VIDEO: George Carlin says America is full of shit

Today the Toronto (Red) Star has published a list of what it claims are the 213 lies which President Trump has told since he was inaugurated. Even the American lamestream media have pretty much abandoned the daily anti-Trump rant, but not the Star. Poor dear snowflakes just aren't over it yet.

I didn't both reading the list, but feel sure some of what the Star calls "lies" depend on who's defining the "truth". Maybe there is no truth. And even if 212 out of the 213 statements or utterances turn out to be quasi-lies or total lies, did anyone expect anything else? American politicians -- indeed, all politicians, whatever their stripe or nationality -- are consummate bullshitters, and that's what people expect and accept!

What I just wrote is hardly an original thought. George Carlin said the same thing -- much more eloquently -- years ago. The politician he holds out as the archtype was not The Donald, but Bill Clinton. Check out this short video.



IMHO, America is a "full of shit country"! That's why it's so important, right now, to stand up for freedom from political correctness, freedom of speech and freedom of thought! "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." (George Orwell)

Français! Choisir, pas difficile!

This past Sunday the people of France voted in the first round of that country's presidential election. Walt's preferred candidate, Marine Le Pen, leader of the Front National, finished a close second to Emmanuel Macron, the candidate of the "extreme centre". The only surprise, to me, was that Mme Le Pen did not finish first, after the latest Islamic terrorist attack. This result, while largely in line with polling expectations, is still a huge event in the long-term arc of French politics. For a good analysis of why this is so, see "The French election, explained in 9 maps and charts", on Vox, 25/4/17.

The second round of the election -- the finale -- will take place on May 7th, when Mme Le Pen and M Macron go mano-a-mano, so to speak. The winner becomes the president of France. Well before the polls closed on the first round, the lamestream media were crowing that, even if Mme Le Pen, topped the polls, she would get trounced in the second round by whichever "mainstream" candidate she faced. That's because (they say) Mme Le Pen is a creature of the extreme right and is unacceptable to the vast majority of progressive, modern, politically correct yada yada yada voters. Just like Donald Trump.

Well, yaboo to that! According to the latest Opinionway-Orpi poll, as reported in the online edition of the Express today, Marine Le Pen's campaign for the presidency is gathering increasing momentum as she closes the gap on M Macron. The poll showed Mme Le Pen would garner 41% of the vote in the runoff – a score up two percentage points in two days -- while M Macron's share dropped to 59%.

Other polls are in the same range. A 20-point gap is a lot, but the polls show the momentum is with Mme Le Pen. By acting too confident, M Macron could easily blow the election that is his to lose. Just like Hellery Clinton.

What is important is that the people of France have, for the first time since Charles De Gaulle returned from Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, a clear choice for their future. They can vote for France and for civilization, or for globalism and the Islamization of Europe. It's that simple.

Poor Len offers strategic readjustments following NHL round 1

Poor Len Canayen here, recovering from shock after Round 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. Hockey is Canada's national winter sport. [The national summer sport is lacrosse. You're welcome. Ed.] Being what eye yam, I support the NHL's so-called Canadian teams, and the Montréal Canadiens -- la Sainte Flannelle -- in particular. I was therefore pleased, after no Canadian teams made it into the 2015-16 playoffs, to see no fewer than five (5) in this year's first round. I admit my excitement may have influenced my predictions a bit. Here are some explanations and revisions.

Careful readers will notice that I cleverly picked nine (9) teams to qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Only eight such spots exist so there was obviously a fudge factor there. The Tampa Bay Lightning didn't get in; the Boston Bruins did.

In the first round, I was surprised to see les Glorieux lose in 6 games to the New York Rangers. Rangers' goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, woke up after his worst-ever regular season performance, and was one goal better than Habs' Carey Price. The real difference, though, was Montréal's lack of scoring, and a couple of defensive gaffes. Look for Alex Galchenyuk and Nathan Beaulieu to play elsewhere next year. The Rangers go on to meet the Ottawa Senators, who bounced the aging and rebuilding Bruins in 6. No surprise there. I'll be cheering for Ottawa but predict Rangers in 6.

In the other half of the Eastern Conference, I really enjoyed the series between the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs. The enthusiasm of Toronto fans, most of whom have never seen their team win a Stanley Cup, is contagious. The Leafs made it tough for the Caps, with all but one game going to overtime, before Alexander Ovechkin finally caught fire and put an end to things, in Game 6. Kudos to Toronto's goalie, Freddy Andersen, and certain Rookie of the Year, Auston Matthews. A couple of hundred miles to the west, the Pittsburgh Penguins put the Columbus Bluejackets out in 5. Bluejackets played over their heads for much of the regular season and had nothing left for the playoffs. Now it's OV vs Sid the Kid, and my bet is on the Penguins, in 7.

Further west, the really big surprise of Round 1 was seeing the Nashville Predators rout my favoured Chicago Blackhawks in 4 games straight! Chicago's goalie, Corey Crawford, was sub-par, while the Preds' Pekka Rinne was hot. My other pick in that series was the Minnesota Wild, who got dumped by the St Louis Blues in 5 games. Another case of having a better-than-expected regular season and then coming back down to earth in the second season. Also shows to go ya that (as with the Canadiens) you need more than a top-notch goalie. So it's Nashville vs St Louis next, and I'm going with St Louis in 7, just because I don't like Nashville.

Way out west, I expected the California teams to put out the Canucks -- meaning the Canadian teams, not the Vancouver Canucks, who didn't qualify -- and was half right. The Edmonton Oilers, led by the league's youngest captain and budding superstar, Connor McDavid, defeated the San Jose Sharks in 6 games. Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames were extinguished in 4 straight by the Anaheim Ducks. [Can't they do something about that name? Put the "Mighty" back in, or substitute "California" for "Anaheim", which I don't believe is a real place. Ed.] I would love to see Edmonton [also not a real place. Ed.] win the coming series vs Anaheim, but can't see betting that way unless somebody gives me good odds. Ducks in 6.

