All posts by meanderer007

Savage Mistakes:  Climate Sense and Nonsense:

Movies

 

As PBS News Hour reported, “There were 27 US weather and climate disasters with at least $1 billion in damages in 2024.” You would think this would make it abundantly clear to American and Canadian conservatives that climate change is a serious problem now, because it is costing Americans and Canadians a lot of money—now. Not in the future.  If you thought this, you would have thought wrong.

 

As the second Donald Trump administration continues its barrage on every environmental protection measure created in the past half century, Climate change continues it siege on the world unabated.  And no one but the engery sector is happy, because they continue to make money Bigly.

 

We have been warned about the dangers and keep doing nothing. Now, at least in the US and Canada, we are going backwards in our efforts to contain this looming disaster. One of the thinkers who understands this process better than most is Bill McKibben who was interviewed on PBS News Hour.

 

Both in the US and now Canada too our political leaders are floundering, though the US more than Canada. In both countries conservatives argue strongly, that this is not a serious problem and that trying to address it only hurts the economy and puts both countries at a competitive disadvantage. Pierre Poilievre in Canada wanted to “Axe the Tax”, meaning the carbon tax designed to limit Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. Now the prime minister has done that at least for consumers.  In the US Trump wants to bring back coal to solve the energy. Both of these actions seem remarkably unwise.

 

Bill McKibben noted the actions of the American president are not only bad for the environment, they are actually bad for the economy too:

 

“We’re seeing an incredible rollback, pretty much, of all environmental regulations dating back to 1970. We’re just passed the 55th anniversary of Earth Day, and it was in the immediate aftermath of that we started basically regulating pollution, and now we’re deregulating pollution of all kinds. The most serious consequences are what’s happening around climate and energy, and they’re serious for two reasons.”

 

One, the planet is getting hotter and hotter and hotter all the time. And with environmental catastrophes.  As McKibben said about America,

 

“March was the hottest March we have ever measured on this planet. And, two, were making a series of extremely foolish choices about energy. We’re the only place in the world that’s decided that somehow coal is the future of the planet. And we’re going to have our lunch eaten by the rest of the world, which has quite rightly figured out that sun and wind and the batteries to store their power when the sun goes down or the wind drops are the cheapest, cleanest, easiest, fastest way forward.  So, on both counts, we’re making just the most savage mistakes.

 

 

On his first day in office President Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords, even though many heads of American corporations urged him not to do that. In Canada, on his first day as Prime Minister, Mark Carney axed the carbon tax as Poilievre had been demanding.

 

Trump has actually gone farther than Carney, because he has also rolled back what McKibben referred to as “an incredible rollback pretty much of all environmental regulation dating back to 1970.”

 

What makes McKibben particularly disappointed in America is that is where so much of the important science warming us about climate change has come, and now they are turning their backs on all of this knowledge and ignoring it.

 

As he said,

 

“U.S. was the place where we first understood what was happening. We were the first people to measure carbon in the atmosphere. The people that built the computer models that helped us gave us the warnings about what was coming. And those are precisely the programs that are now being chopped off. Even the programs where we measure the amount of carbon in the atmosphere or the temperature of the Earth are under assault, as if, by not measuring it, it might go away. But that’s not how physics works…. And willfully blinding ourselves to it is — has to rank high on the list of dumbest things that governments have ever done.”

 

But there might even be one thing they have done that is even dumber. That is ignoring the fact that is already well understood that the cheapest power now on the planet is solar energy and America is ignoring that, unlike its chief world rival China. China now produces 2/3 or the world’s solar power while America is ramping up coal production! As McKibben said, “they’re going to own the future and we’re going to have some coal mines.”

 

Doesn’t sound very smart does it?

 

Conclave: An Explosive Ending          

American Fascism, Authoritarianism, Movies, Populism, Religious Quest in the Modern Age

 

For those of you who have not seen the film Conclave and expect to, perhaps you should consider reading this post after you have seen.  The scene is quite shocking.

 

In the film  Brother Tedesco is the favorite of the conservative Cardinals who believed that the most recent Pope was much too liberal. They believe the Pope risked shaking the Church to its foundation. It would be shook to its foundation if any one of a number of candidates for the Papacy were elected.

