PA abortionists plead guilty to murder

Now there's a headline you won't read every day. In fact, Walt can't recall ever having seen it before. In our decadent and amoral society, where millions of unborn children are deliberately killed every month, what are the chances of the baby-killers ever being brought to justice?

According to a Reuters report from Philadelphia, the difference between the murder of "Baby D" and that of the millions of others was that "Baby D" was not in utero but alive. "Baby D" was delivered by its mother into a toilet, following a botched abortion. Adrienne Morton, aged 34, an employee of the abortionist, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, reached into the toilet, pulled out the baby and cut its throat.

But "Baby D" was not the only one, nor was Ms Morton the only killer. Seven more defendants face charges in the case, including Dr. Gosnell, who a grand jury in January said, "killed babies and endangered women. What we mean is that he regularly and illegally delivered live, viable babies in the third trimester of pregnancy -- and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors."

Another of the good doctor's employees, Sherry West, 52, was accused of murder in the death of a 41-year-old patient. "The evidence presented to the grand jury established that Karnamaya Mongar died of cardiac arrest because she was overdosed with Demerol," the grand jurors said. The grand jury said West and another employee administered the drug at Gosnell's direction and that Mongar died as a result of "wanton reckless conduct."

Of course this must be an isolated incident. Surely this kind of thing doesn't happen in more than one of the 1000s of abortuaries which exist to uphold the principle of Roe v. Wade. Does it?

MA town bans Rosary rally which "might offend someone"

The Boston Herald reports that the selectmen (town council) of tiny Upton MA refused permission for residents to organize a Rosary vigil on the town common.

Selectmen Jim Pickard and Jim Brochu -- religious affiliations unknown -- said that they declined a request from a local resident, Michael Casey, because they feared some residents might be offended by the prayer rally. The selectmen attempted to justify their decision by citing the constitutional “separation of church and state”.

The rally went ahead anyway, outside St. Gabriel's Roman Catholic church. Walt wonders what would have happened had the parish priest attempted to say Mass on the common. "Mass not allowed in Mass."?

Is this the scariest goalie mask of all time?

Hey hockey fans! The Big Debate about whether players should wear visors has surfaced again after Philthydelphia's Chris Pronger got poked just above the right eye. Here's a guy who's singlehandedly hurt more players than anyone in the modern NHL, and we worry becaues he gets nicked. Is hockey getting wimpy or what?

Meanwhile... questions are also being raised (again) about the optimal design for goalie masks. Is the current "cage" design the safest? What if someone pokes a stick -- a very small stick -- through the mesh or in an eye-hole? Maybe the old solid masks were better? They were certainly better canvases for strange and scary paint jobs.

Ever since they were introduced in the modern game, by Montréal's Jacques Plante, goalies have been searching for ways to make their masks just as terrifying as the horrific disfiguration they are intended to prevent. The better to scare the opposing players, you see.

Click here to see a photo gallery of the ten scariest goalie masks of all time. Just in time to give you an idea of what to wear when you're out trick-or-treating.

158

Master Corporal Byron Greff, RIP

Astonishing and deeply saddening news from Aghanistan. Six NATO troops were killed in Kabul yesterday. One of them was a Canadian.

Master Cpl. Byron Greff was riding in an armoured shuttle bus on a routine convoy through the jam-packed streets of Kabul when a car packed with explosives and driven by a Taliban suicide bomber slammed into it and blew up in a fireball. 17 people aboard the bus died: MCpl. Greff and five American soldiers, eight "civilian security contractors" [read "mercenaries", Ed.] and four Afghans.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Prime Minister Harpoon assured Canadians that it wasn't necessary to pull out all of Canada's armed forces this summer, as he had previously promised. It couldn't hurt to leave behind a few hundred to act as "trainers" and continue the mission for Peace, Democracy, the Emancipation of Afghan Women and other Good Things.

At the time, Walt said that it was ridiculous to think that "trainers" could do their job from the safety of some kind of fortress within the capital city. Sooner or later they would have to go out, in uniform. And, Walt said, the Taliban don't make any distinction between trainers and combatants.

Turns out Walt was right.

An "Occupier" explains what they really want

The LIANE (Lefties Indignant About Nearly Everything) are still at it, making nuisances of themselves in cities all over North America and western Europe. Don't see much of this nonsense in Beijing or Moscow, though. Many normal people -- the kind who get up and go to work, do the yardwork on Saturday and go to church on Sunday -- are scratching their heads in puzzlement, wondering just what it is that the "Occupiers" are against, or for. At last we have the answer, straight from the mouth of one of their number in Atlanta.


So there you have it. They're "protesting against equality and change"...you know.

Thanks to Agent 17 for sending this along. [That's two good ones in one week! Ed.] He says that if the speaker is a product of Georgia education, he, as a taxpayer, would demand his money back!

All I want for Christmas is a Kackel-Dackel

Another marvel of German engineering is proving to be this season's hottest toy. Don't be surprised to see it at the top of your kid's Christmas wish list.

Yes, it's the Kackel-Dackel, or, in English, Doggie Doo! It's a plastic dachshund that emits farting noises and plops out...well...simulated dog shit. It actually turns this activity into a great game, where two to four players roll a die to see who can be first to scoop up three of the turds.

Kackel-Dackel is marketed by Goliath Games and you can find it at Walmart. Of course. Here's the video.

Cookies too bizarre for bazaar

Agent 1, whose baking is simply superb, reports that her parish CWL wouldn't accept the cookies she made for the Christmas bazaar. Can't understand why...

Warning to Somali pirates: Don't mess with Russians!

