"Charming and Engaging"

 A review of My Queen, My Love from royal historian Theodore Harvey at Royal World:

Most Americans are probably not aware that the US state of Maryland was originally named after Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), daughter of King Henri IV of France (1553-1610) and wife of the ill-fated King Charles I of England (1600-1649). Readers seeking an introduction to this unjustly neglected historical figure would do well to immerse themselves in this charming and engaging book by Elena Maria Vidal, who appropriately enough lives in Maryland.

"My Queen, My Love," which covers the title character's life from her childhood in France through the births of her own children in the 1630s on the eve of the English Civil War, is a historical novel, so includes fictionalized dialogue, but is firmly based on historical research like any biography. Its style vividly brings the complex and colourful world of the 17th century to life, from Italy [homeland of her mother Marie de Medici (1573-1642)] to France to England. The central importance of religion is evident from the outset. Daughter of the pragmatic convert Henri IV, the devoutly Catholic Henrietta Maria finds herself in an impossible situation as wife of the staunch Anglican Charles I in what is by then a predominantly and fervently Protestant country, with even the King's own high church Anglicanism increasingly deemed too "catholic" by some. While the author clearly shares Henrietta Maria's devout Roman Catholicism, it is to Vidal's credit that the sincerity of King Charles who believes that his Church of England is truly Catholic is depicted in a well-rounded manner. I particularly appreciated the writer's evident love of liturgical beauty as reflected in lavish descriptions of Catholic ceremonies including sacred music. Henrietta Maria's enjoyment of the secular arts, so scandalous to the dour Puritans especially her own participation in Masques, is a consistent theme as well.

Anglicans like me who revere Charles as a Martyr, aware of his and his wife's fervent loyalty to each other during the terrible trials of the Civil War which (after the time period covered by this book) would end in his execution and her widowhood, are accustomed to thinking of their marriage as an ideal devoted Christian one, as indeed it later became. However it must be admitted that this was not always the case. While vaguely aware that King Charles and Queen Henrietta Maria had had difficulties in the early years of their marriage, I had not thought much about the details until I read this book. One sensitive issue is that in order to gain French approval for their 1625 marriage Charles had had to make various promises, particularly those related to the Queen's Catholicism, that once back in England he finds himself unable to keep. It particularly galls her, understandably, that money from her dowry ended up being used to fund a war with her native France! While Vidal's Henrietta Maria never falters in her ultimately heroic love for Charles, the reader can also see without dismissing his point of view how Charles might have felt frustrated at times. (Read more.)

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Baltimore’s Stunning Case Study in Government Waste

From Direct Line News:

Baltimore City’s failed website redesign isn’t just a digital misfire—it’s a poster child for government dysfunction, waste, and cronyism. After three years, three vendors, and nearly $4 million spent, the city still doesn’t have a functional BaltimoreCity.gov. But what it does have is a paper trail of political favoritism, poor oversight, and squandered taxpayer funds.

This project, intended to modernize the City’s website to be more user-friendly and compliant with accessibility standards, has instead spiraled into an embarrassing money pit. As detailed by The Baltimore Brew’s Mark Reutter in a July 17 exposé, the total cost is now pegged at $3.9 million—with no live website to show for it. Worse, the design currently in development is reportedly already outdated. Reutter’s reporting is based on city procurement documents, vendor contracts, and internal communications, which paint a picture of ballooning budgets and nonexistent results. Then came a Fox Baltimore investigation that added a troubling layer of political entanglements to the mess.

As Fox Baltimore reported on July 17, Baltimore’s IT department invited six companies to bid on the website redesign in 2021. Only two submitted proposals. One bid $300,000. The other—Fearless Solutions—came in at $1.2 million, four times higher. The city awarded the contract to the more expensive bidder. Fearless Solutions is owned by Delalai Dzirasa, a donor to Mayor Brandon Scott’s campaign and the husband of Baltimore’s then-Deputy Mayor, Dr. Letitia Dzirasa.

