Eye-catching Christmas decoration

Agent 1 sent this just before Christmas and it got buried in Ed.'s slush pile. Good for a smile at any time. Be sure to read the message below the picture.

This year I truly outdid myself this year with my Christmas decorations. That's the good news. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost crashed when they drove by.
Second, a 55-year-old lady grabbed the 75-pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize he was fake until she climbed to the top. She was not happy. By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that.

My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up onto my front lawn!

Prognostications for 2013

Making predictions about what will happen in the future is a mug's game. Rather than put my sterling track record (lifetime pct .988) on the line, let me tell you (mostly) what's not going to happen in 2013.

America will not fall over the fiscal cliff, at least not all the way. Absent an agreement in the Senate, taxes will (effectively) be increased and spending will be cut, as planned. Most Americans will still be able to get by. No-one will be selling apples of Wall Street or Main Street USA.

Haiti will not be repaired, rebuilt or reconstructed. Billions of dollars in aid money will continue to be poured down the rathole with no apparent effect. Michaëlle Jean will continue to be invisible, at least in her native land.

Hellery Clinton will not announce her candidacy for the presidensity. The campaign will move ahead anyway, with the support of the lamestream media and Democrats living overseas who don't actually have to cope with the Obama maladministration.

Zimbabwe's dictator, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, will not lose an election to Zuma wannabe Morgan Tsvangirai or anyone else. Indeed, it's quite possible no election will be held. The zimkwacha (Zimbabwe dollar) will not be reintroduced, as remaining supplies are used up as toilet paper.

Pope Benedict XVI will do nothing to lead the Roman Catholic Church back to the traditional Faith of our fathers. But nor will he abdicate, for fear of the fight that would ensue between Cardinal Bertone -- the man who would be pope -- and the thousands of good Catholic clergy and laypeople who think Bertone is the Antichrist whose arrival is imminent.

Bumbling, horse-faced Peter Mackay will not be Canada's Minister of Defence a year from now. The stench of mismanagement and opacity enveloping the proposed purchase of F-35 fighters for the Royal Canadian Air Force won't go away. At least one head must roll, and Machackey's contains nothing but air, so off it comes!

Gary Bettman, the Jewish American lawyer responsible for the Americanization (hence destruction) of hockey, will not be head honcho of the National Hockey League at this time next year. He has the outward support of a majority of NHL owners, but look for someone to check him into the boards shortly after he presents the Stanley Cup.

Christians (in name, at least) will continue to be persecuted, imprisoned and murdered by Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia [We're running out of space! Ed.], and by Communists in China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, [Enough martyrs! Ed.] The Church and Western leaders will continue to say we must show tolerance to our poor misunderstood enemies, learn to accommodate them and celebrate diversity!

Note from Ed.: Walt has scribbled a note at the bottom of his manuscript: "That's all I can stands. I can't stands no more!" Hmmm. Well, in spite of his less-than-rosy forecast, Walt and I wish you a New Year filled with peace and prosperity.

10 reasons behind sexual violence in India

In the spirit of peace on earth, goodwill to men... errr, men and women... errr, people [OK. Ed.] Walt has tried to lay off the Indians and Muslims during this holiday season. However, the rape of a 23-year-old medical student on a bus in New Delhi cannot pass unnoticed.

Sadly, rape is all too common in South Asia, not least because women are regarded in Hindu and Muslim societies as second-class citizens in every sense of the word. In India, "Eve-teasing" has existed for centuries. In the civilized world this "sport" would be called what it is -- sexual harassment.

The only thing surprising about this particular case is the severity of the attack. The victim has now died, turning the matter into a murder case. The Indian government promises that the trial of the 6 (yes, six) accused will be fast-tracked. In India that means they might appear before a judge before they die of old age. Or not. It's India, so no-one can say.

Olga Khazan and Rama Lakshmi of the Washington Post put together a list of ten reasons why India has a sexual violence problem. Walt has reversed their numbering, in the Letterman style, to put the most important reason at the end. Here's the list.

10. Few female police

9. Not enough police in general

8. Blaming provocative clothing

7. Acceptance of domestic violence

6. A lack of public safety

5. Stigmatizing the victim

4. Encouraging rape victims to compromise

3. A sluggish court system

2. Few convictions

1. Low status of women

Walt's experience of India is admittedly limited. But I have been there and have reason to believe the list is accurate. I knew about "Eve-teasing", for example, long before this week and know someone who was victimized in this way back in the 1980s.

And I heard a women's rights advocate interviewed on the CBC this week. She said a woman who goes to an Indian police station to report being raped is not unlikely to be assaulted again (especially if she is of a lower caste) by the police men.

We have a new agent -- hereinafter known as Agent 93 -- who contends that this problem is, if not unique, at least worse amongst "Indians in India" than amongst Indians in America, Britain or Canada. Maybe so, but even in the ABC countries at least half of the ten reasons given still obtain. The fight for justice for women is a long way from being won.

Further reading: Click here to read the post by Olga Khazan and Rama Lakshmi, with full explanations of all ten points.

Walt Whiteman's World year in review

It's the time of year when there's not a lot of news. Nothing happens between Christmas and New Year's. So the media (Phil Space, Prop.) have to fill space [geddit? Ed.] With retrospectives on the year that was. WWW is better than the lamestream media, but not that much better. So, over to Ed. for a look back at developments in Walt Whiteman's World.

Thanks, Walt. Here's a quick summary of your blog's readership for 2012. Let me throw some numbers at you. 35%. 55%. 80%. That's right! 80%!! Daily readership of WWW did not increase by 80%!! But it did increase.

Most popular post, again this year: "Where next? Swaziland next?" Can't figure out why people in places like Russia, Turkey and India keep hitting this. I also wonder why no-one ever comments. Perhaps typing with one hand is too difficult.

The video sequel, "Swazi girls doing the reed dance -- VIDEO!", has just now started getting a lot of hits. As nearly as I can see, no-one from Swaziland has ever looked at either of these posts.

New record for most hits in one day: "Learn this new Christmas song...and pass it along!",  which rode the crest of the wave of backlash against politically correct "Happy Holidays". Bookmark it for next year.

Most popular foreign language post: "Charles DeGaulle warns about Muslim immigration". As we ran the text of le Général's prescient prediction in French, we didn't think many people would read it, mais nous avons tort.

Related post that's being circulated in the USA, Canada and not-so-Great Britain: "How can we be silent in the face of Islamization of our country?"
Surprise of the year: the continuing popularity of "Death by cactus: a prickly situation", posted on 26 June. I figured this would be a one-day story, maybe a week at best, but it has been one of the top three most-viewed items for the last six months, sometimes beating even the Swazi girls. Why do people read this? Or are they just looking at the picture of the saguaro cactus?

