Really? REALLY?!! Is THIS the Roman Catholic Church of the 21st Century?

"There is of course so much more that went into this decision [conversion of Catholicism] and that I plan to share in the future. But for now, praise be to God for His gentle, but relentless guiding of my heart toward Truth." 

"The change for Owens comes amid shifting sands in her professional life, including an acrimonious exit from The Daily Wire in March following statements she made and supported that were seen as antisemitic."

"Owens has lately made a decided shift toward more open support of Christianity, taking "Christ is King" as a mantra in many of her frequent online postings — often in support of ideas and policies seen as Christian nationalist and anti-Jewish."

"She began using the phrase online in November 2023, when she first came under fire from the well-known Jewish-American conservative and Daily Wire cofounder Ben Shapiro, who called Owens' support for antisemitic tropes and criticism of Israel’s alleged Gaza genocide "disgraceful."

Nate Tinner-Williams, National Catholic Reporter 

Candace Owens standing beside Oratorian priest Fr. Julian Large at the Brompton Oratory in London   Crisis Magazine

 

"[She is] a conspiracy-theory propagandist whose most fevered rants are antisemitic in both tone and content."

"[Antisemitism is] a grave sin as well as a social cancer. [Converts baptized or received into full communion must affirm the teachings of the Second Vatican Council's 1954 declaration Nostra Aetate, which explicitly condemns] hatred, persecutions [and] displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone."

"What kind of catechesis takes place at the Oratory once led by the great hymnist, Father Frederick Faber?

For Candace Owens is a conspiracy-theory propagandist whose most fevered rants are antisemitic in both tone and content. She has indulged in various forms of Holocaust denial; propagated the canard that Jews were responsible for the Atlantic slave trade; and promoted a thoroughly discredited 19^th-century book, The Talmudic Jew, which claims that the Talmud is a secret code for a Jewish takeover of the world—which would be quite a feat for .02% of the global population."

George Weigel, Catholic theologian, The Catholic World Report  

No sooner was this viral vector of Jew-hate accepted into the Roman Catholic Church, than an invitation was extended for her to appear alongside other right-wing Catholic 'personalities' known as vocal critics of Pope Francis, as a listed speaker at an upcoming "Catholic Identity Conference". Candace Owens who has proudly presented herself as a strident virago of pure, unadulterated hate -- as a throwback to the Middle Ages when Jews were charged with Deicide and considered practitioners of demonization whose purpose on Earth was to dominate decent Christians, when blood libels of Christian infants' blood used to make Passover flatbread proliferated, fuelling pogroms -- finds herself comfortable in the bosom of the Church.

 

Theologically, formally, the Catholic Church has long forsworn its hostility to Israel and its thousands of years of Jewish persecution. On the other hand the inheritance of Jew-hatred still dominates within segments of the Church and among many of its adherents. Catholic Ireland of today resonates with the indoctrination of generation after generation of the faithful who drank the poisoned cup of Jew-hate and find it now nigh-impossible to reject that evil pathology that thrives to the present day. Memories of the Spanish Inquisition resonate today in Spain with its government's befouling of Israel in claims of 'genocide' in Gaza.

 

The sacrament of Confirmation, a traditional Latin rite that took place in April 2026 consolidated Candace Owens' sacrament of Baptism at London's Brompton Oratory, in 2024. She is now the daughter of the Catholic Church, 'gone home', as she puts it. Her sentiments are not, perforce, viewed as radical and 'unChristian', they have an honoured place in the Church, sanctified by enduring custom no matter the Nostra Aetate. This popular public figure now has a pulpit in the Church to complement her YouTube channel where she spouts her venom to an appreciative audience.

 

Can one now anticipate that others of her celebrity ilk such as Tucker Carlson, Dan Bilzerian, Nick Fuentes and Hasan Piker will also be inspired to find God, and turn to the Catholic Church for the comfort of full communion? Do they really need to broaden their pulpit? Or do they somehow long for the loving arms of an hand-me-down religion that emanated from the original Judeo-faith teachings of a Mediterranean ethnic group of ancient heritage spurned by those who adore a Jewish sage and cherish the second-hand ethical morality of those they despise?  

Your Holiness Pope Leo XIV,

You are the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter, and the spiritual father of over a billion Catholics worldwide. But you are also something new in the long history of the papacy: an American Pope. That fact carries immense symbolic weight, and with it an immense moral obligation and a spiritual calling of global significance.

