Toronto stomping more multiracial than first thought

More details of the great Yonge Street multicultural festival and stompfest are coming out. "Sources" have told the Toronto Sun that the victim was not white, as reported earlier here and elsewhere. Apparently she was a First Nations person, or Native American [Native Canadian, surely!? Ed.] or whatever the PC term is these days.

And it gets even more multiculti. Not all the Indian-kickers were black, it seems. One of the three was white. Obviously an equal-opportunity brawl. Toronto gliberals must be thrilled.

Arrest made in multiracial Yonge Street stomp

Agent 3 sends along another update on the Toronto stomping which has become a big video hit on the Internet. Toronto police have moved with surprising alacrity [quickly, too! Ed.] to arrest one of the perps, a 15-year-old girl from Brampton, whose identity is protected under Canada's Be Kind to Young Criminals Act.

Agent 3, who grew up in Brampton, refers to the city as "the Jane-Finch Extension". He says readers will know what he means. He has now moved to "a lighter part of Canada".

Meanwhile, CBC Radio's Toronto flagship station -- "Sounding like Toronto looks" -- jealous as hell of its TV cousin ["Looking like Toronto looks"? Ed.] has broadcast the audio portion of the now-infamous video.

Why they would do this is a mystery, given that the sound alone makes it clear that the stompee was white and the stompers were, errr, not white. Another example of the racial harmony and we's-all-brothers mentality for which Toronto is renowned.

Update: Stompee wasn't pregnant after all

Agent 3 has been following the story of the assault by a gang of racially mixed trash on a woman who appeared to be pregnant. This happened in Toronto on Friday night, and a video of the MMA event is all over the Net, including Walt's previous post.

Initial reports were that the woman who got stomped was pregnant, and she certainly appeared so in the video. However, Toronto's Finest [Who dat? Ed.] have investigated, and have ascertained that the victim was not pregnant, after all.

Guess she was a confirmed beer drinker, or maybe just plain fat. Perhaps she's been snacking on Chips Ahoy Middles.

The Old Bill is still looking for the perps. Maybe they can track down the "Anonymous" gangsta who commented on Walt's previous post.

Mom-to-be gets stomped in the multicult capital

Everyone knows that Philadelphia is no longer the City of Brotherly Love. No, that title [perhaps updated to "The City of Sibling Love"? Ed.] now belongs to Toronto, the font of political correctness and the exemplar of multiracial peace and harmony.
Well, not always...

Today's Toronto Star features a story headed "Police investigate video of young pregnant woman being beaten". The headline in a less lamestream medium reads
Preggo Dope Fiend Gets Jumped By Hood Chicks In Toronto For Talkin Mess!

What that means, in plain English, is that a pissing contest [Don't be so literal! He means a slanging match! Ed.] broke out between a young and obviously pregnant woman and some other females on a darkened stretch of Yonge Street, the Little Apple's main drag.

The video -- labelled "Warning: Graphic Content" -- shows pedestrians walking past the group as the shouting increases. Although it looks as if the pregnant woman could have escaped, she doesn't do so. She starts to walk away, but comes back for more.

After a few more choice words are exchanged, a male voice yells "Hit her!" At this point, the pregnant woman lashes out at another female with her jacket and knocks a bottle to the ground, where it shatters.

The other females then strike back, hitting the pregnant woman about the face and knocking her to the ground. While lying helpless on the sidewalk, she is kicked around the head and in the stomach and back for about 30 seconds, during which she covers her head with her hands and wails with pain.

While she is being beaten, the person holding the camera does not try to intervene to stop the beating. In fact, the person moves in to record the action from close range. At the end of the beating, a young woman spits on the victim.

The video has already disappeared from YouTube and the original site, but since we know you'll be wanting to see it -- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT! -- Ed. has embedded a link, below.

Before you watch, how about a little self-criticism. Will all those who think the actors in this little piece are, errr, persons of colour, please raise your hands. Hmm. Just as I thought. Well, have a look.


Fooled ya, eh! You see? It's not just members of the black underclass who carry on like dat! Trash comes in every colour -- black, white and striped.

PS from Ed.: Just in case the embed link gets disabled, I've made a backup. If you can't see the video, let us know, and I'll upload my copy.

Who reads Walt?

Ed. here. Just taking a look at the stats for the past week, and thought I'd share with you a quick profile of our readers.

Top five countries, by pageviews: USA, Canada, Turkey, Russia, and UK. Since we began this blog in July 2009, we've noticed virtually no readership from Turkey. But all of a sudden, we had a lot of hits. Who knows why...

What operating system have you got there? 86% are using Windows, 5% Macintosh, 9% for everything else, including i-Things.

What browser are you using? Internet Explorer 46%, Chrome 24%, Firefox 18%, everything else 12%.

Speaking of what hardware and software people use... stop me if you've heard this one...
Helpdesk: Do you have Windows?
Baffled user: No, I'm in the basement.

Thanks to everyone who follows Walt regularly. Walt doesn't make any money from this. (But your donation is welcome! Hint, hint...) Just knowing that people are reading warms the cockles of Walt's heart. If the cockles get too warm, he will rub them with ice.

Nabisco launches new and improved junk food

America is losing the war against obesity. Proportionally, the USA has more overweight, fat, obese and morbidly obese people than any country on earth. [What about Samoa? Ed.] Those, of course, are round figures.

The Prez and Imelda would like to see their subjects [fellow citizens, surely! Ed.] slim down a few sizes, and are asking food manufacturers and retailers to reduce calories, provide healthier alternatives, blah blah blah. Ever eager to help, the friendly folks at Nabisco, have introduced a new product, even more appealing to the piggy public than the ever-popular Chips Ahoy!

Yes, it's Chips Ahoy Middles! Nabisco listens to its customers, and what it heard was that the classic Chips Ahoy -- something like a chocolate chip cookie -- had too much cookie, not enough chocolate. So the obvious solution was to hollow out all that cookie dough and replace it with a soft, gooey centre of fat, sugar, salt and chocolate flavouring.

