Loading a spare engine for the bus, somewhere in the Middle East.
Thanks and a flip of the fez to Agent 6.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
"Incidents" vs "incidence" -- what's the difference?
There is a general election going on (not "ongoing") in Zimbabwe today. Walt, being a former resident, is following the bumbling ["voting", surely! Ed.] closely, checking the tweets and online reports. He has just read the following:
"201 people have voted at Msiteli Secondary School in Bulawayo by midday. There are no major incidences recorded."
Walt is now huffing and puffing around the cabin, nearly apoplectic about the tweeter's misuse of the word "incidence". If it were just one product of the Zimbabwean education system, it wouldn't be so bad, but we are sick, sore and tired of hearing supposedly educated "journalists" in North America and Britain confuse "incidence" -- inevitably pluralized as "incidences", as above -- and "incidents". Let's straighten this out.
An "incident" -- singular -- is an individual occurrence or a happening. Thus, if a cop shoots an unarmed civilian at the corner of Jane and Finch, that's one incident. If another cop shoots another unarmed civilian at the corner of Yonge and Shuter [there really is such an intersection. Ed.], that's another incident. One incident plus one incident makes two incidents.
"Incidence" is the rate or range of occurrence or influence of something, especially of something unwanted, e.g. "the high incidence of heart disease in men over 40".
"Incidence" is a collective noun [like "vacuum cleaner". Ed.], and shouldn't be used in the plural -- incidences -- unless one is speaking of the rates of occurrence of two different things, e.g. "the incidences of both robbery and homicide have increased in integrated neighbourhoods". Even then, it's an awkward construction, best avoided.
Please forward this to all the English and journalism teachers on your mailing list. As if anyone cares, but we pedants can always hope.
"201 people have voted at Msiteli Secondary School in Bulawayo by midday. There are no major incidences recorded."
Walt is now huffing and puffing around the cabin, nearly apoplectic about the tweeter's misuse of the word "incidence". If it were just one product of the Zimbabwean education system, it wouldn't be so bad, but we are sick, sore and tired of hearing supposedly educated "journalists" in North America and Britain confuse "incidence" -- inevitably pluralized as "incidences", as above -- and "incidents". Let's straighten this out.
An "incident" -- singular -- is an individual occurrence or a happening. Thus, if a cop shoots an unarmed civilian at the corner of Jane and Finch, that's one incident. If another cop shoots another unarmed civilian at the corner of Yonge and Shuter [there really is such an intersection. Ed.], that's another incident. One incident plus one incident makes two incidents.
"Incidence" is the rate or range of occurrence or influence of something, especially of something unwanted, e.g. "the high incidence of heart disease in men over 40".
"Incidence" is a collective noun [like "vacuum cleaner". Ed.], and shouldn't be used in the plural -- incidences -- unless one is speaking of the rates of occurrence of two different things, e.g. "the incidences of both robbery and homicide have increased in integrated neighbourhoods". Even then, it's an awkward construction, best avoided.
Please forward this to all the English and journalism teachers on your mailing list. As if anyone cares, but we pedants can always hope.
Monday, July 29, 2013
The value of a racist insult? More than a year's pay, in Ontario
Here are some numbers for Canadian readers to think about.
$21,320 - A year's pay, before taxes, for a 40-hour week, at the Ontario minimum wage.
$23,500 - Amount awarded by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal to a migrant worker who was fired and sent home for complaining about being called a monkey.
Adrian Monrose is a citizen of St. Lucia, a tiny dot in the Caribbean. Like many other islanders, he has been coming to Canada for some years to work on the tomato farms in the very southwestern corner of Ontario. He and his mates do the jobs that Canadians won't do.
Mr. Monrose is -- need we say it? -- black. Or dark brown at least. Which may have something to do with why, in May of 2009, his employer, Benji Mastronardi, shouted at Monrose and his fellow workers, "You're like monkeys on a branch."
The defendants said they fired Monrose for constantly complaining about not being paid his full wage, and for being prone to violence. In a decision released last week -- the wheels of "justice" grind mighty slow in Ontario -- the human rights adjudicator said "his termination was more likely in response to his having raised concerns about being referred to as a monkey."
Result? A rather large payout for injured feelings. In addition to the monetary damages, the farm corporation is required "to hire an expert to develop a comprehensive human rights and anti-discrimination policy within 120 days. It must also ensure all of its supervisory staff complete an online human rights course."
Perhaps they would do better, next year, to import a ship-load of actual monkeys.
$21,320 - A year's pay, before taxes, for a 40-hour week, at the Ontario minimum wage.
$23,500 - Amount awarded by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal to a migrant worker who was fired and sent home for complaining about being called a monkey.
Adrian Monrose is a citizen of St. Lucia, a tiny dot in the Caribbean. Like many other islanders, he has been coming to Canada for some years to work on the tomato farms in the very southwestern corner of Ontario. He and his mates do the jobs that Canadians won't do. Mr. Monrose is -- need we say it? -- black. Or dark brown at least. Which may have something to do with why, in May of 2009, his employer, Benji Mastronardi, shouted at Monrose and his fellow workers, "You're like monkeys on a branch."
The defendants said they fired Monrose for constantly complaining about not being paid his full wage, and for being prone to violence. In a decision released last week -- the wheels of "justice" grind mighty slow in Ontario -- the human rights adjudicator said "his termination was more likely in response to his having raised concerns about being referred to as a monkey."
Result? A rather large payout for injured feelings. In addition to the monetary damages, the farm corporation is required "to hire an expert to develop a comprehensive human rights and anti-discrimination policy within 120 days. It must also ensure all of its supervisory staff complete an online human rights course."
Perhaps they would do better, next year, to import a ship-load of actual monkeys.
"Who am I to judge gays?", asks Pope. We answer!
The Most Humble Pope Who Ever Lived (as Pope Francis seemingly wants to be known) has returned from Brasil, where he got a reception greater than that accorded to rock stars, soccer players or his predecessor who visited a couple of years ago. There's something disturbing -- to us, at least -- about the sight of millions of drunk, barely-clad yoofs waving their hands skywards and chanting "Pope! Pope! Pope!"
But anyway... the Holy (?) Father spent some time talking with reporters in the Rome-bound plane. Always good for a quote, Pope Francis answered a question about gays this way. "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?"
Since it seems Francis is a little shaky on his theology and the protocols of the Church, we (Walt and Len) will provide the answer to his question. Holy Father, you are supposed to be the spiritual leader of the Christian Church, according to whose teachings homosexuality is "gravely disordered", as Pope Benedict XVI said. That's who you are.
A few moments later, BBC reports, the Pope backtracked a bit. He said that Catholic teaching was ["is", surely! Ed.] that homosexual acts were sinful. "The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well," he said.
However, he added, gay people "should not be marginalised because of this but...must be integrated into society." Unfortunately, that's not what the LGBT crowd are pushing for. The queer agenda these days is the reverse. They want mainstream society to turn queer, so that what must be regarded as deviant behaviour becomes "the new normal".
Pope Francis did say -- again -- that there is a very powerful gay lobby, extending into the highest echelons of the Church. "The problem is not having this orientation," he said. "The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem."
So it's the lobbyists, then... Shouldn't there be a simple solution to that? If only the Holy Father weren't so "disorganized"!
But anyway... the Holy (?) Father spent some time talking with reporters in the Rome-bound plane. Always good for a quote, Pope Francis answered a question about gays this way. "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?"
Since it seems Francis is a little shaky on his theology and the protocols of the Church, we (Walt and Len) will provide the answer to his question. Holy Father, you are supposed to be the spiritual leader of the Christian Church, according to whose teachings homosexuality is "gravely disordered", as Pope Benedict XVI said. That's who you are.
A few moments later, BBC reports, the Pope backtracked a bit. He said that Catholic teaching was ["is", surely! Ed.] that homosexual acts were sinful. "The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well," he said.
However, he added, gay people "should not be marginalised because of this but...must be integrated into society." Unfortunately, that's not what the LGBT crowd are pushing for. The queer agenda these days is the reverse. They want mainstream society to turn queer, so that what must be regarded as deviant behaviour becomes "the new normal".
Pope Francis did say -- again -- that there is a very powerful gay lobby, extending into the highest echelons of the Church. "The problem is not having this orientation," he said. "The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem."
So it's the lobbyists, then... Shouldn't there be a simple solution to that? If only the Holy Father weren't so "disorganized"!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
The way she was then
Ed. will be checking Walt's e-mailbox and generally keeping his eyes open, and we'll try to get items of interest posted here on WWW as usual... [whatever "usual" is. Ed.]
