Tuesday, October 31, 2017

NYC attack: "A statement consistent with terrorism"

For the last couple of hours I have been watching non-stop live coverage of the "terrorist attack" -- so called by Hizzoner the Mayor -- on New York City's West Side. My first question (to myself) was "What's wrong with this picture?" The answer [You admit you talk to yourself? Ed.] was "Nothing!"

I understood perfectly well what I was seeing. It was a remake, for American audiences, of the London Bridge massacre of last June. Van drives along sidewalk crowded with pedestrians, kills 8 (so far), injures 12 (so far). Driver jumps out brandishing what appear to be firearms, but which turn out to be a pellet gun and a paintball gun. Shots are heard, fired, as it turns out, by a heroic NYC cop who wounds, but does not kill the perp, who is now in custody, assisting police with their enquiries.

Yep, the picture is clear enough. What's wrong is the audio. In two hours of listening to assorted commentators, "analysts" and "experts", not to mention Mayor Bill De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo [Thanks for not mentioning them. Ed.], I heard the words "terror", "terrorist" and "terrorism" countless times, but not once, not once did I hear the words "Islam", "Islamic" or "Muslim". The closest anyone came was one of the CBS "reporters" who said that, as he "exited the vehicle" (copspeak for "jumped outta the van"), the attacker "made a statement consistent with terrorism".

"A statement consistent with terrorism."
What do you suppose he might have said? What would "a statement consistent with terrorism" sound like? Like, "ALLAHU AKBAR!!!", maybe? Lifetime pct .990.

Another thing I didn't hear was any reference to the race, ethnicity or religion of the assailant, even though he could be seen, albeit from a distance, on a video shot by a witness. In the video, from the way he ran, zigzagging through the traffic like a tight end, I'd guess he was a gentleman of the coloured persuasion, but I could be wrong. The only reason that I can think the police might have for not revealing his identity would be that naming him as yet another Muslim terrorist would trigger more Islamophobia, which we now know is not a real "thing". That's right. As the Mayor and the Governor told us, there is no need to be afraid of Islamic terrorism, even in "sanctuary cities" like, errr, New York.

The embarrassing avoidance by the Authorities of any mention of the nature of this dastardly attack -- other than calling it an act of (unspecified) terrorism -- reminds me of the response of the British police to the London Bridge attack. See "British cops refuse to name London Bridge jihadis", WWW 5/6/17. But the truth will out, and you can bet that when it does, the lamestream media will lay the blame at the feet of President Trump. Perhaps (they will say) he would have done well to issue an executive order banning Muslims from entering the USA. Or he might have thought about making a list of all the potential Islamic terrorists already in America. Or something. Whatever. Anyway, it's all his fault. That's what they'll say. Lifetime pct .990.

VIDEO: Douglas Murray discusses "The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam" with Mark Steyn

I have mentioned Douglas Murray's excellent book The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam a couple of times in recent weeks, most recently in "The irreversible browning of Canada", WWW 26/10/17, which is in the running to be one of Walt's most-read posts of the year. But until now we haven't put up a video of the author discussing his work. Ed. has found a number on YouTube -- Mr Murray seems to have done his book tour on the Internet! -- and has selected an interview with Mark Steyn, so you get two voices of reason in one video. Running time is just over an hour.



Further reading (and watching): You'll find a review of The Strange Death of Europe, copied from Goodreads, as well as a much shorter video (11 minutes) in "Douglas Murray explains the lie of multiculturalism", WWW 24/9/17. Now go out and buy the book. Tell 'em Walt sent ya!

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Alexandria church removes Washington AND Lee memorials to create "safe space" for everyone, no exceptions

Walt never darkens the doors of Episcopal churches for religious reasons, but occasionally visited some of the fine old churches dotted around the USA to admire the architecture or take a trip back in time to bathe in the warm waters of history. [Please don't try to be poetical. Ed.] One church well worth a visit for either reason is Christ Church, just off North Washington Street, in Alexandria, Virginia. It's just a couple of blocks west of historical Gadsby's Tavern, where both George Washington and I ate (although not at the same table or time).

George Washington worshipped at Christ Church. A small nameplate still adorns the family pew. Robert E. Lee was confirmed there, and his place is similarly marked. Larger plaques on either side of the sanctuary memorialized both men.


"Why the past tense?", I hear you ask. Why not "memorialize"? Because, dear reader, both plaquest were removed this weekend by order of the vestry, the committee which administers the church. According to a letter circulated to members of the parish this week, the plaques were taken down in order to make Christ Church more "welcoming", and to prevent people from feeling "unsafe" in the sanctuary. Seriously? Well, this is what the vestry said.

"Hebrews 13:2 says, 'Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.' Christ Church lives into this call, feeding the hungry with our Lazarus ministry, welcoming the stranger in our refugee ministry, and inviting all to worship with us. The plaques in our sanctuary make some in our presence feel unsafe or unwelcome. Some visitors and guests who worship with us choose not to return because they receive an unintended message from the prominent presence of the plaques."

The letter, signed by all 13 members of the governing council, goes on to insist that the eras in which the two famed men lived are "much different than our own." It continues:

"We understand that both Washington and Lee lived in times much different than our own and that each man, in addition to his public persona, was a complicated human being, and like all of us, a child of God. Today, the legacy of slavery and of the Confederacy is understood differently than it was in 1870. For some, Lee symbolizes the attempt to overthrow the Union and to preserve slavery. Today our country is trying once again to come to grips with the history of slavery and the subsequent disenfranchisement of people of color.

"Many in our congregation feel a strong need for the church to stand clearly on the side of 'All are welcome — no exceptions.' Because the sanctuary is a worship space, not a museum, there is no appropriate way to inform visitors about the history of the plaques or to provide additional context except for the in-person tours provided by our docents."

The original focus of this exercise in virtue-signalling was the plaque honouring Robert E. Lee. Unfortunately for the SJWs and do-good weenies, some churl pointed out that George Washington, too, had been a slave-owner. So both memorials had to go, although church officials covered themselves with the figleaf that both plaques are being removed because the two occupy opposite areas of the sanctuary and the aesthetic look of the church would have been "unbalanced" if only the Robert E. Lee plaque were to be removed.

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Why the Canadian Army is "suspending" ops in Iraq


The big guys with the beards aren't ISIS jihadis or Iraqi "soldiers". They're Canucks! You can tell because they have better camoduds, with their maple leaf flag (cleverly died green) on the shoulders. They are pictured "advising and training" Kurdish Peshmerga "fighters" somewhere in northern Iraq.

"Gee whillikers, Walt! You mean there are Canadians fighting alongside the brave American forces in Iraq?" Well, not exactly, Bobby. There are Canadian Armed Forces personnel in Iraq, all right, but not all of them are, errr, fighting. There are intelligence officers (as in that great oxymoron "military intelligence"), a helicopter detachment and a medical contingent based in Erbil, the Kurdish capital. Separately, in Kuwait, there is a surveillance plane and an air-to-air refueller.

But yes, there are several dozen Canucks out there in camos, holding guns and other implements of destruction. By way of apology for not jumping at the chance to join the first Iraq fiasco, the government of former Canuck Prime Minister Steven Harpoon in 2014 sent roughly 200 Canadian commandos to "provide advice and assistance" on the ground in northern Iraq in an effort to help defeat ISIS militants. This summer, when it looked like the war was finally going to be won, the alleged government of Junior Trudeau extended the mission for two years.

And then, just as Walt predicted (lifetime pct .991) the war against ISIS took a sudden but not unpredictable turn in another direction. Having cleared the Islamists out of Mosul, the Kurds decided that it was time to consolidate their victory and assert their independence from the rest of Iraq. They held a referendum of sorts and voted to declare their own republic, a formalization of the autonomous state which already existed (in theory) in northern Iraq. The so-called national government of that wretched country, dominated by Shia Muslims, did not take kindly to the challenge to its authority, and sent their army, along with Shi'ite militias, to put the Kurds in their place... or out of their place, looking at it from the Kurds' point of view.