Looking farther ahead, Chicago's shocking first-round exit screws up my prediction of a Chicago-Pittsburgh final, not to mention the outcome. Unclear is the situation in the West. If the Ducks beat Edmonton, they should be able to dispose of either St Louis or Nashville, but... here it comes... in my crystal ball I see Sidney Crosby hoisting Lord Stanley's silverware one more time. Lifetime pct (after some slippage thanks to Round 1) .973.

1000s of Taliban fighters allowed into Germany as "refugees"

Thanks to Angela Merkel's wrong-headed and discredited policy of Willkommenskultur (= Be nice to the poor oppressed Muslims), 1000s of former (?) Taliban fighters may have entered Germany over the past two years among an influx of more than a million "refugees", asylum-seekers and other "migrants". So reports Der Spiegel today, in "Tausende afghanische Flüchtlinge bezichtigen sich selbst als Taliban".

This is not supposition or an educated guess. No less an authority than the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) has admitted to security officials that 1000s of migrants had identified themselves as former Taliban insurgents during the asylum application process. The Bamf added that at least 70 Afghan men were being investigated by Germany's chief federal prosecutor, though it was not clear whether all of them were suspected of being active Taliban militants. Six are being held in investigatory detention and preliminary court hearings involving several others are due to start next week, the magazine added.

Chancellor Merkel's government is under fire -- excuse the expression! -- for allowing in so many migrants, especially after several militant attacks which have been linked to people yelling "Allahu akbar!". In response, the government has stepped up the deportation of rejected Afghan asylum seekers. Frau Merkel said that "only" about 55% of Afghans were granted refugee status in Germany, while 45% were turned down. So everything's all right then. Nothing to worry about. Alles is gut!

FOOTNOTE: Not all the Taliban are in Germany. 10 or so of them, disguised in Afghan army uniforms stormed a military compound in the Balkh province of Afghanistan, killing about 10 dozen (120) real Afghan soldiers. The attackers, in two separate military vehicles which they had somehow obtained, told guards at the gates that they were carrying wounded soldiers and therefore immediately needed to enter the site, according to Reuters. Click here for latest from Fox News.

Korea - Must we go there again?

There's been a good deal of sabre-rattling in Pyongyang, North Korea, lately. Weapons-displaying too. Like a youngster who has just reached puberty and is unsure about his manhood [Does size matter? See post below. Ed.], the Dear Leader of the world's last Stalinist dictatorship [What about China? Ed.] has paraded his totally tubular ballistic missiles to show the world what he can do to us if he gets mad [as understood in British English. Ed.] enough to use them. If he's not firing blanks, that is.

Should we be worried? Or should we just ignore the kid's strutting and shouting? Dismissing as idle the threat of a Communist invasion of the Republic of Korea (aka South Korea) was what the USA, on the advice of General Douglas MacArthur, did in 1950. Look how that turned out. "Gee, Walt," (I hear you ask), "How did that turn out?" For the answer, read The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, by David Halberstam (Hyperion 2007). Here's an excerpt.

By early 1950 [Kim Il-sung, grandfather of Kim Jong-un] had systematically taken control of all the levers of power. The great problem in his mind was that he ruled only half a country. Above all else, he longed to unleash his increasingly powerful, Soviet-trained, Soviet-equipped, well-disciplined army to invade, and to his mind liberate, the South, where hundreds of thousands awaited his strike. He would turn two Koreas into just one.

Although the West was, through its own ignorance, taken by surprise by the North Korean invasion of the South, Kim I didn't get `er done. But millions of people -- Koreans, Americans, Canadians, Anzacs, Chinese, etc -- "died for a tie", as Mr Halberstam puts it. Unfortunately for us, the vision of a united Communist Korea persists in the alleged mind of Kim III.

Should we sit back and wait, as we did in 1950, to see if he'll actually make good his bunny-brained threats? I say not. I say we should take action, in the form of a preemptive strike, or at least a demonstration of the kind of power that the USA -- aided by Japan, perhaps -- can unleash should such be required. That means more than sending an "armada" off in the wrong direction!

Let's leave war-mongering for the moment and turn to a little-known story from that time -- part of Walt's effort to make you more knowledgeable for reading WWW! This is about the little-known brother of Kim Il-sung's counterpart, Syngman Rhee, President of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Mr Rhee is described in The Coldest Winter as "the most irascible, contentious, and independent of totally dependent clients." But, like many other Asian dictators ["presidents", surely! Ed.] he was indeed the client of the USA. The Truman and Eisenhower governments did all they could to prop him up and keep him happy.

One of the things the US government did was to find a job for Syngman Rhee's younger brother, who aspired to be a journalist. Thanks to the close relationship with the Luces, a position with Life magazine was found for the younger Rhee. When war broke out, the editors of Life sent their only Korean staffer to the battle zone to cover the hostilities "from the local perspective". Unfortunately, Mr Rhee got separated from the unit with which he was embedded, becoming MIA.

Fearing a diplomatic disaster, the US Army mounted a search-and-rescue operation, along the lines of Saving Private Ryan, and finally located the missing Korean VIP in a hotel (???) in Inchon. When the sergeant leading the search party burst into the room where his quarry was found, he burst into song... "Ah, sweet Mr Rhee of Life, at last I've found you!"

Size DOES matter -- survey of what women think

Agent 6 has returned from sunnier climes and passes on the results of a women's survey on size. Here's how random ladies responded.

2 inches - I can't even hold it.
3 inches - Never been so unsatisfied.
4 inches - I've had bigger.
5 inches - Good, but I wish a bit bigger.
6 inches - Perfect.
7 inches - Love it.
8 inches - Wow! But can't have it all.
9 inches - A lot, but manageable.
10 inches - Too much pressure on stomach, fills me up.

These were actually (Agent 6 swears) the results of a customer feedback survey of... wait for it... different sizes of Subway sandwiches!

"Allahu akbar!" again... ENOUGH ALREADY!

Paris this time, right on the Champs-Élysées. And just in time for the first round of voting in the French presidential election. If this latest "incident" -- one cop killed, two injured -- doesn't push Marine Le Pen into first place, I don't know what will.

