Memo to the sign painter: Back to scohol for you, buddy!
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
More functional illiteracy, this time from Revelstoke BC
Ed. says we shouldn't always pick on the lamestream media. Illiteracy (and innumeracy) is everywhere. Even those responsible for public signage seem to have been infected, at least in Revelstoke, British Columbia.
Memo to the sign painter: Back to scohol for you, buddy!
Memo to the sign painter: Back to scohol for you, buddy!
UPDATED: Who's responsible for latest Afghanistan massacre?
Which group of Islamic terrorists is responsible for yesterday's massive suicide car bombing in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan? The body count so far is 90 dead, at least 400 wounded. That's more than four times the number of casualties in last week's ISIS-related Manchester massacre, but you won't be seeing much handwringing and crocodile tears from Western politicians or in the lamestream media, because hey, these are just towel-headed Muslims. Who cares? And that answers the question in today's headline.
It's worth noting, though, that this was one of the worst attacks Kabul had seen since the Prez (Obama -- how quickly we forget) declared victory in Afghanistan and started the drawdown of foreign forces from the country at the end of 2014. The bombing, which took place in what was supposed to be Kabul's safest neighbourhood, raises serious questions about the Afghan government's ability to secure the war-battered nation.
If the Afghans' democratically elected government (LOL) can't control their own country, must we go back in to pacify the Taliban and/or ISIS for them? There was talk of "re-engaging" even before yesterday's blast. Indeed, more than 8000 of US troops and "advisors" are still there, along with personnel from other NATO countries -- excluding Canada, of course -- but they are steadily losing ground. In fact, the Kabul government's writ runs only to the perimeter of the city, if that.
Last month, the Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces. American and Afghan forces have been battling the Taliban insurgency for more than 15 years... and counting. If anyone has a persuasive argument as to why we should continue, please write it on the back of a postage stamp and send it to Walt at the usual address.
FURTHER READING, added 1/6/17: Don Murray, a formerly a CBC reporter and now a freelancer, thinks WE are responsible for the latest Taliban (or ISIS) attacks in Afghanistan, in the sense that, if "we" weren't there, the fanatical Islamists wouldn't be blowing things up. Read "Afghan civilians bear brunt of US-led war". The secondary title is "Few American, NATO troops now die in the conflict but their presence ensures ever more Afghans will get killed". Hmm. Could be.
It's worth noting, though, that this was one of the worst attacks Kabul had seen since the Prez (Obama -- how quickly we forget) declared victory in Afghanistan and started the drawdown of foreign forces from the country at the end of 2014. The bombing, which took place in what was supposed to be Kabul's safest neighbourhood, raises serious questions about the Afghan government's ability to secure the war-battered nation.
If the Afghans' democratically elected government (LOL) can't control their own country, must we go back in to pacify the Taliban and/or ISIS for them? There was talk of "re-engaging" even before yesterday's blast. Indeed, more than 8000 of US troops and "advisors" are still there, along with personnel from other NATO countries -- excluding Canada, of course -- but they are steadily losing ground. In fact, the Kabul government's writ runs only to the perimeter of the city, if that.
Last month, the Afghan Taliban announced the beginning of their spring offensive, promising to build their political base in the country while focusing military assaults on the international coalition and Afghan security forces. American and Afghan forces have been battling the Taliban insurgency for more than 15 years... and counting. If anyone has a persuasive argument as to why we should continue, please write it on the back of a postage stamp and send it to Walt at the usual address.
FURTHER READING, added 1/6/17: Don Murray, a formerly a CBC reporter and now a freelancer, thinks WE are responsible for the latest Taliban (or ISIS) attacks in Afghanistan, in the sense that, if "we" weren't there, the fanatical Islamists wouldn't be blowing things up. Read "Afghan civilians bear brunt of US-led war". The secondary title is "Few American, NATO troops now die in the conflict but their presence ensures ever more Afghans will get killed". Hmm. Could be.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Journalistic illiteracy - National/Financial Post (again)
When I was teaching ESL, my dear students sometimes asked how many words they should know. I told them that the average native speaker (of English) would use between 3000 and 5000 words on an everyday basis, and a vocabulary of 10,000 words would make you a well-read and well-spoken person. But, I warned them, it's no good memorizing a lot of words if you don't know what they mean.
This principle is obviously not taught in North American j-schools, for the lamestream media is full of spelling, grammatical and vocabulary errors, which we delight in pointing out from time to time. Here's one from today's online edition of the Financial Post, a part of Canada's so-called National Post.
If you didn't spot the error, it's back to Remedial English for you! And take Joe Chidley with you! At least it wasn't the "its/it's" mistake, or (my current pet peeve) "incidences" for "incidents".
This principle is obviously not taught in North American j-schools, for the lamestream media is full of spelling, grammatical and vocabulary errors, which we delight in pointing out from time to time. Here's one from today's online edition of the Financial Post, a part of Canada's so-called National Post.
If you didn't spot the error, it's back to Remedial English for you! And take Joe Chidley with you! At least it wasn't the "its/it's" mistake, or (my current pet peeve) "incidences" for "incidents".
Sunday, May 28, 2017
"Social conservative" Scheer to lead Canuck Tories
Scheer joy reigned last night wherever Canadian conservatives -- true conservatives -- gathered to watch the Conservative Party of Canada elect a new leader. The winner... on the 13th ballot... by a margin of only 2% of over 141,000 votes cast... was... may I have the envelope please... the right envelope... ... the winner... and next prime minister of Canada (let us hope and pray fervently)... ANDREW SCHEER!
Andrew who? Mr Scheer is 38 years old, from Saskatchewan, the father of five children ("so far", he says), and was Speaker of the House of Commons for much of the Harper years. A rarity in today's Canada, he admits to being a Christian (practising Catholic), and is known to be opposed to gay "marriage", abortion and other social evils being foisted on Canadians by the Liberals in the name of progress, inclusivity, diversity, yada yada yada.
Agent 3 thinks it a pity that there was no parimutuel betting on the outcome, as he would have hit the Exactor, having voted (on a ranked ballot) for Mr Scheer and runner-up Maxime Bernier, in that order, out of a field of 14, one of whom (Kevin O'Leary, star of Dragon's Den) was scratched just before the starting bell.
Agent 3 says he's hopeful that Andrew Scheer will be able to pull the Conservative Party together to mount a strong challenge to Justin Trudeau's Liberals in the next federal election, due in two years. What worries him, though, is Mr Scheer's resemblance (especially in profile, he writes) to Joe Clark, another "nice guy" who became Tory leader and then prime minister in 1979. Sadly, he lacked the killer instinct to hold onto power; his government lasted only six months.
Andrew who? Mr Scheer is 38 years old, from Saskatchewan, the father of five children ("so far", he says), and was Speaker of the House of Commons for much of the Harper years. A rarity in today's Canada, he admits to being a Christian (practising Catholic), and is known to be opposed to gay "marriage", abortion and other social evils being foisted on Canadians by the Liberals in the name of progress, inclusivity, diversity, yada yada yada.
Agent 3 thinks it a pity that there was no parimutuel betting on the outcome, as he would have hit the Exactor, having voted (on a ranked ballot) for Mr Scheer and runner-up Maxime Bernier, in that order, out of a field of 14, one of whom (Kevin O'Leary, star of Dragon's Den) was scratched just before the starting bell.
Agent 3 says he's hopeful that Andrew Scheer will be able to pull the Conservative Party together to mount a strong challenge to Justin Trudeau's Liberals in the next federal election, due in two years. What worries him, though, is Mr Scheer's resemblance (especially in profile, he writes) to Joe Clark, another "nice guy" who became Tory leader and then prime minister in 1979. Sadly, he lacked the killer instinct to hold onto power; his government lasted only six months.
Friday, May 26, 2017
VIDEO: Gavin McInnes explains what's wrong with modern education
It's been a while since we've reposted a Gavin McInnes video. In this one, released earlier this week, one of Walt's favourite rebels lists the many ways children are being harmed -- "brainwashed" is a better word -- by "education," starting as early as kindergarten. A bit long, at 38 minutes, but well worth watching, especially if you have school-age kids. Time to consider home schooling? You bet!
Note about Catholic schools: If you live in a jurisdiction, like Ontario, where Catholic schools are publicly funded -- paid for out of your taxes -- wipe the smile off your face. If they take the government's dollar (your dollar) they are obliged to march to the government's politically correct, liberal secular humanist tune. That includes things like Kathleen Wynne's pro-queer sex education curriculum, which has been the subject of many posts here on WWW. To see the list, enter "sex education" in the search window.
Footnote: Andrew Scheer, the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, a practising Catholics, sends his children (five "so far", he says) to an independent (Christian, non-government funded) school. He has promised to give tax credits to parents who do the same.
Note about Catholic schools: If you live in a jurisdiction, like Ontario, where Catholic schools are publicly funded -- paid for out of your taxes -- wipe the smile off your face. If they take the government's dollar (your dollar) they are obliged to march to the government's politically correct, liberal secular humanist tune. That includes things like Kathleen Wynne's pro-queer sex education curriculum, which has been the subject of many posts here on WWW. To see the list, enter "sex education" in the search window.
Footnote: Andrew Scheer, the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, a practising Catholics, sends his children (five "so far", he says) to an independent (Christian, non-government funded) school. He has promised to give tax credits to parents who do the same.
Egyptian President shows up Western pussies, calls air strike on ISIS
Were you surprised when the "soldier of ISIS" who blew himself up along with 22 innocent people in Manchester turned out to be Libyan? See "Manchester bomber: 'lone wolf' or 'known wolf'?" for a pic and more about Salman Abedi. He was born and raised in the United Kingdom, but ethnically Arab. His parents and at least one brother, since arrested, live in Libya.
Walt admits to being surprised. In my mind I connect the phrase "Islamic terrorists" with Muslim fanatics from places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- some of the millions now living in western Europe thanks to the insane immigration policies of the likes of Angela Merkel, all the while plotting the extermination of their nominally Christian hosts.
It's easy to forget that those millions comprise Arabs from the Maghreb -- the countries shown in black on the map at left -- who are no less anti-Christian than their cousins from further east, perhaps more so because they have a huge anti-colonial chip on their shoulders, particularly those from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, which were French colonies, and Libya, which was ruled occasionally (and badly) by the Italians.
Libya was in the latest terrorism news this week not just because of the late Mr Abedi, but because on Wednesday Islamic militants attacked a bus carrying worshippers in central Egypt, killing at least 28 people and wounding 25 others. This didn't get a lot of play in the Western lamestream media because the worshippers weren't white Europeans. They were Coptic Christians, members of a fast-dwindling minority in the predominantly Muslim land of the pharaohs.