We must be honest, Your Holiness. The Catholic Church has not always met this test. During the Holocaust, while Jews were deported from Rome’s ghetto just yards from the Vatican walls, Pope Pius XII remained largely silent.² Trains departed for Auschwitz. Men, women, and children were led to slaughter. More than 1300 Roman Jews were incarcerated at a military camp for two days in October, 1943 just two blocks from the Vatican. Pope Pius summoned the German Ambassador Ernst von Weizsäcker and demanded the release, not of the 1000 Jews but only of the 250 who had been baptized into Catholicism. The rest were sent by cattle car to Auschwitz in an eight-day Germany where nearly all were immediately gassed. Some eight Jews survived. 

And though he surely knew, the Pope’s voice never rang out with the clarity that history demanded.

Owens is one of America’s most visible and vile media personalities. She claims Catholic identity — proudly and repeatedly. She has described herself as “a proud Catholic” in interviews, insisted she is speaking from a “Catholic worldview,” and has even told critics, “You cannot cancel me — I stand with the Church.”⁴ On podcasts and public appearances, she invokes Catholicism as the foundation of her values, presenting her rhetoric as authentically Catholic.

This is what makes her venom doubly dangerous. She does not speak merely as a commentator. She speaks as a Catholic. Every time she minimizes Hitler, every time she casts doubt on the Holocaust, every time she rails against Jews or Israel, she does so under the mantle of Catholic identity. To millions of listeners, the message is clear: this is what Catholics believe.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, A Plea to Pope Leo: Condemn the Antisemitism of Candace Owens  

Candace Owens on set of “Candace”. (Photo by Jason Davis/Getty Images)

 

"[Her allegations of a] hidden Jewish hand, supposedly instructed by millenia-old Jewish texts, that somehow connects psychiatry, pornography, Hollywood, the publishing industry [and] the Atlantic slave trade [exemplify her defamatory allegations]."

"They will learn any language, become what they have to become, move wherever they need to move. And wherever they go, they bring their filth with them."

Anti-Defamation League on Candace Owens as purveyor of rampant antisemitism

 

"Ms. Owens frequently hides behind the guise of “courageous inquiry” and “anti-establishment” rhetoric. However, by using her Catholic identity as a shield for antisemitic tropes, she is not merely engaging in debate; she is committing calumny — the grave sin of spreading malicious lies to destroy the reputation of an entire people."

"Her rhetoric has crossed a line from political commentary into the realm of the grotesque. By labeling the State of Israel “demonic,” she echoes the most dangerous spiritual libels of the past. Even more chilling is her move to minimize the horrific Mengele experiments of the Holocaust, treating the systematic torture of Jews as a subject for “edgy” skepticism. Perhaps most egregious is her flirtation with the “Blood Libel,” the baseless and bloody medieval myth that Jews consume the blood of Christians."

"The Catholic Church, through the landmark Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, definitively broke with the “teaching of contempt.” It affirmed that the Jewish people are the “elder brothers” and that any form of antisemitism is a sin against God Himself. For a layperson to publicly defy this teaching while claiming to represent “authentic” Catholicism is a perversion of the faith."

David Nekrutman, Executive Director, The Isaiah Projects

Toronto The Good No Longer -- Open Season on Home Invasions

"When it comes to crime trends, it's challenging to attribute increases to a single factor. We use data to identify trends and determine where resources and strategies are needed most."

"When we see areas of concern emerge, we adjust our approach and deploy resources accordingly."

"We know that any home invasion is alarming and terrifying for residents, and we take these incidents extremely seriously." 

Toronto Police spokesperson Nadine Ramadan 

 

"We had a unique crime trend that was happening here, which were extortions or shootings attached to extortion, which are targeting our South Asian business community."

"At the end of May, we made a pretty substantial arrest: 'For Brothers', a group that was primarily involved in extortion."

"Since that time, we've seen the number of extortions targeting our South Asian business community decrease."

Peel Deputy Police Chief Nick Milinovich 

Toronto police named Daijohn Richards, 23, of Toronto as a suspect wanted in connection with a home invasion in the Bridle Path neighbourhood in which a businessman's family members were shot and attacked with a hammer. Daijohn walked into a Toronto hospital with a gunshot wound on Thursday, after it's believed he was accidentally shot by an accomplice during the home invasion. He was discharged from the hospital on Friday and is now missing. Still from Video, CBC

 

The recent home invasion of a mansion on Toronto's prestigious Bridle Path area of three masked men who confronted the homeowner, his wife and two adult daughters was fairly different from most home invasions taking place in Toronto in that this was an unusually violent event. The invaders carried weapons -- guns and a hammer. Three of the home's residents were shot, and one had been bludgeoned by the invader carrying the hammer. Two of the residents' injuries were serious enough to require lengthy hospital stays; the other two were treated and released, to continue recovering at  home. 