As first reports came in yesterday afternoon, the lamestream media and France's pinkish outgoing president were being careful, as usual, to avoid using the word "Islamic", in spite of an almost immediate claim of responsibility by ISIS. Once the identity of the perp -- killed by the police in the firefight -- was confirmed, apologists for Islamic terrorism were quick to point out that 39-year-old Karim Cheurfi was a French citizen. A veil [a niqab? Ed.] was drawn over M Cheurfi's ethnic origin, place of birth and religious beliefs.

Today, Inspector Clouseau confirmed that the Islamic terrorist -- for such was he -- was detained just last February for threatening police, but then freed for "lack of evidence". He was also convicted in 2003 of attempted homicide in the shootings of... wait for it... two police officers. Hmm. Maybe he wasn't an Islamist, just a cop-hater. Or both. Whatever he was, he isn't any longer. Police shot and killed M Cheurfi after he opened fire on a police van. Inside his car, the flics found some knives and a pump-action shotgun.

The terrorist attack brought to the fore the recurrent campaign theme of France's fight against Islamic extremism, one of the mainstays of the anti-immigration platform of Front National leader Marine Le Pen, who redoubled her appeal to the French to "vote for civilization". Speaking at her campaign headquarters, Mme Le Pen called for a firmer hand against Islamic extremism and promised get-tough measures if elected. Right now, she said, the outgoing Socialist government must re-establish border controls. In reply, the Socialist prime minister accused the FN leader of seeking to politicize the assault. Amazing.

"Australia first!" - Oz to introduce values tests for would-be citizens

Seems Australians, unlike their Canadian cousins, have had enough of celebrating diversity and welcoming all comers to the fair land of Oz. No "Ministry of Refugees" for them! In fact, the Australian government plans to reform its immigration programme by lengthening the waiting period for citizenship, adding a new "Australian values" test and raising the standard for English language ability.

While announcing the end of an overly generous temporary worker programme, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the time had come to "put Australia first." The current immigration process, he said, was mainly "administrative" while the citizenship test is largely "a civics test." The current multiple-choice questionnaire tests a person's knowledge of Australian laws, national symbols and colours of the Aboriginal flag, but Mr Turnbull said it was not adequate to judge whether a person would accept Australian values.

"If we believe that respect for women and children and saying no to violence...is an Australian value, and it is," he explained, "then why should that not be made a key part, a fundamental part, a very prominent part, of our process to be an Australian citizen? Why should the test simply be a checklist of civic questions?"

The new citizenship test will include questions about whether applicants have sent their kids to school, whether they go to work, and whether they think it's consistent with Australian values to become part of unruly gangs. "We’re standing up for Australian values and the parliament should do so too," said the PM.

On the question of language, Mr Turnbull said basic English would no longer be sufficient to become an Australian citizen under the new test. New applicants need a minimum level 6.0 equivalent of the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), and will only become eligible for citizenship after four years as a permanent resident, up from one year. He told reporters in Canberra, "I reckon if we went out today and said to Australians, 'Do you think you could become an Australian citizen without being able to speak English?', they’d say, 'You’re kidding. Surely you’d have to be able to speak English.'" Just like the gentleman in the drawing at right.*

"What we are doing," Mr Turnbull said, "is strengthening our multicultural society and strengthening our values." Turnbull told reporters in Canberra. “Australian citizenship should be honoured, cherished. It’s a privilege."

* Note from Ed: Australian English is a dialect, or at least a variant, which is unintelligible to non-residents of the Antipodes. It is sometimes known as "Strine", from the way native speakers pronounce the RSE "strain". You can look it up in The Oxford Companion to the English Language.

"Allahu akbar!" again, back in the USA this time

Walt has asked before, where's Santiago Matamoros (Saint James, Slayer of Moors), now that we need him? It was he who drove the "Moors"* (= Moroccans = Arabs = Muslims) out of the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) in the 16th century. Many citizens of post-Christian Europe are hoping, perhaps even praying that St James will reappear to save them from the invasion of Middle Eastern and northern African Muslims which has now reached crisis proportion.

Similar sentiments are increasingly heard in North America, where white Christians are quickly becoming sick, sore and tired of the Islamization of their communities, and the crimes -- female genital mutilation, honour killings and terrorist murders -- being perpetrated in the name of "Allah the merciful" and his "religion of peace".

The latest murderous attack by a professed follower of the Prophet was yesterday's killing, in Fresno CA, of three innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killer has been identified as one Kori Ali Muhammad -- like Muhammad Ali, only backwards, geddit? -- who was tackled and arrested even as he shouted "Allahu akbar!" ("God is great!", in Arabic).

In spite of his name, Mr Muhammad is no Arab, and probably not a true son of Islam either. Public records list him as Cory Taylor and other aliases with addresses in Fresno and Sacramento. Chief Jerry Dyer of the Fresno PD police chief said his former name was Cory McDonald. A woman who identified herself as his grandmother said Tuesday that the family last saw him on Easter Sunday. She hung up the phone before giving her name. His brother, who also didn't want to be identified by name, said, "I never would have thought he would do anything like this." Describing him as a funny and intelligent man, the bro said he was "just kind of shocked."

Chief Dyer said that, in spite of the fact that Mr Muhammad/McDonald/Taylor kept yelling "Allahu akbar!", he was no Islamic terrorist. He was just a crazy [politically incorrect word deleted. Ed.] who wanted to kill as many white people as possible. "These were unprovoked attacks by an individual that was intent on carrying out homicides today. He did that," the top cop told reporters. "This is solely based on race."

Mr Muhammad/McDonald/Taylor faces four counts of murder and at least two additional charges of assault with a deadly weapon. On what appeared to be his Facebook page, he repeatedly posted "#LetBlackPeopleGo" and encouraged "black warriors" to "mount up." He wrote that his "kill rate increases tremendously on the other side" and also posted about "white devils". On several occasions, he wrote updates that included the phrase "Allahu Akbar!" Walt wonders how Allah feels about having atrocities like this committed by infidels like Mr Muhammad. No 72 virgins in paradise for him!

