UPDATED - "This is Africa!" - Air Zimbabwe down to one plane

Half a century ago, when new "nations" were being created out of European colonies in Asia and Africa -- "Ready or not, here they come!" -- one of the hallmarks of newfound independence was considered to be a national airline. Even the tiniest shithole had to have a national carrier, usually included in the post-independence deal with the mother country.

So it was with Zimbabwe, when the former Rhodesia was handed over by the perfidious British to the black terrorists led by Robert Mugabe in 1980. The slight difference was that Rhodesia already had a small but functional airline, Air Rhodesia, which had a fleet of about a dozen aircraft including a couple of Viscounts -- lovely old prop jobs -- and even a B707. Like most things run by the "white settler regime", it worked. And it was given, in working order, to Comrade Bob's Marxist government, who painted the planes with red, yellow, green and black stripes and dubbed the "new" airline Air Zimbabwe.

Thanks to the ignorance, incompetence and corruption which bedevil most state-owned enterprises in most African countries, the planes inherited from Air Rhodesia were allowed to fall apart long ago. They were replaced by a succession of other types: B737s, a BAe-146, three Chinese MA-40s, a couple of little Fokkers, and two B767s which, in Walt's daze in Zimbabwe, were the pride of the fleet. One was at the beck and call of Uncle Bob, so effectively out of service, but the rest of us were allowed to fly in the other one, occasionally. Here's a pic I took in 1993 at what used to be called Jan Smuts International Airport, in Johannesburg.

Today, that B767-200ER is the only plane Air Zimbabwe has left, and may be grounded tomorrow or the next day. NewsDay reports that one of its two engines caught fire during a flight from O.R. Tambo International Airport (the new name for "Janny Smuts") to Ha-ha-harare (the fun capital of Zimbabwe) on Sunday evening after developing a fault. According to a state released yesterday, "Air Zimbabwe wishes to inform the public that their Boeing 767-200ER servicing flight UM462 experienced a malfunction in one of its engines, which caused a 'brief' tailpipe fire."

The carrier said the malfunction did not threaten the continuation of the flight or the safety of the crew and passengers on board, and that the aircraft landed safely in Harare at 2035. Air Zimbabwe confirmed that their engineers have started investigations into the incident, but continued, "We regret to inform our valued passengers that this incident may result in a disruption of our normal schedule."

This came barely a day after the same plane was involved in a bird strike incident after take-off at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo. The plane, however, landed safely at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in the capital. In March, the struggling national airline said it was using the aircraft, the only one in service, for all its routes. Such is the reality of Zimbabwe today. Mother Africa Wins Again.

UPDATED ADDED 1/5/19 [MAYDAY! MAYDAY! LOL Ed.] - NewsDay reports today that "Beleaguered Air Zimbabwe has bought a new plane, an Embraer ERJ-145, bringing the number of planes owned by the company to two. Air Zimbabwe was put under construction [??? Ed.] in 2018 after it was diagnosed to be a failing parastatal. The new plane is branded Zimbabwe Airways which is the name of a failed airline that was fronted by former President Robert Mugabe's son-in-law, Simba Chikore." Right there, in the last two sentences, is everything you need to know about Zimbabwe and about how things work (or not) in Africa.

VIDEO LINK ADDED 19/6/19: "Air Zimbabwe - The World's Most Dangerous Airline?", the experience of a veteran traveller. Pretty much the way Walt remembers it, having flown in these same planes over 20 years ago.

Spain's right-wing Vox party makes major gains, enters Congress

In "Right-wing populism on the march: today Estonia, tomorrow ???" (WWW 3/3/19) Walt rejoiced at the rise in support for right-wing, populist parties throughout the length and breadth of Europe, not to mention the Excited States of America and even (gasp!) Canada. Where next, I asked?

The answer -- may I have the envelope please? -- is Spain! Yes, where parties of the right were thought to be discredited and defunct since the fall of Francisco Franco's Falange. Well, the Falange may have been pronounced dead, but its philosophy and policies -- against separatism and for a strong, unified country; opposition to immigration; limits on wimmin's right and "inclusion" -- continue to speak to the long-held and deep-seated wants and needs of increasing numbers of Spaniards.

Those are some of the principles which animate Spain's new(ish) Vox party, which some lefties denounce as "Falange 2.0". And the Spanish people are responding favourably. In "Populism marches on! Today, Spain! Where next?" (WWW 21/1/19), Walt applauded the success of Vox in elections to the Cortes (= parliament) of the province of Andalusia. And I quoted political scientist Eduard Güell who predicted that Vox would make similar gains at the national level. "All signs indicate that Vox has come to stay," he said. And he was right!

In a time when Spain is increasingly polarized -- it's not only the USA! -- its Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election, held yesterday, to determine the future direction of the country. The lamestream press is crowing that the Socialists won, but downplaying the fact that they were reduced to a minority in the Congress of Deputies -- 123 of 350 seats. At a victory rally last night, Sr Sánchez said, "The Socialist Party won, and we are now going to build the Spain (((George Soros))) wants." [Ed., please check that quote. My Spanish isn't very good. Walt]

Down "below the fold", the WaPo gets around to mentioning that some voters chose "Vox, a far-right faction founded on anti-immigrant, anti-feminist and anti-Catalan sentiment." In fact, WaPo acknowledges grudgingly, Vox won 24 seats to become the first far-right party to enter the Spanish parliament since the country's transition to democracy in the late 1970s!

In an op-ed piece for Deutsche Welle, Bernd Riegert calls the rise of Vox the real story of yesterday's election. He writes:

Voters longed for the return of the good old, supposedly stable and safe times. Supporters of Vox truly feel that the dictator Francisco Franco and the unscrupulous conquerors of Latin America were the ones who made Spain "great." Vox only won 10% of the vote in this election, but as has happened in other European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Italy and Austria, the right-wing swamp has the potential to grow and eventually become the nation's main political movement. This trend is nothing new, and Sunday's election served as proof that it has now caught on in Spain.

Herr Riegert's bias is showing! "Right-wing swamp" is rather Nazi, even for a German liberal believer in Merkelism. But his observation and conclusion is spot on! Which is what Walt told you in March. Today Spain, tomorrow??? Stay tuned!

Footnote: The liberals, including the government of Germany, which owns Deutsche Welle, are afraid -- very afraid -- of the resurrection of Franco's Falange, with its "illiberal" ideas. Ed. hasn't been able to get a link to the video embedded in the DW article, but I suggest you check it out -- a great example of the paranoia of the ruling elites.

VIDEO: South Africa's loss is Canada's gain - Susanna Heystek

Among the South African farmers who saw the handwriting on the wall back in the 1990s (see my earlier post, today) was the family of Susanna Heystek (great name for farmers!), who joined the "white flees" leaving for the Old Dominions, in this case Canada, where the challenges to farming are of a different nature (read: colour) than they are in Suid Afrika.

The Heysteks settled in Alberta (Canada's answer to Texas!), and Susanna began playing the violin at age five in her hometown of Rocky Mountain House. She went on to study violin in Red Deer and joined the Red Deer Youth and Community Orchestra, of which she was concert master. After graduating high school, she went on to study at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and joined the Artemis Trio. The trio competed at the provincial level in British Columbia and won first place in the Senior Chamber category. Last year, Susanna had the honour of being accepted into the National Art Centre Orchestra's apprenticeship program.

