VIDEO: Justice Alito disses wokesters, warns religious liberty in danger

The second annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit, a project of  Notre Dame Law School's Religious Liberty Initiative, wrapped up in Rome a week ago. One of the featured speakers was Samuel Alito, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. It was Justice Alito who wrote the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

In international legal circles, it has long been considered impudent and incompetent for jurists to comment on the decisions of courts of other countries. Following the release of the Dobbs decision, several foreign politicians and celebrities took it upon themselves to decry it. They included Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Justin Trudeau, and the Duchess of Sussex's husband Harry.

Justice Alito got a lot of laughs mocking them, saying he "had the honour this term of writing I think the only Supreme Court decision in the history of that institution that has been lambasted by a whole string of foreign leaders who felt perfectly fine commenting on American law."

But, he said, "I’m not going to talk about cases from other countries. All I'm going to say is that, ultimately if we're going to win the battle to protect religious freedom in an increasingly secular society we will need more than positive law." That was the focus of his speech, which you can watch here.

 

The key point of Justice Alito's speech was his warning that religious liberty is "under attack in many places, because it is dangerous to those who want to hold complete power." The threats to religious liberty in many countries of Asia, Africa and the Middle East is obvious, but, the jurist said, in the USA, Europe and other economically advanced countries, the challenge is the increasing turning away from religion.

"Polls show," he explained, "a significant increase in the percentage of the population that rejects religion or thinks it's just not all that important, and this has a very important impact on religious liberty, because it is hard to convince people that religious liberty is worth defending, if they don’t think that religion is a good thing that deserves protection."

Reflecting on Justice Alito's speech, we would do well to remember what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in a State of the Union address just eleven months before Pearl Harbor. In what is now known as his Four Freedoms speech, he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy:

Freedom of speech * Freedom of worship

Freedom from want * Freedom from fear

Those freedoms, or the first two at any rate, are no less under attack today than they were in 1941. The liberal elites tell us that we should sacrifice freedom of speech and freedom of worship for reasons of equity, diversity, and inclusion, so as to achieve freedom from want and freedom from fear. 

Make no mistake! What the "wokesters" wish to impose on us is not a world free from want and fear, but a new world order of the tyranny of the secular state, which is the antithesis of the "free world" for which millions died and are dying today.

It's official! Monkeypox is the new Covid is the new AIDs etc

Pandemics. They're everywhere! [Geddit? Ed.] Back in the good ole days all you had to get vaccinated against was smallpox, yellow fever, cholera, malaria, that sort of thing. But since the hippy-dippy 60s, when we learned that "free love" and "doing your own thing" without regard to the consequences was not just acceptable but commendable, we've had HIV/AIDs, SARS, bird flu, swine flu, Wuhan flu (aka Covid) and its Delta, Omicron etc variants. One health "emergency", which turns into a "crisis", after another. Arentcha sick of them? [Geddit? Ed.]

Although he still looks sick to me, President Brandon is said to be recovering from his second bout of Covid. He tells us, now, to keep getting vaccinated, over and over, and keep wearing a mask. Even so, he and Dr Death say, you're probably going to catch Covid anyway. In other words, the "emergency" is over. This is the new normal. Get used to it. 

That means a new "crisis" must be invented. Step forward monkeypox.

From darkest Africa, where the disease is endemic, monkeypox has spread rapidly to Europe and then to North America -- the Western World where intimate contact between male homosexuals (read: gay sex) is just as normal as straight sex used to be.

The "authorities" tell us that the monkeypox virus spreads through "prolonged skin-to-skin contact", which includes sex, kissing, breathing at close range, and sharing bedding and clothing, such as posing pouches. [Look it up. Ed.] Health officials are asking "people who could be at risk" to cover exposed skin when out in crowds and to watch out for symptoms, such as fever, blisters and rashes.

The lickspittle media are deliberately vague about who comprises the "at-risk populations", but now that the World Health Organization has declared the monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries a "global emergency", the LGBTQ2S+++ community itself is demanding that the rest of us spring to their assistance.

A state of emergency has now been declared by... wait for it... London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco. The city faces a public health crisis reminiscent of the AIDs epidemic that began devastating the city in the 1980s. "We are in desperate need of vaccines to support the people of San Francisco," she said, adding that the city has been pleading with federal health officials for more help, but to no avail.