What you have now is pretty much a chocolate bar wrapped in a crust of cookie dough, not unlike that famous Glaswegian delicacy, the Deep-fried Mars Bar. Just what the customers (if not their doctors) ordered.

My Fitness Pal reports that a serving (two cookies) of Chips Ahoy Middles, total weight 31 grams, has 7 grams of fat (of which 4 grams saturated) and 13 grams of sugar. Total carbs, 21 grams. Yes, there's salt too, 110 mg. Any vitamins? Errr, no.

Want to see what you'll look like on a steady diet of Chips Ahoy Middles and similar junk? Check out "Showers for those who can't see their toes". I wouldn't be surprised if it's all part of an Islamist plot to make us eat ourselves to death.

"The Rum Diary" called one of this year's top turkeys

Johnny Depp's pisspoor movie The Rum Diary has been found wanting by several reviewers other than Walt. But it has succeeded in winning one back-handed accolade, having been chosen by TheWrap as one of this year's Top Ten Turkeys -- 2011's biggest critical and box-office duds.

One -- or rather, the producers -- might have expected more. Johnny Depp is a Name, a Hollywood star you can count on to make a profit. His movies have brought in an astronomical $7.67 billion across the globe over the course of his career. But not this one.

Costing $45 million to make [How could you spend $45 million Puerto Rico? Ed.], The Rum Diary grossed just $19.1 million so far. That makes it Depp's least successful film since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which, coincidentally, wasl also based on the actor's close friend, the late Hunter S. Thompson, the father of Gonzo Journalism.

It was perhaps an even greater disappointment for director Bruce Robinson, who hadn't directed a film since 1992 (Jennifer 8). The Wrap tells us he was battling with alcohol and writer's block while penning the screenplay. So that explains at least part of the problem.

Walt wonders what Depp was struggling with. Was it vile substances like ibogaine? Or was it the hubris of thinking that he -- or anyone -- could portray HST on the silver screen?

Click here to read The Wrap's review, "Johnny Depp phones it in".

OWS wannabes to try Christmas carols instead

Talk about coming late to the party! A handful of Ontario LIANE (Lefties Indignant About Nearly Everything) have organized themselves -- sort of -- into a group they call "Occupy Niagara".

A couple of days ago they held a meeting in a phone booth in Saint Catharines, to discuss the possibility of occupying a local park. This coincided with the removal from St. James Park in Toronto of that city's LIANE plus assorted panhandlers, street people and scum.

When it was pointed out that camping out in city parks was kind of passé -- not to mention illegal -- the would-be occupiers decided to look for other ways to protest. That could include marches say they might shun tents in favour of carolling.

The group has a Facebook page -- of course -- which suggests they might try flash mobs. Or a nice sing-along, presumably including "Kumbaya". Or maybe singing
"Occupy-themed Christmas carols".

Walt is not making this up, merely passing on the QMI agency report. [That's because we don't do Facebook. Ed.] But think. If they go carolling -- they already have the waif costumes -- what, exactly, will they be protesting? Political correctness? Then I'm all for it!

Let's all sing! Not "holiday songs" like "Winter Wonderland" but real honest-to-Christ carols like "Adeste Fideles". We really should wait until December 25th for those, but it's not to early for the Christmas is about Christ message.

"Hanukkah pricing" offensive, Jews say

So here it is, already. The ad for Wodka (vodka) that the (Jewish) Anti-Defamation League finds offensive.

For those of you who are visually challenged, the ad shows two dogs, one wearing a Christmas hat and the other a yarmulke. The legend reads "Christmas quality, Hanukkah pricing". So what's not to like?

According to the Washington Post blog, ADL spokesthingy Ron "Oscar" Meier said, "In a crude and offensive way of trying to make a point that their vodka is high quality and inexpensive, the billboards evoke a Jewish holiday to imply something that is cheap and of lesser value when compared to the higher value of a Christian holiday." So..."[It] reinforces anti-Semitic stereotypes."

Yeah, and the Jewish dog has the longer nose too.

Do I really have to add that Wodka Vodka caved? Look in vain for the billboard shown in the picture. The campaign has ended.

Bible Bill's brillliant idea to get the economy moving

Ed., who monitors WWW's stats, tells me there's been some interest in my review of James H. Gray's book, The Winter Years. And so there should be, as it appears we are headed for another depression. Perhaps it won't be of the same depth or duration as the Great Depression of the 30s, but even now people are crying, shouting [demonstrating, too. Ed.] for solutions. It's time to revisit some of the ideas that were tried 80 years ago.

In the penultimate [would that be the second-last? Ed.] chapter of The Winter Years, Gray tells the story of "Bible Bill" Aberhart, a hellfire-and-damnation prairie preacher who got politicized by the poverty and despair he saw around him, and ultimately became premier of the province of Alberta.

Mr. Aberhart was an early convert to the economic theories of Major C.H. Douglas, the British engineer who founded the Social Credit economic reform movement. The Social Credit solution to the depression was, at its simplest, to print more money. Putting more money in circulation, Aberhart said, would stimulate the economy and all would be well again.

Does any of this sound familiar? Check out Gray's summary of one of Aberhart's stump speeches:

Aberhart was at his best in resorting to allegory, and he heavily favoured such parables as the one about the counterfeit dollar bill.... It concerned a man who found a dollar bill on the street, and promptly spent it for groceries. The grocer bought some eggs from a farmer with it. The farmer paid the blacksmith, who spent it for a shirt.

Mr. Aberhart chased the dollar all over town, out into the country and back, over the next town, up to the city. Wherever it went, it got business going again to everybody's profit. Only when the banker discovered it was counterfeit was it retired from circulation.

If a single counterfeit dollar could accomplish so much, why would social Credit not be able to do infinitely more?

Now does it sound familiar? Compare Bible Bill's story with "How a government stimulus package works", contributed by Agent 6 on November 4th.

When Aberhart's Social Credit party swept the Alberta elections in 1935, he set about keeping his campaign promise to give every man, woman and child in Alberta $25 per month. (Obviously not your typical politician.) He had "prosperity certificates" in that amount printed, only to be told by the federal government that he couldn't do that, the creation of money being within their sole jurisdiction. And so the Bill's economic stimulus plan came to naught.

