Middle East "refugees" refuse to live in cold places

Walt has some comforting news for Canucks worried that newly-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might make good on his promise to import 25,000 refugees from Syria -- supposedly -- by the end of the year.

From The Japan Times comes a story of a busload of migrants from Syria and Iraq who were taken by MV, the Swedish migration agency, to Limedsforsen, a village near the Norwegian border. They took one look, and refused to get off the bus, demanding instead to be taken to a big city, or maybe even Germany.

Why? Because, they said, Limedsforsen was isolated and too cold. Interviewed on Swedish TV, one of the refugees said, "They told us we were going to live here, but it’s not possible for everyone. There are children and a pregnant woman. It’s too cold, there are no shops and no doctor."

A spokesthingy for MV told AFP, "We don’t have an alternative solution. This is all we have to offer them." As the Muslim invasion of Europe continues, about 10,000 supposed refugees are making their way to Sweden every week. The county, with a population of less than 10 million, expects to receive almost 200,000 asylum applications by the end of the year.

Walt's advice to Canadians is to confirm, not deny the tales of endless winters in the Great White North. Post plenty of pictures of snow-covered landscapes, and don't forget the igloos and polar bears. And many good lucks to you, by Jove!

VIDEO: Embarrassing truths about Clinton, Libya and Syria (Ron Paul)

Ron Paul and Daniel McAdams talk about the political theater on Capitol Hill. The supposed investigation into the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 turns out to be a remarkably bipartisan coverup. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats will ask the real questions -- about why America was in Libya in the first place -- because they both agree on the policy.



Click here to read the transcript of this conversation on the Ron Paul fansite.

Vast majority of US young people unfit for military service

Some interesting statistics about the US military appear in this week's Economist. You've heard the old slogan "Our people are our greatest asset"? Turns out finding good "assets" is a big problem for the American services.

In an article headed "Who will fight the next war?", the newsmagazine reveals "a growing disconnect between American society and the armed forces that claim to represent it." No-one wants to join the navy and see the world, or join the army or the air force or the marines.

Even worse, if every young American (aged 17 to 24) were willing to enlist, chances are that less than 30% of them would be found able. Which means that 70% or more would be rejected as ineligible.

Ineligibility varies by state, according to Mission: Readiness, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization led by senior retired military leaders. If your state has an "unfitness rate" -- that's what I'd call it -- of 70% or less, you're not in bad shape... or at least, things could be worse. Unfortunately, only 13 of the Paranoid States of America have a "UR" that low. That leaves, errr, 37 states of whose young people 71% to 78% would be deemed ineligible.

What makes a person ineligible for military service? Here's the Economist's checklist, which Walt presents as a public service, not as a handy guide to staying out of the army (etc).

* Inadequate education - the result of  ever-declining educational standards. Nearly half of those who would otherwise be eligible are disqualified because they dropped out of high school, or, typically (the Economist says) because most young Americans cannot do tricky sums without a calculator.

* Criminal record - a particular problem for young black men, about a third of whom will have been convicted of something or other by the time they're 24.  That accounts, at least in part, for the high numbers in DC and the deep south.

* Obesity - a greater problem for women (especially BBWs) than for men, thus a headache [bellyache? Ed.] for the military as it strives for "gender parity". If you have any doubt about the fattening of America, take a look at Judge Judy sometime.

* Visible tattoos - on hands or faces, that is. Why this should be a problem, I don't know, but Harry-with-the-snake-on-his-face [John Candy character on SCTV. Ed.] will never get to wear a uniform.

If you're 17 to 24 and don't have any of the problems mentioned, Walt suggests you hie yourself off to the local mall, where a recruiter will be lurking [near the donut shop? Ed.] to pounce on you. Because it's so difficult to get anyone to join (the Economist points out), the military offers a seriously fine array of signing bonuses, training programmes and other perqs. Of course you may get killed for no good reason somewhere in the Middle East, but what the hell.

Canadian Armed Forces' "Operation Hop on Her"

Meet General Tom Lawson, formerly Canada's Chief of Defence Staff. His retirement in July had nothing to do his claim in June that sexual harassment was still an issue in the Canadian Armed Forces because men were "biologically wired in a certain way."

General Lawson was commenting on a report by former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Marie Deschamps, who had looked into a number of reports of sexual assault and harassment in the Canadian military. Her report, released on April 30th, raised warnings about a "sexualized culture" that subjected women in uniform to abuse ranging from sexual jokes and harassment to rape. She concluded that sexual misconduct was not only "endemic" in the Canadian Forces, but accepted by the military leadership.

Strong stuff, eh! To deal with the politically incorrect situation, the Canucks chose a lady, Lieutenant-General Christine Whitecross, to head a special team to, errr... well... deal with it.

But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's more! Incoming top dog General Jon Vance unveiled a hard-hitting plan to crack down on sexual misconduct in the ranks and send a tough message to those who engage in sexual harassment, assault or other inappropriate behaviour. He called it "Operation Honour".

But, Canadian boys being Canadian boys, it didn’t take long for some uniformed wags to come up with a new name for the plan. Some recruits at the Royal Military College, as well as other Canadian Forces personnel including individuals at National Defence headquarters in Ottawa, transmuted "Op Honour" to "Hop On `Er". [Geddit? If not, imagine saying "Op Honour" with a French-Canadian accent. It's a pun! See, now? Ed.]

Military officers told the Ottawa Citizen (our source for this story) that they'd heard such terminology, but couldn't say how widespread the use of the phrase has been. Canadian Forces spokesthingy Captain Jean-François Lambert said in an e-mail to the paper that the crude rephrasing of "Operation Honour" is unacceptable and not condoned. "These matters do not call for levity. This type of behaviour is one of the many reasons [Gen. Vance] has implemented Operation Honour. We expect all members [of the military] to take this issue seriously."

But how seriously does the CAF take it?  After not quite three months, Lt-Gen. Whitecross has been reassigned. The new head of the "Strategic Response Team on Sexual Misconduct" is Rear Admiral Jennifer Bennett, who took over on September 28th.

In her short time on the job, Lt-Gen. Whitecross racked up a lot of air miles, on Canuck taxpayers' dime. She visited 13 military bases and installations across the Great Not-so-white North to hear directly about sexual misconduct. [From whom did she hear? Ed.] She also travelled to the USA, whose armed forces have a stellar record on the file, as well as France, Australia, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Asked about the rather sudden departure of Lt-Gen. Whitecross, Capt. Lambert explained that Rear Admiral Bennett, previously in charge of reserves and military cadets, will still report to Lt-Gen. Whitecross, who is now in charge of the military personnel command. And, he said, "the overall effort against sexual misconduct is led by the Chief of the Defence Staff." So that's OK then.

Capt. Lambert added that the military believes it has made significant progress dealing with sexual misconduct but "we cannot expect to change culture overnight." Which is more or less what General Lawson said. Capt. Lambert's retirement is expected to be announced shortly.

Humorous footnote: Walt cannot refrain from repeating a story about two officers in a Canadian regiment [the Forlorn Scots? Ed.] who were chatting in the mess.
Said the first one, "Did you hear about old Smythe? Got drummed out of the service."
"Why?" asked the second.
"Got caught screwing a polar bear," was the reply.
"Male or female polar bear?" was the next question.
"Male, of course!" was the response. "Nothing wrong with old Smythe!"

Militant Islamists steal from German churches to fund ISIS

Don't kid yourself that the Muslim invasion of Europe, now in full spate, is peaceful. Nor are all the sons of the Prophet flooding in from the Middle East and Africa "moderate Muslims" -- an oxymoronical phrase in these days. Among the hundreds of thousands of "refugees" being welcomed into Germany (to name just one foolish host) are 1000s of Islamic militants dedicated to waging jihad against all non-believers.