The declaration was welcomed by gay advocates who have grown increasingly frustrated by what they called San Francisco's lacklustre response to a virus that affects "primarily men who have sex with men," although (they hasten to add) anyone can get infected.

State Senator Scott Wiener (D) said "San Francisco was at the forefront of the public health responses to HIV and COVID-19, and we will be at the forefront when it comes to monkeypox." Dr Susan Philip, San Francisco's answer to Dr Fauci, said "We can't and won't leave the LGBTQ community out to dry."

Thirty percent of all cases in California -- 261 out of roughly 800 -- are in San Francisco. There about 4600 cases nationwide.  A shortage of vaccine has resulted in people waiting in line for hours to catch a dose, often to be turned away when the shots run out. So far no-one has suggested the alternative, which would be for men to stop having sex with each other. Too Biblical, I guess.

VIDEO: Meanwhile, at Love Field, this happened

Earlier today, as I was writing about the shameful abuses of civil rights allegedly committed by racist, white supremacist Taco Bellers in Dallas (see below), the mojo wire started spitting out reports of shots being fired at Love Field, one of the airports serving Dallas. 

We waited patiently, and can now repost edited surveillance and body camera video, released by the Dallas Police Department. The woman seen firing into the air before being taken down by a shots of  a woman who fired a gun at Dallas Love Field Airport Monday and was taken down by a cop -- the Dallas police haven't been defunded yet -- has been identified as Portia Odufuwa, 37, pictured at left. 

Ms Odufuwa has been charged with aggravated assault against a public servant, and, according to Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, may face other federal charges. Here's the video. If you have trouble seeing clearly, you'll find the police recap below.

   

Airport surveillance video -- there is no sound -- shows Ms Odufuwa exiting a red Kia Sedan outside the airport Monday. She then walks into a restroom, and emerges five minutes later clad in a black hoodie with the hood pulled up over her head and her hands in her front pockets. 

According to Chief Garcia, Ms Odufuwa walked to the Southwest Airlines ticketing area, stating she had an announcement to make. Surveillance video shows Officer Ronald Cronin, a 15-year veteran of the Dallas PD starting to walk towards her.

"Witnesses say Odufuwa started to ramble, talking about a marriage, incarceration and that she was going to blow up the airport," said Chief Garcia "and then pulls a handgun from her sweatshirt." In the video you can see her pointing the gun toward the ceiling. She fires multiple rounds, and you can see Officer Cronin reacting and trying to engage with her, as people in the airport scramble for cover.

According to Chief Garcia, Officer Cronin commanded the suspect to drop the weapon. "Odufuwa pointed her gun at Officer Cronin and an innocent bystander. Officer Cronin took cover behind the ticket kiosk and fired his department-issued weapon, striking the suspect multiple times. Officer Cronin held his position, and other Dallas Police Department officers arrived to take the suspect into custody."

The video shows Officer Cronin pointing his gun at the woman, who falls to the ground. Several police officers enter the terminal to assist. Ms Odufuwa was taken to an area hospital where she underwent surgery for her injuries, and is now said to be in stable condition.

The weapon used by Ms Odufuwa was not registered. Chief Garcia noted that she has been prohibited from possessing a firearm since August of 2018. NBC News reported that she had some sort of obsession with singer-songwriter Chris Brown, to whom she claims to be married. 

Walt is waiting for the authorities to tell us how Ms Odufuwa, whose name suggests she is Nigerian, got into the USA, and what her immigration status is. Was that issue not raised during the 2018 court proceedings, at which she was found unfit to stand trial? 

What has Ms Odufuwa been doing since 2018? Who's supporting her? If it turns out that she's an illegal immigrant (lifetime pct .972), will she be deported? Is the pope a bear? Do Catholics shit in the woods? Just askin'....

VIDEO QUIZ: What does the news story not reveal?

Here's a little below-the-fold news item from Fox 5 Atlanta. A lawsuit was filed, a few days ago, for an unpleasant incident that occurred at a Dallas TX Taco Bell on June 17th. It is alleged that Brittany Davis and a 16-year-old minor, identified only as C.T., both suffered severe burns and psychological trauma after the Taco Bell manager threw a pitcher of scalding water at them while they were "trying to resolve a complaint about their food."