The Arab Iraqis seized the northern oil city of Kirkuk from the Kurds, with surprising ease, a few days ago, and are expected to move against Mosul and the Kurdish capital, Erbil, at any time. That puts the Canadian special forces in an awkward position, since they are based in Erbil and, if the Kurds take a stand against the Arab Iraqis, would be expected to lead their "trainees" into battle against the Iraqi forces whom the Canucks have also been "training".

What would you do, if you were the peace-loving Canadian Minister of Defence (who happens to be a Sikh) or his pussified boss, Justin Trudeau? Would you take the side of the "national" government of Iraq or the separatist Kurds? (See "Gulf Wars drag on: Walt's guide to who's fighting who", WWW 16/10/17.)

Perhaps you have already guessed the answer. It is not the Canadian way to offend anybody... anybody! Canadians, or their government at least, see themselves as the great peacemakers who can bring sanity and stability to a world dominated by crazy warmongers like Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. (That's M Trudeau's view, not Walt's!) So, rather than take sides, the clever and peace-loving Canadians have decided to do... errr... nothing, "until greater clarity exists".

That's the word from Col. Jay Janzen, the director of military strategic communications for the Canadian Armed Forces, in a brief statement made while everyone was watching the World Series last night. "Given the fluidity of the current situation, Canada's Special Operations Task Force has temporarily suspended the provision of assistance to various elements of Iraqi security forces," he said. "Once greater clarity exists regarding the interrelationships of Iraqi security forces, and the key priorities and tasks ahead, the task force will resume activities."

Monitoring the situation without taking sides might seem like the sensible and moral thing to do, but, as with everything the Trudeau government does, there is an agenda behind the decision to put a temporary hold on their training of Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the wake of fighting between the two factions. The Canadian government is deathly afraid of two connected ideologies: separatism and nationalism.

Almost since the day of Canada's creation, just over 150 years ago, the federal government has been fighting to keep the people of Québec --
distinct ethnically, linguistically and religiously from the rest of Canada -- from seceding. In the most recent referendum on the question, in 1995, the people of La Belle Province voted by the narrowest of margins to not become un état -- an independent state. But the spark of separatist sentiment is hard to extinguish, and now it is being fanned into flame by the rise of separatist/nationalist movements in Scotland, Catalonia, and, yes, "Kurdistan".

Just yesterday, Junior Trudeau affirmed his support for a united Spain. Statements by Canadian politicians on the Kurdish question show that the only support for the ideal of Kurdish independence comes from the (federal) Bloc Québécois and the (provincial) Parti Québécois. If the independence of the new Catalan republic is recognized, if the Kurds succeed in driving the Arab Iraqis out of their region, Canada's Liberals will have yet another battle to fight to uphold their ideal of a post-national society. Stay tuned.

Friday, October 27, 2017

Québec dad beats daughter for not wearing Islamic head covering

What's a good "Muslim Canadian" girl to do? If she lives in Québec and covers her face with a niqab (or, Allah help her, a burqa) while being served at a library, she could get into trouble with the Law. See "Québec enacts law banning face coverings in public places", WWW 17/10/17. If she doesn't cover her face, or at least her hair, with proper Islamic dress, i.e. a hijab, she could get beaten... or worse... by her father and/or brothers for bring dishonour upon their family.

Buried in the back pages of today's lamestream media is a sad little story from Gatineau, Québec, just across the river from the capital of Canuckistan. A Muslim man has been charged for (allegedly) beating his teenage daughter over the course of more than a year because she refused to wear a hijab. According to Inspector Clouseau [Ed., please check name] of the Gatineau police, the 35-year-old follower of the Prophet is facing one count each of assault, assault with a weapon and uttering death threats.

In what police described as a case of so-called "honour-based" violence, the father began the series of assaults upon learning his daughter had removed her religious head covering when she left the family home. Gatineau police said they hope the courage the young girl showed would motivate others to speak out against similar incidents.

Walt would add that any daughter, sister or wife being abused by her too-strict Islamic father, brother or husband had better speak up right sharpish, before she suffers the fate of the late Aqsa Parvez, of Mississauga ON, who was killed by her father (with help from her brother) just over five years ago for... wait for it... taking off her hijab when she went to school. See "Parents kill rebellious teen to preserve family honour", WWW 3/8/12.

Further reading: If you're still not sure of the difference between the three types of Islamic head-coverings, check out "Hijab, niqab, burqa -- what's the difference?", WWW 28/7/10.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

The irreversible browning of Canada

Assiduous readers of WWW will know that I habitually refer to the huge landmass north of the world's longest undefended border as the Great Not-so-white North or the Great No-longer-white North. I have been accused of exaggerating the degree to which Canada has been changed by the mass immigration encouraged by its governments (both Conservative and Liberal) over the last half-century. Data from the 2016 Census released by Statistics Canada this week show that I was right. Lifetime pct .991.

The decennial head count found that 21.9% of the Canadian residents counted are immigrants, the highest percentage in 85 years. And, I venture to say, the actual percentage is higher still, since the hundreds of thousands of migrants living in Canada illegally are unlikely to have filled in the census forms. StatsCan itself, if it were honest, would concede that the lowest rates of completion of the questionnaires were in the ethnic enclaves (read: ghettos) of Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal.

The naïve Canucks -- correction: the Canuck government -- accepted 1.2 million new immigrants between 2011 and 2016, with another 300,000 expected to have arrived by the end of this year. 60% of them were "economic migrants" -- the desirable (?) kind -- with the remaining 40% being allowed in under the "family reunification" programme -- less desirable -- or as "refugees" or asylum-seekers or "irregularly admitted", the kind of people the majority of Canadians have said they don't want to "welcome" to their country. See "Majority of Canucks think government 'too generous' to asylum-seekers", WWW 15/9/17.

By far the largest source of new immigrants (over 60%) come from Asia, including the Muslim Middle East. Africa has now surpassed Europe as the second-most important source, with folks from the Dark Continent (including Muslim North Africa) increasing to 13.4%. Here's how the numbers look in graph form.

Syria now ranks as the seventh biggest source of immigrants, thanks to the tens of thousands of refugees -- almost all Muslim -- welcomed by Junior after his election in the fall of 2015. In 2011 it was ranked 50th. Africans have to be counted among the immigrants from "other countries", since they hail from a number of different countries. The majority of them are not from sub-Saharan Africa, but from the Arab countries of north Africa, who are accepted by the Québec government because they are French-speaking. From Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt, Canada gets such upstanding citizens as Omar Khadr and Muayyed Nureddin, Abdullah Almalki, and Ahmad Elmaati (see footnote).

Although it asks about religion and ethnic origin elsewhere in the Census, StatsCan (and the Ministry of Immigration and Refugees) doesn't record these details for new immigrants, so it's just possible that some of the 41,480 who came from Pakistan might be Christian and white, although I wouldn't bet on it. (Lifetime pct .991.) But from the country of origin data, it's easy enough to extrapolate a "colour profile", so that the vizmins (= "visible minorities") can be identified and celebrated.


If you're a white Canadian, you might feel relieved (if you're the credulous type) when your government tells you that only 22.3% are "visible minorities" (read: non-white), even though that proportion is set to rise to over a third within one generation. You're still in the majority, right? Errr, no. It depends where you live. Another datum from the 2016 Census confirms that Canada's largest city, Toronto, is now a "minority majority" city, meaning that whiteys like you are now outnumbered by the dark-complected types who inhabit neighbourhoods like Dixon. See "Why no-one wants to take in Somali 'refugees'", WWW 16/10/17.