In Koln (Cologne), eight Muslim militants are currently on trial on charges of stealing chalices, crosses, and other items from churches and schools between 2011 and 2014 in order to assist the Islamic State (ISIS) and other Islamist rebel groups in Syria. Three of the eight men are also due to stand trial in nearby Düsseldorf on separate charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization.

At the center of the gang is a Moroccan man who prosecutors say appeared in the German section of a YouTube video, which encourages Muslims to join in the jihad. A court spokesman said that the "Islamic State" flag was visible in the video. According to the charges, the 26-year-old traveled to Syria to take part in training at an IS military camp.

According to a report from the German broadcast agency Deutsche Welle, the gang allegedly stole 19,000 euros worth of goods from across Cologne and Siegen, often leaving a trail of damage behind them. The prosecutor told the jury that on breaking into the churches, the group allegedly stole offertory collection boxes, crosses, chalices and various other objects "dedicated to church services and religious worship." From schools, the Muslims allegedly stole money, laptops and a cash card.

The object of the thefts and was to raise money for ISIS and "other Islamist rebel groups" in Syria. The latter would include the rebels whom the Prez and his allies are arming to fight Basher Assad. Thus the jihadists might well be considered members of the coalition! Keen choice o' friends, Mr. O!

How an Irishman, rather than an Italian, became Pope

Walt had a rare E2E [eyeball-to-eyeball] with Agent 5 yesterday, and came away with this little bit of Catholic humour...

There were two Catholic boys, Timothy Murphy and Antonio Secola,whose lives paralleled each other in amazing ways. In the same year Timothy was born in Ireland, Antonio was born in Italy.

Faithfully they attended parochial school from kindergarten through their senior year in high school. They took their vows to enter the priesthood early in college, and upon graduation, became priests. Their careers came to amaze the world, but it was generally acknowledged that Antonio Secola was just a wee cut above Timothy Murphy in all respects.

Their rise through the ranks of Bishop, Archbishop and finally Cardinal was swift to say the least and the Catholic world knew that when the present Pope died, it would be one of the two who would become the next Pope. In time the Pope did die, and the College of Cardinals went to work. In less time than anyone had expected, white smoke rose from the chimney and the world waited to see whom they had chosen.

The world, Catholic, Protestant and secular, was surprised to learn that Timothy Murphy had been elected Pope!

Antonio Secola was beyond surprise. He was devastated, because even with all of Timothy's gifts, Antonio knew he was better qualified. With gall that shocked the Cardinals, Antonio Secola asked for a private session with them in which he candidly asked, "Why Timothy?"

After a long silence, an old Cardinal took pity on the bewildered man and rose to reply. "We knew you were the better of the two, but we just could not bear the thought of the leader of the Roman Catholic Church being called POPE SE-COLA!"

Anti-Muslim motive for Swedish school killings

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

These words are taken from "The New Colossus", a sonnet written in 1993 by American poet Emma Lazarus. The poem is engraved on a bronze plaque mounted inside the lower level of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

The country that has really really embraced the liberal sentiment of these words is not the USA, but Sweden. The Swedes are famous for being willing hosts to the scum of the earth: draft dodgers, deserters, refugees and asylum-seekers. They accept almost without question anyone who sets fut on their soil. But this week's bizarre incident in Trollhattan, an industrial town in southern Sweden, suggests Swedes' welcoming attitude may be changing.

The so-far-unidentified masked man pictured here, walked into Kronan School in Trollhattan, calmly walked around the building, even stopping to have his picture taken with students, and then stabbed two people to death.

The lamestream media took great pains, at first, to describe the murders as senseless, without apparent motive, and perhaps some kind of copycat killings related to the shootings at Umpqua College in Oregon earlier this month. A closer look at the facts suggests otherwise.

First of all, take a look at the helmet the masked sword-wielder is wearing. Looks familiar, doesn't it? But before we rush to portray the killer as a neo-Nazi -- the "usual suspects" lie told by American media in the Umpqua case -- consider the following.

Trollhattan is a grimy industrial town of 56,000 people. By end of 2013, 10,373 of those people were foreign-born, with most coming from the Middle East, the Balkans and Ethiopia. A majority of the students at Kronan School are foreign-born followers of the Prophet.

Now consider the identities of the victims. They were 20-year-old Lavin Eskandar, a "mentor" at the school, and Ahmed Hassan, a 15-year-old student. Taking into account discoveries they made when searching the man's home, the way he dressed, his behaviour at the scene and the way he selected his victims -- hint: they were Muslims -- police have labelled the stabbing a "hate crime".

"All together," said the Swedish chef [chief, surely! Ed.] this gives a picture that the perpetrator had a racist motive when he committed the crimes at Kronan School."

Of course it could be that the killer thought someone should take up arms against the Muslim invasion of his country. Since he died after being shot by police, we'll never know.

"Refugees" in Slovenia burn tents, demand better accommodation

Since one picture is allegedly worth 1000 words, Walt will just show you this one, taken recently at a transit camp for "refugees" in Brezice, Slovenia.

Apparently the "refugees" -- most of whom are actually economic migrants from Asia and Africa -- aren't happy with the way they're being treated. They torched the tents at the camp to protest at the slow process of registering them and moving them to the Austrian border, witnesses said.

They have also complained of a lack of food, water and blankets. "Where are the free houses?", they seem to be saying. "And the cars?"

Last week Hungary closed its border with Croatia and Serbia and refused to let any more migrants cross, citing security concerns. As a result, the migrants have been diverted to Slovenia on their way to western Europe. Slovenian authorities say they have been overwhelmed by the nearly 20,000 migrants that have arrived since Friday. All they can handle, they say, is 2500 per day day.

The Slovenian army and the police are working to manage the flow, but aid agencies have been warning of dire conditions as bottlenecks develop at border crossings along the route, just as temperatures are beginning to drop. But there is no sign that the numbers of migrants and refugees is slowing.

Politically correct footnote: Walt found this story on the BBC News website. The Beeb, always careful to be absolutely PC, adds this "Note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants."

New Canuck PM to have a little talk with Archbishop of Ottawa about what it means to be a Catholic

When Ed. told you on Sunday that I would be in Canada for the federal election on 19/10, he described two of the parties' leaders -- Justin Trudeau (Liberal) and Tom Mulcair (NDP) as "cafeteria Catholics". Some readers may think we (Ed. and I) are being judgmental. Others may have no idea what we're talking about. I will explain.

To be a practising Roman Catholic means more than just being baptized and calling yourself Catholic when the census-taker knocks at the door. [Do they still do that? Ed.] It means accepting and applying the teachings and commandments of Holy Mother Church in one's day-to-day life. Not just on Sunday, but every day.

When I say "the teachings and commandments", I mean all of them. You can't pick and choose, as you would in a cafeteria. That means you can't be a good Catholic and go along with the secular humanist orthodoxies of the modern age. Some ideas and acts which are now acceptable to society at large are simply wrong -- sinful -- for Catholics.

Abortion is wrong. Artificial birth control is wrong. Homosexual acts are wrong. Same-sex "marriages" are wrong. Receiving Holy Communion or other Sacraments is wrong for Catholics who have remarried after being divorced.

That means that faithful -- full of Faith -- Catholics are almost by definition social conservatives. All those wrong are more or less permissible for the majority of "Christians", as well as non-believers. But there is one wrong which is dear to the hearts of a lot of social conservatives. That's capital punishment, which is a sin, condemned by God in the Fifth Commandment.

Yet there are political leaders of all stripes, in North America and Europe, who call themselves Catholics but ignore the commandments of God and His Church. One such is Justin Trudeau, the newly elected Prime Minister of Canada.

M Trudeau is nothing if not "progressive". As such, he supports abortion on demand, LGBT rights, same-sex marriage, the whole lot. (He's against capital punishment though.) Yet he goes to church every now and then, and receives Holy Communion. Whether he commits a mortal sin by so doing is not for me to judge. But Most Rev. Christian Riesbeck, Auxillary Bishop of Ottawa, has suggested that M Trudeau could be denied communion for his public stance on abortion.