Full credit, then, to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi -- himself a Muslim -- for calling in an air strike on terrorist camps in Libya! State television reported that Egypt carried out six air strikes in Derna in eastern Libya, which is where the militants who carried out the deadly attack on the Coptic Christians were trained.
For those who don't speak Arabic, the voiceover in the army video said the Egyptian air force carried out strikes on targets in Libya "after confirming their involvement in planning and committing the terrorist attack in Minya governorate on Friday." In a televised speech late today, President Sisi said he would "not hesitate to strike terrorist camps anywhere", and promised to "protect our people from the evil."
Countries supporting terrorism should be punished, said the President, as he appealed to President Donald Trump for help. Contrast that with the wimpishness of the G7 leaders (other than Mr Trump) who spent all day today condemning the Manchester massacre (without once uttering the word "Islamic") and yakking about security without, errr, actually doing anything.
Where, Walt asks, is Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Moorslayer) now that we really need him? Can it really be that we must look to a Muslim -- President Sisi -- to show us the way?
FURTHER VIEWING: Gavin McInnes explains how the British class system informs reactions to the Manchester massacre. The upper class and the lower class have remarkably different ideas about what should be done with the Muslims who want to kill us. Ties in nicely with Mr McInnes's video on modern education and Marxist teachers, which I'm reposting here today. Warning: contains the C-word.
Walt admits to being surprised. In my mind I connect the phrase "Islamic terrorists" with Muslim fanatics from places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- some of the millions now living in western Europe thanks to the insane immigration policies of the likes of Angela Merkel, all the while plotting the extermination of their nominally Christian hosts.It's easy to forget that those millions comprise Arabs from the Maghreb -- the countries shown in black on the map at left -- who are no less anti-Christian than their cousins from further east, perhaps more so because they have a huge anti-colonial chip on their shoulders, particularly those from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, which were French colonies, and Libya, which was ruled occasionally (and badly) by the Italians.
Libya was in the latest terrorism news this week not just because of the late Mr Abedi, but because on Wednesday Islamic militants attacked a bus carrying worshippers in central Egypt, killing at least 28 people and wounding 25 others. This didn't get a lot of play in the Western lamestream media because the worshippers weren't white Europeans. They were Coptic Christians, members of a fast-dwindling minority in the predominantly Muslim land of the pharaohs.
Full credit, then, to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi -- himself a Muslim -- for calling in an air strike on terrorist camps in Libya! State television reported that Egypt carried out six air strikes in Derna in eastern Libya, which is where the militants who carried out the deadly attack on the Coptic Christians were trained.
For those who don't speak Arabic, the voiceover in the army video said the Egyptian air force carried out strikes on targets in Libya "after confirming their involvement in planning and committing the terrorist attack in Minya governorate on Friday." In a televised speech late today, President Sisi said he would "not hesitate to strike terrorist camps anywhere", and promised to "protect our people from the evil."
Countries supporting terrorism should be punished, said the President, as he appealed to President Donald Trump for help. Contrast that with the wimpishness of the G7 leaders (other than Mr Trump) who spent all day today condemning the Manchester massacre (without once uttering the word "Islamic") and yakking about security without, errr, actually doing anything.
Where, Walt asks, is Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Moorslayer) now that we really need him? Can it really be that we must look to a Muslim -- President Sisi -- to show us the way?
FURTHER VIEWING: Gavin McInnes explains how the British class system informs reactions to the Manchester massacre. The upper class and the lower class have remarkably different ideas about what should be done with the Muslims who want to kill us. Ties in nicely with Mr McInnes's video on modern education and Marxist teachers, which I'm reposting here today. Warning: contains the C-word.
Poor Len sets the table for the NHL Stanley Cup finals
Poor Len here here, with a few words before catching up on my sleep after Game 7 of the NHL Eastern Conference finals. I won't pretend it was a great hockey game, and the result seemed to me inevitable. After 85 minutes of play, Pittsburgh Penguins edged the Ottawa Senators 3-2.
A big tip of the toque goes to Sens beleaguered goalie Craig Anderson, who kept his team in there. Finally, though, Ottawa had the same problem that beset the Montréal Canadiens. It takes more than a great goalie and an all-star defenceman to win a championship. You have to have guaranteed goal-scorers up front. Pittsburgh has 3, and Ottawa... not so many.
Time now to review my picks (as adjusted) for the Stanley Cup finals, which begin this coming Monday night. I had the Eastern Conference pretty much figured out, although I thought (hoped?) the conference final would pit les Glorieux against the Penguins. The upside of being slightly wrong on that was that I didn't need my crying towel last night, and didn't lose any money. In fact I made a couple of bucks from Canucks dreaming of a big upset following their team's Game 6 win.
As for the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators continue to astound and confound me. I thought the Anaheim (Formerly Mighty) Ducks had a nicely balanced team and should have been able to get by the Preds. I underestimated Pekka Rinne, who is a contender for MVP in the playoffs and must be rated right up there -- perhaps above -- all-star goalies Carey Price, Hendrik Lundqvist and Braden Holtby, all of whom are now on the golf course or practising for the rodeo (Carey! Carey! Carey!) or whatever they do in the off season.
Nashville too has a nicely balanced team, and play as such, in spite of the efforts of one egotistical player (hello, P.K. Subban!) to glorify himself. (Memo to P.K.: Nothing wrong with blessing yourself before a game, if you're Catholic, but you don't kneel on the ice in front of your bench to do it. Nor do you tear off your sweater to reveal your black body after your team wins. Those showoff stunts are for soccer players.) I watched most of the Preds vs Ducks games, waiting for Mr Ego or someone else to make some horrible gaffe. No-one did. Congratulations to coach Peter Laviolette on great work getting these guys to play as a team.
Will the Predators' (and Rinne's) hot streak continue through the Stanley Cup finals? Will Penguins' Phil Kessel be wrapped in a wet sheet and taken to the funny farm before the series ends? Will P.K. Subban "lose an edge" and cough up the puck for a Pittsburgh goal? Can almost-rookie goalie Matt Murray stand the heat for six or seven games? If not, will Marc-André Fleury be mentally ready to get back between the pipes? Should be an entertaining series. I stand by my earlier prediction: Pittsburgh in 6... or maybe 7. Lifetime pct (still) .973.
A big tip of the toque goes to Sens beleaguered goalie Craig Anderson, who kept his team in there. Finally, though, Ottawa had the same problem that beset the Montréal Canadiens. It takes more than a great goalie and an all-star defenceman to win a championship. You have to have guaranteed goal-scorers up front. Pittsburgh has 3, and Ottawa... not so many.
Time now to review my picks (as adjusted) for the Stanley Cup finals, which begin this coming Monday night. I had the Eastern Conference pretty much figured out, although I thought (hoped?) the conference final would pit les Glorieux against the Penguins. The upside of being slightly wrong on that was that I didn't need my crying towel last night, and didn't lose any money. In fact I made a couple of bucks from Canucks dreaming of a big upset following their team's Game 6 win.
As for the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators continue to astound and confound me. I thought the Anaheim (Formerly Mighty) Ducks had a nicely balanced team and should have been able to get by the Preds. I underestimated Pekka Rinne, who is a contender for MVP in the playoffs and must be rated right up there -- perhaps above -- all-star goalies Carey Price, Hendrik Lundqvist and Braden Holtby, all of whom are now on the golf course or practising for the rodeo (Carey! Carey! Carey!) or whatever they do in the off season.
Nashville too has a nicely balanced team, and play as such, in spite of the efforts of one egotistical player (hello, P.K. Subban!) to glorify himself. (Memo to P.K.: Nothing wrong with blessing yourself before a game, if you're Catholic, but you don't kneel on the ice in front of your bench to do it. Nor do you tear off your sweater to reveal your black body after your team wins. Those showoff stunts are for soccer players.) I watched most of the Preds vs Ducks games, waiting for Mr Ego or someone else to make some horrible gaffe. No-one did. Congratulations to coach Peter Laviolette on great work getting these guys to play as a team.
Will the Predators' (and Rinne's) hot streak continue through the Stanley Cup finals? Will Penguins' Phil Kessel be wrapped in a wet sheet and taken to the funny farm before the series ends? Will P.K. Subban "lose an edge" and cough up the puck for a Pittsburgh goal? Can almost-rookie goalie Matt Murray stand the heat for six or seven games? If not, will Marc-André Fleury be mentally ready to get back between the pipes? Should be an entertaining series. I stand by my earlier prediction: Pittsburgh in 6... or maybe 7. Lifetime pct (still) .973.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Manchester bomber: "lone wolf" or "known wolf"?
"We really don't know what his motive was."
"Just a deranged individual who acted alone."
"A lone wolf..."
That's what the authorities told us about Lee Harvey Oswald. Remember? That's what they try to tell us every time a murderer -- terrorist, assassin or otherwise -- does something horrendous, like killing a VIP or maybe just a couple of dozen innocent kids. The reason for downplaying any possible links to a criminal gang or terrorist network is to excuse the "authorities" from their failure to prevent atrocity or take any effective action to obliterate (President Trump's excellent word) the group of malefactors responsible.
No sooner had the dust settled into the pools of blood from the victims of the Manchester massacre than police -- forced by pressure from blogs like WWW to name the attacker -- started saying Salman Abedi, pictured at left, was born in Britain (omitting his Arab ethnicity) and ISIS' claim that he was a jihadi "cannot be verified" (therefore isn't true). What a load.
That whitewash (pun intended) didn't last long. In my third update to yesterday's post, I told you that Inspector Knacker had felt the collar [= "arrested" in Americanese. Ed.] of a 23-year-old -- unidentified, of course -- who is "helping with the investigation", which means being beaten with rubber hoses until he talks.
Catching up with the latest developments this morning, the mojo wire tells us Manchester police have arrested three more men, including Mr Abedi's brother, in connection with the suicide bombing. The arrests had been made in the south of the city, in the same neighbourhood where the 23-year-old was arrested and a number of homes were searched. Why have they arrested these four people? Because... wait for it... "Police are trying to establish if bomber Salman Abedi acted alone or whether there could be a risk of further attacks."
The AP report goes on to say that "British police and intelligence agencies are working to piece together Abedi's allegiances, as the country's law-and-order chief said it's 'likely' he did not act alone." No shit, Sherlock! Then British Home Secretary (responsible for police and security) Amber Rudd dropped the other shoe, admitting that Mr Abedi had been known to security forces "up to a point." For instance, they knew he had made a number of trips to Libya and Syria. Did they have him under observation? Errr, no. Did they investigate his associations and connections? Errr, no. Not until now. Did they do anything to prevent him from exterminating dozens of "infidels"? Supply your own answer.