What I find most striking about the census data released yesterday is the comparison between the Canada of 2016 and the Great White North described in the Census of 1971. Here's the last (and most depressing) of the three graphs which Ed. has copied from CP, which got them from the StatsCan documents.


In 1971, fully 89% of the immigrants counted in the census came from Europe and the USA. Most of those would have been white. By last year, the percentage coming from Europe and the USA had shrunk to 31%, and more of those are non-white, having spent some time in the USA or Europe before moving to Canada. "Refugees" who apply to come to Canada from Germany (for instance) are counted as coming from Europe, not Syria or Afghanistan (for instance).

If you're a white Canadian -- perhaps one of the "white flees" who have escaped the ghettos of the GTA for the greener (whiter?) pastures of Grey County -- you will find the numbers from the 2016 Census depressing. It's not hard to see the trend. What's depressing is that it's too late now for the browning of Canada to be stopped. A half-century of liberal rule and white liberal guilt have done irreversible damage.

Even if the Canuck welcome mat were pulled back under the door tomorrow, the fecund third-world immigrants -- especially those who don't believe in birth control and abortion -- will pop out about 2.5 brown babies for every white baby. If you're a young, white Canadian, and want to keep living in a white community, you'd better start thinking about emigrating to... well... errr... eastern Europe perhaps -- someplace whose people still believe that European Christian civilization is the acme of human development. And good luck to you!

Recommended reading: The Strange Death of Europe, by Douglas Murray
(Bloomsbury Continuum 2017).

Footnote: Turns out Omar Khadr wasn't the only soldier of the Prophet to become instant multimillionaires, courtesy of Canuck taxpayers. CBC News reports that Junior Trudeau's Liberal government has paid a total of C$31.25 million in settlements to three Muslim Canadian men "wrongfully accused of links to terrorism and tortured in Syria and Egypt" after being fingered by the Mounties and Canada's alleged spy agency." Muayyed Nureddin, Abdullah Almalki, and Ahmad Elmaati [What? No "Mohammed"? Ed.] will split the windfall, nearly $25 million in real money. That makes a total of over C$40 million paid out so far this year to four Islamists who were lucky to get the benefit of the doubt.

COMMENTS WELCOME! Click on the headline to open the comments window.

Monday, October 23, 2017

Canucks ask US Homeland Security to help turn back border jumpers

Canada's state broadcaster, the CBC, released a funny story yesterday, in the middle of a sleepy afternoon when no-one was paying attention. Regular readers of WWW may recall that the Canuck government has been affecting all summer long to be unconcerned about the 1000s of "refugees", asylum-seekers and other would-be immigrants who are crossing the world's longest undefended border to get into Canada's much-too-generous welfare programmes.

Most of the dark-complected illegal migrants being welcomed by the Mounties at an "unofficial" border crossing near Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle QC are Haïtians and Africans. How did they get to that hole in the fence? Why, they came through the USA! Many of them, in fact, had lived in the Land of the Free for years before heading for the Land of the Free Lunch, in response to Justin "Junior" Trudeau's open invitation broadcast to a waiting world in response to President Trump's hint that the parasites had worn out their welcome in the USA.

As the number of illegals crossing from the USA into Canada keeps growing and growing, M Trudeau's Liberal government, facing a rising anti-immigrant backlash, keeps trotting out cabinet ministers and MPs to assure the angry Canadian public that Action is Being Taken and Everything is Under Control. But it's not Junior Himself who has to face the wrath of the people, nor is it Ahmed Hussen, the Somali-born Minister of Immigration and Refugees (sic). Noooo. It's usually poor old Ralph Goodale, the mild-mannered veteran who has the misfortune to be Minister of Public Secure and Civil Protection, which I guess means that the illegals are indeed a threat to the Canadian public, although of course Mr Goodale can't say that because of M-103. (Canucks will know what I mean.)

Poor old Ralph was again pushed into the spotlight -- like a deer transfixed in the headlights of an oncoming car -- on Sunday when he was interviewed by CBC News. He revealed that he had been having discussions with his American counterpart, Elaine Duke, the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, with a view to... errr... getting her to do something, anything, on the US side of the border to help stem the tide of illegal migrants.


Mr Goodale said he asked Ms Duke to consider alerting Canadian authorities when the US is about to make policy decisions that would affect the border, in order to give agencies such as border services time to prepare. He also warned her to keep a "wary eye" on the travel visas it issues to the United States. He explained that Canadian officials have identified trends where documents issued from "certain US embassies and consulates" are being misused. "We have asked them to go back upstream and examine the pattern of these travel documents being issued," he said, "and how come the people to whom they were issued appear to have had no intention of staying in the United States, but were simply using the documents as vehicles to get into the United States and then make a beeline for the Canadian border."

Not wanting to appear racist or Islamophobic, Mr Goodale declined to identify diplomatic missions that have been problematic, but CBC News is reporting today that one place where a lot of people seem to be getting visas to visit the USA with the intention of heading to Canada is... wait for it... Nigeria.

Mr Goodale and Ms Duke have apparently discussed other "joint steps to take to address illegal migration across their shared border." For instance, the Canucks have suggested, the Americans could put up some signs on their side of the border "with messages to dissuade those seeking asylum in Canada." Yeah, that'll do it, for sure! Can't you just imagine a US Border Patrol officer yelling at a busload of Africans, "Don't make me point at the sign again!"? Said Mr Goodale, "They're examining what they can do to communicate."

So, dear Canadian readers, you mustn't worry. Action is Being Taken. Everything is Under Control. Diversity is Canada's Strength! Vote Liberal!

"Stop Islamisation!" banner unfurled on London bridge

"Raise high the banner!" Now there's a catchy exhortation for you. Not new, but catchy. It could serve as a slogan for the Identitarian Movement (see "Further reading", below), which made its presence known in London this morning. Anti-Islamization activists unveiled a large banner on Westminster Bridge, so their message -- "Defend London - Stop Islamisation" -- faces directly into Westminster, the mother of all parliaments.


Here's a closer look. The movement's name and logo are seen beside "Defend London Stop Islamisation". ["Islamisation" is the British spelling of what we call "Islamization". Ed.] Displaying it prominently in the heart of Not-so-great Britan is the latest in a series of Identitarian demonstrations in cities across Europe, calling attention to the group's anti-immigration cause.


A statement posted to social media immediately after the action explained the symbolism of the location. "On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place on Westminster Bridge. The Islamist inspired attack killed 5 people and injured more than 50. London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, believes that the threat of terror attacks are 'part and parcel of living in a big city'. On the contrary, we think that the source of Islamisation lies in mass immigration, which must be stopped."

Further reading:
"Far-right 'Identitarian' movement aiming to launch UK branch, but who are they?" RT Question More, 23/10/17. Includes photo of two very beautiful Aryan girls!
"Identitarian movement - Germany's 'new right' hipsters" Deutsche Welle, 23/6/17.
"Aux Français! L'avertissement du Général Charles De Gaulle", WWW 25/8/12. The greatest leader of modern France warned about the dangers of Islamization in 1959!

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Zimbabwean dictator appointed to, then removed from WHO post

The Western world is having a good laugh today (but also breathing a sigh of relief) at the appointment and speedy unappointment [disappointment? Ed.] of Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, dictator of Zimbabwe, as a "goodwill ambassador" for the World Health Organization (WHO). "Uncle Bob", however, is reportedly not amused.


The farce began on Wednesday in Uruguay, at a high-level WHO meeting to discuss non-communicable diseases. Comrade Bob had commandeered Air Zimbabwe's sole airworthy B-767 to attend, causing his countrymen to scratch their heads in wonderment, even though they have gotten used to their Dear Leader's peripatetic lifestyle, which has bankrupted the national airline and put a huge strain on the Zim treasury, which is now printing "bond notes" to cover its lack of real money.