Where you are: Walt has regular readers all over North America, Europe (including Russia), and parts of Asia (including Russia). South America and Africa, not so much. Top ten countries (as of today) are: USA, Russia, Turkey, Canada, India, UK, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, France, Australia.

How you look at us: The big three browers are the ones you'd expect, but the order of finish tells a story: Chrome (31%); Firefox (30%); Internet Explorer (25%). And Safari is now in fourth spot, Opera in fifth.

Your operating systems are: Windows (far and away the leader -- 78%), Linux (See? It still exists! -- 11%), with Macintosh, Android, iPad and iPhone not even at the three-quarter pole. Big question for the future: Will the advent of Windows 8 make any difference? Walt's prediction: No, because no-one's going to buy it if they don't have to. Lifetime pct .987.

Worst new technological development: Google's new and useless user interface for Blogger. Another proof of the old adage: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I keep thinking about changing platforms to WordPress but am just too lazy.

Coming soon, maybe even tomorrow: Walt's predictions for 2013.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & Happy New Year

Walt and Ed. send you

BEST WISHES

for a

HAPPY & HOLY CHRISTMAS

and a New Year filled with

peace and prosperity.

The Nativity of Christ

by Vladimir Borovikovsky

19th century

Kerry for State Secy? Really??!!

Yesterday, the Prez nominated Sen. John Kerry to replace the departing Secretary of State, Hellery Clinton. Another triumph for political correctness and the Democratic Party.

Of course Obama could have done better. Kerry was not his first choice. He really wanted to appoint a black woman, viz. Susan Rice. If Ms Rice had only been disabled or a lesbian, the Prez could have hit the Trifecta there.

Sadly, Ms Rice blotted her copybook by her inept handling of State's reaction to the Benghazi "incident" -- the terrorist attack that she tried to pass off as a protest against an insensitive video. If she had told the truth, Obama wouldn't have had to tell a lie -- so goes the reasoning -- thus she must walk the plank.

That leaves us with Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate who couldn't manage to defeat the most-reviled Republican since Herbert Hoover.

Kerry's chief qualification, according to Obama, is that he won't need "much" on-the-job training. That's because he's been doing dippy [= diplomatic. Ed.] stuff for decades, and knows how all that unpleasantness should be handled. Right?

Errr, maybe not. Did John Kerry learn anything from his OTJ training in the Philippines in 1986? Then and there, Senator Kerry was a member of the US Congressional observer team sent to monitor the country's presidential election, in which Corazon Aquino was trying to oust the thoroughly corrupt orifice, Ferdinand Marcos.

P.J. O'Rourke happened to be present at the Thrilla in Manila. [Wasn't that something else? Ed.] Here's what he wrote in Rolling Stone.
Most of the Potomac Parakeets were a big disappointment. Massachusetts senator John Kerry was a founding member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, but he was a bath toy in this fray.

On Sunday night...thirty of the computer operators from [the elections oversight commission] walked off the job, protesting that vote figures were being juggled. Aquino supporters...took the operators, most of them young women, to a church, and hundreds of people formed a protective barrier around them. One of Cory Aquino's top aides [went] to the Manila Hotel.... She came back with Kerry, who did nothing.

Kerry later said that he didn't talk to the COMELEC employees then because he wasn't allowed to. This is ridiculous. He was ushered into an area that had been cordoned off from the press and the crowd and where the computer operators were stitting. To talk to the women, all he would have had to do was raise his voice.... But all Kerry did was walk around like a male model in a concerned and thoughtful pose.

Aha! Exactly the kind of posturing required of a Secretary of State! What O'Rourke condemns is what Obama sees as the best of all qualifications -- the ability to look concerned but do nothing.
Not much on-the-job training required. Indeed. Just the guy we want!

Footnote: P.J. O'Rourke's assessment of Kerry (as he was 26 years ago) was excerpted from "Goons, Guns and Gold", which originally appeared in Rolling Stone, and was reprinted in Republican Party Reptile, reviewed here on November 22nd.

Stop being a computer-illiterate geezer! Reclaim your youth!

Listen up, fellow fogies! If you have the feeling that the world is passing you by, that you don't know what's going on any more, that you might as well get measured for your box... it doesn't have to be that way!

You'd never guess it from my picture [or maybe you would! Ed.] but Walt is a senior citizen. But I'm not going quietly into the Home. And I'm not going to live like a hermit here in my log cabin either. I don't get out as much as I used to physically, but I get out mentally more than I ever used to. And it's all thanks to joining the wired world.

I got dragged into the computer age kicking and screaming. As recently as 20 years ago I wrote nasty letters on my trusty IBM Selectric. (Mrs. Walt finally threw it out in 2005. It had been used as a doorstop until then.) And I still have a broad-nibbed fountain pen that uses real ink. But my implement of choice nowadays is definitely my desktop PC.

Don't bother looking for me on Facebook or LinkedIn or elsewhere, because I'm not into the anti-social media. But I do spend hours online, writing this blog, exchanging e-mails with my Agents, friends and acquaintances around the world, reading the mainstream and out-of-the-stream media, and just surfing. All this keeps me connected and keeps me young(ish).

And my computer helps me manage my life: do my banking, pay my taxes, claim my entitlements, keep three sets of books, catalogue my library and so on. I learned to use spreadsheet and word processing programmes, desktop publishing software, all kinds of other stuff. About the only thing I don't do on the computer is play games... Unless you count Solitaire! Oh, and Literati.

But there are people of our generation -- "senior citizens" is the PC term -- who aren't enjoying the benefits -- and coping with the frustrations -- of computers and the Internet. Why? Because they don't know how and are afraid to ask.

Many communities have programmes and courses to help us old folks become computer literate. Some of the courses are even free. [You said in today's earlier post that means paid for by someone else's tax dollars. Ed.] But you need to be able to get out of your house or the Home to attend the teaching sessions, right? Not any more!

Kathryn Harwood, one of Walt's old(ish) high school chums [They had high school, way back then? Ed.] has set up a little online business called Eldersurf.

In the privacy and comfort of your home, with your own computer, Kathryn will guide you through the steps and processes you need to know to do whatever you want to do. Her blog lists these possibilities: send and receive photos; get onto Facebook; do a spreadsheet; make your photos better; do a photo album; subscribe to a podcast; get into iTunes; see yourscreen better; organize your contacts; print documents; buy a book or reserve a library book, and many more. She'll even teach you how to sit at your desk properly, so your back doesn't hurt!