 

The actual voting procedure in the film is quite interesting. At the exact moment that Brother Thomas Lawrence is delivering a vote in his own favor, because he seems to be the only candidate that might be able to stop Tedesco, like a bolt of lightning from God, there is an explosion and part of the ceiling of the huge hall collapses onto him and injuring him. It appears a terrorist suicide detonated a bomb that killed himself and also killed 52 people. Hundreds lie injured. There were also reports of attacks in Louvain and Munich. Perhaps it was a bolt of lightning from the God or the devil?

Brother Tedesco is quick to rise with a shaking finger:

 

“Here at last we see the result of the doctrine of relativism so beloved by our liberal brothers! A relativism that sees all faiths and passing fancies accorded equal weight. So that now, when we look around us, we see we see the homeland of the Holy Roman Catholic church dotted with mosques and minarets of the prophet Mohammed.”

 

Brother  Bellini says Brother Tedesco  should be ashamed. Father Tedesco replies,

“we should all be ashamed. We tolerate Islam in our land, but they revile us in theirs. We nourish them in our homeland. But they exterminate us. How long will we persist in this weakness.? They are literally at our walls right now. What we need now is a leader who understands that we are facing a true religious war…We need a leader who will put a stop to the drift that has gone on almost ceaselessly for the past 50 years. How long will we persist in this weakness? We need a leader who fights these animals,”

 

as he points to the crumbled ceiling.  Like so many political leaders, including Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump, he tries to take advantage of an emergency to grab absolute power for himself. Demagogic leaders love to take advantage of emergencies.

Sometimes, when people are fearful it is difficult to resist the authoritarian leader. Fear is a very poor guide for human conduct.

 

 

 

Conclave: Unholy Ambition

Catholic Church, Movies, Politics & Religion, Religious Quest in the Modern Age

 

Ambition is complicated. I remember when I was young in school if you were nominated for a position, on student council or something like that. you were expected not to vote for yourself. It was not conisered seemly

The candidates for the papacy in the film Conclave, as in real life come from rough timber.  There is not perfection there. Everyone of them is flawed, just as we all are.

Early on in the film Brother Aldo says, “no sane man would want to be Pope.” There is some obvious truth to this statement. He says he has no interest in being Pope. He also says, “the men who are dangerous are the ones who want it.” Yet later he makes clear he wants it too. But later he says every Cardinal has a desire to be Pope. In fact each has already chosen the name he wants to be called.  Was he lying?

Is this the moth of holiness? Or unholiness?

Brother Aldo Bellini and Brother Thomas Lawrence argue about who should be Pope.  Aldo believes Thomas should vote for him. If the Liberals don’t unite, Tedesco (the arch conservative) will win and undo 60 years of progress. He is vehement about it so Thomas reminds Lawrence this is not a war.  To this Aldo replies, “It is a war. And you have to commit to a side… Save your precious doubts for your prayers.”

Father Lawrence throughout the film says he does not want to be Pope. In fact, he assures everyone, that just before the Pope died he asked him to release him from his role as a Cardinal, for he wanted to return to the role of an ordinary Priest. He does not want power or glory or status. He tries to convince others not to vote for him.

Yet, later, we see, he votes for himself, at least once.

 

 

 

 

Conclave: Faith, Doubt and Ceremony

Movies, Religious Quest in the Modern Age, Skeptical Philosophy

 

Director Edward Berger who directed the film Conclave, told the BBC that the conclave was thought of as “an ancient spiritual ritual.”  We must remember that one of the wonders of the Roman Catholic Church is its ritual.  I remember that when I was young, a friend of mine, who was a Mennonite boy raised by an aufgelna (‘fallen off the branch’, Mennonite) whose father scandalously had weekly “Sunday School” in his little gazebo that included alcohol for those so inclined so early in the morning. Much to my surprise at the time, my friend told me he was attracted to the Catholic church because of its ceremonies.  I was surprised by that comment, as I had been brought up to think that ceremonies got in the way of faith.

The film demonstrates some of those ceremonies thrillingly in ways only good cinema can do. Watch it and be amazed. Clearly, ceremony can be part of a religious quest, no matter what us dullard Mennonites may think.