Agent 17 alerts us to this video, showing Russian Navy commandos on a Somalian pirate ship shortly after the pirates had captured a Russian oil tanker. Western European navies patrolling these waters would not interfere because -- apparently -- they feared there could be casualties or other unpleasantness.

The dialogue, such as it is, is in Russian. However, you can hear the wounded pirate trying to tell a commando it's a fishing boat, and the Russian says "This is not a fishing boat." Perhaps his vocabulary doesn't include the word "bullshit". Anyway, the pictures speak for themselves.

The Russians freed their compatriots and the tanker. Then they moved the pirates back to their own (pirate) ship, and searched it for weapons and explosives, of which more than a few were found. Finally they handcuffed the pirates to their own vessel and set it alight. Isn't is a pretty sight, against the night sky?

Amnesty International, the ACLU and other forces for progress and political correctness should note that the commandos rid the world of a bunch of pirates, their arms and their ship, without any lawyers, inquiries, court proceedings, or appeals for clemency.

In other words, the Russian Navy used the anti-piracy laws of the 18th and 19th centuries, according to which the captain of the rescuing ship has the right to decide what to do with the pirates. Usually, they were hanged. In this instance they were blowed up...blowed up real good!

Pirates and other terrorists should note that this is what happens if you mess with people who don't handcuff themselves with political correctness and more concern for the aggressors than the victims.

Who shall we invade next? Walt's prediction

Another mission accomplished. The maverick, rogue, pariah [Ed., please insert other adjectives as needed. Walt] state of Libya has had its régime changed to one which is certain to be more pliant ["democratic", surely! Ed.] and peace and prosperity are assured. [Don't forget what you said earlier today! Ed.] So where do we go from here?

Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya. This is the third time in two decades that the USA and/or NATO and/or The West has invaded a troublesome country to relieve it of the oppression of a brutal dictator who, coincidentally, liked us even less than we liked him.

The principle seems pretty well established. If the West (meaning the USA and the running dogs which follow it) doesn't like the politics and policies of a foreign government, we can and will do whatever it takes to overthrow it. This is not a new idea. Think Chile. Think Vietnam. [Maybe not such a good example. Ed.] Think Monroe Doctrine.

So who's next on the list? There's quite a number to choose from. How about Iran, for starters? Charter member of the Axis of Evil. And North Korea, led by the totally loony Kim Jong-il. Dropping the net on him would be a boon to the whole world. And how about the octogenarian Comrade Bob Mugabe, president-for-life of Zimbabwe. His people are too passive and intimidated to rise up against him. Maybe we should go in and give him a case of lead poisoning.

But which one will we choose? Let's see. Zimbabwe has no oil. North Korea has no oil. So that leaves...hmmm... Don't say you weren't told. Lifetime pct: .971.

Whither Libya? Walt's prediction

It's official! Libya has been liberated! Free at last, free at last! Lawzy, Lawzy, dey's free at last! And the leaders of NATO can hook their thumbs under their suspenders [that's "braces" to you Brits. Ed.] and take credit for having made it all possible.

So now what? Will Libya become a shining beacon of democracy, freedom and prosperity for all? Like, ummm, Iraq? A couple of straws in the wind....

It appears now that the Mad Colonel did not die of wounds received in the heat of battle, as the rebels originally claimed. Apparently he was executed by a fullet fired into his bared head. Now that sentence has been passed, his trial will presumably follow...sometime later. So much for the rule of law.

The new government has announced that Islamic banking will be introduced. Grateful Libyans will soon be able to borrow money at no interest, since Islam prohibits the charging of interest. Money-lenders will, however, be allowed to charge "service fees". What's the difference between "interest" and "service fees"? Answers on the back of a postage stamp please.

Another laudable revolutionary measure is the ending of the prohibition on polygamy. That's right! Libyan men will now be allowed to take more than one wife, in accordance with Sharia law. Whether this is a boon or a curse remains to be seen. But if a man is dissatisfied with his wife, all he has to do is say "Talak, talak, talak", and they're divorced. Obviously a much superior system to the arrangement which prevails here in the backwards West.

Walt foresees a bleak future for Libya, in spite of its oil wealth. It looks like becoming an Islamist state, in danger of being torn apart by tribalism. Lurking in the background [in Syria, actually. Ed.] is Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son and heir of the late dear leader, who appeared on Syrian TV Saturday night.

Gaddafilite vowed to follow in his father's bloody footsteps, saying “We continue our resistance. I am in Libya, I am alive, free and intend to go to the very end and exact revenge.” He is reportedly reading the memoirs of General MacArthur, planning his return. Stay tuned for Round Two.

Muslim, second wife on trial for "honour killing" of 1st wife, 3 daughters

One of the first things I wrote about, on starting this blog back in July 2009, was "honour killings" -- Muslim men killing their wives, sisters and/or daughters to satisfy their extreme concept of family honour and Sharia law.

The first case I wrote about was the murder of Aqsa Parvez, a 16-year-old immigrant who was killed by her father and brother for wearing western clothing to school. Enter "honour killings" in the search tool [right under the "DONATE" panel! Ed.] and you'll find more stories and comments.

This week, Kingston (the Canadian one, not the dangerous one) saw the beginning of the trial of a trio of Muslim immigrants: Mohammad Shafia, 58, his second wife, 41-year-old Tooba Mohammad Yahya, and their son, Hamed, 21. They are accused of killing the couple’s three teenage daughters, Zainab, Sahar and Geeti, and Mr. Shafia’s first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad, 53. Mohammad Shafia was still married to his first wife, by the way, which is OK under Sharia law and Islamic custom.

The crux of the case, according to the Toronto Star's Rosie DiManno, is that the parents and brother planned and executed the murders of the three sisters and their mother from outrage over the intolerable, the defiance of daughters and the alliance with them of a woman treated for years as a burden and a slave.