 

A woman believed to be the home owner came back to the home with Toronto Police and came out with three dogs believed to be family pets according to a man who showed up with leashes on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. Photo by Jack Boland /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

 

The Toronto Police Service data indicate a 32 percent rise in home invasions in the past year. Among other crimes, such as a proliferation of hate crimes and fraud, the sprawling city of Greater Toronto with its over 7 million inhabitants also deals with a flood of social crimes that take place anywhere people gather -- violent physical attacks taking place at shopping centres, subway stations, public parks. Peel Region in particular has seen climbing incidents of shootings.

 

The number of home invasions taking place in Toronto this  year alone total 121. The Toronto police categorize home invasion by the number of victims involved. The  end of October saw 226 victims of home invasions, surpassing the total of 183 of the previous year. Among the 112 reported incidents 86 occurred in houses, with apartments and condos represented by 26 such events. All parts of the city saw the occurrences of home invasions; 22 of those events involved three or more victims.

 

This year there was one other shooting invasion aside from the Bridle Path shocker. That other event occurred in Lytton Park where a man was shot. St. Andrew-Windfields was the site of nine incidents located near Bayview and York Mills, while other multiple-attack areas had fewer but significant numbers of home invasions, ranging from 5 to 4. The Annex had a total of eight victims in one of its home invasion attacks. 60 of the invasions across the city involved one resident only. 

 

Police officers work at the scene of a home invasion in the Bridle Path neighbourhood in Toronto, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor

On some evenings home invasions took place in duplicate in the sense of two invasions taking place in the same areas of the city on the same night, though it remained  unclear whether the same criminals were involved in each. Of the multiple occasions when two invasions occurred in the same areas one involved two houses a mere 1.7 kilometres apart. Most of these invasions were night-time events, taking place between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. In many of these incidents, house residents were asked for the keys of their cars which were taken possession of, and the invaders left.

 

Car-jackings representing another problem of mass dimensions in the city. Usually young gang members  carry out these car thefts, the high-end cars they focus on shipped out to foreign countries, and the profit from the stolen vehicles used to buy prohibited weapons in the United States and smuggled into Canada. Vehicle thefts have been a problem of long duration in Toronto, stolen from parking lots, and from peoples' driveways. 

A still from security video shows a masked man on the doorstep of Lea Ledohowski's Toronto home trying to smash through her front window with a hammer earlier this year. (Submitted by Lea Ledohowski)

In lock-step with violence and tensions in the Middle East, dating back to the 7 October 2023 invasion of Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas into southern Israel, saw a sweeping maelstrom of sadistic savagery against Israeli women, children and men, who were slaughtered because they were Jewish-Israeli citizens, leading Israel to launch a responding invasion to root out Palestinian terrorists such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PLFP, Fatah operatives sheltering themselves within the civilian population. Toronto became a venue for hate crimes, with protest groups supporting Palestinians and targeting Canadian Jews with accusations and threats.

 

Toronto registered 443 incidents of hate crimes in 2024, levelling off in 2025, then finding reason to continue to rise in 2026 targeting the Jewish community. The continued prevalence and rise of hate crimes which include fire bombing synagogues and shooting at Jewish parochial schools, the ongoing vandalizing of Jewish-owned businesses, institutions and homes, has led Toronto Police to expand its hate crimes unit and to establish a counterterrorism security unit and task force where additional training is given officers.

 

Peel Region has seen an increase in homicides. "We operate on the idea that one homicide is too many -- at times [the numbers] can be sporadic, so it's important to look deeper into those incidents", remarked Peel Deputy Police Chief Nick Milinovich. Intimate partner violence in 2019, he pointed out, accounted for about half of homicides in the region. A unit was created to address the issue and since then the incidence of intimate partner violence has plummeted in Peel.

 

The Greater Toronto Area has seen robbery statistically reduced, although thefts over $5,000, fraud and cyber scams are on the uptick, a nationwide problem. There were 22,002 frauds so far in 2026 according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre -- with 15,402 victims and $535 million, the total estimated losses. TD commissioned a Leger poll that found 46 percent of respondents encounter scams or attempts at fraud weekly, even daily. 

"This is not the fraud landscape people are familiar with."

"Artificial intelligence has made impersonation easier faster and more convincing."

"The scammer no longer needs  your password. They just need your trust."