The Church’s Code of Canon Law states (Canon 915) that those who are "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion." On May 23rd, Bishop Riesbeck told LifeSiteNews, "Out of concern for safeguarding the reverence that is due Our Lord in the Eucharist, and to avoid scandal, one could possibly apply this norm even in the case of a pro-abortion Catholic politician who is extremely vocal about his position."

Now that he is the Prime Minister-designate, M Trudeau says that he is hopes to speak soon with Bishop Riesbeck's boss, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, to clarify the implications of his public stance in favour of legal abortion.
Bishop Riesbeck's remarks in May were prompted by M Trudeau's declaration that all Liberal candidates must support access to legal abortion, regardless of their own beliefs on the matter. A day or so later, Abp. Prendergast told the Catholic Register that he would not refuse Trudeau Holy Communion without first having met with him.

The CBC reports that a date for the PM's meeting with Abp. Prendergast has yet to be established. They do not say whether the meeting will take place in the prelate's office or in the confessional.

Further reading: "Justin Trudeau 'looks forward' to meeting with Ottawa archbishop about receiving Communion"

Canucks heave Steve, elect the Hair Apparent

It was a dark and stormy night. [This is not the Bulwer-Lytton contest. Start again. Ed.] Seriously, then, I'm using toothpicks to keep my eyes open after a loooong night following the Canadian federal election results on the idiot's lantern. It was a night to remember. [No movie titles, please. Ed.]

No analysis this morning, just the numbers and a couple of comments. Fear and loathing of Stephen Harper, impelled Canadians to show him the exit/sortie. That this would happen was apparent for weeks. The question was who would replace him, with some wondering if the opposition NDP and Liberals would split the anti-Harper vote, allowing the Dear Leader to rise from the coffin he built for himself.

Turns out Canucks are smarter than that.There was an organized push for strategic voting. ABH (Anybody But Harper) voters were asked to mark their ballots for the candidate with the best chance of beating the Tories in their riding, and most decided that would be the Liberal. That caused the NDP vote to collapse, even in long-time strongholds like central Toronto.

The NDP lost big in Québec, where the aberrant "orange crush" of 2011 turned into an "orange crash". Québécois are great bandwagon jumpers too, and, once they saw which was the wind was blowing, turned around to get it at their backs. It must be said too that the niqab issue hurt the NDP in la Belle Province, which, interestingly, seems more committed to Canadian values than TROC.

In the end, Mr. Harpoon's Conservatives didn't do that badly, hanging on to 99 seats in the 338-seat House of Commons. It was the NDP collapse -- they finished with 44 seats compared with over 100 before -- that propelled Justin Trudeau's Liberals into government, with a comfortable majority -- 184 seats.

There is much rejoicing in the urban liberal parts of Canada. In his acceptance speech this morning (Montréal time), Trudeau II spoke of "sunny ways", inclusive politics, celebrating diversity (especially if it wears a Sikh or Muslim head covering), yada yada yada. He channelled Obama 2008, with lots of talk about hope and change, concluding with "For Canadians, better is always possible."

Well... yeah... Canucks are glad to see the back of a prime minister even more despised than Brian Baloney. In the euphoria of the moment, nobody's talking much about what happens next. Expectations of M Trudeau are high, very high, and it will be interesting to see to what extent he can rise to meet them.

Further reading:
"Justin Trudeau's turn to face the weight of expectations" - Neil Macdonald (no relation to Sir John Eh), CBC News
"Stephen Harper's legacy: Good, bad and a dose of ugly" - the estimable Terry Milewski, also on the CBC News site.

Where's Walt(o) now? Notes from Ed.

Ed. here. Walt has left me to shovel out our cabin in the pines while he is at an undisclosed location in the Great No-longer-white North. Tomorrow night he and Poor Len Canayen and two of Walt's trusted agents will sit in the middle of a large room, surrounded by TVs and computers, tracking and discussing the returns from the Canadian federal election. Many a good time will be had by all. Or not, as the case may be.

Walt has predicted the result of said election. He thinks Trudeaumania II will produce a Liberal minority. (Lifetime pct .976.) The Liberal minority, he says, will have been elected by the visible minorities of Canada's three big metropolitan areas: Vancouver, Montréal and, above all, Toronto.

The Canadian press -- not to be confused with Canadian Press -- labour under the delusion that their endorsements matter. The Toronto Star endorsed Justin Trudeau's Liberals. No surprise there, the Red Star being so liberal, so PC as to make any other endorsement impossible. La Presse, of Montréal, also chooses le Parti Libéral, for reasons which make sense in that city.

The oddest endorsement of this election -- perhaps of this century, so far -- comes from the good grey Globe and Mail. The Glob's editor, David Walmsley, is an Ulsterman, who could hardly be expected to plump for either M Trudeau or Mr Mulcair, both Cafeteria Catholics. But he couldn't bring himself to stand up for the dictatorial Steve Harper, so penned a leader calling on Canadians to vote for the Conservatives, on condition that Mr. Harpoon resign immediately after winning!

No, dear reader, Ed. kids you not. See "Globe and Mail mocked on Twitter after endorsing Tories but not Harper". Mr. Walmsley evidently thinks it possible to suck and blow at the same time. Best Tweet: "I endorse the Globe but not the Mail." Poor Len's comment: "It's like calling the Montréal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup, providing they trade Carey Price for Jonathan Bernier." (Canuck readers will doubtless understand that one.)

Speaking of les Glorieux, with last night's victory over Detroit, they have now won the first six games of the new season, the best start in the history of the club. Sadly, the very fine game was once again not available to Francophone (= French-speaking) fans residing west of Québec who don't subscribe to Robbers ridiculously expensive NHL Centre Ice package.

The game was telecast, in English, on Hockey Night in Canada on the CBC, with the Toronto game relegated to CITY. But the TVA coverage, which should have been on "Le forfait en français", was not. Channels 423 and 424 were dark, once again. See "Canada's team MIA from 'Hockey Night in Canada'" (WWW 11/10/15). If you're a Bell customer and subscribe to the "NHL French package", complain!

That's it from this corner of the woods. Walt will return on Tuesday, or possibly Wednesday depending on how long it takes him to dry out.

"Smoke of Satan" blowing through Synod on the Family

Nearing death, and ruing his role in approving the modernist innovations and "reforms" of Vatican II, Pope Paul VI is famously (or infamously) said "The smoke of Satan has entered the Church".

Half a century later, the Archbishop of Astana (Kazakhstan), Most Rev. Tomash Peta, used the same phrase in addressing the Bishops' Synod on the Family, in progress [another word, perhaps? Ed.] at the Vatican. "During the Synod last year [2014]," the prelate said, "'the smoke of Satan' was trying to enter the aula of Paul VI."

On its website, Voice of the Family, a coalition of pro-life groups, published the text of His Excellency's remarks, with his permission, under the headline "We can perceive the 'infernal smoke' in synod interventions".

What is "the smoke of Satan"? Archbishop Peta identifies it with "the proposal to admit to Holy Communion those who are divorced and living in new civil unions; the affirmation that cohabitation is a union which may have in itself some values; the pleading for homosexuality as something which is allegedly normal."

"Some synod fathers [he added] have not understood correctly the appeal of Pope Francis for an open discussion and started to bring forward ideas which contradict the bi-millennial Tradition of the Church, rooted in the Eternal Word of God. Unfortunately, one can still perceive the smell of this 'infernal smoke' in some items of the Instrumentum Laboris [working document] and also in the interventions of some synod fathers this year.

"To my mind, the main task of a Synod consists in indicating again to the Gospel of the marriage and of the family and that means to the teaching of Our Saviour. It [must not be] allowed to destroy the fundament -– to destroy the rock."

The Prez lied! US occupation of Afghanistan to continue until 2017

The Paranoid States of America has been fighting a "war against terrorism" in Afghanistan -- not to mention Iraq, Syria, etc etc and so forth -- for 14 years. The Afghanistan war is the longest in American history, and, Walt suggests, the second-most futile. (Vietnam would take the dubious honour of being the most futile.)