Mayor Scott defended the award: “This is a professional service contract. They went out and talked to multiple contractors and decided to go with Fearless.” What he failed to mention: this project never underwent a full competitive bid process. The city used a selective procurement approach, bypassing the broader competition that is usually required for projects of this scale.

The original contract was valued at $1.078 million. But five months in, Fearless asked for an additional $887,000. Then, seven months later, the city approved another $250,000, bringing the total payout to Fearless to over $2.2 million. Yet despite all that, there is still no functioning website. Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming stated flatly: “There is no website at this time. In fact, the company we hired stopped working for the city a year ago yesterday.” (Read more.)

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Those Who Hate Boys

 From Becoming Noble:

Terrible solutions are proposed. No matter how much traditional masculinity is undermined, powerful voices continue to insist that the real problem is that it hasn’t been destroyed altogether. ‘Only then will boys be happy.’ My thesis for this series is that there is a need to defend true masculinity on its own terms, not on the implicit terms of progressives who either don’t understand it or actively hate it.

Take, for example, this debate at the Oxford Union on traditional masculinity. The opening argument of the opposition - who are supposed to be defending traditional masculinity - starts with asserting the need for a ‘contemporary and inclusive’ masculinity which is accessible to anyone ‘of any race, sexuality, or other identity’.

The best defence that this speaker can mount on this anaemic foundation is an argument that masculinity is useful for activism and community building like the ‘Movember Foundation’. After this slightly pathetic case she goes back to conceding “being forced to conform to a set of expectations is uncomfortable and even dangerous. We should allow people to access the gender expressions that make them feel like their truest self.” (Read more.)

 

Society will get the worst behavior it tolerates. From Culturcidal:

Although the shine is definitely off the halo these days, for a brief period of time, Rudi Giuliani had enough respect put on his name that he was considered a FRONT RUNNER for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008. At first glance, this seems ludicrous. After all, Giuliani is a moderate Republican who is best known for being the Mayor of New York City. Why were conservatives so in love with this guy?

Some of it had to do with him doing a good job during 9/11, but the thing he was most famous for was cleaning up NYC. The city was a crime-ridden hellscape before Giuliani took over, but “America’s mayor” had a plan to deal with it.

He embraced something called “Broken Windows” policing. The general idea behind it is that when small crimes are unaddressed, large crimes soon follow. You let people smash windows, put up graffiti, and jump the turnstiles at the subway, and people assume no one cares, and they can get away with more.

Under Giuliani, the NYC Police Department got very aggressive, very visible, and cracked down on these “small” crimes. As a result, not only did it improve the look and image of NYC, but the crime rate also plunged. How much? Quite a bit, actually.... (Read more.)

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Recusant Queen: The White Martyrdom of Henrietta Maria

Queen Henrietta Maria wearing the diamond cross given her by Pope Urban VIII

 

Kristen Van Uden Theriault wrote a most insightful and poignant review of My Queen, My Love at Catholic Exchange:

After the Anglican revolution of Henry VIII, the English royal house was divided. Protestant Elizabeth I died with no issue. Despite Mary Queen of Scots’ heroic witness unto death for the true Faith, her son James was effectively hijacked by her enemies and groomed into a Tudor heir. By the time James’ son Charles ascended the throne, the Stuart dynasty was strongly within the Protestant camp, though his potential conversion remained a hoped-for (or dreaded) eventuality.The long line of English Catholic martyrs marched forward even during the “tolerant” reign of the Stuarts....Anti-Catholic sentiment reigned supreme.  The “ringing island” rang no longer, instead clamoring dissonant peals of error.

Into this hostile territory entered a young Catholic princess, Henrietta Maria of France. The daughter of Henry IV, a French Huguenot, and Catholic Marie de’Medici, Henrietta was sent not only as a political envoy, as was the routine purpose of royal marriages, but also as a religious ambassador. Her parents’ marriage, by which the Church partially attempted to heal the French Huguenot schism, provided a model, albeit a rocky one.