Time out for a word from our sponsor

This excellent piece of satire -- you did know it was a joke, right? -- appeared on The People's Cube, which Walt reads regularly.

British general election: why now?

Under Britain’s Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, passed to get rid of the uncertainty under the unwritten constitution, under which an election could be called at any time, elections are now to be held every five years. BUT (and it's a big one) the prime minister can call a snap election if two-thirds of lawmakers vote for it. Today, the Rt Hon Theresa May announced that she would ask the House of Commons to back her call for an election to be held on June 8th, three years before the next scheduled date. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would support the request.

Walt wonders why. Ms May was never elected Prime Minister, inheriting the position from David Cameron, who resigned shortly after the majority of English and Welsh Britons (but not Scots or Ulstermen) voted for Brexit -- secession from the European Union. But then, the British PM is not directly elected anyway. He/she is simply the leader of the party with the largest number of seats in the House of Commons, which happens to be Ms May's Conservatives. The June election is highly unlikely to result in a change of government.

Ms May's explanation is that since Britons voted to leave the EU in June, the country has come together, but politicians have not. She said the political divisions "risk our ability to make a success of Brexit.... Our opponents believe that because the government's majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course" on getting out of the EU. "They are wrong," she said. "They underestimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country."

That doesn't sound right to me. The real opposition to Brexit comes not from Mr Corbyn's Labour Party, which is even more divided than Ms May's Tories, but from the liberal one-worlders who dominate the British meeja and are strong in both parties. These anti-Brexit forces, aided and funded by George Soros, were in the streets (literally) immediately after the referendum, demanding a do-over. Petitions bearing millions (literally) of signatures have been presented to Parliament. But, as in the USA, the people have spoken and there will be no redo.

But what if, what if Ms May's party loses the June election, or finds itself in a minority position in the next House of Commons? Ms May, who is personally opposed to leaving the EU, but obliged to follow the expressed will of the people, has asked for a mandate to negotiate the type of Brexit that many pro-Leave MPs desire: i.e., the UK remains in the single market but does not sign up to the Freedom of Movement Act which was the reason the majority of Britons voted to take their country out. If she doesn't get that mandate, she could interpret the loss as a signal that the British people have changed their mind about Brexit, and call a halt to the whole thing.

The water is muddied further by the upcoming French presidential election. See "Marine Le Pen criticizes Pope, Church for interfering in French politics", posted here yesterday and "'Vote for civilization!', Marine Le Pen tells French", WWW 5/2/17. The election of Marine Le Pen would be widely viewed as a precursor to a "Frexit" -- the withdrawal of France from the EU. If France goes, what would be the point of Britain staying in. The future of Europe should be much clearer by the summer solstice.

Marine Le Pen criticizes Pope, Church for interfering in French politics

In an interview with La Croix, Marine Le Pen, the Front National candidate for the presidensity of France, said she was angry with the Roman Catholic Church "because I think it interferes with everything except what it should really be concerned with."

Mme Le Pen told the French daily that she has a "strong faith, and I am fortunate that I have never doubted it." She was, however, critical of Pope Francis, particularly on the issue of immigration. Charitable activities should be the responsibilities of individuals, she said, while states should pursue their national interests. "When the Pope urges nations to accept immigrants without restrictions," she declared, "this falls within the realm of politics and even interference."

The Front National leader took a strong stand for the French tradition of secularism in government and in public affairs generally. She argued that religious symbols such as the Islamic veil should not be allowed in public. "Secularism means that one can pass someone in the street," she explained, "without either one knowing what faith the other follows."

When asked whether religious leaders have a right to enter into public debates, Mme Le Pen replied, "I don’t get involved with what the Pope should say to his followers. I don't think religious should tell the French people how to vote." She went on to say that if she is elected President of France, she will "with great pleasure" invite the Pope to visit, "and I will tell him exactly what I have just told you!"

The first round of voting in France's presidential election takes place next week. If none of the candidates wins a majority, a run-off between the top two contenders will be held on May 7th.

Further reading: "Marine Le Pen: 'La priorité nationale, ce n'est ni illégal ni immoral'", La Croix, 14/4/17. Walt's stylish translation of the quote: "Putting your country first is neither illegal nor immoral!"

MI doctor charged with female genital mutilation; guess which religion?

Should be an interesting afternoon in beautiful downtown Detroit. [Eh??? Ed.] Protesters with "NOCIRC of Michigan" plan to gather about noon EDT outside the US District Courthouse to raise awareness of the barbaric "cultural" -- read "Muslim" -- practice of female circumcision, more accurately described as female genital mutilation or "FGM".

"The genitals of both girls AND boys needs [sic] to be protected from the harm of any genital cutting practice," said (((Norm Cohen))), executive director of NOCIRC of Michigan. "Michigan has one of the highest rates of circumcision in the world. This unnecessary custom violates a child's right to bodily integrity and normal functions."

The occasion for the protest is the bail hearing, scheduled for 1300 today, for Jumana Nagarwala, M.D., a Detroit doctor with performing genital mutilation on two 7-year-old girls, in what is believed to be the first case brought under a law prohibiting the procedure. Dr Nagarwala, an emergency room physician at Henry Ford Hospital, is alleged to have performed the procedures at an unnamed medical clinic in the Detroit suburb of Livonia.

"Female genital mutilation constitutes a particularly brutal form of violence against women and girls," said acting US Attorney Daniel Lemisch. "The practice has no place in modern society and those who perform FGM on minors will be held accountable under federal law."

Female genital mutilation typically involves the partial or total removal of the clitoris and is barred by numerous international treaties. The practice is common in several African countries, including Somalia, Sudan and Egypt, where it is often a cultural or religious tradition. What do these countries have in common? They are all Muslim countries, run according to strict interpretations of Islamic law. (Notice that Ethiopia, a predominantly Christian country surrounded by the others, is not in the list.)