So... Agent 6 sent along this picture, which at first we thought was a mug shot. Note the height scale in the background. But then check out the insignia on the subject's lapels. What is it? Hmmm... USMC: the United States Marine Corps.
This is an ID photo taken sometime between 1943 and 1945. It's Staff Sergeant Bernice Frankel, who was first a typist at Marine HQ in Washington DC, and later transferred to air stations in VA and NC.
You would know SSgt. Frankel better as "Bea Arthur", who played "Maude" in Maude [duhhh! Ed.] and "Dorothy" in Golden Girls. Wasn't she a fine-looking woman, back in the day? Bernice/Bea died in 2009 at the age of 87.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
West trending to secular dictatorship, says Orthodox prelate
Once again one has to wonder if the Consecration of Russia has taken place, so that the promised conversion of "that poor nation" is happening before our eyes. Certainly the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church are bucking the European and North American trend away from Christian values. Walt wrote about this last month in "Does Russia Duma's political incorrectness mean the Fatima prophecy is being fulfilled?"
Now we have a revealing report from the Russian news agency Interfax, quoting Metropolitan Hilarion, the Orthodox Church’s chief ecumenical official, as saying that "secularization in disguise of democratization" is leading Western nations toward totalitarianism.
"This powerful energy today strives to finally break with Christianity, which controlled its totalitarian impulses during 17 centuries," said the prelate. The secularists are striving, he continued "to set up an absolute dictatorship that demands total control over each member of society. Don't we move to it when 'for the sake of security' we agree to obligatory electronic passports, dactyloscopy [fingerprint identification] for everyone, and photo cameras occurring everywhere?"
Metropolitan Hilarion was also strongly critical of the efforts of the progressive thinkers and their propagandists in the lamestream media to "make immorality normal". He gave the example of the legalization of same-sex "marriage" in France. The French socialist government "consciously and demonstratively ignored demands of people and used tear gas to disperse them."
In an article in Pravoslavnaya Beseda, the metropolitan wrote, "Nowadays [the] state sets a principle of secularity, independence from any outside authority that is authorized to point out to violations of morals or rights."
The "outside authority" is, of course, the Church, which western governments now believe -- virtually without exception! -- should have no voice, let alone influence, in affairs of state. No, not even in Ireland or Italy. Only (perhaps) in Russia.
Now we have a revealing report from the Russian news agency Interfax, quoting Metropolitan Hilarion, the Orthodox Church’s chief ecumenical official, as saying that "secularization in disguise of democratization" is leading Western nations toward totalitarianism.
"This powerful energy today strives to finally break with Christianity, which controlled its totalitarian impulses during 17 centuries," said the prelate. The secularists are striving, he continued "to set up an absolute dictatorship that demands total control over each member of society. Don't we move to it when 'for the sake of security' we agree to obligatory electronic passports, dactyloscopy [fingerprint identification] for everyone, and photo cameras occurring everywhere?"
Metropolitan Hilarion was also strongly critical of the efforts of the progressive thinkers and their propagandists in the lamestream media to "make immorality normal". He gave the example of the legalization of same-sex "marriage" in France. The French socialist government "consciously and demonstratively ignored demands of people and used tear gas to disperse them."
In an article in Pravoslavnaya Beseda, the metropolitan wrote, "Nowadays [the] state sets a principle of secularity, independence from any outside authority that is authorized to point out to violations of morals or rights."
The "outside authority" is, of course, the Church, which western governments now believe -- virtually without exception! -- should have no voice, let alone influence, in affairs of state. No, not even in Ireland or Italy. Only (perhaps) in Russia.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Chocolate for charity scam still operating?
Summer has come, yea, even to the Great Not-so-white North. During Ontario's summer season (July 20th through 27th), a particular pest crawls out of the woodwork to accost people at the shopping malls -- in front of the LCBO seems a likely spot -- and knock on their front doors.
Yes, dear Canajan readers, I refer to the waifs peddling chocolate bars (made in Poland) for Help Kids Canada, a questionable "charity" first exposed here in "Help Kids Canada - a scam or only half a scam?". That very short article has had more "hits" than just about anything Walt has posted, except maybe for the Swazi girls!
I mention it again because Agent 3 has just brought to my attention a much longer story which appeared in the Guelph Mercury four months later. The headline reads: "Unwrapping a charity's chocolate bar: Kare for Kids president says controversial agency benefits all stakeholders".
Some excellent work by the paper's investigative reporter reveals that Help Kids Canada and Kare for Kids are one and the same -- parts of "an Independent Chocolate Marketing Network" run out of a condo in downtown Toronto.
They wholesale the chocolate bars to distributors who recruit "managers" who recruit kids -- some apparently pre-teens -- to peddle the goods at the malls and door-to-door. If any money is left over after "expenses", it gets donated to charity. At least, that's what the promoter in charge told the Mercury.
If you've been pestered by the chocolate-pushers, or if you've worked for this "charity", we'd like to hear from you. Please post a comment!
Yes, dear Canajan readers, I refer to the waifs peddling chocolate bars (made in Poland) for Help Kids Canada, a questionable "charity" first exposed here in "Help Kids Canada - a scam or only half a scam?". That very short article has had more "hits" than just about anything Walt has posted, except maybe for the Swazi girls!
I mention it again because Agent 3 has just brought to my attention a much longer story which appeared in the Guelph Mercury four months later. The headline reads: "Unwrapping a charity's chocolate bar: Kare for Kids president says controversial agency benefits all stakeholders".
Some excellent work by the paper's investigative reporter reveals that Help Kids Canada and Kare for Kids are one and the same -- parts of "an Independent Chocolate Marketing Network" run out of a condo in downtown Toronto.
They wholesale the chocolate bars to distributors who recruit "managers" who recruit kids -- some apparently pre-teens -- to peddle the goods at the malls and door-to-door. If any money is left over after "expenses", it gets donated to charity. At least, that's what the promoter in charge told the Mercury.
If you've been pestered by the chocolate-pushers, or if you've worked for this "charity", we'd like to hear from you. Please post a comment!
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
No more special treatment for Jews and Muslims at Six Flags Montréal park
La Ronde is a popular amusement park in Montréal. Kids love it, including, of course, the many children of Montréal’s large orthodox Jewish community. For the boys who attend Camp Gan Israel in the Laurentians, the trip to La Ronde is one of the highlights of the summer.
One of the reasons Jews (and Muslims) like La Ronde is that they’re allowed to bring their own kosher (and halal) snacks, contrary to the park’s policy that visitors have to buy the food sold in the park. The park doesn't sell kosher (or halal) food, so Jewish and Muslim kids are exempt from the rule, as a deep bow to "celebrating diversity" and "religious accommodation".
This was revealed by Le Journal de Montréal in "Lunchs interdits à la Ronde sauf pour les juifs et les musulmans", a feature story which ran on July 16th. But now the concession to "those of other faiths" is over.
In a statement released yeseterday, spokesthingy Catherine Tremblay told the media "After hearing feedback from our guests, La Ronde would like to clarify that only guests with special medical dietary needs will be considered to bring outside food with them as they enter the park."
The escalating pushback against "reasonable accommodation" of Québec’s religious minorities comes as the government of la Belle Province prepares a new charter to protect "Québec values" against assault by minority religious groups and the "human rights industry".
As reported here ("PQ not so PC as TROC?"), the Québec Soccer Federation made headlines when it tried to ban turban-wearing Sikhs from playing. It was forced to reverse the rule ban after FIFA -- "football"’s international governing body -- said they had nothing against the headgear.
A month earlier, Bernard Drainville, the minister responsible for the values charter, denounced another policy of the city of Montréal, under which Jews are allowed to park wherever they like during their high holidays.
Le Journal de Montréal has been accused by the usual suspects of "accommodation vigilantism". Looks to Poor Len as if they just want to know when the pandering is going to end. The 19,000 Québecois who signed an Internet petition against special treatment for minorities would like to know too.
Footnote: La Ronde is owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., in the news this week for allegedly failing to take proper care of morbidly obese people who like to ride its roller coasters. Stay off the La Ronde coaster, eh!
One of the reasons Jews (and Muslims) like La Ronde is that they’re allowed to bring their own kosher (and halal) snacks, contrary to the park’s policy that visitors have to buy the food sold in the park. The park doesn't sell kosher (or halal) food, so Jewish and Muslim kids are exempt from the rule, as a deep bow to "celebrating diversity" and "religious accommodation".
This was revealed by Le Journal de Montréal in "Lunchs interdits à la Ronde sauf pour les juifs et les musulmans", a feature story which ran on July 16th. But now the concession to "those of other faiths" is over.
In a statement released yeseterday, spokesthingy Catherine Tremblay told the media "After hearing feedback from our guests, La Ronde would like to clarify that only guests with special medical dietary needs will be considered to bring outside food with them as they enter the park."