Susanna has developed into a fine classical violinist, and also plays the viola, but hasn't forgotten her country roots. Here she plays "Bowing the Strings", written by Canadian fiddler/composer, Ned Landry. This was recorded in Airdrie AB on 9 May 2015. Intercut are some nice pictures of the wildlife of the homeland of her Afrikaner ancestors, plus picture proof that this talented young lady can still handle the ropin' and ridin'.



Further reading and viewing: Click here to visit Susanna Heystek's website, where you'll find her bio, plus links to other music videos and lots of other good stuff. On the landing page is the link to my favourite of all the classical pieces Susanna has recorded, "The Last Rose of Summer".

South Africa "Freedom Day" -- not much to celebrate

Yesterday, black South Africans celebrated the 25th anniversary of "Freedom Day", the day in 1994 when they were allowed to cast ballots in the country's first "one person one vote" election. President Cyril Ramaphosa said, "On this day 25 years ago, we founded a new country defined by the principles of equality, unity, non-racialism and non-sexism. Despite the passage of time, we remember vividly...the exhilaration of seeing nearly 20 million South Africans of all races waiting patiently at polling stations around the country to cast their ballots."

Walt was there at the time -- based in Ha-ha-harare, the fun capital of Zimbabwe -- and remembers opening a book (read: started taking bets) on how long it would take for the most prosperous nation in Africa to regress to levels of poverty and inequality like those of Zimbabwe, the Congo, Sudan and other shithole states of the Dark Continent.

It didn't take that long. Today, widespread poverty and corruption mean that, 25 years after the end of apartheid, many South Africans are still not free. In yesterday's speech, President Ramaphosa praised the work of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, but said that the country could not be free "when so many live without enough food, without proper shelter, without access to quality health care, without a means to earn a living."

South Africa's black majority were promised that once they were "empowered", they would have white cars, white houses and white women. Pictured above is what they got.

Yesterday, President Ramaphosa (who replaced Jacob Zuma, President No. 3, who was forced out over a string of corruption scandals and a penchant for polygamy) said, "As we celebrate 25 years of democracy, we need to focus all our attention and efforts on ensuring that all South Africans can equally experience the economic and social benefits of freedom."

The reality of post-apartheid South Africa is that any progress made to fulfill the promises made to the country's blacks has been undone in just five short years. Today, South Africa is one of the most consistently unequal countries in the world. More than half the population lives in poverty, while a staggering 27% of people are unemployed. And that's according to the government's statistics, which are believed to be wildly over-optimistic.

Since 2011, three million more South Africans have been pushed below the poverty line, according to a study by the national data agency, Statistics South Africa, released this week. More than 30.4 million South Africans (55.5% of the population) live on less than 992 rand (about $75) per person per month.

Those figures, collected in 2015, are actually more optimistic than numbers from 2006, when two-thirds of South Africans were living in poverty. But it captures the painful one-step-forward, two-steps-backwards dance the country has been engaged in over the last decade trying to improve the lives of its population. In 2006, 28.4% of the country was found to be living in extreme poverty. That number had only inched downwards to 25.2% by 2015.

Those numbers aren't likely to improve. In the last year alone, South Africa has entered recession and seen its sovereign debt rating adjusted to junk status, making life harder for everyone, especially the poor. The national power supplier, Eskom, is effectively bankrupt. With massive power outages threatened, those who can afford to are rushing to buy generators and storage batteries. The "povo" (= truly poor) are buying or making candles.

Because of the seizure of productive white farms (and the murder of the white farmers, detailed previously on WWW), millions of South Africans are now facing "food insecurity" -- shortages of food, hunger, even the prospect of starvation -- the crisis which now besets Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and other black-run states to the north. This in a country which was once a net exporter of foodstuffs.

The reality of post-apartheid South Africa is that the majority of its citizens live in grinding poverty. The full effect of the 2008 global financial crisis, initially hidden by the euphoria and capital injection of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is now being felt. The country has also fallen victim to the sluggish growth seen by other commodities-driven economies, unable to improve on 3.3% growth in 2011, the highest GDP has peaked since the financial crisis.

The real problem, though, is South Africa’s inability to implement its own policies. In other words, the black government is incapable of managing the economy or the country. In 2012, the country launched a "National Development Plan" with much pomp and an explanatory animated video showing how much better life would be once they got organized. (18 years after the end of apartheid, they couldn't blame the whities any more.) But a lack of political will and simple competence have left the plan adrift. By almost all measures, South Africa is going to miss the goals -- reduction of poverty from 39% in 2009 to 0%, and the complete eliminate of hunger, by 2030 -- it set for itself in the plan.

Even the commission tasked with seeing the plan through is frustrated by the lack of government support to do so, despite having an office a few doors down from the president. The group's deputy commissioner told the meeja recently, "We have a plan, we like it very much, we take it to parliament, the whole world praises it... And we are the ones that don't implement it." Nothing more need be said. Mother Africa Wins Again.

NEW TUBA SKINNY VIDEO: "Won't You Be Kind to Me?"

Ed. again. While we wait for Walt's blood pressure to get somewhere near normal, it falls to me to find other stuff for this space. "Other stuff" includes topics other than politics, religion and -- sorry, Len --hockey. From time to time we like to share a bit of music, guaranteed to brighten you day. In January we introduced Tuba Skinny, a New Orleans traditional jazz band formed in 2009. The ensemble includes tuba, trombone, cornet, tenor banjo, guitar, vocals, washboard, and clarinet, and is inspired by the jazz and blues music of the 1920s and 1930s.

The band has performed on streets and stages around the world, including music festivals in Mexico, Sweden, Australia, Italy, France, Switzerland and Spain. They're all great musicians, but my favourite, the erstwhile leader of the band, is Shaye Cohen. The granddaughter of noted jazz musician Al Cohn, she plays (in addition to cornet) the fiddle, piano, accordion, banjo and spoons! The only thing I've never heard her do is sing.

Listen for Shaye's stage direction before and during this performance of "Won't You Be Kind to Me?", a Memphis Jug Band/Hattie Hart song from 1929. This video was recorded on April 14th at The French Quarter Festival, Jackson Square Stage. Thanks to James Sterling for putting it up on YouTube.

VIDEO: Reid Henrichs likens his dead rooster to socialists

Ed. here. A couple of Walt's agents (PBUT) have noticed that Walt has been MIA since the atrocious Islamic terrorist attack in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. He is not ill, just having difficulty finding words that won't get him arrested for "hate crime", Islamophobia, racism or all of the above. While he's recovering his faculties, I'll repost some interesting articles or videos, so faithful readers will have something new(ish) to read and watch.

We begin with "What My Dead Rooster and Socialists Have in Common", a Valor Ridge video featuring Reid Henrichs.

In this educational allegory, Mr Henrichs describes how an entitled, aggressive, and ungrateful rooster met his end. There are also many similar traits between farm life and real world socialists. The utopia they plan to bring about is far worse than the reality of luxury they live in. Socialism is the most corrupt, oppressive, and deadly ideology this planet has ever seen. The information in this video is for educational purposes, and serves to illustrate the wisdom of nature over the mischief of progressive do-gooders who actually do evil.



Out of the mouths of farmers and other "plain folks" oft comes wisdom.

ISIS claims responsibility for Sri Lanka massacre of over 300 Christians

Further to yesterday's "Suspicions confirmed" post... it will be recalled that following the Christchurch, New Zealand shoot-up of a couple of mosques, perpetrated by a "white nationalist", "racist" etc etc, there was a tsunami of white Christian guilt. World leaders condemned unequivocally the terrible act of Islamophobia, called for confiscation of the guns of everyone except "the authorities, etc etc. Mounds of flowers and teddy bears piled up in front of mosques around the world, and vigils were held everywhere. The Pope prayed for the victims. The prime minister of New Zealand and other worthies donned Islamic headscarves to show solidarity with the poor oppressed Muslims.