Detective Dave Coffey, Toronto Police Financial Crimes Unit   

A police officer works at the scene of a home invasion in the Bridle Path neighbourhood in Toronto, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Laura Proctor

 

 

 

 

Remembrance Day Advance Poppy Sales

Ken Kunkel (Photo credit: GoFundMe)

"[My father is now] non-ambulatory and fighting to return to a normal life after being attacked … while intervening to prevent further assaults against his cadets. Captain Kenneth Kunkel is the commanding officer of 826 Gryphon Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and is responsible for the safety and well being of the teenage cadets who were volunteering their time to raise funds for The Royal Canadian Legion; after violent preteens assaulted two cadets and discharged an airhorn in their ears, Captain Kenneth Kunkel went to the scene to de-escalate and ensure the police could apprehend the duo."

"[A 48-year old woman has been arrested. She] intervened and attacked him – impacting his spine which caused his legs to buckle and immediately lose function. This was all captured by CCTV at the restaurant."

 "[My father] received same-day spinal surgery and is undergoing rehabilitation to restore mobility, but the damage is severe, and he cannot walk for the foreseeable future."

"After an unforgettable Halloween evening where Captain Kenneth Kunkel walked his four grandchildren around the neighbourhood to visit friends and neighbours, we are decimated by the senseless attack that may have forever robbed four kids of their grandfather’s playful, loving tendencies."

"I want to thank all of the detectives and police personnel who responded to my father’s assault and wish all Veterans and current Service Members a memorable and peaceful Remembrance Day."

"Captain Kenneth Kunkel has been helping cadets for almost twenty years, and he was instrumental in my journey through the cadet program that led to my own military service in the Regular Forces. Even as he got older, Captain Kenneth Kunkel would physically prepare for weeks in advance so he could train with cadets and be a role model as they underwent fitness evaluations as part of the cadet program; the selfless efforts of Captain Kenneth Kunkel contributed to many of his past cadets joining police services, the RCMP, a rewarding career in the military, or heightened involvement in their community."

Christopher Kunkel 

Capt. Kenneth Kunkel, wife Shelly and two of four grandchildren. Photo supplied Christopher Kunkel

Captain Ken Kunkel, a 59-year-old Air Cadet commander in Hamilton, Ontario, a dedicated community volunteer who has been involved with the Air Cadets for the past two decades. was present as an adult supporter to two young air cadets out on Sunday, November 1st, in advance of November 11th's traditional day of remembrance. Around midday, two youths approached the two young Air Cadets stationed in front of a restaurant, and blew an air horn into their ears. 

 

That unexpected and startling attack saw the youths swiftly decamp, Captain Kunkel following close after, with the intention of speaking to the young malefactors, to impress on them the inappropriateness of such an assault on other young people who were engaged in a responsible act of commemoration leading up to Remembrance Day. As they fled into the restaurant, Captain Kunkel followed them. As he approached the two pre-adolescents a woman sitting nearby unobtrusively but dangerously, suddenly reached out her leg to trip Captain Kunkel.

 

Estela Quintanilla, 48, and a 12-year-old boy allegedly attacked cadet leader, Capt. Kenneth Kunkal, 59, in Hamilton on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (LinkedIn)

 

Identified as 48-year-old Estela Quintanilla, her deliberate obstructive move resulted in Captain Kunkel falling abruptly and awkwardly to the floor -- in the process his spine suffered an injury serious enough to make his legs non-functional. He was  unable to move. He asked patrons in the restaurant to call for medical assistance. As he lay there seriously injured one of the boys, identified as 12 years of age, repeatedly bludgeoned the helpless man, causing further injury, before both he, his companion, and the woman fled the restaurant. 

 

Both were tracked down by responding police, and arrested. Both were charged with having caused Captain Kunkel's 'life-altering' injuries. While the woman was identified, the identity of the youth cannot be made public under the Youth Criminal Justice Act which ensures that youth under 18 years of age cannot lawfully be publicly identified. 

 

A GoFundMe page was organized by a Kunkel family friend with a total initial goal of $70,000 to aid the family in meeting expenses associated for the father/grandfather facing an uncertain future that includes possible further spinal surgery, a long convalescence at home following a by-necessity extended hospital stay. Taking into account the costs of travel, parking, meals, time taken from work, medication and any medical equipment as may be required as a result of the injuries. 

"I am disgusted by the brutal attack on a Canadian Armed Forces member supervising young cadets selling poppies in Hamilton."

"He stepped in after the cadets were assaulted."

"No child should fear violence while selling a poppy."

"No Canadian should be brutalized for standing up for them."