Kathryn evidently shares Walt's belief in working to get what you want, and getting what you pay for, so there's a reasonable charge for her service. And, if you know nothing about computers but want to keep up with Walt, I'd say it's a good investment. Highly recommended!

Redistributing wealth won't save us

The fiscal cliff, the 1% vs the 99%, taxing the middle class out of existance... What it all comes down to is the wisdom of the Almighty State taking from them as has to give to give to them as has not.

There's no doubt the State can do so if it wishes. But is it the smart thing to do? Can the government legislating the "poor" into prosperity? Walt thinks not (lifetime pct .984) and argues from the record of two great empires.

Consider the mighty and long-lived Roman Empire. History tells us an important factor in the slow demise of Rome was excessive welfare. This was mandated by Roman senators to buy voter support. They feathered their own nests while keeping the poor quiet with bread and circuses. Not much has changed in two millenia, has it.

Now think about Japan. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by American atomic bombs in August of 1945. Nothing left. But look at them now! The two cities -- indeed the whole country -- have redeveloped beyond anyone's imagination.

How did the Japanese become so prosperous so quickly? They do not have a welfare system. You work or do without. Which caused more long-term destruction: the A-bomb or government welfare programmes created to buy the votes of those who want someone to take care of them?

What we're talking about, dear readers, is the importance of incentives. Walt will explain in five sentences.

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

That's not intended to be an argument for no taxes. The Romans had taxes. The Japanese have taxes. There will probably be taxes in hell. It is, however, an argument for a flat tax, an idea whose time has come... and gone... again and again. But keep it in mind as you listen to the wrangling about who's going to pay for all the entitlements and social programmes that the vote-hungry politicians and lamestream media tell us we must have.

Hank Williams sings about Armageddon

Agent 88, who lives in the Far (and mysterious) East, reports that the sun rose as usual this morning. Therefore I expect to see it rise over the treetops of Fort Mudge in another hour or so. The world hasn't ended today. Lifetime .pct. 986.

But that doesn't mean we should stop thinking about it. As the preacher says, it's got to happen sometime! II Peter 3:10 tells us:
The day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up.

Are you ready? Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be...? II Peter 3:11.

OK, I won't preach at you. But I'll share a really obscure old song by Hank Williams Sr. (aka Luke the Drifter), called "The Battle of Armageddon".



For those who collect old vinyl -- maybe even old 78s -- I understand this was on the "B" side of a not-so-great hit called "Window Shopping".

The Battle of Armageddon, the final cataclysm that ends the world as we know it, was not just foretold in Holy Scripture. Our Lady of Fatima almost certainly talked about the last days in the Third Secret of Fatima, which still has not been fully revealed by the Vatican.

As Holy Mother Church "celebrates" the 50th anniversary of Vatican II -- the council that did such serious damage to the Catholic Church -- Walt would like to remind his Catholic readers of something that was said by the seer Malachi Martin, in a radio interview with Art Bell in 1998.

"The [central element of the] real Third Secret is...awful. I have no authority to [reveal it]. I can't make that decision... It would have such dire effects, on much more than Christians. The Cardinal who showed it to me had been present at a meeting with Pope John XXIII to outline to a certain number of Cardinals what should be done with the secret. He, John XXIII, thought it would ruin his ongoing negotiations with Khrushchev and the Kremlin."

Note from Walt: Please read "How the Vatican sold out to Communism".  Back to Malachi Martin...

"On October 11, 1962, at the opening of Vatican II at St. Peter's, John XXIII derided most contemptuously the people who he called 'the prophets of doom,' and there was no doubt in our minds that he was talking about the prophecy of Fatima. He was against that. What is in the secret...horrible! ...essentially, the onslaught of natural powers...terrible catastrophes, chastisements, and that's not the essence of the 3rd secret; it's not the frightening one."

"I have no authority, no angel has tapped me on the shoulder, I may be putting my foot in my mouth... Besides, it's a question of shock, of frightening people, of polarizing society. I can't do that... This will fill up the confessionals on Saturday evening. It will fill up the churches with worshippers striking their breasts."

Click here to read these and other excerpts from the Art Bell radio interview with Malachi Martin.
Further reading on Armageddon: "What if the Mayans were out by a month?"

Canada doesn't make cents any more

This spring, the Royal Canadian Mint pressed its last penny. The Canadian government stopped production of the cute little coins, because it was making a loss of 6/10th of a cent on each and every one. So, according to Jim Flaherty, the Minister of Finance, $11 million a year in production costs would be saved by doing away with the cents.

However, Canadian Press reports today that redeeming the six billion or so pennies presently in circulation will cost Canuck taxpayers about $7.3 million a year for the next six years. (That's about $7.4 million in "real money".)

Costs include $53 million expected to be paid out to redeem the face value of the coins, as well as another $27 million for the Mint's handling and administration costs. Recycling the zinc and copper from melted-down pennies will bring in about $42.5 million in revenue, leaving the government in the red by a tad over $38 million.

The good news is, when you add the $11 million in annual savings from not minting any more pennies, the government still saves almost $4 million per year over the expected six-year redemption period. Ah, the complexities of public finance.

But Walt has a suggestion for the Canadian government, or the US government, if they ever decide to follow the lead of the frugal frostbacks. [As if that will happen. The USA still has single dollar bills! Ed.] [Never mind. Do you want to hear this or not?! Walt]

OK, here's Walt's can't-miss cost recovery plan. Sell the old pennies to Zimbabwe! They use US dollars there -- each one worth almost, but not quite, a Canadian dollar -- but they have no coins because they can't afford to import any. So ship them the Canadian cents at, say, half their face value, plus S+H, plus HST, and they should fetch pretty close to C$50 million, which is $7.5 million more than the expected revenue from recycling.

Note to Jim Flaherty: You don't need to thank Walt publicly. Just send a cheque.

Will the world end tomorrow?

NO!

Lifetime pct .984.

REMINDER: It's five days until Christmas! Learn this Christmas song... and pass it along!

Being a traditional Catholic is trendy!

So says The Economist, traditionally not a friend of the Roman Catholic Church, in "A traditionalist avant-garde", in this week's issue.

The return of the old rite causes quiet consternation among more modernist Catholics. Timothy Radcliffe, once head of Britain’s Dominicans, sees in it “a sort of ‘Brideshead Revisited’ nostalgia”. The traditionalist revival, he thinks, is a reaction against the “trendy liberalism” of his generation.

Some swings of pendulums may be inevitable. But for a church hierarchy in Western countries beset by scandal and decline, the rise of a traditionalist avant-garde is unsettling. Is it merely an outcrop of eccentricity, or a sign that the church took a wrong turn 50 years ago?

