someone approaching the gate where “walkers” are dismissed to their parents. The individual seemed to be under the influence of something, and when a teacher asked him to leave, the individual struck a couple of teachers. Parents acted quickly to subdue the individual, teachers evacuated the kids, and police were called.

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/08/incident-at-the-elementary-school/feed/ 0 63113 Uvalde https://kraft.blog/2022/05/uvalde/ https://kraft.blog/2022/05/uvalde/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Wed, 25 May 2022 03:45:13 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=63061 Today’s horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde is a tragedy beyond words. First, for the murdered, I pray that they’re in the Kingdom now in a place without pain or sadness. For the families and loved ones of the ones we lost, I hope and pray that they can process this surrounded by a community of love and that they are shown ongoing support. I keep the murderer’s family in my…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/05/uvalde/feed/ 0 63061 Getting Started with Matrix https://kraft.blog/2022/05/getting-started-with-matrix/ https://kraft.blog/2022/05/getting-started-with-matrix/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Mon, 02 May 2022 17:51:01 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=63030 When a small organization that I’m involved with wanted to move from text messages or Telegram to a more robust real-time chat platform, we had a few options. There’s Slack, of course, and Discord, but we’re geeks and wanted to look to open-source solutions. The open-source aspect was appealing for a few reasons—no corporate overloads involved, able to tweak/hack things that didn’t quite work for…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/05/getting-started-with-matrix/feed/ 0 63030 History Repeats https://kraft.blog/2022/02/history-repeats/ https://kraft.blog/2022/02/history-repeats/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Mon, 21 Feb 2022 21:52:27 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=62966 I’m sadden by the developments in Ukraine. History does repeat itself. My ancestors were Black Sea Germans—Germans who migrated to modern-day Ukraine at the invitation of Catherine the Great and Alexander I. My ancestors were promised peace, ability to worship and speak German freely, and exempt from military service. It began to change in the beginning of the 20th century and then after the…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/02/history-repeats/feed/ 0 62966 One Year Later https://kraft.blog/2022/01/one-year-later/ https://kraft.blog/2022/01/one-year-later/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Thu, 06 Jan 2022 17:07:28 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=62928 One year ago today, I was watching a livestream of the U.S. Presidential Election Certification while at work. I didn’t pay attention leading up to January 6, 2021 to know about President Trump’s rally that morning and, since I was watching only what was happening in the chamber, I was overall ignorant of what was happening outside the Capitol. The livestream I was watching had a comment that…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/01/one-year-later/feed/ 0 62928 Bible in the Year https://kraft.blog/2022/01/bible-in-the-year/ https://kraft.blog/2022/01/bible-in-the-year/#comments Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 04 Jan 2022 16:28:02 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=62922 Just a quick note that to help my spiritual growth, I’ve started the Bible in the Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz as my Lectio Divina. It’s about 20 minutes a day. I’ve read the New Testament, but my Old Testament exposure is… not great. Beyond the psalms as part of my daily Liturgy of the Hours, I just don’t dive into the Old Testament. From my network on Twitter, it appears to be…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2022/01/bible-in-the-year/feed/ 2 62922 St. John Lateran https://kraft.blog/2021/11/st-john-lateran/ https://kraft.blog/2021/11/st-john-lateran/#respond Brandon Kraft]]> Tue, 09 Nov 2021 23:16:06 +0000 https://kraft.blog/?p=62880 Within the Roman Catholic Church, today is the feast day of the Dedication of the Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran, or far more commonly known, the Dedication of St. John Lateran. This church is the “mother” church to western Christianity. The first public Christian house of worship in Rome…

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]]> https://kraft.blog/2021/11/st-john-lateran/feed/ 0 62880