FOOTNOTE AND WOW!!! Near the beginning of yesterday's post, Ed. queried how the Americans got into this. Turns out the name of the attacker and other "sensitive details" of the investigation into the Manchester massacre were made public not by the UK authorities, but by "American officials". British officials had said that making all their findings public could compromise the ongoing investigation, but they were undermined by their counterparts in the US, who promptly handed over many of the police's findings to American media outlets. See "British officials warn American government to stop leaking details of Manchester terror probe", in The Sun (UK), from which the picture of the Islamic terrorist was scraped.
"Just a deranged individual who acted alone."
"A lone wolf..."
That's what the authorities told us about Lee Harvey Oswald. Remember? That's what they try to tell us every time a murderer -- terrorist, assassin or otherwise -- does something horrendous, like killing a VIP or maybe just a couple of dozen innocent kids. The reason for downplaying any possible links to a criminal gang or terrorist network is to excuse the "authorities" from their failure to prevent atrocity or take any effective action to obliterate (President Trump's excellent word) the group of malefactors responsible.
No sooner had the dust settled into the pools of blood from the victims of the Manchester massacre than police -- forced by pressure from blogs like WWW to name the attacker -- started saying Salman Abedi, pictured at left, was born in Britain (omitting his Arab ethnicity) and ISIS' claim that he was a jihadi "cannot be verified" (therefore isn't true). What a load.That whitewash (pun intended) didn't last long. In my third update to yesterday's post, I told you that Inspector Knacker had felt the collar [= "arrested" in Americanese. Ed.] of a 23-year-old -- unidentified, of course -- who is "helping with the investigation", which means being beaten with rubber hoses until he talks.
Catching up with the latest developments this morning, the mojo wire tells us Manchester police have arrested three more men, including Mr Abedi's brother, in connection with the suicide bombing. The arrests had been made in the south of the city, in the same neighbourhood where the 23-year-old was arrested and a number of homes were searched. Why have they arrested these four people? Because... wait for it... "Police are trying to establish if bomber Salman Abedi acted alone or whether there could be a risk of further attacks."
The AP report goes on to say that "British police and intelligence agencies are working to piece together Abedi's allegiances, as the country's law-and-order chief said it's 'likely' he did not act alone." No shit, Sherlock! Then British Home Secretary (responsible for police and security) Amber Rudd dropped the other shoe, admitting that Mr Abedi had been known to security forces "up to a point." For instance, they knew he had made a number of trips to Libya and Syria. Did they have him under observation? Errr, no. Did they investigate his associations and connections? Errr, no. Not until now. Did they do anything to prevent him from exterminating dozens of "infidels"? Supply your own answer.
FOOTNOTE AND WOW!!! Near the beginning of yesterday's post, Ed. queried how the Americans got into this. Turns out the name of the attacker and other "sensitive details" of the investigation into the Manchester massacre were made public not by the UK authorities, but by "American officials". British officials had said that making all their findings public could compromise the ongoing investigation, but they were undermined by their counterparts in the US, who promptly handed over many of the police's findings to American media outlets. See "British officials warn American government to stop leaking details of Manchester terror probe", in The Sun (UK), from which the picture of the Islamic terrorist was scraped.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
What's causing the follies of Donald Trump?
In "The portrait of Dorian Trump", 18/5/17, I admitted to some disappointment in the first four months of the Trump presidency, and in The Donald himself. It/he hasn't been a disaster, but it/he hasn't been the MAGA Revolution that we were promised and hoped and prayed for.
What happened? Just by coincidence, my weekend reading included The March of Folly, by the eminent historian Barbara Tuchman (Knopf/Ballantine 1984), in which I found the following passage on the subject of the expulsion from France of the Huguenots by Louis XIV, the Sun King.
The peculiarity of the whole affair was its needlessness, and this underlines two characteristics of folly: it often does not spring from a great design, and its consequences are frequently a surprise. The folly lies in persisting thereafter..
With acute if unwitting significance, a French historian wrote of the Revocation [of the Edict of Nantes] that "Great designs are rare in politics; the King proceeded empirically and sometimes impulsively."
His point is reinforced from an unexpected source in a perceptive comment by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who cautioned, "In analyzing history do not be too profound, for often the causes are quite superficial."
This is a factor usually overlooked by political scientists who, in discussing the nature of power, always treat it, even when negatively, with immense respect. They fail to see it as sometimes a matter of ordinary men walking into water over their heads, acting unwisely or foolishly or perversely as people in ordinary circumstances frequently do.
The trappings and impact of power deceive us, endowing the possessors with a quality larger than life. Shorn of his tremendous curled peruke, high heels and ermine, the Sun King was a man subject to misjudgment, error and impulse -- like you and me....
Folly is a child of power. We all know, from unending repetitions of Lord Acton's dictum, that power corrupts. We are less aware that it breed folly; that the power to command frequently causes failure to think; that the responsibility of power often fades as its exercise augments.
The overall responsibility of power is to govern as reasonably as possible in the interest of the state and its citizens. A duty in that process is to keep well-informed, to heed information, to keep mind and judgment open and to resist the insidious spell of wooden-headedness. If the mind is open enough to perceive that a given policy is harming rather than serving self-interest, and self-confident enough to acknowledge it, and wise enough to reverse it, that is a summit in the art of government.
What happened? Just by coincidence, my weekend reading included The March of Folly, by the eminent historian Barbara Tuchman (Knopf/Ballantine 1984), in which I found the following passage on the subject of the expulsion from France of the Huguenots by Louis XIV, the Sun King.
The peculiarity of the whole affair was its needlessness, and this underlines two characteristics of folly: it often does not spring from a great design, and its consequences are frequently a surprise. The folly lies in persisting thereafter..With acute if unwitting significance, a French historian wrote of the Revocation [of the Edict of Nantes] that "Great designs are rare in politics; the King proceeded empirically and sometimes impulsively."
His point is reinforced from an unexpected source in a perceptive comment by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who cautioned, "In analyzing history do not be too profound, for often the causes are quite superficial."
This is a factor usually overlooked by political scientists who, in discussing the nature of power, always treat it, even when negatively, with immense respect. They fail to see it as sometimes a matter of ordinary men walking into water over their heads, acting unwisely or foolishly or perversely as people in ordinary circumstances frequently do.
The trappings and impact of power deceive us, endowing the possessors with a quality larger than life. Shorn of his tremendous curled peruke, high heels and ermine, the Sun King was a man subject to misjudgment, error and impulse -- like you and me....
Folly is a child of power. We all know, from unending repetitions of Lord Acton's dictum, that power corrupts. We are less aware that it breed folly; that the power to command frequently causes failure to think; that the responsibility of power often fades as its exercise augments.
The overall responsibility of power is to govern as reasonably as possible in the interest of the state and its citizens. A duty in that process is to keep well-informed, to heed information, to keep mind and judgment open and to resist the insidious spell of wooden-headedness. If the mind is open enough to perceive that a given policy is harming rather than serving self-interest, and self-confident enough to acknowledge it, and wise enough to reverse it, that is a summit in the art of government.
UPDATED: Answer to yesterday's question: Islamic terrorists!
Yesterday afternoon Walt posed the question "Who's behind Ariana Grande concert explosion?". All we knew at the time was that there had been a big bang at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, causing an undetermined number of deaths and injuries. In fairness to jihadis everywhere, and not wishing to fan the flames of Islamophobia, I didn't say flat out that the culprit was a Muslilm terrorist. I only hinted. Still, I was right! Lifetime pct .986.
Here's the update. Following last night's Ariana Grande gig, a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device filled with ball bearings, nuts, bolts and scrap metal, killing at least 22 (including children and parents) and injuring ten dozen more, some of whom are not expected to survive. Horrifying video footage showed 1000s fleeing in tears from the venue, many covered in blood. Petrified children and teens leaped over chairs and barriers as they tried to escape.
Manchester police confirmed the suicide bomber died at the venue after an improvised explosive device was detonated. US security sources [How do they get into this? Ed.] say he travelled to the arena by public transport. Another man, 23, has also been arrested. The "authorities" have declined to release any information about the two. In today's politically correct Europe, that means they are/were Islamic terrorists. Whether they were "home-grown", "radicalized", British citizens or Arab or African "refugees" doesn't matter. "Allahu akbar!", if not heard, was certainly understood.
AP reports from Beirut that the Islamic State says one of its members planted bombs in the middle of the crowds. IS says "a soldier of the caliphate planted bombs in the middle of Crusaders gatherings" then detonated them. It did not say whether the attacker was killed. The group claimed that "30 Crusaders were killed and 70 others were wounded."
The Daily Mail (UK) reports that, shortly before the incident, an unverified Twitter account posted cryptic tweets showing the ISIS black flag alongside the hashtags #IslamicState and #Manchesterarena. The account then posted a message saying, "You forget our threat? This is the just terror." The account was deleted shortly afterwards. Inspector Knacker has declined to comment on the messages, lest anyone draw the obvious conclusions.
Walt asks: Where next? Got any plans to go to a concert? Sporting event? Street festival? Open-air market? You might want to think twice. And when you do, think about what your government is doing to fight back against the Islamic terrorists...if anything!
UPDATE: British Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday afternoon (BST) that investigators in the UK probing Monday's attack at a pop concert believe they know the identity of the suspect, but will not release the name until further confirmation. Walt asks: Confirmation of what?!
FURTHER UPDATE: Manchester police have now named the suicide bomber responsible for the Manchester massacre. He is Salman Abedi, 22, born in Manchester, of Arab (Libyan) ethnicity. But, said Manchester's Chief Constable, since the coroner has not formally identified the remains, nothing further can be said about him. One thing the chief copper will say, though, is that Manchester's diversity is its strength -- must have learned that line from Canada's Justin Trudeau -- and any hate crimes against any members of Manchester's diverse communities will not be tolerated. Unless the victims happen to be white Christians, he didn't add.
STILL FURTHER UPDATE: Manchester police have detained another man, aged 23 (and that's all they will say) who is helping them with their enquiries (as they say). Meanwhile, in a classic example of locking the barn door after the horse has bolted, the British government has not raised its "security threat" level from "severe" to "critical". Fancy that!
Here's the update. Following last night's Ariana Grande gig, a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device filled with ball bearings, nuts, bolts and scrap metal, killing at least 22 (including children and parents) and injuring ten dozen more, some of whom are not expected to survive. Horrifying video footage showed 1000s fleeing in tears from the venue, many covered in blood. Petrified children and teens leaped over chairs and barriers as they tried to escape.
Manchester police confirmed the suicide bomber died at the venue after an improvised explosive device was detonated. US security sources [How do they get into this? Ed.] say he travelled to the arena by public transport. Another man, 23, has also been arrested. The "authorities" have declined to release any information about the two. In today's politically correct Europe, that means they are/were Islamic terrorists. Whether they were "home-grown", "radicalized", British citizens or Arab or African "refugees" doesn't matter. "Allahu akbar!", if not heard, was certainly understood.