Another major issue in the movie is the question of doubt and its relationship to faith.  Can there be faith without doubt? It is an old and important question.  Brother Lawrence speaks warmly of doubt

Brother Cardinal Lawrence, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, gives an opening address to the Cardinals gathered in conclave which is a majestic homage to the twins, doubt and faith:

 

“Let me speak from the heart for a moment. St. Paul said, ‘Be subject to one another our of reverence for Christ. To work together, and to grow together, we must be tolerant. No one person or…or faction seeking to dominate another. And speaking to the Ephesians who were of course a mixture of Jews and gentiles, Paul reminds us that God’s gift to the church is its variety. It is this variety, this diversity of people and views which gives our church its strength. And over the course of many years in the service of our Mother the Church let me tell you, there is one sin, which I have come to fear above all others. Certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not certain at the end. My God, My God, why are you forsaken me? He cried out in agony at the ninth hour on the cross. Our faith is a living thing, precisely because it walks hand-in-hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and no doubt, there would be no mystery and therefore no need for faith. Let us pray that God will grant us a Pope who doubts. And let him grant us a Pope who sins and asks for forgiveness and who carries on.”

 

I think these are wise words for us all on our religious quest. Certainty is the enemy of faith, not its defender.

Is it even possible to have faith without doubt?  There is no faith in mathematics. No one has faith that 2 + 2 =4. That is a certainty. No faith is needed. If you don’t understand that you don’t understand mathematics.

 

Conclave: The Abyss calls Out

Movies, Religious Quest in the Modern Age

 

In the real-world conclave, which started one day after I watched the film Conclave, a majority of the cardinals who went to Rome right after Pope Francis die, were appointed by the late pontiff, within the past 13 years, and as a result had never experienced a conclave. Just like in the film many of those Cardinals came from small dioceses around the world and were not well known.  Apparently, some of the Cardinals, just like me, watched the film to learn some of the protocols of the Church.

 

In the film Conclave, one of the Cardinals was so obscure he had never been revealed to be a Cardinal. So at least he claims.  This was Cardinal Benitez a purported Cardinal from Afghanistan, who had been secretly appointed by the previous Pope, if you can believe that. Is he a real Cardinal? Can he be believed? No one there had ever heard of him before, but apparently the Pope appointed him in secret. Here is a very surprising candidate but in the first round he collects a vote.  Clearly some Cardinals had doubts about the legitimacy of the alleged appointment. Yet he received one vote, but perhaps he voted for himself.  Yet, he denied that he voted for himself.

 

Father Thomas Lawrence, who is managing the process of the Conclave, accepts this Cardinal Benitez for real and sees this as “a marvellous testament to the Universal Church.”   He also said, “so many men of different nationalities bound together by their faith in God.” It sounds miraculous, to use that word again.  It is a testament to pluralism. After all, if the Church is truly universal it must have leadership from every part of the world. Such as Africa from where many priests now come because the Church there is thriving. As it is in the Philippines. Why should the Pope not come from one of those places?

 

One of the brothers, Brother Tedesco, a very conservative Cardinal, who thinks the previous Pope was too liberal, insists the Pope must come from Italy. After all, looking around it is clear that each Cardinal naturally moves to his own circle. Africans to African Cardinals. French to French. And the like. He said what holds them together is the Universal Language—Latin. But sadly, The Roman Catholic Church, the Universal Church, has given up on Latin services and he thinks that is where their problems originated. The Church should go back to Latin. As he says, “Without the dead language…without Rome, things fall apart. The centre cannot hold.” He uses the stirring words of W.B. Yeats to reinforce his point.  He says, pointing to the black Cardinals, “the abyss calls out.”

 

 

Conclave:  Imperfect Men

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Religious Quest in the Modern Age

I mentioned in my first post on this wonderful film that the ancient procedures of the Roman Catholic Church in choosing a new Pope are insane. But that is not all. Not only is the process far from perfect, so are the candidates. They are imperfect men. Some of them very far from perfect.