Why does Michigan have one of the highest rates of FGM in the world? Because that state, and the greater Detroit area in particular, is the new home of hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants, "refugees" and asylum-seekers, who have brought their barbaric cultural practices with them. Yet it has taken two decades for the Justice Department to launch this first criminal prosecution under a law against such practices enacted in 1996!

VIDEO: 15 things you didn't know about the world's greatest goalie

Poor Len Canayen here, with a nice little video to get you thinking hockey as you digest your Easter Sunday dinner. Yes, the NHL playoffs are in full swing, and the series between the Montréal Canadiens and the New York Rangers is tied at 1 game each. Game three is at Madison Square Gardens -- that's what "MSG" stands for, by the way -- starting at 1900 EDT.

Tonight's game promises to be another duel between two of the NHL's top goaltenders -- Hendrik Lundqvist of the Broadway Blueshirts and, of course,
the Habs' Carey Price, arguably the best goalie in the world. Don't take my word for it though. About three minutes into this video you can see the impressive haul of silverware he collected at the end of the 2014-15 season.



Carey Price didn't play most of the 2015-16 season due to injuries, but appears to be back in form this year, which is why I call the Canadiens to vanquish the Ranger (in six games) and go on to win... errr... more games. (Lifetime pct .992.)

Too bad Canadian sports fans won't be able to see tonight's match-up without paying Robbers to see it on the premium channel. May the gods of hockey curse both the Canadian Broadcorping Castration and the National Hockey League (G. Bettman, Prop.) for deciding that the CBC's latest remake of Anne of Green Gables and its ludicrous "history" series The Story of Us (Indians) are more important to viewers than Canada's Team. Shame on them.

Happy Easter to our readers

Christ is risen

Truly He is risen

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Walt [and Ed.]

wish all our readers

a

HAPPY AND HOLY EASTER

Good Friday: The Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Reading: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
according to St. John (18:1-40 and 19:1-42)

Thy Cross, O Lord, we venerate,
and praise and glorify Thy Holy Resurrection;
for behold, by this wood hath joy come into the whole world.

Stupid Canucks allow HIV+ "refugee" sex offender to stay in country

I hope Brad Hunter and the publishers of the Toronto Sun, for whom he wrote this story, won't mind my reposting it, in full. I don't think any comment beyond that of our headline is necessary.

An HIV-positive sex offender who avoided being deported is back on the streets. Winnipeg cops are warning residents that Apay Ogouk, 33, was released from prison after being caged on three counts of sexual assault. "Although he participated in some treatment programming in the past, Ogouk is still considered at risk to reoffend in a sexual manner," Manitoba's high-risk sex offender unit said in a warning. "All females are at risk."

The Sudan-born man had unprotected sex with three teenage girls, two of whom he infected with HIV, the virus that causes potentially-deadly AIDS. While the acts were consensual the Lolita-loving lothario didn't inform his sex partners of his condition.

Ogouk came to Canada as a refugee in 2005. In 2006, he was informed he was HIV-positive, and told to use protection and inform his sexual partners about his health.

One girl, 15, was lucky she wasn't infected but two others weren't so lucky. By the time cops went looking for him, Ogouk had moved to Calgary where he was later charged with aggravated sex assault against two more women. Both happily tested negative. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison. In addition, he was hit with a seven-year jolt for his Winnipeg crimes.

At his sentencing, Ogouk said, "If I get a chance, I don't do that again. I'm very sorry for that." But he was not ordered deported.

"Allahu akbar!" again; German soccer team targeted

Muslims aren't very good at football (= soccer, for North Americans who prefer real football). Their Islamically correct clothes impede mobility, and make it difficult for them to move easily as well. And, because of Angela Merkel's discredited Willkommenskultur policy, Germany is full of anti-Western, anti-soccer, jihadis. So when three (count 'em, 3) bombs exploded beside the bus carrying the Borussia Dortmund soccer team, Walt immediately thought "Ach du lieber! Muslime!" Today comes the confirmation. (Lifetime pct .991.)

German police say the soccer team were on their way to their Champions League quarter-final match against Monaco when three explosive charges, hidden in a hedge, detonated. Not much damage was done. Some of the bus's windows were broken and a couple of tires burst. One player underwent an operation after breaking a bone in his wrist. No other players were hurt, but a police officer on a motorbike escorting the bus was also wounded.

Today, the head of Dortmund police said the attack was targeted. His minions -- zey haf vays of making people talk! -- are investigating a possible Islamic extremist link to the bombing, according to German media. A letter found near the scene cites the Berlin Christmas market attack and denounces German military operations in Syria. Süddeutsche Zeitung said the letter found nearby began with the phrase "In the name of Allah", and mentioned Germany's use of Tornado jets in the coalition forces fighting ISIS. German federal prosecutors, who now have plenty of experience with terror investigations, are taking over the probe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the bombing a "revolting act". Her spokesthingy said, "The Chancellor was, like the people of Dortmund and millions of people everywhere, appalled by the attack on the BVB team bus." He carefully avoided the use of the words "Islamic" or "Muslim" or "terrorist". Another coat of whitewash is expected soon.

UPDATED: Swedish cops confirm truck attacker a failed asylum-seeker, wanted to move to US or Canada

Told ya so! OK, I didn't spell it out in so many words, but my post "'Allahu akbar!' again; Sweden's turn this time" implied clearly [sez you! Ed.] that the perpetrator of the death-by-truck attack in Stockholm last week would turn out to be yet another crazed follower of the Prophet. Unable to maintain a politically correct silence on the murderer's nationality and religion any longer, Swedish cops today confirmed that the suspect, a native of Uzbekistan, was a rejected asylum-seeker, who eluded authorities' attempts to deport him by giving police a false address. Walt's lifetime pct .991.

Jan Evensson of the Stockholm police told a televised news conference that the 39-year-old Muslim's request for a residence permit was rejected in June 2016, but police couldn't find him to send him back to his native country because he was not at the address he had given. A warrant for his arrest had been issued on February 24th.