AP reports from Beirut that the Islamic State says one of its members planted bombs in the middle of the crowds. IS says "a soldier of the caliphate planted bombs in the middle of Crusaders gatherings" then detonated them. It did not say whether the attacker was killed. The group claimed that "30 Crusaders were killed and 70 others were wounded."
The Daily Mail (UK) reports that, shortly before the incident, an unverified Twitter account posted cryptic tweets showing the ISIS black flag alongside the hashtags #IslamicState and #Manchesterarena. The account then posted a message saying, "You forget our threat? This is the just terror." The account was deleted shortly afterwards. Inspector Knacker has declined to comment on the messages, lest anyone draw the obvious conclusions.
Walt asks: Where next? Got any plans to go to a concert? Sporting event? Street festival? Open-air market? You might want to think twice. And when you do, think about what your government is doing to fight back against the Islamic terrorists...if anything!
UPDATE: British Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday afternoon (BST) that investigators in the UK probing Monday's attack at a pop concert believe they know the identity of the suspect, but will not release the name until further confirmation. Walt asks: Confirmation of what?!
FURTHER UPDATE: Manchester police have now named the suicide bomber responsible for the Manchester massacre. He is Salman Abedi, 22, born in Manchester, of Arab (Libyan) ethnicity. But, said Manchester's Chief Constable, since the coroner has not formally identified the remains, nothing further can be said about him. One thing the chief copper will say, though, is that Manchester's diversity is its strength -- must have learned that line from Canada's Justin Trudeau -- and any hate crimes against any members of Manchester's diverse communities will not be tolerated. Unless the victims happen to be white Christians, he didn't add.
STILL FURTHER UPDATE: Manchester police have detained another man, aged 23 (and that's all they will say) who is helping them with their enquiries (as they say). Meanwhile, in a classic example of locking the barn door after the horse has bolted, the British government has not raised its "security threat" level from "severe" to "critical". Fancy that!
Monday, May 22, 2017
Who's behind Ariana Grande concert explosion?
This just in from England, where Ariana Grande was giving a concert at Manchester Arena.
The explosion reportedly occurred in the foyer area of the arena at around 2230 BST. The North West Ambulance Service tweeted that area residents requiring ambulance services may face delays because "we have a large number of resources at the incident in Manchester."
Inspector Knacker of the Yard offered no further details about the incident. The phrase "Allahu akbar!" has not yet been mentioned. However, Reuters closes its report by noting that the UK is on its second-highest alert level -- "severe" -- meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely. Fancy that.
The explosion reportedly occurred in the foyer area of the arena at around 2230 BST. The North West Ambulance Service tweeted that area residents requiring ambulance services may face delays because "we have a large number of resources at the incident in Manchester."
Inspector Knacker of the Yard offered no further details about the incident. The phrase "Allahu akbar!" has not yet been mentioned. However, Reuters closes its report by noting that the UK is on its second-highest alert level -- "severe" -- meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely. Fancy that.
Friday, May 19, 2017
Whistling for the Czar
In honour of Walt's hundredth birthday in 1974*, the Globe and Mail published this amusing anecdote, submitted by Dickson Russell, of Toronto.
In the town of K------, in the Ukraine, when I was growing up, there lived an old man we called Uncle Vassily. (The peasants called him Little Father -- he was short and had nine sons.) Uncle Vassily had been a concert whistler, and in his heyday had whistled before the Czar, the Grand Duke Nicholas and Count Basie. In his ability to reach high C and stay there, he was compared to the great Ivan Peepchick.
Everyone in Uncle Vassily's family whistled or had something to do with this remarkable art. His mother was a Whistler. His father gave instructions in whistling -- he told the landlord to whistle for his rent. His sister was whistled at. But while they only whistled now and then, Uncle Vassily whistled all the time.
His cheerful piping woke the neighbours long before the dawn chorus, and at dusk when the sun sank and the balloon went up, Uncle Vassily's pure notes took wing, and like blithe spirits soared to heaven.
He whistled until he died. On that sad day when the doctor drove up in his Zim to the modest little dacha and, parking on the family dog, went in and after examining Uncle Vassily told him that he was checking out, poor Uncle Vassily's whistle was the most poignant ever heard by a millionaire. (It is quite possible for doctors in the Ukraine to make a great deal of money.)
Uncle Vassily was the last of the great whistlers, and like practitioners of other lost musical arts -- drumming on the table with one's fingers while waiting for the waiter, humming through a comb and kazoo-playing -- he was gone. But,
* Note from Ed.: Everything after the asterisk in the first sentence is true. The letter may be found in Shocked and Appalled: A Century of Letters to The Globe and Mail, edited by Jack Kapica (Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1985).
WHISTLING FOR THE CZAR
In the town of K------, in the Ukraine, when I was growing up, there lived an old man we called Uncle Vassily. (The peasants called him Little Father -- he was short and had nine sons.) Uncle Vassily had been a concert whistler, and in his heyday had whistled before the Czar, the Grand Duke Nicholas and Count Basie. In his ability to reach high C and stay there, he was compared to the great Ivan Peepchick.
Everyone in Uncle Vassily's family whistled or had something to do with this remarkable art. His mother was a Whistler. His father gave instructions in whistling -- he told the landlord to whistle for his rent. His sister was whistled at. But while they only whistled now and then, Uncle Vassily whistled all the time.
His cheerful piping woke the neighbours long before the dawn chorus, and at dusk when the sun sank and the balloon went up, Uncle Vassily's pure notes took wing, and like blithe spirits soared to heaven.
He whistled until he died. On that sad day when the doctor drove up in his Zim to the modest little dacha and, parking on the family dog, went in and after examining Uncle Vassily told him that he was checking out, poor Uncle Vassily's whistle was the most poignant ever heard by a millionaire. (It is quite possible for doctors in the Ukraine to make a great deal of money.)
Uncle Vassily was the last of the great whistlers, and like practitioners of other lost musical arts -- drumming on the table with one's fingers while waiting for the waiter, humming through a comb and kazoo-playing -- he was gone. But,
Still are thy pleasant voices, thy nightingales awake;
For Death, he taketh all away, but them he cannot take.
* Note from Ed.: Everything after the asterisk in the first sentence is true. The letter may be found in Shocked and Appalled: A Century of Letters to The Globe and Mail, edited by Jack Kapica (Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1985).
Thursday, May 18, 2017
"Special councel" Trump's mistake, not National Post's
Ed. here to man up (on behalf of Walt and myself) and acknowledge our mistake. An earlier post today attributed the error in the headline "Incandescent Trump rages against Obama, Clinton and appointment of 'special councel'" to the lack of education of journalists at the National Post.
Turns out it's POTUS who can't spell. Apologies to the National Post and I renew my offer to President Trump to edit his Tweets, in return for a modest stipend and other considerations.
Turns out it's POTUS who can't spell. Apologies to the National Post and I renew my offer to President Trump to edit his Tweets, in return for a modest stipend and other considerations.
The portrait of Dorian Trump
Assiduous readers may have noticed Walt's pro-Trump bias. I was hoping for a Trump victory. I bet on it. I didn't look too closely at the man himself, supporting his candidacy chiefly for what he said he would do about the problems that bedevil America today: stalled economy, immigration, weak foreign policy, crime...and the list goes on. I was truly hopeful that he would MAGA.
Now Donald Trump is POTUS. He started his presidency -- notice I didn't say "reign" -- with a flurry of executive orders which, if issued by a king, would have been called "edicts". I'm reminded of the scene in Catch 22 where General Dreedle (played so well by Orson Welles) tells Colonel Cathcart to have another officer taken out and shot, only to be told by his son-in-law that he can't do that, to which Dreedle replies anrgily, "Why not?"
So it seems to be with President Trump's first four months in office. Mr Trump is right when he says that he has been maligned, insulted, denigrated etc in the lamestream meeja as has no other president in history. But he has only himself to blame. He is thrashing around like the proverbial bull in the china shop, issuing an order here, firing someone there, emitting Tweets by the score without making sure his brain is engaged, then back-pedaling, changing his mind, and reverting to Original Plan 2C.
It is all quite disappointing, kind of like looking at the picture of Dorian Gray. In the case of Dorian Gray, the beautiful painting of a handsome man fell away to reveal an ugly old man -- physically and morally -- underneath. I won't be that harsh on Mr Trump. Unlike the loony-leftish "ladies" of The View, I don't think POTUS is an evil genius. What we are learning, to our horror, as we watch the real Donald Trump in action, is that there is almost no substance beneath the brash, charismatic (?) exterior. Peel away the veneer and you see... nothing.
President Trump is in over his head, elevated, in accordance with the Peter Principle, to a position which is clearly beyond his competence. The question now is whether the USA can survive President Trump's period of on-the-job training. Walt (and his stockbroker) hope so.
Now Donald Trump is POTUS. He started his presidency -- notice I didn't say "reign" -- with a flurry of executive orders which, if issued by a king, would have been called "edicts". I'm reminded of the scene in Catch 22 where General Dreedle (played so well by Orson Welles) tells Colonel Cathcart to have another officer taken out and shot, only to be told by his son-in-law that he can't do that, to which Dreedle replies anrgily, "Why not?"
So it seems to be with President Trump's first four months in office. Mr Trump is right when he says that he has been maligned, insulted, denigrated etc in the lamestream meeja as has no other president in history. But he has only himself to blame. He is thrashing around like the proverbial bull in the china shop, issuing an order here, firing someone there, emitting Tweets by the score without making sure his brain is engaged, then back-pedaling, changing his mind, and reverting to Original Plan 2C.
It is all quite disappointing, kind of like looking at the picture of Dorian Gray. In the case of Dorian Gray, the beautiful painting of a handsome man fell away to reveal an ugly old man -- physically and morally -- underneath. I won't be that harsh on Mr Trump. Unlike the loony-leftish "ladies" of The View, I don't think POTUS is an evil genius. What we are learning, to our horror, as we watch the real Donald Trump in action, is that there is almost no substance beneath the brash, charismatic (?) exterior. Peel away the veneer and you see... nothing.
President Trump is in over his head, elevated, in accordance with the Peter Principle, to a position which is clearly beyond his competence. The question now is whether the USA can survive President Trump's period of on-the-job training. Walt (and his stockbroker) hope so.
Monday, May 15, 2017
"Offensive" licence plates latest targets of PC police
You could see it coming. When states and provinces discovered they could make extra bucks by selling "vanity plates" -- personalized licence plates with your choice of lettering -- they quickly compiled lists of verba prohibita. Included were obvious ones, like "SHIT", hence the sayings "You can't write 'SHIT'" and "You don't know 'SHIT'".
