Please tell me where to point my satellite dish to get Zjarr-TV

Walt's satellite dish only picks up TV stations from the USA and Canada. There's other stuff available, I guess, if one knows how to adjust the co-ordinates, retard the spitzensparken and twiddle the rangdidio. One doesn't. Which is too bad, considering the excellent viewing fare available on stations such as Zjarr-TV, a news channel emanating from Albania.

Faced with tough competition for audiences (Boris and Fatima Shqiptere), Zjarr-TV has taken to giving viewers the "naked" truth, or nearly. Taking a page, or should we say a screen shot from Naked News, Zjarr-TV now features almost-topless newsreaders. Like Greta Hoxhaj...

Wearing open jackets and nothing underneath, the young women reading the headlines on Zjarr-TV are an unprecedented sight in the conservative Balkan country, where they first appeared on television and Internet screens last year. Zjarr-TV's owner, Ismet Drishti, says audiences haven't stopped growing since. He told Agence France Press, "In Albania, where the news is manipulated by political powers, the audience needed a medium that would present the information like it is -- naked."

Walt likes the line about the news being manipulated by political powers. That kind of thing would never happen in the USA or Canada, would it. Too bad!

War endangers our freedoms! (Didn't you know?)

I can hardly wait to see Michael Moore's latest opus, Where to Invade Next, his first film in six years. Here's the trailer.



Where to Invade Next received much critical acclaim at TIFF and other film festivals, and is being much talked up by the lamestream media for being "funny" and not as dark and disturbing as his best earlier works. That got me thinking again about Fahrenheit 9/11, recommended here a few days ago in a message to Republican voters who might have been thinking about supporting JEB! in the primaries.

One of the main themes of Fahrenheit 9/11 is the way in which Dubya and his war-hawk cronies engineered the "War on Terror" and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan to gain more and more power over the American people through the Patriot Act, Homeland Security and so on. The result is that now, more than ever before, the Paranoid States of America is a police state!

Which brings us to Democracy in America, by Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian. De La Démocratie en Amérique is a classic text, published in two volumes, the first in 1835 and the second in 1840, in which M de Tocqueville examines the democratic revolution that he believed had been occurring in Europe and then America over the preceding seven hundred years. He had something to say about the relationship between war and freedom. Here's a quote from a 1945 translation.

No protracted war can fail to endanger the freedom of a democratic country.... War does not always give over democratic communities to military government, but it must invariably and immeasurably increase the powers of civil government; it must also compulsorily concentrate the direction of all men and the management of all t hings in the hands of the administration. If it does not lead to despotism by sudden violence, it prepares men for it more gently by their habits. All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and the shortest means to accomplish it.

I found that quote in The Ordeal of Total War, by Gordon Wright (Harper & Row, 1968). Here's Mr. Wright's commentary.

Tocqueville's dictum, appropriate enough in his own day, is even more applicable in the twentieth century. When nations must mobilize their total resources for a long struggle, the normal tensions between authority and liberty are intensified, and the trend toward dictatorship affects even the most democratic of nations. Where parliaments survive, their usual functions are sharply restricted; decision-making becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small executive group, or even in those of one man.

That was in 1968, before Americans learned the truth about Vietnam, before Nixon, before the Clintons and the Bushes. If Mr. Wright is still alive, he could justly say, "Don't say you weren't warned." Although it seems he doesn't stress the point in Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore can say the same thing.

How will Christians explain support for "gay marriage" to Jesus?

Let's start with a quick review of traditional Judeo-Christian teachings on homosexuality, as found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible. The Good Book -- doesn't matter whether you consult the Douay-Rheims Version or the King James Version -- condemns homosexuality as clearly and plainly as it condemns murder, adultery, premarital sex, kidnapping, lying, idolatry and other grave sins. For chapter and version, see "Homosexuality condemned in the Word of God", WWW 9/7/09.

Sheikh Ahmed al Tayyab is the Grand Imam of Egypt's Al Azhar University, the world's leading institution of Sunni Islam. As a theologian, he has read the Bible as well as the Qu'ran. Speaking during a visit to Indonesia this week, he asked how Christian leaders who accept same-sex "marriage" will explain their position to Jesus Christ, should they be not to be sent to Hell without being given a chance to defend themselves.

Sheik al Tayyab didn't say that last part. I did. According to Agenzia Fides News, what the Grand Imam said was, "Unfortunately some Heads of Churches in the United States accept same-sex marriages. I wonder what is left of the Bible in those Churches. And what will they say in front of Jesus, peace be upon him."

The Muslim cleric was referring to "churches" such as the Presbyterian Church USA, which has recently changed its internal statutes in order to recognize same-sex "marriages". The world awaits the Presbyterian leaaders' response. So far all we hear is crickets.

Footnote: The self-styled Christian minister on the left in the picture, waving to the pro-LGBTQ2S crowds at Toronto's "Gay Pride Parade" a couple of years ago, is none other than the "Rev." Brent "Chicken" Hawkes, the presbyter of Metropolitan Community Church, "a vibrant, inclusive and progressive church, where all are welcome to attend." Mr. Hawkes presided over Canada's first gay wedding in 2001, four years before the Canadian government legalized "gay marriage". For this and other pro-queer activities, he received the Order of Canada.

But according to Nova Scotia police, Mr. Hawkes' doesn't just support homosexuals from the sidelines. Earlier this month he was charged with sexual assault of a male, an offence which allegedly occurred some 40 years ago. The old bugger has been charged with offences from that era’s Criminal Code: indecent assault on a male and gross indecency. He is to appear in court in Kentville NS on April 13th. Click here for details from the Toronto Star.

Going after Taliban was a mistake, sez former general

A lot of Americans (and Canadians) think that the Canadian Armed Forces kind of let the side down by withdrawing their half-dozen aging CF-18s from the US-led mission against ISIS. When it comes to fighting Islamic terrorism (their argument goes) the Canucks will hold your coat until your nose starts to bleed. This is not true. Let me set the record straight.

True, the government of Jean Chrétien declined to join in Dubya's invasion of Iraq, presumably because they thought it was a huge mistake but (being Canadian) wewre too polite to say more than "We'll take a pass on this one. Maybe next time." The wisdom of this decision is apparent in retrospect. If you don't find it so, take a look at Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. You'll find a link to the full-length documentary in "Republican voters: WATCH 'Fahrenheit 9/11'!", WWW 17/2/16.

All the same, the Canadian government took a lot of flak -- figuratively speaking -- from within and without the Great Not-so-white North. So much so that when the Paranoid States of America decided to go into Afghanistan to chase after Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, they decided they'd better get into the scrap to make up for missing the first round. Little did they know that they'd have to fight not just al-Qaeda but the Taliban, since the Taliban controlled huge swathes of Armpitistan, including Kandahar province, one of the toughest targets. Sure enough, that's where the Canucks wound up. They lost proportionately more soldiers than the USA, beginning with four killed by "friendly fire" from the USAF. Some friends, eh!

Major-General Dave Fraser (seen here getting a gong from former Governor-General Michaëlle Jean) commanded both the Canadian task force and the expanded mission of the "Coalition of the Willing" to extend the authority of former Afghan president Krazi Karzai beyond the capital of Kabul in 2006. That was just over 4 1/2 years into the Afghan war and three years into the larger, bloodier struggle in Iraq after the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

Today, in an interview marking the 10th anniversary of the Canadian deployment into Kandahar, Maj-Gen. Fraser had some rather astonishing things to say about the commission. He told Canadian Press that the West made a mistake deposing the Taliban regime in the aftermath of 9/11, and should have simply trained its guns on al-Qaeda. "We thought, naively, that regime change was the solution to the problem," he said. "Looking backwards, I would have actually left the Taliban government in power and said (to them) 'Stay out of the way. We’re here to find Al Qaeda. And as long as you stay out of the way, the special forces will go in there, they will do what is necessary to get Al Qaeda and we will leave.' Had we done that, we wouldn’t be where we are today."

Back then, no-one seemed to appreciate how profound the power vacuum was, he went on, and that the West was creating for itself "a 30- or 40-year problem" not only in Afghanistan but throughout the Middle East.

Maj-Gen. Fraser said the West has only repeated the same mistakes over the last decade. "We repeated it in Iraq," he told CP. "In Libya, we didn’t put any ground troops in and we created an even bigger mess because there’s no government whatsoever in Libya. We went back into Iraq and now for the very first time the international community is beginning to appreciate that regime change is not the solution. [That's] why we’re not pushing to do a regime change in Syria."