For some reason [like political correctness? Ed.] the cops still refuse to name the killer, even though his photo, taken by a security camera, is all over the media. I'll go out on a limb here and predict that when his name is finally released [if ever. Ed.] it will be something like... wait for it... Mohammed. Lifetime pct still .991.

A spokesthingy for Sweden's national police said, "We know [the unnamed suspect] has been sympathetic to extremist organizations." Today, Swedish prosecutors arrested a second person in connection with the truck attack case for suspected crimes against the nation and were holding four other people. Yet another spokesthingy told AP, "A person suspected of terrorist offenses by murder has been arrested." She did not give any further details about the new suspect. Want my prediction on this one or have you already figured it out? Lifetime pct still .991.

UPDATE ADDED 10/4/17: Mounting media pressure finally forced the Swedish cops to identify the 39-year-old Uzbek who mowed down 19 innocent people (4 killed, 15 injured) with a stolen beer truck as Rakhmat Akilov, who was previously denied permanent residency in Sweden. [Looks like you lose the bet on his name. Ed.] Never mind that! There's more...

Mr Akilov was reportedly following a Facebook group that offered information on how to emigrate to the United States and Canada. He also followed pages calling for the ouster of former Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Mr Akilov was detained by the police in a Stockholm suburb at 2100 local time on Friday. He is alleged to be "sympathetic to the Islamic State." Lifetime pct .990.

VIDEO: Was President Trump right to attack Syria?

Let me answer the headline question for you. NO! What President Trump should have done was stick with his position, enunciated long before the election, that the US should stay out of foreign entanglements, of which the Muslim civil war is the chief example. Yet the President Trump sent 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for what he claimed was a chemical attack on civilians by Syrian President Assad. He sought no Congressional authorization and presented no evidence to either Congress or the American people to justify his actions.

Some of President Trump's most dedicated admirers, including Yours Very Truly, were stunned by the news. The missile strike was pretty much what his defeated rival, Hellery Clinton, would have done, had she had her trembling finger on the button. On Thursday she told a women's forum she would "take out" Assad's airfields, and that's what the missile strike launched that same day was supposed to do.

Kevin MacDonald, the editor of The Occidental Observer, called the US attack on Syria "a betrayal". In a phone interview the morning after the missiles were launched, he told the CBC, "I'm concerned now this whole administration is going the way of the neocons. The whole nine yards." Mr MacDonald thought President Trump was supposed to be an "America First" leader focused on a non-interventionist foreign policy. Now, he said, "I'm very disappointed; very agitated."

Richard Spencer, who coined the term "alt-right", expressed his displeasure in a video titled "The Trump Betrayal". Alex Jones, host of InfoWars, said on his show Mr Trump was "disintegrating in my eyes." And former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos wrote on Facebook, "There comes a day in every child's life when his Daddy bitterly disappoints him."

What happens next, as the President opens wider the US military involvement in the Middle East? Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) joins Ron Paul's Liberty Report to discuss "US Bombs Syria - National Security Or Aggression?"



Further reading: "Let’s Allow The Syrian People To Decide For Themselves", by Ron Paul, posted 3/4/17, before the missile strike.

More reading, even better (added 11/4/17): Click here to read "Shocked But Not Awed: An Open Letter to President Trump", by Michael Matt and Christopher Ferrara, in Fetzen Fliegen (a Remant newspaper blog), 10/4/17.

"Allahu akbar!" again; Sweden's turn this time

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven says he was shocked, shocked that an act of Islamic terrorism would be committed in the streets of Stockholm, after his government (if not his people) had extended the hand of friendship to 1000s of Muslim "refugees" and asylum-seekers.

Mr Lofven's shock horror was provoked by an incident in Stockholm's busy Drottninggatan. A large truck crashed into the upscale Ahlens department store, killing two, three or five people, depending on which media source you're monitoring. The PM said at least two were killed, Broadcaster SVT says at least five, while Swedish radio says at least three. Swedish police could not immediately confirm the death toll.

SVT said shots were fired at the scene, though it wasn't clear by whom, and Inspektor Ole Olsen couldn't confirm that report either. Nor could he confirm or deny that cries of "Allahu akbar!" had been heard. He did say that one person had been arrested, but for reasons of political correctness, no details of the name, nationality or religion of the suspect could be made available. Which begs the question of why the Swedish prime minister would say "This indicates that it is an act of terror."

Walt also wonders why Mr Lofven was shocked and horrified. Was he not aware of how things are in his country, now that they have joined Germany in opening the gates to the hordes or Middle Eastern and North African asylum-seekers clamouring for mercy... with a side of welfare. All Mr Lofven has to do is read WWW, starting with "Mark Steyn reveals what's really happening in Sweden", posted exactly a month ago. Includes video. Watch it!

John Vennari, RIP

With heavy heart, I pass along the sad news of the death of Joseph John Vennari, (24 February 1958 - 4 April 2017) editor of Catholic Family News and a leader of the struggle for the Restoration of the Catholic Faith. This video clip, featuring Michael Matt, is from The Remnant Underground.

Please keep the repose of John's soul in your Masses, Holy Communions, prayers and sacrifices. May his soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS

Wake
Visitation will be from 3-9 PM EDT on Friday, April 7th, at the Amigone Funeral Home (Tonawanda Chapel), 2600 Sheridan Drive, Tonawanda, New York, 14150.
The Holy Rosary will be prayed at 7 PM.

Solemn Requiem Mass
The Solemn Requiem Mass will be offered at 9:30 AM EDT on Saturday, April 8th, by Rev. Fr. Adam Purdy, at Corpus Christi Church, 199 Clark Street
Buffalo, New York, 14212.

Burial
Immediately following the Requiem Mass, the interment will take place at Mount Calvary Cemetery, 800 Pine Ridge Boulevard, Cheektowaga, New York, 14225.
Weather permitting, the Holy Rosary will be prayed at this time.
Thank you and God bless you.

Easter bazaar at St. Elias Church, Brampton, Canada

Regular readers will know that Walt has a great regard for St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brampton ON, and for its pastor, Archpriest Roman Galadza. The parish is very vibrant, with many activities for the community of faith, and for the larger community.