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre   

Kimberly Deitrich, is Ken Kunkel’s daughter, has posted photos of Hamilton General Hospital and spinal unit where Kunkel is being treated. (Photo credit: Kimberly Deitrich/Facebook)

 

Unfit For Canadian Citizenship

"Ultimately, the appellant's request to vary her sentences would allow the adverse immigration consequences to be the controlling factor in determining the type or length of sentence she receives." 

"Though the appellant's circumstances are sympathetic, the law does not permit a court to impose a sentence solely for the purpose of avoiding such consequences."

"Although the immigration consequences of a sentence can be significant, as they are for the appellant they cannot change a fit sentence into an  unfit one."

Court of Appeal for Ontario decision

Ontario’s top court has drawn the line on when the immigration consequences of a sentence veer into unfit punishment in the case of a woman who struck a stranger in the head with a tossed table and two glass bottles. National Post

 

A Mississauga, Ontario woman's claim that the judge who had sentenced her to a year in jail for her attack on a stranger for the "gratuitous" attack that left her female victim with disfiguring injuries had, in her judgement, failed to adequately take into consideration the consequences that could ensue with respect to her immigration status. The attack took place on December 1, 2020 at the Mountfort Restaurant, Dundas Street East in Mississuaga, and Agata Trabinska, a permanent resident without citizenship status pleaded guilty to to assault causing bodily harm.

 

She has served the sentence and chose to appeal it in an effort to ensure that the sentence whose length makes it a federal offence, would not imperil her immigration status. The 43-year-old fears deportation to her native Poland, separating her from her Canadian-born triplet teen-age sons. This is, in fact, a rather rare case when a judge chose to impose a sentence more fitting of a crime than many others do, taking into account the precarious prospect of deportation for those convicted for serious crimes who are not Canadian citizens. 

 

The assault charge was not the only one levied against this woman. She also pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and methadone for trafficking purposes, along with possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime, over $5,000. For these offences another judge had given her an intermittent 60-day sentence which she also sought to appeal, though she served that sentence in full, as well. 

 

Agata Trabinski and Brian Funes, both of Mississauga, are facing drug and other offences. Photo by Handout /Peel Regional Police

 

"She overturned a table, which struck the victim. The appellant also threw two glass bottles, both of which struck the victim in the side of the head and caused very serious injuries." This scenario was heard by the court, explaining that Trabinska had engaged in a verbal altercation with a friend of the victim at the restaurant the night in question. The restaurant attack merited Trabinska being barred from "appealing her inadmissibility finding to the Immigration Appeal Division" as a result of "serious criminality".

 

The Crown had urged a sentence of 15 to 18 months, highlighting the "random, unprovoked, and violent nature of the attack, the victim's significant injuries, and that cases involving similar assaults normally merit a custodial sentence". Trabinska's lawyer, on the other hand, recommended  two years less a day of house arrest. After due consideration,  however, the sentencing judge "concluded that, applying the principle of restraint, a 12-month custodial sentence was appropriate and was the lowest possible sentence that would be consistent with the objectives of sentencing." 

 

The court heard that Trabinska had immigrated to Canada from Poland at age 20, had "struggled with substance abuse since she was 16", and had raised her triplets as a single parent from the time their father left the family shortly after she had sponsored him to come to Canada. The sentencing judge had accepted the joint submission of a 60-day intermittent sentence. Because her penalties exceeded six month in jail, she could be declared inadmissible to Canada for her crimes, but that has not yet occurred.

 

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada, permanent residents and temporary foreign workers in Canada can potentially face deportation  if they are sentenced to serve over six months in prison for criminal offences. Ms. Trabinska's appeals "must fail", declared the appeal court, notwithstanding. 

 

The immigration consequences of an assault charge includes the loss of immigration status, deportation, and prohibition of future visits to Canada. This applies whether the offender is a tourist, student, someone on a work permit, or a permanent resident.  On Criminal Law

"[Trabinska's] immigration status would not have resulted in a conditional sentence or a custodial sentence of less than six months [taking into consideration the reasoning of the sentencing judge]."

"This was a very serious assault that had a significant physical, psychological, and financial impact on the victim."

"She has suffered permanent facial scarring and nerve damage causing chronic pain. She also suffers from persistent hypervigilance, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation."

"She has suffered financially, paying for topical scar treatments and transportation for medical appointments."

Appeal Court 

Violating and "Decolonizing" Historic Legacies

Alexander Graham Bell Archives Canada

"I know that an idea has gone forth, and is very generally believed in by the deaf in this country, that I want to prevent you from marrying as you choose, and that I have tried to pass a law to interfere with your marriages."

