HALF-FULL REPORT 05/09/25
The Yankees Beat the Padres
The Return of Moral Clarity, and the Gathering Storm
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 11. Happy Mother’s Day to the women who raise warriors, build nations, and love without limits. Your strength shapes the world.
A Providential Election in a Time of Crisis
The election of Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago as Pope Leo XIV may appear surprising to casual observers as an American pontiff rising from a secularizing republic. But for the College of Cardinals, this was no accident. It was a deliberate echo of history. Like St. Augustine watching Rome crumble from within, the new pope hails from a nation facing its own moral collapse; divided, distracted, and adrift. The cardinals may have seen in this parallel not coincidence, but providence. Just as Augustine offered theological clarity amidst the decaying foundations of Roman society, the cardinals likely concluded that only a thinker grounded in timeless virtue could shepherd the Church through today’s rising chaos.
The Jesuits Are Not Happy
Just ask Steve Bannon. Augustinian ethics do not flinch. Augustine deals in absolutes: Truth, justice, the City of God versus the city of man. No compromise, no clever footnotes, no dialectical backflips. The Augustinian Order is known for calling sin what it is, names evil by name, and doesn’t try to “contextualize” the devil out of hell.
Now, a Jesuit like former Pope Francis? That’s a whole different animal. Jesuits love nuance. They love the gray zone. They’ll hold a seminar before they’ll hold the line. To them, Augustine’s black-and-white moral vision is too rigid, too medieval, too…certain. Jesuits want moral flexibility—they think “discernment” means finding a third path when the truth demands you pick a damn side.
So why the tension, why is Bannon upset? Because an Augustinian says, “Here is the Truth. Stand on it or perish.” A Jesuit says, “Well, let’s talk about the sociopolitical implications of truth in light of historical trauma and evolving consciousness.”
Bottom line: The Augustines are warriors. The Jesuits? Too often, they’re diplomats in a time of war. That’s why they clash.
Want it in Latin? Veritas non timet. Truth doesn’t flinch.
Who Was Augustine? The Man Behind the Philosophy.
To understand Pope Leo XIV, one must first understand Augustine. Born in 354 A.D. in North Africa, Augustine of Hippo began life as a brilliant but restless seeker. Drawn to hedonism and the philosophies of his age, he pursued truth in all the wrong places before undergoing a profound conversion to Christianity spurred by the prayers of his mother Monica and the influence of St. Ambrose. Baptized at age 33, Augustine would go on to become a priest, bishop, and towering theological mind.
His works, particularly Confessions and The City of God, laid the intellectual and spiritual foundations of Western Christianity. Augustine taught that humans are fallen yet called to grace; that earthly societies are corruptible; and that true peace can only be found in the eternal City of God. He famously wrote:
“Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self.”
The Augustinian Order: A Legacy of Contemplation and Truth
The Augustinian Order, formally founded in the 13th century, drew inspiration from Augustine’s Rule. It was a monastic guide that emphasized communal living, prayerful contemplation, and the pursuit of Truth. Augustinians are not agitators or diplomats. They are theologians, educators, and soul-shepherds. Their tradition is centered on interior transformation and virtue ethics: the moral development of the individual as a means to renewing the community. In an age addicted to relativism and noise, an Augustinian pope represents a return to silence, contemplation, and moral clarity.
Virtue Ethics and the Role of the Church
Augustine’s philosophy is best categorized as a form of virtue ethics—moral action arises not from rules or consequences but from rightly ordered love. For Augustine, sin is disordered love: loving lesser things more than greater ones. This orientation deeply affects Church leadership. An Augustinian pope is not primarily a manager or a statesman. He is a moral physician.
“He who sings prays twice,” Augustine once said. Gregorian chant, restored and emphasized under Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903), reflects this approach. It disciplines the affections, centers the soul, and rejects the chaos of secular soundscapes. Pope Leo XIV, grounded in this tradition, is likely to revive such practices—not for nostalgia’s sake, but as spiritual weaponry.