Walt's answer to The Economist's question is that the Church definitely took a wrong turn at Vatican II, whose anniversary is being marked this winter. More than a wrong turn. In fact the Council has led the faithful into a serious break with the Faith of our fathers, as dogmatically defined in the past.

And not only that. By rejecting or, worse, attempting to countermand that which has been established -- for instance, the Mass of All Time and the dogma extra Ecclesiam nulla salus -- the fathers of Vatican II have arguably led those who followed them into heresy. 

It's very interesting, then, that the leaders of today's modernist, mainstream Catholic Church are telling us the opposite. In the second of a series of Advent Sermons, Father Raniero Cantalamessa -- the preacher of the pontifical household -- spoke about the proper interpretation of the teachings of Vatican II. He contrasted the “hermeneutic of rupture” with the “hermeneutic of continuity”, saying that the latter is what was intended.

If we may judge intentions by actions -- deeds rather than words -- we may be forgiven for believing that the true intention was an almost complete break with tradition in the interests of being trendy, of "reforming" the Church, recasting Her practices and beliefs in a more modern, more inclusive mode. On "the day when the priests turned around", virtually everything else was turned around, upside down, and every which way but loose!


Fr. Cantalamessa, it seems, expects us to accept all this without question. He must be thinking about St. Ignatius Loyola's dictum "If the Church tells us black is white, we must believe it to be white, and truly white." That was fine until the Church told us "No, that's all changed now. Black is black, after all."

Fr. Cantalamessa says the problems in the "implementation" of Vatican II arose from the fact that the two contrary hermeneutics came face-to-face and quarreled with each other. One caused confusion, he says, but the other, silently but more and more visibly, bore and is bearing fruit.

But, Walt asks, which is which? Let's go back to The Economist article and look at the fruits of Vatican II.
In the West -- where many hoped a contemporary message would go down best -- believers have left in droves. Sunday mass attendance in England and Wales has fallen by half from the 1.8m recorded in 1960; the average age of parishioners has risen from 37 in 1980 to 52 now.

In America attendance has declined by over a third since 1960. Less than 5% of French Catholics attend regularly, and only 15% in Italy. Yet as the mainstream wanes, traditionalists wax. [My emphasis. Walt]

Our Lord said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Indeed.

Footnote: If the link to The Economist article doesn't work for you, please send an e-mail to Ed. and we'll try to send it to you as a .pdf file.

It could happen anywhere

I have hesitated for two days to write about the Newtown massacre. I wanted to be sure my brain was engaged before opening my mouth, so to speak. Now that the hysteria has died down [Has it really? Ed.] and the stores are sold out of flowers, candles and teddy bears, perhaps we can begin a rational discussion.

Yesterday I saw a video clip of "streeters" -- interviews with men (and women) on the street -- around the world. Someone from Moscow said it could happen anywhere. Someone from Brazil said it could happen in his country because lots of Brazilians have guns, as do lots of Americans.

But the random killing of innocent people doesn't happen just anywhere, at least not with the alarming frequency with which it occurs in the USA. For the record -- and not blaming the Prez of course -- this is the fourth senseless massacre on his watch. Four years, four groups of grieving families, four sets of wounded survivors, four terrorized communities.

Not quite five months ago, a deranged man used a cinema in Aurora CO as a shooting gallery, leaving 12 corpses on the floor. Last year shootings in Tucson left six dead and 13 wounded, including Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who is slowly (but not completely) recovering. In November of 2009, 13 service members who were killed at Fort Hood by another soldier. And now this.

Some smug Canadians rushed to the on-line fora and speak-your-mouth shows to say such things could happen only in the sick society that is today's America. Apparently they forgot or ignored a couple of events in the Great Not-so-white North.

On 6 December 1989, Marc Lépine, a deranged misogynist, singled out and killed 14 women l'École Polytechnique in Montréal. In 2006, again in Montréal, and again for reasons only he knew, a young man named Kimveer Singh Gill killed a business student and wounded 19 other people before turning his gun on himself.

Canada has much stricter gun control laws than most of the United States. Assault and other military-type weapons may not be owned, except by the military, police and other champions of justice. Few people are allowed to own hand guns -- legally -- and fewer still can get permits to carry such. Canada's laws did not stop Lépine and Gill.

Is the answer tighter gun control laws? After the Colorado shooting in July, the White House made clear that Obama would not propose new gun restrictions. There was an election going on, you see, and millions of Americans still believe the Second Amendment is to be taken literally. About the most anyone with a hope of getting elected can say in an election year is that existing laws should be better enforced, more must be done to help the disturbed and deranged, yada yada yada.

Now that he's safely back in the White House, Obama said (at last night's vigil in Newtown) that the killing must stop. And, he said, America must change. He only talks about change, now, not hope. But, when the nation cries out for leadership on this issue -- an issue of life and death, literally -- the Great Partly-white Hope offers... well... Nothing.

It is with some reluctance that Walt puts his toe into the murky waters of the gun control debate, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the more people have guns, the greater are the chances of another Newtown.

Statistical analysis has never been my long suit, but here is a little experiment you can try at home. Take a deck of playing cards. Remove three cards. Put in one joker. You now have 50 cards, including one joker and 49 "normal" cards.

Let the joker represent someone who is emotionally or mentally disturbed. Shuffle the deck. Now assume that 20% of your cohort (the entire 50 cards) has access to a gun. Deal out 10 cards. Is the joker in the first ten? No? That's good luck then, as the odds were (roughly) 5 to 1 on the crazy person being one of the 10 gun owners. Increase the percentage of gun owners to 30%, or the number of jokers to two. What are the odds now?

Lesson: You've got next to no chance of reducing the number of crazy people in today's America (or any other country). So if you want to increase the odds against a lunatic shooting someone, your best bet is to reduce the number of guns in circulation. Lifetime pct .983.

Walt can think of two arguments that might be raised against this proposition. Someone is bound to say that some of my 50 "cards" must be children. Answer: a loaded gun in the hands of a 5-year-old is about the same as a loaded gun in the hands of someone with a mental capacity of 5. Especially if you're looking at the wrong end of the gun.

The second argument is that if you completely ban handguns or all guns, the criminals will still have guns and the law-abiding citizens won't. Yesterday, Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told Fox News that the tragedy could have been prevented if only the school principal had herself been armed. "I wish to God," Gohmert said, "she had had an M-4 in her office...so when she heard gunfire she pulls it out and...she takes him out, takes his head off, before he can kill those precious kids."