Sunday saw a much more horrific attack on Christian churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. The death toll has now reached 321 -- six times that of the New Zealand massacre. The response of world leaders was muted, by comparison, perhaps even "guarded", because, errr, there was the possibility that the killers of over 300 Christians -- not Muslims but Christians -- might turn out to be, errr, Muslims, hell-bent on revenge for the New Zealand atrocity. For that to be the case would be embarrassing for the liberal politicians and lamestream media who only see non-white followers of the Prophet as victims of white racism, Islamophobia, etc etc.

Unfortunately for those who insist that Islam is "The Religion of Peace", it has now been revealed, by no less a personage than the Sri Lankan Minister of Defence that the Easter attack on churches, hotels and other sites in the South Asian nation was "carried out in retaliation" for the shooting massacre at two New Zealand mosques. The minister, Ruwan Wijewardene, told Parliament the government possessed information that the series of bombings in and outside of Colombo that killed more than 300 people was carried out "by an Islamic fundamentalist group" in response to the Christchurch attacks. Which is pretty much what Walt said yesterday. Perhaps Mr Wijewardene is a reader of WWW.

Mr Wijewardene did not name the "Islamic fundamentalist group". If he doesn't read (or believe) Walt, he should at least check reports in The Guardian and other lamestream media that ISIS has claimed, through its AMAQ news agency, that the atrocities were the work of "fighters of the Islamic State". To wit:

Pictures are also circulating on the Internet -- notably on siteintelgroup.com -- purportedly showing the suspected suicide bombers, including purported National Thowfeek Jama'ath leader Moulvi Zahran Hashim pledging allegiance to ISIS.

These photos have not been published by AMAQ. Rather, it seems, they are being circulated by ISIS fanatics to encourage others.

Some of the lamestream media, and many apologists for Islamic extremism, persist in the fiction that "the motive for the bombings remains" unclear. The Sri Lankan government at least got that part right. The attacks, said Mr Wijewardene, were in retaliation for the killing of 50 Muslims last month at mosques in New Zealand. "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord" is something you might find in Judeo-Christian Scripture, but not, apparently, in the Holy Qu'ran.

I'm waiting for Theresa May, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau, Hellery Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Fauxcahontas -- hell, any of them -- to condemn the Islamic extremism which is the source of 99% of the world's troubles. But I'm not holding my breath. Are followers of the Prophet not told, "Kill the infidels wherever they may be found!" Just because you're Islamophobic doesn't mean the Muslims aren't out to get ya!

VIDEO: Kate Smith (racist!) sings "God Bless America!"

Why is Walt posting this today? Because word has just reached us from Philthydelphia that the NHL Flyers have removed from in front of the team's arena a statue of the late Kate Smith, which had been there since 1987. Flyers fans had long believed that their team would win crucial games if Kate sang "God Bless America" (instead of "The Star-spangled Banner") before the puck drop. And that's the way it turned out, 90% of the time, when this video was recorded on 19 May 1974.



So what happened? Why was the late Kate's statue first covered up, a couple of days ago, and then taken down? Well, it turns out that Ms Smith, like all other white Americans of her era, was a racist! Why, she recorded overtly racist songs, like "Pickaninny Heaven" (1933) and "That's Why the Darkies Were Born", written in 1931 and considered simple satire at the time. And her cartoon likeness appeared in a 1939 ad for Calumet Baking Powder that also used the "mammy" caricature -- think Gone With the Wind -- a well-known racist depiction of black women. For shame!

And so, 80 years later, Kate Smith becomes the latest victim of political  correctness and the anti-racism SJWs. Thank goodness she passed away in 1986 and didn't live to see what has become of the America she loved.

Further viewing: Kate Smith's introduction of "God Bless America", a movie short from 1943. This super-patriotic song was written by (((Irving Berlin))) in 1918. He revised it in 1938, and the revised version, introduced in the film This Is the Army, became Ms Smith's signature song.

Sri Lanka: Suspicions confirmed; Islamic terrorists kill nearly 300

No cries of "Allahu akbar!" were actually heard -- drowned out by the noise of the explosions perhaps -- but the government of Sri Lanka has now confirmed that yesterday's attacks on Christian churches and luxury hotels were carried out by a local militant group named National Thowfeek Jama'ath, with the help of an international network.

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne told a news conference this morning that all the bombers were citizens of Sri Lanka. He added that the government was investigating whether the group had international support. "We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country. There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded."

What kind of an "international network"? Mr Senaratne did not go into details, but as Walt told you yesterday -- something you won't read in the lamestream media -- senior police officials have identified National Thowfeek Jama'ath as a group of Islamic terrorists. The "international network" could therefore refer to al-Qaeda, ISIS, al-Shabaab or the Taliban... any of them of all of the fanatical jihadis hell-bent (I mean that literally) on exterminating "infidels" such as those shown in this photo, taken some years ago, of some Lankan Catholics and your obedient servant.

Earlier today, a Lankan government forensic crime investigator said an examination of the Islamist attackers' body parts showed that they were suicide bombers. That detail really fascinates me. What body parts, I wonder? Did they have "Allahu akbar!" tattooed on some appendage?

This morning a "controlled explosion" occurred in a van near one of the attacked churches, when bomb squad officials were trying to defuse a bomb found near the departure gate of the Colombo airport. Elsewhere, 87 detonators were found at a Colombo bus station. And on Sunday afternoon, security forces raided a house in Colombo only to lose three officers killed in another explosion. 24 "locals" have now been arrested. That's less than 1/10th of the number killed in the bombings, which has now risen to 290, with over 500 reported injured.

Further reading:
"Horrifying moment car bomb blows up outside Sri Lankan church after police attempted to defuse it the day after Islamist terror attacks killed 290 people", Daily Mail (UK) 22/4/19.

And more:
"The Sri Lanka Jihad Massacre and the Decline of the West: How many times is the charade of denial going to play out?", by Robert Spencer on the FrontPageMag site, 22/4/19. Mr Spencer quotes an Indian media source as identifying three of the jihadis by name: Zahran Hashim, Abu Mohammad and Mohamed Azzam Mohamed. Why, he asks, can't Western leaders like the UK's Theresa May and Canada's Just In Trudeau bring themselves to utter the words "Muslim" or "Islamist", when the evidence is there. Walt's answer: Political correctness still rules the West! M-103!

Sri Lanka massacre work of "the Religion of Peace"? Hmmm?

Let us not jump to conclusions. There are fanatics in most of the world's major religions, with the exceptions of Christianity and Judaism. By fanatics, I mean the kind of "people" who would blow themselves up along with as many "infidels" as possible, in the name of their god. For some reason, Muslim extremists come to mind. But there are, in south Asia, Hindu fanatics (many of whom support India's BJP) and even Buddhist fanatics.

Sri Lanka has them all. For 30 years there was a civil war between the Sinhalese Buddhists -- the majority population in Sri Lanka -- and the Hindu Tamil Tigers (LTTE), who wanted to rule over their own little chunk in the northeast of the island. About ten years ago the Tigers threw in the turban [towel, surely! Ed.] and laid down their arms... supposedly... and Sri Lanka has enjoyed a period of piece ever since. Until today, when "somebody did something" -- a co-ordinated series of bombings of Christian (mainly Catholic) churches and luxury hotels in Colombo and the suburb of Negombo. The death toll stands at over 200, with at least 470 injured.