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to guess the race of the plaintiffs and defendant without looking at the video.

 

Agent 17 probably got it without looking. Did you? How about if Walt gives you a clue. The lawsuit was filed by personal injury lawyer Paul Grinke and... wait for it... Ben Crump, an American attorney who specializes in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases such as wrongful death lawsuits. In the recent past Mr Crump has represented the families of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd. Got it now?

The claim alleges that a $30 drive-throough order was filled incorrectly, and despite two additional passes past the window to get the correct items, the matter was still not settled to the plaintiffs' satisfaction. So the two women went to the door of the store, which was locked. An employee quickly let them in, but locked the door behind them. 

The video released as part of the lawsuit shows the exterior and interior of the Taco Bell store, from a variety of angles. The store manager can be seen filling up a water pitcher with what appears to be steaming water while talking on the phone. 

Another camera angle shows the manager throwing the liquid from the pitcher at the two women, who are standing on the other side of the counter. As soon as the water makes contact, both woman can be seen running away. The lawsuit claims that the employee also tried to throw a second pitcher of hot water on the victims as they tried to escape the locked store.

They plaintiffs are seeking more than $1,000,000 in damages from Taco Bell's parent company Yum! Brands, the local franchisee, and two store workers.

VIDEO: Francis in Canada - the Pachamama road show

Today is the feast of Saint James the Great, also known as Santiago Matamoros, the Patron of Spain. In Spain, the temperature this afternoon was in the vicinity of 40 degrees Celsius, with wildfires making much of the country seem even hotter. In Rome, there were no wildfires, and the temperature rose to only 36. One might suspect that Pope Bergoglio travelled to Canada -- he arrived on Sunday -- to beat the heat. 

But we mustn't impute motive. The given reason for his "pilgrimage" was to apologize yet again for the role of members of the Catholic Church* in co-operating with the government's "policy of colonialization of Canada's indigenous people" by housing and educating their children in residential schools, for a century ending in the 1950s. 

Francis had already grovelled (well, sort of) before a delegation of First Nations and Inuit elders in Rome, four months ago, but that wasn't good enough. Canada's pinko prime minister, Just In Trudeau, pressured the Pope to come in person to engage in a multi-million-dollar publicity stunt against the Church's "abusive, colonialist, and culture-suppressing" missionary activity in Canada. And here he is. 

* It must be noted here that it is dogma that Holy Mother Church, founded by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, cannot err. If Francis had apologized for mistakes or misdeeds of the Church, that would have been the gravest heresy. That's why the text of his apology, delievered just hours ago, must be read very carefully. Here is the key part of what he said. (The emphasis is mine. Walt)

"I am here because the first step of my penitential pilgrimage among you is that of again asking forgiveness, of telling you once more that I am deeply sorry. Sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the Indigenous Peoples. I am sorry. I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities co-operated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools.

"Although Christian charity was not absent, and there were many outstanding instances of devotion and care for children, the overall effects of the policies linked to the residential schools were catastrophic. What our Christian faith tells us is that this was a disastrous error, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is painful to think of how the firm soil of values, language and culture that made up the authentic identity of your peoples was eroded, and that you have continued to pay the price of this. In the face of this deplorable evil, the church kneels before God and implores his forgiveness for the sins of her children. I myself wish to reaffirm this, with shame and unambiguously. I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous Peoples."

Regular readers will know that I hold no brief for the man who calls himself Pope Francis. But his apology, unlike many of the statements which he makes up as he goes along, seems to me well thought through, appropriate and correct.

Other may take a less charitable view. Our old friend Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspaper, has just put together a minidocumentary on the residential schools, which he intends as a blow against woke revisionist history, or -- he puts it more bluntyly -- fake news.

Mr Matt calls the Pope's "pentitential pilgrimage" part of the "Pachamama Road Show", another attempt  to exploit indigenous peoples to push a new Woke Order, the success of which depends on a thoroughly discredited Christian Old World Order. Whether or not you think Francis is doing the right thing -- or trying to -- you should watch this video and consider what's really going on here. 

