Headline of the summer from the Toronto Star

In his daily perusal of papers from around the world, Walt doesn't spend a lot of time on the website of the Toronto Star. To those of my political persuasion, it's usually referred to as the Red Star, and that tells you all you need to know.

However... when you see a headline like
Dismemberment still a rarity in Canada
it's hard to resist the temptation to check out the story,
if only to see if they're bragging or complaining.

That has to be the most grabby headline of the summer. Hell... the year!

Our dear leaders captured on video

Agent 6 has been down east -- not 1000 miles from Maine, I should think -- but keeps Walt in mind. To mark the end of summer he has sent us this video of our democratically elected leaders at work and at play. Perhaps we should not encourage them to return from their vacations?



Note from Ed.: Did you not notice that the voiceover is being sung in Russian? Just how far "east" was Agent 6?

Paul's people walk out of RNC, but Paul endorses Paul's partner

There once was a man from Khartoum
Took a transexual whore to his room
They spent half the night
In a helluva fight
About who should do what, and to whom

That's what's happening at the Republican National Convention -- lots of fighting about who's for whom, who gets to vote, and who gets thrown out for having the temerity to support someone other than the Inevitable Mitt.

To bring you up to date, there have been dozens of empty chairs -- clearly visible on TV -- in spaces reserved for delegates. The bums that should have been in the chairs were outside, in motion as they marched -- well, the legs supporting them marched -- around the Forum hollering "As Maine goes, so goes the nation" and other slogans of disentitlement and disgruntlement.

Delegates pledged to Texas congressman Ron Paul understandably felt like the fly on the rim of the toilet bowl -- that is, pissed off -- having been denied a part in the proceedings by rule changes clearly meant to squelch grass roots political rights. Up until Tuesday they had enough votes in enough states to place Mr. Paul's name in nomination. Then they didn't! Voices of dissent are not to be heard at the coronation.

Congressman Paul himself was not allowed to speak. Oh yes, he was offered a slot, on condition that his speech be approved in advance by the Romney people -- a "privilege" which Mr. Paul chose to decline. He was fobbed off [flipped off? Ed.] with a video tribute which had to compete for attention with coverage of Isaac. And yes, Ron Paul's son, Senator Rand Paul, did get to address the delegates Wednesday, praising the American system which led an immigrant's son like his dad to run for president.

Paul père is 77, and set to retire in January, leaving the causes of personal liberty and small government without their Washington champion just as they appear to be gaining traction. You would think Paul fils, elected in 2010 as part of the Tea Party surge, and supposedly a constitutional conservative and libertarian, would be the most logical person to take the torch from his father's aging hands. Alas, so impressed was Senator Paul by the Republicans' commitment to fairness for all that he endorsed the Mitt (and his more charismatic alter ego, Paul Ryan).

Rand Paul's endorsement of the former multimillionaire businessman with the principles of a chameleon has alienated many in the conservative movement, who for some reason think Romney shares none of their beliefs. Questions are already being heard about Mitten's health, the implication being that not many tears would be shed if, in the event of his election, he suffered the same fate as James A. Garfield.

That would leave the presidensity in the rather more trustworthy hands of another Paul -- Paul Ryan. Walt thinks the Pauls wouldn't mind that at all.

Book review: A journey through Vietnam and a refugee's psyche

A month ago, in "What they eat in Vietnam", I introduced you to Catfish and Mandala, a book I bought expecting a travelogue of a journey through that little-known country. Although Andrew X. Pham's 1999 book contains plenty of fascinating travel tidbits -- like the descriptions of the strange Vietnamese cuisine -- it should really be described as more memoir or autobiography than travel book.

Mr. Pham describes himself now as a Viet kieu -- an overseas Vietnamese. He is one of the 1000s of "boat people" who fled Vietnam in the aftermath of the war. With his family, he was "adopted" by a Baptist congregation in Shreveport LA. After a short time the refugee family moved to California, to be in poorer circumstances but at least in a community of Vietnamese and other immigrants.

A disturbing theme of the book is the effect that life in America had on the family. By the time Pham decides to leave home and return to Vietnam in search of his roots, two of his brothers have decided to be gay, and his elder sister, a transvestite turned transexual, has committed suicide. Whether these problems of sexual identity are due to culture shock or a dysfunctional family life is a matter for speculation. The author talks freely about his own identity problems and those of his siblings, but reaches no conclusions.

As for the travel part, Pham, after experiencing a bit of an epiphany while bicycling in Baja California, throws in his job as an aerospace engineer and sets off to bicycle counterclockwise around the Pacific rim to the land of his birth. He gets a decidedly cool welcome from the Vietnamese who have been left behind. Even folks in his old neighbourhood seem to be asking, "What did you come back for?"

That part of the book, then, is yet another statement of Hardy's dictum -- you can't go home again. The resentment of those who left by those who were left behind is particularly acute in Vietnam, but still the same sentiment one finds in China, Zimbabwe or just about any other third world country.

The more interesting part of the book is the painful personal history of Mr. Pham and his family. There are hints of dark doings while the family is still in Vietnam, and at the end the source of the family's (comparative) wealth is revealed. Pham writes about his family compassionately, not critically, implicitly putting at least some of their troubles down to the trauma of adjusting from a traditional Asian culture to that of modern America.

He is understanding, too, of the grasping rudeness he meets in Vietnam. What the reader sees in Andrew Pham is the emerging of the "global soul", so well described by Pico Iyer in his book of the same name. (The Global Soul, Knopf, 2000)

Catfish and Mandala is extremely well written, a pleasure to read. For his work, Pham won the 1999 Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize. I expected to be entertained, and was not disappointed. I did not expect to learn as much as I did about the life and emotions of "displaced persons". Highly recommended.

Not to be confused with Walt Whiteman

It has come to Walt's attention that there are to be found on YouTube video clips featuring a story-teller with the name... or stage name... Walt Whiteman. That Walt Whiteman is not to be confused with the Walt Whiteman who writes WWW.

I must say, though, that my namesake is a mighty fine Louisiana stand-up comic. Reminds me of the late Jerry Clower (d. 24/8/98), except that ole Jerry was a Miss'sippi boy. Here is Walt telling a story about Reverend Lyonel P. Giedrey. Enjoy.

"Sasquatch" sighted in Montana, but not in enough time to brake

Sure looks like a sasquatch, doesn't it? Or a yeti. Or an abominable snowman. But it's not. It's a man -- a human man -- dressed in a Ghillie camouflage suit. If you want one for your very own, click here. Tell `em Walt sent ya.

But, I hear you asking, what would I do with such an outfit? Well, you could wear it hunting the Taliban in Armpitistan or playing paintball or scaring small children on Hallowe'en. What you should not do, however, is stand at the side of a road pretending to be a sasquatch, in hopes of provoking motorists to call in a "sasquatch sighting".

I hear you asking (again), why not? Enough with the questions already. The answer is that the Ghillie suit is such effective camouflage that a motorist barrelling down a highway in Big Sky Country probably won't see you! That possibility seems not to have occurred to Randy Lee Tenley, formerly of Kalispell MT, dead at the young age of 44 after being struck by two (2) cars.

Flathead County cop Jim Schneider said his motives were ascertained during interviews with friends, and alcohol may have been a factor but investigators were awaiting tests.
"He was trying to make people think he was Sasquatch so people would call in a Sasquatch sighting," Trooper Schneider told the Daily Inter Lake on Monday. "You can’t make it up." Indeed.