Lankan government officials immediately pointed the finger at "terrorists", and rounded up 13 suspects, without identifying them as followers of any particular political or religious group. The Sinhalese community was quick to blame the LTTE. But a statement by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe late today opened the door to the possibility that the attackers were, errr, not Tamil fanatics. Mr Wickremesinghe said the suspects' names were "local", but added that investigators were probing whether they had any "overseas links".

Hmmm. The attack bore little similarity to the violence of the civil war, but had echoes of mass Islamist terror attacks around the world in recent years. And the targets were not Buddhist temples or institutions of the Sinhalese-dominated government, but Christian churches and luxury hotels frequented by Westerners. Hmmm.

The Prime Minister also admitted that the country's security services had received "information" about possible attacks ten days ago! "Foreign sources" are said to have warbed the Lankans that "prominent churches" would be targeted by suicide bombers. It is not clear what precautions were taken... if any.

The reported warnings, circulated by senior police officials, suggested that an extremist Islamist group called the National Thowfeek Jama'ath was behind the attacks. Mr Wickremesinghe said the information had not been shared with him or cabinet ministers. "While this goes on we must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken," he said.

Probably just a coincidence, but within an hour or so of the attacks, The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka issued a statement condemning the attacks on the places of worship of "our Christian brothers and sisters on their holy day of Easter, as well as on the hotels in Colombo.... We mourn the loss of innocent lives due to extremist and violent elements who wish to create divides between religious and ethnic groups to realize their agenda." Again, hmmm.

Almost as quick off the mark to express his shock and sympathy was Yousef al-Othaimeen, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, who described the attacks as "cowardly", for targetting innocent worshippers and civilians. The OIC has 57 member nations. It is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hmmm.

This is (rather obviously) a breaking story. Walt will have more to say tomorrow.

Happy Easter / Joyeuses Pâques

de / from

Walt Whiteman, Poor Len Canayen

& Ed.

Good Friday

Stabat mater dolorósa

juxta Crucem lacrimósa,

dum pendébat Fílius.

VIDEO: More on the meaning of the Notre Dame fire

This for all the non-Catholics out there who can't understand why Walt and others are making such a big fuss about the partial destructionby fire of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. In "Notre Dame in flames: part of the Great Chastisement?" (WWW 16/4/19) I saw the tragedy as evidence of God's displeasure with the modern Roman Catholic Church. A similar view was expressed by Michael Matt in "Notre Dame will rise again!" (WWW 17/4/19).

But Notre Dame was... still is... much more than a house of worship for Christians. The building itself embodies and symbolizes the history and culture of European civilization, for the history of Christianity is the history of Europe and the entire Western world. That stone truth is discussed in this video by Bill Whittle and the men of Right Angle. As far as I know, none of the 3 is Catholic is Catholic, and that's just the point.



Notre Dame is immensely important as a symbol of Western civilization. If it is not rebuilt, or if it is "modified" to make it "more modern" and "inclusive" -- say by putting an Islamic crescent at the top of a new spire -- that would represent the finality of the decline of the West. Now is the time to resurrect not just the cathedral but of the ideas and values that informed the building of the cathedral. God save Notre Dame... and God save us Christians!

VIDEO: Grandpa Jones: "I'm no Communist!"

Regular readers of WWW will know that Walt is a big fan of country music, not the modern crossover stuff written in New York or LA, but the real authentic American stuff you'd hear, in the old daze, on the Grand Ole Opry and Hee Haw. I always like the late Louis Marshall "Grandpa" Jones, a regular on both shows, and have many of his recordings. But I missed one, discovered on YouTube by Ed. just today.

"I'm no Communist!" was recorded (audio only) in 1952 during the McCarthy era, while the House Un-American Activities Committee was holding its hearings. That's what Grandpa is singing about in the first minute or so, and it's kind of dated so you can ignore that part. But listen up starting at about 1:10 when he explains why he prefers the good old American free enterprise system to Communism. Quote:
"I like this private ownership, I wanna be left alone.
Let the government run its business, and let me run my own."



Something to think about as the loony left takes over control of the Democratic Party!

Further reading and viewing: "Remembering the cast of 'Hee Haw'", WWW 28/11/18.

VIDEO: Notre Dame will rise again!

As a follow-up to yesterday's post on the tragic fire at Notre Dame de Paris, we are pleased to share this short (4:22) video from the good folks at the Remnant newspaper. This video uses happier images from Remnant tours to pay homage to Our Lady's cathedral, which yesterday was engulfed in flames so completely that many thought she would surely burn to the ground. Evidently, Our Lady had other ideas.



Michael Matt, editor of the Remnant, notes that the "butcher block" table altar was crushed beneath the weight of the falling spire, while the old high altar, now disused, stood virtually untouched. In my post, I interpreted the fire as an act of God, evidence of God's displeasure with the modern iteration of the Roman Catholic Church. In the accompanying text, Mr Matt writes: "If you're looking for a sign, look no further.... If Notre Dame in flames was a metaphor for the modern Church in flames, is the promise to rebuild not also a metaphor for what's to come, as the Novus Ordo breathes its last?

"The Godless world looked on in horror as one of Catholicism's most important symbols went up in smoke and, incredibly, they wept. Why? Could it be that the Catholic Faith, also in flames, is nevertheless still something modern men instinctively know the world cannot live without, even though so many have abandoned it? Notre Dame still stands today as she's stood for nearly a thousand years. And as long as she continues to stand with her glorious angels, craggy old gargoyles and magnificent flying buttresses there to remind the world of what we once were and what we can become again if we turn back to God — there’s hope."

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.

Alberta socialists play anti-white card, lose bigly to United Conservatives

The western Canadian province of Alberta is a lot like Texas, only covered by snow six months of the year. People wear Stetson hats and cowboy boots, even in city boardrooms. They talk about three things: oil, beef and when are the Oilers going to win something. And they drive pickup trucks, just like the blue one that Jason Kenney drove into Government House (metaphorically speaking) in yesterday's provincial election.

Jason Kenney? Who he? Haven't we heard that name before? Yes! Click on the tag at the end of this story and you'll find several posts from the years when he was a cabinet minister and key player in the federal government of Steve Harpoon. He wisely jumped ship well before the election of 2015 and went home to Alberta to lead the provincial Conservative Party.

In the ensuing election, conservative Albertans made the classic mistake (Republicans take note!) of dividing their votes between the official Conservative Party and the even more rightist Wildrose Party. Result? A win for the socialist New Democratic Party, who promptly embraced the save-the-environment-and-to-hell-with-oil polices of Just-in Trudeau's Liberal federal government. Result? A new carbon tax, but no new pipelines, and four years of stagnation in the oil patch. And yesterday was the day of reckoning.

The 2019 campaign was, from the outset, a two-way fight between the pinko Kneedippers and Mr Kenney's United Conservative Party. Note the new party name. Having learned the hard way not to divide your forces, conservative Albertans supported the 2017 merger of the Conservative Party and the populist/rightist Wildrose Party and put all their blue eggs in Mr Kenney's basket. Result? A hyuge win for the UCP. As I write, with a couple of ridings still in doubt, the UCP is elected or leading in 63 seats, the socialists in 24. "Hope is on the horizon," Mr Kenney told a crowd of cheering and whistling supporters in Calgary, adding that "Alberta is open for business!"

Yesterday's vote was often framed, especially by Canada's lamestream media (Hello, CBC!) as a choice between economic priorities and social values. Since the deteriorating economy was a huge millstone around the neck of the NDP, the (now outgoing) premier, Rachel Notley, and her media sycophants (Hey, she's the last female premier!) tried to sell Albertans on her ethics, pointing to several festering scandals that dogged the UCP on the campaign trail and promising spending on health care, child care and education if her party was re-elected.