Imagine Bible Bill's surprise when, a mere seven years later, the Liberal federal government of William Lyon Mackenzie King (who loved his mother like anything) introduced what came to be known as "the baby bonus", a payment to Canadian mothers of a paltry $6 per month per child. If anyone can tell me the difference between Aberhart's "prosperity certificates" and the baby bonus -- other than $19 per head, I mean -- I'd like to hear their explanation.

So would Ron McPherson. He's the author of Freedom's Dawning, which propounds the theory he calls "Facilitism". In a very small nutshell, Mr. McPherson says that credit and debt are merely bookkeeping entries. (Hardly surprising, given that he's an accountant by profession.) Thus wealth can be created by the stroke of a pen. Joe Average only has $10 in the bank? Let the government add three zeros and he's got $10,000, which should take care of the mortgage for this year.

Of course I'm oversimplifying [hardly surprising. Ed.] and there would be enormous "collateral damage" (forgive the pun) were this idea to be implemented. But who would bear the brunt? The banks and mortgage companies -- the same friendly folks who opposed Social Credit and took Joe Average's farm or home when he couldn't pay interest.

Those would be the same banks and financial houses which make obscene profits of billions of dollars a year, pay millions in salaries and bonuses to their fat cat directors, and give us a mere 1/2 of 1% on our savings, yet charge us almost 20% on our credit cards.

If I owe the bank money, the manager enquires about my health every time I come in the door. "By the way, Mr. Whiteman, do you have insurance?" Otherwise, he couldn't care less about me. Why should I care about him? Answers on the back of a postage stamp, please, to the usual address.

Egyptians are still revolting

Walt has the satellite cranked up. [You really ought to get on the power grid. Ed.] Just checking out the video of Cairo's Tahrir Square, where 1000s of Egyptians are gathering for another day of mass protest. The point seems to be to pressure the military rulers who succeeded Mubarak to speed up the transfer of power, as promised in the climax of the "Arab spring".

Transfer to whom? That's the 64 EGP (Egyptian pound) question. "Free and fair" elections are supposed to be held next week. The Freedom and Equality party, which any fule nose is run by the Muslim Brotherhood, is widely seen as likely to win. After that, Sharia law will become the law of the land, Christians and Jews will be driven out, and Egypt will at last become an Islamic fundamentalist state in law as well as in fact.

But, the BBC reports, demonstrators fear that the military intends to hold on to power, whatever the outcome of the vote. Innocent question: is it possible the Egyptian military is already controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood? If so, the MB could be orchestrating the demonstrations so as to have two dogs in the fight. Either way, they win.

The Muslim Brotherhood has refused to participate in today's protest -- or so it says -- presumably because it wants the election to go ahead to show how much support it has in the country. But if the elections are "postponed" or cancelled outright, they're not likely to be disappointed.

Footnote: Back in the days of Nasser, the Soviet-backed puppet who ruled Egypt after the West's failure of nerve in Suez, there was a short-lived "United Arab Republic", comprising Egypt and, errr, Syria. As Syria's bloody dictator "Basher" al-Assad runs out of supporters, don't be surprised if he turns to Egypt and the MB for help. Save your dinars! The UAR could rise again!

Honour killing trial update

At the end of Michael Coren's interview with Steve Emerson -- see previous post -- there's a link to TV reports on the ongoing trial of an Afghan Muslim man (now resident in Canada), his second wife and one of his sons, on charges of murdering his first wife and three of his daughters.

Why would anyone do such a dastardly thing? To preserve the family honour of course, and punish the girls -- who dared to wear Western clothing and talk to boys -- for not following the rules of Islam. The accused father gives his reasons in this shocking video.



That report is dated November 8th. Agent 3 is monitoring the trial's progress, and Walt will let you know how it all turns out. The accused must have a fair trial, of course, in accordance with Western principles of justice.

Straight talk about Islam from Steve Emerson

Michael Coren had an interesting guest on his Sun News TV show, Arena, last week. The interviewee was Steve Emerson, a man who has long appeared on Jihadist death lists. Mr. Emerson is Executive Director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, and is arguably America’s most knowledgeable expert on terrorism and Islamic extremism.

His books and TV documentary Terrorists Among Us stress that while most Muslims are moderate, Islamic extremism (or radicalism, or jihadism), are America’s greatest threat -- not only to Jews, Christians and democratic institutions, but to moderate Muslims who resist the call to wage holy war.

The way he tells it, something like 95% of the mosques and Muslim organizations in America, are dominated or influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the largest worldwide Islamist party, with links to terrorism and jihadism.

Here's what Steve Emerson has to say about Islam and its goal of world domination.

Twas the month before Christmas

Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.

The PC Police had taken away
The reason for Christmas. Why, no-one would say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing
About shepherds and wise men and angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th just a nice "holiday".

Yet shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X-Box, an I-Pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken and Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word "Christmas" was no where around.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word "Christmas"; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they put down our Faith
And forbade us to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded,
The season's true Reason was now disregarded.

So, as you celebrate "Winter Break" `neath your "Dream Tree"
Sipping your Starbucks, please listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout "MERRY CHRISTMAS", not "Happy Holiday"!

Please, Christians, let us not forget that Christ is the reason for Christ-mas.
Wish everyone you meet MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thanks to Agent 6 for sending our first Christmas card. Pass it on.

"Hate" to say goodbye

At the end of the hippy-dippy 60s, the Liberal Party imposed on Canada, as its new prime minister, one Pierre Elliot Trudeau. The man Allan Fotheringham dubbed "Himself" promised Canadians that when he got through with Canada, they wouldn't recognize it. He was right.

One of the most pernicious laws passed by PET's government, to enact his liberal humanist vision of the future, was the Canadian Human Rights Act, an Orwellian name for a law that actually destroys real rights. Everyone has rights now -- infidels, atheists, pacifists, rioters, vizmins, sexual deviates. Or almost everyone. Certain rights are conspicuous by their absence -- the right to life, and the right to speak your mind freely, not to mention the right to be left alone by the nanny state.