Footnote: This is breaking news, not yet to be found on the Darwin Awards website. For more proof that human intelligence is an oxymoron, click here.

Footnote from Ed.: As nearly as I can recollect, this is the first time Walt has ever mentioned Montana in any context whatsoever. That's in spite of having a sixgun stuck in his face at Trout Creek many years ago. (Thought I didn't know about that eh.) If you hear of anything else noteworthy happening in Montana, please keep the news to yourself.

Kemi's gone! Canada's gain is Nigeria's loss

Amazing news from the Land of the Maple Leaf! The Great White North is a tiny bit whiter than it was last week, as notorious media whore Kemi Omagolly-Lululemon [Ed, check spelling please.] was finally bundled onto a plane back to her native Nigeria.

As detailed in WWW ad nauseam, Kemi's been on the run from Georgia justice for a number of years. Faced with allegations of child abuse, Kemi did what 1000s of Nigerians have done before her, and made a bee-line for Canada, which has never been known to refuse a "refugee", no matter how implausible their story or how easy it would be to return to the land of their birth.

Sadly for Kemi O, she didn't have the wisdom to keep her mouth shut. Instead she set herself up as a spokesthingy for all the poor black yoofs victimized by the racism and injustice of Canadian society. All those aspiring rap artists and innocent mothers' sons turning their lives around, cut down in their prime by, errr, other black yoofs. Who will speak for them now?

Walt cannot report that Kemi was dragged kicking and screaming onto the plane. Nor was she drugged and shackled. By her own account (given to her dear friend Chris Doucette of the Toronto Sun -- Chris will miss her!), Kemi, along with her for-some-reason-autistic son, got the VIP treatment, at a cost to Canadian taxpayers of nearly $30,000.

"It was a big waste of taxpayers' money," she said. Just how Doucette got the message on Monday, since Kemi was deported on Friday was a mystery. Perhaps Kemi sent an e-mail to say she was being held captive in Nigeria and would be able to escape with a large box containing millions of $$$ if only Doucette would help her out.

Walt is genuinely sorry that Kemi is gone, as we won't have her to kick around any more. But don't be surprised if she reappears, perhaps under another of her many aliases, to begin a brand new refugee claim. I'm sure Chris Doucette will keep us posted.

"Ron Paul woke us up; we won't go back to sleep!"

A couple of days ago, Walt predicted that the Republican convention will be the "Holiday Inn Convention" -- no surprises! Mitten Romney's attack lawyers ensured that by getting the Republican National Committee to strip Ron Paul of his Maine delegates. Here's a 5-minute Reality Check from Fox.



What's going on here? Why would you have rules if you're not going to follow them? As Ben Swann explains, the real problem for the Romneyites is that they're shit-scared that a lot of delegates pledged to the Inevitable Mitt don't really like him, and might just switch their votes to Ron Paul, when the big moment comes.

Until this week, Ron Paul was the only wild card left in the Republican deck. Only Paul had enough delegates in enough states to be nominated from the convention floor. But that "threat" has now been eliminated, ensuring that Romney holds not just the strongest hand but the only hand, once the storm lets up and the convention starts.

Until this weekend, Congressman Paul’s young and strongly committed supporters still hoped to at least make things interesting by getting their (and Walt's) man on the ballot, and seeing how many of the Romney delegates might break ranks. At the very least, a Paul nomination might have injected some life into what promises to be a huge snore-fest. But now, fuggedaboudit.

Now Mr. Paul won't even get to make a speech. His third and (probably) final run for the presidency will end with a lame "video tribute". The puppeteers with their hands in the Mitt say they would have let Paul speak, but with strings attached, just as securely as they are to their own candidates. Mr. Paul’s words would have to be vetted by "Team Romney" and include a ringing and unqualified endorsement. Unsurprisingly, Ron Paul said no.

Mr. Paul told the New York Times, "It wouldn’t be my speech. That would undo everything I’ve done for the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse [Romney] for president."

Here are the reactions of a couple of "Paulistas", as quoted in the Toronto Star.
"Where is our democracy? This is shaping up as the Old Crony Convention, changing the voting rules for seating delegates midway to shove Mitt Romney down our throats. I don’t know what to do with my vote now." (Melissa Swetich, Orlando)
"He threw a wrench in the system, talking about auditing the Federal Reserve and closing down foreign military bases. [Ron Paul] achieved something real. He woke up a lot of us. And we’re not going to go back to sleep." (Cory Peterson, Minneapolis)

So what happens next? There's been talk of asking Paul's supporters to switch their allegiance to the official Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, though Johnson lacks Paul’s unscripted, blunt-talking appeal.

Others are waiting to see what happens at this afternoon's "We Are the Future" rally, to be held at the University of South Florida Sun Dome from noon until 5:00 p.m EDT. Congressman Paul will speak at or around 4:00 p.m. and will be introduced by his son, US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

According to Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton, "Ron Paul’s rally will enable supporters, the public, and media to further witness the ideas and people that are the future of the Republican Party."

But if the Republicans don't want Mr. Paul -- or aren't allowed by their "leaders" to choose the candidate they really want -- don't discount the possibility that he might yet run as an independent.

Will you support Ron Paul if he runs as an independent? Click here to sign the Grassroots Pledge! It's NOT too late!

Aux Français! L'avertissement du Général Charles De Gaulle

Provoked by the "progressive thinkers" and multiculti-glorifiers of the loony left, Walt has been doing more research on the Islamization of Europe. Just over a year ago, in "'I told you this would happen': Enoch Powell", I quoted from the British political leader's famous "Rivers of Blood" speech.

Mr. Powell predicted that, if the floodgates of the UK were opened to non-European and non-Christian immigration, there would be rioting, sectarian conflict and the general degradation of British society. He was right, of course, but not the first to say what now cannot be said.

Enoch Powell gave that speech on 20 April 1968. It turns out he wasn't the first to foresee the dire consequences of unrestricted immigration from the Third World, the Muslim countries in particular. On 5 March 1959 -- over nine years earlier -- the war hero turned president of France, Charles De Gaulle, had something similar to say about the problem of increasing Muslim immigration to his country. Source: Françaisdefrance's Blog.

C'est très bien qu'il y ait des français jaunes, des français noirs, des français bruns. Ils montrent que la France est ouverte à toutes les races et qu'elle a une vocation universelle. Mais à condition qu'ils restent une petite minorité. Sinon, la France ne serait plus la France.

Nous sommes quand même avant tout un peuple européen de race blanche, de culture grecque et latine et de religion chrétienne. Qu'on ne se raconte pas d'histoire! Les musulmans, vous êtes allés les voir? Vous les avez regardés avec leurs turbans et leurs djellabas? Vous voyez bien que ce ne sont pas des français.

Ceux qui prônent l'intégration ont une cervelle de colibri, même s'ils sont très savants. Essayez d'intégrer de l'huile et du vinaigre. Agitez la bouteille. Au bout d'un moment, ils se sépareront de nouveau. Les arabes sont des arabes, les français sont des français.