It will be remembered (or should be) that the Prez promised, when seeking election and re-election, that he would bring US troops home from the sandpit by the end of his term. He lied.

Today POTUS announced plans to keep nearly 10,000 American troops in Afghanistan through most of next year. 5500 will remain even after he leaves office in 2017, handing off the conflict to a successor. Wouldn't it be ironic if the third commander-in-chief to oversee this misguided and mishandled war turned out to be Hellery Clinton. It would be interesting to watch the Empress trying to pin the blame not just on the immediate past president, but on the past-past president!

Mr. O called the new plan a "modest but meaningful" extension of the US military mission, which he swears he originally planned to end next year. Why didn't he do it? In the words of W.C. Fields, "Things happened." The Prez acknowledged America's weariness of the lengthy conflict, but said he was "firmly convinced we should make this extra effort."

He may be convinced, but Walt is not. Like Ron Paul, Walt believes the USA has no business intervening in the Muslim civil wars in Afghanistan (and Iraq, Syria, etc etc and so forth) -- never did, never will. American blood is being shed. American treasure is being poured down the desert rathole. And for what? To bring Western civilization and democracy to the benighted Islamists? They don't want it and won't have it! Better to just let ISIS, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the rest duke it out. Will any serious contender for the presidensity have the guts to say that...and mean it?! Let's see....

Footnote: Let's be fair. It really was Dubya, not the Prez, who got America into Afghanistan. But it's not like he won't have a war to call his own and leave to his successor as a parting gift. Earlier this week, POTUS announced that he was sending US troops into Cameroon (central Africa) to help defeat the ISIS affiliate, Boko Haram. Boko Haram (translated as "Western education evil") is just one of the Islamic terrorist groups who benefitted from the US-led intervention in Libya. Thank you Mr. Obama...and Ms. Clinton.

Further reading: "How Can Anyone Still Be An Interventionist?" by Jacob G. Hornberger, on the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity website.

Cardinal Dolan calls faithful Catholics the "new minority"!

Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, has finally figured out that it's the Catholics who are true to the Faith of our fathers who are being ignored by Church, in her headlong rush to embrace modernism and minority groups and "those who may feel excluded" such as "the single, those with same-sex attraction, those divorced, widowed, or recently arrived in a new country, those with disabilities, the aged, the housebound, racial and ethnic minorities."

Writing in his blog on October 12th, His Eminence points to the danger of overlooking faithful Catholic families, the kind of people  he calls a "new minority", even in the Church.

...there is now a new minority in the world and even in the Church. I am thinking of those who, relying on God’s grace and mercy, strive for virtue and fidelity:
- couples who -- given the fact that, at least in North America, only half of our people even enter the sacrament of matrimony -- approach the Church for the sacrament;
- couples who, inspired by the Church’s teaching that marriage is forever, have persevered through trials;
- couples who welcome God’s gifts of many babies;
- a young man and woman who have chosen not to live together until marriage;
- a gay man or woman who wants to be chaste;
- a couple who has decided that the wife would sacrifice a promising professional career to stay at home and raise their children.
These wonderful people today often feel themselves a minority, certainly in culture, but even, at times in the Church! I believe there are many more of them than we think, but, given today’s pressure, they often feel excluded.

Walt congratulates Cardinal Dolan on finally getting it, or at least some of it. The problems of the mainstream Roman Catholic Church stem in large part from trying to adapt the Truths that Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Fathers of the Church taught us to the trendy lies relentlessly repeated by (as the prelate says) the media and the liberal "cafeteria Catholics" who follow the teachings they like but disregard the ones they don't.

Who is to blame for the loss of Faith and the loss of millions upon millions of believing Catholics who feel they have no place in today's Church? Step forward the modernists in the Church hierarchy, up to and including a couple of "sainted" popes who have led us astray for the last half-century. That would include, errr, Cardinal Dolan.

Memo to Cardinal Dolan from Ed.: Your Eminence badly needs an editor and/or graphic artist who knows how to deal with run-on sentences and huge blocks of type. I offer my services for my usual modest honorarium.

加拿大的中国家长，请看！Chinese-Canadian parents please read!

Contributed by Agent 78 and published by Walt as a service to the concerned parents of Ontario. For more information, click here to visit the Parents As First Educators website.

Don't mention the Muslims!

One has to wonder -- perhaps not for very long -- at the reluctance of the lamestream press in the USA and Canada to identify murderers, hostage-takers, assassins and terrorists as Muslims. Could it have anything to do with political correctness, or fear of being prosecuted for fomenting Islamophobia? Errr, quite possibly. Cases in point....

Item: In the Philippines, four hostages -- two Canadians, a Norwegian, and a Filipina -- appear in a video released by their captors, appealing to authorities to stop military operations in the Philippines and to negotiate for their freedom with the Islamist militants who hold them. For details of the story, see "ISIS in Philippines: New video shows kidnapped Canadian, Norwegian hostages pleading for life", on the International Business Times website. [Funny that IBT didn't mention the Filipina. Ed.]

The video can be found on YouTube, but, curiously, is not being shown on either the Canuck government's CBC-TV or the main independent network CTV. Why would that be? The voice-over identifies the kidnappers as being linked to Al-Qaeda. ISIS flags appear behind the captives. Looks like the work of Islamic extremists, wouldn't you say? But neither CBC or CTV wants to mention that fact, in the week preceding an election in which the wearing of niqabs (headgear worn by religious Muslim women) has become a hot button, with over 80% of Canadians against the "accommodation" of the Muslim minority.

Item: Remember the Shafias? They're the Muslim man, his No. 2 wife and son -- all immigrants to Canada -- who murdered No. 1 wife and her three daughters in an honour killing which Shafia père blamed on the girls' sinful desires to wear western clothing, and date boys, just like Canadian girls. See "GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY in Shafia honour killings" (WWW 29/1/12).

The honour killings -- that's what they were -- took place on 30 June 2009, when the four women were locked in a car which was then pushed into the Rideau Canal. Convictions were registered in January 2012, and the three Muslim miscreants were sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, which is the maximum provided for in the Criminal Code of Canada.

Now, 45 months after their conviction, the killers have filed a 110-page factum with the Ontario Court of Appeal arguing for a new trial. On what grounds, you may well ask. Why, they were victims of "cultural stereotyping", of course! They say the trial judge should have intervened when the Crown presented arguments that they believe improperly swayed jurors in their decision-making.

Like what? Well, the Shafias say, the Crown was so politically incorrect as to suggest that their religion had something to do with their motivation for killing over half of their immediate family. And not only that! The document also questions the testimony of University of Toronto Professor Shahrzad Mojab -- himself a Muslim -- an "honour killing" expert who testified on for the prosecution. His expert evidence, they say, might have turned the jury against them. "Even assuming that the jury may have legitimately been assisted by evidence about Afghan cultural norms or concepts of honour, the way in which Dr. Mojab's evidence was presented exceeded that purpose and created enormous prejudice."

Item: The "progressive" parties -- Liberals and NDP -- opposing Steve Harper's Conservatives in next week's Canadian election are making a meal of the Harper government's introduction, in the last parliament, of the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, which proscribes honour killings, female genital mutilation, forced marriages and the like, even though most of those BCPs were already covered in the Criminal Code. What they don't mention, in their scathing criticisms, is that such practices do exist in Canada, mainly within the Muslim communities.

Allah forbid that anyone should suggest that the values and customs of the followers of the Prophet Mohammed are somehow different from those of the society into which they desire to insinuate themselves. Doing so would suggest that our Western Christian (?) ways are superior to theirs, which we know -- or the politicians and media would have us believe -- is untrue.

Tourist sues for brain damage after hit by 16-lb pine cone

Remember Johnny Carson's old line, "May the bird of paradise leave a pine cone in your house!"? Better in your house than on your head, especially when the cone is from a bunya pine! I mean, look at the size of that thing! Imagine the damage one of those could do if it hit you on the head!