When that didn't work, she dove into the gutter, trying to portray UCP candidates as racist, Islamophobic, anti-LGBTQ, and the latest pejorative "white nationalist". Result? Didn't work! Mr Kenney continued to back one candidate (an evangelical pastor) who compared homosexuality to pedophilia in a 2013 sermon. Mr Kenney also refused to kick out candidates who questioned the "science" behind climate change. Apparently Albertans, unlike the wimpy denizens of Toronto and Ottawa, aren't overburdened by white guilt, and are sick of being hearing lectures on environmentalism and "inclusivity" from the likes of Ms Notley and her turban-wearing federal counterpart Jugmeat Singh.

Lessons for conservatives on both sides of the world's longest (and sadly) undefended border: Support each other, and stand united! And don't be afraid to show your true colours. Even in Canada, there are hundreds of thousands of voters who have not yet taken leave of their senses, and can still tell the difference between the lefties' promised utopia and the strong and free society in which decent, hard-working people can live a good life, free from the rule of Big Brother!

Notre Dame in flames: part of the Great Chastisement?

One of the most famous Roman Catholic cathedrals in Paris -- in the world, really -- has been severely damaged by a horrendous fire which raged through the building most of yesterday. The blaze toppled the spire and destroyed the roof, but much of the interior survived and the structure remains intact. That so much of the building was destroyed is a tragedy. That so much, including the organ and almost all of the priceless treasures and relics -- including the Crown of Thorns -- can be restored, is a miracle.

A tragedy and a miracle, occurring simultaneously, at one of the most holy sites of Western Christendom. How can that be? What does it mean? Is God trying to tell us something?

For traditional Catholics, this truly awful (in the true sense of the word) event, occurring as it did in Holy Week, the last week of Lent, can only be regarded as a clear sign of God's displeasure with His Church and His people. The mainstream Catholic Church in France is moribund. The great cathedrals and basilicas are visited almost exclusively by tourists. The parish churches are all but empty. The vast majority of nominal Catholics go to church only to for baptisms, marriages and funerals, an many ignore even those sacraments. The majority of Catholic Christians, even if they keep the Faith in their hearts, have turned their back on the Church.

God is displeased, to put it mildly, so He and His Blessed Mother (after whom the great cathedral is named) have given us yet another warning. The fire at Notre Dame can and should be seen as another installment of the Great Chastisement of which Our Lady spoke when She appeared at Fatima in 1917.

On October 13, 1917, in the moment before the great Miracle of the Sun, the Blessed Virgin said, "People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more for He is already too much offended." Our Lady warned of the gravest consequences if this warning is not heeded. The greatest consequence and ultimate chastisement for unrepentant souls is the eternal punishment of hell. It was in order to prevent the eternal damnation of souls redeemed by the Blood of Our Divine Savior Jesus Christ that His Most Holy Mother came to Fatima.

But the Blessed Virgin's request that people "amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins" was not heeded. Our Lady of Fatima told Blessed Jacinta that "wars are punishments for sins of the world." It was revealed to the holy priest Père Lamy that World War One was a punishment specifically for “blasphemy, the desecration of marriage and Sunday labour". In the apparition of July 13, 1917, Our Lady warned that "The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the reign of Pius XI." And so it -- World War II -- came to pass.

But we must remember that World War II was only the beginning of the threatened chastisements. If people do not repent and amend their lives then more severe chastisements will follow. The threatened punishment of the world "by means of war, famine, persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father" is a far more general prophetic warning that has only been partially fulfilled. Whether or not it will take place is contingent on the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of Our Lady's requests.

Our Lady revealed to Sister Lucia the sign that would indicate the onset of the impending chastisement. “When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is going to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father." An "unknown light like this one, perhaps?

But the physical chastisement of which Our Lady warned -- the endless wars and natural disasters bringing about the "annihilation of nations" -- is not the most frightful aspect of the chastisement foretold in the Secret of Fatima. Even more frightful is the spiritual chastisement foretold in the Secret.

The persecution of the Church that will take place will be like none other that has ever taken place in all the history of the world. That which is seemingly impossible will take place, yet it is foretold in the unpublished part of the Third Secret and in Sacred Scripture. According to the late Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, "In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top."

We have been warned that partisans of the Devil will occupy the Roman Curia under a Masonic antipope! The late Father Malachi Martin stated that he read the Third Secret of Fatima in early February 1960. Our Lady's words, he said, foretold a future "pope" -- an imposter who would usurp the See of Rome while being completely under the control of the Devil. Thus will arise a counterfeit "Catholic" Church -- a counter-church, an anti-church -- the "dragon, whose tail swept down a third of the stars of Heaven and cast them to the earth" (Apocalypse 12:4) -- i.e. one third of the Catholic hierarchy under the leadership of a heretical antipope.

Father Martin said these "partisans of the devil" -- the "third of the stars of Heaven" -- masquerading as "Catholic" clergy are secret members of a sect consecrated to the Devil. They will gain control over the Vatican apparatus, he warned, and establish the "Catholic" branch of the established and compulsory religion of the New World Order. True Catholicism will be outlawed, and the remnant of faithful Catholics will be subjected to the most ferocious persecution that there will have ever been in the history of the world.

Father Paul Kramer wrote that Catholics will not be welcome in the new "Civilization of Love". The exclusivism of their dogmas will cause them to be viewed as dangerous "fanatics" and "terrorists" -- a mortal threat to the ecumenical unity and "peace" of the New World Order. Thus, the real Catholic Church will be treated as an outlaw organization, and a threat to world peace.

The Church's status will therefore be as it was during the Roman persecutions, when She was viewed as a subversive and criminal organization. There will be laws enacted to punish non-conformist practitioners of "outmoded" pre-conciliar forms of religion that threaten world "peace"’ (the neo-pagan ecumenical order of the Civilization of Love) by their divisive attachment to dogmatic exclusivism which leads to inquisitional "persecutions" and religious wars and crusades. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And yet these anti-Catholic sentiments were already "trending" decades ago.

Catholics will be told that they may avoid the chastisement, with its persecution and martyrdom, by embracing "Catholicism v.2", by "engaging" with the "new and improved" Church, the "new Rome" which will be in communion with the Great Ecumenical Church that will unite all religions. Pope Francis increasingly reveals to wondering Catholics his Big Idea -- Drawing All Faiths Together, because "we all worship the same god" (which is heresy). Drawing All Faiths Together... DAFT!

Father Kramer concludes that those who will have the grace and fortitude to hold fast to their Catholic Faith will refuse to abandon the true traditional Catholic religion. For this refusal they will be regarded as incorrigible fanatics and obstinate schismatics. They will be universally despised as the enemies of the Civilization of Love, and they will be blamed for the failure of the New World Order to achieve universal peace, love, unity and harmony. Their fate is depicted in the vision of the Third Secret: for their refusal to embrace the false religion of ecumenism and religious liberty, the Pope, clergy and Catholic faithful will be systematically hunted down and brutally exterminated.

In 2000, Pope John Paul II declared that "the message of Fatima imposes an obligation on the Church." In view of the incalculably catastrophic consequences of non-compliance with Heaven's request, Bishop Rudolf Graber declared that to ignore the message and the requests of Our Lady of Fatima is tantamount to a "crime against humanity."