Vous croyez que le corps français peut absorber dix millions de musulmans, qui demain seront vingt millions et après-demain quarante ? Si nous faisions l'intégration, si tous les arabes et les berbères d'Algérie étaient considérés comme français, comment les empêcherez-vous de venir s'installer en métropole, alors que le niveau de vie y est tellement plus élevé? Mon village ne s'appellerait plus Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, mais Colombey-les-Deux-Mosquées.

Prophetic words, but in France as in the UK, no-one took those words to heart. Now France has even more problems with Arab Muslims than does Britain. Who's next? Canada? The USA? I'll give you 6 to 5 on Canada because the Canadians are too damn polite, too damn politically correct to rise up and demand that Muslim immigration be stopped... NOW!

Footnote: If you're one of those typical Anglophones who gets upset by the French side of the Corn Flakes box [That's a Canadian joke. Ed.] send me a note and I'll work up a translation for you.

Too many foreigners in Britain? Survey says...

Linking WWW to the rest of the world

Ed. here. We got a note in the spam box today asking for permission to publish a link to Walt Whiteman's World in someone's blog. Assuming (as we do in our charity) that this was a legitimate request from someone who wanted to share one of Walt's posts with his/her readers, we say: please feel free!

There are two simple ways to pass on something you read here.

1. Copy the URL of the article and paste it into the "insert link" window in your Blogger or whatever platform you're using.

2. Copy the whole article and paste it into your blog or webpage.

It would be nice if you'd give Walt credit, but we won't be overly offended if you don't. What are we going to do? Sue you for plagiarism or copyright infringement? Nah!
Walt's motto used to be "Sue the bastards!" but that was long ago in a galaxy far away.

Finally, the Comments box at the end of each post is for comments... only. That's why it's labelled "Post a comment", not "Post any damn thing". If you have a question or want to ask permission or anything other than a comment, e-mail waltwhiteman@yahoo.com. You're welcome.

The Mexican maid

The United States Congressional Budget Office warned yesterday that the American middle class faces its "worst decade in modern history". CBO director Doug Elmendorf said that without action by Congress to avoid the "fiscal cliff", Americans should expect a "significant recession" and the loss of some two million jobs. Something to think about between now and November.

Meanwhile, courtesy of the seldom-seen Agent 1, here's something to turn your frown into a smile.

The Mexican maid asked for a pay increase. The wife was very upset about this and decided to talk to her about the raise. "Now Maria," she asked, "why do you want a pay increase?"
Maria: "Well, Señora, there are tree reasons why I wanna increaze. The first is that I iron better than you."

Wife: "Who said you iron better than me?"
Maria: "Jor huzban he say so."
Wife: "Oh yeah?"

Maria: "The second reason eez that I am a better cook than you."
Wife: "Nonsense, who said you were a better cook than me?"
Maria: "Jor hozban did."
Wife, increasingly agitated: "Oh he did, did he???"

Maria: "The third reason is that I am better at sex than you in the bed."
Wife, really boiling now and through gritted teeth: "And did my husband say that as well?"
Maria: "No Señora...... The gardener did."
Wife: "So... how much do you want?"

A funny thing happened on the way to the convention

Walt apologizes sincerely for being MIA for the last three days. The idea was to take a leisurely drive in a southerly direction, arriving in Florida in time for the Republican convention. It is going to be in Florida, right? Anyhow, about 100 miles east of Fort Mudge, Walt's VW Yenta broke down, leaving me sitting on a pile of rocks, much as shown here [only with a hat. Ed.]

What was I thinking? I was wondering why on earth I would go to the Republican convention. I'm not a delegate. I'm not even a card-carrying Republican. Not even regiestered! So the only reason for going would be to report on the thrills and excitement of the contest for the GOP nomination.

Just one problem with that. There won't be any thrills and excitement at all. The loudest sounds to be heard will be the chirping of the crickets. Why? Because everything has already been decided. The inevitable Mitten Romney [Ed., please check Romney's full name. Walt] had the nomination locked up in the spring. He might have generated some buzz by keeping mum on his choice of running-mate until next week, but after his foreign tour de farce something positive was needed so they let the Ryan out of the bag early.

Result? The only frisson of uncertainty or controvery this week was generated by a hitherto-obscure congressman's brain fart on the subject of abortion. Will Todd Akin stand down? Can Romney and Ryan disown him without compromising their pro-life credentials... such as they are? Who knows? Who cares?

What we're going to see in Florida -- the dozen of us who may tune in -- is yet another example of the blanding of America. Or the Holiday Inn Syndrome, if you will. There are no surprises in American life any more. Nothing is left to chance. Everything is carefully controlled, stage-managed to a fare-thee-well, even in the previously unpredictable world of politics. Everything has been decided by Those Who Know Best, and what the people think no longer matters.

Contrast this year's affaire d'ennui with the GOP convention of 1880 that chose James A. Garfield over three other earnest contenders including U.S. Grant. Garfield was only at the convention to speak for the nomination of someone else, but his speech was so good -- and the race so hopelessly deadlocked -- that the delegates chose him as a compromise candidate.

You can read about the convetion, and about Garfield's subsequent assassination, in Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine & the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard. Walt reviewed the book in March and awarded it 17 stars. No one has yet figured out why 17, but obviously it's an excellent rating. Read the book and weep for the days when American politics was truly exciting.

Incredible! Kemi to be deported from Canada!

Cazart! Amazing news reported in today's Toronto Sun! The Canadian immigration shit-hammer (rumoured to be non-existent) has finally struck Walt's old friend and well-known "voice of [black] victims" (= media whore), Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo.

Walt told you the truth about Kemi on 28 November 2010, and expressed wonderment that she hadn't been deported to either the USA, where warrants for her arrest were outstanding in Georgia, or her native Nigeria. Well, yesterday afternoon the Canadian Border Services Agency descended on her Toronto apartment [in a "social housing" project? Ed.] and carted her off to a nearby detention centre, pending deportation to Nigeria on Monday.

According to Chris Doucette's mushy paean in the Sun, Kemi is actually the daughter of a high-ranking Nigerian politician -- a chief or a prince, perhaps -- who moved to Toronto in 2007. Doucette didn't have enough space to say that in between Nigeria and Canada, she spent several years in the USA, where she apparently ran into a little trouble with the racist state of Georgia.

It took less than a year for the lovely Kemi to reinvent herself, taking on the new role -- and that is definitely the right word -- as an advocate for victims' rights, justice for the black "community", crusader against racism, yada yada yada.

"I’m just a citizen [sic] who wanted to make our community safer," she once told the Sun of her efforts "to ensure slain loved ones are not forgotten and that killers don’t roam freely on the city’s streets." Unfortunately for her, Kemi is not a citizen of Canada, or (it seems) the USA. She's not even a legal resident of either country, just another bogus refugee, or "undocumented person" as the PC saying goes. And on Monday, unless the Canadian immigration department wimps out, she'll be gone.

Not before time, says Walt! And just think. If she'd kept her big mouth shut, and if Chris Doucette hadn't called her for an "anti-racist" hug-a-thug comment on every black-on-black shooting, she could still be in Canada. Don't be surprised, though, if she shows up again, when things cool down, under a different guise. Lifetime pct .989.

Saint Ho Chi Minh? Oppression of the Church in Vietnam continues

In a remote corner of the Vietnamese province of Gia Lai, an intrepid traveller would find the village of Dak Pnan. The people who live there are lepers. The chapel is based in Dak Pnan village, whose members are lepers. Most of them belong to a tiny ethnic minority, the Bahnars. And most of them are Catholics

In 1999, a charitable organization based in France built a chapel in Dak Pnan in which the villagers could worship and hold their common activities. The villagers furnished the building with an altar, tabernacle, crucifix, and an image of the Blessed Virgin.