   

Also in this video: What about Francis’s alleged coverups of sexual abusers such as Fr. Julio Cesar Grassi and Bishop Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta? Francis covered for them, and now they're in jail! Who's going to apologize to the victims for Francis's role in those coverups? Mr Matt's Remnant Underground videos are always worth watching... and sharing!

Three shot at funeral for anti-violence advocate

Yesterday afternoon, in the Roseland neighbourhood on the south side of Lori Lightfoot's Chicago, a funeral service was being held at the Universal Community Missionary Baptist Church. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, three of the mourners, who had posed for a photo outside the church, were wounded when someone inside a grey sedan drove by and opened fire.

A 20-year-old man was shot in the abdomen, a 37-year-old man was shot in the thigh and a 25-year-old man was shot in the back. According to the cops, all three were transported to local hospitals "in good condition". 

Kareem House, who witnessed the shooting, told the newspaper the funeral was that of his cousin, Mike Nash, an anti-violence activist who had died of a heart attack. There's a lesson there somewhere. Maybe there should be yet another law, this one prohibiting the discharge of firearms at or in the vicinity of funerals. Of course that would ban the traditional Jamaican salute, but it would mean Mr Nash's death wouldn't have been in vain. Right?

Note from Ed.: There are at least two ways to interpret the graphic. Take your pick.

VIDEO: Father Roman explains the importance of Christian tradition

Jorge Bergoglio, the man who calls himself "Pope Francis", accuses us traditional Catholics of being rigid, of clinging to dogma which is no longer fashionable or relevant to modern times. We cannot pretend that the world has stood still since Vatican II, or that Holy Mother Church can turn back the hands of time, but we cannot cast into the dustbin of history the two millennia of Christian tradition. 

In this homily, given by Father Roman Galadza, the pastor of Saint Elias Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church, in Brampton ON, Father Roman points out that Catholic Tradition predates the New Testament. It is through the teachings of Our Lord, handed down orally by the Fathers of the Church, that our Christian Faith was given shape and substance. To turn our backs on Tradition is to turn our backs on the Faith.

   

Click here to see the entire Divine Liturgy offered on 17 July 2022. You can visit the Saint Elias Church website by clicking here.

The peaceful protest the liberals don't want you to know about

Ed. here. It's been hot here. Walt has been sleeping it off asleep in the shade of the old apple tree, and I hesitated to rouse him from his torpor, but this space must be filled, so I locked him in the shed until he produced... this....

I am a country boy at heart. I grew up in a farming community, and after decades of wandering am now settled in a region which still has many working farms. The mayor of the city and county of Fort Mudge seems determined to see all the farmland paved over, but hey, that's progress... right?! I don't know where they think our food will come from, but I do know I'm not the first to say that.

I have great sympathy, then, for the 1000s of Dutch farmers who for the last couple of weeks have been mounting a peacful protest -- really, not being sarcastic -- at the plans of the oh-so-green Dutch government to fight the climate change "crisis" by reducing the country's agricultural output by a third. This will mean slaughtering large numbers of dairy cattle, since, besides milk, they produce enormous quantities of methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia and other greenhouse gases.

So,  inspired perhaps by this spring's Freedom Convoy in Canada, the good boers of Holland are clogging up the roads and highways with their tractors, and occasionally dumping the contents of their manure spreaders in front of public buildings.

"How dairy you!" Geddit? Right back at ya, Greta Thunberg, the patron saint of eco-alarmism, whose apocalyptic rantings and warped ideology have caused the Netherlands parliament to adopt a Green New Deal even more destructive and insane than those being inflicted on North Americans by Crazy Joe and Blackie McBlackface.

You probably haven't heard or read much about the Dutch farmers' protests, because the lickspittle media doesn't like to give any publicity to any pushback agsinst the ideologies of the liberal elites. I'm talking about the kind of sentiment encapsulated in a recent statement by Just In Trudeau's acolyte, Chrystia Freeland, that the spike in gas prices is good because it makes us focus on the need to switch to electric vehicles!

In "These farmers are fighting for us all", posted on Spiked Online yesterday, Brendan O'Neill wrote that although the Dutch farmers' protest had received some coverage outside of the Netherlands, the reports are running "below the fold" (as editors say), because "This is a people’s revolt against eco-tyranny, against the modern elite’s determination to slash 'harmful' emissions with little regard for the consequences such action will have for working people and poor people. 