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, that's exactly the misfortune that befell US Navy veteran Sean Mace when he was visiting the Bay Area for Fleet Week last year. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, Mr. Mace says he went to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park at the Fort Mason Center to find a spot to watch the Blue Angels air show. He found what he thought was a peaceful place to read and rest in the northeast corner of the park, under a stand of coniferous Araucaria bidwillii trees. Those not up on God's language call them bunya pines or false monkey puzzle trees.

Mr. Mace was sitting under one such when a cone weighing 16 pounds fell on him and crushed his skull. Now, in the fine tradition of American law, he's suing the US government, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and the park where he was injured in the hopes of changing policies so that no one else falls victim to the same type of bizarre incident.

Oh. Yes. He wants $5,000,000 in damages too. Plus costs. His hired ambulance-chaser told the Chronicle, "This guy has an irreversible brain injury and he’s only in his mid-50s. He’s had two surgeries already and he is going to need a third.”

But, the lawyer went on, "First and foremost [Natch. Walt] the Park Service needs to do something to make sure this never happens again,” Johnson said. “This park is full of tourists and schoolchildren. Something needs to change."

Never let it be said that agencies of the US government are unresponsive to the cries of American citizens. Within mere seconds of the filing of Mr. Mace's suit, plastic fences were erected around the grove, and signs were posted warning, "Danger: Giant seed pod falling from tree".

Ed. has enlarged the image of the sign several times, but has not been able to find any disclaimer to the effect that the posting of the signs does not represent an admission of liability. If I were Mr. Mace's attorney, I'd be waving one of those signs in front of the jury. Guilty, guilty, guilty!!!

Another message from our sponsor: WD-40

Agent 6 alleges that this is a genuine ad from 1964 when WD-40 was first released. Having been around in 1964 (and long before) and old enough to understand the message, Walt is skeptical. But it must be admitted that whoever wrote this certainly had a way with words!

Second sex scandal in Rome! Pope asks forgiveness... from whom?

Wow! Another distraction from the work of the Synod on the Family currently splitting the fathers into two warring camps. (See "13 Cardinals write Pope to denounce manipulation of Synod" WWW 14/10/15)

First we had the scandalous affair of Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, a Polish theologian who, for the past 17 years, has been living in Rome. Until he was abruptly dismissed on October 3rd, he had worked as an official in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith! He was dismissed from his position in the CDF and relieved from teaching assignments in pontifical universities in Rome, following his coming out as a flaming homosexual. See "Priest in Vatican's Gay Mafia outs himself, gets fired" (WWW 3/10/15)

A Vatican spokesthingy bearing a passing resemblance to Fr. Federico Lombardi said at the time that Msgr Charamsa's high-profile coming out on the eve of the Synod was "grave and irresponsible". He was accused of trying to exert "undue media pressure" on the bishops' debate on family issues, including the Church's position on homosexuality and homosexuals.

Today, Pope Francis asked for forgiveness on Wednesday for scandals at the Vatican and in Rome, an apparent reference to the case of Msgr Charamsa and a scandal exposed in the Italian media last week about an order of priests who run a parish in an upscale neighbourhood of Rome.

According to Reuters, parishioners of Santa Teresa d'Avila parish wrote to local Church officials alleging that a clergyman there had had encounters with "vulnerable adults". Newspapers said these took place in an adjacent park often frequented by male prostitutes. Their letter said they had assembled evidence about the clergyman's illicit activities and were furious to discover that, instead of being disciplined, he had been transferred to another part of Italy.

The Holy Father was less specific. During his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis said, "Today...in the name of the Church, I ask you for forgiveness for the scandals that have occurred recently either in Rome or in the Vatican." That's all.

Asked what the Pope meant, Father Lombardi -- for it was he, as always -- was unwilling or unable to say which scandals His Holiness had in mind. But, he said, said Francis wanted to reach out to ordinary people who are "disturbed or pained" when they read about scandals caused by "the Church or men of the Church".

Further reading: "'Who am I to judge gays?', asks Pope" (WWW 29/7/13)

Pakistani immigrant withdraws sponsorship of pregnant wife, tries to send her home without their son

From north of the 49th Parallel, our resident legal beagle sends along a case report -- H.S. v R.S., 2015 BCSC 1856 -- interesting for being an unusual example of the application of common sense to the ultra-liberal Canadian immigration "system". (Agent 3 asks, "Is dis a system?")

Mrs. R.S. and the Claimant, Dr. H.S., are both from Pakistan. (Their identities have been suppressed for reasons of privacy and political correctness. Walt wouldn't be surprised if their surname is "Singh".) Dr. H.S., a veterinary surgeon aged 53, came to Canada about 35 years ago and became a Canadian citizen. Mrs. R.S. is 40 years old, and a citizen of Pakistan, where she had what the judge called an "impressive résumé" of education and employment.

In his judgment, Mr. Justice Macintosh of the Supreme Court of British Columbia wrote that the parties were introduced through a mutual friend when Mrs. R.S. was living in Pakistan and Dr. H.S. was living and working in Victoria. Mrs. R.S. came to Canada on a visitor's visa. [Walt's emphasis] The couple married in Ontario on October 25, 2012, and married again in a religious ceremony in Pakistan.

In 2013, Mrs. R.S. moved to Canada, again on a visitor's visa, where the newlyweds lived in a house in Victoria which Dr. H.S. shared with his mother. Soon after Mrs. R.S. arrived the second time, her husband agreed to sponsor her as a permanent resident under Canada's "family reunification" programme.

Sadly (but predictably?) the marriage soon disintegrated amid allegations that the husband had been physically and emotionally abusive. And of course there was the mother-in-law problem. The S's supposedly separated in March 2014, by which time Mrs. R.S. was four months pregnant. However, it wasn't until May 2014 that her husband threw her out of the house.

"Dr. H.S. withdrew his (sponsorship) support almost the same day the couple separated," said the judge, noting that it isn’t clear if that was necessary. "He was duty bound to do so in the case of divorce, and he says in an affidavit that he was advised by a lawyer to do so in the case of separation."

However, the good doctor didn't bother to inform his wife about the change in her prospects for remaining in Canada. One can imagine her surprise on receiving a departure order from Canuck immigration officials in April 2014. She then tried the old dodge of making a refugee claim to stay in Canada, alleging that she was in danger from a former fiancé back in Pakistan, but, incredibly, her claim was rejected.

Mrs. R.S. was supposed to be leave "voluntarily" or be deported in September. In anticipation of having to leave Canada, she applied to the court for an order allowing her to take with her the couple's son, 13 months old at the time of the application. The boy has spent most of his short life in the care of his mother, although a court order allows the father visitation rights of up to 20 hours a week.

Mrs. S's application was resisted by Dr. H.S., but Mr. Justice Macintosh found that it would be in the child's best interests to be with his mother. "Mrs. R.S. is clearly A [the child]'s primary parent and primary caregiver, and always has been. She still nurses him five or six times a day. The geographic location for a 13‑month‑old infant is less important than which parent the infant is with."

Counsel for Dr. H.S. argued in court that Mrs. R.S. should have done more to try to remain in Canada, an argument which earned a sharp rebuke from the judge. "Perhaps instead of contacting Canadian Immigration to revoke the sponsorship application, virtually the same day he separated from his pregnant wife, Dr. H.S. should have worked with her and with Canadian Immigration toward keeping her in the country in order to keep his son here. He perhaps regrets now the chain of events his revocation caused."

So... Mrs. R.S. et fils are (or will be) off to Pakistan. Walt's agent would suggest to Dr. H.S. [if asked, which he hasn't been! Ed.] that he get a divorce right sharpish, so that he will be free to import another bride.

13 Cardinals write Pope to denounce manipulation of Synod

From Rome we hear shocking reports of strong pushback by conservative Roman Catholic bishops against the plot of Cardinals Baldisseri and Kasper and other "progressives" to change traditional teachings of the Church on matters of divorce and homosexuality.