Right. Has anyone told the Prez, the Pentagon and the folks at Foggy Bottom about this? To take Maj-Gen. Fraser's argument to the logical conclusion, which is... wait for it... that Western meddling in what is basically a Muslim civil war is only making things worse for the people of the Middle East, and for the West as well? Has anyone learned anything from the events of the last 10 or 20 or 25 years? Errr, apparently not.

Footnote: Is Michaëlle Jean's ADC looking at her chest or what? Whatever happened to Her Serene Highness anyway? Last we heard she was swanning around Paris as the UN's "special ambassador" for her native Haïti. Is it possible she finally went home to share the misery of the poorest state of the Western Hemisphere? Errr, apparently not.

"Racist and vulgar messages" appear on Habs Twitter account

Walt is probably the last person on earth who doesn't have a Twitter account. Famous and not-so-famous people have one. Famous organizations too, including every sports club you ever heard of and some you never heard of. Those you've heard of would of course include the Montréal Canadiens. Bien sûr!

The Habs Twitter feed is very popular too. Just yesterday, while Walt was returning from the birthplace of the NHL, the announced that it had reached the million follower mark, the third team in the league to have reached that elevated plateau. (The other two are the Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs.)

To thank those million-plus fans, le CH posted, at the hashtag #CanadiensMTL1M a special message with a little surprise. Well, perhaps not so little, because 1000s who clicked on the hashtag saw this:

Unfortunately, this picture -- all over the Internet or at least the Canadian part of it today -- has been cropped so that we can't see the number of "likes" and "retweets". Not so this next one.

Whatever can it all mean? The Gazoo's Dave Stubbs (head cheerleader for P.K.Subban) has accused Poor Len Canayen of being racist for daring to criticize the alleged defenceman, who happens to be black. See "Is Habs' coach Therrien to blame for blaming P.K. Subban?" (WWW 18/2/16) and "Gazette's Jack Todd on the 'Subban–Habs fault line'" (WWW 23/2/16). Walt [and Ed.! Ed.] hasten to point out that Poor Len had nothing to do with these "racist and vulgar messages". He would never call P.K. a n1gger just because he dresses like a pimp and carries on like an NFL player showing off for the "homes".

The offending pix have been taken off the Canadiens' Twitter account. The club has apologized and promised that there will be no further lapses into political correctness.

Paul Harvey's 1965 prediction of America's future proves all too true

Do you remember Paul Harvey? Paul Harvey Aurandt (his full name) was an American radio broadcaster who was heard for many years on the ABC radio network. He voiced News and Comment on weekday mornings and mid-days, and at noon on Saturdays, as well as his famous The Rest of the Story segments throughout the day, from the 1950s through the 1990s. Mr. Harvey was listened to by as many as 24 million people a week on 1200 radio stations and 400 AFN (Armed Forces Network) stations. His columns appeared in 300 newspapers.

Paul Harvey was a social conservative, who was clearly -- and rightly -- dismayed by the cultural revolution that engulfed the Excited States of America in the hippy-dippy 60s. With the folk-song army and leftist elites leading the great "civil rights" charade ["crusade", shurely! Ed.] and the likes of Abbie Hoffman urging Amerikan yoof to "tune in, turn on and drop out", the lamestream media proclaimed the dawn of a new and brighter tomorrow -- LBJ's "Great Society".

Very few commentators had the foresight or the guts to predict that it would all end in tears. Paul Harvey was one who foresaw a dark future (adjective chosen deliberately) for the USA and had the courage to say so. On 3 April 1965 he broadcast a piece called "If I Were the Devil" in which he described the sad state of the nation as we see it today, half a century later. Here is an updated version, recorded (audio only) in 1996. Running time 2:47.



Paul Harvey died on 28 February 2009, at the age of 90. Walt wonders how he was able to refrain from saying "I told you so!" Walt also wonders if, in his last days, Mr. Harvey consoled himself that he wouldn't be around to see things get even worse. Because they have!

Today, following Donald Trump's win in the Nevada Republican caucuses, the meeja have suddenly figured out that "Americans want change". That very headline appeared ina so-called "national newspaper" this morning. Well, DUH! But it may be too late for us to revert to the status quo ante. The Devil's forces rule the Western world. It will be difficult, if not impossible, to put the genie back in the bottle. Let us pray!

Gazette's Jack Todd on the "Subban–Habs fault line"

Regular readers of WWW know that our sometime contributor, Poor Len Canayen (not pictured here), is a die-hard fan of the Montréal Canadiens, aka "the Habs". Poor Len is also mighty down on (not "down with") the Habs alleged defenceman, P.K. Subban. See "Is Habs' coach Therrien to blame for blaming P.K. Subban?", WWW 18/2/16. Spoiler alert: the answer is NO!

There's hardly a hockey fan or sports jock anywhere in Canada who hasn't taken sides on Michel Therrien's public shaming of Subban following either an accident or a truly bone-headed play in the dying minutes of Friday night's game against Colorado.

Opinion on the speak-your-mouth shows and in comments sections of the online sports pages and blogs has been divided, but leaning towards P.K.and against the coach. Demands for M Therrien's head outweigh those for the head of He Who Must Not Be Criticized. Sparing no expense to ascertain the true state of play in the Rome of ice hockey, Walt made the trek to Montréal to be present, along with Poor Len and a trusted Agent, at Monday night's game against Nashville.

We counted sweaters at the St-Hubert Windsor and Centre Bell Centre before and during the game to see which numbers fans were wearing on their backs, and Subban's number 76 predominated, by a long shot. Captain Max Pacioretty's 67 was a distant second. Also spotted were numbers 11, 13, 23, 29, 31 and 79. (True fans will know that two of those numbers have been retired, as well as who wore or is wearing the other four.) Which proves, I guess, that P.K. Subban is a fan favourite. But we already knew that. That's why Canadiens" owner insisted (over the objections of GM Marc Bergevin and Coach Therrien) on signing the sometime all-star to an 8-year contract at a salary almost as big as his ego. Good for business, eh!

The problem is which is more important, the hockey club or the Subban fan club. The sportswriters for the Montreal Gazette have been accused of being hopeless "homers" -- cheerleaders for the local team -- but that's normal, isn't it? It doesn't do for the meeja to be crying stinking fish in their own backyards. But Poor Len suggests that at least one member of the Gazoo crew is actually moonlighting as a PR agent for Mr Subban, turning a blind eye to mounting evidence of his inadequacies as a defenceman and disruptive behaviour in the dressing room and on the ice.

Of which writer do we speak? Not Jack Todd, author of a "special to the Gazette" piece which appeared on Sunday, headed "Therrien's rant reveals Subban–Habs fault line", which I commend to all true fans of la Sainte Flannelle.

Mr Todd has rather more respect for P.K. Subban's abilities than does Poor Len. [That's not saying much. Ed.] But he, alone amongst the writers whose thoughts the Gazoo casts before us, pinpoints with great accuracy the real problem of which the instant kerfuffle is only a symptom. Quote: With Subban and the Canadiens, the trouble goes beyond the coaching staff. The organization and the star defenceman have always been, if not at loggerheads, then at right angles to each other. Even as he has become the most charismatic skater to wear the CH since Guy Lafleur, P.K. and the Habs have come to inhabit different worlds. There’s Planet P.K. and Planet CH and it’s rare that the two meet, from Subban’s independent charitable activities to the team’s selection of its captain.

Exactly! So Poor Len is right to ask whether next year's edition of the Habs is to be Team Canadien or Team Subban? Is one man more important than the other 19? Can Subban win the Stanley Cup single-handed? Such questions about Subban's future with the Habs and/or the Habs' future with Subban must be answered sometime between now and July 1st, when the no-trade clause in HWMNBC's contract kicks in. Poor Len thinks the team must come first. Will the Molsons and the Molson Minions agree? Stay tuned!

"Real Canadians hate Syrians!" - Calgary graffiti reflect poll results

As Walt told you on Thursday, Canadian Authorities [Capital "A" deliberate. Ed.] have been reluctant to admit that the couple who were victim/perpetrator of a murder-suicide in London, Ontario were migrants from Syria. No point in inflaming anti-Syrian, anti-Muslim, anti-refugee passions already raised to the boiling point by Young Trudeau's pledge to bring into the Great Not-so-white North even more than the 25,000 promised during last fall's election.