The desecration of Catholic churches and sanctuaries by pagan worship and the mingling of the true religion with false religions is the signal that the chastisement will take place in the immediate future. The desecration of the sanctuary, of God's Holy Place -- by turning it into a mere tourist attraction, for instance -- is a sacrilegious and blasphemous act of impiety that demands immediate punishment in strict justice.

The real lesson to be taken from the fire at Notre Dame de Paris is that God cannot be patient any longer in the presence of the sacrilegious abominations that are now being perpetrated in Catholic churches and sanctuaries. It is for just this kind of sin that He declares: "Therefore I also will deal with them in My wrath: My eye shall not spare them, neither will I show mercy...nor will I have pity: I will requite their way upon their head." (Ezechiel 8:18, 9:10)

"White nationalist" party comes within 0.2% of winning Finnish election

It was a real photo Finnish! What are the results? [Got the pun in the very first sentence, eh. Ed.] Final results from last week's election in Finland gave the left(ish) Social Democratic Party the win, beating the populist -- if you're a liberal, add "racist", "white nationalist", etc - Finns Party by an RCH -- just 0.2% of the vote.

The campaign centered on Finland's generous welfare system, "climate change" and immigration. Finland has not experienced the flood of "refugees" and asylum-seekers which has inundated more southerly parts of Europe. Only 6.6% of the population is foreign-born. Controlling immigration became an election issue only recently. But the Finns Party attracted voters from small towns and villages worried about being overrun by non-white Muslims, especially following highly publicized incidents of sexual assaults by migrants.

Buoyed by support from aforesaid smaller places and rural areas, the Finns Party garnered 17.5% of the popular vote. The Social Democratic Party (read: pinkos) pipped them at the post, however, with 17.7% support, after campaigning against austerity imposed by the outgoing centre-right government. The conservative National Coalition Party, which was part of that centre-right coalition, garnered 17%. That's the price conservatives pay, then, for fighting amongst themselves. Republicans take note!

Why is Walt telling you this? Because the win of the populist Finns Party has repercussions for Europe as a hole. [Ed., don't correct that.] On july 1st, Finland is set to take over the rotating presidensity of the European Union. European liberals and one-worlders (Hello, George Soros!) were watching the performance of the Finns Party closely. French President Emmanuel Macron and other Euroweenies are already clutching their pearls at the prospect of other euroskeptic and nationalist parties making strong gains in next month's EU parliamentary elections. Stay tuned.

To help you keep score (and know who to cheer for, if so inclined), Ed. has found this helpful map (updated last September) showing the rise of nationalism in Europe. Next month's EU elections will be a good test, since all EU countries -- even the UK if it hasn't Brexited by then -- will go to the polls at the same time and over the same issues. The Finns Party is just one part of the nationalist bloc of European parties aiming to challenge EU policies on migration, security, family and the environment. Walt wishes them good luck!

Benedict XVI blames 60s culture, sexual revolution, for scandals, moral decline of Catholic Church

I have often written, here and in other publications, and told anyone who will listen, that the decline of the Roman Catholic Church and Christian (Western) society in general started in the hippy-dippy sixties. Our religion and our culture was killed by secularism and the counter-culture. So I enjoyed something of a "told ya so" moment yesterday when "Pope Emeritus" Benedict XVI released an essay on sexual abuse in the Church, which he blames on the "absence of God".

In the introduction to his "notes", the ex-Holy Father [Can there be such a thing? Ed.] writes: In the first part, I aim to present briefly the wider social context of the question, without which the problem cannot be understood. I try to show that in the 1960s an egregious event occurred, on a scale unprecedented in history.... In the second part, I aim to point out the effects of this situation on the formation of priests and on the lives of priests. Finally, in the third part, I would like to develop some perspectives for a proper response on the part of the Church."

In the 6000-world essay, which originally appeared in Klerusblatt, a German-language magazine for the clergy, Pope Ratzinger blames the Church's sexual abuse scandal on the 1960s sexual revolution, growing secularization and weak church laws that made prosecution of guilty priests difficult. "Among the freedoms that the Revolution of 1968 sought to fight for was this all-out sexual freedom.... Part of the physiognomy of the Revolution of `68 was that pedophilia was then also diagnosed as allowed and appropriate." What an amazing admission! How dismaying for faithful Catholics, to hear this from no less a personage than the former Vicar of Christ. But there's more...

"Why did pedophilia reach such proportions?", Pope Ratzinger asks. "Ultimately, the reason is the absence of God," he answers, noting failed attempts to include a reference to God in European Union treaties as a negative example of Western secularization. He also cited the appearance of sex in films in the 60s in his native Bavaria and the formation in seminaries of "homosexual cliques" in seminaries "which acted more or less openly and significantly changed the climate." He also attributes the moral corruption of the Catholic clergy and the Church as a whole to "failures in moral theology".

Benedict also faulted Church laws that protected accused priests. He wrote that during the 80s and 90s "the right to a defence (for priests) was so broad as to make a conviction nearly impossible." In 1981 Pope John Paul II named Cardinal Ratzinger (as he then was) Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Holy Office and, especially around the 16th century, as the Roman Inquisition.

But did he do anything to excise the rotten and diseased members of Christ's Church? He tried in 2001 to reforms of those laws to make it easier to remove priests who abused children, and later, as Pope, defrocked 100s of priests accused of raping and molesting children. But he was opposed by powerful forces -- "the lavender Mafia" -- within the Vatican itself. Some say his unprecedented "resignation" was engineered by those same evil men, who succeeded in replacing him with the more tolerant and merciful Jorge Bergoglio.

Compared with Pope Francis, Benedict XVI emerges in this essay as a voice calling Catholics to turn away from the excesses of Vatican II, and back to the values of traditional Catholicism. Of course he does not suggest that Vatican II was in error or anything like the "anti-council" which many traditionalists now claim it was.

He writes: "The Second Vatican Council was rightly focused on returning this sacrament of the Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ...to the centre of Christian life and the very existence of the Church. In part, this really has come about, and we should be most grateful to the Lord for it. [But] what predominates [now] is not a new reverence for the presence of Christ's death and resurrection, but a way of dealing with Him that destroys the greatness of the Mystery." The reference is to declining participation in Sunday Mass and treatment of the Eucharist as "a mere ceremonial gesture."

"We do not need another Church of our own design," Benedict concludes. "Rather, what is required first and foremost is the renewal of the Faith in the Reality of Jesus Christ given to us in the Blessed Sacrament." A pity he didn't tell us sooner, but let us hope and pray for a Catholic Counter-Revolution, before Christ's Church disintegrates completely. Amen.

Further reading: "Benedict XVI addresses sex abuse scandal", Catholic Herald, 11/4/19.

Candace Owens VIDEO CENSORED by YouTube "restricted" mode

OK, time to shake off the lethargy induced by the lamestream media's obsession with trivia, like who paid a fixer to get their kid into Harvard. Let's take a moment to think about something that has real meaning.

On April 9th, conservative commentator and political activist Candace Owens testified before the House Judiciary Committee. Ms Owens is the Director of Communications at the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA, and is known for her pro-Trump stance and her criticism of Black Lives Matter and of the Democratic Party. It is therefore remarkable that she was invited to appear before the Committee, but she was and and she did. Her excoriation of the leftist (((controlled media))) created several viral moments, one of which became the most-watched C-SPAN video of a House hearing on Twitter.

You might think that would guarantee that the clip would go viral on YouTube. You would be wrong, because the clip, posted by PragerU, has been placed in "restricted mode", meaning that the video is censored from all users that have enabled the website's "restricted mode" feature, which typically include libraries, schools, public institutions, or any place frequented by younger viewers.