A disgrace and shame to their family, though, for behaviour unbecoming to Afghan females — the boyfriends and the disobedience, the brazen disrespect for traditions and refusal to wear the hijab — violations of decorum so grievous that they needed to be killed, eliminated, to purify family honour, their “treachery’’ insupportable.

What they did, according to the Crown, was load the women into a car which was then driven into the Rideau canal. Whether the women drowned or were already dead when the car went into the drink will come out during the trial. Anyway, the accused reported the "accident" to the police a few hours later, saying that the other car in their party hadn't arrived at the motel where they were staying (this was on a family outing, you see) so something evil must have happened to them!

The police saw through the ruse about 18 seconds after they pulled the car out of the canal. So they put a wiretap on the family phone and had a look inside their computer. They found these revealing tidbits:

A Google inquiry on Mr. Shafia’s home computer about “where to commit a murder.”

A wiretapped conversation with Tooba and Hamed, in which Shafia recalled finding revealing cellphone pictures of Zainab and Shahar: “Curse God on both of them. Is that what a daughter should be? Would a daughter be such a whore? May the devil shit on their graves.”

Another wiretap transcript: “Even if they hoist me up on to the gallows, nothing is more dear to me than my honour.”

To his second wife, Shafia allegedly assured that the right actions had been taken: “I say to myself, you did well. Were they to come back to life, I would do it again. No Tooba, they messed up. There was no other way. They were treacherous. They betrayed us immensely. There can be no betrayal worse than this. They committed treason on themselves. They betrayed humankind. They betrayed Islam. They betrayed our religion. They betrayed everything.”

Sounds a bit extreme, doesn't it, but that's Islam for you. Now here's the thing that bothers me. These people come to a nominally [very nominally. Ed.] Christian, [somewhat] civilized country, like Canada or the USA. You would think that they would leave their barbaric, medieval thinking, laws and codes of "honour" behind in the old country -- in this case, Afghanistan. But nooooo....

And yet -- this is the crazy part -- we go to war in places like Afghanistan and Iraq to bring to these benighted heathens the benefits of democracy and civilization, one of which is not killing your wife (or wives) and daughters! Hellooooo Obama! Hellooooo Harper! Hellooooo Cameron! They don't want to change!!! Let them go on cutting off each other's hands and heads and stoning each other to death. Just make them stay at home!

Click here for details of the first day of the trial, as reported by Tim Appleby in the Globe and Mail.

Gadhafi shoulda ducked

Not a very original headline, but it's been in the back of my mind for half a year so I figure this is my last chance to use it. The Libyan dictator/tyrant/whatever ran like a rat up a drainpipe -- as the Aussies say -- but got caught and killed anyway. An ignominious end. [There's a word you don't see very often. Ed.] ["End"? Walt]

Walt has composed a little tribute.

So, farewell then
Moammar Gadhafi
Had you been more religious
You could have been known
As "the Mad Mullah"
Instead of
"The Mad Colonel".

That little war only took...what...seven months or so? Now the NATO forces can come home covered with glory, or at least sand. They return to America, Britain, Canada, France, Qatar [Are you sure about the last one? Ed.] with a perfect record:
No runs - Nobody ran away
No hits - Except for a few hundred innocent bystanders
No errors - See above
And
Nobody left on base.

Latest from Pat Buchanan on immigration

Pat Buchanan, once a contender for the Republican presidential nomination and still something of a media giant, appeared today on The Arena, on Canada's new cable outlet, Sun News TV. Here's what he had to say about what's happened to the USA.

"The transformation [of America] has been dramatic and unique in our history, and the reason America has and will lose its greatness is that we are no longer unified. Anybody can become a good American, coming from anywhere in the world. But whereas in the past we asked them to become American, now we encourage America to become like them.

"We've given away what made us one. Faith, symbols of unity, the European, overwhelmingly Christian heritage of the majority who were and made the country. People could be who and what they liked, but they had to know what the national core values and identity were. No longer."

It's a theme many Canadians might embrace, says host Michael Coren, but if they did so they're be accused or racism and fascism. Buchanan laughs. "Sure, and so have I! It's nonsense, but it's still said. Look, we need in the US to implement zero immigration policies. Now. And that has to stand until we reduce unemployment levels to something much more reasonable and manageable."

Mr. Buchanan was plugging his new book, Suicide of a Superpower. You can read more about the interview and the book here. Coren sums up, "[Buchanan's] opinions...are realistic to the point of pessimism. The United States will not be the power we have known, and the vacuum it leaves, he argues, will be filled by any number of ambitious rivals, all dominant in their own areas. It's a sobering truth, and one that unsettles the status quo. It's that, I suppose, that makes his voice so compelling and necessary."

Footnote: Sun News is carried on most Canadian cable networks, but not on the country's major satellite service, Bell. "Progressive thinkers" and liberal loonies have dubbed Sun "Fox News North". Is that why Bell won't give it one of its 500 or so channels? If you're a Bell Expressvu subscriber, and you're not getting "quality you can count on", get hold of Bell and ask them. [And lots o' luck getting to talk to a real person! Ed.]

Starting this week: another dumb war America can't win

"I don't oppose all wars.... What I am opposed to is a dumb war." So said then-state-senator Barack Hussein Obama in 2002. Presumably that's why the his government has now confirmed that it will pull out of Iraq at the end of this year, having spent nearly 800 billion dollars -- $800,000,000,000 -- and about 4500 American lives, and accomplished, errr, nothing except deposing a ruthless dictator and replacing him with, errr, next to nothing.