Why do I say Canadians are up in arms (figuratively speaking) about opening the floodgates still further? Here are two stories about the what "real Canadians" think of the idea of admitting to their society 1000s of Muslims who cannot or will not conform to the norms of western values. (Many of them didn't really want to come to Canada in the first place, and would like to go back home, but that's another story. See "Surprise! Syrian refugees welcomed by Canada want to go home", WWW 25/1/16)

We start with the results of a poll released by last week by the Angus Reid Institute under the headline "Canadians divided on legacy of Syrian refugee resettlement plan". Here are the key findings:

• Just over half (52%) of Canadians support the government’s plan, while 44 per cent oppose it
• Roughly two-in-five (42%) say Canada should stop taking in Syrian refugees immediately. The rest either say the country should stop at 25,000 refugees (29%), or accept even more (29%)
• Canadians are evenly divided on what the legacy of the resettlement program will be, with roughly the same number saying it will be viewed as a success (23%), a failure (24%), or neither (24%) 15 years from now (29% are unsure)

The researchers go on to say that "Regionally, Canadians remain divided about the plan, with support for it highest in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada, and lowest in Alberta." That brings us to a report from the Calgary Herald headlined "Police investigating after Calgary school hit again with hateful graffiti aimed at Syrians, Trudeau".

Inspector Knacker is said to be investigating after the walls of Wilma Hansen Junior High School were once again sprayed with hateful messages directed at Syrians and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. On the walls of the school, someone spray-painted graffiti including "Syrians are animals" and "Real Canadians hate Syrians" as well as "Burn all mosques". Some of the messages also targeted Canuck Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, thus: "Syrians go home and take Trudeau" and "While Syrians feast in hotels, Canadians starve on the street, kill the traitor Trudeau."

So much for the Canadian version of Angela Merkel's "Willkommenskultur". And the Frostbacks are supposed to be such polite and tolerant people! Of course some would say that whoever committed this crime against political correctness aren't typical Canadians, but Albertans... more like Americans, really. Walt feels pretty sure that similar slogans will pop up from coast to coast to coast, although of course some will be in French. There may be no freedom of speech in the Canadian lamestream meeja, but the government has yet to prohibit the sale of paint bombs!

Reflections on South Carolina and Nevada

There were no upset winners in yesterday's Democratic caucus in Nevada or South Carolina's Republican primary. There were, however, a couple of losers.

One loser was apparent and expected. That would be JEB! All the Establishment money couldn't save him, nor could his little big brother's endorsement. See "Republican voters: WATCH 'Fahrenheit 9/11'!" (WWW 17/2/16) So now JEB! has bid us a tearful farewell. Or has he?! How come no putative candidates quit any more? Why do they just "suspend" their campaigns? Are we to believe that if some horrible accident should befall the Donald (just sayin'), JEB! will rise Lazarus-like from his crypt in Coral Gables?

If you think about it, the big loser in the Republican primary wasn't JEB!, but Ted Cruz. At one point last night he was deadlocked with Marco Rubio, with exactly the same number of votes. In the end, Mr. Rubio squeaked into a distant second place, finishing ahead of TrusTED by just over 1000 votes. Mr. Rubio thus becomes the "moderate" or Establishment alternative to Mr. Trump, leaving Mr. Cruz, errr, nowhere.

Not really a surprise, since he was never going to get many MOR [= Middle Of the Road. Ed.] GOP votes. They hate him. To beat the Donald or even come close, Ted had to get the Tea Party voters, not just the happy-clappy Protestant fundamentalists. Too bad for him that the Tea Partiers hate him too.

Before we leave the Republicans, take a look at the results map appearing in today's Washington Post. The only counties who went for Mr. Rubio were around the state capital and along the coast near Charleston. Mr. Trump swept the rest. Those who think that the media darling SC governor's tearing down of the Southern Cross represented the true feelings of South Carolinians should give their heads a shake!

As for Nevada, Hellery Clinton's cries of victory seemed to me more relief than exultation. CNNPolitics calls her win "decisive", but they would say that, wouldn't they. Walt doesn't call 5.5% decisive, especially when you consider that just a couple of weeks ago her margin was expected to be in the double digits. Entrance and exit polls showed that Madame Clinton was backed by a majority of women, college-educated voters, those with annual incomes over $100,000, moderates, voters aged 45 and older and non-white voters. Bernie Sanders did best with men, voters under 45 and those less affluent and educated.

The once and (she hopes) future First Lady captured the backing of voters who said electability and experience were important. BERNie, however, did best with voters looking for a candidate who is caring and honest. That an aged socialist Jew from New England should come as close as he did in a state like Nevada tells me that Hellerey is far from home and dry. Keep looking over your shoulder, dear. The footsteps behind you aren't just Bill's!

Christian refugees threatened by Muslims in migrant camps

Forgotten in liberal Europeans' suicidal rush to welcome millions of Muslim refugees and asylum-seekers are the hundreds of Christians from the war zones of Syria and Iraq who are comingled with the followers of the Prophet. Just because the Christians are in the same boat -- literally -- doesn't mean that the Muslims see them as brothers and sisters in trouble.

Quite the opposite. Rainer Cardinal Woelki of Cologne (site of the New Year's Eve sexual assaults by Arab and North African migrants), told an audience in Dusseldorf last Saturday that Christian refugees face threats and intimidation by other migrants in transit camps. Christian persecution is not a topic of "bygone ages", he said.

Speaking at an "ecumenical" service -- there's that nonsensical word again -- Cardinal Woelki warned that: “Concern is growing that politicians and the authorities might not be taking such threats seriously enough." He said Germany must speak out more loudly for religious freedom rights, a right that Christians in Muslim countries also had. “That is what we demand,” Woelki said.

Meanwhile, Gottfried Martens, a Protestant pastor told katholisch.de that the "mobbing" of Christian refugees in refugee camps in Germany was increasing. He said it was no longer rare for entire Muslim communities in refugee shelters to threaten Christians. He claimed that Christians had been forced to watch videos of beheadings, were barred from using the kitchen because they were “unclean” and had been beaten up and their crosses removed from their necks.

As a solution, Rev. Martens suggested accommodation Muslims and Christians separately. He said, "In our efforts to be tolerant, which are in themselves praiseworthy, we cannot just let Christians become some kind of guinea pigs." What are the chances of Muslim and Christian refugees being "welcomed" separately? Slim and none! After all, to isolate the Muslims from our "inclusive society" would be racist and Islamophobic, wouldn't it.

Rejoice! It's World Pangolin Day!

Accoding to Wikipedia, pangolins (also referred to as scaly anteaters or trenggiling) are mammals of the order Pholidota. There are eight species and they are only found in Africa and Asia. One of their natural habitats is the southern African country of Zimbabwe -- one of Walt's old stomping grounds. Back in the daze when Zimbabwe had its own currency, a pangolin was featured on the 2-dollar coin. This is what a pangolin looks like.

Cute, eh! Errr, maybe not, although a Zimbabwean man was prosecuted recently for keeping one as a pet. He was hauled before the courts because pangolins are on Zimbabwe's list of specially protecte4d species. They are in danger of extinction because of massive illegal trafficking, especially in... wait for it... Zimbabwe, where just about anything that moves is considered fair game. Like Cecil the Lion.

Be that as it may, Zimbabwe is today joining the rest of the world in commemorating World Pangolin Day, which is aimed at raising awareness of the protection of the endangered species. Consider this Walt's contribution to this worthy cause.

For more information on pangolins and why we should save them, check out savepangolins.org.

Is Habs' coach Therrien to blame for blaming P.K. Subban?

Poor Len Canayen here, asking the question: Is alleged all-star defenceman P.K. Subban the cause of the Montréal Canadiens problems?

The skinny: The Canadiens lost last night's game against the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 3-2. The game-winning goal was scored by old pro Jerome Iginla after a typical P.K. Subban turnover in the Avalanche zone. With about three minutes left, the all-star showboat tried to go around Colorado’s Mikhail Grigorenko, but was poke-checked and fell to the ice. Grigorenko started a three-man rush the other way that led to Iginla’s game-winner.

After the game, Habs' coach Michel Therrien met the meeja, as usual, and, according to Canadian Press, blamed the loss on "an individual mistake". Asked to elaborate, he said, without naming the induhvidual (seen here wearing the goat horns), "We believe that...he could have made a better decision at the blue line. He put himself in a tough position. We play as a team. When we don’t we could be in trouble and this is what happened." So who he meant was pretty clear, eh.