Turns out the reason for the trip to a place few Africans have even heard of was that an "arrangement" had been made with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian recently appointed to the position, to appoint Mr Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador, out of respect for his government's devotion to providing free healthcare for all. Mr Ghebreyesus said he thought Mr Mugabe would be the ideal person to "to influence his peers in his region."

Many observers outside the Dark Continent (including yr obdt servant, who lived in Zimbabwe in the 1990s) thought the appointment must be a huge joke, given that Mr Mugabe is "peerless", in the sense that he has no equal for corruption, despotism and (alas!) longevity. He has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, when the cowardly Brits sold out the "white settler régime" of Ian Smith and gave the former Rhodesia "majority rule" under the one-man-one-vote system.

The one man who has the one vote is Comrade Bob, who is 93 years old, but intends to stand for re-election next year, even if his lovely and fragrant wife Grace has to push him to the polls in his wheelchair. "Hendiende" is chiShona (the main local language) for "I won't go!"

The USA, Canada and a host of other countries, including Not-so-great Britain, were quick to criticize the WHO appointment. Canuck Prime Minister Justin "Junior" Trudeau called it a belated April Fool's joke. Donors and human rights groups expressed outrage. Comrade Bob, they noted, has for years been going overseas for medical treatment as Zimbabwe's once-prosperous economy (in the bad old colonial days) falls apart. He is not alone. Just last month, Vice-President Emerson Mnangagwa thought he'd been poisoned by eating bad ice cream from the Mugabe family's Gushongo Dairy, and hied himself off to South Africa to have his stomach pumped.

No Zimbabwean with any money trusts the country's decrepit healthcare system. As long ago as 2008, the charity Physicians for Human Rights released a report documenting failures in the system, saying that Mr Mugabe's policies had led to a man-made crisis. "The government of Robert Mugabe presided over the dramatic reversal of its population's access to food, clean water, basic sanitation and health care," the group found, adding that its policies led directly to "the shuttering of hospitals and clinics, the closing of its medical school and the beatings of health workers."

Today the WHO Director-General said in a statement, posted on his Twitter account @DrTedros, that he had listened to those expressing concerns. "Over the last few days, I have reflected on my appointment of H.E. President Robert Mugabe as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for NCDs in Africa. As a result I have decided to rescind the appointment."

Walt's comment: The appointment of the Zimbabwean dictator reflects everything that's wrong not just with Zimbabwe, not just with Africa, but with the World Health Organization and its mother "organization", the United Nations. The UN is nothing more than a powerless, self-serving talking shop, dominated by the beggars of the Third World, whose "diplomats" line their pockets and enjoy the luxurious, jet-setting lifestyle while their countrymen starve in squalor. The AABC countries (America, Australia, Britain and Canada) would do well to withdraw their financial support and leave the whole stinking mess to rot.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Anti-immigrant party tops polls in Czech election

Liberals, "progressives", Democrats, one-worlders and bleeding hearts take note! The anti-immigrant (more specifically, anti-Muslim immigrant backlash) is sweeping over Europe! Last week saw the victory in the Austrian parliamentary elections of Sebastian Kurz's rightist People's Party (ÖVP) and the even more populist Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) led by Heinz-Christian Strache. As Walt told you in "Anti-immigrant Austrian voters won't be denied this time!", the ÖVP and FPÖ look set to form a coalition determined to keep the Muslim hordes out of the land of the edelweiss.

Today comes more good news, this time from the neighbouring Czech Republic (aka "Czechia" -- the western part of the Czechoslovakia that was), where the ANO party led by the populist billionaire Andrej Babiš, has topped the polls in elections to the national legislature. Mr Babiš, sometimes described as "the Czech Donald Trump" (he's even more wealthy than the Donald!), turned the former movement "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens" (Czech: "Akce nespokojených občanů", ANO) into a political party in 2011. "Ano" means "yes" in Czech.


Isn't "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens" a great name? Makes you want to join up right now, doesn't it?! The slogan "Bude lip!", means "It will be better!"

Mr Babiš succeeded in giving a powerful voice to the millions of Czechs who oppose the European Union's forced relocation of "refugees" and asylum-seekers to their country. Speaking on the importance of national heritage, Mr Babiš said, "The biggest added value of the European Union is the national identity of each country. We have to fight for what our ancestors built here. If there will be more Muslims than Belgians in Brussels, that' their problem. I don't want that here. They won't be telling us who should live here!"

Today, with counting 99% complete, the ANO is reported to have attracted nearly 30% of the vote, a significant proportion given that the largest party in the last election (2013) -- the Social Democrats -- placed first with just 20.45%. This time the socialists got just 7.7% of othe vote, putting them in sixth place.

In second place, with 11.31% last count, is the former giant of Czech politics, the centrist Civic Democratic Party. Behind them in third is the leftish Pirate Party (seriously!) at 10.78%. Close on their heels, in fourth place with 10.64%, is the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party. Their Eurosceptic stand against Islamization and mass migration should make them natural partners in an ANO-led coalition.

Germany, Austria and now the Czech Republic. Which country is next? Which people will be the next to rise up in defiance of the New World Order? Stay tuned!

Friday, October 20, 2017

Dubya speaks out against President Trump

You've probably seen the stories splashed all over the lamestream meeja about President George W. Bush and his successor... what was his name... warning the American public to eschew the politics of division, yada yada yada -- highly critical remarks about President Trump's policies, without having the courage to mention him by name. Here is a picture, from The People's Cube, that is truly worth 1000 words.


Click here to read "Doctors baffled as mute man speaks after 8 years of silence"
, the text that goes with the picture. It's witty, but not as great as the pic!

Thursday, October 19, 2017

VIDEO: Hilarious Southwest Airlines pre-flight demo (with subtitles)

Airlines have been trying for decades to find ways to get passengers to pay attention to the pre-flight safety announcements. Studies have shown that videos -- introduced some years ago as an "efficiency" measure -- get even less attention than live demos. And, as this video shot on Southwest Airlines shows -- a really creative demo can get not just attention, but laughs and applause.

Thanks to Agent 17 for sending us the link to this captioned version of a very funny but whip-speedy monologue by the Southwest flight attendant who appeared with Ellen Degeneres in April of 2014. You might want to listen to the video twice because she speaks very quickly. It helps to read the captions as you listen.



Agent 3 tells us he remembers that, back in the 1980s, Air Canada experimented with letting the flight attendants make up their own stuff. He recalls hearing these witty lines:
- "There are 50 ways to leave your lover, but only 7 ways to leave this plane..." (pointing out emergency exits)
- "If the air pressure drops, what would you do? WHAT WOULD YOU DO?!..." (oxygen mask demo)
- "We have just landed at (airport). Tonight Operation Ivory Liquid is in effect. This means that if you get out of your seat before the aircraft has arrived at the terminal, not only will everyone laugh at you, but you will have to stay behind and do the dishes."

The experiment lasted only a few weeks (Agent 3 adds) after which it was discontinued because it not sober and serious enough for the People's Airline, besides which it was making pax nervous. How Canadian is that!

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Québec enacts law banning face coverings in public places

If they live in Québec, these women might well start looking over their shoulders, keeping their eyes (only) open for the long arm of the law, for starting soon they will be in violation of a law requiring Québec people who give or receive any public service to uncover their faces.

Bill 62, which Walt thinks might well be called the Open Face Law, was passed by the National Assembly (legislature) last week. It applies to all provincial ministries, school boards, universities, public health care institutions, subsidized day care centres, municipalities, and public transit authorities.

Also covered (or uncovered, if you'll forgive the pun) are doctors, dentists and midwives. So if you're in a doctor's office, no matter whether you're the doctor or the patient, take off that veil! Walt wonders if there's an exception for surgical masks. There should be no problem for dental patients, though. How could you get your teeth cleaned with your face covered? [I've always wondered about that too. Maybe Muslim women don't go to the dentist? Ed.]