"To the formers of elite consensus opinion, for whom environmentalism is tantamount to a religion, the sight of pesky little people rebelling against green diktats is too much to bear. So they either demonize these dissenters, as is happening in the Netherlands, or they ignore them in the hope they will go away, as is happening outside the Netherlands."

The slogan pictured, translated, reads: Out farmers, our future. Walt sez, three cheers and a tiger for the good boers of the Netherlands. Honk honk!

Sikh terrorists: live by the kirpan, die by the kirpan

Thanks to Emperor Trudeau I (father of Blackie McBlackface), Canada is full of Sikhs. There are large communities in the suburbs of Toronto and Vancouver, particularly near the airports, where large numbers of them work as porters, bag monkeys, and (note) security guards.

The Sikhs are fighters, mostly members of the Jatt caste of peasant-warriors. As symbols of their faith, Sikh men wear turbans and special underpants. They sport full beards and carrry (usually not openly) a curved dagger or knife called a kirpan that symbolizes their readiness to fight for their land -- aka the Punjab -- and their Sikh religion.

Ever since the British quit India, militant Sikhs have been fighting (word carefully chosen), from bases in such places, for an "independent Khalistan".

If you were a Sikh extremist and wanted to do something dramatic to advance the cause of "free Khalistan", a simple yet terrifyingly effective thing to do would be to blow up a plane -- preferably an Air India -- full of non-Sikhs. And a Canadian airport where 1000s of your countrymen are employed, like YYZ or YVR, would be the ideal place in which to load the device.

That's what the RCMP, FBI, Interpol and other law enforcement agencies figure happened in June of 1985, when  Air India Flight 182, a B747 operating on the Montreal–London–Delhi–Mumbai route, disintegrated in mid-air over the Atlantic, en route from Montreal to London, as a result of the explosion from a bomb planted by Canadian Sikh militants.

A shower of pieces of the airliner and its contents fell into the sea southwest of Ireland. The human contents -- everyone on board -- included 268 Canadian immigrants, 27 British citizens and 24 Indian citizens. The bombing remains the deadliest aviation "incident" in the history of Air India and the deadliest ever carried out on Canadian soil. 

Investigators found the attack was a part of a larger transnational terrorist plot and had included two attempted plane bombings. The first bomb was meant to explode aboard Air India Flight 301 which was scheduled to take off from Narita (Japan) International Airport, Japan but exploded before it was loaded onto the plane. The second bomb was the one which brought down Air India Flight 182. Both the plot and the bombs, which had been hidden inside luggage, originated in Canada.

After a lengthy and not very competent investigation -- complicated by the unwillingness of anyone to talk, even in Punjabi -- a handful of members of various Sikh organizations were arrested and tried. The only person convicted, however, was Inderjit Singh Reyat, a dual British-Canadian national and a member of the International Sikh Youth Federation. In 2003 (!), he pled guilty to manslaughter, admitting that he had made the bombs. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Among those who were acquitted (in March 2005) were a Surrey BC businessman, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, both members of Babbar Khalsa, an organization whose goal is the creation of an independent Sikh state, Khalistan. (All Sikhs are Singhs, but not all Singhs are Sikhs!)

The Mounties said the two were part of a conspiracy of a group of Sikh militants who placed suitcase bombs on two connecting flights leaving Vancouver airport. The deadly bags were tagged for Air India flights heading in opposite directions, with the results described above. Who took the bags to the airport, or tagged them, or loaded them, was never established. Registering the acquittals on charges of murder and conspiracy, a BC Supreme Court judge told the Singhs that he didn't believe they didn't do it, but that the Crown had failed to prove its case. That's all.

The families of the victims of Air India 182 finally saw justice done, as Ripudaman Singh Malik, now aged 75, was shot to death as he sat inside his car outside his office in Surrey, at about 0930 yesterday. An investigation is under way, but is unlikely to result in any charges. The problem this time is too many suspects, too many people with good reason to want Mr Malik dead.