Finding the offence in some was great exercise for the Puritanical types so often found in government offices. Plates that somehow got by the censors were recalled following tips or complaints from the blue-stocking brigade. Examples from Ontario include "ANY001", said to have been registered to one of Toronto's top hookers, and "WOMEN". Why "WOMEN"? Because, when the whole text, including the name of the province and an insipid advertising slogan were taken together, they read "ONTARIO WOMEN YOURS TO DISCOVER". Shame!
The problem is that your average North American motorist is cleverer than the by-the-book squares in the DMVs. The snivel servants need crystal balls to go along with the brass ones of some of the people who apply for seemingly-but-not-really innocent tags. Trying to beat the system is just human nature, after all. Here are a couple that got issued only to be yanked back.
It doesn't seem to matter which state or province you're in. If the PC police can find anything -- anything at all -- "morally objectionable" in your chosen combination of letters and/or numbers, they'll turn you down. California has expressively stated it will not issue any plates with "69" in them unless that is the year of the car. And in Manitoba, a Star Trek fan lost his plate that read "ASIMIL8". He'd had it two years, mounted in a plate cover with Star Trek slogans, but the province finally deemed it insensitive and offensive to indigenous people.
Most jurisdictions run applications through a gamut of meanings tests, and also consider the combination being read upside down or in a mirror. In most cases they stay ahead, but the Manitoba plate triggered cries about free speech. They also do Google searches and hit translator sites, much as car manufacturers do when naming a car. If the request means something rude in Ukrainian, it'll be stubbed out. Or so they say, but Agent 5 [Are you still out there, buddy? Ed.] got one for his father-in-law that read "XIMHO". (Send SASE for translation.)
Nowadays they need sites like Urban Dictionary to stay current. The online reference site moves as fast as our changing culture, often setting it. If Urban Dictionary says it's rude, your chances just tumbled. Of course, what might be okay today might well enter the alt-vernacular tomorrow, and your once-innocent plate could still be called back. I'm going to see if "ALT-RT" is still available....
Finding the offence in some was great exercise for the Puritanical types so often found in government offices. Plates that somehow got by the censors were recalled following tips or complaints from the blue-stocking brigade. Examples from Ontario include "ANY001", said to have been registered to one of Toronto's top hookers, and "WOMEN". Why "WOMEN"? Because, when the whole text, including the name of the province and an insipid advertising slogan were taken together, they read "ONTARIO WOMEN YOURS TO DISCOVER". Shame!
The problem is that your average North American motorist is cleverer than the by-the-book squares in the DMVs. The snivel servants need crystal balls to go along with the brass ones of some of the people who apply for seemingly-but-not-really innocent tags. Trying to beat the system is just human nature, after all. Here are a couple that got issued only to be yanked back.
It doesn't seem to matter which state or province you're in. If the PC police can find anything -- anything at all -- "morally objectionable" in your chosen combination of letters and/or numbers, they'll turn you down. California has expressively stated it will not issue any plates with "69" in them unless that is the year of the car. And in Manitoba, a Star Trek fan lost his plate that read "ASIMIL8". He'd had it two years, mounted in a plate cover with Star Trek slogans, but the province finally deemed it insensitive and offensive to indigenous people.
Most jurisdictions run applications through a gamut of meanings tests, and also consider the combination being read upside down or in a mirror. In most cases they stay ahead, but the Manitoba plate triggered cries about free speech. They also do Google searches and hit translator sites, much as car manufacturers do when naming a car. If the request means something rude in Ukrainian, it'll be stubbed out. Or so they say, but Agent 5 [Are you still out there, buddy? Ed.] got one for his father-in-law that read "XIMHO". (Send SASE for translation.)
Nowadays they need sites like Urban Dictionary to stay current. The online reference site moves as fast as our changing culture, often setting it. If Urban Dictionary says it's rude, your chances just tumbled. Of course, what might be okay today might well enter the alt-vernacular tomorrow, and your once-innocent plate could still be called back. I'm going to see if "ALT-RT" is still available....
Evidence-based questions about wisdom of alt-energy projects
The debate over alleged global warming, alleged climate change and "green energy" rages on. The good citizens of Port Wein (just down the road from Fort Mudge) are having a town hall tonight to argue for or against the visual pollution of their unspoiled countryside by a grove of wind turbines proposed for Ole Man Sedgwick's back 40. Neighbours are worried not only about the appearance of these monster machines -- like something from War of the Worlds -- but also about the incessant low hum of the turbines, the risks of radiation, EMP (whatever that is), yada yada yada.
Local gliberals will be on hand at tonight's meeting to remind those standing astride the path of progress that the purpose of installing all these infernal machines is to generate energy in the form of electricity, thus forcing the military-industrial complex to leave the oil and coal in the ground and thus defeat President Trump and put power back in the hands of the righteous and politically correct.
They're right. It's all about power, with a capital "P". In this case, it's electric power. But is having more electric power -- more electricity -- a good thing for this troubled world? Walt submits herewith a letter written to the Editor of the Toronto Globe on "The Dangers of Electricity".
Two concurrent circumstances are occurring, the increase and use of electricity as a power and the violence and number of our storms. It may be contended that the action of man could not affect the atmosphere of the earth; but it may be remembered that the clearing away of our forests reduced our Canadian winters in Ontario from four months in old times to two months now. The press of today tells us the Egyptian Sphinx that is some 6000 years old is now rapidly decaying, owing to alterations in the climate of Egypt, due to the irrigation works of recent years. The firing of cannon has in war times increased the rainfall. Thus experience proves that the action of man can affect the air, and the question is asked; Is electricity taken from the air and collected by the machinery used or is it an element existing in the air and turned into electricity by friction?
If taken from the air, it follows the tendency should be to produce less violence and longer periods of calmness in the atmosphere by its absence. If it is added to the air, naturally our storms or wind and rain and changes in temperature will be greater and more violent. Electricity seems to be what life is to man, the cause of motion, and is life to what has been considered by man inanimate matter. There, has anyone considered what may result if we continue making machinery for its manufacture, utilizing all power, natural and artificial, creating vested rights which later on may be found to be a source of danger to the many? The attention of the Legislature should be drawn to this by the press, and our men of science should collect facts and inform us as to the future consequences of unlimited production of electricity and using it as power.
In his letter, dated 16 August 1902, "Civis", of Hamilton ON, makes some good points. Nearly 115 years later we are still talking about shorter, warm winters (global warming?), air pollution (the Sphinx is still crumbling), and the increasing violence and number of our storms (Katrina, Sandy, and assorted "Snowmageddons"). The culprit could well be all that damn electricity we keep generating. Walt thinks the question needs further study.
Further reading: This wondrous letter was taken from Shocked and Appalled: A Century of Letters to the The Globe and Mail, edited by Jack Kapica (Lester and Orpen Dennys, 1985).
Local gliberals will be on hand at tonight's meeting to remind those standing astride the path of progress that the purpose of installing all these infernal machines is to generate energy in the form of electricity, thus forcing the military-industrial complex to leave the oil and coal in the ground and thus defeat President Trump and put power back in the hands of the righteous and politically correct.
They're right. It's all about power, with a capital "P". In this case, it's electric power. But is having more electric power -- more electricity -- a good thing for this troubled world? Walt submits herewith a letter written to the Editor of the Toronto Globe on "The Dangers of Electricity".
Two concurrent circumstances are occurring, the increase and use of electricity as a power and the violence and number of our storms. It may be contended that the action of man could not affect the atmosphere of the earth; but it may be remembered that the clearing away of our forests reduced our Canadian winters in Ontario from four months in old times to two months now. The press of today tells us the Egyptian Sphinx that is some 6000 years old is now rapidly decaying, owing to alterations in the climate of Egypt, due to the irrigation works of recent years. The firing of cannon has in war times increased the rainfall. Thus experience proves that the action of man can affect the air, and the question is asked; Is electricity taken from the air and collected by the machinery used or is it an element existing in the air and turned into electricity by friction?If taken from the air, it follows the tendency should be to produce less violence and longer periods of calmness in the atmosphere by its absence. If it is added to the air, naturally our storms or wind and rain and changes in temperature will be greater and more violent. Electricity seems to be what life is to man, the cause of motion, and is life to what has been considered by man inanimate matter. There, has anyone considered what may result if we continue making machinery for its manufacture, utilizing all power, natural and artificial, creating vested rights which later on may be found to be a source of danger to the many? The attention of the Legislature should be drawn to this by the press, and our men of science should collect facts and inform us as to the future consequences of unlimited production of electricity and using it as power.
In his letter, dated 16 August 1902, "Civis", of Hamilton ON, makes some good points. Nearly 115 years later we are still talking about shorter, warm winters (global warming?), air pollution (the Sphinx is still crumbling), and the increasing violence and number of our storms (Katrina, Sandy, and assorted "Snowmageddons"). The culprit could well be all that damn electricity we keep generating. Walt thinks the question needs further study.
Further reading: This wondrous letter was taken from Shocked and Appalled: A Century of Letters to the The Globe and Mail, edited by Jack Kapica (Lester and Orpen Dennys, 1985).
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Pope Francis canonizes Fatima Seers Jacinta and Francisco Marto
Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the first Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal. On 13 May 1917, and on the 13th of each month thereafter through October 13th, Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three shepherd children -- Jacinta Marto, Francisco Marto and Lucia dos Santos -- to bring to the world, through the three seers, Her Message of repentance and conversion. She requested the consecration of Russia, by name, to Her Immaculate Heart, and warned that if Her Message is not heeded, entire nations will be annihilated and billions of souls lost.Yesterday, at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, Pope Francis canonized Blesseds Jacinta and Francisco, making them the youngest non-martyrs ever to be declared saints by the Roman Catholic Church. "We declare and define Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto as saints," said the Pontiff, as relics of the young shepherd children, encased in two thin golden crosses, were placed in front of the famed statue of Our Lady of Fatima, the "lady dressed in white" as the siblings and their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, described Her.
Francis didn't say much about the actual Message of Fatima, perhaps because a key part of it, the Third Secret of Fatima, has been suppressed by the Vatican, in spite of having been written down by Sister Lucia (Lucia dos Santos became a nun) for publication not later than 1960, at which time, she said, its meaning would be clearer. The Pope looked frail and nervous throughout the ceremony. Perhaps he was fearful that Our Lady would reappear to chastise him and his predecessors for failing to heed Her warning.
Sister Lucia herself told Father Augustin Fuentes, the postulator of the causes for beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, on 26 December 1957 at Coimbra, Portugal, "the Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her Message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way, but without giving any importance to Her Message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God actually falling upon them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the Message. But believe me, Father, God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from Heaven is imminent."