The escalating pushback against "reasonable accommodation" of Québec’s religious minorities comes as the government of la Belle Province prepares a new charter to protect "Québec values" against assault by minority religious groups and the "human rights industry".
As reported here ("PQ not so PC as TROC?"), the Québec Soccer Federation made headlines when it tried to ban turban-wearing Sikhs from playing. It was forced to reverse the rule ban after FIFA -- "football"’s international governing body -- said they had nothing against the headgear.
A month earlier, Bernard Drainville, the minister responsible for the values charter, denounced another policy of the city of Montréal, under which Jews are allowed to park wherever they like during their high holidays.
Le Journal de Montréal has been accused by the usual suspects of "accommodation vigilantism". Looks to Poor Len as if they just want to know when the pandering is going to end. The 19,000 Québecois who signed an Internet petition against special treatment for minorities would like to know too.
Footnote: La Ronde is owned by Six Flags Entertainment Corp., in the news this week for allegedly failing to take proper care of morbidly obese people who like to ride its roller coasters. Stay off the La Ronde coaster, eh!
How fast do you react? A test for seniors or seniors-in-waiting
How good are your reflexes? How fast do you react when you see danger ahead of you? How quickly can you hit the brakes if a dangerous object -- a sheep, let's say -- should suddenly dart out in front of you?
Automobile driving manuals tell us the average driver's reaction time is .75 seconds, which is why they say to allow 1 car length for every 10 mph (16 km/h for you Canucks). Is your time better than that? Or worse?
Here, courtesy of the BBC, is a little reaction time test you can do on your computer. Or on your tablet while you're stuck in traffic. [Disregard that line. Don't be a distracted driver! Ed.]
Just click on the dart when you see the sheep start to run. There are five (5) sheep. After you've hit (or missed) them all, you'll get your score.
You'll be surprised at how slow you really are. But be careful. This test can be addictive!
Thanks to long-time sheep fancier Eric Gill for sending this. [Really it was Agent 6. Thank you, 6. Ed.]
Sunday, July 21, 2013
How about some justice for Antonio West?
Len received a slightly longer version of this message today. I'll append a couple of notes, but, since we're hearing a lot about justice for someone who was (supposedly) shot for no other reason than "being black in a white neighbourhood", I ask you to read this plea for justice for a small white victim of black crime.
Hello. Don’t recognize me? That’s OK; I understand. My name was Antonio West. I was the 13-month old child who was shot in the face at point blank range by two black teens, who were attempting to rob my mother [Sherry], who was also shot.
I think my murder and my mommy’s wounding made the news for maybe a day, and then disappeared.
The black teens who murdered me will not face the death penalty. Too bad it was me who got the death sentence from my killers instead, because Mommy didn’t have the money they demanded.
See, my family made the mistake of being white in a 73% non-white neighborhood, but my murder wasn’t ruled a "hate crime". And President Obama didn’t take a single moment to acknowledge my murder. He couldn’t have any children who could possibly look like me, so why should he care?
I’m one of the youngest murder victims in our great nation's history, but the media didn’t care to cover the story of my being killed in cold blood.
There isn’t a white equivalent of Al Sharpton, because if there was he would be branded a "racist". So no one’s rushing to Brunswick, Georgia to demonstrate and demand "justice" for me. There’s no "White Panther" party, either, to put a bounty on the lives of the two black teens who murdered me.
I have no voice, I have no representation, and -- unlike those who shot me in the face while I sat innocently in my stroller -- I no longer have my life.
Isn’t this a great country?
So while you’re out seeking "justice for Trayvon", please remember to seek justice for me. Tell your friends about me, tell you families, get t-shirts with my face on them, and make the world pay attention, just like you did for Trayvon.
I won’t hold my breath. I don’t have to anymore.
The version I received suggested that a Georgia grand jury had decided that Antonio's killers won't face the death penalty. That's not quite correct. The reason De'Marquise Elkins and Dominique Lang won't get what they richly deserve is that they were 17 and 15, respectively, at the time of their wanton attack on Antonio and his mother.
Nor does it matter that Elkins is under indictment for a similar attempted robbery and shooting which happened 10 days before. The perps were minors so they get to escape with their lives... unlike little Antonio. Is that justice? What a pity George Zimmerman didn't live in Brunswick!
It's also not strictly true to say that the media paid no attention. The story got some coverage, but no more than you'd expect in a country where 100s or 1000s of violent muggings happen every day. The only unusual feature of this one was the age of the victim. Unfortunately there was nothing unusual about the perps, not even their ages. "Young black guy wearing a hoodie" is set in cold type in every newsroom in America.
One final thought. When I wrote "Walmart responsible for social injustice" last week, I was under the impression that Walt had written before about the Tawana Brawley hoax, in which the "Rev" Al Sharpton was one of the main actors -- and I use the word advisedly. Wherever there is "hate crime", you'll find the Rev there denouncing it, as long as it's a black "victim" being unjustly oppressed by a honky. You won't be findin' Sharpton in Sherry Elkins's corner.
For more about Al Sharpton, Tawan Brawley and the knee-jerk demonization of whites by vote-seeking politicians and the lamestream media, Walt recommends Outrage: the Story Behind the Tawana Brawley Hoax, by Robert D. McFadden, Ralph Blumenthal and their colleagues at the New York Times. It was published by Bantam Books in 1990.
I think my murder and my mommy’s wounding made the news for maybe a day, and then disappeared.
The black teens who murdered me will not face the death penalty. Too bad it was me who got the death sentence from my killers instead, because Mommy didn’t have the money they demanded.
See, my family made the mistake of being white in a 73% non-white neighborhood, but my murder wasn’t ruled a "hate crime". And President Obama didn’t take a single moment to acknowledge my murder. He couldn’t have any children who could possibly look like me, so why should he care?
I’m one of the youngest murder victims in our great nation's history, but the media didn’t care to cover the story of my being killed in cold blood.
There isn’t a white equivalent of Al Sharpton, because if there was he would be branded a "racist". So no one’s rushing to Brunswick, Georgia to demonstrate and demand "justice" for me. There’s no "White Panther" party, either, to put a bounty on the lives of the two black teens who murdered me.
I have no voice, I have no representation, and -- unlike those who shot me in the face while I sat innocently in my stroller -- I no longer have my life.
Isn’t this a great country?
So while you’re out seeking "justice for Trayvon", please remember to seek justice for me. Tell your friends about me, tell you families, get t-shirts with my face on them, and make the world pay attention, just like you did for Trayvon.
I won’t hold my breath. I don’t have to anymore.
The version I received suggested that a Georgia grand jury had decided that Antonio's killers won't face the death penalty. That's not quite correct. The reason De'Marquise Elkins and Dominique Lang won't get what they richly deserve is that they were 17 and 15, respectively, at the time of their wanton attack on Antonio and his mother.
Nor does it matter that Elkins is under indictment for a similar attempted robbery and shooting which happened 10 days before. The perps were minors so they get to escape with their lives... unlike little Antonio. Is that justice? What a pity George Zimmerman didn't live in Brunswick!
It's also not strictly true to say that the media paid no attention. The story got some coverage, but no more than you'd expect in a country where 100s or 1000s of violent muggings happen every day. The only unusual feature of this one was the age of the victim. Unfortunately there was nothing unusual about the perps, not even their ages. "Young black guy wearing a hoodie" is set in cold type in every newsroom in America.
One final thought. When I wrote "Walmart responsible for social injustice" last week, I was under the impression that Walt had written before about the Tawana Brawley hoax, in which the "Rev" Al Sharpton was one of the main actors -- and I use the word advisedly. Wherever there is "hate crime", you'll find the Rev there denouncing it, as long as it's a black "victim" being unjustly oppressed by a honky. You won't be findin' Sharpton in Sherry Elkins's corner.
For more about Al Sharpton, Tawan Brawley and the knee-jerk demonization of whites by vote-seeking politicians and the lamestream media, Walt recommends Outrage: the Story Behind the Tawana Brawley Hoax, by Robert D. McFadden, Ralph Blumenthal and their colleagues at the New York Times. It was published by Bantam Books in 1990.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
"Brand new leather jacket" -- refugees and asylum-seekers get `em, but who pays?
Here's an old song with some up-to-date lyrics. There are subtitles for American and Canadian readers who struggle with English accents.
This goes out from Len and Walt to all the bleeding-heart liberals in Not-so-great Britain who think David Cameron's coalition government is wrong to crack down on all the bogus refugees, asylum-seekers and economic migrants flocking to the septic isle.