Retired RCMP deputy commissioner Gary Bass, who was in charge of the terrorism investigation into the Air India bombing, told the Notional Pest he knew Ripudaman Singh Malik had many enemies."I'm not privy to the ongoing investigations on Malik right now, but I can say that from years when I was that he was involved in a number of activities that might bring him into conflict with other people."

Acts of violence against prominent political/business figures usually call forth expressions of sympathy from others of that ilk, but there has been radio silence from Jugmeat Singh, the leader of Canada's "New" Democratic Party whose "free Khalistan" sentiments are well known. Also expected to not attend the funeral is Emperor Trudeau II (pictured), or any of the numerous Sikh Members of Parliament, none of whom can be reached for comment.

Further reading: "Sikhs in Canada - from 'boat people' to slave-keepers", WWW 25/5/14.

Memo to the ruling elites: "It's the economy, stupid!"

The liberal elites seem to be getting nervous, trying to figure out what they can do to avert the imminent reception. Adam Pankratz, a lecturer at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, wrote an excellent statement of the blindingly obvious, for Canada's National Post. Here are two key paragraph of "Economic reality is about to bulldoze the progressive agenda". Thanks to Agent 6 for  the link. 

For years now, governments across the western world have found reasons to turn towards tribal politics. Be it relentless condemnation of western history as uniquely evil, genuflection to those who shut down railroads and tear down statues or prostration before the idol of identity politics, it has been a one-way capitulation to any grievance Twitter could muster. Reality is about to force a change from identity driven wedges and fanciful green economic policy dreams back to serious matters like money and jobs. The inflation tidal wave, coupled with a slowing economy is making our citizens poorer. A backlash against Canadian Liberals and American Democrats, along with governing elites in Europe is coming and will be a first-class example of "it's the economy, stupid," in action.... 

Morgan Stanley recently warned oil could reach $380 a barrel if the worse case scenario of Russian crude coming off the market were to occur. This would be cataclysmic for all economies and participants therein, but, as always, the worst pain will be reserved for those who can least afford it. This is the great irony of current policy in Canada, Europe and America: by refusing to look reality in the eye, politicians are going to seriously harm those they purport to help while also sinking their own progressive agendas.

The "governing elites in Europe" must certainly include Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, about whom I wrote yesterday. The next sound you hear will be that of  his government falling. Lifetime pct .978.

Italian coalition government collapses; a "new Mussolini" waits...

Italian governments tend to have very short lives. Since the end of WWII there have been hundreds... literally. They come and go like mushrooms after a spring rain. The latest, a coalition led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi, teeters on the brink this evening, with Sig. Draghi saying he wants to resign to make way for a new government, only for Italian President Sergio Mattarella to reject his resignation and ask him to think up some way to hold together a parliamentary majority.

The trambusto ridicolo came about when senators from the once populist but now left-leaning Five Star Movement boycotted a confidence motion linked to a bill that contained a provision for a new garbage  incinerator to serve Rome, which they oppose on environmental grounds. Sig. Draghi had made clear he would interpret a walkout as a vote against his "unity government". 

The FSM walked out anyway, so the PM tendered his resignation, saying that the trust underpinning the government had come undone, and that the conditions for a functional government "no longer exist"... as if they ever did, in the Italian republic.

Theoretically Sig. Draghi could stay on at the head of a new government without the Five Stars. However, having been chosen by the Pesident in February 2021 to lead a unity coalition, the PM has indicated that he wants no part of that scheme. "There is no government without the Five Stars," he said, adding that he wouldn’t lead a coalition with an alternate makeup. 

If Sig. Draghi succeeds in quitting, Italy be forced into yet another election, which European "progressives" and the controlled media already clutching their pearls in fear of a resurgent right. In the spring of 2018,  as Italy prepared for its first general election in five years, the most-feared party was Matteo Salvini's far-right League. See "Italian top court OKs Fascist salute as right-wing coalition heads for election victory", WWW 24/2/18. 

Things didn't quite turn out as Walt predicted (lifetime pct. 978), as the conservative/populist vote was divided among Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia, the League and the new kids on the right-hand side of the block, Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy).

Things are different today. Brothers of Italy, the descendant of a party formed in 1946 by the lingering supporters of Benito Mussolini, has steadily moved from the political fringes to being neck-and-neck with the League. Recent opinion polls put the FdI in a statistical tie -- 21% each -- for most popular party, with the centre-left Democratic Party, led by Giuseppe Brandoni. [Ed., please check that.]