As Ezra Levant wrote today in the Sun papers, the entire law is a corruption of justice. It creates a kangaroo court, run by non-judges, that doesn't follow the same rules and procedures of real courts, but has massive powers to punish and fine people who aren’t politically correct.

According to Levant, the worst part of the law is Section 13, the censorship provision. Section 13 creates a word crime: the crime of publishing or broadcasting anything that can cause hurt feelings. Levant has run afoul of it more than once. So has Mark Steyn, as mentioned here before.

Levant says, and Walt agrees, that Section 13 is an insane law. It is totally contrary to traditions of liberty that go back centuries, inherited from the United Kingdom and more recently the USA, where freedom speech is (supposedly) enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

Last week, Canadian Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson rose in the House of Commons to answer a question about Section 13. The question was about a private member’s bill, introduced by Brian Storseth, a Member of Parliament from northern Alberta. His bill, C-304, would repeal Section 13. The effect would be to let people write and speak the truth, without having to answer to the PC police.

Unfortunately, in the Canadian parliamentary system, private members' bills have little chance of passing without the endorsement of the government. But Mr. Nicholson did endorse it. And he called on all MPs to support it.

So, Bill C-304, is now effectively a government bill. And with a Tory majority in both the House of Commons and the Senate, this bill is as good as enacted.

Canadians can look forward to the end of witch hunts by the Canadian and provincial Human Rights Commissions. The Forces of Good and Progress will no longer be able to persecute their political and religious enemies.

Repealing Section 13 would be the best thing the Harper government has done in five years. But C-304 could yet be derailed, if the lamestream media can rally "progressive public opinion" against it.

Walt encourages Canadians who value being able to speak truth to power to show their support for C-304. You can e-mail Brian Storseth and/or Rob Nicholson to let them know you're on the side of freedom. And wish them "Merry Christmas!" while you're at it!

Book review: advice for the coming depression, from a survivor

James Henry Gray (d. 12 November 1998) was a Canadian journalist, historian and author. Born in rural Manitoba in 1906, he moved to Winnipeg with his parents at age 5. At 16, he dropped out of school and went to work as a messenger boy at the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. Over the next eight years, he worked as an office clerk, bookkeeper, statistician and grain trader.

Then, in 1930, he became a victim of what we now call the Great Depression. He tried his luck at a number of jobs and business ventures, failed every time, and was finally forced to go on relief, on which he lived for the next four years. During that time, he upgraded his education by reading library books on politics, religion and economics, with a view to becoming a freelance writer.

And a fine writer he became. Between 1966 and 1991 he wrote a dozen books about his experiences and the world he saw around him on Canada's prairies. His works of social history became so popular as to see him made a Member of the Order of Canada.

This week Walt blew the dust off James Gray's first book, The Winter Years (Macmillan, 1966). In it, he describes how it felt to be one of the thousands of unemployed and destitute in Winnipeg during the early 30s. He stood in line for relief vouchers to support his young family. And, with other men, he experienced "workfare" -- picking dandelions in city parks.

When he finally got work as a cub reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press, he was dramatically caught up in the general unrest and bewilderment, as indignant men sought answers from governments. Of course the governments had no answers, just as they have no answers to the same questions eighty years later.

Getting no answers and precious little help, men rioted in Winnipeg and Regina, and headed for Ottawa in freight cars. We see echos of that time and that frustration in today's "Occupy movements".

The Winter Years tells how ordinary people, and thus the country, survived -- not by dint of government intervention but by the courage and resourcefulness of the human spirit. Gray sums up his philosophy neatly in the last paragraph of the introduction.

The depression brought out more of the best than it did the worst in people; that people, if left alone, tend to work out their own problems for themselves; that expert advice, particularly in economic matters, is most useful when it is completely ignored....

The emphasis is mine. The Winter Years is well worth reading not as history but as prediction. I'd like to send a copy to our political bosses and economic czars. Perhaps they could avoid having to learn the same lessons one more painful time.

Other good books by James H. Gray include: Men Against the Desert (1967); Red Lights on the Prairies (1971); Booze – When Whisky Ruled the West (1972); and The Roar of the Twenties (1975).

The colours of politics - blue rising, red falling, except in the USA

Walt's morning was brightened by a headline this headline in the Globe and Mail: Blue tide of conservatism washing away last of Europe's leftists. If it were only true.

The article is illustrated by a Reuters photo of two Spanish election billboards, a blue one for the "centre-right" People's Party, and one for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party -- naturally and obviously red.

Electoral maps of Formerly Great Britain are divided between the red Labour Party and the blue Conservatives. (The leftish Liberal Democrats are shown as yellow, and not without reason, but if I use yellow type you won't be able to read it.)

It's the same in Canada. You've got red Liberals (formerly known as the Natural Governing Party) and the blue Conservatives. (They're blue because they're usually out of power.) And it's the same in Formerly Great Britain.

Canada has a number of other parties, so uses a rainbow of other colours for the Green Party, the Bloc Québecois, and the New Democratic Party, although that last one should really be pink. And there are always a few independents.

And so it is throughout the word. Red = left/liberal. Blue = right/conservative. Except, of course, in the Excited States of America, where the Republicans are the Reds and the Democrats sing the Blues. How so? Are Americans dyslexic or is this just another example of American exceptionalism?

No matter. Walt has a red tie and a blue tie, so I'll choose whichever one is appropriate to my political mood and the country I happen to be in. I also have a club tie with alternating red and blue stripes, for the odd occasion when I can't make up my mind. [That would indeed be an odd occasion. Ed.]

Those darn politically incorrect Canadian baseballers

They do play baseball in Canada. Although there's nary a Canadian on the Toronto Blue Jays, there are several handsful on other pro teams, both major and minor league, and 1000s of kids play the game in Canada's summer. [That would be from July 1st to July 8th. Ed.]

There are Canadian teams playing in American leagues, including the newly-formed Frontier League. If you check out the website, you'll see an organization (?) called London Professional Baseball. Although the coordinates seem to point to, errr, Waterford MI [wherever that is. Ed.] the intended home of the team appears to be London. London ON that is, not the real London across the pond.