Meanwhile, another dumb war continues in Afghanistan. According to Arianna Huffington's book, Third World America, Obama's presumably much smarter surge in the summer of 2010 cost a mere $33,000,000,000. For what? Admiral Michael "Moon" Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the goals of the surge included not just defeating the Taliban but "reducing corruption, making local government work and, eventually, providing jobs."

"Talk about mission creep!" says Ms Huffington. "Is that why we are still fighting a war there nine years later -- to provide jobs for the people of Kandahar? It's like a very bad joke!... The Obama administration is ramping up a multibillion-dollar program that will create a host of new jobs. The bad news is, you have to move to Kandahar to apply."

But wait (as Vince Offer would say), there's more! On Friday the Prez announced with pride a brand new military adventure: the deployment of 100 troops to Uganda [that's in central Africa, not far from the land of Obama's ancestors. Ed.] to hunt for Joseph Kony, infamous leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a fanatical militia that has killed an estimated 30,000 people over the past two decades.

All the more reason for a huge new US base in Libya (geddit?). And very useful for robbing Africa of the rest of its raw materials while denying them to the rising super-power, China.

But it's no biggie. It's only 100 "advisers". Well, OK, they are going to be armed, but they won't shoot first...maybe. What they'll be doing is crashing through the jungle -- it really is a jungle out there! -- trying to catch Joey Kony, who has managed to evade capture for something like 20 years. Some say he has magical powers or ointments that make him invisible, sort of like a darker Scarlet Pimpernel.

Yes, only 100 American troops...this week. But just wait. Walt's opinion? Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb. Trust me, Hussein. This won't get you re-elected!

Hockey Night in Canada: Cole must go!

Walt has a word for Bob Cole, who does the play-by-play on Hockey Night in Canada's Saturday night games from Montréal. STUPID! That's the word...

Last night, at the beginning of the second period, a Colorado player did a dastardly deed and the referee immediately signalled an infraction. Quoth "Old King" Cole, "That's the first penalty of the game." That in spite of the presence in the penalty box of another Colorado player who'd been sent off at the end of the first. And get this. Cole said it twice! STUPID!

The colour commentator, former player Garry Galley -- Cole never played the game, it seems -- made an oblique reference to Montréal's "five-on-three power play" a few seconds later, but it took a couple of minutes before Cole twigged and apologized for his egregious error.

Later in the period, Cole completely missed a penalty to the Habs for delay of game. STUPID. This time Galley took the fall for it, lamely remarking that he should have said something about the Canadien player clearing the puck over the glass "and that's why the whistle went on that last play".

Bob Cole is 187 years old. He is visually challenged to the point where glasses can't help any more. It's time for him to wend his way to the home, before they come and get him.

The great multicult mistake

Here's a brief history of multiculturalism in Canada, according to Salim Mansur, political scientist, columnist for Canada's Sun newspapers, and author of Delectable Lie: A liberal repudiation of multiculturalism, a new book soon to be panned by the lamestream media as "unhelpful" and "downright racist".

Canada was the first of the Western democracies to turn multiculturalism — an idea Mansur calls "without philosophical substance" — into official policy. In October 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced multiculturalism as an official policy for Canada. PET told Canadians that they wouldn't recognize Canada after he got through with it. He was right.

In 1988, in a blatant attempt to grab a bigger share of "the ethnic vote", Lyin' Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives enshrined Trudeau’s policy in a new Multiculturalism Act. The ethnics and vizmins kept voting Liberal anyway.

The lesson is that you can't blame official multiculturalism on either the centre-left Liberals or the centre-right Conservatives. Both parties, just as much as the pinko NDP, are unwavering in their support for the cult of multicult, even today. It was not just Trudeau, but Canada’s political elite, supported by the intellectual and media elites of the country -- the Rosedale liberals -- who adopted as the law of the land a dubious and deeply flawed policy, with virtually no questions asked.


Four decades after multicult became not just trendy but politically correct, some of the Western democracies -- Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands -- have openly expressed regrets. Their elected leaders have all publicly admitted the failure of official multiculturalism to secure social harmony or advance national interests.

In Delectable Lie: A liberal repudiation of multiculturalism, Mansur (of Arab origin, please note) analyses why the multicult policy was imposed on Canada in an act of bad faith, and is detrimental to the vitality of Canada or any liberal democracy.

The bad faith resided in the ridiculous proposition that all cultures are equal. This is the keystone of multiculturalism as an idea, and, Mansur says, is untenable.
Individuals are born equal, he argues, but cultures — by definition, culture represents the shared values, beliefs and customs of a collective — are not and never have been equal.

It is absurd, he writes, to say that the culture of the Saudi Arabs — or the Taliban, or Muslims from Pakistan, Iran, Somalia etc. — is in any way equal to and deserving of equal respect as the culture of an advanced liberal democracy, such as Canada before it was smitten by the dogma of multiculturalism.

Late in life, we are told, Trudeau expressed his misgivings about multiculturalism. He was asked to comment on how, as a result of his policy, most new immigrants ranked their ethnic-based cultural identity ahead of Canadian identity. He indicated his sadness, admitting this is not what he had wanted. That's as close as PET would ever come to admitting he made a mistake. Unfortunately, the damage had long since been done. Perhaps it can never be undone.

Click here to read some excerpts from this worthwhile new book. The website is that of ACT! for Canada, which is loosely connected with Brigitte Gabriel's ACT! for America, which has over 150,000 members, close to 500 chapters across America and a full time lobbyist on Capitol Hill.

Who are we kidding about the Afghan war?