Bill 62 details under what circumstances employers and schools should refuse requests for time off for religious reasons. It would also bar taxpayer-subsidized daycares from teaching children specific religious beliefs.

The fundamental principle of Bill 62 is the duty of religious neutrality which is considered necessary in a society which is determined to be an exemplar of secular humanism. This is a 180-degree turn from the Québec of old, of the days before the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, when the teachings of the (pre-Vatican II) Church established the norms of morality and propriety for Canada's most Catholic province.

The secular values of the New Québec were set out back in 2013 in the Charter of Québec Values proposed by the Parti Québecois, which was then in power, in response to the anger of old stock Québecois over religious accommodation -- the PC notion that Canadians should had to adapt to the social and religious customs of non-Christian (read: Muslim) immigrants. The PQ was defeated in the next provincial election, but in 2015 similar legislation was introduced by the new Liberal government as Bill 62.

Although Bill 62 doesn't mention the niqab or burqa specifically, Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée said that, since the law will apply to municipalities, metropolitan communities and public transit organizations. anyone who rides a bus or the Métro (subway) must be unveiled. Mme Vallée told CBC Montreal's Daybreak yesterday that a woman who normally wears a burqa or niqab would have to show her face for the duration of her ride, "as long as the service is being rendered."

Beyond the face-covering ban, the Bill 62 sets out broad limits for all requests for religious accommodation. It says a request has to be "serious", respect the right to equality between men and women and "the right of every person to be treated without discrimination." Opposition to the legislation has come chiefly from the members of one religious group. Walt will leave you to guess which religion that is. Hint: It's one of the three Abrahamic religions... the newest one of the three... Geddit?

Further reading:
"Hijab, niqab, burqa -- what's the difference?", WWW 28/7/10.
"Nobody likes the Charter of Québec Values...except the people!", WWW 23/1/14.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Why no-one wants to take in Somali "refugees"

When President Trump issued his latest proclamation, "Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by Terrorists or other Public-Safety Threats" last month, the usual gang of do-gooders, SJWs and bleeding hearts denounced it as "racist", "Islamophobic", yada yada yada, since all but one of the countries named are Muslim majority states. One of those is Somalia, a failed state which has been exporting "refugees", including Islamic terrorists, to Europe and America for decades.


Use the search feature at the right to get a complete list of the many times Walt has written about "Somalis", and you will soon see why people from that wretched shithole of a "nation" should be at the top of the list of prohibited visitors or immigrants. Here are links to some of the more recent posts.

"Had enough Muslim immigrants yet?", WWW 20/9/16
"The Muslim invasion of Canada has begun (but not where you think)", WWW 6/1/17 - Most of the asylum-seekers mentioned in this piece wound up in Toronto, in the "Dixon" neighbourhood, which will be mentioned in a moment.
"Somali tribesmen of MN (!) fall for anti-vaxxers' BS, get sick and die", WWW 8/5/17
"Edmonton Muslim terrorist attack: Walt told ya so!", WWW 2/10/17
"Somali-Canadian Muslim convicted of planning terror attack on NYC", WWW 7/10/17.

Apparently no-one made the connection between the Islamic terrorist wannabe mentioned in the first post on my list, and the one mentioned in the last post. They are both Somali Muslims. So is the guy charged with attempted murder in the Edmonton "incident". He was first described by Canadian "authorities" and the lamestream media as a "refugee". Turns out his refugee claim was actually made in the USA, where he lived for some time until he was ordered deported. One step ahead of ICE, he then fled to the Great No-longer-white North, where he was welcomed by the gullible Canucks. The Mounties probably helped him with his luggage, as they have with the 1000s of illegals who have crossed the border at Emerson MB and Lacolle QC.

Speaking of those who crossed at Emerson -- see second story on the above list -- Torontonians may be dismayed, but will not be surprised to learn that almost all of them took the welfare and resettlement money given to them by the soft-hearted and soft-headed Canadians and made their way to Toronto, where they were welcomed into the ghetto known as "Dixon", in northern Etobicoke. That area is largely inhabited by Somali refugees, countrymen and perhaps kinsmen of Canada's Minister of Immigration and Refugees (sic), Ahmed Hussen.

Walt has e-mailed the Honourable Mr Husssen for comment on a spate of recent shootings in his community. Last week The Economist released a new index ranking Toronto as the safest city in North America. This comes as news to the residents of Dixon, who held a protest meeting last week (attended only by women and children -- the Somali men were elsewhere) to call for government help (= money) to deal with the seemingly relentless violence that cut short the lives of two young Somali "refugees" last this week alone.

Abdulkadir Bihi, 29, of Toronto was fatally shot last Thursday afternoon when police located him in a vehicle in front of an apartment building on Dixon Road. Police have since charged two suspects with first-degree murder in connection to the homicide. Four days later, a 16-year-old boy died of his injuries in hospital following a triple shooting in the parking lot of Kingsview Village School on Dixon Road and Islington Avenue.
The two other victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The deceased was identified as Zakariye Ali of Toronto. All involved -- victims and shooters -- are Somalis.

Now we come to this weekend's bloody atrocity in the place those people came from -- Somalia, first and foremost among the world's failed states. It is hard to argue with the proposition that Somalia is a dangerous place, even for natives. Not only political conflict, but tribal and clan warfare have raged there since early 2009 -- and that's just the current phase of yet another Muslim civil war into which the West got sucked in the name of peace-keeping. Remember Black Hawk Down? That was about the Battle of Mogadishu, way back in 1993, in which American forces took on Somali militia fighters, with predictable results. (I wrote earlier today about the latest phase of the war in Iraq. See the pattern?)

Mogadishu this weekend was the scene of two massive truck bombings. The death toll is now (Monday morning) over 300, with a like number wounded and injured. Somalia's alleged government -- whose writ does not run even in the country's capital city -- is blaming the al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda. The Islamic terror attack was one of the worst in the world in recent years, and the worst in Somalia ever. Al-Shabaab, Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group, often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu. Earlier this year, it vowed to step up attacks after both the Trump administration and Somalia's recently elected president announced new military efforts against the group.

In the wake of the massacre, the one-worlders, bleeding hearts and chattering classes will be calling on President Trump to "temporarily" except Somalia from the list of countries whose nationals aren't allowed to enter the USA. "Be human!", they will clamour, pissing and moaning about those poor people whose lives are in danger, who want to come to America (and maybe onward to Canada, or the other way around) to find peace and security.

At the risk of appearing hard-hearted, Walt would suggest that the only threats to the lives and well-being of most Somalis are threats posed by other Somalis! If you don't believe me, look at Dixon. They bring their political and religious strife with them, as part of their psychological baggage. Better, for us at least, that they stay at home.

Footnote
: Oh... Forgot to identify the three Somali "refugees" in the pix above. Check out "Minneapolis: Somali 'refugees' terrorize neighborhood", a story completely ignored by the Star-Tribune since it happened in July of 2016, during the election campaign. Briefly, a group of 20-30 Somali "refugees" terrorized a small neighbourhood filled with million dollar homes, screaming about "jihad" while waving Somali flags, shooting off fireworks and driving their cars onto sidewalks and lawns. They also threatened to kidnap women and rape them because "Sharia law says it's legal."

Gulf Wars drag on: Walt's guide to who's fighting who

Even though it's the longest-running continuous military engagement in US history, some time has passed since the Gulf Wars (aka Oil Wars) was front page news in the Paranoid States of America. That may be about to change as the fighting enters a new phase.

Now that the ISIS (the Sunni Muslim terrorist "state") has been more or less defeated, at least in Iraq, the "victors" -- Shiite Muslims in the south and Kurds in the north -- are starting to fight each other. Western armed forces, mostly American, are caught in the middle, "training and advising" both sides.