Last week, Communist officials ordered the faithful villagers to remove the Catholic pictures and items -- every last one -- from their chapel. If they didn't, the Communists told them, their lay leader would be put in prison.

So the villagers had to carry the cross, Marian picture, altar and tabernacle to the lay leader’s house. Authorities then put two pictures of Ho Chi Minh in the places where the cross and Marian picture were.

On the following day, authorities dismantled the bell of the chapel after local Catholics refused to do it. The bell was also taken to the lay leader’s house.

Stories like this are common in Communist-ruled countries like Vietnam, China and North Korea, but also in nominally secular states like India. I'm posting this one to remind all readers (not just Catholics) that Communism and Christianity are antithetical. The official belief system of Communism is atheism. That's why we call it "godless Communism". To Communists and atheists, Christianity is the enemy, to be treated accordingly, as in this example.

The same can truly be said of the secular humanists who rule the United States of America. President Obama and his administration are waging war on Christianity, especially in its truest form, Catholicism.

Believers! It is your right and your duty to resist such oppression, at home and abroad. Support in whatever way you can those who are persecuted for the sake of the True Faith. And remember Christ's promise: Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice's sake, for theirs is the kindgom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and peresecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake. (St. Matthew 5:10-11)

RIP

Canucks drop image of "Asian-looking" woman from $100 bill

This is Bank of Canada's new $100 note, introduced in November 2011. Please examine the reverse (shown above) for images of racist stereotypes. Noooo... it's not the guy with the moustache, although he looks (and was) kinda WASPy. It's the woman peering into the microscope! Can't you see that she's Asian?!

Well, Walt couldn't see it either... even though he can tell the Chinese from the Japanese from the Filipinas at 50 yards. To me she just looks politically correct, i.e. not identifiable as a member of any particular race. And so it's meant to be, because this is not the original design!

Canadian Press did some digging, using the Access to Information Act. They learned that the Bank of Canada quietly had the image redrawn before the new bill was introduced, because focus group testing revealed that the first drawing made the researcher look -- horrors! -- Asian!

A 2009 report from Strategic Counsel warned the bank, "Some have concerns that the researcher appears to be Asian. Some believe that it presents a stereotype of Asians excelling in technology and/or the sciences. Others feel that an Asian should not be the only ethnicity represented on the banknotes. Other ethnicities should also be shown."

A few even said the yellow-brown colour of the banknote reinforced the perception the woman was Asian, and "racialized" the note. Toronto focus groups were positive about the image of an Asian woman because "it is seen to represent diversity or multiculturalism". Toronto, as regular readers know, adores diversity.

However, in Québec "the inclusion of an Asian without representing any other ethnicities was seen to be contentious". And in Fredericton NB, one person commented, "The person on it appears to be of Asian descent which doesn’t rep(resent) Canada. It is fairly ugly." The image might have played better in the Anglo half of New Brunswick of the woman had been doing laundry.

The bank, in a display of wussiness unusual even for Canada, immediately ordered the design redrawn, imposing a "neutral ethnicity" on the hitherto-"Asian" woman, resulting in the inoffensive image you see above. The scientist's light features and perky 50s-style hairdo make her look, well, a bit like June Cleaver. All she needs is an apron instead of the lab coat.

Canadian taxpayers will doubtless be delighted to know that Strategic Counsel's fee for studying what Canadians think of putting "Asian" scientists on their money was a mere C$53,000 (US$53,530).

Footnote: The Bank of Canada refused to release the original design. Walt's operative in Ottawa has been dumpster diving and found this behind the Bank of Canada building. Could this be the original essay? Is Canada's prime minister a conservative? Who knows...

"I don't like them coming here and imposing their rules" sez mayor

Meet Jean Tremblay, the mayor of Saguenay, Québec. A provincial election will be held in la Belle Province next month, and Hizzoner has made his voting intentions clear. He will not be voting for the Parti Québécois candidate, Djemila Benhabib.

As you may have guessed, Ms Benhabib was not born in Canada. She is originally from Algeria, and immigrated to Québec [Canada, surely! Ed.] in the 90s. As you may have guessed (again) Ms Benhabib has not seen fit to adopt the cultural values of the country which has given her refuge from the desert of north Africa. For instance, she is on record as opposing keeping the crucifix in Québec's Assemblée Nationale, although her party’s position is that the ultimate religious and cultural symbol can be left there...at least for now.

Monsieur le Maire finds that disturbing. In an interview with a Montréal radio station, he said, "I don’t like that these people come here and try to impose their rules. They’re going to make our culture and religion disappear."

Walt is pretty sure that, back in the 17th century, the Indians said something similar about M Tremblay's ancestors. But that just proves the point, eh.

Why the butler did it: "for the good of the Church"

The butler did it! Or so the Vatican alleges. Paolo Gabriele, a reserved family man and devout Roman Catholic, who worked in Pope Benedict XVI’s apartments in the Apostolic palace, serving the pontiff meals and helping him dress, was indicted on Monday, along with another employee.

The two are accused of pilfering documents from the Holy Father's private apartment, in an embarrassing scandal that has exposed at least a small part of the corruption and struggle for power at the highest levels of the Vatican. Devotees of Our Lady of Fatima have been saying for decades that this "rot at the top" of the Church is at the heart of the Third Secret of Fatima -- the Great Secret that the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, told us was disclosed in full in 2000.

Sr Gabriele has been charged with grand theft. If convicted, he could be sentenced to six years in prison. During the investigation, the Vatican insisted that the butler acted alone. Many Vatican-watchers chose to take that story cum grano salis, as should be the case with every utterance from Father Lombardi and other Vatican spokesthingies.

And sure enough, Monday's indictment also orders the trial of Claudio Sciarpelletti, a computer expert in the Secretariat of State, the department run by, errr, Cardinal Bertone. office charged with aiding and abetting the butler. If Sr Sciarpelletti did what he is charged with doing, one must ask, would he have done so on his own, or would someone -- someone higher up -- have put him up to it.

And what about the butler? During the investigation, Sr Gabriele admitted he had been meeting with a journalist for some time, slipping him sensitive papers, including letters to the Pope. Why would he do that? For money? Or for some other reason...

He told the inquiry he never received payment for the documents, but felt he was acting for the good of the Church and as an agent of the Holy Spirit. In his testimony, Sr Gabriele said, "I saw evil and corruption everywhere in the Church." He went on to say that he felt the Pope was not sufficiently informed of such matters, and "I was sure that a shock, perhaps by using the media, could be a healthy thing to bring the Church back on the right track."

But Sr Gabriele talked to others besides the journalist. He confided in a man he called his "Spiritual Father," referred to in the indictment only as "B" -- "B" as in "Bertone"? -- and gave him copies of the incriminating papers. But "B" told investigators he destroyed the documents. Sure. Wouldn't want those to fall into the wrong hands, like the hands of enemies of... hmm... whom?