Walt is amazed that, all of a sudden, it has become politically acceptable to call the war in/on Afghanistan a waste of time, money and 1000s of lives. Even the lamestream media are starting to stray from the government line, now that said line -- that we're there to bring peace, democracy and civilization to the barbaric hordes -- has been proven to be a big black crock of shit.

A couple of days ago, Walt passed on Lawrence Martin's review of Murray Brewster's new book, The Savage War. Today Jeffrey Simpson (Martin's stablemate at the Moan and Wail) joins the chorus with "The timeless intractability of Afghanistan". He begins: Whom are we kidding in Afghanistan? Ourselves, it would appear.

Well, not really. As Walt has said before (ahem!), we are not kidding ourselves. We are being kidded by the governments of the USA, the UK, and Canada. And the lamestream media -- led by the likes of the Globe and Mail, the Times (New York) and the other Times -- have been abetting the ongoing and thoroughly vile deception. Until this week. Told ya so!

"Change has come to America"

Well, there it is. As the Prez sez, "change has come to America". That's what he promised, and that's what he's delivered. How's that working out for you?

The lamestream media have already pronounced Rick Perry's new ad "scary", "defeatist", "unhelpful" (eh?), "undemocratic" (since when is telling it like it is not a democractic right?), and so on.

Walt agrees 100% with the message. The same point could be made about no-longer-great Britain, and the not-so-great, not-so-white North, meaning Canada. But the question is, who, in any of these countries, is going to do what needs to be done to "get [fill in the name of your country] working again"?!

Rick Perry and the creators of this ad would have you believe he's the man. Walt is not so sure. Love the ad though.

Walt is waiting for...

The Savage War, a new book by Murray Brewster. He's a Canadian journalist who reported regularly from Afghanistan, and now attempts to yank away the propaganda cover from the dirty little war which has just been reupped for another year or more.

His book is an attempt to set the record straight – straighter at least than we’ve seen up to now. So says the Globe and Mail's Lawrence Martin. Click here to read his recommendation.

The Rum Diary, a soon-to-be released movie starring Johnny Depp -- who else -- as Paul Kemp, the hero of Hunter S. Thompson's first novel. He (Kemp) is a journalist who travels to Puerto Rico to find work, and promptly crawls into a rather large bottle.

The books is not a little autobiographical, so the movie represents Depp's second crack at the virtually impossible task of bringing Dr. Gonzo to life on the silver screen. He starred in the film version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a disaster which even Depp's considerable talent couldn't salvage. Walt hopes The Rum Diary turns out better.

Click here and follow the links to see images and clips, released by FilmDistrict.

Replacement windows

Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with that expensive double-pane energy-efficient kind, and today, I got a call from the contractor who installed them. He was complaining that the work had been completed a whole year ago and I still hadn't paid for them. Hellloooo............ Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid. So, I told him just what his fast-talking sales guy had told me last year, that in ONE YEAR these windows would pay for themselves! Helllooooo? "It's been a year!", I told him. There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally just hung up. He never called back. I bet he felt like an idiot.

Thanks to Agent 1. May all her windows be double-glazed.

Find out all about Kemi O

Picking up on yesterday's post about the Story of O (or Kemi Ooglie-Booglie, as one guy calls her), Agent 3 sends us the link to Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo : Wanted Felon,Child Abuser, Con Artist, Terrorist and Fraud.

The headline says it all. The whole steaming load is there. Everything except the date fixed for Kemi's deportation.

Kemi still on the lam in Canada

Walt knows some Toronto-area readers are huge fans of Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo. Don't even try to say it; let's just call her "Kemi O". Ms O is a Nigerian [I'd never have guessed that. Ed.] who migrated to the USA, and then, having worn out her welcome there, came to Canada as a fugitive from the US justice systems. She has been in Toronto for a number of years, and makes her living by selling drugs. Check out "The skinny on Kemi" for details.

In her spare time, the lovely Kemi is a self-appointed consultant to and spokesthingy for Toronto's sizeable "black community". Her brief is to make the racist Canadians understand that black-on-black crime -- running at an average of one shooting per weekend -- has nothing to do with the face that the victims and the perps are, errr, black. And, errr, mostly Jamaican too. Just a coincidence, because the Somalis shoot each other too, dontcha know. Oh, that's in Edmonton. Well, anyway...it's definitely not just a "Jamaican thing".

And even if it is, Kemi tells us today, it's not the fault of the young Jamaicans involved because, you see, they aren't really Jamaicans. A lot of them were born in Canada -- to baby mommas and Jamaican daddies who seem to have vanished -- so that makes them Canadians! Just plain, unhyphenated Canadians, unlike the Italians and Ukrainians and Dutch, who still think of themselves as Italian-Canadian or whatever.

Walt is not making this up. I'm referring to an article which appeared (briefly) in the online edition of today's Toronto Sun. Ed. was on his coffee break and forgot to bookmark it, so I can't give you a link, but trust me, it was there!

Ms O was commenting on the traditional Thanksgiving Day murder, which occurred on Monday (Canadian Thanksgiving) right on schedule, just as it has for the last seven years. All the victims were Jamaicans or Jamaican-Canadians or black Canadians -- whatever -- and if any of the murderers are ever apprehended they will almost certainly be from the same "community".

Kemi told the Sun's Chris Doucette that the young men's delinquency is the fault of Canadian society, for failing to give them the education, social services etc etc to which their Canadian birth entitles them. Obviously. If only, instead of building more jails, the Canadian government had provided more basketball courts, more legal shooting galleries and more recording studios for aspiring rap artists. Without these things, is it any wonder they turn to a life of crime!

