“Kierkegaard talks about the idea of being a knight of faith, and he is classed with the Christian existentialists as a consequence of the practicalities of his view. He basically puts forward a proposition that I think is akin to the proposition that undergirds marriage, which is: You cannot find out whether creation is good or evil without being all in on your bet, just like you cannot be married without saying, ‘I am shackling myself to you and I am not going to run away no matter what, so we better get to know each other and get along because this is how it is going to be.’ Without that, you cannot be deeply committed enough to the marriage to make it work. So it seems to me on the forefront of faith, you have to act in the world with courageous trust – not naïve trust, but courageous trust – in the potential goodness of being in order to actually discover whether or not that faith is justified. And that is partly why it is faith; you have to put the cart before the horse. You cannot wait around.”

Jordan Peterson “Mondays of Meaning – March 20th 2023”

“God made peat because he knew the Irish would get so drunk they would try to burn mud.”

A “line from the late, great American humourist, P. J. O’Rourke” sent in by a Climate Discussion Nexus reader/viewer March 22, 2023 [in response to an item we did on peat energy]

In my latest National Post column I describe the weird combination of tedium and fury induced by listening to members of the UN special committee for blaming Israel for all problems in the Mideast droning on.

“COMPETITION/ Your chance to win a stylish LG InstaView Objet Collection® Fridge, valued at $5,999/ LG Electronics Australia brings a pop of colour into the kitchen with the release of its new LG Objet Collection® Fridge, which sports a sleek design and a range of colour panels that lets users curate their kitchen space to express their own unique style. With customisable colour panels available in various colours and finishes including Silver, Green or Black stainless steel or Beige, Silver, Pink or Mint mist glass, the latest LG Objet Collection® allows consumers to set the mood and style of their kitchen. On top of its stylistic flair, the LG Objet Collection® also delivers on functionality with innovative features that work together to maximise food freshness. For your chance to win a LG InstaView Objet Collection® French Door Fridge, enter by 2 April. Customisation subject to availability. The default colour panels of the prize are Green & Silver Stainless Steel.”

Substantive portion of email from “The Australian Plus” [TheAustralian@e.newscorpaus.com.au] February 9, 2023 [whereas my actual fridge (a) did not cost six grand (b) keeps food cool rather than curating my space and (c) would not express my unique style even if I had one]

“The U.S. has to decide whether its priority is to help Ukraine retain territory or worry about Putin. Fear of escalation is what the Kremlin has deliberately inculcated and which some European leaders have tacitly endorsed. As Matthew Kaminski stated in Politico, ‘The West has been better at deterring itself than at deterring Russia.’”

Derek Burney in National Post March 22, 2023

“Gabor Maté For mainstreaming the notion that there’s no such thing as normal”

#2 on Maclean’s “The Power List: 2023” in the health care category, in Maclean’s March 16, 2023 [totally, and predictably, missing the paradox that he made it normal to think there’s no normal... plus how could you treat a condition if you didn’t know how it normally worked and to what it normally responded?].

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”

Henry Ford, cited as standalone “WORDS OF WISDOM” in Epoch Times email teaser March 18, 2023

In my latest Epoch Times column I say Justin Trudeau’s partisan suspension of the carbon tax on home heating oil doesn’t prove his climate crusade is secretly a hoax, it proves he’s openly a very silly man.