Louie... Listen, Louie... We're not talking about criminals here. The gangstas with the long rap sheets [Is that what we mean by "aspiring rapper" nowadays? Ed.] will always have guns, sure. But we're talking not about diamonds or spades [That's enough innuendo. Ed.] but about the joker in the deck -- the sicko beset by feelings of inadequacy or rage who goes to his mother's bedroom, takes the Glock out of night table and goes out to blow away the next nine (or nine dozen) people he sees.

Walt's argument for stricter gun control is not perfect. I think a man should be able to have a long gun -- a rifle or shotgun, not an assault weapon -- with which to go out and kill a couple of squirrels for the stew pot. And I don't much like the idea of the police -- the Bullies in Blue -- being the only ones who have guns. But reducing the number of firearms in the hands of ordinary citizens is about the only solution I can think of. If you have a better idea, don't write to me. Send it to the Prez, c/o the White House, Washington DC.

Down here on the farm, folks know it just ain't normal!

WARNING! The video posted below is
- by a couple of white people
- a man and a woman
- who are married
- to each other.
And
- the wife took her husband's name and calls herself "Mrs";
- they're evangelical Protestants
- who believe "gay marriage" is unnatural.



Need we tell you that this video has drawn an unusually high number of "thumbs down" on YouTube? But there are more than twice as many "thumbs ups"!

Click here to see more stuff by and about Lewis and Lewis, "setting the Gospel to music". Thanks to Agent 1 for sharing.

New weapons in Canada's fight for freedom, democracy and all that

Following up "Canada to send out for Chinks?", Agent 17 has managed to obtain for us video of the two fighter aircraft now being considered by the Royal Canadian Air Force as potential replacements for its aging fleet of CF-18 Hornets.



"They may not be exactly state-of-the-art," said Air Vice-Marshal Ace "Ace" McCool, "but they'll be a damned sight cheaper than those Lockheed F-35s we tried to slip by the Minister of Finance. The minister [of defence, Pete MacHackey] figures he can get `em for not a penny more than $9 billion... and that's for the pair!"

For those not into the World of Warbirds, you're looking at an American P-51 Mustang and a British Supermarine Spitfire -- one of the most aerodynamically beautiful planes of WWII. Both planes were powered by the powerful Rolls Royce Merlin engine, which emitted that wonderful sound that became known to many as 'The Sound of Freedom' during the 1940s.

The P-51 pilot does a great job staying in position as he has more power and is faster than the Spitfire. They must have done more than a little practising!

The two fighters are privately owned by the Old Flying Machine Company at Duxford airfield in England. Duxford also houses the USAAF Museum in Britain and the air assets of the Imperial War Museum. The video was shot at the Duxford autumn show in 2009.

How the Vatican sold out to Communism

In a just-released article in The Catholic World Report, journalist Edward Pentin examines why the Second Vatican Council failed to issue an explicit condemnation of Communism. Has lifted the veil of mystery over the omission, citing the findings of an impressive list of reputable Church historians: Father Norman Tanner, Roberto de Mattei, Christopher Gillibrand, Edmund Mazza and Jean Madiran.

This omission was not just allowed to happen, but actually approved by two of the Conciliar popes -- John XXIII and Paul VI -- who we now know had read the Third Secret of Fatima. Cardinal Woytyla, later to become Pope John Paul II, also had a hand in the sell-out to Moscow, although whether he had seen the Third Secret at this point is in not known.

Mr. Pentin refers to Jean Madiran's book, The Metz Agreement, which describes how the Vatican effectively sold out to Communism, at a secret meeting in 1962 between Cardinal Eugène Tisserant and the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Nikodim, who was in fact an agent of the KGB.

The Vatican's policy of making nice with the Reds has become known as Ostpolitik, and has been denounced for decades -- literally -- by the devotees of Our Lady of Fatima, led by Father Nicholas Gruner, Christopher A. Ferrara, and John Vennari.

Ostpolik -- the bastard child of Cardinals Sodano, Casaroli and now Bertone -- explains such aberrations as the Vatican's tolerance of the schismatic and heretical Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which actually persecutes and imprisons priests and bishops of the true "underground" Catholic church.

For their pains, the "Fatimists" have been labelled "conspiracy theorists" and worse. But Mr. Pentin quotes Sr De Mattei as asking, "Were those who denounced the brutal oppression of Communism in the Council, calling for its solemn condemnation, prophets? Or were those who believed, as the architects of Ostpolitik, that it was necessary to come to an agreement with Communism -- a compromise -- because Communism interpreted humanity's anxieties over justice and would have survived one or two centuries, improving the world?"

The author of Il Concilio Vaticano II -- Una storia mai scritta concludes, "If the Second Vatican Council would have condemned Communism, it would have helped accelerate its decline. The opposite occurred."

Our Lady of Fatima knew it. She told us that unless Her request for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart were granted, the errors of Communism would spread throughout the world! And so it has come to pass.

Mr. Fentin quotes Professor Mazza as calling "the loss of the transcendent" -- the secularization of our society -- the worst of the errors. "What  has happened over the last 50  years? The errors of atheism and socialism, a world without God, has 'Marxized' the world so that we're ready to embrace socialism if it's couched in the right terms." Precisely what the Communists wanted!

Good Catholics, you must read this article! It is of the utmost importance in understanding what's going on in the Catholic Church today. Through Ostpolitik, the Church got into bed with the Communists; now it can't get out!

Ed. has put Edward Pentin's excellent article into .pdf format. The file is about 2.9 MB. We'll be happy to e-mail it to you. Send your request to the usual e-address: walt.whiteman@yahoo.com.

Les français patriotes marchent contre le fascisme islamique

The demonstration shown in this video was totally suppressed by the politically correct lamestream media in France and elsewhere. It has only recently received some exposure in North America through CBN via YouTube.

What you'll see here is a patriotic march, held in Paris on November 12th, in support of French culture and French (read "Christian") values and against continued Muslim immigration and Islamic fascism.



Aux musulmans et ceux qui crient "Célébrons la diversité", ces patriotes français disent: Si vous souhaitez vivre sous la charia avec des voiles et du halal, allez donc vivre dans un pays musulman. Ils sont nombreux: Iran, Irak, Egypte, Afghanistan. Vous avez l'embarras du choix. Mais laissez la France aux français!

Let it be remembered that the Islamization of France was predicted back in 1959 by the greatest Frenchman of the 20th century, Charles De Gaulle. See "Charles De Gaulle warns about Muslim immigration", published here in August, and consistently in our top five most-read list ever since.

A bit of trivia: Vexillologists (people who study flags) will recognize la Croix de Lorraine on one of the flags displayed near the end of the video. 