Investigations of the murders have been largely fruitless, owing to the racism of the Toronto police and, errr, the reluctance of the "community" to rat out the local Cripps and Bloods and other gangstas. It seems, too, that the Toronto cops haven't been in any hurry to check on Kemi's immigration status -- or lack thereof -- or extradite her to Georgia, where a warrant for her arrest is still outstanding.

PS - What's up with the love affair between Chris Doucette and Ms O? With the possible exception of CBC's Radio One ("We sound the way Toronto looks!") nobody but nobody, other than Chris, pays the slightest attention to Kemi's rants. Why would he do that? Surely it can't be that he's physically attracted to her!

NHL hockey returns to Winnipeg

I am a big fan of NHL hockey. And it has long distressed me that the "National" in National Hockey League is something of a misnomer, and has been so, almost from the getgo. There have always been teams based in both Canadian and American cities, so "International Hockey League" would be more accurate. Unfortunately that name was taken years ago by a minor pro league which has since disbanded.

In recent years the NHL has comprised six Canadian teams and no fewer than 24 "American" teams. I put "American" in quotes, since half the players are Canadians, even now, and another 25% are Europeans. Americans are a minority in the "National" Hockey League.

The dearth of Canadian teams is an ongoing irritant to Canadian fans, and when a "Canadian" team goes south, they get really upset. Conversely, when an "American" team flops -- and how could it do otherwise in places like Phoenix and Atlanta -- and moves north, there is rejoicing in the streets.

So it was in Winnipeg yesterday, as the team formerly known as the Atlanta Thrashers returned to the site of the coldest intersection in the world as the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets. Even losing their home opener 5-1 to les Canadiens couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the frostbacks.

Walt wishes the "new" Winnipeg Jets well, and congratulates Winterpeggers on doing what it took to get back their NHL team. Next thing you know, Toronto will get one!

Springtime for Muslims in Eeeegypt

Coptic Christians in Egypt must be longing for the bad old days of deposed president Hosni Mubarak. In those days, they weren't exactly free to practise their religion [as we are here in North America? Ed.] but at least not many of them got killed for it.

Things have changed. As part of the "Arab spring" much beloved of Al O'Bama and other non-Muslims (???), Muslim extremists are rampaging through Cairo and other Egyptian cities, burning Christian churches and killing believers.

The Christians have gotten tired -- and hurt -- turning the other cheek, and have decided to fight fire with fire, literally. Yesterday, flames lit up downtown Cairo, where massive clashes raged, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, hard-line Muslims and Egyptian security forces. Associated Press reports that at least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Mubarak in February.

After midnight, mobs roamed downtown streets, attacking cars they suspected had Christian passengers. In many areas, there was no visible police or army presence to confront or stop them.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million people, blame the country's ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since Mubarak's ouster. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of the uprising, the Coptic Christian minority is particularly worried about the show of force by militant Islamists.

The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But then, they said, they came under attack by thugs in plainclothes who rained stones down on them and fired pellets.

“The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual,” said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross on it. “Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them.”

Television footage showed the military vehicle slamming into the crowd. Coptic protesters were shown attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him. One soldier collapsed in tears as ambulances rushed to the scene to take away the injured.

Last week, the military used force to disperse a similar protest in front of the state television building. Christians were angered by the treatment of the protesters and vowed to renew their demonstrations until their demands are met.

Western nations, especially the USA, which are backing the rebels in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and other sandpits, have so far turned blind eyes and deaf ears to the plight of Christians in those countries. Will any actions or even words of sympathy be coming out of Washington or London or Paris? Walt predicts nothing will be said or done. Lifetime pct: .977.

War of 1812: film at 9!

Listen up, history buffs! PBS is airing a terrific new made-for-TV film on the War of 1812, tonight at 9 p.m. EDT.

Since the teaching of our own history is sadly neglected in American and Canadian schools these days, Walt will give you a quick recap. At the beginning of the second decade of the 19th century, the hated British (and others) were engaging Napoleon in Europe, and getting the worst of it. The Congress of the new(ish) United States of America reckoned that it would be a good time to finish what they started in 1776, and drive the British out of Canada. Doing so would only be "a matter of marching", it was said.

Well sir, American soldiers clashed with British, Canadian and Indian ["First Nations", surely! Ed.] forces to ultimately shape the geography and the identity of eastern North America as it is known today. In other words, the American invasion of Canada failed. Thus the War of 1812 became the first war the USA lost ["failed to win", surely! Ed.] until Vietnam.

Now PBS is attempting to do for the War of 1812 what Ken Burns' great series did for the Civil War. The lead station behind their new film, The War of 1812, which airs tonight is Buffalo's WNED-TV, which is only natural because the main part of the war was fought on the Niagara Frontier and Lakes Erie and Ontario.

Said Donald Boswell, WNED's president, "We have proudly recreated the War of 1812 for both nations. This timely examination of a shared history allows us to celebrate our past together, and renew the bond of our present and future as national neighbours." Rumours of Mr. Boswell's bid for the presidensity of the USA are unconfirmed as of this morning.

Historical figures depicted in the film include Tecumseh, William Henry Harrison and President James Madison, along with a Canadian icons such as General Sir Isaac Brock and, of course, Laura Secord.

The film also recounts dramatic human stories of ordinary citizens, the political alliances of the various Native American ["First Nations", surely! Ed.] nations and the African-American slaves who reached for their freedom by fighting for the British. [It's not Black History Month, but if there's a hotbed of political correctness in the USA, it's PBS! Ed.]

All kidding aside, it's an excellent piece of work. Back in July, Walt was privileged to see a segment of it, dealing with the assault on Fort Erie, and found it very well done, indeed.

The War of 1812 airs on PBS stations on Monday, October 10th -- that's tonight! -- at 9 p.m. EDT. Click here for more information and a video trailer.

