Tea and Vitriol

Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome and spiritual leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics around the world, died on Monday. He was 88 years old and in poor health for some time. Pope Francis died shortly after meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, himself a covert to Roman Catholicism. What effect that might have had on the Pope's health is anyone's guess. But as soon as the Pope was dead, the Vatican's PR team immediately sprang into action to sing his praises. As a lapsed Catholic who had been subjected to the rigors of a Catholic primary school education, I have long disregarded the importance of anything the Popes said or did. It's quite apparent that most "devout" Roman Catholics do the same but haven't got the courage of their convictions to say so. It is true that I have had the good fortune to meet a few good, interesting and intelligent Roman Catholic clergymen, as well as similar type clergymen of different faiths. My relations with them we...

America's second lady, Usha Vance, announced three days ago that she planned to visit Greenland to attend the dogsled races and visit cultural and historic sites. In an obviously ghost-written, prepared bland speech, the second lady referred to the warm relations between Greenland and the United States, speaking of their mutual respect and affection for each other. That might have been true once, but President Trump's bombastic statements about either buying Greenland or simply taking the island because America needs it has ruined that sentiment, probably forever. Madame Vance also failed to mention in her speech that she would be accompanied by Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Greenland's government was already aware of their intended visit and produced more than a little bit of anxiety, since those two men were rabid for the US to annex Greenland. However, they would be heading straight for the US military station in Gree...