VIDEO: Ron Paul talks about how Trump is doing so far
I have tried and tried to write some thoughts on the Trump presidency, as it has eventuated or evolved so far. The problem is that the situation, the policies, the executive orders, the stated directions in which we're going, change day by day, perhaps even hour by hour. I write a couple of paragraphs, then I hear an announcement that we're now back to Original Policy 2A and all bets are off.
Apparently I'm not the only one who is mystified by the differences between what President Trump said he'd do, what he is doing and what he intends to do. Ron Paul, a pretty astute observer, is having the same problem, as he tells Alex Jones in this 21-minute video. Agent 17 and other perplexed persons are invited to watch and take note.
Apparently I'm not the only one who is mystified by the differences between what President Trump said he'd do, what he is doing and what he intends to do. Ron Paul, a pretty astute observer, is having the same problem, as he tells Alex Jones in this 21-minute video. Agent 17 and other perplexed persons are invited to watch and take note.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Illegal immigrants racked up millions of $$$ in ID theft fraud
It's not just California (see my earlier post today) or the USA that has problems with crimes committed by illegal immigrants who get caught and deported, only to return and commit more crimes, again and again and again. Canuckistan has its problems too. All that changes, north of the world's longest absolutely undefended border is the nature of the crimes and the ethnicity of the criminals. For some reason, the farther north the "bad dudes" go, the darker they get.
I'm going to give you this story as it was published this morning on the government-owned CBC News website: "It was good while it lasted: the luxurious life of an alleged Toronto fraud crew". It's worth following the link just to see the veritable cornucopia of bad taste the fraudsters purchased with their ill-gotten gains. Although the CBC carefully refrains from mentioning the perps' ethnicity, you can pretty much tell from what they bought and what they wore what kind of people they were. (Hint: it's the same kind of stuff P.K. Subban sports. The story's subtitle: "Crocodile skin boots and a $146,000 moon dust watch among items seized from Yorkville apartment".) I'll save the stinger for the end of this post.
Crocodile skin boots, Italian suits and a watch made from actual moon dust are just some of the items Toronto Police have seized from a suspected fraud crew, but there's much, much more. These are just some the alleged proceeds of crime that police displayed on Tuesday as a result of an investigation dubbed Project Royal, which began in 2016:
90 pairs of shoes including a $10,000 pair of crocodile skin boots
Seven watches including a Romaine Jerome Moon Dust Automatic valued at $146,000
Designer clothing, jewellery, accessories and liquor valued at $390,000
Several pairs of sunglasses valued at $10,000
"It's the absurdity of the consumption that stands out," Detective Constable Mike Kelly said at media conference on Tuesday. "We had $2,000 just in skin moisturizer. It was unsual."
Comment from Walt: Bill Burr does a bit about how black people use "lotion" to keep from looking "ashey".
There was also $39,000 cash, 37 credit cards and hundreds of pieces of allegedly stolen mail among the items seized at a Yorkville condominium unit police say was also fraudulently paid for. Two Toronto men, aged 45 and 37, have been arrested and charged with several fraud related crimes and possession of the proceeds of crime. Police have also issued warrant for a third suspect, a 44 year-old, of Toronto. And a 47-year-old Toronto man who police say is also connected to the group is wanted in the United States.
Police allege the group stole pieces of mail, including bank statements, and that they were were in possession of the personal information of approximately 5,000 GTA residents. "You're talking about literally thousands of individuals all throughout the GTA whose information has been at least compromised," Kelly said.
Investigators say the group used that information to obtain credit cards, which they then used to fund their luxury lifestyles. The Yorkville condo was paid for with credit card cash advances, police say. The accused did most of their shopping in the Yorkville area, Kelly says, and in some cases, merchants may have known fraud was taking place or at least "looked the other way" when luxury goods were purchased on credit. Police say when questioned, the men would describe themselves as businessmen or tourists. One of the suspects, who resided in the upscale Yorkville condo, said he worked for a moving company.
Police don't believe any of the items were being sold. The only motivation behind the alleged fraud was "conspicuous consumption", Kelly said. All of the accused maintained social media profiles in which much of their glitzy lifestyle is documented.
And now... drum roll, please... rrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Walt reveals the names of the accused, as UNreported by the politically correct CBC. Adedayo Ogundana, Duro Akintola, and Adekunle Johnson Omitiran (pictured -- but not on CBC) don't sound like Irishmen to me. They are Africans, probably Nigerians or Ghanaians. Innocent questions: What is their immigration status in Canada... if any? And what is the Trudeau government's stance on the deportation of "undocumented migrants" who commit crimes?
Footnote: The header of the Toronto CBC News website shows three of CBC Toronto's top "news" presenters. Not one of them is a white male. Who is responsible for CBC Toronto's anti-white bias? Step forward Susan Marjetti, former CBC Toronto station manager and winner of every conceivable award for promoting "diversity". Time to retire, now, Susan. Your work in Toronto is done.
I'm going to give you this story as it was published this morning on the government-owned CBC News website: "It was good while it lasted: the luxurious life of an alleged Toronto fraud crew". It's worth following the link just to see the veritable cornucopia of bad taste the fraudsters purchased with their ill-gotten gains. Although the CBC carefully refrains from mentioning the perps' ethnicity, you can pretty much tell from what they bought and what they wore what kind of people they were. (Hint: it's the same kind of stuff P.K. Subban sports. The story's subtitle: "Crocodile skin boots and a $146,000 moon dust watch among items seized from Yorkville apartment".) I'll save the stinger for the end of this post.
Crocodile skin boots, Italian suits and a watch made from actual moon dust are just some of the items Toronto Police have seized from a suspected fraud crew, but there's much, much more. These are just some the alleged proceeds of crime that police displayed on Tuesday as a result of an investigation dubbed Project Royal, which began in 2016:90 pairs of shoes including a $10,000 pair of crocodile skin boots
Seven watches including a Romaine Jerome Moon Dust Automatic valued at $146,000
Designer clothing, jewellery, accessories and liquor valued at $390,000
Several pairs of sunglasses valued at $10,000
"It's the absurdity of the consumption that stands out," Detective Constable Mike Kelly said at media conference on Tuesday. "We had $2,000 just in skin moisturizer. It was unsual."
Comment from Walt: Bill Burr does a bit about how black people use "lotion" to keep from looking "ashey".
There was also $39,000 cash, 37 credit cards and hundreds of pieces of allegedly stolen mail among the items seized at a Yorkville condominium unit police say was also fraudulently paid for. Two Toronto men, aged 45 and 37, have been arrested and charged with several fraud related crimes and possession of the proceeds of crime. Police have also issued warrant for a third suspect, a 44 year-old, of Toronto. And a 47-year-old Toronto man who police say is also connected to the group is wanted in the United States.
Police allege the group stole pieces of mail, including bank statements, and that they were were in possession of the personal information of approximately 5,000 GTA residents. "You're talking about literally thousands of individuals all throughout the GTA whose information has been at least compromised," Kelly said.
Investigators say the group used that information to obtain credit cards, which they then used to fund their luxury lifestyles. The Yorkville condo was paid for with credit card cash advances, police say. The accused did most of their shopping in the Yorkville area, Kelly says, and in some cases, merchants may have known fraud was taking place or at least "looked the other way" when luxury goods were purchased on credit. Police say when questioned, the men would describe themselves as businessmen or tourists. One of the suspects, who resided in the upscale Yorkville condo, said he worked for a moving company.
Police don't believe any of the items were being sold. The only motivation behind the alleged fraud was "conspicuous consumption", Kelly said. All of the accused maintained social media profiles in which much of their glitzy lifestyle is documented.
And now... drum roll, please... rrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Walt reveals the names of the accused, as UNreported by the politically correct CBC. Adedayo Ogundana, Duro Akintola, and Adekunle Johnson Omitiran (pictured -- but not on CBC) don't sound like Irishmen to me. They are Africans, probably Nigerians or Ghanaians. Innocent questions: What is their immigration status in Canada... if any? And what is the Trudeau government's stance on the deportation of "undocumented migrants" who commit crimes?
Footnote: The header of the Toronto CBC News website shows three of CBC Toronto's top "news" presenters. Not one of them is a white male. Who is responsible for CBC Toronto's anti-white bias? Step forward Susan Marjetti, former CBC Toronto station manager and winner of every conceivable award for promoting "diversity". Time to retire, now, Susan. Your work in Toronto is done.
Deported 15 times already, Mexican charged with CA hit-and-run
Believe it or not, some WWW readers don't read Fox News, because they are "resisters" who blame the Murdoch media for the election of President Trump. [Some of them don't read any news. They just surf the Net looking for porn. We know who you are! Ed.] Walt tries to keep his mind at least partially open, and reads an eclectic mix of alt-right and lamestream meeja every day... every bloody day...
Fox News covers not just American politics, but all the stuff you'd find in USA Today [which isn't saying much. Ed.] including a "Style + Beauty" section in which the boob-minded can find swimsuit pix... and more... FN also features the straight dope on stories that the mainstream jews media bury at the bottom of the inside pages, like this item from California.
An illegal immigrant – who had been deported 15 times – is accused of seriously injuring a 6-year-old boy in a Saturday night drunken driving hit-and-run crash, federal officials told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Constantino Banda-Acosta, a 38-year-old Mexican citizen, was kicked out of the USA 15 times in the past 15 years, with his most previous deportation coming January 18th.
Senor Banda-Acosta is accused of running a stop sign in the San Ysidro hit-and-run. He was taken into custody, about a half hour after the crash occurred, along with another man who was also an illegal immigrant. The injured boy, Lennox Lake, was coming home from Disneyland with his family on Saturday, and the group was about a block from their home when the collision happened.
The illegal immigrant was being held on $100,000 bail and had an arraignment set for today (Wednesday). He was arrested in 2006 on a DUI charge, had his license suspended three other times and also was accused of a domestic violence incident by his estranged wife.
What (Walt asks) should be done with a low-life scofflaw like this? How about keeping him in an American jail at a cost to taxpayers of over $100,000 per year? No good? How about deporting him? Oh... wait...
Fox News covers not just American politics, but all the stuff you'd find in USA Today [which isn't saying much. Ed.] including a "Style + Beauty" section in which the boob-minded can find swimsuit pix... and more... FN also features the straight dope on stories that the mainstream jews media bury at the bottom of the inside pages, like this item from California.
An illegal immigrant – who had been deported 15 times – is accused of seriously injuring a 6-year-old boy in a Saturday night drunken driving hit-and-run crash, federal officials told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Constantino Banda-Acosta, a 38-year-old Mexican citizen, was kicked out of the USA 15 times in the past 15 years, with his most previous deportation coming January 18th.