Of course Brits aren't alone in suspecting that they're being taken advantage of. The Aussies have figured it out too. See "Australia locks door on boat people, throws away key", posted here just yesterday.
Will their governments listen to the voices of the majority of Americans and Canadians? Not until taxpayers -- the ones footing the bills for the welfare of the scum who wash up on North America's shores -- shout (or sing) louder! Make this a ballot issue, people!!!
Thanks and a tip of the bowler to Agent 6.
This goes out from Len and Walt to all the bleeding-heart liberals in Not-so-great Britain who think David Cameron's coalition government is wrong to crack down on all the bogus refugees, asylum-seekers and economic migrants flocking to the septic isle.
Of course Brits aren't alone in suspecting that they're being taken advantage of. The Aussies have figured it out too. See "Australia locks door on boat people, throws away key", posted here just yesterday.
Will their governments listen to the voices of the majority of Americans and Canadians? Not until taxpayers -- the ones footing the bills for the welfare of the scum who wash up on North America's shores -- shout (or sing) louder! Make this a ballot issue, people!!!
Thanks and a tip of the bowler to Agent 6.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Australia locks door on boat people, throws away key
News from the Antipodes today, via the BBC's Asia webpage. The mostly white, British-descended citizens of Australia are fed up with welcoming, feeding and housing the 1000s of "boat people" -- mostly "asylum-seekers" from Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh -- who wash up on their shores.
It's a stupid politician who doesn't know which way the wind is blowing, and Kevin Rudd, the new(ish) Wizard [Prime Minister, surely. Ed.] of Oz is no dummy. "Our country has had enough of people-smugglers exploiting asylum-seekers and seeing them drown on the high seas," said Mr. Rudd yesterday, as he announced an overhaul of the country's asylum policy, ahead of a general election due this fall.
Under the new "Regional Settlement Arrangement", the PM said, "any asylum-seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as a refugee." Instead, in the interests of combatting terrorism, the mostly Muslim hordes -- and the Tamil terrorists mixed in with them -- will be sent to Papua New Guinea, the poorest and most violent country in the region, where they should feel right at home.
"Why PNG?", I hear you ask. [Why PNG? Ed.] Because the Aussies will pay the PNGians (or whatever they call themselves) to take the refugees. Said Mr. Ruddyface, "The new arrangements will allow Australia to help more people who are genuinely in need and help prevent people smugglers from abusing our system."
Walt's source in the western part of Papua -- now a part of Indonesia -- suggests than after an initial period of adjustment, the new arrivals will be sent inland, to areas in which (it is rumoured) cannibalism is not unknown. "It will be a great opportunity for [the refugees] to share the values of Islam -- 'the religion of peace' -- with the poor benighted Papuans", said a spokesthingy for the United Nations.
Even as we speak, the natives of Papua are doubltess preparing to welcome the newcomers. Yes, we do have a recent picture. Walt has agents everywhere!
It's a stupid politician who doesn't know which way the wind is blowing, and Kevin Rudd, the new(ish) Wizard [Prime Minister, surely. Ed.] of Oz is no dummy. "Our country has had enough of people-smugglers exploiting asylum-seekers and seeing them drown on the high seas," said Mr. Rudd yesterday, as he announced an overhaul of the country's asylum policy, ahead of a general election due this fall.
Under the new "Regional Settlement Arrangement", the PM said, "any asylum-seeker who arrives in Australia by boat will have no chance of being settled in Australia as a refugee." Instead, in the interests of combatting terrorism, the mostly Muslim hordes -- and the Tamil terrorists mixed in with them -- will be sent to Papua New Guinea, the poorest and most violent country in the region, where they should feel right at home.
"Why PNG?", I hear you ask. [Why PNG? Ed.] Because the Aussies will pay the PNGians (or whatever they call themselves) to take the refugees. Said Mr. Ruddyface, "The new arrangements will allow Australia to help more people who are genuinely in need and help prevent people smugglers from abusing our system."
Walt's source in the western part of Papua -- now a part of Indonesia -- suggests than after an initial period of adjustment, the new arrivals will be sent inland, to areas in which (it is rumoured) cannibalism is not unknown. "It will be a great opportunity for [the refugees] to share the values of Islam -- 'the religion of peace' -- with the poor benighted Papuans", said a spokesthingy for the United Nations.
Even as we speak, the natives of Papua are doubltess preparing to welcome the newcomers. Yes, we do have a recent picture. Walt has agents everywhere!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
That ole Motown magic don' work no more
Len was shocked... NOT... to learn today that Detroit has taken the pipe, so to speak... and I'm not talking about the crack pipe either. [Why would we think that? Ed.] I'm talking about the biggest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the US of A. $18 billion and counting. Wow! What kind of insane investor would have lent them that kind of money or bought their bonds? [Errr... Ed.]
So what went wrong? Wasn't Detroit too big to fail? Not to mention too prosperous -- all those cars and... errr... cars. The business and economic analysts of the lamestream media have it all figured out. Michael Babad, writing in the Globe and Mail's Business Briefing (and therefore supposedly objective, being outside the US) says it all comes down to three things -- neglect, corruption and exodus.
By "exodus", Len thinks Mr. Babad means "white flight". Flight from what? Well, from neglect, corruption and possibly... hmm... gotta be careful here lest I write something politically incorrect. Let's just have a look at a map which you'll see all over the Internet in the next couple of days.
This "social map" by Eric Fischer shows the great racial divide between Detroit and its suburbs. Each dot represents 25 people. The orange dots are Hispanics. The green dots [Where? Ed.] are Asians. Can you guess which racial groups are represented by red and blue dots? Hint: it ain't necessarily Democrats and Republicans!
That's all ye know and all ye need to know.
So what went wrong? Wasn't Detroit too big to fail? Not to mention too prosperous -- all those cars and... errr... cars. The business and economic analysts of the lamestream media have it all figured out. Michael Babad, writing in the Globe and Mail's Business Briefing (and therefore supposedly objective, being outside the US) says it all comes down to three things -- neglect, corruption and exodus.
By "exodus", Len thinks Mr. Babad means "white flight". Flight from what? Well, from neglect, corruption and possibly... hmm... gotta be careful here lest I write something politically incorrect. Let's just have a look at a map which you'll see all over the Internet in the next couple of days.
This "social map" by Eric Fischer shows the great racial divide between Detroit and its suburbs. Each dot represents 25 people. The orange dots are Hispanics. The green dots [Where? Ed.] are Asians. Can you guess which racial groups are represented by red and blue dots? Hint: it ain't necessarily Democrats and Republicans!
That's all ye know and all ye need to know.
Vatican insider identifies "prelate of the gay lobby"
Who said there's a well-entrenched gay lobby within the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church -- within the Vatican itself? Pope Francis, that's who! On June 6th the Holy Father told a group of religious from Latin America, "In the curia there is talk of a 'gay lobby.' And it is true, it's there." Unfortunately, the Pope said, he wasn't sure what he could do about it because he was (as yet?) "too disorganized".
Turns out Pope Francis didn't know for sure who amongst the hundreds of Vatican officials and functionaries were closet queens. Lots of fingers were pointed but not with enough certainty that action could be taken.
Just a few days ago -- according to noted Vaticanista Sandra Magister, writing today in l'Espresso -- the Pope told an Argentinian friend, "It is not easy. Here there are many of the pope's 'bosses' with great seniority of service". Now, Sr Magister says, some of these "bosses" have hatched against [Pope] Bergoglio "the cruelest and most subtle deception since he was elected".
They kept in the dark important information, had the Pope known it before, would have kept him from appointing Monsignor Battista Ricca "prelate” of the Institute for Works of Religion (IoR), the mysterious "Vatican bank" which has for some time been under investigation for money laundering and other forms of (alleged) corruption.
Just one week after appointing the "prelate", Sr Magister tells us, the pope became aware, from multiple sources, of a "black hole" in Msgr Ricca's personal history. Msgr Ricca was sent to the Vatican's diplomatic mission to Uruguay in 1999. He brought with him a captain of the Swiss army [not the Swiss Guard -- the army of Switzerland. Ed.] named Patrick Haari. The two had met while Msgr Ricca was posted to Bern. Such a close relationship developed that Msgr Ricca demanded that his "friend" be given a role and a residence in the nunciature in Montevideo.
According to Sr Magister, "The intimacy of the relations between Ricca and Haari was so open as to scandalize numerous bishops, priests, and laity of the little South American country, not last the sisters who attended to the nunciature." There's much more to the story. For further sordid details, read the English version, "The Prelate of the Gay Lobby".
The real question, of course, is why no-one said anything about Msgr Ricca's "alternative lifestyle" before his appointment to head the IoR. Sr Magister write, "a blanket of public silence has covered until today these past episodes of the monsignor."