Murderer pleads "Don't send me back to Jamaica!"

Brendaly "Jenny" Figueroa was murdered about 12 years ago. She was a victim of Canada's liberal immigration policy, and of John McLeod, the Jamaican who killed her in a fit of rage after she threatened to end their short relationship. He stuffed her body in a suitcase and left it at the side of Ontario's highway 401.

In 2001 McLeod was convicted of second-degree murder, and sentenced to life, with no possibility of parole for 12 years. He became eligible for day parole and is now eligible for full parole.

But does he want it? No! Mr. McLeod wants to stay in jail -- a nice Canadian jail if you please. Why? Because, not being a Canadian citizen but a Jamaican, at the time of his sentencing he was ordered to be deported from Canada immidately on being released from prison.

Now the convicted murderer has filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Canada, another of those "Charter rights" cases so beloved of victims of every imaginable form of discrimination. And their taxpayer-remunerated lawyers, of course.

Mr. McLeod's claim is that Canada's laws discriminate against foreign nationals by robbing them of a chance for conditional release after they've paid their debt to society. It all depends, he says, on what it means to "complete" a prison sentence.

Under the Immigration and Refugee Act, a foreign national who engages in serious criminality is subject to removal once a prison sentence "is completed", which means "as soon as any form of conditional release is granted."

However, under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, a sentence for a non-citizen is not considered complete until the expiration of every day of the sentence, even if they're on parole before that very last day.

In dismissing McLeod's action, Mr. Justice Donald Rennie of the Federal Court said, "Parliament has the right to prescribe the conditions under which foreign nationals who are convicted in Canada will be removed from Canada.... As the applicant has no right to remain in Canada, he has no right to access Canadian society under terms and conditions that are available to Canadian citizens; hence no Charter issue arises.

"[Deportation] does not deprive him of anything he has not, by his own conduct, already lost," the judge added. While citizens and non-citizens may be treated differently, he opined, it does not equate to discrimination. "Since the applicant has no right to remain in Canada there can be no differential treatment. A Canadian citizen has a right to remain in Canada. Therefore, a foreign national and a [Canadian] national are not [the same.]"

All that may come as a shock to the lawyers, counsellors and other do-gooders who do well out of helping to bogus refugees, asylum-seekers and criminals remain in Canada. They may take some comfort, though, in learning that Mr. McLeod plans to appeal.

Canadian government OKs "Merry Christmas"

Walt has reason to believe that the Honourable (?) Tony Clement, President of Canada's Treasury Board -- part of the financial apparatus of the federal cabinet -- has read and taken to heart "Learn this new Christmas song... and pass it along!", posted here November 29th.


Why do I think so? Well, the Supreme Pork Barreller has sent out a memo to all Canadian civil servants telling them it's OK to celebrate Christmas and Chanukah. The part about Chanukah was doubtless added in to please the boss, "Call me Steve" Harper, aka Israel's best friend. But still, Walt can only applaud Tip Tony's attempt to keep Canada from sliding further down the slippery slope of political correctness and offence avoidance.

Go ahead and tack those Christmas cards on your cubicle walls, he tells his staff. String up some Christmas lights and hang the tinsel. Put candles in your tiny Menorah [local, provincial and federal fire codes permitting] and make your office a place to celebrate the warmth of this special time. Let joy reign unconfined! And so on.

The reason for his memo, Mr. Clement explained, was that "there are those who would like to snuff out the holiday spirit in the name of political correctness or expediency.... [But] our government will not allow the Christmas spirit to be grinched!"

"Hurray for Tony!", shouted the majority of Canadians. But the feeling was not catholic. [He means "not universal". Ed.] About six nano-seconds after the minister's memo was made public, talk-show hotlines lit up like, errr, Christmas trees with calls from "progressive thinkers" and professional promoters of diversity who believe government workplaces should be secular. Or at least, not Christian.

What the atheists, secular humanists, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Druids etc etc are really whining about is that their religious beliefs -- yes, atheism is a belief system -- are being made to take a back seat to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Our Saviour.

What they forget is that Canada -- and the USA and every other Western nation -- was founded on Judeo-Christian values, including peace on earth and goodwill to men. [Walt means "men" in the legal sense, including women and those who aren't sure.] Which is precisely why Muslim immigrants from places like Afghanistan and Iraq chose to come to the West, rather than, say, Saudi Arabia, where Muslims rule and Christianity is not tolerated.

Walt says, good on Tony Clement. And now that you know the Canadian government approves, go ahead and wish Merry Christmas to all!

More products for the hopelessly fat

Creating merchandise specifically designed for the fat, the obese and the gigantic is nothing new. Marketers long ago learned to live off the fat of the land, so to speak, designing and promoting such fat-friendly products as fat pens for sausage-like fingers, bowed shower-curtain rods, and, yes, plus-size coffins.

The other day, in the middle of Judge Judy [You watch that?! Ed.] Walt saw a commercial for yet another porker-specific product. Now you can be fat but fashionable in... Pajama Jeans!

Apparently these have been around for a couple of years, but since I politely look the other way when I see a behemoth approaching, I never noticed them before. I'm not surprised, though, that a clever marketer has tapped into a deeply perceived need.

The problem for the BBWs -- I don't want to even think of a man wearing these -- is that they can't get into the skinny jeans that are all the rage at the moment. (I know the ads show women with slim(ish) figures, but let's not kid ourselves.) The alternative, then, would be sweat pants and you certainly see lots of tubs waddling around in those. But to wear sweat pants or track pants out of doors is to admit that you've given up fighting the battle of the bulge.

So, voilà... The perfect style solution for the larger lady. They come in a wide range [Geddit? Ed.] of sizes: petite, small, medium, large, XL and American. They're nice and stretchy, the better to show the amplitude of milady's curves. And they're fleece-lined so she doesn't have to wear "body-shaping underwear" (for better or worse, as the "Fabuliss" review says).

Walt's review: I hope I never see a woman clad in Pajama Jeans...outdoors, indoors or in the window. They are worse than low-class! Pajama Jeans are NO-class! Doubtless they will be hugely popular [Geddit? Ed.] in the mid-west and the BBBW community.

Memo to self: Ask broker to see if The Vermont Teddy Bear Company Inc. is publicly traded.

Mr. Burns explains the fiscal cliff

Just in case you missed the promo while flipping past your local Fox channel, here it is.



Eeeeexcellent!

Unrelated footnote: Ed. is pleased to report that "Learn this new Christmas song... and pass it along!" is far and away this year's most-viewed post, dethroning the Swazi girls at last.