Footnote: As far as anyone knows, Laura Secord never made a candy in her life. When an American company bought a small Canadian candy-making concern about a century later, they put Laura's name on the new outfit because it sounded good!

Another footnote: Click here to read "War of 1812 battles a nation's collective amnesia", good column by Konrad Yakabuski from today's Globe and Mail. Here's an excerpt:
Historians consider the war a “draw” because the Treaty of Ghent that ended it entrenched the status quo ante bellum. But the truth is, the Americans sought to engulf us; instead they bankrupted their own country (the United States defaulted on its debt) without gaining an inch of territory. That doesn’t sound like a draw.

The elephant in the room

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Walt's US readers may be surprised to learn that the Canadians celebrate about six weeks before Americans. How so? Well, it could be that Canadians have less to be thankful for. Or, possibly, Canadians invented Thanksgiving. Who knows, eh?

One thing Canadians can be thankful for is that they are not troubled by wild elephants, as are residents of a part of the world where Walt and Agent 21 spent some years, an eternity ago.


Agent 21 sent along these pix of elephants marching through the lobby and grounds of Mfuwe Lodge in Zambia. Apparently the lodge was built on their migration trail, next to a mango grove that one family of elephants have always visited when the fruit ripens. When they returned one year and found the luxury accommodation in the way, they simply walked through the lobby to reach their beloved grove of trees.


The animals come in two-by-two. Hotel staff and visitors have gotten used to the elephants' impromptu strolls through the lobby. The family group, headed by matriarch "Wonky Tusk", return every November and stay for four to six weeks to gorge on mangos up to four times a day. Andy Hogg, 44, the lodge director, has lived in South Luangwa National Park since 1982. But in all his years of dealing with wild animals he has never seen such intimate interaction between humans and wild animals.

"This is the only place in the world where elephants freely get so close to humans," says Andy . "The elephants start coming through base camp in late November each year to eat the ripe mangos from our trees."

Mfuwe Lodge consists of seven camps and the base camp where the elephants walk through. Employing 150 staff, the management of the lodge report that there have been no incidents involving the wild elephants to date. "The elephants get reasonably close to the staff, as you can see in the pictures of the elephants near the reception area," Andy explains. "But we do not allow the guests to get that close."

Walt recalls staying at the Caribbea Bay Hotel & Casino Lodge in Kariba, Zimbabwe, where a similar phenomenon occurred every night around dusk. There, however, the "jumbos" (as the local people call them) didn't have to come through the lobby, but wandered through the parking lot directly into the gardens, to browse on the shrubbery, much to the consternation of the gardeners, who were prohibited by law from doing much more than yelling, "Shoo! Go `way! Bad elephants!"

Africa. It's not all poverty and famine. But it's not all elephants either. Some might say the solution to hunger would be to eat the elephants. People do.

Obama's "abortion absolutism"

Following up my post of a couple of hours ago...

In an article in The Examiner, political columnist Timothy Carney calls the president's protection of Planned Parenthood (which not only advocates but facilitates abortion on demand) a part of his (Obama's) "abortion absolutism". That in turn is part of his attack on freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Says Carney:
This President, as a State Senator, voted against a bill requiring doctors to care for babies born after failed abortions (and then misled the media on the matter). As a candidate, he promised his first act would be signing the sweeping "Freedom of Choice Act," which would wipe out nearly all limitations on abortion and abortion subsidies. And then during the budget debates we saw him draw nearly his only line in the sand over Planned Parenthood subsidies.

It's abortion absolutism. Everything else -- free assembly, free speech, conscience protection, and his party's other interests -- they all take a back seat to protecting abortion.

So it's not just Archbishop Dolan and the USCCB. Obama's real agenda is all too apparent to millions of Americans. But how can he be stopped if the opposition does not put up a candidate who stands foursquare for the freedoms we believe in? So far, IMHO, the only one who comes even close is Ron Paul.

Committee formed to fight Obama's plans to curtail religious liberty

We all know that President O'Bama is a true democrat. Right? And those rumours that Al is really a Muslim are just BS. Right? So why does his administration -- particular the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) -- keep forcing pro-life Christians, especially those in health care, to follow their evil agenda on contraception, abortion and forced sterilization?

That's the big question that Cardinal Francis George and New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan have asked in a number of letters to the Prez. Have they received any answers? About as likely as the sudden revelation that the Pope is a Mason. [Errr...let me check on that. Ed.]

In a letter to other bishops, Archbishop Dolan stated that “I have offered to meet with the President to discuss these concerns and to impress upon him the dire nature of these actions by [his] government.” Having received no answer, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), of which Msgr. Dolan is President, is forming an Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty.

“This basic right, in its many and varied applications for Christians and people of faith, is now increasingly and in unprecedented ways under assault in America,” Archbishop Dolan said in his letter.

“The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued regulations that would mandate the coverage of contraception (including abortifacients) and sterilization in all private health insurance plans,” he continued. “HHS is also requiring that MRS [Migration and Refugee Services] provide the ‘full range of reproductive services’ to trafficking victims and unaccompanied minors in its cooperative agreements and government contracts —and we all know what that means.”

“Catholic Relief Services is also concerned that USAID, under the Department of State, is increasingly requiring comprehensive HIV prevention activities (for example, condom distribution), as well as full integration of reproductive health activities including provision of artificial contraception, within a range of international relief and development programs,” Archbishop Dolan added. “The federal Department of Justice has ratcheted up its attack on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as an act of bigotry.”

“The establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee is one element of what I expect to be a new moment in the history of our Conference. Never before have we faced this kind of challenge to our ability to engage in the public square as people of faith and as a service provider. If we do not act now, the consequence will be grave.”