He continues, "at the Vatican there are some who actively promoted this cover-up operation. By blocking the investigations from the time of the events until today. By concealing the reports from the nuncio. By keeping Ricca's personal file immaculate. In this way they facilitated a prestigious new career for Ricca."
Sadly, Sr Magister is (for the moment) unable to name names. Cardinal Battista Re is 79. Cardinal Bertone is only 78.
Further reading: "Homosexuality condemned in the Word of God", published right here in WWW just over four years ago.
Innocent question: Speaking of monsignors... whatever became of Msgr Alan McCormack, formerly an official of the Archdiocese of Toronto, who was sued (in the Supreme Court of Ontario, a civil court) by Father Nicholas Gruner, for publishing the lie that Father Gruner is not a priest. Last we heard, Msgr McCormack had been transferred to the Vatican, then back to Canada, where he was Judicial Vicar of the Canadian Appeal Tribunal until his resignation in February of last year. Where he is now is yet another Mystery of the Church.
Turns out Pope Francis didn't know for sure who amongst the hundreds of Vatican officials and functionaries were closet queens. Lots of fingers were pointed but not with enough certainty that action could be taken.
They kept in the dark important information, had the Pope known it before, would have kept him from appointing Monsignor Battista Ricca "prelate” of the Institute for Works of Religion (IoR), the mysterious "Vatican bank" which has for some time been under investigation for money laundering and other forms of (alleged) corruption.
Just one week after appointing the "prelate", Sr Magister tells us, the pope became aware, from multiple sources, of a "black hole" in Msgr Ricca's personal history. Msgr Ricca was sent to the Vatican's diplomatic mission to Uruguay in 1999. He brought with him a captain of the Swiss army [not the Swiss Guard -- the army of Switzerland. Ed.] named Patrick Haari. The two had met while Msgr Ricca was posted to Bern. Such a close relationship developed that Msgr Ricca demanded that his "friend" be given a role and a residence in the nunciature in Montevideo.
According to Sr Magister, "The intimacy of the relations between Ricca and Haari was so open as to scandalize numerous bishops, priests, and laity of the little South American country, not last the sisters who attended to the nunciature." There's much more to the story. For further sordid details, read the English version, "The Prelate of the Gay Lobby".
The real question, of course, is why no-one said anything about Msgr Ricca's "alternative lifestyle" before his appointment to head the IoR. Sr Magister write, "a blanket of public silence has covered until today these past episodes of the monsignor."
He continues, "at the Vatican there are some who actively promoted this cover-up operation. By blocking the investigations from the time of the events until today. By concealing the reports from the nuncio. By keeping Ricca's personal file immaculate. In this way they facilitated a prestigious new career for Ricca."
Sadly, Sr Magister is (for the moment) unable to name names. Cardinal Battista Re is 79. Cardinal Bertone is only 78.
Further reading: "Homosexuality condemned in the Word of God", published right here in WWW just over four years ago.
Innocent question: Speaking of monsignors... whatever became of Msgr Alan McCormack, formerly an official of the Archdiocese of Toronto, who was sued (in the Supreme Court of Ontario, a civil court) by Father Nicholas Gruner, for publishing the lie that Father Gruner is not a priest. Last we heard, Msgr McCormack had been transferred to the Vatican, then back to Canada, where he was Judicial Vicar of the Canadian Appeal Tribunal until his resignation in February of last year. Where he is now is yet another Mystery of the Church.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Satanists (or Freemasons?) want to give back to New York community
Agent 3 has just sent us a link to a story published in Canada [not in the USA? Ed.] by the QMI Agency. Here's the headline (and the link): Highway to hell? Satanists want to adopt a New York highway. We'll come to the story in a minute, but want you to have a look at the picture QMI chose to print right under the headline.
According to the newspaper, this is a screenshot from the video produced by the Satanic Temple to "promote a message of Satanic civic pride and social responsibility." Hmm.
Where have we seen this image before? Have a look in your wallet. There... on the other side of the engraving of George Washington. (A "temple" where George rests, at Alexandria VA, is adorned with a similar symbol.) Yes, that's right. By the Compass and by the Square, it's the "all-seeing eye" -- one of the chief symbols of Freemasonry!
Does that mean there's some connection between Freemasonry and Satanism? The Church has always said so, although She doesn't mention it much these days, which tells ye all ye need to know about who runs the Vatican. According to the commandments of the traditional (pre-Vatican II) Church, no Catholic may belong to the Masons or any other secret society. Len is pretty sure that would include the Satanic Temple.
Anyway, for what it's worth, here's the rest of the story, from the QMI/Sun newspapers.
The Satanists have set up an Indiegogo page to raise the $15,000 they need to adopt a stretch of New York highway for two years "by way of litter cleanup and landscaping". If they succeed, the Department of Transportation will have to put up a sign acknowledging The Satanic Temple as the adopters. "We call on all people to support the Satanic Temple in this effort to engage their community in a positive, productive manner," the [Satanists] said.
To drum up awareness for the campaign, the church performed a "pink mass" on Sunday over the grave of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps Jr.'s mother. The ritual, which involves chants and gay makeouts over the grave, aims to make deceased's spirit turn homosexual.
Walmart responsible for social injustice!
Just a short note today as we watch the unfolding of the inevitable aftermath of the jury verdict in the Zimmerman case. (Notice Len didn't call it the "Trayvon Martin" case. It was Zimmerman who was on trial, and who was acquitted.)
The usual Forces for Good in the US of A -- the promoters of diversity, civil rights, equality for all yada yada yada -- are baying for the head of... well... someone. They can't attack the jury, who for their own protection are cloaked in anonymity. They can't attack the judge, for the judge didn't make the decision. And they can't attack Zimmerman because that would be, umm, too obvious.
So who's going to take the fall for this gross miscarriage of justice? Why, Walmart of course! The "Rev" Al Sharpton -- one of those responsible for the great Tawana Brawley hoax -- didn't actually mention the Beast of Bentonville by name in his televised call for "social justice", but his followers knew full well who he meant.
That's why, at this very moment, Len is looking at headlines like "Youths rampage through Hollywood stealing cellphones and t-shirts". That's "youths" as in "black youths", and "Hollywood" as in "Hollywood CA", not "Hollywood FL". [Shome mishtake, shurely! Ed.]
Right. As long as you black, you been denied justice, bro! And the best way to get justice is to rip off da white people... or even better, da white people's store! Yeah, dat'll make it jes fine. Don' get mad, get even!!!
Further reading: "Al Sharpton's Long Bill of Goods, From Tawana Brawley to Primetime", by Stuart Stevens in The Daily Beast.
The usual Forces for Good in the US of A -- the promoters of diversity, civil rights, equality for all yada yada yada -- are baying for the head of... well... someone. They can't attack the jury, who for their own protection are cloaked in anonymity. They can't attack the judge, for the judge didn't make the decision. And they can't attack Zimmerman because that would be, umm, too obvious.
So who's going to take the fall for this gross miscarriage of justice? Why, Walmart of course! The "Rev" Al Sharpton -- one of those responsible for the great Tawana Brawley hoax -- didn't actually mention the Beast of Bentonville by name in his televised call for "social justice", but his followers knew full well who he meant.
That's why, at this very moment, Len is looking at headlines like "Youths rampage through Hollywood stealing cellphones and t-shirts". That's "youths" as in "black youths", and "Hollywood" as in "Hollywood CA", not "Hollywood FL". [Shome mishtake, shurely! Ed.]
Right. As long as you black, you been denied justice, bro! And the best way to get justice is to rip off da white people... or even better, da white people's store! Yeah, dat'll make it jes fine. Don' get mad, get even!!!
Further reading: "Al Sharpton's Long Bill of Goods, From Tawana Brawley to Primetime", by Stuart Stevens in The Daily Beast.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Poor Len reveals what state Walt lives in
But our image of the friendly neighbourhood cop -- the image which was washed into our little brains by our parents, our teachers, the parish priest and pretty much everyone -- was much like what you see here.
The policeman was our friend! He helped us cross the busy street and generally watched over us, like a guardian angel with a gas station attendant's cap and white gloves. If you needed help, call a cop!
Times and neighbourhoods have changed. Cops have changed too, as libertarian Radley Balko (who blogs for the Huffington Post as "The Agitator") declares in his first book, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces (PublicAffairs, 2013). Nowadays the cops you meet -- you should be so unlucky! -- look more like this.
And they'll be considerably better armed and armored too. Even cops on traffic patrol wear kevlar vests and carry an awesome array of automatic weapons, tasers, pepper spray and other WMDs, all the better to subdue perps going 10 mph over the speed limit.