If you are unfamiliar with Gregorian Chant, the video below is an excellent example that continues for about twelve hours. It is intended to be used to enter a deeply contemplative state. Pope Gregory I (also known as Pope Gregory the Great, who served as pope from 590 to 604 AD) was also an Augustinian and faced a similar rise in secularist governments intent on censoring Truth. He used music to unite Christians, regardless of language.
A War on Spiritual Evil: Pope Leo XIV’s Mission
It is rational, perhaps inevitable, to expect Pope Leo XIV to declare war on spiritual evil. Like Augustine, he sees no neutrality in the public square. There is the City of God, and there is the city of man. Every soul, institution, and ideology chooses its allegiance. Where Leo XIII responded to modernism with his Prayer to St. Michael, which is a form of exorcism, Leo XIV may escalate that posture into a more public spiritual offensive. In other words, 1.4 billion Catholics are likely to be told that China’s CCP is a spiritual evil that must face exorcism.
“The good man, although he is a slave, is free; but the wicked man, even if he reigns, is a slave,” Augustine wrote.
Expect Leo XIV to frame global conflicts, cultural decay, and institutional corruption not just in political or economic terms, but as spiritual symptoms of deeper rebellion against God.
Why This Matters
In our time, three words, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, are treated with religious reverence in the halls of power. But as with so many golden idols, their shine belies their rot. They sound lovely. Who could oppose inclusion, equity, or diversity? But Augustine, if he were among us, would immediately recognize the work of the Tempter in this semantic sleight of hand. For evil, he taught, is not a substance of its own but the perversion of the good. And DEI is precisely that, a corruption of unity and justice dressed in the language of moral virtue.
These programs preach harmony but sow division. They promise fairness but deliver discrimination. This isn’t new; it’s just the latest incarnation of the ancient heresy. What we now call “neo-communism” is less a product of Marx than of Plato twisted with his ideal forms imposed by the elite on the messy reality of lived life. Augustine rejected that, insisting on the primacy of the City of God over the illusions of man made utopias. Today’s DEI priesthood has simply swapped “class struggle” for “racial grievance,” replacing workers and capitalists with “oppressors” and “the oppressed,” judged not by behavior or character but by skin and identity. That’s not equity; it’s a bloodless form of neo-racism.
The Trump Administration, to its eternal credit, saw through this charade and moved to strike it down. This wasn’t some culture war sideshow; it was a fight for the very soul of the Republic. For what is at stake here is the endurance of Western civilization itself, rooted as it is in ordered liberty, Christian ethics, and the rule of law not in the ideological rubble of grievance studies and bureaucratic witch hunts.
Now, let us speak frankly about mass immigration. The claim that mass migration was orchestrated to create a permanent Democrat voting bloc was mocked for years as a conspiracy. But the mask has slipped. It wasn’t just about votes, it was about destabilization. And the chaos has arrived on schedule. Inner cities are unrecognizable. Hospitals are overrun. Wages are crushed, especially in vital industries like trucking where language and cultural cohesion are non-negotiable for safety. Yes, safety. Not just for the job, but for the American way of life.
There have been revolutions for far less. Yet, miraculously, we have a president, call him a centrist, a populist, a providential figure, whatever, who has refused to take the bait of violence, instead pursuing peace through strength. History will remember him as the greatest stabilizing force this nation has ever seen, precisely because he stood between the American people and those who sought to erase them.
As for the future? Mark my words: Elon Musk will lead a charge not into space, but back to Earth where innovation and practical engineering matter more than ESG reports and gender-neutral policy memos. One day, a gas-powered pickup, rugged, cheap, and American, will roll off a line and signal the end of this regulatory tyranny.
We are in a moral struggle but not between right and left, but between order and chaos, between the City of God and the city of man. Hold the line. Speak the Truth. And remember, freedom isn’t granted. It’s defended.