Supposedly that's to block videos that (((someone))) has been deemed "inappropriate", such as those containing pornography or violence. Or those that tell the truth about the lamestream media's current campaign against "white nationalism" and "hate crimes". Said Ms Owens, "If they were serious about the rise of hate crimes, [the leftist media] would be examining themselves and the hate they have drummed up in this country." Check this out.



This is not the first of PragerU's videos to have ended up on the YouTube fecal roster. Dennis Prager, the organization's founder, told Breitbart News last February that 80 of their 400 videos are on the "restricted" list, "lumped with pornography and violence, so that kids in libraries and schools can't see them. If you are not on the left, you are to be shut down. We have never, ever had anything like this in American history. We are in a dark age because of the left's control of Silicon Valley, academia, and media. It' a dark age that we are living in right now, and it is entirely left-wing induced."

VIDEO: Fancy fiddling from Pure Laine in the Canadian woods

Ed. here. Walt is still being seen by doctors who are unable to agree on what ails him. They are bandying about a theory that he's suffering from depression and exhaustion caused by constant exposure to dismaying news about the state of the Church and the state of the Union. It's possible. Consider the demise of Dr Hunter S. Thompson, whom Walt has long regarded as a role model. I (Ed.) say, don't do it, Walt!

In an effort to cheer Walt up -- laughter is the best medicine! -- Poor Len has sent a link to an unusual music video, the finale of the 2010 Pure Laine (geddit yet?) competition held that year at Pembroke in rural eastern Ontario, Canada. About two dozen fiddlers were required to play reels in turn, without stopping and without playing a reel that had already been played. In the finals, the fiddlers play only the "A" part of a reel -- only ten seconds. This clip shows the last minutes of the two-hour contest, with only three participants left: April Verch, Shane Cook and Danny Perreault. The judge, wearing a referee's shirt (natch) is René Dacier. Spoiler alert: the winner is... April Verch!

For a week encore, we see Danny Perreault playing Breakdown à Rosaire, one of his own compositions, while Germain Leduc accompanies him with a bit of stunt piano-playing. Walt loves this stuff and we hope readers will find it at least, errr, interesting. We challenge you to listen to it without tapping your feet!



Musicians out there who are interested in folk music, and old-timey fiddling in particular, can click here to see April Verch give a short demonstration of the different Canadian fiddle styles. Those who like Cajun fiddling will gain a better understanding of the link between Cajun music and the music of French Canada. American fiddle music, by contrast, descends from the music of Ireland and Scotland, which is all comes together in what Canucks call "Down East fiddling". But that differs from much of what you'll hear in Canada's western provinces, where there's a strong Ukrainian influence. I could go on... [Don't. Ed.]

Poor Len Canayen: Salut, les boyz!

Poor Len here with a few thoughts on the Montréal Canadiens' 2018-2019 season, which came to an end last night with a thrilling shootout win (6-5) over the Toronto Maple Laffs. Thanks to the vicissitudes of the NHL's playoff "system", they missed the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference by just two points -- one loss back in the dead of winter -- even though they finished with more points than three of the teams who will compete in the Western Conference series. Go figure.

But les Glorieux gave us fans a great season, better than anyone predicted or even hoped, and I, Walt [and Ed.! Ed.] wish them a well-deserved rest and better luck next year. See you in September!

Now some suggestions for Habs General Manager Marc Bergevin about improving the club's roster and prospects for 2019-2020. I give Bergie full credit for some good acquisitions over the course of the last year, and for getting rid of some of the duds who started the season wearing the bleu-blanc-et-rouge, and are now gone and forgotten. Let's see who's left.

Goal: Star goaltender Carey Price can take a good deal of credit for the team's commendable comeback from the low to which they had sunk in 2017-18. For want of a reliable backup goalie, he played 13 games in a row, before Charlie Lindgren's season debut in last night's finale. Before the game he was presented with the Molson Cup -- first star of the year -- which he richly deserves. See ya next year, Carey.

After one heroic game, backup Antti Niemi folded up like an accordion. He must shoulder the blame for a couple of the mid-season losses that denied the team entry into the playoffs. We won't be seeing him again. But is Charlie Lindgren the right man to sit in the shadows at the end of the bench while Price shines? I say not. He allowed five goals last night and redeemed himself only by a couple of good stops in the overtime and shootout. I don't have much confidence in him, and am not sure the players do, either. A better bet would be Michael McNiven, who dressed as backup once this season but didn't get into the game. He's da guy!

Defence: What keeps de cows in de field? De fence! And the Habs didn't have a lot of it at the start of the season. We were left wondering when Shea Weber would return, and who was capable of playing alongside him. He did come back in December and was for the rest of the year the pillar of strength we expected. Good scoring numbers too. And (almost) rookie Viktor Mete has the speed and talent to partner Cap'n Shea. If only Mete could put the puck in the net! (He has yet to score his first goal.) But he's a keeper, and so are Brett Kulak and Christian Folin [a Swede? Ed.], so I'd say the defence is pretty well set. Xavier Ouellet and Mike Reilly are OK for reservists. Karl Alzner and Noah Juulsen might be traded for a bag of pucks.

Forwards: Marc Bergevin's critics were silenced over the season when not one but SIX (6) of his trades and pick-ups turned out to be good players. Max Domi, Tomas Tatar, Joel Armia, Nate Thompson, Jordan Weal and first-round pick Jesper Kotkaniemi all contributed to the Habs' unexpected rise to the ranks of playoff contenders, more than making up for the loss (?) of Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty. [Who? Ed.] Brendan Gallagher would have a C on his sweater if Weber wasn't there. Andrew Shaw had a career year. And Phillip Danault deserved to win the Molson Trophy, awarded to the player who makes a great contribution without receiving any special honour.

On the other side of the coin we find the face of Jonathan Drouin, who failed for the second year to live up to expectations. Not that he had a bad year, but he'd have done better if he'd showed up for every game. Know what I mean? Bergie would do well to trade him, maybe to Arizona where he could play with Galchenyuk. Artturi Lehkonen suffered from prolonged bouts of depression (or something) and seemed incapable of finishing plays or finding the back of the net. On one occasion he passed the puck rather than taking a clear shot at an empty net. On the plus side, he's very responsible in his own zone, and good on the PK. And he's a Finn so can make up a line with Kotkaniemi and Armia. Keep him. He might turn out to be another Bob Gainey.

And then there's Ryan Poehling, pictured above doing the first-bump after scoring THREE (3) goals in the score-fest vs the Leafs. The Minnesota native has been gaining experience (and weight) in the NCAA signed with les Glorieux last weekend and played his first NHL game last night, scoring not only the hat-trick but the winning goal in the shootout! Could he be the big, classy centre that the Habs have sought for lo these many years? I and Walt [and Ed.! Ed.] hope so.

In summary, I think Marc Bergevin can afford to stand pat -- more or less -- this summer. If he can move Drouin for a decent winger, and maybe find a reliable and experienced backup goalie, all well and good, but even without major changes, I predict better things for la Sainte Flannelle next year! See you then!

Church should NOT promote mass migration: Cardinal Sarah

Jorge Bergoglio, aka Pope Francis [Some are starting to call him "Anti-pope". Ed.], is a big believer in mass migration. Channeling (((Emma Lazarus))), the Unholy Father keeps admonishing us to be more welcoming of "refugees", asylum-seekers, and other flotsam and jetsam who wash up on the shores of Europe, especially if they're Muslims (as 95% of them are) because "we all worship the same God" and other heretical rubbish. Not everyone agrees.