Aviation buffs! Incredible WORKING miniature airport

Here, thanks to the keen eye of Agent 1, is a 16+ minute video of "Flughafen Knuffingen", a tiny perfect airport. It's fully functioning -- an amazing demonstration of what can be done when time and money are no object.

Watch at least long enough to see a take-off and landing. The best ones are towards the end, from about 12:30.



Perhaps Agent 17 can enlighten us as to the aircraft type -- prop job -- which takes off around 14:20?

Thought for the day: This shows what German engineers can do when they are motivated. Didn't the Luftwaffe start with the Hitler youth playing with gliders?!

"Gay marriage" and recreational pot now OK in WA. Funny?

A small sidebar to the re-election of the Prez was Washington state's approval of homosexual marriage and the "recreational" use of marijuana. The new laws went into effect this week. Things that were formerly unnatural and/or illegal are now permissible -- according to the law -- in the far northwest of the Excited States of America.

Agent 9 says it all makes sense now, if you remember your Bible. Specifically, Leviticus 20:13: "If a man lays with another man he should be stoned." We've just been interpreting it incorrectly all these years! We should have understood it more literally!

Haha! Very funny, Dr. Jones! But the joke depends on which version of Holy Writ you read. Agent 9 must have got hold of some modern translation, edited by someone with a sense of humour [and a problem with proper English usage. Ed.] The older and better Douay-Rheims version says "If anyone lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed an abomination, let them be put to death."

The King James version uses almost identical language. Sorry, queer folks, but God doesn't see any reason to celebrate.

Why be president when you can be pharaoh?

A regular reader asks why Walt hasn't said anything about the unrest in Egypt. "It looks as if the Egyptians are still revolting," is the way he put it. Dear reader, does this come as a surprise to you? Did you think the "Arab Spring" would bring democracy, peace and stability to Egypt? [Or Libya, Tunisia or Yemen? Ed.] Don't let's be silly!

And please pay attention to Walt's predictions! On December 1st -- of 2011, that is -- Walt predicted Islamist parties would win big in Egypt's first-ever "free and fair" elections, which were about to be held. And so they did. (Lifetime pct .981.)

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won the largest number of seats. The hardline Salafist Nour party came second. Liberal parties including New Wafd and the secular Egyptian Bloc coalition weren't even close. So Egypt was left with a democractically elected hardline Islamist president. And that should satisfy the Egyptian people and be good for relations between Egypt and the West. Right?

At least, that was the thinking of the US State Department. As Walt explained in "'Be my guest', says Obama to Egyptian Islamist leader" Barack Hussein Obama hastened to invite the new president, Mohammed Morsi, to visit the United States in September. Why then? It seemed a bit strange, considering that the folks at Foggy Bottom had until then been wary of Islamists. And of course the USA was a strong supporter of former dictator ["president", surely! Ed.] Hosni Mubarak.

But in September 2012 the Prez would be campaigning hard for re-election, and of course he had this grand plan to improve relations with the terrorists ["Islamists", surely! Ed.], who would thus become America's new friends.

Ah yes, the fruits of democracy would be tasted by all the liberal and progressive Egyptian people, and all would be well in that corner of the world. Bears would stop shitting in the woods and probably the Pope would convert to Islam as well.

A concise [not really. Ed.] history of Egypt
What Obama forgot or misunderstood or ignored -- like the nature of the September 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi -- was that democracy does not come naturally to the Arabs, particularly the militant Islamists. Egyptians were ruled by the pharaohs for nearly three millenia until the conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.

After that came several emperors (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Turkish), and then the decadent and dissolute native Egyptian dynasty of Muhammad Ali [Seriously. You can look it up. Ed.] propped up by the British, French and Americans in the interests of keeping open the Suez Canal.

By 1952, monarchy had become unfashionable, and Egyptians voted -- freely and democratically of course -- to set up a people's democractic republic under Gamal Abdul Nasser. To the surprise of no-one except Western diplomats, Nasser turned out to be a Communist dictator.

After Nasser's death in 1970, Anwar Sadat became president ["dictator", surely! Ed.]. He was welcomed warmly by the Western powers because it seemed as if he could hardly be worse than Nasser. Does any of this sound familiar?

Fast forward through the autocratic regimes of Sadat and Hosni Mubarak to the "Arab Spring" of 2012, which is where we came in.

A slap in the fez for Morsi
Now we are witnessing the entirely predictable spectacle of President Morsi peeling off the thin gauze of democracy with which he clothed himself, to reveal the army-supported strongman underneath. Call it the Dance of the Seven Islamic Veils.

The transition from president to pharaoh began a couple of weeks ago, when Morsi issued presidential decrees giving himself near-absolute power, beyond review or censure even by Egypt's highest court. This is all a "temporary measure" of course, to ensure that the Egyptian people -- or the Muslim Egyptians at least -- could continue to enjoy the benefits of peace and the rule of Sharia law.

And just in case anyone might think Morsi's arrogating all this power unto himself a tad, errr, undemocractic, he rushed through Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament the draft of a new constitution, which, on December 15th, will be put to the people for approval in a referendum -- a fair and democractic referendum, to be sure.

That's what this week's demonstrations in Tahrir Square and other parts of Cairo are about. The Egyptians -- or some of them, at least -- have realized they've been had. (The Coptic Christians knew it all along. That's why they've all come to the USA and Canada to run your local pharmacy.) They are in the streets to demand that Morsi reverse the decrees and cancel the referendum.

Now we are witnessing running street battles between protesters opposing and supporting President Morsi. Yesterday another decree was issued, this one banning protests outside any of the nation's presidential palaces. (Note the plural there. How can the USA get along with only one presidential palace?!)

This morning, the Republican Guard deployed tanks outside the main palace. General Mohammed Zaki said the tanks were deployed to separate warring protesters, and pledged that the military would not be an instrument of oppression against protesters -- at least not the pro-Morsi protesters. A few hundred of them remained outside the palace after the opposition left.

The opposition has said it would organise further marches to the palace as a top presidential aide accused them of co-ordinating with loyalists of deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak. The senior fart-catcher told Agence France Press that Mr. Morsi was expected to make a speech later in the day to "reach out to the opposition". No time was announced for the address, nor was it clear whether whips or chains would be part of the reaching out.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hellery Clinton has called for... wait for it... "an open and democratic dialogue". In a statement echoed by the UK and the EU, she said, "The upheaval we are seeing ... indicates that dialogue is urgently needed. It needs to be two-way." As opposed, Walt imagines, to a "one-way dialogue", more correctly called a "monologue".

Despite the protests, Vice-President Mohammed Mekki said the referendum on the draft constitution "will go ahead on time". The opposition would be allowed to put any objections to articles in the draft constitution in writing, to be discussed by a parliament, once a new one is elected -- fairly and democractically.