The last noteworthy battle in Iraq, which dragged on through most of this summer, was in Mosul, the heart of the Kurdish part of Iraq, also in the middle of large oil fields. The area is also home to millions of Arabs, Turkmen, Yazidis and a few thousand persecuted Christians. Mainly Kurdish forces, led into battle by American and Canadian "trainers" succeeded in driving out the ISIS jihadis.

Last month, flush with success and swimming in oil money, the Kurdish government of the semi-autonomous region held a referendum on independence, in defiance of Iraq's central government in Baghdad. To no-one's surprise, the Kurds voted overwhelmingly in favour of declaring the own republic. They already had a flag, so figured a state would make the set complete. The Iraqi government immediately called on foreign countries to stop importing oil from the Kurdish region and to deal with them instead.

This weekend the Iraqi government dropped the other shoe. The so-called Iraqi National Army and state-backed Shia militias launched a major, multi-pronged attack aimed at retaking Kirkuk. Kurdish forces appeared to be pulling back, abandoning fortified positions around the airport as large numbers of civilians fled the northern city ahead of a feared assault.

This latest phase in what is essentially a Muslim civil war pits two close US allies against each other, potentially undermining the unfinished war against ISIS. There is a very real possibility, right now, of American "trainers" and "special forces" being killed by Canadians, or (more likely) vice versa. Walt says it's folly to take sides in this conflict -- a waste of money and of the precious lives of our troops. Let the Muslims duke it out! We can buy oil from any of them... hell, all of them!

Further reading: Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, by Thomas E. Ricks (Penguin Press 2006).

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Anti-immigrant Austrian voters won't be denied this time!

The last time I wrote at length about Austrian politics was in the middle of 2016, when a conspiracy of the mainstream parties robbed the right-wing populist Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) of victory in that country's presidential election. On 1 July 2016 the Constitutional Court ruled that there had been some "irregularities" and ordered a do-over. The result was a clear(er) win for the pro-EU former Greenie Alexander Van der Bellen.

The liberal meeja were all cock-a-hoop over the defeat of FPÖ leader Norbert Hofer, saying that Austrian voters had "decisively rejected the possibility of the EU getting its first far-right head of state, instead electing a former leader of the Green party who said he would be an 'open-minded, liberal-minded and above all a pro-European president'." (The Grauniad, 4/12/16) All very well, but liberals and one-worlders lost sight of the fact that the presidency of Austria is a ceremonial position. The president is just a figurehead. Real power lies with the Austrian parliament.

Today, Austrians voted in a general election in which the main issue was immigration. Overwhelmingly negative public sentiment has forced even the mainstream political parties to call for tougher immigration policies, and the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) is expected to increase its representation in parliament significantly.


The frontrunner, according to the latest polls, is the conservative People's Party (ÖVP), led by 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz, another selfie-loving glamour boy in the mold of Canada's Trudeau or France's Macron. Herr Kurz seems likely to become the next chancellor (= prime minister) of a coalition government in which his party will be joined by... wait for it... the FPÖ! The Social Democrats, who were the junior partners with the ÖVP in the last government, will challenge the FPÖ for second place, but even if they finish second, the ÖVP will have little choice (because of the immigration issue) but to work with the FPÖ, leaving the liberals in opposition.

Immigration has been a dominant issue in the campaign, and the election comes amid anxiety in Austria (and Europe as a whole) over the huge influx of illegal migrants, "refugees" and asylum-seekers which fuelled an electoral breakthrough by the AfD (Alternativ für Deutschland)in neighbouring Germany last month. See "German election results 'a political earthquake'", WWW 24/9/17.

Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in 2015, the political landscape of Austria has shifted to the right. Just how far it has shifted should be known in the next six hours. Stay tuned.

Friday, October 13, 2017

President Trump says it's OK to say "MERRY CHRISTMAS" again!

Speaking of Canadian stamps... Canada Post Corp has announced its line-up of special issues for the coming holiday season. A stamp for Diwali (the Hindu festival of lights) has already been released. Designs have been approved to commemorate Nowruz, Kwanzaa, (((Hannukah))), Eid and "Winter Holiday". However, CPC spokesthingy Carol Singh said, there are no plans for a stamp bearing the word "Christmas", since that could be offensive to Zoroastrians, African-Canadians, (((Jews))), Muslims and secular humanists.

Meanwhile, on the warmer side of the world's longest undefended border, President Donald J. Trump (How sweet it still is!), speaking at the Value Voters Summit in Washington today, assured Christian conservatives that his administration will defend religious organizations. Promising a return to traditional American values, the President said "How times have changed, but you know what, now they are changing back again, just remember that!"

Mr Trump, the first sitting president to address the Values Voter Summit, listed the promises he's fulfilled to evangelical Christians, traditional Catholics and other conservatives, pledging to turn back the clock in "a nation that has drifted away from its religious roots." Today he added another promise, vowing to return the phrase "Merry Christmas!" to the American vocabulary, in place of the wimpy and politically correct "Happy Holidays".

He noted that religious liberty is enshrined in the founding documents of the United States of America. There are four references to the "Creator" in the Declaration of Independence, Mr Trump said, adding "I pledged that in a Trump administration, our nation's religious heritage would be cherished, protected and defended like you have never seen before. Above all else in America, we don't worship government. We worship God!"

Centenary of the Miracle of the Sun, + VIDEO: Does the Filial Correction = rejection of Vatican II?

Today, 13 October 2017, is the 100th anniversary of the final Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal. This sixth appearance by Our Lady of Fatima was witnessed by a crowd of some 70,000, including members of the media and many non-believers and sceptics who had come to scoff. They were blessed to be present at one of the most stupendous events of the 20th century -- the Miracle of the Sun.


Here (above) is a real, unretouched photo of some of the witnesses. What they saw is described in an eyewitness account by José Maria de Almeida Garrett, a professor at the Faculty of Sciences of Coimbra, Portugal. The sun danced in the sky, the colour of the whole landscape changed successively, and the sun seemed to come down towards the people, so that many thought it was the end of the world. It was also seen at a distance by various people, undercutting the idea that it was simply a collective hallucination. Something else that suggests that the miracle was genuine is that the people at the Cova felt the heat of the sun as it approached them. Their clothes and the ground – which had been soaked by the torrential rain – were dry at the end of the miracle.

Traditional Catholics see the Miracle of the Sun as a foreshadowing of what will actually happen at the end of the world, and also as an indication that we are living in a time of crisis, of judgment, when we are called to stand up for the Church and for the truth. That is the theme of this dialogue between The Remnant's Michael Matt and Christopher Ferrara, one of the signatories to the Filial Correction. See the earlier video, "Michael Matt on the Filial Correction sent to Pope Francis", WWW 26/9/17.

In this video, Messrs Matt and Ferrara have an unscripted conversation about the latest scandal out of the Francis pontificate, the Filial Correction and what it really means to "reject" the Second Vatican Council. Running time: 34:04, worth every second.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Hellery shocked, SHOCKED by (((Weinstein))) revelations

Walt is gratified to learn that Hellery Clinton reads WWW. In "Why Walt hasn't written about (((Harvey Weinstein)))", posted 10/10, I said that I would comment on the sordid sex scandals of the fallen mogul as soon as La Clinton said something. Yesterday (114/10) Mrs Bill gave her network (CNN - Clinton News Network) the OK to release an interview Wednesday with Fareed Zakaria in which she put on her self-righteous face and said she was "sick" and "shocked" by the news of (((Harvey Weinstein)))'s reported decades of sexual assault against women.

"I was appalled," said the enabler and defender of the most lecherous POTUS since, errr, JFK. "It was something that was just intolerable in every way. And, you know, like so many people who've come forward and spoken out, this was a different side of a person who I and many others had known in the past." Apart from being ungrammatical, the last sentence simply doesn't have the ring of truth.