The marriage of Henrietta and Charles required a dispensation from the pope, as Catholics were forbidden to marry non-Catholics except in extreme or unusual circumstances. The dispensation came with a weighty caveat: that Henrietta would endeavor to convert her husband, and consequently his country, back to the true Faith. Henrietta was instructed to imitate saint Berthe, who had converted her pagan husband, and sent into the spiritual war zone.

Henrietta arrived in England at the tender age of fifteen, with this outsized supernatural mission to complete. (Read more.)

 

Book available, HERE.

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The Art of the Deal: Japan Pays Upfront, America Builds Now

 From Amuse on X:

Let us begin with the fundamentals. Trade deficits have long haunted American politics, most often serving as cudgels wielded by opposing factions. Economists debate their significance. Politicians weaponize them. Meanwhile, the public rightly senses that an imbalance exists when goods flow in and factories shut down. Traditional trade deals attempt to remedy this by offering future concessions, increased market access, or vague commitments to "level the playing field." But these promises are paper tigers, easily ignored, impossible to enforce. Trump’s Japan deal breaks that pattern by inverting it. Instead of asking for concessions in the future, he demanded compensation upfront: a $550 billion infusion of Japanese capital to finance American infrastructure and industry.

This is a paradigmatic shift. Imagine, if you will, a wealthy guest who has long overstayed their welcome, consuming more than they contribute, finally agreeing to help renovate the house. That is what Japan has agreed to do. Rather than merely apologizing for the trade imbalance, they have provided a signing bonus that allows the US to reinvest in itself, without begging Congress for a dime.

Critics may ask: why would Japan agree to such terms? The answer is simple, and it is twofold. First, Trump’s judicious application of a 15% tariff on Japanese imports, a strategic retreat from higher threatened rates, signaled credible resolve. Second, Japan understands the geopolitical stakes. A strong, self-sufficient United States is the linchpin of Pacific stability. Financing American energy, manufacturing, and AI facilities is not charity. It is insurance against Chinese hegemony. (Read more.)

 

When NASA went woke. Also from Amuse on X:

 In 1969, Neil Armstrong took a single step that echoed across centuries. Today, NASA's Artemis program trudges forward with the bureaucratic gait of a midlevel HR department pushing a PowerPoint on pronouns. How did we get here? The answer, in brief: identity politics. Artemis, the ambitious initiative to return Americans to the Moon, has become less a scientific endeavor and more a case study in the consequences of subordinating competence to quotas.

To be clear, Artemis was not always thus. There was a moment, fleeting, but real, when hope reentered NASA's orbit. That moment bore the name Jared Isaacman. But that moment was reportedly snuffed out by Sergio Gor, the Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, whose personal vendetta against Elon Musk doomed Isaacman's confirmation. Gor's obstruction did more than kill a nomination, it delayed America's lunar ambitions by at least a year, perhaps more. What might have been a renaissance at NASA became another casualty of palace intrigue.

Isaacman, a self-made billionaire, ace pilot, and commander of private orbital missions, represented precisely the kind of energetic, capable, and forward-thinking leadership the Artemis program required. As the founder of Shift4 Payments and architect of the all-civilian Inspiration4 and Polaris Dawn missions, Isaacman had already accomplished feats NASA once deemed impossible. He cut through the red tape. He got Americans into space, efficiently, affordably, safely. He inspired the public. And unlike the ceremonial caretakers of the federal space bureaucracy, he had actually gone to space himself.

His nomination to lead NASA promised a return to merit, innovation, and clarity of purpose. During his confirmation hearings, Isaacman argued that Artemis should be completed "as fast as possible," advocating for near-term pragmatism (using SLS and Orion) but long-term sustainability through commercial partnerships and reusable launch systems. This was no utopian dream, it was the proven SpaceX model adapted to the public sector. Had Isaacman been confirmed, Artemis might have evolved from an aimless spectacle into a galvanizing national achievement. Instead, the Biden holdovers and bureaucratic inertia won. And what we are left with now is the Artemis experiment, not in lunar science, but in DEI. (Read more.)