"But, my friends, it is not true. I have never done such a thing, nor do I intend to."

"You can marry whom you choose, and I hope you will be happy. It is not for me to blame you for marrying to suit yourselves, for  you all know that I myself, the son of a deaf mother, have married a deaf wife."

Alexander Graham Bell, 1891 speech, Marriage: an Address to the Deaf 

 

Parks Canada 

"[He] devoted his life, with unusual success, to the benefit of mankind."

"[He] produced important inventions and discoveries in medicine, aeronautics, marine engineering, genetics and electrical science, and greatly advanced the methods and practices of teaching the deaf."

Parks Canada commemorative plaque, Baddeck, Nova Scotia

 

"He developed a herd of sheep that delivered twins, because sheep only deliver a single lamb at a time, and then it takes them a couple years, and that's a long time for the farmers to develop a herd of sheep."

"If  you could do it two at a time instead, twins instead of single ones, that would be geometrically much more efficient, and so he was part of this."

"He was one of the  founders of the American Breeders Association."

Ed Grosvenor, editor-in-chief American Heritage magazine, great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell

 

The plaque in Nova Scotia, installed in 1977 for a  historic figure of international note and renown, designated a national historic person, was installed close to the summer home of the historic polymath, and it was where his life ended, in 1922. Parks Canada is now in the process of altering the wording on the plaque: "This designation was reviewed to understand Bell's connection to the eugenics movement", Parks Canada's website explains. It further goes on to explain that: "As a teacher of Deaf people, he developed oralist methods of instruction and discouraged the use of sign language among the Deaf community. Due to his eugenics beliefs, Bell argued against the intermarriage of congenitally Deaf people."

 

On the other side of the equation, Mr. Bell's descendants will have none of this woke nonsense, explaining that "What people today don't understand is that what he opposed was the sign language of 140 years ago. That's not modern sign language. Modern sign language was developed in the 1950s and I am certain that he would have thought it was brilliant", stated Ed Grosvenor in his great grandfather's defense. Going on to describe his ancestor's death-bed use of sign language himself when he was dying, responding to his deaf wife's appeal to her husband: 'Alec, don't leave me', signing 'No'. just as he took his last breath. 

 

As for the accusation of practising eugenics against  his great grandfather, Mr. Grosvenor points out that it was a connection practised through sheep farming and not eugenics centred on human biologics.  That interested was extended to genetic factors that might increase human longevity. When his great grandfather pointed out that if two deaf people had children together, a risk was entailed whereby those children would also be congenitally deaf -- a scientific observation, for he was a scientist. An obvious enough scientific acknowledgment of enhanced genetic inheritance. 

 

General view of Alexander Graham Bell National historic Site,  Parks Canada

 

It is the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada's contention that such reviews as the one being conducted for Alexander Graham Bell were required to recognize perceptions viewed through the lens of an overly European view where "out-dated or offensive terms or word choices", "controversial beliefs and behaviours" prevailed and "to reflect new information, new sources, or recent scholarship",  which led to the necessity to correct previously unrecognized moral blights. 

 

To which Ed Grosvenor responds that his great-grandfather was a humanitarian who organized protests opposing segregation in Canada, while advocating for women's suffrage. "And most of the money that he gave away-- and he died not a wealthy man -- most of it was given away to the deaf, to help the hearing impaired. And it just seems to me like it's kind of mean to focus on one aspect that you don't agree with, that you take out of context." 

 

Historian and great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell, Ed Grosvenor stands in front of his ancestor's childhood home in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Handout)

 

Global Crisis in the Perils of Inactive Youth

"Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for  heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers."

"Helping young people develop active habits early in life is  critical to protecting their health and reducing the global burden of these diseases."

"For 15 years, the world has made almost no progress in getting  young people moving and girls are being left furthest behind."

"The answer is not to tell adolescents to try harder. It is to build schools, streets and communities where moving, playing and being active is safe, easy and normal." 

World Health Organization WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus 

 

"The Global Matrix 4.0 represents the largest compilation of information to date on indicators related to the physical activity of children and adolescents, and the data show a failing grade."

"New habits have been formed by children and adolescents around the world in response to the new normal provoked by a socially accepted screen-centric indoor living society and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, global conflicts, and severe weather associated with climate change."