Vatican insider Sandro Magister, an eminently reliable source, reported Monday in Chiesa that 13 leading Cardinals wrote to Pope Francis on October 5th to express the "serious concerns" of themselves and other bishops over the procedures of the Synod on the Family. In their judgment, the rules and documents of the conclave are "designed to facilitate predetermined results on important disputed questions". They also view "Instrumentum laboris" (working document) as inadequate as a "guiding text or the foundation of a final document."

In layman's language, as Walt revealed on October 2nd, the fix is in!

Sig. Magister named 10 of the 13 Cardinals who signed the letter as:
- Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna, Italy, theologian, formerly the first president of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family;
- Thomas C. Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, Canada;
- Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, United States;
- Willem J. Eijk, Archbishop of Utrecht, Holland;
- Gerhard L. Müller, former bishop of Regensburg, Germany, since 2012 Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;
- Wilfrid Fox Napier, Archbishop of Durban, South Africa, President Delegate of the Synod (a position he also held at last year's session);
- George Pell, Archbishop Emeritus of Sydney, Australia, since 2014 Prefect in the Vatican of the Secretariat for the Economy;
- Robert Sarah, former Archbishop of Conakry, Guinea, since 2014 Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline;
- Jorge L. Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela;
- Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, Italy.

Click here to read the complete text of the Cardinals' letter to the Pope, in English, as revealed by Sig Magister in Chiesa, 12/10/15. See also "Archbishop Chaput feels 'sense of hopelessness' about Synod on Family" (WWW 9/10/15)

Yesterday, Father Federico Lombardi, the sock puppet in charge of the Vatican press office, called the leaking of the Cardinals' letter a "disruption". Because the authors of the letter intended it to remain confidential, he said, "It would be inappropriate to allow it to have any influence."

In layman's language, "Don't listen to those guys with the red hats. Just listen to the Pope, who speaks through me!"

Father Lombardi then muddied the water more than somewhat, by claiming that Cardinal Pell, who has acknowledged writing to the Pope, has said that neither the text published in Chiesa nor the list of signatories was accurate. He also said that Cardinals Erdo and Scola, named by Sig. Magister, and Cardinals Piacenza and Vingt-Trois, not identified by Sig. Magister, had denied having signed.

Meanwhile, the Jesuit periodical America reported in "Thirteen Cardinals, Including Di Nardo and Dolan, Challenged Pope’s Decisions on Synod" that the correct list of 13 cardinals includes Cardinals Caffarra, Collins, Dolan, Eijk, Müller, Napier, Pell, Sarah, and Savino -- named by Sig. Magister -- and four not on his list: Daniel Di Nardo (Archbishop of Galveston-Houston), John Njue (Archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya), Elio Sgreccia (President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life), and Norberto Rivera Carrera (Archbishop of Mexico City).

Another Vatican spokesthingy, Father Thomas Rosica, posted a link to the America article on his Twitter account, thus lending credence to the new report.

And now... this very morning, Rome time... Sig. Magister has published a follow-up to his original account, headed "The Letter of the Thirteen Cardinals to the Pope. Episode Two". He confirms the names of the signatories, and stakes his reputation on the authenticity of the text, apart perhaps from a few marginal inaccuracies and questions of form. Above all, he says, the letter is important for underlining what is at stake: control of the procedures of the Synod, and thus its outcome.

"The substance," he writes, "remains that which the statement of Cardinal Pell and even more so the interview with Cardinal Napier have confirmed: a widespread and growing unease among many synod fathers over the insistence in imposing upon them as the basis of discussion a document, the 'Instrumentum laboris', which every day shows itself more and more to be inadequate, and the fear that this with its ambiguities will contaminate the 'Relatio finalis', the writing of which is in the hands of a commission entirely appointed from on high, with an overwhelming presence of innovators."

German "Willkommenskultur" worn thin by ill-fitting "refugees"

Looks like German Chancellor Angela Merkel won't be winning the Nobel Peace Prize after all. Just last month she was rumored to be a strong contender for having opened the Fatherland's doors to a tsunami of Arab and African "refugees". "Asylum has no upper limit", she told the Herrenvolk. Besides, she argued, even if they're not all real refugees, Germany needs immigrants to work and pay taxes and support the aging native-born population.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? It's the same line being pushed throughout western Europe and North America by politically correct politicians and the liberal mainstream media. The stone truth is that "immigration is good for the host countries" is the veriest bullshit -- one of the greatest lies being of the last half-century.

Just today, the Toronto Red Star -- the official organ of the Canadian immigration and multicult lobbies -- has a lengthy article headed "Toronto holds onto its shameful title: Child poverty capital of Canada". The article is chock-full of statistics which prove, inter alia, that the "pockets of poverty" in Toronto the good coincide geographically with the ghettos which are home to tens of thousands of immigrants from Somali, Jamaica and other third-world shitholes. Here's one of them now...

Meet Hawo Ali, aged 53, who immigrated from Somalia in 1992. She had five children when she came to Canada, and has added another six since -- total 11. It might have been more, but her husband left her in 1999, leaving her to raise all those kids alone. She sells samosas and does a bit of sewing to raise a bit of income, and Walt says good for her. Any additional money to needed to keep a roof over her family's heads and food in their bellies, and pay for her and their education and health care, comes from Canadian taxpayers. Net benefit to Canada? Negative!

As many as 10,000 migrants like Ms Ali are arriving in Germany every day, according to Margaret Wente's article in today's Globe and Mail. She tells us that "Smugglers are bringing in underage children and dropping them off by the side of the highways in the middle of the night. Public services are overwhelmed. School authorities say they need 25,000 new teachers for the kids. Local officials are scrounging for places to house people. They say they’ve reached the limit."

Ms Wente refutes the claim of the liberal elites that Germany needs migrants "to subsidize their pensions, replenish their aging population and address a growing shortage of skilled workers. That would make sense [she writes] if the migrants were a lot like Germans. But they’re not. Only a small number of the newcomers are well-educated professionals. Many more are illiterate, traumatized, children, or old. The majority are young men, with few skills and nothing to do. Almost none speak German. They are a poor fit with Germany’s highly skilled, rigidly structured labour market.

"Their cultural values are a poor fit, too. As one editorial writer commented, 'Ultra-religious Muslims – and Christians – are coming face to face with a society that is indifferent to religion. Newcomers with rigid moral codes must learn to deal with the fact that in Germany gay people can openly kiss each other.'

"The refugees are also a poor fit with one another. There are Muslims and Christians, Sunnis and Shiites, Kurds, Albanians and Kosovars. They bring their ethnic tensions with them. Clashes are common in the overcrowded refugee shelters. Police say that the task of reconciling refugee factions and protecting immigrants from right-wing German groups has pushed them to their limits."

"Leaders across Europe are discovering [Ms Wente concludes] that high-minded ideals and lofty sentiments aren’t enough to persuade the public that open doors and porous borders are a good thing. And even people who admire Ms. Merkel are wondering if she has made the biggest blunder of her career."

More MH370 wreckage found? In Philippines??!!

Walt was wondering just yesterday how the search for debris from Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which vanished in March 2014, was progressing. It seemed odd to me that only one piece should be found. Today we have a report -- just in from Channel NewsAsia! -- that parts of a plane painted with the Malaysian flag have been sighted in the southern Philippines!

A man named Jamil Omar lodged a report at the Sandakan police station, claiming that a family member discovered the wreckage in a forest at Pulau Sugbay, on the island of Tawi-Tawi, in early September.

As the map shows, Tawi-Tawi is in the far southwest of the Philippine Islands, just east of Malaysia. It lies in the opposite direction from that presumed to have been taken by MH370 when last sighted, and 1000s of miles, again in the opposite direction, from the island of Réunion, where the B-777 flaperon was found.