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The Reluctant Student: Cultivating Fortitude and the Love of Learning

 From Mater et Magistra:

Aside from learning, behavioral, and cognitive difficulties which must be worked out through patience, love, and appropriate therapies, there are times that the average child resists learning. Why do some students resist learning?

• Fear of failure – They assume they aren’t “good” at certain subjects.

• Disconnection – They don’t see how learning applies to their real lives.

• Lack of wonder – They haven’t been given the space to be curious.

Proverbs 1:7 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” We must cultivate a love for learning as a means of knowing God’s creation. Education must engage both reason (intellectual development) and faith (spiritual purpose). When students see the purpose behind learning, they are more motivated. (Read more.)

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A Who’s Who of the Gilded Age

 

 From Tatler:

Old Money vs New Money, Old World vs New World: the Gilded Age was a time of seismic change in New York society. The industrial revolution of the late 19th century led to an explosion in the middle classes, with the likes of railroad men and construction tycoons suddenly becoming extremely rich. As these so-called nouveau riche emerged into society, they inevitably found themselves confronted with the rancour and jealousy of the existing upper echelons, whose wealth could be traced back generations. Now, the merchant class were mixing with New York royalty, buying up the best houses, marrying their daughters to the most eligible bachelors, and sending their children to the finest schools. This tension forms the basis of the central plot in Julian Fellowes's drama, The Gilded Age, portraying these warring factions from the point of view of Marian Brook (played by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep's daughter, Louisa Jacobson) a newcomer to the social scene whose guiding lights are her Old Money aunts, whose lives are at odds with her New Money friends. Here, Tatler brings you a guide to the women who inspired these characters, from the warring Queen Bees who kept trying to out-do each other with their 5th Avenue mansions moving further and further uptown, to the most glamorous debutantes and dollar princesses. (Read more.)

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Trump Urges DOJ to Prosecute Obama

 From Gregg Jarrett:

“If you look at those papers, they have them stone cold, and it was President Obama… the leader of the gang was President Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?” he added.

Trump’s comments came while hosting Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at the White House. He insisted that accountability for Obama, who served from 2009 to 2017, should be a top priority for the Justice Department.

“It’s criminal at the highest level. It would be President Obama, he started it. And [Joe] Biden was there with him, and [then-FBI Director James] Comey was there, and [then-Director of National Intelligence] James Clapper — the whole group was there, and [then-CIA Director John] Brennan,” Trump asserted. (Read more.)

 

From Tierney's Real News:

TRUMP: “Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader. Hillary Clinton was right there with him and so was Sleepy Joe Biden, and so were the rest of them: [former FBI Director James] Comey, [former Director of National Intelligence James] Clapper, the whole group. They tried to rig an election and they got caught. And then they did rig the election in 2020. I did it a third time and I won in a landslide."

“He’s culpable. This was treason. They caught President Obama absolutely cold. This was every term you can imagine. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody’s ever even imagined, even in other countries." (Read more.)

 

Who is John Brennan?

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Should NFP Be Taught in Marriage Prep?

 All I know is that it should not be discussed when children are present. I once watched a young couple inform the congregation of the biological details of NFP as parents had to cover the ears of their small children. Just because something is natural does not mean it's for little ones to hear. From Catholic Answers:

Marriage is a natural institution that predates Christianity, but to the modern world, Christian marriage is a strange curiosity—like the Amish, or cars with stick shifts. That makes it, from our perspective, it’s an instrument of rebellion. So engaged couples should be trained as revolutionaries.

That means putting them in a mindset of being distinct from the world. Where the world pursues relationships based on sexual gratification and personal fulfilment, we offer the self-emptying model of Christ and the Church his bride. Where the world says we can redefine marriage or dissolve it at will, we say, “One man, one woman, for life.”

And when the world sterilizes sex, using pills and barriers to subordinate fecundity to pleasure, we insist on the inseparable connection between marriage and children. Underscoring this connection, education in natural family planning breeds revolutionary thinking—arguably even more than the “providentialist” approach that would have us simply tell couples not to use contraception and leave it at that. (Read more.)

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