Nor does Mrs Bill's pledge to donate some -- not all, but some -- of the money he raised for her to charity. "Of course I will do that," she said. "I give 10% of my income to charity every year," she added. "This will be part of that. There's no doubt about it." All that was needed was a flashing "virtue signal!" key. Commissarka Pinkie suggests on The People's Cube that the Democrats will send Mr (((Weinstein)))'s dirty money out to be laundered by groups of women, who will give it back to the Democrats all clean and folded and April fresh.

My eyes are rolling too much to write more. I'll give the second-last word to celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who Tweeted the following:


Further reading
(added 13/10/17): ABF (Absolutely Bloody Final) word [for this week. Ed.] goes to the Clinton News Network's "legal analyst", Jeffrey Toobin, who called the (((Harvey Weinstein))) scandal a dark mark on the record of Presidents Clinton and Obama and their lovely wives. Click here to read the story on Breitbart.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

PC gone mad! Toronto public school board drops "Chief" from job titles

"If there were any doubt, there is no more: Canada is the stupidest country ever," writes Christie Blatchford in Canada's National Post, in an article headlined "Toronto school board declares war on 'chief' and all sense".

As we all know, Canada is kind of a nitwit nation. Particularly under the double-liberal government of Justin "Junior" Trudeau, the mania for political correctness and embracing diversity ("It's what makes Canada what it is!" says Junior) has reached dizzying new heights. The passion of the Canadian government for cultural sensitivity, inclusiveness and such-like BS is ridiculous, to the point of being mocked (quietly, of course) by ordinary "old stock" Canadians.

The Ontario government of proudly lesbian Premier Kathleen Wynne is worse. And now, Ms Blatchford reports, the Toronto District School Board, in its efforts to remain ahead of the Ontario government curve on all gender-cultural-political sensitivities, is not only contenting itself with following Education Minister Mitzie Hunter’s directive of early this year to review all potentially indigenous-offensive team names and mascots, but also has declared war on the word "chief".

"Chief"? What's wrong with that? TDSB spokesthingy Ryan Bird e-mailed Postmedia to "confirm that the title 'chief' is being phased out in various departments at the TDSB" as " part of the ongoing work that the school board does through the TDSB’s Aboriginal Education Centre with regards to Truth and Reconciliation (Commission, or the TRC, which produced its massive final report in 2015)."

Apparently the problem stems from the controversy south of the world's longest undefended border (subject to change without notice) over characters such as Cleveland Indians' beloved Chief Wahoo, pictured here.

Ms Blatchford continues: Attempts to find out precisely where in the TRC’s Calls to Action section there is any cry for the de-chiefing of the language in Canadian schools went unanswered. The board spokesman, Bird, tried hard on Postmedia’s behalf to get someone to respond but to no avail.

The best he could do, he said, was to suggest that the move didn’t necessarily come out of the TRC itself, but was "an aspect of a larger conversation staff have had" since the report was issued. Bird said he consulted with a TDSB elder who told him that probably "every Aboriginal person has been referred to as 'chief'" in a derogatory way at some point in his or her life.

But the fact of the matter is that the word is Latin in origin and comes from the Latin "caput", meaning head or leader, via the French, where chef is short for chef de cuisine, or boss of the kitchen.

If many people understand that caricatures such as Chief Wahoo...might be offensive to Indigenous ears and eyes, it’s a struggle to get the notion that a non-Indigenous word such as "chief" is equally insulting.

Anyhoo, there will be a lot of changes in nomenclature at the TDSB. While some key titles, such as "Chief Financial Officer" were changed a few years ago, recent casualties include the former Chief Caretaker at Glenview Public School, who arrived at work last week to find the word "Chief" on her office door blacked out. (Ooops. Could that term be offensive?) The Chair (Chairman? Chairperson?) of the TDSM will have to review and correct his résumé, where he is still described as "former Chief Student Achievement Officer" for the provincial education ministry. Presumably, Ms Blatchford concludes, the Board’s Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer and Chief Social Worker will all have to do the same. The entire C-suite could soon be history -- culturally sensitive history, to be sure.

Interesting factoid: One of Walt's agents, who must be numberless, worked for a time for the Saskatchewan Legal Services Commission, the public defender in that Godforsaken hinterland. 97% of the people he defended were Indians (or Indigenous People or First Nations, whatever is PC today). There were two main clans, he says, the Bears and Birds. He wonders if Ryan Bird, mentioned above, is one of those Birds. That would explain a lot.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

VIDEO: Poor Len Canayen: Hockey at its best

So far it's been kind of a slow news day, so I'm giving more space to our old friend, Poor Len Canayen, who has another video which he says every hockey fan has to see. Ed.

Hello! Poor Len here again, with another video which every hockey fan has to see! In my earlier post (see below) I said that, thanks in part to people like (((Gary Bettman))), professional hockey today ain't what it used to be. A younger fan has asked me, "Gee Poor Len, what was it like, back then?" I have found another National Film Board of Canada video which answers the question.

"Blades and Brass" is a mashup of video clips shot at the old Montréal Forum in 1967 (notice the Expo 67 logo at centre ice), with musical accompaniment in the style of the Tijuana Brass. (What Mexican music has to do with hockey is beyond me, but it's a minor quibble.) Slowing the action down a bit to match the tempo of the music allows us to see the grace and beauty underlying what appears to be a fast and rough sport. Who calls soccer "the beautiful game"? It's got nothing on hockey!

1967 was the last year when the NHL comprised the so-called Original Six teams. That's something of a misnomer as only the Canadiens were there at the beginning, in 1917, and a number of teams (Montreal Maroons, New York Americans, and Philadelphia Quakers -- you can look it up) came and went in those first 50 years.

Here you get to see two of the players featured on the new Canadian stamps -- Gordie Howe and Jean Béliveau -- and two of my all-time favourite goalies: Montréal's Lorne "Gump" Worsley and Maple Leafs' Terry Sawchuk. Notice that most of the players, even the goalies, still didn't wear helmets or masks. Those "improvements" came later. To my mind -- and I remember it clearly -- this is hockey as it was meant to be played, by some of the greatest players of all time. It's not the same now... but what is....

VIDEO: Poor Len Canayen: The Ultimate Six hockey stars

Fans of professional hockey will be aware that the National Hockey League was founded 100 years ago, in the fall of 1917. It is 8 years younger than the Montréal Canadiens, founded in 1909, but a 100th anniversary is still something to be celebrated, and when the organization has a promoter like (((Gary Bettman))) (no hockey man, he) at its head, you can be sure the PR machine will be in top gear. Which it is.

Canada Post has been quick to jump on the hypewagon. They've been issuing stamps featuring hockey and hockey players since 1955 -- top that! NFL --
and this year have published a set of six stamps commemorating the Ultimate Six Canadian Hockey Legends. Here they are.


These are the six Canucks (meaning their nationality, not their team!) whose names, numbers and achievements recall legendary moments in the history of the game. This being a project of the Canadian government, it will be noted that there are three French-Canadians (Maurice Richard, Jean Béliveau, and Mario Lemieux) and three Anglo-Canadians (Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky). Which is as it should be. (OK, Gretzky is a Polish name, but No. 99 was born in beautiful Brantford ON.)

It will also be noted that two of the Ultimate Six played for the Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge. Not one Toronto Maple Leaf is included in the group. Why the picture of Rocket Richard is in black-and-white and the rest in colour is a mystery, but hey, that's Canada -- a land of mystery. Walt approves of the choices, and recommends that you buy some of these stamps, not to put on letters -- who does that, in 2017? -- but just to look at them when you feel sad that hockey ain't what it used to be. Where else can you get a picture of Jean Béliveau (my personal favourite) for just 85 Canadian cents (plus tax, of course)?

BONUS VIDEO
: I am shocked, shocked that Walt [and Ed.! Ed.] have never shared with you the excellent story of "The Hockey Sweater", written and narrated for the National Film Board video by Roch Carrier. Here it is. No subtitles. If you gonna come on top da country `ere you better learn to talk like we do!



