Nota In Brevis, January 7th: Of Hydrogen and Cultural Time Bombs
*A Happy New Year to all of our readers, and may 2016 bring you all many joys and blessings, even if there are a few crosses and sufferings along the way. As the Catechism reminds us in the words of Saint Rose of Lima “apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven”. So climb way, way up.
*This first week of the year began with a bang, as North Korea claims to have test-detonated a hydrogen bomb. Scientists dispute the truth of this claim, as the evidence in inconclusive. As you may be aware, the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 were atomic bombs, caused by the chain-reaction fission (the breaking apart) of uranium, based on Einstein’s equation e=mc2 (the energy from the disintegration of matter is equal to its mass times the speed of light squared, so a lot of energy from a little mass). The hydrogen bomb, on the other hand, developed in the decade after the Second World War, is based on the fusion of hydrogen into helium, the same process that powers the Sun, and a much more efficient and powerful source of energy-from-mass, making such bombs many, many times more powerful than the already destructive power of uranium. Should a megalomaniac nut job like Kim Jong-Un get his hands on one, along with an accurate delivery system (i.e., a long-range rocket to guide the bomb, always a problem), then the world has entered a new phase of instability. And we are worried about global warming? But as the Chinese proverb has it, who are also uneasy at their unpredictable Communist neighbour, ‘may you live in interesting times’.
*Today is the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacres, and may God rest the souls of all who died. I had never heard of the magazine until last year, and, upon perusal, disliked their use of sarcasm, sexual innuendo, and vitriol to attack religion, not just Islam (one can see their apparent disdain for Catholicism in many issues). But their Islamic-jihadi murderers had no right to kill them, and Mark Steyn is correct, that this and other attacks, lethal and not, have put a major damper on free speech: We are all being cowed into ‘submission’, the ultimate aim of ‘Islam’ as its very name implies.
*Speaking of submission, a German carpenter has invented a device that can shut off the flow of sperm from the testes, thus making sex sterile, on-again, off-again. So continues the death spiral of Germany, which has one of the lowest reproductive rates in the world; they are cutting off their means of reproduction, while populating their ageing country with millions of restless young Muslims.
*This is not a recipe for cultural stability, and the dissolution is now becoming starkly evident. Swathes of such ‘restless young men of North African and Arab appearance’ descended upon the New Year’s Eve festivities in 
Cologne, mob-groping and sexually assaulting numerous young frauleins. Unless something is done soon to control such ‘restless young men’, and not just holding up ridiculous placards like the woman pictured, expect this as just a faint image of what is to come. How long before the land of Mozart, Bach and Goethe becomes a Islamic caliphate, or at least a deeply and irrevocably divided country, with the dwindling German ‘majority’ living in guarded enclaves? Already, the mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, is being ridiculed for suggesting women stay an ‘arm’s length’ away from men. I thought they already did that, in the main. Does the mayor think these women were jumping into the arms of these bearded barbarians in end-of-year euphoria? Even so, I don’t think arm’s length evasions will save them from a randy would-be rapist of a certain cultural background that tends to disregard the objections of women to such violations.
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On a more hopeful and joyful note, today is also the feast of the great Canadian saint Andre Bessette, the inspiration and founder of Saint Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal. He lived a quiet, hidden life as a porter of the Holy Cross monastery, where he was a professed Brother, before becoming famous as a confidant and miracle-worker. Every healing performed at his hands and by his prayers, many of them utterly inexplicable scientifically, he attributed to Saint Joseph, and the shrine Andre helped build in his honour stands as a monument to the great custodian and foster-father of Christ. I am no fan of the interior basilica and neither, I suspect, would Brother Andre (except for its majestic organ and its acoustics, which are impressive), but the Oratory, whose dome and structure are visible from many miles away, is a bold testament to faith in God, to Quebec’s Catholicism, and a sign that such faith as ‘little Andre’s’ is already there incipiently in the thousands of pilgrims, and may yet be again.
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop
As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk
As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace
Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→
Payette’s Payout
I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→