Prominent opposition leader Mohammed Al Baradei said President Morsi bore "full responsibility" for the violence. He said the opposition was ready for dialogue but would use "any means necessary" to scupper the charter, stressing, however, that they would be peaceful -- and fair and democractic.

Will there be a dialogue between the new pharaoh and those who oppose him? Will fairness and democracy triumph in Egypt? Stay tuned. Or not...

Fine crop of welfare babies again this year

Back in May, Walt told you about Desmond "Daddy" Hatchett, America's most famous deadbeat dad. The prolific Tennessean fathered more than 20 children with 11 women, and was ordered to stop screwing around (so to speak) because he couldn't keep up his... wait for it... support payments.

To the relief of taxpayers who must pay the baby mamas to look after Hatchett's bastards, procreation rate has slowed significantly in recent months, however, over the past 40 months due to the convicted felon's being in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction.

Filling the breach, so to speak, is Corey Curtis, pictured. It's not the taxpayers of Tennessee, but those of Wisconsin, who are paying for the cash crop that Mr. Curtis sowed -- nine children with six women.

Circuit Court Judge Tim Boyle, while sentencing Curtis for jumping bail and (surprise, surprise) failure to pay child support, told the 44-year-old Racine man that his frequent breeding was to be curbed as a condition of his three-year probation term.

Curtis owes about $90,000 total in back child support and interest to the mothers of his children. The judge said he'd have to pay off that debt before he can add heir number ten.

Should Curtis breach the court's order, he will have his johnson cut off. [Really? I didn't think the state had the power to do that! Ed.] Mind you, that wouldn't necessarily be the final solution, as there's always artificial insemination! [That's enough. This is getting silly. Ed.] Hmp! Silly, is it?! Taxpayers don't think so!

Thanks to Agent 17 for passing along the report from The Smoking Gun.

Test your knowledge of antiques

Here's an interesting old tool box from the 18th (?) century. Can you figure out what it is, and what it would be used for?



Here's a clue. It was used for a medical purpose.

Still stumped? Read and learn.

Yes, Virginia*, it's a tobacco enema kit.

The tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient’s rectum for various medical purposes, primarily the resuscitation of drowning victims. A rectal tube inserted into the anus was connected to a fumigator and bellows that forced the smoke into the rectum. The warmth of the smoke was thought to promote respiration, but doubts about the credibility of tobacco enemas led to the popular phrase "blow smoke up one’s ass".

In the late 20th and early 21st century, this technique has been reintroduced, with great success, in the world of politics and government.

PS * Geddit?
PPS - Thanks to Agent 6 for sharing this. Agent 6 is a non-smoker.

Abp. Müller labels Traditional Catholics "heretical"; elsewhere, pot calls kettle "black"

Incredible! La Stampa's Vatican Insider reports this week that Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the newly installed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (thus chief theological flak-catcher for the Vatican) said that traditionalist Catholics advance a "heretical interpretation" of Vatican II if they claim that the Council made radical changes in Church teaching.

Well, it takes one to know one, you might say. Traditional Catholics have for decades called attention to such heresies as syncretism and relativism which are at least implicit in Vatican II's false "ecumenism", the replacement of the Mass of All Ages with the Protestant (or worse) "new mass" and other poisoned fruits of the Second Vatican Council.

Archbishop Müller said that an "accurate reading" of Vatican II statements must assume that the Council’s statements are in keeping with the established teachings of the Church. Well, why must it? Is it, then, a question of interpretation? If so, what would make Abp. Müller's interpretation superior to that of Archbishop Lefebvre (founder of the Society of St. Pius X) or, for that matter, Pope Paul VI who said that with Vatican II "the smoke of Satan has entered the Church".

Pope Paul should have known the truth of it, for he himself held open the doors.

Further reading: "The terrible dilemma of Bishop Fellay". Follow the link at the end of the article to learn more about the limitations of papal authority -- or the authority of a council -- to change Sacred Tradition.

Obama won. What do we do now?

It would appear that America has voted for another four years of free drugs, forced abortion and compulsory homosexuality. [Over-egging the pudding a bit, aren't you? Ed.] Well, OK, maybe it's not quite as bad as that. Yet there's no denying that the libertarian message of individual freedom, fiscal responsibility and an end to foreign entanglements has yet to be heeded by the majority of US voters.

What now, then? Who will lead the fight to get the American people to wake up to reality? Here's the reality!

• America is over $16 trillion in debt. The "official" unemployment rate still hovers around 8%.
• The US government claims the right to spy on American citizens, indefinitely detain them, and even assassinate them without trial.
• Domestic drones fly over the country for civilian surveillance.

Twelve million fewer Americans voted in 2012 than in 2008, yet political pundits scratch their heads. Ron Paul says it’s not hard to see why. Here's part of his column "A New Beginning", published just three days after the election.

To go along with endorsing a never-ending policy of bailouts, "stimulus packages," and foreign military adventurism, the establishment of neither major party questions the assaults on Americans’ liberties....
As my campaign showed, the American people are fed up. Many realized heading into Tuesday that regardless of who won the presidential election, the status quo would be the real victor.

GOP leadership is now questioning why they didn’t perform better. They’re looking at demographic changes in the United States and implying minorities can only be brought into the party by loudly advocating for abandoning what little remains of their limited government platform and endorsing more statist policies.

My presidential campaign proved that standing for freedom brings people together.

Liberty is popular – regardless of race, religion, or creed.

A renewed respect for liberty is the only way forward for...our country.

But who will champion the cause of liberty? Ron Paul decided not to run as an Independent this year. He explains why in this interview.



Yet in the Republican primaries and the runup to the election, Mr. Paul achieved great success by changing the conversation and spreading the message of liberty. More and more people are waking up to the realization that the system is bankrupt and that the illusion of endless spending and easy money has come to an end.

But now Ron Paul is retiring from Congress. He's on his way back to Texas for good, of so he says. Last week he gave a farewell address from the House floor, repeating the small-government sermon he succeeded in injecting into the national debate. Here are two excerpts from his 48-minute address:

"If it's not accepted that big government, fiat money, ignoring liberty, central economic planning, welfarism, and warfarism caused our crisis we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties."

Mr. Paul tells us that the responsibility for finding the solution to what ails America falls on each and every individual.

"The #1 responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves with hope that others will follow. This is of greater importance than working on changing the government; that is secondary to promoting a virtuous society. If we can achieve this, then the government will change."

And here's the entire speech... all 48 minutes... well worth listening to in its entirety.