Professor Mark Tremblay, President of the AHKGA [Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance] and Senior Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute in Canada 

Global Pandemic of youth obesity   Active Healthy Kids

 

Isolation during the fear endemic through the COVID pandemic that struck worldwide, injured children's sense of safety in a normal social milieu. Being summarily separated from all that was normal in a child's social and educational development through the perceived necessity by authorities of switching to remote learning, cut young students off from socializing with peers and the normalcy of receiving direct, in-person instructions in a classroom. A sense of alienation was inevitable, as was the trauma involved in being unable to casually go about 'business-as-usual' in the public sphere.

 

It was inevitable that young people would find comfort and assuage their enforced physical idleness by absorbing themselves in playing video games, an imaginary 'activity' activating the brain but not their brawn. Person-to-person contact outside the safety of the family compact deprived young people of the opportunity to grow into their young years as social animals. Gaming and a fixation with iphones filled the gap of those years of isolation and confusion.  

 

According to the latest report from the World Health Organization, fully a quarter of global teens take no opportunity to engage in physical action. The basic minimum of an  hour of physical activity on a weekly basis was simply not met by this large contingent of the world's young people. One in four adolescents between ages 11 to 17 report no active days whatever. Defined as 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity in the space of a week, a sizeable proportion of the world's youth reported not having engaged in even that basic minimum.

 

Published in The Lancet Global Health, the WHO  study draws on surveys from 140 countries and territories. Over 3.2 million teens' exercise habits -- or lack of them -- was studied.The conclusion of the study was that there were no active days during a week related to an estimated 240 million young people. Adolescents who took part in the studies reported that they were active for 2.7 days a week, while among them a mere 14 percent reported active engagement in physical activities for all seven week days.

 

 

A rise in sedentary behaviour may be due to the rapid rise of digital technology, which means young people are spending more time with screens. (J K Daylight/Shutterstock)

 

When youth are inactive in their formative years they fall prey in adulthood to health conditions normally associated with mature adults in their later years. Teens who have built their lifestyle around sedentary pursuits, most notably playing software games on their iphones, can be diagnosed at an early age with poor bone density and osteoporosis, obesity and cardiovascular conditions. What becomes more visible, however is the state of obesity in youth, a virtual global pandemic. No fewer than 650 million people worldwide are classified as obese, while 1.9 billion people fit comfortably into the overweight category.

 

Boredom  used to motivate young children to get out of their homes and play street games with other children in the near neighbourhood. Once school homework was finished for the day children would flood out to the outdoors to be absorbed in any number of activities; casual street hockey games in the West, as well as baseball and engagement of simulacra of television programs, playing 'cops and robbers'. The excitement of social engagement in sport activities, in self-motivated initiatives in botany and biology fulfilled the intense curiosity natural to the mind of a growing child.

 

Where in earlier generations, children absorbed in street games with one another found a sense of camaraderie where competition among groups formed part of the play that helped in their socialization, physical dexterity, and a comprehension of the various types of challenges to be met in later life, all made for a well-rounded personality, comfortable in the social sphere, while expending that immense energy that children are born with, that places their physical development in overdrive toward the future.

 

Teenagers exercise and socialize at an outdoor gym along Phnom Penh's riverside in Cambodia. According to a new study from the World Health Organization, more than 80 per cent of 11- to 17-year-olds do not meet the recommendation for at least an hour of physical activity a day. (Luc Forsyth/Getty Images)

 

"A great benefit of this global initiative is that countries can learn from one another – what works and what doesn’t to facilitate healthy physical activity behaviours of children and adolescents."

"We observed great variation in grades for all indicators, confirming some countries are succeeding and some are failing."

"Our global network exists to share best, and worst, practices in an effort to power the global movement to get kids moving."

Dr. Salomé Aubert, Global Matrix 4.0 Research Fellow with the AHKGA

 

The Power of Suggestion? (And NO scratching!)

"The two systems are constantly in communication."

"[The] brain is involved in the individual's survival, and the immune system is involved in survival, and that's what they do."

"So of course they talk to each other." 

Jonathan Kipnis, professor of pathology and immunology, Washington University, St.Louis 

 

"[In other words, the findings suggest that] what we think matters."

"It was striking to see the consistency of the effect and the fact that it was displayed across the vast majority of participants."

"What was particularly striking was that directing attention toward the inflamed area changed not only what participants experienced, but the inflammatory response itself."

"This raises the possibility that our subjective experience of what is happening in the body is not only a passive process but may be actively contributing to how physiological responses are regulated."

"I’ve studied humans for more than 20 years, and this was the most striking effect I’ve ever seen."

"Our cognitive processes can shape how the body regulates itself. Feeling pain does contribute to the healing process."

"People are aware of the placebo effect, when someone is given a sham drug, and they think it’s real and they get better."