Mr. Omar's report also claimed human skeletal remains and a Malaysian flag were inside the plane.

While Mr. Omar's report (which also claimed human skeletal remains and a Malaysian flag were inside the claim) sounds rather fanciful, Malaysian police are looking into it. Inspector-General Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar Knacker told The Sun Daily,  "There was no photograph to support the claim, so we have asked our counterpart in the Philippines to check whether there was such wreckage."

Malaysian authorities have called on the public not to speculate on the claimed sighting until officials are able to carry out an investigation, since past reports of debris sightings have, for the most part, been inaccurate. But let's speculate anyway! [Do you speculate often? How many times? Ed.]

If it turns out that whatever Mr. Omar's family saw really is wreckage from MH370, how did debris from that ill-fated plane wind up on islands in two different oceans, 1000s of miles apart? Is it possible that bits and pieces were deliberately planted, either on Réunion or Tawi-Tawi? Who would do such a thing? And why? And where did they get the pieces in the first place? Interesting questions. Great food for speculation!

Umpqua "white supremacist" shooter turns out to be, errr, mulatto

"Mulatto" is a word you don't hear much any more -- archaic and politically incorrect. Some people think it means a person who's half black and half white, like the Prez. But percentages don't matter. Ed.'s Annadale's English Dictionary defines "mulatto" as "a person that [sic] is the offspring of parents of whom one is white and the other a negro".

In South Africa a person of mixed race -- black and white -- is called "coloured". You wouldn't expect such a person to be a white supremacist, would you. But that's the label the controlled lamestream media are trying to hang on Christopher Harper-Mercer, the deranged (?) young man who murdered nine people and injured nine others at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg OR at the end of September.

The "authorities", media and other Forces For Good in America -- including the Prez -- are falling all over themselves to portray the late Mr. Harper-Mercer -- he shot himself after being wounded by police -- as some kind of neo-Nazi, white supremacist, racist pig. Here are some examples, as posted on The New Observer website.

LA Times, 2/10/15: "The gunman was described Friday as a 'hate-filled individual' with anti-religion and white supremacist leanings who had long struggled with mental health issues, law enforcement sources said."

On the same date, the Times also reported that Mr. Harper-Mercer’s Facebook profile included "a reference to Nazi Germany", although they did not reveal exactly what that "reference" was. Another unnamed "federal law enforcement source" is quoted as saying that "authorities had obtained some of Harper-Mercer's writings, as well as a note he left behind, suggesting that he supported white supremacist causes and opposed organized religion."

It's not just the American meeja. On October 3rd, the UK's Sunday Express went well over the top with this headline: "Hero who tackled France train attacker should have been at uni where Nazi fanatic killed 9".

That's enough examples. Suffice it to say that the "white supremacist" slander has been repeated by the controlled media across the USA and around the world. What they ignore -- deliberately -- is that Mr. Harper-Mercer was a mulatto, the son of a white father and black mother. Here's his picture, before and after the Photoshop treatment which CNN denies ever using.

Whaddya think? In South Africa, they used to use a "pencil test" to determine if a person was white or coloured. A pencil was pushed through the person's hair. How easily it came out determined whether the person "passed" or "failed". Obviously this isn't going to work in the case of Mr. Harper-Mercer, so we're left with only his physiognomy and skin colour. He's a shade or two whiter than the Prez, but still appears to be a "person of colour" -- a strange type to be a white supremacist.

In fact, Mr. Harper-Mercer was an open anti-white racist, as evidenced by this comment made last August on a "Black Lives Matter" site.

[Note from Ed.: I know it's a bit hard to read. Enlarging the image didn't help. What he wrote is "Fuck white racist pigs like Bernie."]

Why, then, this concerted effort to portray him as the opposite of what he was? Surely it couldn't be a deliberate attempt to incite hatred against white people... could it?!

Canada's team MIA from "Hockey Night in Canada"

Poor Len Canayen here. It's the eve of Canadian Thanksgiving and I'm NOT giving thanks to Canada's sports media for discriminating against Canada's team in the National [sic] Hockey League, the Montréal Canadiens.

For over sixty years, Hockey Night in Canada, has been a must-watch programme on CBC. Indeed, it's probably the only programme that over a million Canadians watch with any regularity. Last night was the first Saturday of the NHL's 2015-16 season, with all seven Canadian teams in action. Le Canadien -- the only team with fans right across Canada, from Squamish to Dildo, were playing at Boston. But which two games did HNIC treat viewers to? Ottawa at Toronto, and... wait for it... Edmonton at Nashville!

The Ottawa v Toronto game wasn't bad, featuring a remarkable comeback by the Leafs to force a shoot-out, which they lost. But the Edmonton v Nashville match-up was by all accounts a total snorefest. The game at Boston, however, was more of a slugfest -- traditional when the Habs meet the Bruins -- with 20 minutes in penalties and two goals in the final minute. Les Glorieux emerged triumphant, 4-2.

So how come Canadian viewers didn't get to see that? I will explain... and condemn! Back in 2014, the NHL (G. Bettman, Prop.) sold the Canadian TV rights to Canada's biggest cable company, Robbers [Rogers, surely! Ed.], which thus acquired HNIC. The CBC, faced with the loss of its top revenue generator, grovelled abjectly enough to be given a "lease" on the Saturday night staple, but Rogers retained control of the property, which it also distributes on its own City-TV channels.

We're not just talking English TV here. Robbers also got the rights to all French programmes, which it divided between TVA and RDS, with Société Radio-Canada left out of the picture. That didn't really matter, since SRC had ceded the estimable Soirée du Hockey to RDS years ago. However, with Robbers controlling distribution, the French channels, which had previously been available right across the Great Not-so-white North, have been blacked out everywhere west of Québec and a small chunk of eastern Ontario.

It gets worse. Rogers -- greedy bastards that they are -- forced Bell, which distributes TV signals by satellite and fibre-optic cable, to go along with its national/regional lineup, all designed to force subscribers to pay an extra over C$200 per season for an "all hockey all the time" package called NHL Centre Ice.

1000s of Canadiens fans west of Québec (most of whom can understand at least some French) refused, and were belatedly offered what Bell/Rogers call the "NHL French package" for only C$60. For that, you're supposed to be able to get all... all... of the Habs games on TVA and RDS, on two channels featuring "Le forfait LNH en français". Was the Montréal game on either of those channels last night? Err, no. Was any game shown? Err, no. The "LNH gratuit" appeared to be a CCTV video of the inside of a coal bin at midnight.

Having complained to Bell and got no satisfaction, I am now going to fire a rocket in the direction of the CRTC. And to Robbers, which has put all its HNIC eggs in the Maple Laffs basket, I say: I hope you lose your blue shirts!

Abp. Chaput feels "sense of hopelessness" about Synod on Family

As Walt told you a few days ago, there's a strong feeling that the fix is in at the 2015 Bishops Synod on the Family, in progress (???) at the Vatican this month. It is clear that, in spite of the opposition of bishops from America, Asia and Africa, the Pope and the Gay Mafia in the highest echelons of the Roman Catholic Church are determined to water down the traditional teachings of the Church on divorce, Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, homosexuality and same-sex "marriage".

One of those battling for adherence to the Faith of our fathers is Philadelphia's Archbishop Charles Chaput. Earlier this week, in his address to the Pope and the bishops assembled, the prelate said that the Instrumentum Laboris (working document) for the Synod "engenders a subtle hopelessness".

The document, published by the Synod's general secretary, Cardinal Baldisseri, as a "guide" to the bishops' deliberations, has been criticized by many of the prelates. Abp. Chaput told the assembly that it fails to inspire a sense of Christian hope. Moreover, the Instrumentum does not convey confidence that Catholics, with the help of grace, can resist the pressures that are undermining marriage and family life. He continued:

This leads to a spirit of compromise with certain sinful patterns of life and the reduction of Christian truths about marriage and sexuality to a set of beautiful ideals, which then leads to surrendering the redemptive mission of the Church. The work of this synod needs to show much more confidence in the Word of God, the transformative power of grace, and the ability of people to actually live what the Church believes. And it should honor the heroism of abandoned spouses who remain faithful to their vows and the teaching of the Church.