Sr Gabriele was described by friends and acquaintances as a pious man and good father, a discreet man held in high esteem. Notwithstanding his prior good character, he was was held in a tiny "safe room" ["cell", surely! Ed.] in the Vatican police station for two months during the investigation. He was finally let out in July, but remains under house arrest in his Vatican apartment. There he will stay until the commencement of the trial. Unless, God forbid, some unfortunate accident should befall him. There are precedents...

For a longer and deeper analysis, read "The Pope's Butler on Trial. But the Investigation Is Proceeding 'In Various Directions'" by noted Vaticanista Sandro Magister. Sr Magister points out that one of the leaked documents bears the placet of none other than our old friend (but no friend of Our Lady of Fatima) Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone.

Can the errors of Vatican II be corrected? Sure!

Walt's post of two weeks ago, "Correcting errors of Vatican II chief problem in SSPX-Rome talks" drew some comments and questions along the lines of: once Rome speaks, can it ever say it "misspoke"? More specifically, can the "reforms" of Vatican II ever be reversed or will its evil continue to spread like a cancer until Holy Mother Church is consumed and dies?

Two days after I wrote, Kurt Cardinal Koch, President of the "Council for Promoting Christian Unity", told Katholische Presseagentur Oesterreich [Austrian Catholic Press Agency] that adherents of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) were really "Lutherans"! Why? Because they reject the "binding nature in terms of content" of Vatican II.

The prelate went on to say that the "ecumenism" foisted on the Church by Vatican II "must be and remain a central theme of the Church." Sorry, but that's wrong! "Ecumenism" is the sheep's clothing of "syncretism" -- the teaching that all religions are the same, and worship the same god in different forms and by different means. That's heresy, repeatedly condemned by the pre-Conciliar Church, only to be reintroduced in the Vatican II document Lumen gentium.

Can Lumen gentium and all the other claptrap of Vatican II -- especially the New Mass -- be set aside? Can the Council itself be declared a nullity? The answer is YES. There is historical precedent for such a reversal. Several purported councils of the Church were later declared heretical by popes.

The Traditio website gives us the Catholic theological term for these false councils: Conciliabulum, a Null-council. And it gives us four examples:
Quinisext Council in Trullo (692), declared null by Pope Sergius I
Council of Hieria (754), which Pope Stephen II declared null in 769
Council of Pisa (1511), which Pope Julius II declared null
Council of Pistoia (1794), condemned by Pope Pius VI, which, Traditio says, was the forerunner of Vatican II

Could a declaration of nullity be the fate of Vatican II? Those who espouse the true Catholic Faith -- the traditional Faith handed down to us through the apostles and doctors of the Church over 19 centuries -- should hope and pray so.

Footnote: Walt modestly suggests a better name for the Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Surely it would be more appropriately called the Drawing All Faiths Together Council -- DAFT for short.

Afghans show their appreciation of NATO troop presence

We don't hear much about the US-led occupation of Afghanistan these days, but Walt can assure you the status of the operation is SSDD: Same Shit Different Day. The BBC reports that concern is mounting over attacks on NATO troops by their Afghan "allies" ["coat-holders", surely. Ed.]

Major Lori Hodge, a spokesthingy for the US military, told the BBC that so far this year, members of the Afghan "security forces" have killed 34 international coalition soldiers in 26 incidents. That's "incidents", not "accidents".

Yesterday, two separate gun attacks on NATO troops in south Armpitistan left a total of six soldiers dead. In Helmand, an Afghan civilian employee killed three soldiers, whose nationalities were not given. At about the same time and place, an Afghan police officer shot three US marines after inviting them to dinner.

The earlier killing of two British soldiers in Helmand was also announced on Friday. One of the worst curses you can hurl at a NATO soldier these days is "Go to Helmand!"

Does anyone care? At the moment the West -- led as usual by the Excited States of America -- is preoccupied with Syria. US military strategists are conducting their usual rigorous analysis of the pros and cons of an invasion.

The big question is, can Basher Assad be overthrown (and preferably shot) in time to win re-election for Al O'Bama? Walt says not. (Lifetime pct .986.) But the waste of lives and money in Afghanistan will go on... and on... and on...

Gunless Kalamazoo Kop felt "threatened" by Canucks

You probably saw this story earlier this week, but Walt feels it bears retelling, since it's a perfect example of the ignorance and paranoia Americans experience when confronted by anything or anyone "foreign". Even when the non-American country or culture or person is somewhat familiar, friendly, peaceful and polite. Like Canada and Canadians.

What follows is a true story, from beautiful Calgary, Alberta, which every year hosts a large cowboy festival -- a glorified rodeo, actually -- called the Stampede. Walt (no relation) Wawra, a Kalamazoo MI policeman, decided to pay a visit this year. No doubt he was dismayed when he passed through Canadian customs and immigration [You mean you have to do that?! Ed.] and was told he couldn't bring his gun(s) with him.

He must have been more dismayed still when he was accosted in a Calgary park by a couple of Canuck hosers -- perhaps resembling those pictured -- who demanded (twice) to know if he'd been to the Stampede yet! But let's not speculate. Here's part of Walt's account of his close encounter with hosers of the northern kind, as published in his letter to the editor of the Calgary Herald.

Two young men approached my wife and me in Nose Hill Park, in broad daylight on a paved trail. The men stepped in front of us, then said in a very aggressive tone: "Been to the Stampede yet?"

We ignored them. They moved closer, repeating: "Hey, you been to the Stampede yet?"
I quickly moved between these two and my wife, replying, "Gentlemen, I have no need to talk with you, goodbye." They looked bewildered, and we then walked past them.

I speculate they did not have good intentions when they approached in such an aggressive, disrespectful and menacing manner. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ they did not pull a weapon of some sort, but rather concluded it was in their best interest to leave us alone.

Walt (Whiteman) speculates that if only Officer Walt (Wawra) had been allowed to have his trusty sidearm with him, Canada would today be down a couple of hosers. Which would be a shame, because the “very aggressive” strangers he encountered may have just been representatives from an oil company giving out free passes to the Stampede.

Wawra’s response to the seemingly mundane, daylight encounter has sparked scorn across the Internet. And it is very tempting to have a good laugh about the stereotypical Ugly American. But seriously... as Herald columnist Naomi Lakritz points out, the whole farcical story -- especially Wawra's perception of the threat and what his reaction could have been if only he'd had a gun -- "speaks volumes about the cultural differences between Canadians and Americans. It gives the lie to those who say that Canadians are no different than Americans."

Ms Lakritz sums up: Wawra’s mindset is what America’s gun mania has produced. How paranoid and how very sad.

Walt adds: That's how wars -- more accurately, invasions of small, weak countries -- get started. Remember Iraq? The American and British governments lied to their citizens that Saddam Hussein possessed great stores of Weapons of Mass Destructions, which made the mighty USA and the not-so-mighty not-so-Great Britain feel threatened. Unlike Walt Wawra, the USA and the UK still had their guns.

Further comment: "It’s Kalamazoo vs. Calgary in clash of civilizations", by Heather Mallick, in the Toronto Star.

Footnote: Walt is well aware that the eponymous Ugly American was the good guy in the novel. Don't write to me to point that out.

There goes the neighbourhood

You may have heard that there's been a little unpleasantness in the Sinai peninsula recently. Nominally, it's part of Egypt, but the Egyptians haven't shown a lot of interest in the vast expanse of scrub and desert since their "army" was chased out of it in 1967. Suddenly, though, the Egyptian forces have been asserting themselves, ostensibly to deal with nests of Islamic militants, smugglers, terrorists and other undesirables.