Liron Rozenkrantz, principal investigator, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Ban-Ilan University, Israel  

A view of Bar-Ilan University’s Azrieli Faculty of Medicine. Credit: Courtesy of Bar-Ilan University.

 

Published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, a study out of Israel suggests that attention to injuries in/on the body may align the brain with the immune system to work together to diminish the effects of inflammation. Inflammation is the most common cause of alerting the immune system to the presence of of injury, infection or an irritant. Ignoring a pain or an itch, according to this new study, may worsen the inflammation in some situations. 

 

Deliberately toughing it out in the hope that it will disappear appears not to be the solution; rather awareness of and mindful attention to the injury appears to prompt brain and immune system to work in tandem toward relief. The study found that when people attempted to distract themselves from an itch, the inflammation -- measured by redness and skin swelling -- grew larger and lasted longer than a focus on it would achieve in alleviating both symptoms.

 

In the scientific world of human biology growing evidence has surfaced that the brain and the immune system, assumed to be separate and distinct from one another, have in fact an intimate relationship. Links have been made between dysfunctional immune activity and inflammation with a number of psychiatric and neurological disorders which include schizophrenia, depression, long COVID and dementia. 

 

Illustrative: A man suffers shoulder pain (BitsAndSplits; iStock via Getty Images)

 

Professor Rozenkrantz, the main author of the study and her colleagues, focused on 57 study participants by deliberately causing inflammation on their forearms, similar to the results seen with "a bad mosquito bite" by pricking their skin with a drop of histamine, a chemical used by immune cells that triggers an inflammatory response. Researchers instructed their subject participants to focus fixedly at a screen, distract themselves with a cognitive task appearing on the screen, or alternately focus attention internally on the sensations felt at the inflamed site (without touching or looking at the site).

 

Directing attention to the inflamed skin sensations, both the swelling and redness diminished. In contrast, when the same study participants distracted themselves, more inflammation with swelling and redness of a 50 percent increase were experienced by 90 percent of the participants. The inflammation recovered faster when paid attention to. When 20 minutes had elapsed, close to 90 percent of those involved who paid attention saw their swelling stabilize or diminish. With the distracted test, 46 percent only, saw improved inflammation.

 

The message seemed clear, that additional input from the brain was likely to have aided the immune system in improved regulation of the inflammatory response. "It was striking to see the consistency of the effect and the fact that it was displayed across the vast majority of participants", explained Dr. Rozenkrantz. While the mechanisms involved are not fully understood, at least two ways exist that the brain regulates inflammation. The inflamed sensations themselves appeared to have a role. Researchers in a followup experiment covered people's skin with lidocaine a local anesthetic, following the administering of Histamine. 

 

The dulled sensations enabled study participants to pay attention to the inflammation with a lesser reward in dulled response forthcoming. A smaller effect on the itch resulted even when paying attention to the inflammation with dulled sensation, in comparison with the experiment absent numbing cream. People experienced greater heart rate variability, a widely used proxy for increased parasympathetic activation when attention was paid to the inflammation. 

 

Additionally, there was a  diminished "fight-or-flight" stress response and more "rest-and-digest" resulting with attention paid to the inflamed site. Activity from the vagus nerve which connects the brain to essential organs connecting  to 200,000 nerve fibres running on either side of  the neck, reduces inflammation when stimulated.  

"By thinking about, 'This inflammation is hurting me', you're actually ramping up the input of the inflammation to the nervous system, which in turn may be ramping up the output to turn it off."

"It's a very reasonable hypothesis now. that the stimulation of the vagus nerve somehow contributes to the decreased inflammation in the skin of the arm [in this experiment]."

Kevin Tracey, president, CEO, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research  

Illustrative: A woman having shoulder and neck pain (kieferpix; iStock via Getty Images)

 

"We tend to think of the immune system, injury, or inflammation resolution as something that can take care of itself without any involvement of any high cognitive function. But what happens if the mind focuses on the pain? Does directing the brain toward the injury actually impact its healing? That’s never been studied in humans before." 

"Within less than 20 seconds, you already see the response. It’s sort of like the skin has been stung by something. There’s a bump in the middle, and a flare-up or redness all around it."

"[The inflammation lasts about 20 to 30 minutes, and then it resolves quickly]."

"We simply told them to pay attention to sensations arising from the inflamed site. If attention draws away from it, then bring your attention back. We did the same thing when they were distracted, explaining that if their attention wandered, to return to what was happening on the screen." 

Liron Rozenkrantz, principal investigator, Azrieli Faculty of Medicine