The headline on Bill Beacon's CP story, as it appeared in the Toronto Star: "Canadiens coach Michel Therrien under fire after pinning latest loss on P.K. Subban". In other words, the heat is on Therrien for pointing the finger at He Who Must Not Be Criticized.

Headline in Pat Hickey's column in today's Montreal Gazette: "In the Habs' Room: Therrien blames Subban for loss to Avalanche". In spite of being part of the Gazoo's team of cheerleaders (Hello, Dave Stubbs!), Mr. Hickey knows his hockey, and is usually unafraid to call it as he sees it. Here's what he wrote: "Coach Michel Therrien didn’t hesitate to point a finger at defenceman P.K. Subban after the Canadiens lost a 3-2 decision to the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday night. 'We played a solid game and it’s disappointing that we lost because of an individual mistake,' said Therrien. The coach didn’t name any names but it was obvious he was talking about his star defenceman, who lost the puck with a little more than two minutes to play in regulation."

Mr. Hickey goes on to give Subban's side of the story -- "I crossed over and lost an edge" -- without taking sides. But the CP story says "On social media, many blamed for Subban for making a selfish play, but just as many defended the team’s scoring leader and top offensive weapon, saying the Canadiens need wins for any hope of making the playoffs and it is up to the club’s best players to try to make it happen."

Among those who think Subban is part of the problem rather than part of the solution is the Habs fan who sent us a Bcc of an e-mail written to Pat Hickey on the 16th -- the day before yesterday's loss. Here's what he wrote:

Saw your piece today quoting (as usual) P.K. Subban, “We didn’t show up” etc. Frankly, I’m tired of the Gazette always writing about Subban, as if there’s no-one else but him (and the absent Carey Price). It’s not you so much as your colleague, Stubbsy, who never gets tired of leading the cheers for P.K. even when he’s obviously a large part of “we”, i.e. part of the problem.

Yesterday the National Post had an article by one of your colleagues...about the problems in the dressing room, including friction between Subban and Pacioretty. I have said before (including previous e-mails to you and Stubbsy) that Subban is more of a liability to the team than an asset. I know you guys will disagree, but it seems to me the question should at least be open for debate. Perhaps moving Subban – if they can find anyone willing to take on a risky (alleged) defenceman at an outrageous salary – would be a step towards a solution.

That's pretty much what I've been saying for the last two years! See (for example) "Memo from Poor Len Canayen to Marc Bergevin" (WWW 13/5/15) and "Subban booed at Bell Centre as Canadiens lose another one" (WWW 27/1/16). I'm glad to see that Subban's deficiencies are at last part of the conversation.

Syrian immigrants in London (Canada) murder-suicide

Here's a story from London (not THE London, but the one in Canada) that has received very little attention, possibly because Inspector Knacker has been less than forthcoming with details. Why? Political correctness, of course! For -- according to the London Free Press -- the story involves immigrants from, errr, Syria.

Here's what the London police say. Last Friday afternoon, a woman was found dead inside a fifth-floor unit of an apartment building on Grand Avenue. Five blocks away, the cops enter an auto repair shop, with guns drawn, and find a man’s body. Errr, that's it. Tight-lipped investigators still haven't said who died or how, nor were they releasing any names or ages, citing "family privacy".

Neighbours of the dead couple haven't been quite so reluctant to talk. Fifth-floor residents of the building in which the woman's body was found told the Free Press they'd heard a man wailing after police made the grisly discovery. "It’s super-eerie. I don’t think I’m ever going to forget that sound," said resident Christiane, who didn’t want to give her last name. When she looked out in the hall, she said, she saw the distraught man punching the wall.

Neighbours said "a Middle Eastern couple" with young children recently moved into the unit where the body was found. Meanwhile, neighbours of an auto mechanic's shop at 201 High Street became worried after the owner of the garage failed to show up for business on Saturday morning. Later that morning, they watched as police with weapons drawn surrounded the shop and smashed the front door to get into the building, where a man’s body was found.

The shop is (or was) owned by Mahmoud Abdulrahim, a Syrian immigrant, who opened "Miriam Tire & Auto Repair" four years ago. Mr. Abdulrahim and his family had recently moved to a Grand Avenue apartment, neighbours said. Repeated phone calls to Abdulrahim over the weekend weren’t returned and his voice-mail was full. A black Suzuki Swift parked outside the shop, identified by neighbours as belonging to Mrs. Abdulrahim’s, was covered in snow. A letter addressed to Mr. Abdulrahim was visible on the passenger seat.

Mr. Abdulrahim, the owner-operator and sole employee of the garage was well known in the area. A retired carpenter who lives across the street told the paper the he'd often chatted with the mechanic, a man he said has two grown sons from a previous marriage and young children from a more recent marriage to a woman who doesn’t speak English.

Autopsies were performed over the weekend, but police haven't said how the two people died, or given any further information. If, as so often happens, investigators are baffled, Walt suggests a line of inquiry. They might ask if Mr. Abdulrahim was divorced from his first wife, the mother of his sons, or, alternatively, had taken the "woman who doesn't speak English" as his second wife, as is perfectly legal according to Sharia law. If that be the case, they might also ask how the "junior wife" got an immigrant visa to Canada, contrary to Canadian law. And which of the wives was it whose body was found in the apartment?

Finally... has there been a breach of Canada's Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, which amended the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to specify that a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of practising polygamy in Canada? Honour killings, it should be noted, are not forbidden by the Zero Tolerance etc Act, merely by the Criminal Code of Canada. In this case, however, it seems there's no-one left to prosecute.

Further reading (added 20/2/16): "Advocates denounce London police secrecy on Old South murder-suicide: London Free Press, 19/2/16. The reasons given by police for not naming names are lame! The real reason (Walt can reveal) is political correctness! Mustn't say anything that would offend or stigmatize Muslims!

VIDEO: Republican voters: WATCH "Fahrenheit 9/11"!

I see by the meeja that George W. Bush has given a ringing endorsement to his "big little brother", "JEB!". I wonder what brilliant backroom boy thought having Dubya speak up for his brother would boost the Shrub's chances of becoming the Republican candidate for the Presidensity, or at least getting the GOP Establishment to coalesce behind him so as to deny the nomination to a real (?) conservative. [Who did you mean by that? Ed.]

I'm guessing the strategy is to position JEB! as the agent of continuity -- the one who will carry on the good works started by his brother and his father before him. Whether this is such a good idea at a time when most Americans, regardless of party affiliation, hunger for change remains to be seen. To any Republicans -- in South Carolina, let's say -- who think that more Bush-league government might not be such a bad thing, Walt recommends Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the War on Terror. The film is the highest grossing documentary of all time, and we have it for you, via YouTube, right here!

But first (as they say), IMDb's summary of what Fahrenheit 9/11 is all about. "Film-maker Michael Moore provides deep and though-provoking insights on the American security system, the level of paranoia, fear, uncertainty, false values and patriotism, which all combined together to set a stage for George W. Bush to launch a war on Iraq instead of focusing on getting the real culprit(s) behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

"This documentary also focuses on how some Saudis were safely and secretly flown out of America while planes were ostensibly grounded after the attacks. Archived film footage, candid interviews with politicians, and an overall waste of public funds for a war that was initiated on false pretension to wit: a weapon of mass distraction - to take the focus away from the real enemy and get Americans glued to their TV sets to watch innocent Iraqis and Afghans getting killed. And a war that would eventually alienate the USA and its citizens from almost every country on Earth."



Yes, JEB! is in the pro-Saudi "War on Americans" right up to his neck. He makes his first appearance in the film at about the 2-minute mark. As for the Bush family's connections to the houses of Saud and bin Laden -- not to mention Big Oil, Halliburton, etc etc -- anyone who thinks that connection ended with that expiry of Dubya's term needs his/her head read. Hey, Republican voter! Do you really want more of this?!

"Please, Mr. Migrant, don't rape me!"

Seriously. "Please don't rape me!" is the message that refugees, asylum-seekers and other male, non-white "migrants" are being "taught" to understand when they look at pictures of this typical European woman.

Seriously (again), a Norwegian company called Hero (seriously) has developed a course of classes to teach Arab and African "newcomers" not to rape white women. This was in response to a series of brutal rapes and attacks by non-white Muslim invaders in the southwestern town of Stavanger between 2009 and 2011, but the courses only attracted attention after the mass sex attacks which took place over the New Year in Cologne and other cities around Europe.