An AP report from Cairo today suggests there's a bit more to the story. Seems the undesirables include 1000s of Africans, and it now appears that what the Egyptians are doing is driving them in a northeasterly direction, into Israel.

You might think that Israel, the homeland of the oppressed and dispossessed, would welcome these newcomers with open arms, much as it "welcomed" the black Jews of Ethiopia back in the 90s. You would be wrong.

Instead of giving refugees houses and cars [as the Canadians would do. Ed.], the Israeli government is sending its own troops into the Sinai to stop the migrants before they reach the ill-defined and ill-defended border. About 60,000 Africans -- most come from Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea -- have already got through, probably at night when, if they don't smile, they can't be seen.

AP says the chosen people are worried that the influx could harm the Jewish character of their state. The Israelis didn't put it quite that way themselves. In a statement released today, the military spokesthingy's office said Israeli forces are working "to prevent the infiltration of both hostile terror elements as well as criminal smuggling."

The statement went on to say that Israeli soldiers have stopped groups several times and held them "until the arrival of Egyptian forces that took the infiltrators." They had no comment on where this took place, but Walt is guessing it wasn't Dade County.

Walt is also guessing that this news from the Sinai will not put even a temporary stop to American Jews' yammering about how African-Americans (and themselves, of course) are the victims of decades of discrimination and racism, and must be compensated. After all, America is not Israel. Why, there's no comparison!

No regime change in Swaziland, vows King Mswati III

Breaking news from the tiny African kingdom of Swaziland. On Monday, its polygamous ruler, King Mswati III, taunted his political opponents, both domestic and international, saying their dreams of a popular uprising in Africa's last absolute monarchy would not be realised.

"Some from the Western world have been waiting patiently and nursing hopes that the people of Swaziland will revolt and bring about regime change," said the king, adding "Swazis are known the world over for being peace-loving and I would like to urge you to remain like that."

Mswati has at least a dozen wives [Who's counting? Ed.] and a personal fortune estimated at $200 million. 18 months ago the monarch faced rare protests when his administration ran out of money following a recession in neighbouring South Africa. The fiscal crisis emboldened his pro-democracy opponents, who also took heart from the "Arab spring" uprisings against autocratic rulers in North Africa and the Middle East.

However, not all of the king's subjects are disenchanted. Ed. has been able to come up with a picture of some of the more comely subjects rejoicing on hearing that Mswati intends to keep it up... so to speak.

eBay and PayPal -- complaints mount

Here's a follow-up on "eBay seller screwed by scammer thanks to 'buyer protection'". The reader who took one in the shorts as a result of eBay's (and Paypal's) one-sided "buyer protection policy" sent his complaint to Benchmark Reviews, where it appeared in a long thread entitled "How to Cheat eBay Sellers and Scam PayPal".

If you're selling on eBay or doing business of any kind through PayPal, you should read the experiences that others have had. Walt's followers will notice that has taken down the "please donate" widget. We want nothing more to do with PayPal.

In closing our account, we found out something interesting. If you close a PayPal account that has a credit balance -- money PayPal owes you -- they won't send it to you if it's a relatively small amount. Instead (they say) they'll donate your money to an "internationally recognized charity".

If you can't go Dutch, go Chinese! But go carefully...

In "Go Dutch!", posted yesterday, Walt rehashed [What an admission! Ed.] a story from June 2011 on the Dutch government's plan to end its disastrous experiment with official multiculturalism. Specifically, they want to put a stop to the growth of a Muslim "parallel society" in the Netherlands. As of January 2013 Muslims who immigrate to the Netherlands are supposed to fit in or ship out.

The usual gang of "progressive thinkers" and celebrants of diversity denounced the new Dutch legislation when it was introduced and every day since then, but, as far as I know, the Dutch are not going to back down. Stubborn people, they are. But we wait (so far in vain) for other western governments to follow suit instead of following burqa.

Perhaps western governments should look for guidance and inspiration to that model of freedom and enlightenment, Communist China. Religious freedom is enshrined in the constitution of the People's Republic. Yes, the Chinese are perfectly free to believe whatever they like, and practise their religious beliefs as they see fit... subject to government approval of course. And provided you're not, errr, a Muslim.

You might think Muslims would be pretty thin on the ground in China, but in the western province of Xinjiang they are (just barely) a majority. Xinjiang, which constitutes 1/6 of the total area of China, was formerly known as Eastern Turkestan, because it was inhabited mainly by Turkic and Mongolian peoples. The largest "minority group" in the province are its nine million Uighurs, nearly all of them Muslims.

A couple of weeks ago, as the Muslim month of Ramadan approached, an edict was issued by Xinjiang's local and regional governments, prohibiting students, teachers, "officials" (including retirees) and all Communist Party members from taking part in religious activities, including visits to mosques and fasting during daylight hours as Islam requires.

The discouragement of Muslim practices in Xinjiang is presented as a matter of social stability and security. Believe it or not, the Chinese think that some of their Muslim citizens could be "separatists" or, worse yet, terrorists! Why some of them might even favour violent resistance to the Communist government, as has occurred in the neighbouring provinces of Qinghai and occupied Tibet.

Certain awkward questions arise. Can there be limits of freedom of religious expression? How much tolerance of pluralism and diversity is too much? Is forbidding the peaceful, normal religious practices of Muslims or Jews... or Christians... not contrary to the principles of freedom and natural justice for which millions have died?

Let me cut a little closer to the bone. If Muslims are to be prevented from praying in the street, does it make any difference whether the street is in Urumqi or Utrecht? Those of us who hold to the One True Faith do that Faith -- and ourselves -- no good service by insisting on religious freedom for ourselves but not for others.

If you wish to learn more about Xinjiang and the oppression of the Uighurs and other "minorities" by the Han Chinese, Walt recommends Wild West China: the Untold Storyof a Frontier Land, by Christian Tyler (John Murray, London, 2003).

Benedict XVI calls freedom of American Catholics gravely threatened

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has sent a deeply disturbing message to American Catholics on the occasion of the 130th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus, which opens tomorrow in Anaheim CA.

In a letter signed on his behalf by Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone -- well known for his tolerance of Protestantism, Freemasonry and heresy even within the walls of the Vatican -- the Holy Father warned of the "unprecedented gravity" of threats to the religious freedom of Catholics in the USA.

In the letter, the Pope praises the American tradition of freedom, especially freedom of religion. But he notes "the responsibility of each new generation to preserve, defend and advance those great ideals in its own day".

Pope Benedict repeats the theme his January Ad Limina Address to the American bishops, in which he said the demands of the new evangelization and the defence of the Church’s freedom in our day call for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society.

Click here to read the full text of the Pope's message, "Proclaiming liberty in the USA".

Go Dutch!

Agent 3 wants to know if an e-mail rant he received from a business associate is the Real McCoy. It's headed "Go Dutch - but why wait until 2013?" and comments approvingly on a news report that the Dutch government is planning to do away with multiculturalism. Here's the text.

The Netherlands , where six per cent of the population is now Muslim, is scrapping multiculturalism. The Dutch government says it will abandon the long-standing model of multiculturalism that has encouraged Muslim immigrants to create a parallel society within the Netherlands.