Since the website was updated, the team has acquired a name -- the London Rippers -- and a logo, featuring a character in a top hat about to "rip" the hide off a baseball. I guess. Certainly there couldn't be any connection with the real London and the Duke of Clarence or whoever it was who kept disemboweling whores in the late 19th century.

The name and logo have been in existence for mere hours, but already the outcry from the lamestream media, progressive thinkers and Forces for Good in the Community is heard loud in the land. "Beach Bums", "Slammers" and "Wild Things" are no problem, it seems, but "Rippers"? Ohhhhh nooooo! That name glorifies violence and the oppression of the lower classes!

Let's see if, when the ice melts and the new league gets under way, the London team will sport a new politically correct moniker. Walt hopes they keep this one. After all, there are other meanings for "Ripper". To wit, a violent and noisy type of flatulence.

Muslim fanatics threaten Catholics and Jews: NY archbishop

Most Rev. Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, has been mentioned in this blog before. He is, you see, one of the few members of the US Catholic hierarchy who is not afraid to speak the truth, no matter how politically incorrect the truth may be.

Earlier this month, he addressed more than 250 Jewish leaders assembled in New York for the annual meeting of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that fights anti-Semitism. Why the ADL would invite a leading Roman Catholic to speak to them is a bit of a mystery, but never mind.

In his speech, Abp. Dolan took stock of Jewish-Catholic relations and urged Jews and Catholics to work together to protect religious freedom. Click here to read the Catholic News Service account of Archbishop Dolan's address.

Warning of a “possible movement by the government that would dangerously tread on issues of conscience and religion that our two families [sic] hold very dear,” the archbishop said that “internationally, all believers are in the crosshairs of fanatics around the world. Somewhere, someplace, somebody’s being persecuted to the point of blood because of their faith, and we need to stand together in defence of those people.”

“It would take an ostrich not to see that religious fanatics have in their cross hairs Jews and Catholics,” he added. “Perhaps you and I are going to be drawn closer together as we defend each other, as we try very creatively and energetically to reach out to moderate Islamic leaders to build mutual defence of religious rights.”

Reaching out to moderate Islamic leaders... Yes. Well... That is the politically correct thing to say, after all, but may not be factually correct. Walt is reminded of a story...

Q. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, a moderate imam and an Islamist fanatic are competing in a foot race. The first one across the finish line wins a pot of gold. Which one finishes first and wins the prize?
A. The Islamist fanatic, of course. The other three are mythical characters.

But let's not let the lame conclusion distract us from the central truth of Archbishop Dolan's argument. Jews and Catholics, he said, need to “face realistically the common threat we have from fanatics, especially in the Islamist community.” They are out to get us; that's a fact!

Why should you care what I think of a movie?

My brief and negative review of The Rum Diary led to a conversation with an acolyte who asked if it was really all that bad. I told him I thought so, but allowed that perhaps he should see it for himself and form his own opinion.

That got me thinking. Why should he or anyone else care if Walt Whiteman gives a movie zero stars, out of a possible five (and a huge moon)? Why did I use a rating "system" at all? Answer: because everyone else does. Critics of the arts -- literature, music, movies, whatever -- have become so lazy that they give someone's oeuvre a star rating, print it at the top of the piece, and then write a short and snide justification. And consumers of the arts have become so lazy that the rating at the top is about all they read.

Art, like life, is more complex than that. Maybe with something like a hotel you can develop a set of criteria, a checklist you can use to assign a star rating. (Did you know that five-star hotels must, among other things, have the toilet paper pointed every time the bathroom is cleaned?) However, using such a checklist is possible only when you're checking tangible things that you can see, touch, taste, smell and so on. So you could rate a restaurant's food and perhaps its décor, but how about ambience? Tough one.

Maybe critics shouldn't try to apply a star or any other rating system to works of art. Whether something is "good" or not has to be highly subjective. Getting back to The Rum Diary, how can one evaluate Johnny Depp's performance without having a yardstick of some kind with which to measure?

I happen to be a big fan of Johnny Depp. I thought his best performance was as the title character in Ed Wood. [Five stars!!! Ed.] Yet when I say he was terrible as the "hero" of The Rum Diary, I am merely comparing my opinion of his performance in that movie with his performance in the previous movie. Someone else might think he stank in both of them. Or that he was great in both of them. Someone else is entitled to his opinion, even if he's wrong!

Maybe all one can say about a piece of art is that it's there: on the wall, on the screen, coming out of the speakers or whatever. It attracted my attention. I looked at it. I felt something or perhaps I felt nothing. So what. Don't let me or anyone else tell you how you should feel about something. Check it out for yourself. Whether you're delighted or revolted, at least you've had the experience.

Note from Ed.: No, my last name is not Wood.

Pardon my absence

Thank you to Agent 2 and others who have enquired after my health after reading that I was in hospital following a fall from a lorry-load of tuberous vegetables. My tongue was stuck firmly in my cheek when I wrote that.

I have, however, been a bit preoccupied for the last few days, rummaging through boxes of old papers in search of old drachmae [drachmi? drachmas? Ed.] and lira which I might have tucked away during my wanderings.

I am also willing to buy Greek and Italian bonds at five cents (US) on the euro. Send your Greek and Italian relatives' life savings to Walt at the usual address.

Note from Ed.: I have always wanted to visit Greece. It's where the first donuts were fried, you know.

Armageddon sick of this!

Please don't interpret the last paragraph of the last post to mean that Walt is in favour of going to war to protect Israel from the forces of Islam. Not at all. If we (the West) are going to wage war, let us pick on weak little countries where we know we can win -- like Libya and Afghanistan. [Is this right? Ed.]

As for the Zionist entity, let's see if Ahmedinajad can make his prediction about the world of tomorrow come true, with or without the help of the 12th imam. Perhaps the Hidden Imam will turn out to be one and the same as the Antichrist predicted in the Apocalypse of St. John the Divine. Perhaps we should take more seriously -- and more literally -- Apoc. 16:16. "He shall gather them together into a place, which in Hebrew is called Armagedon."