Christians, let us pray that this initiative yields real and visible positive change for religious liberty in the USA. And while we're at it, how about saying a prayer for a change in administration next year. Of course that would presuppose that one of the putative Republican candidates would actually have the courage to stand up for freedom of religion. Walt is waiting for one of them -- any one -- to say as much.

LIANE at it again

This editorial cartoon by "Gable" appeared in today's Globe and Mail.

Walt hasn't been paying much attention to the flash mobs or swarmings or whatever it is on Wall Street, because Wall Street is a long way from Walt's cabin in the woods, and the news from within the NYSE is more noteworthy (and depressing) than the news from without.

But now the buzz is that demonstrations by LIANE -- Lefties Indignant About Nearly Everything -- may be organized in other cities with stock markets. That's worrisome, because we do have a stock market in our little town. It's every Saturday morning, down at the fairgrounds.

Apology to P.J.

Ed. thinks I was too hard, in my review last week, on P.J. O'Rourke's new(ish) book, Don't Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards. How could I pan someone who's Republican, Catholic and (mostly) libertarian in his political views? After all, that pretty much describes Walt.

What I said, in sum, was that you should give it a pass if you'd read O'Rourke's previous books such as Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance. I stand by my assertion Don't Vote is largely money for old rope, and not even O'Rourke's old rope but a pastiche of quotes from just about everyone who's said anything about politicis and politicians over the last two millennia.

That said, the stew of quotes, aphorisms and witticisms is rich enough. There are some good chunks of beef floating amidst the lentils. Here's one about foreign aid:

I hope we're not expecting our distant relations [in the family of nations] to be grateful. A hundred years ago when foreign aid was unthought of (except as tribute or bribe) we were a respected and admired country. After a century of philanthrophy everyone hates our guts.

In the same chapter on American foreign policy -- or lack thereof -- O'Rourke makes a pretty good case that Al O'Bama should read Kipling, particularly the short story, The Man Who Would Be King. (The movie version, starring Sirs Sean Connery and Michael Caine, is one of Walt's Top Ten Movies of All Time.)

Why? Because Kipling was a believer in the White Man's Burden -- to bring the Western concepts of political liberty and human dignity to the benighted nations of the east and south. This civilizing mission -- hopeless un-PC these days -- has been in the minds of European political leaders going all the way back to Alexander the Great.

What Kipling added to the debate, in the eponymous poem and in The Man Who Would Be King, is the prophecy that all the Western goodwill and striving to make the world a better place is doomed to failure. O'Rourke quotes bits of the poem:

To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride...
Send forth the best ye breed --
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need...
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease...
[And] Watch Sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hope to naught.

As we look at the mess that is today's Middle East, we must admit that Kipling was right. But for a 21-st century writer to quote Kipling's dicta, to remind us of the folly of our liberal "we're all one big family" policies... that takes not a little courage. And you have to have read Kipling! So I haven't "unfriended" P.J. O'Rourke. Neither should you.

Footnote: The "Kafiristan" of which Kipling wrote in The Man Who Would Be King is a real place, by the way, in the northeast corner of what is today Afghanistan! You could look it up!

Libyans still revolting

When NATO, either backed by or pushed by the USA, decided to bomb the shit out of Libya, the declared aim was to protect innocent civilians, particularly women and children. The real aim, of course, was to "effect régime change", in other words to get rid of the mad colonel "Duck" Gaddafi.

The duration of the mission was to be three months, although, the military geniuses told us, it would really take only a week or so, because the Libyans were an ill-armed, unmotivated, disorganized rabble. (It wasn't clear if they were talking about the rebels or the government forces.) Walt said he'd take that bet.

It is now over six months since the first shot was fired in anger, and the mission has been extended for another three months, although the US commander tells us the end could come "as early as this week". Walt will take the bet on this week too. (Lifetime pct .979)

Meanwhile, outside of Gaddafi's hometown, Sirte, the rebels have formed a circular firing squad. A number of women and children have been killed already. I don't know enough about Islam to know if they will be greeted in paradise by 72 virgins; that doesn't sound appropriate for women and children.

In spite of the ring of fire around Sirte, the whereabouts of the Chief Tenthead is still unknown. Won't it be funny if the ring is closed, the rebels drive their multi-hued pickup trucks into the middle of town, only to find that Gaddafi has vanished, in a north African version of the old Indian rope trick. Stay tuned....

Postscript: If and when Gaddafi is caught and execute (with or without benefit of trial), Walt will be opening a book on how much time will elapse before the next gang of thieves rebels against the gang now being hoisted onto the throne, with more than a little help from NATO. Our assistance is, of course, totally unrelated to Libya's large reserves of Texas tea.

An Englishman hiking in Scotland

It takes a while for messages to get here from the Antipodes. Agent 21 sent this, tucked under the wing of a penguin...

An Englishman from well south of the border -- the kind who speaks with a plum in his mouth -- was taking a holiday walking in the Scottish highlands. While hiking up a steep hillside, sweating, and awfully thirsty, he came across a wee brook.

He offloaded his backpack and stooped to have a drink. While drinking he suddenly heard a brrrrrroad voice behind him shouting, "Hoots mon, ye shouldna drink there. It's full of the pssst and the shhhhht fra the beasties and the schwein."

The Englishman looked around and said, "I beg your pardon, but I'm on holiday from the south of England, and I'm afraid that I did not understand a word that you said."

The Scots looked at him, eyeing his plus fours togs, and after a few moments pause said "Och aye, well then... What I just said was, the water in this stream has been filtered through the peat and the bracken and the heather, and so for you to drink it... well, its just fine."