Nota in Brevis July 13: Laws, Trump and post-Brexit
For those of you who, perhaps rightly so, misconstrued my article on the collapse of the rule of law, please do be aware that my intention was not to present an anti-cop, nor pro-‘Black Lives Matter’ piece, but rather to use the current situation in America to show that ‘law’, understood in the broad sense as a balance of authorities, is breaking down, a result of the more fundamental crumbling of our moral foundation. The fact that police officers now fear for their lives every time they approach a vehicle is proof of this. Will we all now face a loaded pistol in our face, with a sweaty, twitchy finger on the trigger, every time we are pulled over for a traffic peccadillo? Or will we all have to exit our vehicle, and lie spread-eagled on the tarmac, hands folded behind our head? What are police allowed, and not allowed to do with the civilians whom they are hired to ‘serve and protect’? As is natural, and bombast aside, most police officers in the heat of the moment are more concerned with protecting their own lives than yours. If there is no law, nor clear procedure for police, where does this all end? The slippery slope to Brazil, Colombia, or any other even worse tin-pot dictatorship, where the police-military rule a state of anarchy and chaos, is not as far as most people might think. As I have written before, who will guard the guardians, if the guardians have no law, or are above what law there is?
The headline stated that, if elected, Trump would be the only candidate to reject climate change. I truly dislike ambiguity, especially of the deliberate variety. Of course, the climate is changing, perhaps even radically so. What Trump ‘denies’, or at least is dubious of, as far as I know, is the anthropogenic cause of this change of climate. Is it all, or mostly, caused by human activity, or inactivity? That, dear reader, is the billion-trillion dollar question, for a lot hangs in the balance, from population control, to economic stagnation, to United Nations control of sovereign countries, to our whole view of the cosmos and Man’s place therein.
Here is the current consensus:
According to NASA, 97 per cent of climate scientists agree that the world is getting hotter and that man-made carbon emissions are to blame. Ten of the warmest years in history have occurred in the past 12. Studies show the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass, while the world’s oceans have risen on average nearly 18 cm in the last century.
That is disingenuous, for the “97%” is of a very selected group, a congratulatory, mutually reinforcing climate-change glee club. Many reputable and well-published scientists also deny the reality of anthropogenic climate change, but they are not included in whatever group constitutes the ‘97%’. Rather, they are shunned, fired, ostracized, not allowed to publish, denied funds and so on. One need not be a conspiracy theorist to realize that there is something a lot like a conspiracy (that is, a ‘breathing together’) going on here, not to mention the grafting of untold amounts of money.
British politics just gets weirder. After the Brexit vote, most of the campaigners, for and against, left the field to re-enter whatever ‘private’ life they have. Now even the Prime Minister has walked off the job. Not realizing his microphone was still on after his brief resignation speech, he was heard (and recorded) humming a little hip-hop ditty to himself, along the lines of too-doo-da-doo, which has, of course, been remixed both as a classical fantasy and dance tune or my favorite is the lady who develops the short ditty into a Bach fugue. (You could spend a whole evening perusing the memes on this theme). O joy, o bliss…Well, would you want to lead Britain at this point forward? Now it is left to a woman, Theresa May, to bring Britain through the stormy days ahead, but from initial reports, she is no Maggie Thatcher. We can pray that she may rise to the occasion, before the island nation goes adrift in its own troubles.
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→