"Armagedon" is the late Latin spelling of the Hebrew הַר מְגִדּוֹ‎, Har Megiddo, literally Mount Megiddo. What and where is that? Mount Megiddo is a "tell" on which ancient forts were built to guard the main highway, the Via Maris, which connected Ancient Egypt with Mesopotamia. Megiddo was the location of various ancient battles, including one in the 15th century BC and one in 609 BC. Modern Megiddo is a town approximately 25 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee in the Kishon River area. That would be in ... wait for it ... Israel.

And what will happen at this place? Apoc. 16:13-14: "And I saw from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits.... For they are the spirits of devils working signs, and they go forth unto the kings of the whole earth, to gather them to battle against the great day of the Almighty God."

"False prophet", eh? Would he have a name? Beginning with M? As for the dragon and the beast, some interpret "the beast" as a great bear, the modern icon for Russia. And the dragon is the symbol, ancient and modern, of China.

Not that China, Russia and Islam have any monopoly on false teachings and unclean spirits. There are more than enough of those to go around, even within Holy Mother Church.

So what the vision of St. John the Divine seems to foretell is that the whole lot will one day get together at Megiddon -- Armageddon -- to duke it out. And then? Keep reading! Think of it as "cramming for the finals".

The secret of Iran's success

Walt has become more than a little bored with the neverending turmoil in the Middle East. It appears that the Muslims' plans to overrun Europe on the way to North America may be slowed down somewhat by their propensity to fight with each other. How many westerners understand the divisions within Islam? I sometimes think there's more diversity amongst Muslims than amongst Baptists! But I digress...

While the Muslim Brotherhood is fomenting revolution in North Africa, the fundamentalist Islamic government of Iran has its eyes -- and its gunsights -- fixed firmly on "the Zionist entity" to the west. That would be Israel, land of the self-chosen people and darling of the Zionist-lovers in Washington, London and Ottawa.

The Iranians deny the existence of Israel. Their maps just show a gap between Jordan and the Mediterranean. The forces of the Ayatollahs would like to fill in the blank with the word "Palestine". Rumour says that they have (or almost have) the nukes with which to inflict a bit of payback for the Seven Day War, and generally blow the chosen people into the next kingdom -- not meaning Jordan!

According to the ultra-liberal British newspaper The Guardian Iran's barking mad president Ahmadinejad is getting help not just from his friends in Saudi Arabia but from the dark forces of "unknown worlds". He stands accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle with the country's "supreme leader", Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ahmadinnerplate, it seems, is obsessed with the supposedly imminent return of the Hidden Imam Mahdi -- the saviour of Shia Islam, whose reappearance is anticipated by believers in a manner comparable to that with which Christian fundamentalists anticipate the second coming of Christ.

Ahmadinabind's obsession with the hidden imam is well known. He often refers to him in his speeches and in 2009 said that he had documentary evidence that the US was trying to prevent Mahdi's return. A video has been circulated in which he is heard telling a leading ayatollah of having felt "a light" coming from the imam, while making a fiery speech to the UN on Iran's nuclear programme.

Mr. Ahmadinejad is unabashed about his robust beliefs on the hidden imam. "His name is known and he will emerge and establish justice in the world," the prez told a press conference. "I'm proud of this belief. It's not just a religious belief, it's very progressive. A belief in the 12th imam is a belief in the world of tomorrow."

The world of tomorrow... Judging by the wimpy way the West is standing up to the Muslims, he might just be right.

The 12 scams of Christmas

This article by Tori Floyd appeared on The RIGHT Click, a Yahoo! news blog. It's worth passing along. Read and heed.

The holidays are a time when many of us think about connecting with old friends, traveling to be with family and shopping until we're blue in the face.

But all the busyness of the holiday season also makes it the perfect time for cybercriminals to prey on their unsuspecting victims online.

To help combat the perils of Christmas criminals, cyber security experts McAfee Inc. has released its annual list of the '12 Scams of the Holidays,' highlighting some of the ways internet users are open to fraudsters and hackers that can take advantage of you.

1. Hotel "wrong transaction" malware emails

Be wary of emails from hotels telling you they have run a "wrong transaction" on your credit card. These emails often have a "refund form" attached that when clicked, the user downloads malware onto his or her system. Only open attachments from senders you know, and contact the hotel listed in the email to confirm the mix-up before you click anything.

2. Mystery shopper scams

Getting a job as a mystery shopper seems an ideal holiday job for many people: you can make some extra cash and get some of your holiday shopping done at the same time. Unfortunately, the old adage of "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" holds up here, and scammers have been known to send text messages recruiting candidates. Once the receiver calls back the sender, the scammer asks for personal information like credit card and bank account numbers. Real recruiters wouldn't ask for this kind of information.

3. "I'm away from home" scams

If you make a point of mentioning when you'll be traveling out-of-town this holiday, you might want to think twice before you announce it on Facebook. We've all seen how the bad guys in Home Alone scout out a neighbourhood over Christmas to see who won't be home - thanks to people publicly sharing their plans online, burgalars don't even need to leave the house anymore. Make sure you only connect with people you know through social networks, and don't share with the masses when your house will be empty.

4. Phony Facebook promotions and contests

There are plenty of giveaways and promotions on Facebook that ask you to sign up in order to enter. Be wary of ones that need you to sign up with lengthy surveys gathering personal information, particularly from a company or person you don't recognize, as cybercriminals will collect this information and sell it to spam and telemarketing companies.

5. Scareware, or fake antivirus software

One of the most common scams online right now is 'scareware,' which warns users that their computer is or at risk of becoming infected, and they need to download security software right away. According to McAfee, one million users fall for this scam every day. Buy all security software directly from a trusted website or retailer, not through pop-ups that are likely seeking to do more harm than good.

6. Malicious content and websites

When you're searching for the perfect Christmas gift online, you'll likely come across a slew of ads for holiday ecards and ring tones. According to McAfee, a good percentage of these are likely malicious and worth avoiding. The company also says that out of the top 100 search terms each day, nearly 50 per cent lead to malicious websites.