Geopolitical Implications: Confronting Totalitarian Regimes
The Augustinian worldview is unflinching about power. The City of Man, when divorced from divine law, trends toward tyranny. State-controlled religions in China and Russia are not spiritual communities. They are tools of authoritarian control. Augustine warned that empires, when worshiped or allowed to define morality, become idolatrous.
“In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?” he asked.
Pope Leo XIV is expected to reject diplomatic euphemism. The CCP’s suppression of Catholicism and Putin’s weaponization of Orthodoxy may be named not only as political injustices but as spiritual abominations. Expect renewed Vatican condemnation of religious persecution and a refusal to recognize regimes that twist faith into an arm of the state.
Leo XIII and the Roots of Renewal
Pope Leo XIII’s reign (1878–1903) was marked by philosophical resistance to modernity’s materialism and spiritual confusion. He battled socialism with Rerum Novarum, warned against the loss of supernatural vision, and emphasized Thomistic clarity. He restored Gregorian chant as a method of prayerful resistance. Pope Leo XIV inherits this legacy and amplifies it through Augustine’s deeper anthropological vision.
Toward Vatican III? Historical Precedents and the Need for Reform
History is no stranger to bold papal responses. The First Council of Nicaea confronted heresy; Trent answered the Reformation; Vatican I reaffirmed papal authority amid revolution. Vatican II opened the Church to modernity, but also to confusion. If Pope Leo XIV sees the Church compromised and the world aflame, he may see Vatican III not as an indulgence but as a necessity.
Such a council could clarify doctrine on human identity, artificial intelligence, gender, and religious liberty. It could reinforce the moral clarity that only Augustine’s rigorous metaphysics can offer. A new council, led by a spiritual realist, could be the answer to decades of pastoral drift.
The Battle Ahead
The conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV likely recognized the signs of the times: cultural collapse, rising persecution, and theological incoherence. They chose a pope who, like Augustine, had a front-row seat to the fall of a civilization. They didn’t choose a manager. They chose a theologian. A warrior. A Truth-teller.
With Augustine as his compass, Leo XIII as his foundation, and the spiritual battle lines clearly drawn, Pope Leo XIV may be remembered not as a caretaker of decline—but as the architect of a new era. Whether or not Vatican III follows, this pontificate signals a return to virtue, to contemplation, and to clarity.
And above all, it signals that the Church is done hiding.
“The Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints,” Augustine reminds us. “But in war, hospitals must be fortified.”
And under Pope Leo XIV, they will be.
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A Little Nudge in the Right Direction
We can thank Barron Trump for his social media genius.
Let’s cut the nonsense. The signal was sent loud and clear. No more limp-wristed popes, no more hand-wringing about moral gray zones. This is a war against evil, and we’re in it whether we like it or not. So buckle up, ladies and gents. Steel your spine. It’s time to saddle up and get to work. History doesn’t wait for the timid. Look upward. It’s your job.
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VE Day and the Spiritual War Against Evil
On May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe Day marked the formal end of World War II in the European theater. The streets of London, Paris, and New York overflowed with jubilant crowds, but beneath the celebration was a deeper current and a collective sigh of spiritual relief. The Nazi regime, with its industrialized cruelty and demonic ideology, had been vanquished. This was not just a military victory. For millions across the world, it was a moral and spiritual triumph and a decisive stand against evil incarnate.
World War II wasn’t simply about territory or politics. It was a cosmic confrontation between good and evil, order and chaos, life and death. The war revealed a level of depravity so systematic, so coldly rational, that it forced even the most secular minds to acknowledge the reality of evil. It wasn’t theoretical anymore. It had names, uniforms, and concentration camps. And it required a response that went beyond diplomacy or containment. It demanded annihilation.
This is why VE Day resonates beyond its historical moment. It symbolized the culmination of a just war. What theologians and philosophers had long called a bellum iustum. It was a war not only fought with tanks and rifles but with prayers, sermons, and moral clarity. Pope Pius XII, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt were very different men, yet each invoked the language of divine justice. Their appeals were not propaganda; they were reflections of a shared understanding that some ideologies are not merely wrong but evil.