Norway's NRK news service reports that international interest in the rape prevention courses is high because it's the only one of its kind in Europe. At a conference held on January 27th, delegates from "migration agencies" around Europe were given a tutorial on how to teach the non-whites to stop attacking white women after they get to Europe.

Course developer Linda Hagen is pictured here, showing typical "students" a picture of a rather more attractive white woman in a short skirt. Women who dress like that, she says, are not issuing an invitation for sex. Hey, that's just your basic black cocktail dress! The instructors will ask over-sexed (and over here!) migrants questions like "Is violence is ever justified?", "How do you know if a woman is consenting to sex?", and "What is the difference between love and sex?"

Apparently it didn't occur to Ms Hagen that Muslim guys' responses to such pictures and such questions might differ from what European liberals might wish. Another part of the course consists of a video of two white 20-somethings at a party. After drinking alcohol, the girl and the boy go upstairs into a bedroom, where they kiss and embrace on a bed. The boy then becomes increasingly physical and pulls off the girl's panties, while she expresses increasing unease. The video then ends with the message "No means no."

How do you suppose your typical horny Muslim would react to that video? Here are some actual responses from the demonstration class.
"She kissed him. It’s an invitation to have sex."
"If she wants come to my place, that means she’s consenting."
"But I have friends, they come from a different culture, from a strict family. For them, any part a woman shows (is) a sign she wants to have sex."
"He tricked her but the girl should also have been clear and said no and not gone upstairs with him."
"If a girl kisses me, I figure she wants to sleep with me."

Errr, yeah... The NRK report quotes Ms Hagen as explaining that "There are many 'grey areas' which come about due to 'cultural misunderstandings'." Misunderstandings, yeah... So it's our fault then....

In the event of a water landing...

Even as I write, Agent 78 is about six miles over the Pacific Ocean, from whence she sends an invitation to consider the words of the pre-flight safety demonstration:

A "water landing"? Could there be any phrase (Agent 78 asks) more oxymoronical than "water landing"? Indeed. But, dear flyers, be reassured, there is help... right under your bum...

L'Armée de l'Aire célébrent 50 ans d'Astérix et la Patrouille de France

It's been some time since WWW featured a video of spectacular formation flying, a subject of great interest to yours very truly and Agent 17, to whom be much thanks for this 2009 video. À l'occasion du 50ème anniversaire d'Astérix, créé en octobre 1959, la Patrouille de France rend hommage au plus célèbre des Gaulois dans un film décoiffant! No translation needed. Just watch and enjoy.



Réalisé par Eric Magnan. Produit par www.e-mediapublishing.fr. Bien fait, les gars!

Death watch 2016 and other stuff

It's been a quiet weekend here in Lake Wo... [Hold it right there; that line's been taken. Ed.] [No! Garrison Keillor's line was "It's been a quiet WEEK (etc)."] What I mean to say is that I didn't do much, read much or think much, therefore have not much about which to write. However, I did ruminate [Not on the carpet, I hope! Ed.] about how old everyone is getting, except myself of course.

The cause of my rumination was my discover, in Jeremy Paxman's highly recommendable book On Royalty (Penguin 2006, Public Affairs 2007), that Eliabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, yada yada yada, will turn 90 in April. 90! Imagine that! She doesn't look a day over 80, does she. What, I thought, are the odds that she won't live to see her 90th birthday? Pretty long, I should think, given that her mother lived to 101. I expect Prince Charles will have to wait until 2017 at the very earliest.

But there are other octogenarians and nonagenarians who might not make it through 2016. Some bookie in England probably takes bets. Wonder what odds they're giving on the Queen's consort, Phil the Greek (as Private Eye calls him). Probably long odds as well, given Prince Philips damn-them-all outlook on life.

How about Pope Francis? Only in his 80s, but rumoured almost since his election to be in failing health. Perhaps for some Traditional Catholics the wish is father to the thought.

If not the Pope, then how about a President, or, I should say, former President, thinking of poor old Jimmy Carter. He thinks he may be free of cancer, but then he also thinks a little more goodwill will bring peace to the world. He should live so long!

The President almost everyone would like to see them close the lid on would certainly be Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President for Life of Zimbabwe. For the last couple of years he's been grooming his second wife, Grace, to be his successor. She seems to think she's ready for the job, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's prepared to wait another year. Perhaps she would go so far as to hasten the Old Man's demise. Hey, it's Africa!

Well, that's enough death watch. Let me close by giving out this week's Walt Award for Super-DUH! Headlines. No, it's not "China may be using sea to hide its submarines", rightly ridiculed here on Friday. That beauty was pipped at the post by a late entry from the Globe and Mail. Over a story from Reuters about an entirely predictable disaster in Mumbai, the Groan and Wail ran the headline "Huge fire engulfs venue at ‘Make in India’ event". Not stupid, really, just funny. Congratulations.

If you're not sure why Walt would find that headline and story funny, consider what Prince Philip had to say on the subject of Indian wiring. See "Prince apologises as latest gaffe offends Indians", in the Grauniad, 11/8/99.

Further reading: Jeremy Paxman, mentioned above, is a British journalist, best known for his work presenting BBC's Newsnight and University Challenge, the latter on my must-watch list when I lived in Olde Blighty. He has also written some eminently readable books, including On Royalty, and The English: A Portrait of a People (Penguin 1999). It is, of course, impossible to understand the English, but Mr. Paxman makes a very good attempt to explain the unexplainable.

Damn sneaky Chinese!

Agent 34, knowing Walt's love of headlines which are astonishing or funny or both, has sent along this photo of the front page of an unnamed newspaper.

Thinking that one of our legs might be being pulled, Walt asked Ed. to search the Internet to discover the source. Ed. reports that the picture, just as you see it, is all over the Net like a rash, but nowhere is there a picture of the entire front page. Some sites claim it is taken from "a Southeast Asian newspaper", which might lead us to guess the South China Morning Post, but since the Post was bought recently by Alibaba, that seems doubtful.

The photo accompanying the story may provide a clue. The photo appears in an article on the McClatchyDC website, headed "China's wish to hide submarines may be behind sea expansion". The photo is captioned thus: In this May 24, 2015, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, an anti-surface gunnery is fired from China's Navy missile frigate Yulin during the "Exercise Maritime Cooperation 2015" by Singapore and Chinese navies in the South China Sea. The dispute over the strategic waterways of the South China Sea has intensified, pitting a rising China against its smaller and militarily weaker neighbors who all lay claim to a string of isles, coral reefs and lagoons known as the Spratly and the Paracel islands.

Hmmm... Singapore, you say... That would suggest the Straits Times. But noooo... Further research, for which Ed. will be rewarded handsomely source [A double, please. No ice. Ed.] finds the same photo and the same caption on the web pages of the Belleville (IL) News-Democrat and the Wichita Eagle, under the headline "China may be trying to hide its submarines in the South China Sea".

So now we know. The super-DUH! headline is homegrown -- the product of the McClatchy Company, "a leading newspaper and Internet publisher dedicated to the values of quality journalism, free expression and community service." Guess the downstream papers didn't get the memo about correcting the headline. "Quality journalism..." LOL.

Only one surprise out of New Hampshire

I wasn't surprised that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders won.
I wasn't surprised John Kasich finished second in the Republican race. I think that's as close as he's going to come to winning any of the remaining primaries. (Lifetime pct .983.)
I wasn't surprised that Marco Rubio finished fifth. Hey, I saw the debate.
What surprised me was that Jeb! managed to finish in a statistical tie with Ted Cruz. Did a memo go out from the Republican Establishment that Mr. Rubio isn't ready yet? (Nice hair though!)

So where are we now? There wasn't as much "winnowing" last night as the pundits predicted. Chris Christie is out, but he wasn't going anywhere anyway. Carly Fiorina and the black guy -- what was his name, again? -- have yet to announce the "suspension" of their campaigns, but so what. The Republicans are left with The Donald and Ted Cruz who have to slug it out to see who can be more of an "outsider", leaving the possibility that The Shrub may come up the middle and emerge as the candidate. The mind boggles.

On the Democratic side, it's hard to see Colonel Sanders winning states like South Carolina. A betting man would still have to take Hellery Clinton. Do it now while you can still get decent odds.