This all started in... wait for it... the hippy-dippy 60s, when young people started to think for themselves -- shock! horror! -- and "do their own thing", in defiance of The Authorities and Forces for Good in our society. It was the social upheaval caused by free thinkers and non-conformists that caught the attention of our politicians and led to the "get tough on crime" policies of Nixon and his successors.
The way Mr. Balko puts it, the "Silent Majority began to see a link between drugs, crime, the counter-culture and race". The problem is that it's virtually impossible not to get involved in some way with at least one of those four things. That's why the Excited States of America has such incredibly high numbers of convicts and ex-convicts, especially of the non-white persuasion.
So also, no matter what colour you are or what you're doing, the policeman who used to be your friend (LOL) now sees you as the enemy. You could be a non-English-speaker who wandered into a "secure area" of an airport because you got lost, and got tasered to death by four (4) Mounties. That happened in Vancouver in 2007 and no-one has yet been found guilty of anything. Or you could be the next Rodney King. Nuff said.
Not just libertarians but all Americans and Canadians should be concerned about the effects on our society of the militarization of the police and the criminalization -- in the minds of the police -- of everyone else. Rise of the Warrior Cop is our summer "must read".
Oh... I promised to tell you what state Walt lives in. Walt lives in a police state.
Monday, July 15, 2013
When "service station" meant what it said
Remember one of the early scenes in Back to the Future, where Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), walks into a gas station and is amazed to find that people are working there, pumping gas, checking oil and cleaning windshields? Yes, folks, it really was like that... back in the day... What we call "gas stations" today were called "service stations" then, and gas cost about 1/10th of what it does today.
Hard to believe, isn't it? But, through the good offices of Agent 6, we have pictorial evidence.
Now that's a "full service" station! Too bad we can't see the price per gallon, but click here to see large and lovely collection of similar pix, remarkable not just for the buildings and the "service" depicted, but the cars too! Hope this brings back happy memories of better times.
Hard to believe, isn't it? But, through the good offices of Agent 6, we have pictorial evidence.
Now that's a "full service" station! Too bad we can't see the price per gallon, but click here to see large and lovely collection of similar pix, remarkable not just for the buildings and the "service" depicted, but the cars too! Hope this brings back happy memories of better times.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Cow crashes through roof, kills Brazilian farmer
Here's a story you don't see every day... and thank goodness for that.
Police in Caratinga, in southeastern Brazil, say a cow fell through the roof of a small house near the town, killing a man and narrowly missing his wife. Joao Maria de Souza and his wife were sleeping when the one-ton cow fell through the asbestos roof and onto their bed. Sadly, there wasn't enough room for all three of them, and Sr de Souza died at the local hospital, of internal bleeding.
The police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to liaise with the media, denied that the cow was trying to jump over the moon. Rather, he said, the cow apparently was grazing on a small hill above the Souza home.
Poor Len cannot think of any lesson to be learned from this tragic tale. And it's not funny!
Police in Caratinga, in southeastern Brazil, say a cow fell through the roof of a small house near the town, killing a man and narrowly missing his wife. Joao Maria de Souza and his wife were sleeping when the one-ton cow fell through the asbestos roof and onto their bed. Sadly, there wasn't enough room for all three of them, and Sr de Souza died at the local hospital, of internal bleeding.
The police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to liaise with the media, denied that the cow was trying to jump over the moon. Rather, he said, the cow apparently was grazing on a small hill above the Souza home.
Poor Len cannot think of any lesson to be learned from this tragic tale. And it's not funny!
American rap "artist" ruled not-so-Coolio by Canadian immigration cops
Imagine Leon Ivey Junior's [Dat be his real name. Ed.] surprise, then, when the Canada Border Services Agency wouldn't let him into the Great Not-so-white North, where he was scheduled to do his thang at concerts in Toronto, Montréal, Québec and Ottawa. Seems his record finally showed up on the immigration cops' XT computer!
Junior's manager, Blair "Goast" Bryson, said the border problem came as a shock. "He ain't nevah had anything like dis happen before!" said da Goast. "He nevah had a problem gettin' into Canada or anywhere else. Like I've taken him to the U.K., Australia, Russia, he hasn't had any problem getting into those countries. And I mean recent! Now this old charge is an issue, you guys never made a big deal about it before."
Mr. Coolio's fans -- Zippy Tubman and Velveetah Jones -- will receive refunds if they can prove that they paid for their tickets.
Allow me to fill in
Hi. Poor Len Canayen here. Ed. told me about Walt needing a rest. In his (Walt's) fatigue, he wrote what amounted to a farewell, and wouldn't be talked out of posting it. But the truth is that he [and Ed.!] want Walt Whiteman's World to live on.
So...I've volunteered to write a few words, from time to time, until the meds kick in and Walt is feeling a little better. I hope you'll find the occasional item of interest, and will share any such with others. "Alternative voices" should continue to be heard, and political correctness be damned!
Note from Ed. to Walt's agents: Poor Len welcomes your comments, tips, leads and contributions. If you don't have an up-to-date e-mail address, write to Walt and we'll be sure to keep you in the loop.
So...I've volunteered to write a few words, from time to time, until the meds kick in and Walt is feeling a little better. I hope you'll find the occasional item of interest, and will share any such with others. "Alternative voices" should continue to be heard, and political correctness be damned!
Note from Ed. to Walt's agents: Poor Len welcomes your comments, tips, leads and contributions. If you don't have an up-to-date e-mail address, write to Walt and we'll be sure to keep you in the loop.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Four years looks like long enough
It was four years and eight days ago, 1554 posts ago, that Walt [and Ed.!] began blogging. We don't do it for financial gain. The purpose was solely to say things that need to be said, things that are politically incorrect, "home truths" that are in danger of being forgotten.
For his pains, Wlat has been called racist, homophobic, anti-American, anti-Canadian, anti-British, anti-Muslim, arch-conservative, anti-conservative, "more Catholic than the Pope" [not hard, nowadays. Ed.] and a long list of other insults. Or perhaps they're compliments. Some of the comments we get are so poorly written that it's hard to figure out their meaning.
On top of that, poor Ed. has to cope with the vagaries of the "new and improved" Blogger, and now -- as if that wasn't bad enough -- the "new and improved" Yahoo! Mail. When will software developers learn the truth of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"?
All things considered, Walt [and Ed.!] think it may be time to throw in the towel, not in surrender but in recognition that our society and the Church are going to hell in the proverbial handcart, and our effort to at least apply the brake is futile.
Many thanks to all Walt's agents who have contributed leads, links and moral support, and to our readers. See you on the other side.
For his pains, Wlat has been called racist, homophobic, anti-American, anti-Canadian, anti-British, anti-Muslim, arch-conservative, anti-conservative, "more Catholic than the Pope" [not hard, nowadays. Ed.] and a long list of other insults. Or perhaps they're compliments. Some of the comments we get are so poorly written that it's hard to figure out their meaning.
On top of that, poor Ed. has to cope with the vagaries of the "new and improved" Blogger, and now -- as if that wasn't bad enough -- the "new and improved" Yahoo! Mail. When will software developers learn the truth of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"?
All things considered, Walt [and Ed.!] think it may be time to throw in the towel, not in surrender but in recognition that our society and the Church are going to hell in the proverbial handcart, and our effort to at least apply the brake is futile.
Many thanks to all Walt's agents who have contributed leads, links and moral support, and to our readers. See you on the other side.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Are perverts pushing Ontario's sex education curriculum? Could be!
Apparently Walt wasn't the only one who noticed that "educator" Benjamin Levin, charged with possessing and making kiddy porn, likely had a hand in shaping Ontario's new LGBT-promoting sex education policy.
The Toronto Sun's venerable muckraker, Christina Blizzard, today poses what she calls "Disturbing questions about sex education policy". So bang on is her piece that Walt will quote at length.
"Levin walked with [Kathleen] Wynne [Ontario's proud lesbian premier], former federal Liberal leader Bob Rae and current leader Justin Trudeau at the recent Gay Pride Parade, so [he] is a person with political connections. [This raises] disturbing questions...about the way education policy is formulated and who has input.
"Remember the uproar in 2010 over the new sex-education curriculum? It was slammed — not just by the religious right, as some would have you believe, but by average parents — for being overly graphic in its nature and not age-appropriate. This curriculum was developed at a time when Levin was a deputy minister [of education]....
"I do understand that curriculum is developed in consultation with a number of groups. Wynne's office and the education ministry were quick to tell me Tuesday that police, mental health agencies and others were all part of the development of the new curriculum. I'm sure they all gave their input — as did groups such as Queer Nation. It's also true, though, that the deputy minister would have input into which groups were "consulted."