The spiritual necessity to eliminate such evil had been building for decades. The early 20th century saw the rise of godless ideologies in fascism, communism, and nihilism that rejected any transcendent moral order. Nietzsche had declared God dead, and the world saw what followed: gulags, gas chambers, and genocides. Against this backdrop, ordinary men and women, soldiers and civilians alike, reached for something higher than themselves. They prayed, they sacrificed, and they believed they were instruments in a larger battle. They fought not just for democracy, but for the soul of mankind.
VE Day didn’t end the fight against evil. But it proved that evil could be resisted and defeated when nations acted with moral courage and unity. It remains a solemn reminder that freedom is never free, and that the absence of evil is not automatic. As Augustine wrote, “Peace is the tranquility of order.” VE Day was the beginning of that order being restored, however imperfectly.
Today, as authoritarianism rises again in new guises and old hatreds stir, the spiritual legacy of VE Day must not be forgotten. It is a call to vigilance, to virtue, and to moral clarity. Evil does not announce itself with fanfare; it creeps, rationalizes, and flatters. But when it finally shows its face, the time for prayer and resistance comes swiftly.
VE Day reminds us: evil may triumph for a season, but it cannot endure where the righteous stand firm. And in every generation, that stand must be made again.
Pope Leo XIV, like Leo XIII before him, embodies the Church’s timeless response to rising evil. As the world once pivoted to confront fascism and godless totalitarianism, so too must the world pivot again this time with clarity and resolve. The moral fog of the 21st century demands an America that remembers its role: not as a silent observer, but as the voice of conscience, the bastion of truth, and the unyielding witness to divine justice in a darkening world.
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India – Pakistan Conflict
China’s getting boxed in, and they know it. The grand chessboard is shifting. The West is recalibrating, supply chains are realigning, and Beijing’s position as the world’s low-cost factory floor is crumbling. India’s stepping in, picking up the slack in low-skill manufacturing, and poised to take on more value-added work as AI and automation make American reshoring economically viable. That’s a death sentence for China’s economic leverage.
Now here’s where it gets nasty. When a cornered regime like the Chinese Communist Party starts losing its grip, it doesn’t just whimper, it lashes out. Not always directly. Sometimes through proxies. And in this case, the most obvious pawn on the board is Pakistan.
Enter the India-Pakistan powder keg.
Let’s remember: the India-Pakistan conflict isn’t new. It’s been simmering since 1947, when colonial mismanagement and identity politics cleaved the subcontinent in two, leaving behind a legacy of blood and mistrust. They’ve fought three full-blown wars and countless skirmishes, all orbiting the unresolved mess of Kashmir. The ideological divide is clear. India is a secular democracy, Pakistan an Islamic republic. The hatred runs deep, and both sides have scores to settle.
So what happened? On April 22, a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir left 26 civilians dead with most of them tourists. India didn’t hesitate. It pointed the finger squarely at Pakistan-based groups, and launched Operation Sindoor, striking targets deep inside Pakistan and its administered territory. Rafale jets, cruise missiles, and surgical strikes took out more than 100 militants tied to groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed. Pakistan shot back, literally, claiming downed Indian jets, civilian casualties, and launching its own retaliatory attacks. India responded again, this time knocking out air defense systems near Lahore.
This is not just tit-for-tat. This is strategic chaos and China’s fingerprints are all over it.
Why? Because India is becoming a serious threat to China’s global manufacturing dominance. If India stabilizes, secures its borders, and partners with the West (as is already underway), it becomes a key pillar in the new democratic supply chain. That’s bad news for Beijing. So how do you destabilize a rising power? You light a fire next door. You whisper in Pakistan’s ear and give them just enough support, diplomatic, logistical, maybe even financial, to provoke a war. A long, drawn-out conflict keeps India distracted, insecure, and less attractive to Western investment.
This isn’t paranoia. This is Cold War realism with a digital upgrade.