Oh, there was one more surprise. Who would have thought that Bernie could ramble on for so long, and reiterate the same point so often, in what should have been a short and gracious thank-you speech. I'm guessing that every minute he spoke, after the first ten, caused another million dollars or so to pour into the candidates' war chests -- not just the Republican war chests, but Mrs Clinton's too!

Amazing headline on "Five Feet of Fury" blog!

In "What does Walt read?", Ed. told you about some of the blogs I read regularly. One of them is Five Feet of Fury, written by the amazing Kathy Shaidle, who, to judge by the pic at the top of her blog, has described herself very well in the title.

Reading her blog today, it occurred to me that angry young women can get away with writing a lot of stuff that angry old men can't. What makes me think so? The lead post on FFoF today is about the circus masquerading as a trial of Jian Ghomeshi. Who he? A former CBC Radio personality who got sacked when some of his ex-girlfriends went to Inspector Knacker with stories of his predilection for "rough sex". That was what he called it. The cops call it "sexual assault".

Kathy's opinion is that Mr. Ghomeshi's "female 'victims' sounded like -- it pained me to agree with the guy -- bitter ex- or wannabe girlfriends. (As you had guessed: None of these “victims” called the cops after these “assaults,” some of which dated back over a decade.)" What headline does Kathy give to this piece? "My NEW Taki’s column — Ghomeshi-quiddick: The trial of the cunt-ury!"

Amazing! I couldn't get away with that. Could you, Ed.? [No way. Ed.] I can imagine what would happen if a male writer used the c-word to refer to a female. Accusations of sexism, summonses to appear before a "human rights tribunal", followed by banishment from the lamestream media pending the completion of remedial sensitivity training. Such is the politically correct world in which we live. That, by the way, is the gist of Mr. Ghomeshi's defence.

Jew calls Canada's welcome of 1000s of Muslim refugees "reckless, politically correct thinking"

Lawrence Solomon is a columnist with Canada’s National Post. His name suggests that he is not Lawrence of Arabia, but Lawrence of... err... let's just say he's of the Jewish persuasion. His religion has nothing to do, of course, with the thoughts expressed in his piece headed "Europe is planning to deport hundreds of thousands of Muslims", which appeared on the Post website today.

The gist of Mr. Solomon's message to Canucks is to be found in the conclusion: "Canada's historic approach to immigration since Confederation – welcoming the multitudes who would fit in, but also requiring them to fit it – has served this country well, allowing us to maintain our liberties and grow our economy. Europe’s cautionary tale, coming to us now as it does, when we are at risk of falling prey to reckless, politically correct thinking on immigration, could not have been a more timely reminder of the ways in which our ​historic ​immigration ​policies have been ​wise."

For those who don't geddit, he is saying that if the "historic immigration policies" were wise, the Justin Trudeau's new policies are unwise. Got it now? Mr. Solomon calls open-door immigration policies such as Angela Merkel's now-discredited Willkommenskultur, the product of "a soft-headed if soft-hearted desire to help desperate refugees." Without saying "I told you so" (for he didn't!) he says it's all ending badly. And he has some statistics from Europe to prove it.

Sweden, he writes, is planning to deport half of its 160,000 migrants. Finland plans to deport two-thirds of its 32,000 migrants. And Germany intends to deport all migrants who arrived under false pretenses – a number that could total many hundreds of thousands – as well as all migrants from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, which Germany now deems “safe” countries because they are not at war.

Mr. Solomon goes on to cite, again, the New Year's Eve rape-fest in Cologne, Germany. He says that, "although government officials and the mainstream press initially tried to cover up the extent of the wrong-doing, an estimated 1,000 Muslims in Cologne alone participated in 'Taharrush' a practice of encircling, groping and sometimes raping women..."

Mr. Solomon writes dispassionately of course. He does not personally point the racist finger of blame at Muslims. He merely reports that law enforcement officials and NGOs in many countries attribute a disproportionate number of rapes to young, single Muslim men. And, he goes on, "crime by migrants is rampant. Hamburg police reports 20,000 purse-snatches a year, 90 per cent of them by males in their 20s from North Africa or the Balkans. In 2014, even before the migrant stampede accelerated, 38,000 asylum seekers had been accused of committing crimes."

Canada, the writer concludes, has been lucky... so far... because it has not yet accepted "untoward levels of migrants". But there is still the matter of M Trudeau's rash promise, after his government failed to meet its target of admitting 25,000 by the end of last year, to raise the number of Syrian migrants to 50,000 by the end of 2016. If you go through with this unwise plan, Mr. Solomon seems to be saying, it will end just as badly as it is now in Europe. Don't say he [and Walt! Ed.] didn't warn you.

What does Walt read?

Ed. here. It's been a while since we dipped into the virtual mailbox to answer readers' questions. Chris P. Bacon, of Wynot NE poses a rather obvious question -- so obvious that no-one ever asked before. What blogs [Chris asks] does Walt read? Here's a half-dozen.

It should be rather obvious to regular readers of WWW that Walt follows internationally published author, free speech advocate and general curmudgeon Mark Steyn. Mr. Steyn's blog is called Steyn Online: The One-Man Global Content Provider. His writings have been the subject of numerous ill-founded complaints to various "human rights" tribunals, and have been quoted with approval right here on WWW. Steyn Online often has links to the author's radio interviews, worth listening to. And he's a fan of hockey and Frank Sinatra. What more recommendation do you need?

Another free speech advocate Walt admires is Ezra Levant, a Canadian lawyer, journalist political activist. (Not all activists are of the left!) As publisher of the now-defunct Western Standard magazine, he was hauled before the Alberta Human Rights Commission for publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. Click here to check out his blog TheRebel.media. Lots of video here, including The Ezra Levant Show, featuring... well, DUH!

Another blog which features terrific video rants is The Remnant Newspaper, which actually began in 1967 as a newspaper for traditional Catholics appalled by the "reforms" of Vatican II. Under the editorship of Michael Matt, it has evolved into a fine online blog for faithful Catholics and others concerned about the demise of the Church and Christian values generally. The Remnant often features "The Mike and Chris Show", in which Mr. Matt and Catholic lawyer and author Christopher Ferrara dissect the latest follies of Pope Francis and other "religious leaders". Walt gave you a sample just last week: "Luther's Revenge: The Surrender of Pope Francis".

Speaking of Christian values, Walt recommends Blazing Cat Fur, which is not just about the Catholic Church, but about the interface between Christian values and geopolitics. The current landing page features articles on British Columbia First Nations (read: Indians), Muslim terrorism in Belgium, and a woman's warning to Missoula MT residents about the “civil unrest” they might be facing should the Obama administration’s plans to plant foreign migrants in the town go through. Warning: lots of advertising on this blog; use your pop-up blocker.

And speaking of fur... take a gander at Five Feet of Fury (geddit?), written by Kathy Shaidle. Ms Shaidle shares Walt's tendency to retweet good stuff from other sources, and repost interesting videos. Her blog covers much the same mix as WWW, without the religion. On February 4th she featured "What Mark Steyn said about Muslim migrants — months before Paris, Cologne".

Finally, and still speaking of fur, we have Small Dead Animals: the Roadkill Diaries, the very creative work of Catherine McMillan, a sometime photographer and artist from (it says here) Delisle, Saskatchewan. Lots of politics here with a nice admixture of arts, culture and criticism of the meeja, as in the following quote from "Captain Capitalism":

Perhaps I've been inoculated against political news coverage.
Perhaps I've just gotten older and, thus, wiser and can ID BS when I see it.
Or maybe my most recent book made me even more disdainful of what the commoners consume.
But as I watched Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer cover the recent kerfuffle between Trump and Cruz, Hillary and Bernie, not to mention their representative mouth pieces, my mouth dropped not because of what they were saying, but because all of them:
The politicians
The spokespersons
The interviewees and
The CNN staff
treat you people like genuine f*cking idiots.

If you're tired of reading the same old liberal bullshit, written by the same old liberal elites and published in the same old liberal lamestream media -- if you're tired of being treated like a genuine f*cking idiot -- read some or all of these blogs. And keep reading WWW too!

Happy New Year of the Monkey

Walt and Poor Len
[and Ed.! Ed.]
wish all our Chinese readers,
agents and friends

HAPPY NEW YEAR
OF THE MONKEY
2016

Three short, profound statements about our countries today

What follows was sent to me by a resident of the Canadian province of Ontario. These three short, profound statements apply not just to Ontario, or even Canada, but all the AABC countries -- America, Australia, Britain and Canada -- and to western Europe as well. Just change the names of the government agencies and programmes as required. As HST would have said, this is all ye know and all ye need to know about our culture.