"For anyone to suggest this was not a political process is nonsense. Who cancelled the new curriculum? It was former premier Dalton McGuinty, because parent outrage became a political liability for him. Wynne was education minister at the time.
"The curriculum aimed to teach 11-year-olds about oral and anal sex, and 8-year-olds about sexual orientation and identity. One teacher "prompt" suggests how the teacher might discuss "erections, wet dreams and vaginal lubrication," as normal things that happen with puberty. Ironically, we were told kids need to know this stuff at an early age "because they can find it on the Internet."
"The big question now is, who put it there?"
Who, indeed? Benjamin Levin, 61, now faces charges of possessing child pornography and accessing child pornography following a raid on his Toronto home on Monday. The nutty professor was earlier charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count each of making child pornography, counselling to commit an indictable offence and agreeing to or arranging for a sexual offence against a child under 16. This afternoon he was freed on bail.
The Toronto Sun's venerable muckraker, Christina Blizzard, today poses what she calls "Disturbing questions about sex education policy". So bang on is her piece that Walt will quote at length.
"Levin walked with [Kathleen] Wynne [Ontario's proud lesbian premier], former federal Liberal leader Bob Rae and current leader Justin Trudeau at the recent Gay Pride Parade, so [he] is a person with political connections. [This raises] disturbing questions...about the way education policy is formulated and who has input.
"Remember the uproar in 2010 over the new sex-education curriculum? It was slammed — not just by the religious right, as some would have you believe, but by average parents — for being overly graphic in its nature and not age-appropriate. This curriculum was developed at a time when Levin was a deputy minister [of education]....
"I do understand that curriculum is developed in consultation with a number of groups. Wynne's office and the education ministry were quick to tell me Tuesday that police, mental health agencies and others were all part of the development of the new curriculum. I'm sure they all gave their input — as did groups such as Queer Nation. It's also true, though, that the deputy minister would have input into which groups were "consulted."
"For anyone to suggest this was not a political process is nonsense. Who cancelled the new curriculum? It was former premier Dalton McGuinty, because parent outrage became a political liability for him. Wynne was education minister at the time.
"The curriculum aimed to teach 11-year-olds about oral and anal sex, and 8-year-olds about sexual orientation and identity. One teacher "prompt" suggests how the teacher might discuss "erections, wet dreams and vaginal lubrication," as normal things that happen with puberty. Ironically, we were told kids need to know this stuff at an early age "because they can find it on the Internet."
"The big question now is, who put it there?"
Who, indeed? Benjamin Levin, 61, now faces charges of possessing child pornography and accessing child pornography following a raid on his Toronto home on Monday. The nutty professor was earlier charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count each of making child pornography, counselling to commit an indictable offence and agreeing to or arranging for a sexual offence against a child under 16. This afternoon he was freed on bail.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Senior Ontario "educator" charged with child porn offences; lesbian premier recoils in horror
One more thing. According to Toronto police, Prof. Levin likes watching and making child pornography. The alleged paedophile was arrested today and charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count each of making child pornography, counselling to commit an indictable offence and agreeing to or arranging for a sexual offence against a child under 16.
The shit-hammer falling on another old pervert would be an unremarkable local story except for yet one more thing. The alleged kiddy diddler is apparently rather highly placed in Ontario government circles. He was a member of the transition team that smoothed the way into the premier's office for Kathleen Wynne, Ontario's [Canada's? The world's? Ed.] first out and proud lesbian head of government.
Again, so what? Well, don't forget that Prof. Levin is an "educator" -- an expert when it comes to teaching the kiddos the 3 R's. And sex education too. Of course. Levin served as Deputy Minister of Education from 2004 to 2009 under former premier Dalton McGuinty. The Minister of Education for much of that time was... wait for it... Kathleen Wynne.
The two of them were instrumental in writing and promoting a new sex education curriculum for the Province of Ontario, which Walt has written about before. (See "further reading", below.) The new sex ed course, targetting children as young as 6, would have thrust the LGBT agenda right down the kids' little throats [or worse? Ed.], teaching them that when it comes to sex, anything goes!
The pushback against the queer curriculum was such that "Premier Dad" ordered it shelved pending a rethink (and an election) and hurriedly shuffled Education Minister Wynne off to a minor portfolio, where she languished until McGuinty unexpectedly quit last year, rather than face an enraged electorate. Now that Ms Wynne is wearing the pants [No. It's her "spouse" that wears the pants now. Ed.] the Ministry floated a trial balloon this spring, suggesting that there was "popular pressure" to revive the new "progressive" curriculum.
Today, the latest Minister of Education, Lez "Sensible" Sandals, attempted to distance the Ontario government from Levin, announcing that he has been suspended from his "work" with the ministry "pending the outcome of the investigation". At the University Avenue Kremlin [Queen's Park, surely! Ed.] Premier Wynne's office said it could not comment on a matter under investigation and referred all questions to the police.
Further reading on WWW:
Ontario schools forced to promote masturbation, homosexuality
Lesbian cabinet minister pushed queer sex ed plan
Pro-queer schools agenda returns as "anti-bullying" legislation
Friday, July 5, 2013
Canada and America - a comparison in song
Well, we've had quite a week... Canada Day on the 1st, the Glorious Fourth on the 4th [Duh! Ed.], and a bit of sniping across the border by Montréal mayoral candidate Michel Brûlé. Walt [and Ed.!] hope that readers don't think that all Canadians regard Americans as "big, obese, imbecilic, ignorant, uncultured dummies".
Perish the thought! Most Canucks quite like their southern neighbours. It's just that they (the Canucks) feel obliged to point out (especially in July) that there is a difference between the two countries. Thanks to Agent 6, we are able to bring you a comparison in song.
Which country is better? The view from the top of the Peace Arch is kind of hazy...
Perish the thought! Most Canucks quite like their southern neighbours. It's just that they (the Canucks) feel obliged to point out (especially in July) that there is a difference between the two countries. Thanks to Agent 6, we are able to bring you a comparison in song.
Which country is better? The view from the top of the Peace Arch is kind of hazy...
"They're not very nice" -- a view of Americans and Anglo-Canadians from a neighbour (?)
Big news from Montréal, where, just in time for the Glorious Fourth -- well, almost -- Michel Brûlé has thrown his chapeau into the race for the mayoralty, in the municipal election due in November.
At the moment, Montréal is under the leadership of its third mayor, so far this year. The one who was elected resigned in the wake of revelations at the provincial Charbonneau Commission concerning corruption in the awarding of municipal construction contracts. This is something of a national sport in Québec, but the magnitude of the graft this time -- not to mention connections with a group of patriotic Italian-Canadians -- was such that nothing would be but a change at the top.
Sadly (but not surprisingly), the interim mayor -- a bilingual Jew, this time -- appointed to clean up the mess, was quite quickly accused of being likewise tainted by the stench of "business as usual at la Mairie". So now there is a second interim mayor, and a vigorous campaign to be next at the trough is under way.
Yesterday, staunch Québec indépendentiste ["separatist", surely! Ed.] Michel Brûlé announced his long-shot candidacy. The writer, book publisher, and, errr, former bar owner says he doesn’t expect English-speaking Montréalers to vote for him – and says he isn’t working to get their support, anyway. He doesn't like les maudits Anglos, as a group.
On an individual level, it's a different story. M Brûlé has said in the past that he doesn’t have anything against Anglos as individuals; he could even have one as a girlfriend. But still, he says now, the English culture is not very nice. And "English is not a nice language," he told Métro reporter Catherine Girouard in April 2009 (according to yesterday's report in the Montreal Gazette) while promoting his published essay on the scourge of English.
"Intolerance and all the most extremist, racist, segregationist movements -- they’re the KKK, White Power, the expression 'Speak White' -- these are all English things. They come from the United States, Canada, England."
Walt notes that Americans are at the top of M Brûlé's fecal roster. In the same 2009 interview, he allowed that not all Americans are dumb, obese, imbecilic, uncultured ignoramuses -- only about 80% of them! "If I say Americans are a bunch of big, obese, imbecilic, ignorant, uncultured dummies, it’s the truth," he told Métro.
"Of course it’s sure bet that out of 303 million Americans, there are maybe 50 million who aren’t like that. But, collectively, they’re still a bunch of uncultured imbeciles."
So far, no other candidates for the mayoralty have taken issue with M Brûlé’s statements.
At the moment, Montréal is under the leadership of its third mayor, so far this year. The one who was elected resigned in the wake of revelations at the provincial Charbonneau Commission concerning corruption in the awarding of municipal construction contracts. This is something of a national sport in Québec, but the magnitude of the graft this time -- not to mention connections with a group of patriotic Italian-Canadians -- was such that nothing would be but a change at the top.