Let’s connect the dots. The U.S. is laying down the new framework: trade with the EU and India, hemisphere-first security, and AI-enhanced reshoring of high-tech labor. China? It’s watching all of this happen, and its allies Turkey, Iran, Pakistan are the biggest losers in this new order. So it makes perfect sense for China to weaponize regional instability, using Pakistan as the match to ignite a regional inferno.
But here’s the kicker: if we, the West, can drive a wedge between Russia and China, and keep India locked into a stable trade and security relationship with us, this plan collapses. China gets isolated, Pakistan becomes a pariah, and the global order pivots toward peace through strength and not appeasement.
Augustine would’ve called this a clash between the City of God and the city of man. This isn’t just war theory; it’s the struggle between order and chaos, between justice and vengeance. And as Augustine said, peace isn’t the absence of conflict. It is the presence of justice.
So yes, it’s messy. But don’t be fooled. This isn’t some regional scuffle over old grievances. This is Beijing playing dirty to sabotage a rising democratic rival. And we better treat it with the seriousness it deserves. Because if India falls into permanent conflict, the future of a free, open, Western-led economic order takes a major hit.
And China knows it. That’s why they’re pulling the strings.
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US-UK Major Trade Deal
The U.S.–U.K. trade deal, finalized this week, marks a significant post-Brexit milestone for both nations. After years of negotiations clouded by political instability in Westminster and shifting priorities in Washington, the two allies have struck a bilateral agreement that reinforces their economic and strategic alignment.
At its core, the deal slashes tariffs on key exports such as U.S. agricultural products and digital services on one side, British cars, pharmaceuticals, and financial services on the other. It also includes provisions to streamline data sharing, simplify customs procedures, and recognize professional qualifications across borders. While not as comprehensive as the former EU–U.S. talks under TTIP, this pact is pragmatic, targeted, and fast-moving.
Critics on both sides have concerns. British farmers fear competition from larger, industrial-scale American producers, particularly regarding food safety standards. U.S. labor unions worry about downward pressure on wages in certain manufacturing sectors. But supporters argue this deal plays to each nation’s strengths: high-tech innovation and services for Britain; energy, agriculture, and logistics for the U.S.
Politically, the trade deal reinforces the “special relationship,” cementing economic interdependence at a time when global supply chains are being re-evaluated in light of Chinese influence and geopolitical volatility. For the U.K., it’s a chance to prove Brexit wasn’t just about sovereignty, but about global ambition. For the U.S., it signals a reliable partner in a fragmenting Europe.
This isn’t just about trade. It’s about power, values, and setting the terms of the global economy without kowtowing to Beijing or Brussels.
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China Discovered Oil
China’s recent oil discovery in the South China Sea is more than a drill hitting crude. It’s a strategic power play in international waters they’re illegally trying to claim as their own. The so-called Huizhou 19-6 field sits about 170 kilometers off the coast of Shenzhen, and Beijing’s already boasting about its 100 million metric tons of oil equivalent in reserves. Daily test output? Over 400 barrels of crude and 68,000 cubic meters of natural gas. That’s serious juice.
But here’s the hard truth: the South China Sea doesn’t belong to China. That’s international water and recognized as such by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which Beijing selectively ignores. Their “nine-dash line” is a legal fiction, and every time they plant a rig, build a man-made island, or fly a jet over contested territory, they’re thumbing their nose at the rule of law. This isn’t about energy. It’s about domination.
Now, let’s talk fallout. China’s on a full-court press to become energy independent. They already import 90% of their oil, much of it from Russia and Iran. If they start drawing serious energy from their offshore fields and ramp up nuclear power at home, that’s bad news for Moscow and Tehran. Less leverage, less revenue, and less strategic clout. When your rogue-state allies need you to keep the lights on, and you no longer do, they lose their grip.
Bottom line: China’s drilling in stolen waters, and they’re using the oil to fund a challenge to the U.S.-led global order. This isn’t just a fuel pipe. It’s a shot across the bow.
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Meanwhile, Over in Louisville
Mike Ryan is a chemical engineering consultant to heavy industry.