Senor Banda-Acosta is accused of running a stop sign in the San Ysidro hit-and-run. He was taken into custody, about a half hour after the crash occurred, along with another man who was also an illegal immigrant. The injured boy, Lennox Lake, was coming home from Disneyland with his family on Saturday, and the group was about a block from their home when the collision happened.
The illegal immigrant was being held on $100,000 bail and had an arraignment set for today (Wednesday). He was arrested in 2006 on a DUI charge, had his license suspended three other times and also was accused of a domestic violence incident by his estranged wife.
What (Walt asks) should be done with a low-life scofflaw like this? How about keeping him in an American jail at a cost to taxpayers of over $100,000 per year? No good? How about deporting him? Oh... wait...
Monday, May 8, 2017
More lamestream media illiteracy: National Post
Today's shocking example of journalistic illiteracy comes from Canada's National Post. Here's part of the landing (index) page from this morning's online edition.
Walt hopes that the bombs in question were defused, not "diffused". In today's Europe, bombs are diffused by Muslim jihadis, not (we hope) "experts". But such is the vocabulary of your typical lamestream media "reporter" nowadays. Journalist wannabes should read more. Or sign up for Walt's course in Remedial English, coming soon to a university not near you.
Footnote: The article to the left of the bomb story tells you all ye need to know about the state of the No-Longer-Great White North.
Walt hopes that the bombs in question were defused, not "diffused". In today's Europe, bombs are diffused by Muslim jihadis, not (we hope) "experts". But such is the vocabulary of your typical lamestream media "reporter" nowadays. Journalist wannabes should read more. Or sign up for Walt's course in Remedial English, coming soon to a university not near you.
Footnote: The article to the left of the bomb story tells you all ye need to know about the state of the No-Longer-Great White North.
Somali tribesmen of MN (!) fall for anti-vaxxers' BS, get sick and die
Among the barbaric cultural practices that refugees, asylum-seekers and other immigrants from Third World shitholes bring with them is a belief that modern Western medicines are designed to kill them, or at least keep them from reproducing like brown rabbits.
Let Walt remediate the inspecificity. The Western medicine we're talking about is the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine given to over 90% of North American kids in early childhood. And the community of ignorant immigrants in question is the tribe of Somali "refugees" imported by the Obama administration from one of the world's worst failed states.
In a story headlines "Measles outbreak sickens dozens of Minnesota Somalis who avoid vaccine", the Chicago Tribune reports on a serious outbreak of measles in Minnesota, where 34 cases have been confirmed in the last two weeks alone. Why? Because the Muslim invaders -- 99% of Somalis are Muslims -- are refusing the MMR vaccine because, in their ignorance, they believe the canard being circulated by the crazy anti-vaxxers that the vaccine causes autism.
The story quotes the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to the effect that measles, which was declared eliminated in the USA in 2000, has now gained a foothold in the larger community because of the intransigence of the clannish immigrants. Nearly everyone infected is unvaccinated, and all but a few are of Somali descent. So far, 11 children have been hospitalized. A spokesthingy for the Department of Health says the source of the outbreak is unknown, but that such outbreaks in the US are typically caused when international travellers are infected overseas and bring the virus home.
According to the Health Department, 42% of Minnesota-born Somali toddlers had received the MMR vaccine as of 2017. But the take-up rate hasn't always been that low. In 2004, 92% of Somali kids had thir shots. But the community's immunization rate fell to 70% in 2008 amid a perception that autism was becoming more common among Somali children. A 2014 study by the American Board of Family Medicine found 35% of Somali parents surveyed believed the measles vaccine causes autism, something believed by only 8% of non-Somalis.
Other communities with low vaccination rates have also been affected by measles in recent years. Nearly 20 people in the Orthodox Jewish community in Los Angeles were sickened by measles in December. 58 came down with the disease in 2013 when measles swept through Orthodox Jewish communities in New York.
Let Walt remediate the inspecificity. The Western medicine we're talking about is the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine given to over 90% of North American kids in early childhood. And the community of ignorant immigrants in question is the tribe of Somali "refugees" imported by the Obama administration from one of the world's worst failed states.
In a story headlines "Measles outbreak sickens dozens of Minnesota Somalis who avoid vaccine", the Chicago Tribune reports on a serious outbreak of measles in Minnesota, where 34 cases have been confirmed in the last two weeks alone. Why? Because the Muslim invaders -- 99% of Somalis are Muslims -- are refusing the MMR vaccine because, in their ignorance, they believe the canard being circulated by the crazy anti-vaxxers that the vaccine causes autism.
The story quotes the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to the effect that measles, which was declared eliminated in the USA in 2000, has now gained a foothold in the larger community because of the intransigence of the clannish immigrants. Nearly everyone infected is unvaccinated, and all but a few are of Somali descent. So far, 11 children have been hospitalized. A spokesthingy for the Department of Health says the source of the outbreak is unknown, but that such outbreaks in the US are typically caused when international travellers are infected overseas and bring the virus home.
According to the Health Department, 42% of Minnesota-born Somali toddlers had received the MMR vaccine as of 2017. But the take-up rate hasn't always been that low. In 2004, 92% of Somali kids had thir shots. But the community's immunization rate fell to 70% in 2008 amid a perception that autism was becoming more common among Somali children. A 2014 study by the American Board of Family Medicine found 35% of Somali parents surveyed believed the measles vaccine causes autism, something believed by only 8% of non-Somalis.
Other communities with low vaccination rates have also been affected by measles in recent years. Nearly 20 people in the Orthodox Jewish community in Los Angeles were sickened by measles in December. 58 came down with the disease in 2013 when measles swept through Orthodox Jewish communities in New York.
Sunday, May 7, 2017
VIDEO: "Gear of a champion"
Ed. here. Walt is feeling disgruntled today, trying to find some positives in the defeat of Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election.
Likewise Poor Len Canayen, unhappy with the progress of the National Hockey League playoffs (although he stands by his bet on Pittsburgh). The two of them seem to have gotten into the jellied gin, so will not be contributing anything to WWW today.
While we wait for them to pull themselves together, let's enjoy a strong entry in the WWW TV Commercial of the Year contest. Bidding fair to win a coveted Waltie is "Gear of a champion", advanced by the Bank of Nova Scotia to prove that even big banks can be athletic supporters.
For non-Canucks, I should point out -- and this is what I like about the spot -- that the two kids are First Nations people... or "Indians", as they were known in the pre-PC daze.
Likewise Poor Len Canayen, unhappy with the progress of the National Hockey League playoffs (although he stands by his bet on Pittsburgh). The two of them seem to have gotten into the jellied gin, so will not be contributing anything to WWW today.
While we wait for them to pull themselves together, let's enjoy a strong entry in the WWW TV Commercial of the Year contest. Bidding fair to win a coveted Waltie is "Gear of a champion", advanced by the Bank of Nova Scotia to prove that even big banks can be athletic supporters.
For non-Canucks, I should point out -- and this is what I like about the spot -- that the two kids are First Nations people... or "Indians", as they were known in the pre-PC daze.
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Majority of Eastern Europeans oppose admitting Syrian "refugees"
Georgia is quite far away from Walt's cabin in the pines, almost on the other side of the world. But we still get news from the homeland of Josef Stalin occasionally. In yesterday's online edition of The Financial, we read: "Syrian Refugees Not Welcome in Eastern Europe".
The Financial is reporting the results of a Gallup survey of the citizens of 15 nations of Eastern Europe, which found that almost no-one -- repeat, NO-ONE -- wants their countries to be further polluted by the admission of more "refugees" from Syria. It wasn't just Christians who were opposed to taking more Muslim migrants. Significant numbers of atheists and even Muslims had the same feeling. Here are the findings in tabular form.
54% of Christians -- mainly Catholic and Orthodox -- surveyed oppose admitting any Syrian refugees, while only 2% (two percent) were in favour of taking all comers. Atheists proved even more unlikely than Christians to welcome Syrian refugees, with 63% opposed to taking any. And 36% of Muslims in the countries surveyed were likewise opposed.
My question... Suppose, if you will, that a competent and legitimate polling organization -- Pew Research, for instance -- took a similar poll in the USA, Canada, Britain or France. (Thanks to Bill M-103 it would probably be illegal to ask that question in Canada. Mustn't promote Islamophobia, you know!) And suppose the results were similar, or even worse (from the point of view of all the SJWs and one-worlders who believe in open borders).
My question [at last! Ed.] is: Would the self-censoring lamestream media publish such results, with headlines as frank as "Syrian Refugees Not Welcome in USA/Canada/UK/France"? Not bloody likely!
Note from Ed.: Just to clear up any confusion in the minds of our American readers, the Georgia where Josef Stalin (né Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) was born is not the one Sherman marched through, but a small country in the south-eastern corner of Europe, at the east end of the Black Sea. You're welcome.
The Financial is reporting the results of a Gallup survey of the citizens of 15 nations of Eastern Europe, which found that almost no-one -- repeat, NO-ONE -- wants their countries to be further polluted by the admission of more "refugees" from Syria. It wasn't just Christians who were opposed to taking more Muslim migrants. Significant numbers of atheists and even Muslims had the same feeling. Here are the findings in tabular form.
54% of Christians -- mainly Catholic and Orthodox -- surveyed oppose admitting any Syrian refugees, while only 2% (two percent) were in favour of taking all comers. Atheists proved even more unlikely than Christians to welcome Syrian refugees, with 63% opposed to taking any. And 36% of Muslims in the countries surveyed were likewise opposed.
My question... Suppose, if you will, that a competent and legitimate polling organization -- Pew Research, for instance -- took a similar poll in the USA, Canada, Britain or France. (Thanks to Bill M-103 it would probably be illegal to ask that question in Canada. Mustn't promote Islamophobia, you know!) And suppose the results were similar, or even worse (from the point of view of all the SJWs and one-worlders who believe in open borders).
My question [at last! Ed.] is: Would the self-censoring lamestream media publish such results, with headlines as frank as "Syrian Refugees Not Welcome in USA/Canada/UK/France"? Not bloody likely!
Note from Ed.: Just to clear up any confusion in the minds of our American readers, the Georgia where Josef Stalin (né Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) was born is not the one Sherman marched through, but a small country in the south-eastern corner of Europe, at the east end of the Black Sea. You're welcome.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Practical joke at ISIS HQ
Thanks and a flip of the fez to Agent 6.
Further reading: "Paris jihadist attacks result of suicidal stupidity", WWW 13/11/15.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
NOT "Allahu akbar!" - Truth about Colgate U "active shooter"
Brian W. Casey, President of Colgate University, has purchased an industrial-size box of Handiwipes to clean the egg off his face following a lockdown of the entire campus prompted by reports of someone carrying what appeared to be a gun. Several students who were on campus during the lockdown told Global News that the information disseminated by the school -- including emails and social media alerts -- described the suspect as an "active shooter" -- male, black, 6'2", shirtless and armed.