1.
We are advised by the liberals to not judge all Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge all gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.

2.
We constantly hear about how the CPP (Canada Pension Plan: the Canuck equivalent of Social Security) is going to run out of money. How come we never hear about welfare running out of money? What's interesting is that one group -- those entitled to their state pensions -- worked for their money, but the other group -- welfare recipients -- didn't.

3.
Provincial Social Services (the welfare department) is proud to be distributing this year the greatest amount of "free money" ever handed out. Meanwhile, the ministry responsible for provincial parks asks us "Please Do Not Feed the Animals." Why not? The stated reason for this commandment is that "The animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves."

Thus endeth today's Lesson In Irony!

What happened when Pope Francis drove his own car

Some people think I've been a bit hard on Pope Francis lately, to which I say "not without cause". As a reminder to lighten up, once in a while, Agent 71 has sent us a little story about the Holy Father, along with the little prayer that follows, for which much thanks.

After getting all of Pope Francis's luggage loaded into his new (and humble) car, the driver saw the Holy Father still standing in the courtyard. "Excuse me, Your Holiness," said the driver, "Would you please take your seat so we can leave? You mustn't miss your plane!"

"Well, to tell you the truth," said the Pope, "they never let me drive at the Vatican , and I'd really like to drive today."
"I'm sorry, Your Holiness," protested the driver, "but I can't let you do that. What if something should happen? I'd lose my job!"
"Who's going to tell?" replied the Pope, with a smile.

Reluctantly, the driver got in the back as the Pope climbed in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regretted his decision when, after exiting the Vatican, the Pontiff floored it, accelerating the tiny vehicle to its top speed!
"Please slow down, Your Holiness," pleaded the worried driver, but the Pope kept the pedal to the metal until they heard sirens.
"Oh, dear God, I'm going to lose my license," the driver moaned, "and my job!"

The Pope pulled over and rolled down the window as the cop approached, but the cop just glanced at him, then went back to his motorcycle, and got on the radio.
"I need to talk to the Chief," he said to the dispatcher.
The Chief got on the radio and the cop told him that he'd stopped an undersized limo going hearly 200 kilometres an hour.
"So bust him," said the Chief.

"I don't think we want to do that," said the motorcycle cop. "He's really important!"
"All the more reason!", exclaimed his boss.
'No, I mean really important," said the cop with a bit of persistence.

The Chief then asked, "Who do you have there, the mayor?"
Cop: "Bigger."
Chief: "A senator?"
Cop: "Bigger."
Chief: "The President?"
Cop: " Even bigger!"

"Well," said the Chief, "who is it? Who could be bigger than the President?"
Cop: "I think it's God!"
"Oh go on!", replied the Chief, now really puzzled. "What makes you think it's God?"
Cop: "His chauffeur is the Pope!"

Give me a sense of humour, Lord, 

Give me the grace to see a joke, 

To get some humour out of life, 

And pass it on to other folk.

"Semi-heretical" prelates leading faithful astray, says Catholic bishop

The Catholic Church is ubiquitous. You could say it's catholic. But is it big-C Catholic any more? Does it still hold and teach the Faith of our Fathers, the traditional Catholic Faith handed down to us through the apostles by Our Lord Himself? Many say not. Many, beginning with Pope Paul VI, say "the smoke of Satan" entered the Church through the window of Vatican II, and that we are now experiencing the Great Apostasy foretold in the Apocalypse.

Many say that those who lead the Church, from Pope Francis on down, are guilty of leading the faithful astray, of teaching and promoting a neo-Catholicism which is at odds with the traditional Faith and therefore heretical. That's the point being made by Michael Matt and Christopher Ferrara in "Luther's Revenge: The Surrender of Pope Francis", the must-see video posted here yesterday.

Messrs Matt and Ferrara are "scary Traditionalists", targets of constant criticism by the likes of Jimmy Akin (see yesterday's post) and Jeff Mirus, neo-Catholic publisher of The Daily Pope (aka Catholic World News), who think that the sun, moon and stars shine out from under the Holy Father's cassock. When Rome speaks, they tell us, we must not only listen, but jump through the hoop which the Pope holds out for us. Thank God for the Protestant Revolt? "Yes, Holy Father!" Stop praying for the conversion of the Jews? "Yes, Holy Father!" And so on, ad nauseam.

Not all Catholics agree. And not all who disagree are dreaded Traditionalists. A Roman Catholic prelate who has serious reservations about the direction in which the Pope and certain Cardinals are leading the Church is Most Reverend Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Astana, Kazakhstan.

In a wide-ranging interview with Rorate Caeli, he charges that many "semi-heretical" Church leaders are misleading the faithful, and must take responsibility for the crisis of faith evident in the mainstream Catholic Church. Here are some excerpts from the interview; the Bishop's words are in purple.

The very crisis of the Church in our days consists in the ever growing phenomenon that those who don’t fully believe and profess the integrity of the Catholic faith frequently occupy strategic positions in the life of the Church, such as professors of theology, educators in seminaries, religious superiors, parish priests and even bishops and cardinals. And these people with their defective faith profess themselves as being submitted to the Pope. [Hello, Jeff Mirus!]

...The very source of the current crisis in the Church, the crisis of marriage, of the family and of the morality in general is not the liturgical reform, but the defects in faith, the doctrinal relativism, from which flows the moral and liturgical relativism. For, if I believe in a defective manner, I will live a defective moral life and I will worship in a defective, indifferent manner. It is necessary first to restore the clearness and firmness of the doctrine of faith and of morals in all levels and, from there, start to improve the liturgy. The integrity and the beauty of the faith demands the integrity and the beauty of one’s moral life and this demands the integrity and the beauty of the public worship.

Bishop Schneider laments the decision by Pope Francis to allow the washing of women’s feet in Holy Thursday services, saying that the move “generates confusion” regarding the all-male priesthood; he adds that it is “improper and even indecent” for a bishop or priest to wash or kiss a woman’s feet.

Bishop Schneider also speaks of the Society of St. Pius X. He describes Bishop Bernard Fellay, the head of the SSPX as an exemplary and true Catholic bishop.... Those who have fear of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X ultimately have fear of the perennial Catholic truths and of its demands in the moral and the liturgical domain.

When the SSPX tries to believe, to worship and to live morally the way our fore-fathers and the best-known Saints did during a millennial period, then one has to consider the life and the work of these Catholic priests and faithful of the SSPX as a gift for the Church in our days – even as one of the several instruments which the Divine Providence uses to remedy the enormity of the current general crisis of the faith, of the morals and of the liturgy inside the Church.

Although not referring to Traditionalists like Messrs Matt and Ferrara et al. [Hello, John Vennari!] directly, Bishop Schneider had something to say about the right of faithful Catholics to question the pronouncements of their leaders, even the Pope. If the Pope would tell the entire church to do something, which would directly damage an unchangeable Divine truth or a Divine commandment, every Catholic would have the right to correct him in a due respectful form, moved out of reverence and love for the sacred office, and person of the Pope.

I think in a time in which a great part of the holders of the office of the Magisterium are negligent in their sacred duty, the Holy Spirit calls today, namely the faithful, to step into the breach and defend courageously with an authentic sentire cum ecclesia the Catholic Faith.

One can think that the Church in our days is being flagellated as our Lord, is being denuded as was Our Lord, on the tenth Cross station. The Church, our mother, is being bound in cords not only by the enemies of Christ but also by some of their collaborators in the rank of the clergy, even sometimes of the high clergy.

All good children of Mother Church as courageous soldiers we have to try to free this mother – with the spiritual weapons of defending and proclaiming the truth, promoting the traditional liturgy, Eucharistic adoration, the crusade of the Holy Rosary, the battle against the sin in one’s private life and striving for holiness.

We have to pray that the Pope may soon consecrate explicitly Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, then She will win, as the Church prayed since the old times: "Rejoice O Virgin Mary, for thou alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world."

Click here to read the interview in full, on the Rorate Caeli website.