Cliquez ici pour voir la version française.

Why Walt hasn't written about (((Harvey Weinstein)))

During Campaign 2016, Hellery Clinton, the Democrats and le Tout Hollywood were all over Donald Trump (now PRESIDENT Trump) like a rash for having said, in a casual remark to a media nobody that he (Trump) could grab a woman by the pussy and get away with it. If he wanted to. Not that he had actually eer done so. For that, Mr Trump was roundly castigated [Can you be squarely castigated? Ed.], pilloried as a male chauvinist pig. [Now there's a phrase you don't hear much any more. Ed.]

The progressive Forces For Good who denounced Mr Trump and advocated the candidacy of La Clinton -- champion of gender equality and fighter against sexual abuse that she is [LOL. Ed.] included President 0 and just about every celeb who ever appeared in any movie produced, financed and/or promoted by Hollywood mogul (((Harvey Weinstein))). Mr (((Weinstein))) gave millions of hard-earned dollars to the Clinton campaign, signalling his support for Mrs Bill's courage in standing up to that "creep" Trump.

It turns out that, unlike Mr Trump, who said that he could grab women by the pussy if he wanted, (((Harvey Weinstein))) actually did grab women by the pussy, and much more. And he got away with it... until this month. Now numerous Hollywood personalities are coming forward, snail-like, to say that they were abused by the Tinseltown Lothario, although they didn't want to say anything about it at the time because... well... errr....

The Democratic National Committee has allowed as how it maybe should give back some of the money donated by Mr (((Weinstein))). Not all of it, you understand, because even a loathsome pervert is entitled to his political convictions, right? But the Democratic ex-president and the last Democratic candidate for the presidensity have said, errr, nothing. Nada. Rien. When the Prez and or Hellery "What Happened" Clinton speaks out on the (((Weinstein))) scandal, I will have something further to say. Don't hold your breath.

Monday, October 9, 2017

Poor Len Canayen: Bring back the Russians!

Poor Len Canayen here. On September 28th, I posed the question: is it time, yet, for Habs fans to panic? I answered my own question with the word "no". But that was then, before the NHL season got underway. This is now, after the first three games played (sort of) by the bleu-blanc-et-rouge.

The record so far:
Thursday - Montréal Canadiens 3 - Buffalo Sabres 2 - shootout victory.
Saturday - Washington Capitals 6 - le Canadien, errr, 1 - débâcle.
Sunday - New York Rangers 2 - Habs 0 - shutout loss.

Thursday night's win did not inspire confidence. The Habs had to come from behind twice to tie the game late in the third period. The three-on-three overtime produced no excellent chances on either side, and it was just a beauty goal -- his first as a Canadien - by Jonathan Drouin that did the trick. Carey Price deserved his first "W", having faced 45 shots thanks to a lazy and inept defence.

Saturday night's game was indeed a debacle. The Caps' Alex Ovechkin (the Great Eight) scored four (4) goals, two of them in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the first period. With another goal having been potted between Ovie's first two, that left the Habs in a 3-0 hole with the game not yet three minutes old. It just got worse after that.

Last night les Glorieux played well enough to win, I thought, or at least get a point, but they didn't. The puck got behind Rangers' goalie Hendrik Lundqvist twice in the first period, but both goals were disallowed after review, and rightly so, it must be said. That seemed to discourage our lads, who just went through the motions in the second and third frames. The Rangers scored on a bad bounce off Shea Weber's skate and an egregious giveaway by Jeff Petry, and that was all she wrote.

So... In nine periods of regulation time (plus a five-minute overtime), the Habs have scored but three -- count 'em, three -- goals. That's an average of just under one (1) per game. Even with Carey Price in top form, you don't win a lot of games by scoring just one goal. It's worth noting that two of the three goals were scored while short-handed! What does that tell you?

What the team needs is a couple of players who can be counted on to put the puck in the opposition's net! Only one forward line -- the third line centred by Tomas Plekanec -- played hard. Plekanec and Paul Byron are dangerous on the PK. Captain Max Pacioretty tired hard as did wee Brendan Gallagher. (I love that kid.) Drouin has talent, but is not going to turn things around single-handedly.

On the debit side, Alex Galchenyuk still hasn't learned to play in his own zone. He was -5 against Washington. We've seen Charles Hudon and Jakob De La Rose before, last year. IMHO the only reason they were kept with the Big Team after the pre-season is that we didn't have anyone else!

As for the defence, the less said the better. IMHO (again) the only top-notch defenceman wearing the CH is Shea Weber, and you can't expect him to play 25 or more minutes every night. Jordy Benn and Karl Alzner have not lived up to expectations. Jeff Petry doesn't seem to realize the season has started. Just as I predicted, Andrei Markov and Alex Emelin are already sorely missed. The only bright light is rookie Victor Mete, but he's young (19) and not yet fully grown. I don't know if he'll be able to stand the gaff for another 79 games.

In my (still) humble opinion, it's not too early to lay the blame for this year's terrible start at the feet of Habs' GM Marc Bergevin. The loss of Emelin couldn't be helped -- stupid expansion draft! -- but we could still have had Markov and Alex Radulov if he (Bergevin) had only softened his "I'm the boss" attitude and opened up the purse-strings a little.

Radulov got a sweet deal from Dallas, so there's no getting him back, but if I were M Bergevin, I'd be on the phone to Kazan [That's in Russia. Ed.] to tell Markov all is forgiven and please come home quick. And who knows? It's just possible that Emelin won't be happy in Nashville (with his old friend P.K. Subban!) and would welcome a trade back to the Mecca of hockey. It's happened before (Hello, Mark Streit!) so it could happen again!

Further reading (added 10/10/17): "Les premiers matchs du CH sèment déjà l'inquiétude": Michel Lamarche dans La Presse.

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Questioning the CBC's love affair with Chrystia Freeland

Chrystia Freeland? Who she? For readers outside of Canada (and many inside!) Walt will explain. The fragrant and unbearably smug Christina "Chrystia" Freeland is Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs (or "Global Affairs", whatever the new PC term is). She started out as Minister of International Trade in the first government of Justin "Junior" Trudeau, and was "elevated" in 2017 after demonstrating a lack of talent for international negotiations on free trade. See "Vote NO MA'AM!", WWW 25/10/16 and "Bill Maher calls BS on 'shared values' with Muslims", WWW 18/4/16. Walt regrets that Ms Freeland's minion have succeeded in having the video of her appearance with Bill Maher deleted. As I remember it, he made her look like a fool who knows next to nothing about the real world.

One of our agents was trying to make the same point in the "Comments" section of some articles on the CBC News website. He called out Ms Freeland for being a "limousine liberal" -- a useful idiot who knows next to nothing about the real world. Our agent has been trying for a week or so to get the CBC to print that comment -- just the "limousine liberal" part -- or anything close to it. Here's what happened.


By "pinked", our agent means his comment got "disabled". That's the word that appears in the PINK bar. Geddit? But why? What's so offensive about "limousine liberal" or the coded version of the phrase used here by our agent? Here are two more screen grabs.


You have to give our agent full marks for perseverance, eh. But he's now given up, and appeals to Walt for help. What he wants to know (but can't ask the CBC since there's no way to contact the moderators) is whether the Corp's list of prohibited comments includes any negative reference of any kind to the Honourable Chrystia Freeland. The supplementary question -- assuming the answer to the first to be "yes" -- is WHY? Why is the CBC so in love with Ms Freeland that even the mildest of snarks about her is verboten?

In one case, the mere mention of her name got "pinked". What about free speech? Why is Ms Freeland above criticism? Anyone from the CBC who wishes to answer these questions is free (geddit?) to use Walt's comments section. All you have to do is click on the headline, and the box will appear. We're waiting.