Father Ayemi, one of the candidates,  admits he had “a lapse” when he was 30 years old with a nun who was 19 years old.  She made a dramatic unauthorized appearance in the conclave where she caused a stir. The secret is already out.  In addition, there is a child who might be his.  Yet, surprisingly perhaps, he also said, “I sensed the Holy Spirit this morning. I am ready to take this burden.” He believes God has chosen him to lead the Roman Catholic Church, even though if this “lapse” was discovered, it would no doubt rock the Church. As a result, he refuses to excuse himself as a candidate and he has wide support among the Cardinals.

Imagine the carnage to the church if it came out that the Pope had fathered a child!  Eventually it is revealed that other Cardinals are also less than impeccable men. Some Cardinals search for the “least horrible” candidate. Some of the cardinals examine their own hearts and find themselves wanting. One begs others not to vote for him yet they do. Many have deep ambition, but hide it. Is that bad?  Humility is more attractive, but is it better? One Brother says, with a shudder, “It is shameful to be this age and still not know yourself.” Then quotes this: “Ambition is the moth of holiness.”  I don’t know who said that? I am not sure what it means.

 

Clearly, none of these men who are candidates are perfect. But who is perfect? Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “the last Christian died on the cross.”  Some are very far from perfect Christians. Every political or religious process is imperfect. So too is every candidate for any office.

The process actually mirrors our current political malaise.  I wish we could have a thunderbolt from heaven to make things right in our political world. But its not likely to happen.

What that process has never achieved, no matter what Catholics believe, is infallible leadership. That might be the only certainty in this process. Even though in some cases the choice of leadership seems almost divine, in others, the choice seems more Satanic.

So how can such an imperfect process with such imperfect timber create a good Pope? Or a great Pope?  It must be a miracle.

Conclave: An Insane Process

Religious Quest in the Modern Age

I strongly recommend that everyone watch the film Conclave. It tell the story of a fictional conclave conducted by the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to choose a new Pope.

 

Since the Roman Catholic was recently having a real conclave, I thought it would be a good idea to watch this film, before they did. I finished it just in time, one day before the actual concave.  The concave in the film was much more interesting than the real one, which ended swiftly after two ballots. The rule is a Cardinal must achieve 60% of the votes of the Cardinals.

 

I also wanted to consider this as part of my continuing efforts make a religious quest in the modern age.  This is certainly modern quest for a very ancient church.

 

Ralph Fiennes who starred brilliantly in the film along with Stanley Tucci, and one of my favorite actors, John Lithgow. All of them are brilliant as Cardinals. I also heard Fiennes interviewed a couple of days earlier on Amanpour & Company. He indicated that he was not a believing Catholic but said “the God question has been in family for centuries.”

 

What Fiennes emphasized is that the formal ancient procedures for “electing” a Pope are really an insane political process. First, and I think most important, the only ones who can vote are Cardinals under the age of 80 all of whom are males.  Secondly, they can only appoint a man!  Women are out. Obviously, this is not a democratic process in any sense. Cutting out half of the members of the Church is ridiculous. Every one of the other 1.2 billion Catholics has no say whatsoever in who becomes Pope. In the modern age who could accept such a procedure?  Catholics that’s who. None of the Cardinals were elected to their positions either. Popes appointed all of them. In fact, Pope Francis appointed most of them.

 

Yet, the mystery—the real mystery I would submit—is that somehow the procedures work.  How is that possible? After all, the Roman Catholic Church has been around for 2,000 years. No other organization—religious or otherwise—can say that. Even those like me, who think the process is insane, must respect the longevity of the Church.

 

So one of the themes is to reveal how against all odds, the procedure works. Usually the “right” Cardinal is chosen.

 

One of the Cardinals in the film, Brother Ray says one day before the conclave, “I’d say this is a pretty fair vison of hell.”  The Cardinals are called Brothers.  To this, Brother Lawrence, replied, “Don’t be blasphemous Brother Ray, hell arrives tomorrow with the Cardinals.” Such a procedure can’t work. Yet, somehow it does.  At least, so it appears.