One of the big events of the year is the Easter bazaar. This year's Easter Paska sale will take place on Saturday, April 8th, at the church, located at 10193 Heritage Road in Brampton, from noon until 3 p.m.

The popular bazaar will feature several specialty items such as the ritual Easter breads (Paska), hand-decorated Easter eggs (Pysanky), beeswax candles, gifts and much more. Says Father Galadza, "Easter should be joyous and fun. The bazaar takes place a week ahead of time so people can purchase the special breads (Paska) and eggs, meat and other items and set it aside until Easter Sunday when the baskets of food will be blessed after the service. It all really tastes great because basically because it's all the stuff you haven't eaten during Lent!"

Ukrainian or not, Catholic or not, all are welcome. And you never know who you may see there.

UK grammar vigilante tackles apostrophe error's

Ed. here. Assiduous readers will know that the abuse and misuse of the humble apostrophe (') makes me [and Walt! Walt] wild. Sometimes we think we are alone in our campaign to stamp out egregious errors such as "It pay's to go Peugeot!" or "The Anderson's", referring to a family named "Anderson" who presumably live in the house so sign-posted. We are therefore encouraged by reports of others who are fighting the good fight for grammatical correctness. Agent 34 sends along this one, from the education section of The Grauniad.

For more than a decade, an unidentified corrector of poor English has been venturing out in the dead of night and tidying up the punctuation on store fronts and street signs in Bristol, England. On Monday, the BBC announced it had tracked him down and had accompanied him on one of his night-time missions.

The first sign he tackled, the man said, was council sign -- "Monday's to Friday's" -- and had "these ridiculous apostrophes, which I was able to scratch those off." He also corrected fixed a "gross" shop sign which read "Amys Nail's". "It was so loud and in your face. I just couldn’t abide it. It grates," he told the Beeb. Here we see him sorting out "Cambridge Motor's". The owners of the business thanked him for correcting the mistake.

The still unidentified language purist told the BBC, "I'm a grammar vigilante. I think it's a cause worth pursuing." He said he began by scratching out an extraneous apostrophe on a sign, but had since become more sophisticated and has built an "apostrophiser" -- a long-handled tool that allows him to reach up to shop signs to add in, or cover up, offending punctuation marks. "This is a device that enables you to plant an apostrophe quite high up and get over any obstacles," he said.

He also has a specially made stepladder that means he does not have to lean a conventional ladder against shop windows, and carries a set square and scalpel to make sure his work is neat and precise. When it was put to him that what he was doing was probably illegal, his defence was staunch: "I’m sticking on a bit of sticky-back plastic. It's more of a crime to have the apostrophes wrong!"

"1984" -- Is it an anti-Trump polemic or what?

Walt had to wash his hair yesterday, so didn't attend "National Screening Day", celebrated by snowflakes across the USA, but also in Canada (of course), and Sweden (ditto). The brainchild of (((Dylan Skolnick))), co-director of the Cinema Arts Centre on Long Island (more of course), and (((Adam Birnbaum))), director of film programming at the Avon Theatre Film Center in Connecticut (more ditto), National Screaming Day was to have featured the simultaneously showing in 200 cinemas worldwide of George Orwell's dystopian classic, 1984. Why? To protest against President Donald Trump...of course.

In a crisis of angst following the US presidential election, Messrs (((Skolnick))) and (((Birnbaum))) began talking about organizing a film event to express how they felt about the new administration. Mr Skolnick told Al Jazeera [Isn't that the Arab news network? Jews working with Muslims? Huh? Ed.] that he realized 1984 would be "the perfect film to show given the current political climate in the US".

The trouble with that notion is that the prophesy of 1984 came true about a decade or two ahead of schedule. It has nothing to do with the present administration or the holder of the highest office in the land. Ed. has found the trailer for the movie. Click on the right arrow, beside "info", at the top right corner, to make the video fill the window. Running time 3 minutes.



1984 takes place in a world consumed by war and ubiquitous government surveillance. The unnamed state -- one of three great powers who are locked in a never-ending three-cornered war -- is under the control of "The Party", also unnamed. It doesn't matter whether it's Republican or Democrat, Communist of National Socialists. Independent thought, indeed individualism itself, is illegal. The "Thought Police" monitor every publication, every utterance, every action of the citizens. There is no privacy and no freedom. Political correctness is mandatory. Deviant thinkers and deviant thoughts will be punished...and eliminated.There is no privacy and no freedom.

"Big Brother is watching you" is the byword, summing up perfectly the subjugation of the individual to the state. And that's the real prophesy, not just for America but for Russia and China, and every nation in the so-called civilized world. If you don't believe it, try standing on a soapbox in your neighbourhood park (if your neighbourhood has one) and proclaiming your true feelings about race relations or the Muslim civil war or any subject you like, and see what happens.

Since it's too late to reclaim from the ubiquitous, iniquitous state our freedoms of action, speech or even thought, Walt presents, as a public service, five rules for survival in the state described in today's world (as foreseen in 1984).

1. Don't think.
2. If you think, don't speak.
3. If you think and speak, don't write.
4. If you think, speak and write, don't sign your name.
5. If you think, speak, write and sign your name...don't be surprised.

You're welcome...comrade!

VIDEO: How Marine Le Pen can win the French presidency

An article in last week's Economist predicts, with the magazine's usual air of superiority, that popular Front National leader Marine Le Pen will lose the second round of France's presidential election. Oh yes, they admit, she looks almost certain to make it through the first round, on April 23, but all the polls indicate that she will lose in the second round on May 7.

That sounds a lot like the certainty with which the same oracle (and all the lamestream media) predicted the election of Hellery Clinton. We know how that turned out. French sociophysicist Serge Galam knew -- in advance -- and probably made a lot of money on election bets. In his paper The Trump Phenomenon: An Explanation from Sociophysics, he wrote: "The Trump phenomenon...according to a model of opinion dynamics from sociophysics...was in principle predictable from the start."