7. Malicious mobile apps

With 60 per cent of the average Internet users now owning at least three digital devices per household, mobile devices are becoming a greater target for cybercriminals. Malicious apps are on the rise, designed to steal personal information or send out expensive text messages. Stick to apps downloaded from official app stores like iTunes, BlackBerry App World and the Android Market.

8. Mac malware

While they were once thought of as untouchable, Macs are taking up a much larger market share with home users, and are therefore becoming more tempting to hackers. McAfee says that malware that can attack Macs is on the rise of 10 per cent a month. Installing security software on all Macs and iOS devices is your best protection.

9. Zombie infections

No, there's no need to run out and stop chopping off the heads of the undead. Zombie infections are viruses that allow hackers to control your computer remotely. Like many of the other scams, avoid clicking on links from unknown senders and make sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date.

10. Holiday phishing scams

The holidays are the perfect time for scammers to try and gather personal information from people. One popular scam poses as a courier, stating that you have a package to pick up, but need to fill in personal information before you can collect it. Call companies to confirm details before you click on a link. The same is true for charity solicitation scams: contact charities you want to donate to directly instead of clicking email requests.

11. Online coupon scams

The popularity of coupons hasn't gotten by scammers. Some fradulent sites offering coupons will also ask for banking information and if they do, you know it isn't legit. Never give out banking information to an unknown source. To add insult to injury, many of these coupons are fake, and customers won't be able to redeem them for the promised discounts.

12. "It" gift scams

Those hot gifts can be a pain to get, but never try and take the easy way out to get them. If you come across a website offering you the hottest holiday product for cheap, you'll often end up paying a lot more for it buy 'purchasing' it. Scammers won't send you the product (or at least not the real deal), and they walk away with your credit card information. Only purchase from reputable retailers.

5 rules for a better life

Walt doesn't usually print "checklists" of this kind, but after the Texas governor's campaign went Perry-shaped (sorry!) there's really no other hard news story today. So, from an anonymous source, here are five things to keep in mind for the rest of your life.

1. Money cannot buy happiness but it's more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.

2. Forgive your enemy but remember the bastard's name.

3. Help someone when they are in trouble, and they will remember you when they're in trouble again.

4. Many people are alive only because it's illegal to shoot them.

5. Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.

Rick Perry shows the depth of his knowledge

Rick Perry seemed to be conservative Republicans' great white hope. (As contrasted with Dr. Cain, the pizza king...obviously.) Until last night.

Last night, the putative president revealed that his knowledge of the US federal government is extremely shallow, as well as sadly slippery. Mr. Perry says that during last night's televised GOP debate, he “stepped in it.” Now he’s slipped right to the bottom of the heap. Have a look.



The Texas governor said that, as a cost-cutting measure, he would eliminate three federal agencies. But when asked to name them, he came up, errr, one short. “Commerce, Education and the... What’s the third one there? Let’s see,” said Mr. Perry.

He looks helplessly towards Ron Paul -- who actually knows something about economics and finance -- and Dr. Paul helpfully suggests “The EPA?”
Mr. Perry replies: “EPA, there you go.”

But that wasn’t it. And when pressed, the no-longer-likely candidate draws another blank. “Seriously?” asks moderator John Harwood. “You can’t name the third one?”
“The third agency of government I would do away with — the Education, the Commerce. And let’s see. I can’t. The third one, I can’t,” Perry said. “Oops.”

According to AP, Twitterers immediately went into overdrive. "Perry response will be on highlight reels for years to come," tweeted business legend Jack Welch.

From his personal account, Tim Albrecht, top spokesthingy for Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, wrote, "Rick Perry just lost the debate. And the entire election. You only had to name three."

Republican strategist Mike Murphy added, "Off screen, Dr. [Ron] Paul is sadly administering the last rites to Rick Perry. Dr. Paul filling out paperwork as they haul Perry away. He’s ruling it a suicide."

Freedom of comment

Ed. here, reminding you that Walt does accept comments on his posts. If you're on the home/landing page, click on the headline of the piece you want to add to, reply to or complain about. A comment box will open up at the bottom.

In addition to being chief cook and bottle-washer, it's my duty to "moderate" the comments. Just like the lamestream media, we reserve the right to not print comments we don't like! Calling Walt a racist bastard or a priest-ridden mick won't get you anywhere, but we will give voice to reasonable and reasoned dissent.

If you don't want to comment, but do have a suggestion, a tip, a lead or whatever, you're welcome to e-mail Walt. Just don't offer 50% of millions of dollars to help you move black money to America. Walt didn't just fall off the turnip truck.

Oooops... this just in! Walt's next post may be delayed for a day or two, as he's in hospital recovering from a tumble from a lorry loaded with tubrous vegetables.

Movie review: "The Rum Diary"

The Rum Diary, starring Johnny Depp, with Hector Novice and Loretta Nobody. And did we mention Johnny Depp?

When the opening credits showed three (count `em, three) production companies, that should have been the tipoff.

Terrible screenplay, worse acting -- Depp looks frankly embarrassed much of the time -- and a pace slower than the diamond-encrusted tortoise seen in the bad guy's house.

Zero stars (out of a possible five), but one huge moon. Save your money.

Footnote: We're told at the end that the movie is dedicated to the memory of Hunter S. Thompson, who wrote the novel. Thank the deity that the father of Gonzo journalism isn't here to see this travesty.

Walt explains the connection between Communism, Islam and Fatima

Where's Walt? A little over four years ago, the answer was: somewhere in that crowd of pilgrims in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, at Fátima, Portugal. It was there that the Mother of God appeared to three shepherd children, Blesseds Jacinta and Francisco Marto and their cousin, Lúcia Santos, known as "Sister Lucy" after she became a nun.

For those (including, sadly, the majority of Catholics) who don't know what happened at Fátima, a brief explanation, then a thought which occurred to me as I read Mark Steyn's controversial book America Alone. The Mother of God appeared at Fátima in 1917 to warn us that we are in the last times predicted in the Apocalypse of St. John the Divine. (To non-Catholic Christians, that's the New Testament Book of Revelation.)

The apparitions -- the most famous of the 20th century -- gained particular fame due to their elements of prophecy and eschatology, particularly with regard to possible world war and the conversion of Soviet Russia. They were officially declared "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church.