VIDEO: "Luther's Revenge: The Surrender of Pope Francis"

In all the fuss about the Iowa primaries, the Muslim invasion of Europe and other reasons to fear for humanity, Walt kind of skipped over an announcement from the Vatican that Pope Francis will travel to Sweden in October to commemorate and "thank God for" the Protestant Reformation. ("Deformation" or "Revolt" would be better words.) The Holy Father has already apologized for 16th century Catholic "intransigence" where Martin Luther was concerned. Now he intends to lead a Catholic-Lutheran joint prayer service of thanksgiving for the "many graces" that came to us through the anathematized Protestant Revolt and the excommunicated Martin Luther.

Who'd have thought such a day would ever come? And what happens next? Are on the verge of a Great Apostasy? Or are we already witnessing it? Here's a video from Remnant TV in which Michael Matt and Christopher Ferrara discuss this latest, almost unbelievable turn of events in the Roman Catholic Catholic Church. It's worth watching just to hear Mr Ferrara call the Lutheran World Federation "a bunch of loons"! He also poses a direct question for neo-Catholic Jimmy Akin, who blogs ["bloviates"? Ed.] for the National Catholic Register. At the end, Messrs Matt and Ferrara reach out in true ecumenism to their Protestant friends.

Ontario's lesbian Premier shunned in India

It's been some time since Walt had an agent in India [Applications to the usual address, please. Ed.] but I do follow the news from that awesome and awful country. I'm especially interested when Western leaders go on pilgrimages to the Land that Sanitation Forgot in search of enlightenment... or money!

Taxpayers of the Canadian province of Ontario know that the Liberal government they (incredibly) re-elected is desperate for the latter (= money), as their proudly lesbian Premier Kathleen Wynne and her cronies continue to spend like drunken sailors on computer systems that don't work and billions of beaverbucks to not build gas-fired power plants.

When you're broke, and your credit rating has been downgraded, the obvious thing to do is go to India begging for some foreign aid, or at least foreign investment. And that's just what the lovely Ms Wynne did, last week. Here she is, visiting the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest of holy places, in Amritsar.

That's Ms Wynne on the right, in the fetching turquoise outfit. The person at left is Jane Rounthwaite, who is Ms Wynne's... errr... wife? husband? ... OK, "spouse", then. Gender and marriage roles are so confusing nowadays, which happens to be the point of Ms Wynne's new sex-ed curriculum. [Whatever happened to pedophiliac Dr. Benjamin Levin? Is he still in jail? Ed.]

Seems like the lovely couple's Indian hosts were as confused as Ontarians. Some of them, in fact, were downright hostile. Check out "Pro-gay Ontario premier runs into an ethical wall in Punjab", a front-page article in the staid Hindustan Times.

The Times reports that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee "decided not to honour the Canadian leader with a siropa (robe of honour) during her visit to the Golden Temple on Sunday. Reason: Wynne, a lesbian, is a supporter of same-sex marriages, a practice opposed by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs."

Premier Wynne, however, denies that there was any such edict. "It took me aback. But homophobia is not surprising," Ms Wynne told the Toronto Star. "We’ve just been through that in Ontario. We know that it’s there. The best antidote is to carry on. I feel strongly about going to the Golden Temple because it is such an important place for the country, but it’s such an important place for people in Ontario."

Presumably the Ontario people she referred to include the 1000s of Sikhs in ridings in Brampton and Mississauga who voted for Ms Wynne and her Liberal candidates in the last Ontario election, just as they did for pro-LGBT2S Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in October's federal election. There are now lots of turbaned Sikhs on government benches in both Ottawa and Toronto, none of whom seem to have a problem with Ms Wynne's "alternative lifestyle". Maybe Canadian Sikhs aren't as devout as their co-religionists back in Mother India?

Groundhog Day: Hellery sees her shadow

Let me be clear. I'm tired of the political correctness, liberal insanity and general mediocrity with which the failed Obama administration has saddled the USA. I want America to be great again! But that doesn't mean that I would vote for The Donald or that I was displeased with the results of last night's Iowa caucuses.

The higher Donald Trump's star rose [not in the East, surely! Ed.], the more worrisome the question of what would happen to the Republic Party if he won the nomination. Even more so the question of what would happen to the USA if he beat Hillary Clinton into the Oval Office. The prospect was frightening to the point of being inconceivable to those who take America and its politics at all seriously.

Many pundits predicted that a Trump candidacy would see large numbers of rank-and-file Republicans desert the party, leaving the field open for Hellery. A Trump win would thus see another Clinton in the White House, with Ole Bill right behind her, pulling the strings. Pulling the strings! (Ooops, just had a flash from Ed Wood there.)

The Trump campaign is far from over though. I wouldn't be surprised if he won New Hampshire. (Lifetime pct .972.) And his candidacy has been good for the GOP in that it has moved the party well to the right of where it would be had Jeb Bush [Who he? Ed.] emerged as a contender. A year ago Ted Cruz was all but written off as a right-wing nut. As of this morning he's the front-runner, due in no small measure to his being unafraid to proclaim his Christian Faith. Well done, that man!

Also noteworthy is Marco Rubio's strong third place finish. Mr. Rubio is acceptable to the Republican establishment as well as conservatives, and would do well with Hispanic voters. A Cruz-Rubio ticket would be very strong, even if Mr. Trump went off in a huff and ran as an independent. That the Republicans could offer voters a clearly conservative choice was seen as highly unlikely until The Donald threw his hat [That stuff on top of his head is a hat? Ed.] into the ring, so in that sense his candidacy has been good for the GOP and good for America.

Then we have the Democrats. I can't swear that this picture was taken last night, but it seems a likely visualization of Hillary Clinton's reaction on hearing the final tally.

Learning that she had squeaked by Bernie Sanders by a mere 1/2 of 1 percent of the votes must have been good for Hellery's bowels. The good news (for America -- see first paragraph) is that the Democratic establishment is now in the same invidious position as the Republicans, faced with the possibility of a wild-eyed socialist emerging as their candidate. Faced with a real question as to Mrs. Clinton's electability, what will they do?

Joe Biden has ruled himself out. Michael Bloomberg used to be a Democrat, but switched to the Dark Side before becoming mayor of New York. Would he switch back again? What will the Democrats do?!

So, all in all, a satisfactory result, from Walt's viewpoint. Looks like we're in for an exciting political year.

FOOTNOTE: A bit of Iowa trivia: The IATA airport code for Sioux Gateway Col. Bud Day Field is SUX. Aren't you glad we're not back in the old days when luggage tags had the destination in big black letters? How'd you like to walk around with SUX on your luggage?!

Apartheid comes to USA: UConn opens segregated dorm

We begin a new month with a story which has to be true, because you couldn't make up something this ironic. Half a century after LBJ's great "civil rights", designed to end once and for all discrimination against anyone on he basis of race and ensure equality for all -- especially as regard accommodation in housing -- a blacks-only dormitory is being built at the University of Connecticut, with the official endorsement of that school's "progressive" authorities.

The segregated accommodation -- separate but equal, you understand -- will be called "SCHOLA2RS House". "SCHOLA2RS" stands for the "Scholistic [sic] House Of Leaders who are African Amercian [sic] Researchers and Scholars". Of course these "schola2rs" have a website. Here's a screen grab.

You may think that a couple of them don't look, errr, African-American, but you don't have to be black to get into the dorm. You only have to "identify as African American/Black". You know, like Rachel Dolezal, the former head of the NAACP in Spokane WA, a white girl who somehow felt black.

You might wonder why, in an America where (according to the Prez) great strides have been made in overcoming racism, a "black living space" would be not just tolerated but deemed a necessity. Dr. Erik M. Hines, Faculty Director and Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at UConn, has the answer. The good doctor says it's because blacks do so poorly at academics that he believes they will do better "in an African-American environment."

Walt kids you not. He really said that, and somehow managed to escape being hauled in front of a "human rights" commission. What would have happened if Mark Steyn had said it? But Dr. Hines is no Mark Steyn! Dr. Hines is a certified (or certifiable) progressive. He explained that "African-American males graduate at a lower rate than their peers."

He went on to say that SCHOLA2RS House is "a space for African-American men to one, come together and validate their experiences that they may have on campus. [sic] umber two, it’s also a space where they can have conversation and also talk with individuals who come from the same background who share the same experience."

Translated into plain English, Dr. Hines is actually sayings that just being in the presence of whites somehow makes blacks do poorly at school, and that the only way this can be remedied is for blacks to have their own dorm. Need we add that all the UConn students and academics who turned out late last year to protest what they called "white racism" have remained completely silent on this project, which reeks of black racism.

Thanks to Agent 3 for alerting us to the original report in The New Observer.