A new integration bill, which Dutch Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner presented to parliament on June 16 [2011. Walt] reads: "The government shares the social dissatisfaction over the multicultural society model and plans to shift priority to the values of the Dutch people.
In the new integration system, the values of the Dutch society play a central role.With this change, the government steps away from the model of a multicultural society."

The letter [see below] continues: "A more obligatory integration is justified because the government also demands that from its own citizens. It is necessary because otherwise the society gradually grows apart and eventually no one feels at home anymore in the Netherlands .

"The new integration policy will place more demands on immigrants. For example, immigrants will be required to learn the Dutch language, and the government will take a tougher approach to immigrants who ignore Dutch values or disobey Dutch law."

The government will also stop offering special subsidies for Muslim immigrants because, according to Donner: "It is not the government's job to integrate immigrants."

The government will introduce new legislation that outlaws forced marriages and will also impose tougher measures against Muslim immigrants who lower their chances of employment by the way they dress. More specifically, the government will impose a ban on face-covering, Islamic burqas as of January 1, 2013. [Walt reported this in "Muslim eyes aren't smiling -- Dutch to ban the burqa", posted 16/9/11.]

The e-mail forwarded by Agent 3 continues:
Holland has done that whole liberal thing, and realized -- maybe too late -- that creating a nation of tribes will kill the nation itself. The future of Australia, the UK and Canada may well be read here.

Muslim immigrants leave their countries of birth because of civil and political unrest created by the very nature of their own culture. Countries like the Netherlands, Canada, the UK and Australia have an established way of life that actually works, so why embrace the unworkable? If Muslims do not wish to accept another culture, the answer is simple: stay where you are!

This gives a whole new meaning to the term "Dutch courage". Unfortunately Australian, British, and Canadian politicians don't have the guts to do the same. There's a whole lot of truth here!

Agent 3 expresses his agreement, but before forwarding it to his long list of correspondents wants to be sure the report isn't a hoax. Well, Mr. Three, you'll be happy to know it's the real thing -- old news, to be sure, but worth repeating.

The text quoted in the first part of the e-mail was written by Soeren Kern and posted on the Gatestone Institute's website 23/6/11. Needless to say, the story was generally ignored by the PC, "pro-diversity", American media.

The "letter" referred to is apparently the covering letter attached by Minister Donner to the new integration bill. The Gatestone article gives the background to the new legislation and the reasons why the Dutch government thought it necessary.

Polls taken just before the introduction of the bill showed that a majority of Dutch voters supported the government's skepticism about multiculturalism. 74% of Dutch voters told the Maurice de Hond organization that immigrants should conform to Dutch values. And 83% of those polled supported a ban on burqas in public spaces.

The problem of course is the increasing number of Muslim immigrants, including many 1000s from largely Muslim Indonesia, a former Dutch colony. As their numbers increase, the Muslims become more and more assertive in carving out a role for Islam within the "host" society. For example, the Dutch TV programme Netwerk reported in June 2009 that Dutch law was being systematically undermined by the growth of Sharia "justice".

An earlier report, "From Dawa to Jihad", by AIVD (the Dutch equivalent to the CIA), concluded that Dutch society is poorly equipped to resist the threat of radical Islam because of "a culture of permissiveness" that has become synonymous with "closing one's eyes to multiple transgressions of the law".

In his letter, Minister Donner said the Dutch government "will distance itself from the relativism contained in the model of a multicultural society." Although society changes, he wrote, it must not be "interchangeable with any other form of society."

Pope again endorses "Spirit of Assisi" heresy of relativism

Pope Benedict XVI has sent his greetings to this year's Inter-religious Gathering of Prayer for World Peace, held at Mount Hiel, in Japan. The Pontiff noted that the meeting evokes "the spirit of the 1986 historic meeting in Assisi" convened by Pope John Paul II.

The Pope expressed confidence that the meeting would produce positive results for "inter-religious amity", which is a Vatican code-phrase for the false ecumenism condemned by Archbishop Lefebvre and others who hold to the traditional Catholic Faith. Properly understood, the "spirit of Assisi" is an expression of relativism -- the heretical notion that one religion is as good as another, because all roads lead to God.

Relativism (or indifferentism) is a form or subset of the heresy of modernism, condemned in 1907 in the syllabus Lamentabili sane exitu, which distinguished sixty-five propositions as modernist heresies. In the same year Pope Saint Pius X promulgated the encyclical Pascendi Dominici gregis. This was followed in 1910 by the introduction of an anti-Modernist oath to be taken by all Catholic bishops, priests and academic teachers of religion. Presumably Pope Ratzinger took this oath, but perhaps he has forgotten it.

Writing in Catholic Family News, John Vennari comments:
The new ecumenical orientation, such as manifested in the "Spirit of Assisi" threatens the salvation of countless souls, as it effectively tells non-Catholics to remain in the darkness of their false religions. It also threatens to bring with it a great chastisement.

In the early 20th Century, the eminent European churchman Cardinal Mercier, citing the consistent teaching of the Popes, stated that the Great War was actually a punishment for the crime of nations placing the one True Religion on the same level as false creeds, as does the "Spirit of Assisi".

Cardinal Mercier said in his 1918 Pastoral titled "The Lesson of Events":
"In the name of the Gospel, and in the light of the Encyclicals of the last four Popes..., I do not hesitate to affirm that this indifference to religions which puts on the same level the religion of divine origin and the religions invented by men in order to include them in the same scepticism is the blasphemy which calls down chastisement on society far more than the sins of individuals and families."

The "Spirit of Assisi" also gives visual expression to the central error of our time: that any religion is good enough for salvation. [My emphasis. Walt.] The world sees the Pope of the Catholic Church, as well as Catholic bishops and clergy, placing the one true Church established by Christ on the same base level as counterfeit religions. This cannot help but foster the religious indifferentism vigorously condemned by the Popes prior to Vatican II. In the face of this affront to the true Faith, Catholics must not be complacent, but must publicly and ceaselessly resist.

Worth reading: "Relativism - A Central Heresy of our Culture", on the Christian Medical Fellowship website.

Obama's attack on religion "playing with high explosives"

Some of Walt's American readers may not know who Conrad Black is. He's the author of a couple of surprise best-sellers: Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom and Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full, and the recently-released A Matter of Principle. The last is quite personal, a memoir of his fall from the lofty heights -- he used to be Lord Black of Cross Harbour, a British peer -- to a small but agreeable Florida prison.

At one time, "Lord Tubby" (as he was affectionately known) was a well-to-do businessman and investor, also the proprietor of several notable newspapers including the Daily Telegraph and Jerusalem Post. Some would say that he bought the newspapers to have a forum for his writings, but to be honest, Black is a formidable writer, especially on matters political and ideological. These days you'll find his columns in the National Review and Canada's National Post, which he also used to own.

This weekend the National Post is featuring Mr Black's thoughts on the Obama misgovernment's campaign against the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity in general. The piece is called "Church, state and Barack Obama". It's not easy to précis Conrad Black, so please accept that I'm not being lazy when I recommend that you read the entire piece. Here's the concluding paragraph.

In trying to subordinate and marginalize America’s religious institutions, the Obama administration is playing with high explosives. It is a bad, dangerous, and devious encroachment on constitutional liberty, and could undermine one of the greatest pillars of American national success. The balance between faith and reason is for the determination of each individual, and of the people as a whole, not of unauthorized government officials uttering impious humbug as they arbitrarily do so.