As I read America Alone, I was struck by the significance of the fact that Our Lady chose to appear at Fátima, a dusty little village in the middle of Portugal. Why there? There were thousands, millions of places in the world where She could have found poor shepherd children to show Herself to. Or why not Rome? Or Jerusalem? Why Fátima?

When I first heard the name "Fátima", I associated it with Islam. And indeed, Fátima was named after Fatimah,‎ a daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from his first wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. Wikipedia tells us that after Khadijah, Muslims regard Fatimah as the most significant historical figure, considered to be the leader of all women in this world and in Paradise. She occupies an analogous position in Islam to that the Blessed Virgin Mary occupies in Christianity.


Now here's the connection. Throughout America Alone, Mark Steyn argues that the real enemy of the West is Islam. One of the goals of the Islamists is to reconquer and reestablish the Caliphate, the Muslim empire (shown above) which, in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, stretched from the Middle East all the way to the Iberian peninsula. Fatima is in the northwest corner of of this vast tract of land.

How will the Muslims reassert their dominance over Spain and Portugal, and spread their empire through all of Europe and beyond? Not by force of arms. According to Steyn, terrorism is the weapon of a weak enemy. If America (led by Hussein Obama) really wanted to, it could cut out the heart of Islam just ilke that.

But the Islamists don't have to conquer us by the sword. Steyn says, and Walt agrees, that the Muslims will defeat and occupy the West by force of demographics. They are breeding like rabbits -- little veiled and turbanned rabbits -- while we are killing our children before they are born, by birth control and abortion. The fact is, the formerly Christian peoples are not reproducing fast enough to maintain their populations. Our populations are actually shrinking, whereas those of the Islamic states are expanding -- expanding into the empty spaces in the cities, towns and villages of our countries.

Where did we Christians get the idea that "zero population growth" is a Good Thing, a goal to be embraced by all enlightened and progressive thinkers? From the Communists! Our Lady of Fatima warned us that if the "errors of Russia" were not resisted, and that poor nation converted, those errors would spread throughout the world, billions of souls would be lost and entire nations annihilated.

And that is exactly what's happening. Chief among the errors of Russia (i.e. the errors of Communism) is "family planning" and the notion of sex for its own sake, rather than for God's purpose of procreation. Although Communism has supposedly been defeated, in Russia and the former Communist states, 70% of pregnancies are "terminated". Communist China persists in its "one child policy", under which millions of babies are killed every year, not just before birth but after!

So that's how Communism, Islam and Fatima interconnect. The errors of Communism are causing the suicide of the West. And who benefits? The Muslims. Europe -- including Britain -- is already well down to the road to becoming what Steyn calls "Eurabia". Canada, which is closer to Europe than America in its social attitudes and policies, will be next. And then America.

The only thing that can save us -- save the West from being occupied and dominated by the Muslim hordes -- is a return, a conversion to the True Faith, the Faith of our Christian fathers.

Working for the government

A guy goes into the post office to apply for a job.

The interviewer asks him, "Are you allergic to anything?"
He replies, "Yes, caffeine. I can't drink coffee."

"Ok, Have you ever been in the military?"
"Yes," he says, "I was in Afghanistan for one tour."
The interviewer says, "That will give you 5 extra points toward employment."

Then he asks, "Are you disabled in any way?"
The guy says, "Yes. A bomb exploded near me and I lost both my testicles."

The interviewer grimaces and then says, "Okay. You've got enough points for me to hire you right now. Our normal hours are from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. You can start tomorrow at 10:00 AM, and plan on starting at 10:00 AM every day."

The guy is puzzled and asks, "If the work hours are from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, why don't you want me here until 10:00 AM?"

Replies the interviewer, "This is a government job. For the first two hours, We just stand around drinking coffee and scratching our balls. No point in you coming in for that."

Walt doffs his chapeau to Agent 1.

How a government stimulus package works

It’s a cold day in the small town of Bugtussle and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on credit.A traveller comes to town and lays a $100 bill on the hotel desk, saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.

As soon as he walks upstairs, the hotel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op.

The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her services on credit.

The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.

The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything. At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill and leaves.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how a "stimulus package" works.

Thanks and a tip of the toque to Agent 6.

How the British dealt with barbaric religious practices

On October 21st Walt noted the beginning of a trial, in Canada, of a Muslim man, his second wife and son, on charges of killing his first wife and three of their daughters. The four women were inside a car which was allegedly pushed into the Rideau Canal by a second car driven by one of the accused.

Why? "Honour" of course. The three girls had been behaving badly -- wearing western clothes, interested in boys and suchlike -- and brought disgrace and dishonour on the family. As for the first wife, she was apparently barren and just kind of in the way.

Honour killing is part of Islam. It is sanctioned by the Qu'ran and practised all too often in Muslim communities around the world. To the Western, Christian way of thinking, it is a cruel and barbaric practice, a relic of the dark ages. Just like the Hindu practice of "suttee" -- burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands.

Why do I mention suttee? Because I was just reading (in America Alone by Mark Steyn -- worth reading twice!) a quote attributed to the impeccably multicultural General Sir Charles Napier, a governor of India in the days of the British Raj.

"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."

Agent 3 is keeping Walt updated on the honour killing trial. The strategy of the defence is not yet clear. If they argue for a finding of not guilty, or a reduced sentence at least, because respect must be given to Islam and the religious sensitivities of "new Canadians", Walt hopes the Crown will read Napier's dictum to the jury.

Will there be a hanging in the event of a finding of guilt? Not in Canada. Execution is OK for victims, but not for the killers.

Footnote: The accused father, Mohammed Safia, married the second wife without bothering to divorce the first. Bigamy and polygamy are supposedly illegal in Canada, but the government looks the other way in the case of Muslims. Wouldn't want to offend anyone's religious principles, dontcha know.

Further footnote: Let's not hear any of that fuzzy, we-are-the-world rhetoric that Muslims will assimilate, once they've lived in Western society for a while. The Safias have been in Canada for many years, and the father was a successful businessman, living in Montréal. But assimilate? Fuggedaboudit.