One high-ranking dissident who has mustered up the courage to speak out is Robert Cardinal Sarah, a prelate from the African state of Guinea. Raised to the rank of Cardinal in 2010, he was appointed prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments by Pope Francis in November of 2014. He previously served as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples under Pope John Paul II, and president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum under Pope Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Sarah has for years been a forceful advocate for the defence of traditional Catholic teaching on questions of sexual morality and the right to life, and in denouncing Islamic radicalism. He has called gender ideology and ISIS the "two radicalizations" that threaten the family, the first through divorce, same-sex marriage, and abortion, and the latter with child marriage, polygamy, and the subjection of women.

This week, in an interview with the French magazine Valeurs Actuelles, Cardinal Sarah branded mass migration a "new form of slavery" and said those who seek to use the Bible to promote migration are pushing a false interpretation of the scriptures. "It is a false exegesis to use the Word of God to promote migration," the prelate said. "If Europe disappears, and with it the invaluable values of the old continent, Islam will invade the world. And we will totally change culture, anthropology, and moral vision."

Without naming Pope Bergoglio, Cardinal Sarah blasted priests and bishops who "say fuzzy things, vague, imprecise, to escape criticism, and they marry the stupid evolution of the world." He went on to say that the Church should not cooperate with the increasing acceptance by politicians of mass migration into the traditionally Christian continent. "All migrants who arrive in Europe are penniless, without work, without dignity.... This is what the Church wants?" he asked. "The Church can not cooperate with this new form of slavery that has become mass migration. If the West continues in this fatal way, there is a great risk that, due to a lack of birth, it will disappear, invaded by foreigners, just as Rome has been invaded by barbarians."

He added one more thought: "My country is predominantly Muslim. I think I know what reality I'm talking about." Indeed.

Further reading: "Cardinal Sarah: 'La défense de l'immigration repose sur une mauvaise interprétation des Évangiles par les prêtres et les évêques'", (in French), in Nouvel Ordre Mondial, 4/4/19. (Nouvel Ordre Mondial = New World Order! If you can read French, I recommend following this blog to keep up with the globalists' plans and plots for One Brave New World.)

No country for queers!

His Royal Highness Hassanal Bolkiah, sultan of the tiny but oil-rich state of Brunei, in southeast Asia, is a good Muslim, very keen to follow as closely as possible the moral code of Islam, the basis of Sharia law. Being the ruler, Sultan Hassanal has not just the will but the power to impose his strict beliefs on his country. And so it comes to pass that new Islamic criminal laws take effect in Brunei today, punishing gay sex and adultery by stoning offenders to death.

The penalties were provided for under new sections of Brunei's Shariah Penal Code, instituted by Sultan Hassanal in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim. Even before 2014, homosexuality was punishable by a jail term of up to 10 years. The first stage of the Shariah Penal Code included fines or jail for offences such as pregnancy out of wedlock or failing to pray on Fridays. The second stage raises the bar considerably.

Those found guilty of gay sex could be stoned to death or whipped. Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offence and a left foot on their second. The new laws apply to everyone, including children and foreigners, even if they are kafirs (read: non-Muslims = infidels). So if you're into deviant sex of any kind, or even normal sex outside a marital relationship, you'd do well to take Brunei off your list of the 100 places you want to visit before you die.

The usual gang of non-Muslim celebrities are in full cry against the new laws. Ignoring the fact that the law of Brunei is none of the business of Westerners, the likes of George Clooney, Elton John and (of course) Ellen DeGeneres have been vocal in opposition to the new laws, calling for a boycott of hotels in the USA and Europe with ties to Sultan Hassanal. Mr Clooney asks, "Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?" While you can't shame "murderous regimes", he wrote in Deadline Hollywood, "you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them."

Pro-queer politicos in Germany, France, the UK and (of course) Canada -- even the USA -- expressed "deep concern" about Brunei's new laws. In Brunei itself, there has been no vocal opposition to the new penalties. That could be because the sultan rules as head of state with full executive authority to do whatever he thinks is right. And what he thinks is right is pretty clear. Sultan Hassanal, who has reigned since 1967, has previously said the Penal Code should be regarded as a form of "special guidance" from God and would be "part of the great history of Brunei."

A sad commentary on American arts and entertainment

My grandkids, or the younger ones anyway, were been bugging their parents to see Dumbo, the latest Hollywood remake. My recent illness gave me an excuse not to be part of a family outing, but when they descended on the ole homestead and mentioned that the movie was playing in nearby Fort Mudge, and they thought I needed to get out of the house, I was trapped. Trapped like a rat. So I went. Great modern animation and special effects, kind of a lame, PC (pro animal rights and "inclusivity") version of the original story. Harmless, gormless entertainment.

When I see movies like this and the remake of Alice in Wonderland, well done though they may be, I can't help but wonder if no-one in Hollywood has any new ideas. It seems today that all we see is remakes in movies and remakes on TV. And some of them, extensions of franchises that are well past their best-before dates (Hello Star Wars!) are truly dreadful. Where's the creative talent, the imagination that begat the original movies, which were themselves adapted from stories that some truly talented writers devised a hundred years ago?

This is hardly a new thought. Here's what Brooks Atkinson, one of America's leading drama critics, had to say, nearly seven decades ago.

Something elusive and intangible seems to have drained the vitality out of the theatre and perhaps out of American arts as well. No one knows the reason exactly. But could it be that the spiritual climate in which we are now living smothers art that is really creative, and that the emphasis on public expression of all kinds is toward meekness and conformity? [My emphasis. Walt]

People are playing safe. They hesitate to say what they think. The intellectual and artistic life of the country has been flattened out. ...ignorant heresy-hunting and...bigoted character-assassination are succeeding. The hoodlums are in control here as well as in Russia, and the theatre begins to look as insipid in the one place as in the other.... We cannot expect to have vital art in our theatre if we emulate totalitarian countries and yield the control of cultural life to the Yahoos and hoodlums.

Quoted in William Shirer's Midcentury Journey, 1955. That was well before Mr Atkinson or Mr Shirer had heard the expression "political correctness", but political correctness is what is described in the emphasized words. Political correctness is killing not only political thought but also our collective imagination. We have become a society where original, non-conforming thought is the greatest of all sins. Sad.

Postscript: I can't get over how, the older Danny DeVito gets, the more he looks like me!

VIDEO: The Boss talks about growing up Catholic, before the fall

Michael Matt, editor of the Remnant newspaper, has produced an excellent little video in which The Boss (Bruce Springsteen) talks/sings about what it was like to grow up Catholic in a typical American neighbourhood. Some would say he left the Church. Others, including Mr Matt and Walt, would say the Church left him. In the text on YouTube, Mr Matt writes: This is about the impact of the Revolution of Vatican II, not just on Springsteen but on his entire generation, who watched as the Church in her human element auto-destructed before their eyes. Running time 8:33.



"May God have mercy on all the lost sheep, us included."

Further reading: "The Battle for Rust Belt Catholicism", by Charles F. McElwee. The author points out that, if counted as a denomination, ex-Catholics like Mr Springsteen would make up America's second-largest religious affiliation. His conclusion: "The Catholic Church in America requires an institutional penance, but for penance to arrive, there must first be an acknowledgment of wrongdoing. For years, the Church's leadership has been a reluctant penitent, at best. Instead, it is the faithful who have atoned for the Church, trying, in numerous ways, to maintain (or revive) its sense of community, in the Rust Belt and elsewhere. Whether the bond of trust can be restored is uncertain."