Walt might have said it more succinctly, but couldn't have said it better.

PS: On the CatholicCulture website, Phil Lawler makes the point that the Obama campaign against religion attacks not just corporations like Chick-fil-A, but the freedom of individuals to hold and express "politically incorrect" opinions and beliefs. In "The Obama argument: only churches--not individuals--can claim religious freedom", Mr. Lawler shows how the Obama administration is pressing its argument that religious freedom applies only to Church institutions. Worth reading!

Parents kill rebellious teen to preserve family honour

One of the first topics Walt wrote about, in the first month of this blog's life, was honour killings. The case that prompted my comment -- "Honour killings, family values and 'accommodation'" -- was the murder, by her parents, of Aqsa Parvez, age 16, in the predominantly "south Asian" community of Mississauga, Ontario.

Aqsa was killed by her father, assisted by her brother. The family had immigrated from Pakistan some years previously, and Aqsa's heinous crime against the family honour was wanting to fit in with her Canadian schoolmates. She didn't want to wear the hijab. She wanted to hang out with the other kids, maybe even date a local boy, like the other kids. And she paid with her life.

The Parvez case was echoed last year in the now-infamous Shafia case, another example from officially multicultural Canada. You could say the Shafia case is four times worse than the Parvez case, in that three rebellious teenage daughters were murdered, along with their father's first wife. The perps were the father, his second wife -- it's OK for a Muslim to have up to four wives -- and their son.

This year we have another echo, this time from Britain. Earlier today, a jury in northwestern England found the Pakistani parents of a teenage girl guilty of her murder. According to the girl's sister, who gave evidence for the Crown, her mother and father suffocated Shafilea Ahmed, aged 17, with a plastic bag for "being too western".

Here, according to the Daily Mail, is what the judge said: "Your concern about being shamed in your community was greater than the love for your daughter." Like the Shafias, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed were sentenced to life in prison with no parole for a minimum of 25 years. The Ahmeds are expected to appeal... like the Shafias.

The Crown prosecutor told the court that Shafilea was only 10 when she began to rebel against her Muslim parents’ strict rules. Like Aqsa Parvez, she would change into western clothes at school, and change back before her parents picked her up. She often went to school crying, he classmates said. Her mother used to slap her and throw things at her, Shafilea told them.

It got worse. As she got older, Shafilea began seeing boys, which prompted her parents to keep her at home more. Between November 2002 and January 2003 the assaults increased in number and intensity. Then, in February 2003, she ran away with her boyfriend -- as did the eldest Shafia daughter -- and asked the town council for emergency accommodation as her parents were trying to force her into an arranged marriage with her cousin.

In the same month, her parents took her to Pakistan where she drank bleach in protest against the arranged marriage. When she returned to Britain in May 2003, she was admitted to a hospital because of damage done to her throat. Later that year, her parents beat her, stuffed a thin white plastic bag into her mouth and held their hands over her mouth and nose until, as her sister testified, "she was gone".

Did I mention... did I need to mention, that the Ahmeds are Muslims? The highest incidence of reported forced marriages in Britain is in Muslim communities. AP reports that British authorities investigated hundreds of cases of forced marriages last year. Some of the cases have ended up in so-called honour killings where relatives believe girls have brought shame on their families -- sometimes for refusing marriage, other times for being too westernized.

So we could say that the Ahmed case is not an isolated incident. Nor were the Parvez and Shafia cases. Honour killings are all too common in the "south Asian community". Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs immigrate to Britain, Canada and the USA, and are told that we value multiculturalism and diversity and they are entitled to keep their heathen religions and barbaric customs and cultures.

"Told" is the wrong word in that last sentence. I should say the "south Asians" are encouraged to bring to our countries the prejudices and problems of their homelands. Then we profess to be surprised when these "problems of cultural adjustment" manifest themselves.

Traditional meaning of marriage now "outside American consensus"?

This just in from Chicago. Francis Cardinal George has spoken out against the Windy City's windy mayor’s recent comments on Chick-fil-A.

Rahm Emanuel said previously that if Chick-fil-A wasn't welcome in Boston (because of CEO Dan Cathy's stand against homosexual "marriages"), it wasn't welcome in Chicago either! "Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values," Hizzoner said. "They’re not respectful of our residents, our neighbors and our family members. And if you’re gonna be part of the Chicago community, you should reflect Chicago values."

So does being a Chicagoan (or Bostonian or American) mean you can't question the morality or rightness of homosexuality? Here's what Cardinal George has to say.

"Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the 'values' that must be held by citizens of Chicago. I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval.

"Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city? Is the City Council going to set up a 'Council Committee on Un-Chicagoan Activities' and call those of us who are suspect to appear before it? I would have argued a few days ago that I believe such a move is, if I can borrow a phrase, 'un-Chicagoan'.

"The value in question is espousal of 'gender-free marriage'. Approval of state-sponsored homosexual unions has very quickly become a litmus test for bigotry; and espousing the understanding of marriage that has prevailed among all peoples throughout human history is now, supposedly, outside the American consensus." [My emphasis. Walt]

"Was Jesus a bigot?" Cardinal George added. "Could Jesus be accepted as a Chicagoan? Would Jesus be more 'enlightened' if he had the privilege of living in our society? One is welcome to believe that, of course; but it should not become the official state religion, at least not in a land that still fancies itself free. Surely there must be a way to properly respect people who are gay or lesbian without using civil law to undermine the nature of marriage." [My emphasis, again. Walt]

Footnote: Rahm Emanuel is taking some time away from his onerous work as mayor of the USA's third-biggest city to co-chair President Barack Hussein Obama’s reelection campaign.

Chick fil-A today, eh!

The Cathy family, owners of a smallish chain of fast chicken joints called Chick-fil-A, don't support "gay marriage". They're Christians you see, and have probably read somewhere... like the Bible... that homosexuality is against God's law. It's contrary to the natural order of things. Jews and Muslims believe that too. Or ought to.

Getting back to the Cathys and Chick-fil-A, the family has built a successful business without losing sight of the beliefs and values of the Faith. For instance, their stores close on Sundays, so staff can go to church or at least have time with their families without being forced to work.

When it comes to sodomy, Chick-fil-A's CEO, Dan Cathy, is not afraid to take a public stand against one of today's more popular perversions. Inevitably, he has been called a bigot, a homophobe and all the other epithets hurled by "progressive thinkers" at those who believe God's way is the right way.

It's dangerous, nowadays, to cross the gay lobby. Dan Cathy has been warned, by the mayor of Boston no less, that he'd better not open a store in Beantown. One can just picture mobs of screaming drag queens chucking chicken into the Charles River in protest.

Not all Bostonians feel that way, of course. The Boston Bruins' ace goaltender, Tim Thomas, spoke up in favour of Chick fil-A's right to do business where and as it wishes, and was duly vilified in the lamestream press. Nothing new for Timmy.

The latest public figure to join the debate is Mike Huckabee, former presidential wannabe turned sometime commentator on Fox News. Mike has declared today "Chick-fil-A appreciation day". If you support Dan Cathy's (or anyone's) right to embrace whatever religious beliefs he chooses and express those beliefs openly, you should participate.

If you can't find a Chick-fil-A store, or don't like chicken, you can click here to show your support online. Walt has already posted his comment.