Turns out the suspect was a student carrying... wait for it... a glue gun, which he was using for a school project. No shouts of "Allahu akbar!" were heard, nor is there any truth to the rumor that the student hollered "This is a stick-up!"
President Casey posted a statement yesterday saying a campus safety director is on leave while officials review the lockdown, and the possible role played by "implicit racial bias" during the reporting and response.
A story by Jenny Rodrigues, a "multimedia producer" with Canada's Global News, quotes Colgate student senator Tolu Emokpae as saying, "We received an alert from the school that said 'active shooter' and as you know, the definition of an active shooter is someone who has fired shots. So we were all very worried. It was very unclear from the beginning because there were no [audible] shots in the background, no victims that had been shot, just very unclear. Someone had said there were two shooters and one had killed themselves, someone had said the shooter had gone towards off-campus housing. There was a sort of feeling of mass hysteria among the student populous [sic]."
Jenny Rodrigues is not a graduate of Colgate.
Turns out the suspect was a student carrying... wait for it... a glue gun, which he was using for a school project. No shouts of "Allahu akbar!" were heard, nor is there any truth to the rumor that the student hollered "This is a stick-up!"
President Casey posted a statement yesterday saying a campus safety director is on leave while officials review the lockdown, and the possible role played by "implicit racial bias" during the reporting and response.
A story by Jenny Rodrigues, a "multimedia producer" with Canada's Global News, quotes Colgate student senator Tolu Emokpae as saying, "We received an alert from the school that said 'active shooter' and as you know, the definition of an active shooter is someone who has fired shots. So we were all very worried. It was very unclear from the beginning because there were no [audible] shots in the background, no victims that had been shot, just very unclear. Someone had said there were two shooters and one had killed themselves, someone had said the shooter had gone towards off-campus housing. There was a sort of feeling of mass hysteria among the student populous [sic]."
Jenny Rodrigues is not a graduate of Colgate.
60+ "Catholic" teacher talked sex, put legs behind her head, in class
Leonara Brown, a former Toronto Catholic District School Board religion teacher was found guilty of professional misconduct yesterday, after students told the Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers that she went on frequent sexually-laced tirades before demonstrating her flexibility in front of the class by putting her legs behind her head.Ms Brown did not appear in front of the tribunal, but denied the allegations contained in the notice of hearing, which you can read in full by clicking here.
At yesterday's hearing, former students testified that Ms Brown liked to regale her "religion" classes with tales of her sex life and her parents' sex life, the point of which was to advise pupils as to what they should do in their own. Said one student, "I felt like she wasn't qualified to be a teacher. That's not something you're supposed to say to a student in a religion class."
One student testified that shortly after a Grade 10 class began on 25 February 2015, Ms Brown began to speak about her personal life. She told impressionable teens that the reason her mother had 20 children was because she was "horny". She recalled asking her mother once why she was so black. "I told her she should have fucked a white sailor," she said.
The student said Ms Brown swore throughout the class and made inappropriate comments. After telling students personal stories about women she said were "sluts", she advised the kids "If a slutty girl or a horny girl wants to have sex with you, you should fuck her well and leave her in a wheelchair for two days."
Six days earlier, the tribunal heard, Ms Brown was teaching a Grade 9 religion class, and caught a male student's attention when he heard her say, "He can kiss my black ass without touching it." In this "lesson" too, she brought up her personal life, telling the class that when she was younger, a student at her school tried to grab her buttocks and she stuck a pencil in his arm. She went on to boast of how flexible she was for a sexagenarian. [Look it up. Ed.] She demonstrated by lying on the floor and attempting to put her legs behind her head, an act which a bemused student captured in a video which was viewed by the tribunal. "It made me feel weird," a student testified. "It was unusual in a religion class but overall it was pretty funny."
"Unusual in a religion class..." Yes. Can I get an "AMEN" for that? The real problem, IMHO, is that in Kathleen Wynne's Ontario, sex education -- not just straight sex but just about every perversion imaginable -- must be taught in all publicly funded schools, including so-called "Catholic" schools. When you take the government's (read "taxpayers'") dime, you have to dance to their tune. The remarkable thing is that there are any "religion" classes at all!
Readers may be surprised to know that, in spite of the blatant misconduct, the Discipline Committee did not revoke Leonara Brown's teaching licence. The tribunal heard that Ms Brown retired after taking a leave of absence from the (unnamed) school shortly after the allegations were made in 2015, and never returned. If Ms Brown wants to teach again, she will have to complete a course on "professional boundaries with students". Seriously. Meanwhile, the Discipline Committee ordered her to appear in person to have her wrists slapped.
Footnote: This is not the first time Ms Brown has been in the news. At the beginning of 2014 she was involved in a bizarre case of identity theft, in which her former "friend" was convicted of using Ms Brown's ID to obtain a mortgage on a posh home in Niagara-on-the-Lake ON. See "Victim outraged at sentence for identity thief", Toronto Sun, 27/1/14. It seems poor Ms Brown is always a victim. Walt can't understand why.
Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Pope Francis becomes leading propagandist for Islam
"As the prototypical progressive Jesuit, Pope Francis prides himself on his 'ecumenism'. He oozes enthusiasm for every religion except his own. At the top of his list of favorite religions is the Church's fiercest adversary -- Islam."
So says George Neumayr, author of The Political Pope (soon to be published), in "The Papal Propagandist for Islam Heads to Egypt", in The American Spectator, 26/4/17. Mr Neumayr refers to the visit of the "Holy Father" -- Walt thinks quote marks are appropriate, now, for Francis's title -- to Egypt for the purpose of repairing relations between the Holy See and al-Azhar, which took place during the time of Pope Benedict.
Al-Azhar can refer to either or both of a prestigious university or one of the great mosques of the Islamic world. There was a falling out between the Vatican and Al-Azhar because Pope Benedict XVI dared to speak out about the Muslim persecution of Christians. Francis went to Cairo to say Benedict didn't really mean it, we love Muslims, we all worship the same God (a grievous theological fallacy), yada yada yada.
Mr Neumayr says Pope Francis "often sounds more like a spokesman for CAIR [the Council on American-Islamic Relations] than a Catholic pope. After jihadists cut off the head of a French priest in July 2016 — yelling 'Allahu Akbar' over the priest’s slit throat — Pope Francis rushed to the defense of Islam. 'I don’t like to talk about Islamic violence, because every day, when I read the newspaper, I see violence,' he said, before ludicrously blaming the rise of terrorism on the 'idolatry' of free-market economics....
"As Europe turns into Eurabia," Mr Neumayr continues, "Pope Francis is picking up honors and awards from progressives, including, hilariously, the 2016 'Charlemagne Prize' for his Islamic apologetics. It is hard to imagine a Christian leader less like Charlemagne. Pope Francis is energized not depressed by the disappearance of Christian Europe. 'States must be secular,' he told La Croix. Christian states, he said, 'end badly' and go 'against the grain of history.' He added that 'when I hear talk of the Christian roots of Europe, I sometimes dread the tone, which can seem triumphalist or even vengeful.'"
The truly sad thing about Francis's embrace of the Islamists is that too many Catholics treat him as if he were a divine oracle, his every utterance to be revered, respected, studied, and followed. Vatican II erroneously stated that "religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra," and "must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will."
So Catholic leaders and publications -- hello, Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler! -- tend to think that they must adhere to anything and everything the Pope says about anything and everything. Too many Catholic leaders and institutions are more interested in being papists than in being truthful. They would rather show loyalty to the Pope, no matter how damaging his utterances, than stand for the True Faith even when -- especially when -- Francis stands against it!
Further reading: "Pope Francis sez 'no religion' is terrorist. LMAO!", WWW 17/2/17, and "Pastor asks Pope Francis, 'What's wrong with you?'" (includes video), WWW 12/3/17.
So says George Neumayr, author of The Political Pope (soon to be published), in "The Papal Propagandist for Islam Heads to Egypt", in The American Spectator, 26/4/17. Mr Neumayr refers to the visit of the "Holy Father" -- Walt thinks quote marks are appropriate, now, for Francis's title -- to Egypt for the purpose of repairing relations between the Holy See and al-Azhar, which took place during the time of Pope Benedict.
Al-Azhar can refer to either or both of a prestigious university or one of the great mosques of the Islamic world. There was a falling out between the Vatican and Al-Azhar because Pope Benedict XVI dared to speak out about the Muslim persecution of Christians. Francis went to Cairo to say Benedict didn't really mean it, we love Muslims, we all worship the same God (a grievous theological fallacy), yada yada yada.
Mr Neumayr says Pope Francis "often sounds more like a spokesman for CAIR [the Council on American-Islamic Relations] than a Catholic pope. After jihadists cut off the head of a French priest in July 2016 — yelling 'Allahu Akbar' over the priest’s slit throat — Pope Francis rushed to the defense of Islam. 'I don’t like to talk about Islamic violence, because every day, when I read the newspaper, I see violence,' he said, before ludicrously blaming the rise of terrorism on the 'idolatry' of free-market economics....
"As Europe turns into Eurabia," Mr Neumayr continues, "Pope Francis is picking up honors and awards from progressives, including, hilariously, the 2016 'Charlemagne Prize' for his Islamic apologetics. It is hard to imagine a Christian leader less like Charlemagne. Pope Francis is energized not depressed by the disappearance of Christian Europe. 'States must be secular,' he told La Croix. Christian states, he said, 'end badly' and go 'against the grain of history.' He added that 'when I hear talk of the Christian roots of Europe, I sometimes dread the tone, which can seem triumphalist or even vengeful.'"
The truly sad thing about Francis's embrace of the Islamists is that too many Catholics treat him as if he were a divine oracle, his every utterance to be revered, respected, studied, and followed. Vatican II erroneously stated that "religious submission of mind and will must be shown in a special way to the authentic magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra," and "must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence, the judgments made by him are sincerely adhered to, according to his manifest mind and will."
So Catholic leaders and publications -- hello, Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler! -- tend to think that they must adhere to anything and everything the Pope says about anything and everything. Too many Catholic leaders and institutions are more interested in being papists than in being truthful. They would rather show loyalty to the Pope, no matter how damaging his utterances, than stand for the True Faith even when -- especially when -- Francis stands against it!
Further reading: "Pope Francis sez 'no religion' is terrorist. LMAO!", WWW 17/2/17, and "Pastor asks Pope Francis, 'What's wrong with you?'" (includes video), WWW 12/3/17.
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