Great Art and the Miracle of Sudbury

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, autumn, Environment

 

This chronicle of our trip across the east half of the country is now drawing to a close. It was a glorious trip, because we have a glorious country. We had a wonderful stay in Ottawa with Chris’ sister, brother-in-law, and niece. With them we visited the Canadian Art Gallery a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. This time we saw mainly new art from students. I also saw and enjoyed Barnett Newman’s Voice of Fire which caused such a great stir when the museum purchased it for $1.76 million in 1990. But now it is considered wrth more than 10 times as much.  A great investment. But I consider such values for art absurd. No art is really worth the prices paid for it, except it must be worth what people are willing to pay for it.

 

I just wanted to make a comment about Sudbury where we went to visit my cousin Bruno and his wife Lily. Bruno was suffering from Parkinson’s disease and died a month or two late. It was great to have one last visit with this gentleman. This is what he was—a true gentle man. Very glad to have one last visit.

 

I want to close this chronicle with some comments about Sudbury, which we had little time to see on account of that visit and our weariness and eagerness to go home.

Sudbury is a miracle story.  It proves that nature always bats last!  We must not forget that. At one time things looked bleak in Sudbury. They were desperate. Sudbury was the world’s largest atmospheric source of sulphur pollution, with vast associated biodiversity damages. The landscape around it was literally a moonscape. I remember the desolation from my first trip through Sudbury in 1967 on the way to Montreal.

 

The damage was caused by the chemicals emitted during the process of mining nickel. The damage was incredible. Some considered Sudbury completely destroyed.

 

Then after realizing the awful devastation, people came together to try to repair that damage. It seemed an insurmountable task.

 

Since the late 1890s, Sudbury was an important part of the mining industry in Canada. That industry created an environmental disaster in the area. There really is no other way to describe it. According to Climatefast,

 

“Sulfur dioxide released into the environment from the smelting of copper and nickel ores caused acid rain, and formed a black coating on rocks in the area, still visible to this day. Surrounding lakes were acidified, wreaking havoc on their ecosystems. Furthermore, copper and nickel accumulated in the soil, making it inhospitable for plants to grow.”

 

40 square miles around the city of Sudbury there was nearly no natural vegetation at all. It was hell. And environmental hell.

In 1971 and 1972, 4 years after I visited the area, NASA used the area for mimicking the surface of the moon for experiments with their prospective astronauts during the Apollo 16 and 17 operations. Sudbury had an international reputation for being a hell hole.

 

People got together and asked themselves what they could do about the disaster. Researchers told them that treating the toxic metal-contaminated soil with lime might help and enable vegetation to grow again. In 1978 volunteers and students including university students from Laurentian University started working at liming the ground and planting seeds of various plants as well as saplings. The campaign was an astonishing success. The area started to regreen.

 

Over 10 million trees were planted in the cleaned-up soil. Amazingly, the city now has some of the cleanest air in Canada! That re-greening project is ongoing. The newly grown trees and shrubs have helped to trap CO2 from the atmosphere.

 

The surrounding area is now habitat for wildlife and renovating the entire community.

 

At the United Nations Biodiversity Conference  (COP 15 ) in Montreal in December of 2022, a landmark agreement was made to guide global action on nature through to 2030. Representatives of 118 governments from around the world gathered for 2 weeks in Montreal and came up with the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) on the last day of negotiations. That framework agreement tries to address biodiversity loss, and the crucial need to restore biodiversity losses, and protect indigenous rights.

 

The plan includes concrete measures to stop and even reverse nature loss, including putting 30% of degraded ecosystems under legal protection by 2030.

 

At that conference delegates recognized that the stakes for the world could not be higher as the planet was experiencing the largest loss of life since the dinosaurs! One million plant and animal species arenow threatened with extinction, many within in decades.

 

At that conference Laurentian University showcased the important work that had been done in the Sudbury area and what could be accomplished with hard work and dedication.  This has been called “Sudbury’s Regreening Story.”

 

Since the project began the following has been achieved:

 

  • A 98% reduction in air pollution from an industry that is still thriving;
  • Nearly all air quality advisories have been eliminated;
  • 10 million planted trees and shrubs have been planted by the community;
  • 50% of the lost sport fish populations have been restored;
  • More than 3 million tons of carbon have been sequestered by those newly planted trees and shrubs;
  • 22% of the zone that was damaged has been converted into lovely parks.  I can testify to the beauty of much of the area that was once a despoiled wasteland. Unfortunately, because we had a deadline to visit my cousin I did not have time to go back to provide photographic proof. My bad. I will do better next time;
  • One species (aurora trout) has been delisted from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada ( COSEWIC) which recommends what species should be placed on or taken off of the list of critically endangered species;
  • The area has seen the emergence of a biotech industry based on a sustainable harvest of critical metals for the e-economy.