Now Prof Galam brings his unique analytic method to the French presidential contest. In the final one-on-one match-up, he says, Marine Le Pen could well win. Why? Because the polls are missing a vitally important factor: abstention -- the act of restraining oneself from voting. The Rebel's Alexander Jones explains how it impacts voter turnout for different candidates.

VIDEO: Putin speaks on welcoming Muslim "refugees"

Walt was ah-mazed to see a piece in the CBC News "Opinion" section headed "Trudeau should probably stop telling desperate refugees that everyone is welcome in Canada". The opinion is that of a young lad (to judge by his picture) by the name of Graeme Gordon. It's obvious from his views that he's not a CBC employee. He's described as a freelance journalist who writes for Loonie Politics and his blog, Raving Canuck.

Mr Gordon takes issue with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's famous (or infamous) Tweet, just after the election of President Trump, that "Regardless of who you are or where you come from, there’s always a place for you in Canada." Says Mr Gordon, "Trudeau isn't just blatantly spreading falsehoods by sending that message — he's actually enticing people to uproot their lives, throwing another wrench into an already chaotic immigration system, all based on disingenuous messaging."

He points out that "Trudeau's words risk inciting Canadians who are already feeling anxious about letting in too many newcomers. A recent Reuters poll found that only 36 per cent of Canadians believe that those illegally crossing the border should be able to remain in Canada. The perception that Canada is too generous toward newcomers could give way to resentment, and Canada could very well see a nativist backlash akin to that of Brexit or Trump." The only thing wrong with that statement is the tense of the last verb phrase. The backlash is already evident in virtually all of Canada that lies more than an hour's drive from Parliament Hill or Queen's Park.

Contrast the Trudeau Tweet with a remark made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a TV interview some three years ago. Here's a 20-second clip.



For the benefit of those who don't speak Russian, what Mr Putin said was, "If minorities prefer Sharia law then we advise them to go to those places where that is the state law. Russia does need minorities. Minorities need Russia, and we will not grant them special privileges, or try to change our laws to fit their desires no matter how loud they yell 'discrimination'."

Well said, sir! I believe the majority of Russians, Americans, and even ultra-polite and ultra-tolerant Canadians, agree with you. But does that mean Justin Trudeau will take back or modify his unwise words? I doubt it, because the Canuck PM is, wittingly or not, the tool of George Soros and the One-Worlders in their plan to fill western Europe and North America with Muslim "refugees" and so accomplish by stealth the Islamization of the West. Don't say you weren't warned.

Footnote from Ed.: I checked out Loonie Politics and Raving Canuck. The former is basically an aggregator, an index of the latest political and business news from Canada, the USA and around the world. It's useful if you don't have the time or inclination [the Leaning Tower of Pisa has both! Walt] to browse several websites to see what's going on. Links take you straight to the original sites. Raving Canuck looks like a pretty good blog for frostbacks seeking a conservative alternative to the PC pap served up by CBC News and the Toronto Red Star. Here's a sample: "CBC: Trudeau’s State Broadcaster", posted by Graeme Gordon last week.

Cardinal Sarah laments "devastation" of Catholic liturgy

Sadly, what you see in the picture is not an April Fool joke. It's not a joke on any day. It is a "clown mass", as celebrated in what is called a Roman Catholic church. It is but one of the 1000s of grave liturgical abuses committed every year by people calling themselves Catholic priests, following the "reforms" of Second Vatican Council.

One of many poisoned fruits of Vatican II was the unlawful suppression of the tradition Latin Tridentine Mass, the Mass of All Ages. In the interests of "modernizing" the Church, the Council (directed by the Abp. Annibale Bugnini, a Freemason!) decreed that the Mass should be celebrated in the vernacular, the vulgar tongues of the people. And it should be more man-centred than God-centred, and more... wait for it... fun! Yes, just a big happy-clappy celebration of a community coming together for a family supper.

Ten years ago, seeing the horrors that the reforms had wrought -- the "clown masses" are not the worst -- Pope Benedict XVI issued a moto proprio, Summorum Pontificum, which said (as traditional Catholics knew all along) that the Latin Mass was not "illegal", and that it should be used more often, alongside the vernacular mass. But, he said, the "new mass" would continue to be the "ordinary rite", with the Latin Mass relegated to second-class status as the "extraordinary rite".

This week, in an address to a German conference marking the 10th anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, Robert Cardinal Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, offered an extraordinarily blunt appraisal of  "the disaster, the devastation, and the schism that the modern promoters of a living liturgy caused."

The prelate reminded his audience that Summorum Pontificum was intended to broaden access to the traditional Latin liturgy, Pope Benedict XVI expressed the hope that the two forms of the Roman rite would enrich each other. That enrichment is badly needed, the cardinal argued, in light of the impoverished state of the Catholic liturgy today. He said:

"The serious crisis of faith, not only at the level of the Christian faithful but also and especially among many priests and bishops, has made us incapable of understanding the Eucharistic liturgy as a sacrifice, as identical to the act performed once and for all by Jesus Christ, making present the Sacrifice of the Cross in a non-bloody manner, throughout the Church, through different ages, places, peoples and nations. There is often a sacrilegious tendency to reduce the Holy Mass to a simple convivial meal, the celebration of a profane feast, the community’s celebration of itself, or even worse, a terrible diversion from the anguish of a life that no longer has meaning or from the fear of meeting God face to face, because His glance unveils and obliges us to look truly and unflinchingly at the ugliness of our interior life.

"Even today, a significant number of Church leaders underestimate the serious crisis that the Church is going through: relativism in doctrinal, moral and disciplinary teaching, grave abuses, the desacralization and trivialization of the Sacred Liturgy," 

Cardinal Sarah said that while some liturgists say the period after Vatican II as a "springtime" for the Church, today wiser observers recognize "a renunciation of her centuries-old heritage.... Political Europe is rebuked for abandoning or denying its Christian roots. But the first to have abandoned her Christian roots and past is indisputably the post-conciliar Catholic Church."

Further reading: "Saint Annibale Bugnini, Pray For Us!", by Michael Matt in The Remnant, 19/10/14.