Sadly (but not surprisingly), the interim mayor -- a bilingual Jew, this time -- appointed to clean up the mess, was quite quickly accused of being likewise tainted by the stench of "business as usual at la Mairie". So now there is a second interim mayor, and a vigorous campaign to be next at the trough is under way.
Yesterday, staunch Québec indépendentiste ["separatist", surely! Ed.] Michel Brûlé announced his long-shot candidacy. The writer, book publisher, and, errr, former bar owner says he doesn’t expect English-speaking Montréalers to vote for him – and says he isn’t working to get their support, anyway. He doesn't like les maudits Anglos, as a group.
On an individual level, it's a different story. M Brûlé has said in the past that he doesn’t have anything against Anglos as individuals; he could even have one as a girlfriend. But still, he says now, the English culture is not very nice. And "English is not a nice language," he told Métro reporter Catherine Girouard in April 2009 (according to yesterday's report in the Montreal Gazette) while promoting his published essay on the scourge of English.
"Intolerance and all the most extremist, racist, segregationist movements -- they’re the KKK, White Power, the expression 'Speak White' -- these are all English things. They come from the United States, Canada, England."
Walt notes that Americans are at the top of M Brûlé's fecal roster. In the same 2009 interview, he allowed that not all Americans are dumb, obese, imbecilic, uncultured ignoramuses -- only about 80% of them! "If I say Americans are a bunch of big, obese, imbecilic, ignorant, uncultured dummies, it’s the truth," he told Métro.
"Of course it’s sure bet that out of 303 million Americans, there are maybe 50 million who aren’t like that. But, collectively, they’re still a bunch of uncultured imbeciles."
So far, no other candidates for the mayoralty have taken issue with M Brûlé’s statements.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
4th of July greetings from Walt [and Ed.] !!!
Happy Independence Day
to all our American readers
from Walt [and Ed.!]
Monday, July 1, 2013
PQ not so PC as TROC?
Too many abbreviations? Walt will provide a glossary. Let's start with "PQ". Before two-letter abbreviations for states and provinces were standardised, "PQ" was the commonly accepted shorthand for "Province of Quebec" or "Province du Québec" to be more PC -- note the accent. Today the correct form is "QC", while "PQ" refers to the Parti Québecois, the quasi-separatist political party which misgoverns la Belle Province.
The PQ, as well as being committed to (one day) seceding from The Rest Of Canada (TROC), is of a decidedly pinkish hue, thus resolutely secular humanist in its values. After the Roman Catholic Church turned its back on its own dogmas in the 1960s, that's pretty much how the majority of Québecois think things should be.
Religion now has no place in public life, and no religion or creed should receive any special consideration or accommodation. That's politically correct (PC) thinking in Québec and TROC. Or at least it was, until a few years ago, when Muslims started demanding the "right" to pray in the streets, have Islamic religious instruction in public schools, and force their womenfolk to cover all or parts of their bodies against the gaze of infidels. See "Hijab, niqab, burqa -- what's the difference?".
Of course what's fair for the followers of the Prophet must also be fair for the Jews, Sikhs...just about everyone except Christians. Freedom of religion, dontcha know! It's PC! And so Canadians are treated to the spectacle of turban-clad Mounties, looking like extras in Carry On Up The Khyber. Walt is waiting for a Sikh to bring a human rights complaint (or a lawsuit, if in the USA) to force the NHL to let him wear a turban instead of a helmet.
Soccer, of course, is a different story. Soccer players don't wear helmets because -- let's be real -- how can you hurt your head playing a slow sissy game like "football"? Well, OK, you could get beaned by a viciously kicked ball, but wearing anything on your head is still not done... unless you're a Sikh. Along with his holy drawers and kirpan, a Sikh should be able to wear his turban, they say, because it's part of his religion. And anyone who objects is a racist bigot!
So what, said the Québec Soccer Federation? A few weeks back the QSF passed a bylaw forbidding the wearing of turbans or anything else while playing the beautiful game. Accusations of religious discrimination and being less-than-PC immediately emanated from the lamestream media and swivel-eyed loons of the human rights industry. To which Pauline Marois, the PQ premier of Québec replied, so what?! This is Québec and we'll follow our own customs and values.
A couple of weeks later, following condemnation from the Canadian Soccer Federation and a statement from the international governing body (FIFA) that it didn't care one way or the other, the QSF backed down. But there remains in QC the very strong sentiment that accommodation of religious and ethnic minorities has gone too far.
Having determined the direction from which the political wind is blowing, the Québec Minister of Citizenship, Bernard Drainville, has announced that he's pushing ahead with a long-promised "Charter of Values" which (he thinks) will resolve the problem of religious accommodation, once and for all. He pointed to a public opinion poll that asked whether Québecois think religious accommodation is still an important problem. Two-thirds of the 1506 respondents polled said yes.
When asked whether doing away with "unreasonable accommodations" would promote a more integrated society, 70%. Said M Drainville, "We do want this debate to be about what unites us, not what divides us. What unites us. And I do think equality between men and women, between all citizens notwithstanding origin, religion, mother tongue -- I do think these are important values if we want to build in Québec a united society."
A united society... Wouldn't that be something... If putting an end to extreme political correctness in Québec works, perhaps TROC could try it! And if it works in Canada -- as if! -- perhaps the other half of North America could have a go. We could even give the principle a name... something like "majority rule"!
The PQ, as well as being committed to (one day) seceding from The Rest Of Canada (TROC), is of a decidedly pinkish hue, thus resolutely secular humanist in its values. After the Roman Catholic Church turned its back on its own dogmas in the 1960s, that's pretty much how the majority of Québecois think things should be.
Religion now has no place in public life, and no religion or creed should receive any special consideration or accommodation. That's politically correct (PC) thinking in Québec and TROC. Or at least it was, until a few years ago, when Muslims started demanding the "right" to pray in the streets, have Islamic religious instruction in public schools, and force their womenfolk to cover all or parts of their bodies against the gaze of infidels. See "Hijab, niqab, burqa -- what's the difference?".
Of course what's fair for the followers of the Prophet must also be fair for the Jews, Sikhs...just about everyone except Christians. Freedom of religion, dontcha know! It's PC! And so Canadians are treated to the spectacle of turban-clad Mounties, looking like extras in Carry On Up The Khyber. Walt is waiting for a Sikh to bring a human rights complaint (or a lawsuit, if in the USA) to force the NHL to let him wear a turban instead of a helmet.
Soccer, of course, is a different story. Soccer players don't wear helmets because -- let's be real -- how can you hurt your head playing a slow sissy game like "football"? Well, OK, you could get beaned by a viciously kicked ball, but wearing anything on your head is still not done... unless you're a Sikh. Along with his holy drawers and kirpan, a Sikh should be able to wear his turban, they say, because it's part of his religion. And anyone who objects is a racist bigot!
So what, said the Québec Soccer Federation? A few weeks back the QSF passed a bylaw forbidding the wearing of turbans or anything else while playing the beautiful game. Accusations of religious discrimination and being less-than-PC immediately emanated from the lamestream media and swivel-eyed loons of the human rights industry. To which Pauline Marois, the PQ premier of Québec replied, so what?! This is Québec and we'll follow our own customs and values.
A couple of weeks later, following condemnation from the Canadian Soccer Federation and a statement from the international governing body (FIFA) that it didn't care one way or the other, the QSF backed down. But there remains in QC the very strong sentiment that accommodation of religious and ethnic minorities has gone too far.
Having determined the direction from which the political wind is blowing, the Québec Minister of Citizenship, Bernard Drainville, has announced that he's pushing ahead with a long-promised "Charter of Values" which (he thinks) will resolve the problem of religious accommodation, once and for all. He pointed to a public opinion poll that asked whether Québecois think religious accommodation is still an important problem. Two-thirds of the 1506 respondents polled said yes.
When asked whether doing away with "unreasonable accommodations" would promote a more integrated society, 70%. Said M Drainville, "We do want this debate to be about what unites us, not what divides us. What unites us. And I do think equality between men and women, between all citizens notwithstanding origin, religion, mother tongue -- I do think these are important values if we want to build in Québec a united society."
A united society... Wouldn't that be something... If putting an end to extreme political correctness in Québec works, perhaps TROC could try it! And if it works in Canada -- as if! -- perhaps the other half of North America could have a go. We could even give the principle a name... something like "majority rule"!
Canada Day quiz: how smart are you, EH?
Happy Canada Day
Bonne fête du Canada
à tous nos lecteurs canadiens
to all our Canadian readers
Here, thanks to Agent 6 and the Toronto Star, is a Canada Day quiz to test your knowledge of the Great White North. Have a good one, EH!
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