 

The successful restoration, which is not complete but is ongoing, was made possible by an energetic public, and extensive partnerships between citizens and various governmental, scientific, and business communities. The work here was also instrumental in encouraging the establishment of a very successful international treaty to stop the generation of acid rain.

 

That really is the key—avoiding the catastrophic losses in advance.  The United States has forgotten about this, as under Trump II they are relentlessly dismantling many environmental protections in favor of giving businesses free reign to do about whatever they want. I believe that is a huge mistake. Sudbury shows that to us all. It is much easier to prevent environmental degradation than mitigating it.

 

The community has become involved in the demonstration of how damaged nature can be restored even in extremely difficult circumstances. A story about the project was included in the Jane Goodall film Reason for Hope.  I think the maple leaf symbolizes that.

There is reason for hope! Nature does bat last. But we have to be smart.

 

 

Picking on the Vulnerable

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada, Gender Warfare

 

 

During this trip to eastern Canada we experienced the Republican Party spending millions on LGBTQ issues, even though their polls had shown that not many Republicans cared very much about the issue.

 

Donald Trump warned Americans that under the leadership of the Democratic party they could send their sons to school and they would come back as girls without their knowledge or consent. This is the simplified nonsense that Trump preached. And it was effective. He also told the American people that Kamila Harris looked out for “they/them” and he would look after you!

 

The Republican Party in the US spent millions of dollars on ads attacking the LGBTQ community in the last couple of weeks in the campaign, demonstrating once again that their dominant ideology on this subject, is the ideology of the bully. They want to pick on the most vulnerable people in America. That’s what bullies do.

 

The Republican claim trans people are the demons destroying America.  According to USAfacts, “Approximately 1.14% of the nation’s adult population, or 3 million Americans, identify as transgender.”  How is it possible that less than 2% of the population consisting mainly of the most vulnerable people in the country could possibly be a threat to the country?  This tiny group is a big problem for America? This seems absurd.

 

We should be protecting the most vulnerable not demonizing them. According to the Bible in Matthew 25:40 Jesus said “… inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” That seems like the Christian attitude to me.  The Republican attitude seems more like the Anti-Christ.  We should be protecting the vulnerable not scapegoating them.  But bullies don’t protect the vulnerable; they attack them. Yet Christians are the most consistent supporters of Donald Trump. How is that possible?

New Brunswick: From the Grand to the not so Grand

2024 Trip to Eastern Canada

St. John River Valley

 

It did not take long for us to renege on our promise to hustle home. After a few hours of travelling on the freeway through New Brunswick we just had to get off.  There was a road that followed the St. John River closely that was paved but only 2 lanes. That was much more to our liking so we took it. And it was great! Even though it was a bit slower.

The St. John Rover Valley is truly grand.  But you could tell we were getting tired. We made very stops to take photographs.

The St. John River is Eastern Canada’s longest river at 418-miles. It runs down the western edge of Nova Scotia along the Quebec border all the way to the Bay of Fundy.

This also brought us to Hartland, home of the longest covered wooden bridge in the world. According to New Brunswick tourism it is the longest “by far.”  Can that be?

The bridge is 1282 ft. (390.75 metres)  long and was certainly the longest we had ever seen. the purpose of the covers was to prevent truss joints from rotting. This one was built in 1921 with the walkway along the side added in 1945. This was a grand bridge. then we went to the not so grand.

 

Grand Falls

In Grand Falls we discovered falls that were far from Grand.  They may have been grand at one time. Not anymore.  They have been emasculated by hydro-electric dams that have turned them into pipsqueak falls. How the mighty have fallen.  80% of the river has turned into a narrow stream. To me it seemed like sadness, not mist hung in the air.  I know we need hydro-electric power, but there sure is a big cost. Is this what “clean” power is all about? All I am saying is that the price of progress is immense.