Responding to a question about the demand for a Synod message that will make all people (read: not only divorced Catholics but the LGBT crowd whose lifestyle is objectively disordered) feel welcome in the Church, Abp. Chaput said that the need for attractive language must be balanced against the demand for truth. "We have to be careful with our language so that people don't get hurt, but also we must be faithful to Church doctrine."

Click here to read the full text of Abp. Chaput's address to the Holy Father and the Synod, on RNS (Religion News Service)

Further reading: "Synod. First Shot on Target Comes From the Conservatives", but the "progessive" innovators are already on the counter-attack, and counting on the support of the Pope. Sandro Magister in Chiesa, 8/10/15.

What's UP?!

Ed. here. It's no wonder that English is one of the hardest languages to learn and understand. Who knew that just one word could be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and preposition? Agent 6 knew, and has sent us the following...

That word, which has more meanings than any other two-letter word, is UP! It is listed in the dictionary as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car.

At other times, this little word has special meanings. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And UP can be confusing. A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it soaks UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now . . . my time is UP!

Oh . . . one more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night?

U P !

Did that one crack you UP? Don't screw UP. Send this on to everyone you look UP in your address book . . . or not . . . it's UP to you.

Now I'll shut UP!

What your country looks like when "refugees" invade

Are we our brothers' keepers? European and North American governments keep telling us we are (somehow) responsible for the plight of the millions of Africans and Arabs washing up on the shores of Europe, that we have a humanitarian duty to feed them, clothe them, house them and make them feel welcome in our countries.

Here's a look at what happens when you open the floodgates -- the eye-witness report of Polish blogger Kamil Bulonis, describing what he saw as swarms of "refugees" poured across the Italian-Austrian border on September 5th.

Half an hour ago on the border between Italy and Austria I saw with my own eyes a great many immigrants … With all solidarity with people in difficult circumstances I have to say that what I saw arouses horror … This huge mass of people – sorry, that I’ll write this – but these are absolute savages … Vulgar, throwing bottles, shouting loudly "We want to Germany!" – and is Germany a paradise now?

I saw how they surrounded a car of an elderly Italian woman, pulled her by her hair out of the car and wanted to drive away in the car. They tried to overturn the bus in I travelled myself with a group of others. They were throwing shit at us, banging on the doors to force the driver to open them, spat at the windscreen … I ask for what purpose? How is this savagery to assimilate in Germany?

I felt for a moment like in a war … I really feel sorry for these people, but if they reached Poland – I do not think that they would get any understanding from us … We were waiting three hours at the border which ultimately could not cross.

Our whole group was transported back to Italy in a police-cordon. The bus is damaged, covered with shit, scratched, with broken windows. And this is supposed to be an idea for demographics? These big powerful hordes of savages?

Among them there were virtually no women, no children. The vast majority were aggressive young men … Just yesterday, while reading about them on all the websites I subconsciously felt compassion, worried about their fate but today after what I saw I am just afraid and yet I am happy that they did not choose our country as their destination. We Poles are simply not ready to accept these people – neither culturally nor financially. I do not know if anyone is ready. To the EU a pathology is marching which we had not yet a chance to ever see.

I can add that cars arrived with humanitarian aid – mainly food and water and they were just overturning those cars.

Through megaphones the Austrians announced that there is permission for them to cross the border -- they wanted to register them and let them go on -- but they did not understand these messages. They did not understand anything.

And this was the greatest horror … For among those few thousand people nobody understood Italian or English, or German, or Russian, or Spanish … What mattered was fist law… They fought for permission to move on and they had this permission— but did not realize that they had it! They opened the luggage hatches of a French bus—and everything that was inside was stolen within short time, some things left lying on the ground …

Never in my short life had I an opportunity to see such scenes and I feel that this is just the beginning.

We have some pictures, taken at about the same time, on the border between Hungary and Austria. Thanks to Agent 6 for forwarding both the pix and the article.

Do you want your country to look like this? But, you say, it won't be in my backyard. They'll keep them in camps or settlements of some kind, maybe near the border or the airport or wherever they arrive. Oh yeah? Depends on where you live. Look around you!

These poor people are starving, we are told, fleeing war and persecution with no food and only the clothes they stand up in. We must feed them and clothe them! Oh yeah? Does this look like they're grateful for the food and clothing which the welcoming Austrians gave them?

Further reading: "World Jewish Congress and Official German Jewry Welcomes Nonwhite Invasion", The New Observer, 7/10/15.

Walt's Canadian agents disclose their voting intentions

Walt is hearing a lot of moaning from north of the world's longest undefended border. Many Canadians, including at least two of Walt's agents, are genuinely distressed by the prospect of having to vote for: a) another four years of corrupt Harper dictatorship; b) the Hair Apparent (not Donald Trump but Justin Trudeau; c) Angry Tom Mulcair, the socialist wolf in cheap clothing.

This editorial cartoon by the estimable Brian Gable, in today's Globe and Mail, pretty much sums up their sentiments.

Note from Ed.: We are not unaware of (c) copyright law, and hope Mr. G and the G&M won't mind. Hey, we don't make any money on WWW!

Conservative bishops strike first at Synod on the Family

Agent 10 has gone straight! Straight from Washington to Rome, that is, to be there in person while the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church deliberate on the family, marriage and sexuality in the 2015 edition of their synod. He shares Walt's opinion that the Pope's fix is in, but takes some hope in signs that the "conservative" bishops intend to go down fighting.

One such was an address Monday morning by Peter Cardinal Erdo, of Budapest, who, in summarizing the main themes of the "Instrumentum Laboris" (Working Document", came out strongly in support of the traditional teachings of the Church on marriage and sexuality. The prelate stated that Catholics who are divorced and remarried cannot be admitted to Communion as long as they remain in a second conjugal union. He also rejected the idea that homosexual relationships can be treated as similar to marriages.

Cardinal Erdo’s speech placed him squarely in opposition to the "Kasper proposal" -- generally thought to have the backing of (if it wasn't written by) Pope Francis and the Synod Secretary, Cardinal Baldisseri -- which puts forward a rationalization for admitting divorced and remarried Catholics to Communion, and advocates a "positive attitude" toward homosexual unions.

Noting that the Synod is taking place at a time when society is experiencing a "flight from institutions", Cardinal Erdo insisted on the duty of the Church to uphold the indissolubility of sacramental marriage. He said that while the Church must show mercy to people whose marriages have failed, the acceptance of Christ's mercy demands conversion.

In the case of Catholics who have entered into a second marriage, the prelate went on, the rule barring reception of the Eucharist is not an arbitrary prohibition but a recognition of the objective truth that their living arrangement is contrary to the Gospel. While divorced and remarried Catholics should be encouraged to take an active role in the life of the Church, he added, "that is different from admission to the Eucharist."

Regarding homosexual relationships, Cardinal Erdo said that it is wrong to suggest that same-sex unions are comparable to marriages. "There is no basis for comparing or making analogies, even remotely, between homosexual unions and God’s plan for matrimony and the family."

Cardinal Erdo also cautioned against acceptance of the calls from the "progressives" for "gradualism" in pastoral practice -- the suggestion that Catholic pastors could accept couples living in irregular unions, while hoping to guide them into a fuller acceptance of Church teaching. "Between truth and falsehood, between good and bad, there is no law of gradualism."

For that reason, the Cardinal told reporters in a press conference after his speech, the Synod should not consider any dramatic change in teaching. Catholic doctrine can and should be developed, he said. However, "development is not unlimited. We have to look at tradition."

Further reading:
"On Day One of Synod 2015, conservatives strike first" Crux, 5/10/15
"Synod Opening: Beautiful words, but then..." Christopher Ferrara in Catholic Family News, 5/10/15