Giorgia Meloni, a member of the Chamber of Deputies and former minister in Silvio Berlusconi's fourth cabinet, is said to have a good chance of being Italy's next prime minister. She has fast become a a celebrity, with videos about her on Facebook (click here to see "Giorgia Meloni a 'Cartabianca' 22/2/22"), and YouTube, and a best-selling autobiography out last year. 

Guido Crosetto, a co-founder of FdI, says voters feel they can trust Ms Meloni because she has: "consistency, reliability, thoroughness. She does not speak by slogans or based on polls.... We [the FdI party] do well in the polls because our party remains consistent with its ideas."

Giorgia Meloni was just 15 when she became involved in the youth organisation of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), founded after World War II by neo-fascists and veterans of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic.

The popularity of Fratelli d'Italia comes amid a broader shift to the right in Italian politics in recent times. See "Told ya! Anti-immigrant backlash pushes Italy sharply right", WWW 5/3/18. 

The League, once the leading party of the right, is now down to 15% in the polls, with FdI picking up a lot of the League's votes, and even making inroads in northeastern Italy, a League bastion since the 1990s. Businesspeople in northern Italy say they like Meloni's anti-tax, anti-bureaucracy style. "There is too much red tape, whether imposed by Rome or Venice [the regional capital]," said a businessman in Vicenza. "Maybe Meloni has realised that."

FdI is unabashedly rightist. Its literature contains slogans such as "Italy and Italians first" and aims to protect Italian identity from Islamization, while calling for the largest family and birth support plan in Italy's history. Convincing moderate voters to switch to a party with radical roots is "not an easy bet", said one analyst, adding,"Meloni is trying, though."

The controlled media in Europe (and now America), cowering in fear, have dubbed Ms Meloni "the new Mussolini". It has been said of the "old" Mussolini that at least he made the trains run on time. If Ms Meloni can make the planes depart and arrive on time, she should be a shoo-in. Walt wishes her buona fortuna!

"New year, new me!" - Annual gender change OKd for German trannies

Ever wonder what it would feel like to have your gender changed? Not physically, necessarily, just legally, just for fun, to see what it would be like... you know... before undergoing the "procedures".

 

For instance, if you were a man sentenced to hard time in the crowbar Hilton, you  could become a woman and do your time in a more comfortable P4W (prison for women). Or you could flash your new ID card when challenged for lurking in the ladies' restroom.

In Germany, boys (and girls), it's possible. With the stroke of a pen -- hocus pocus mucus pucus! -- you can have your gender reassigned, legally. And you can do it once a year, if you feel like it. At least that's the proposal (according to LifeSite News) of the German Minister of Justice, Marco Buschmann, and Family Minister Lisa Paus. (They are memberes of the left-wing FDP and the far-left Green Party, respectively. Surprised?)

The new "self-determination act" proposed by the new coalition government of which the two libtards are a part, would replace a 1980 law dealing with transsexuality. Herr Buschmann and Frau/Fraulein (?) Paus called the old law, which stipulated that those wishing to legally change gender would have to produce psychological assessments to determine, among other things, how long they had wished to change genders, "degrading." 

The new law would permit people to change their gender on paper once a year. If they wake up one morning (New Year's Day?) feeling like being a new person, all they have to do is go to the local registry office and have their first name and gender amended. And get this! Anyone who “deadnames” them -- call them by their old given names -- will be fined!

The law will apply to anyone 14 or older. Any minor wishing to "transition" against his/her parents' wishes can take them to family court, which will determine the way forward based on what the cout thinks is "the well-being of the child." Given the premise that transgenderism is a Good Thing, the outcome of a court challenge is pretty much guaranteed to be politically correct. Parents who disagree with the new fashion could find themselves designated a danger to their own children, with the all-powerful state -- this is Germany, remember -- stepping in to make sure that Hans can become Hannah or vice versa.

Minister Paus called the introduction of the new legislation "a good day from freedom and diversity. Minister Buschmann emphasized that the proposed law "keeps the promise of equal freedom and equal dignity of all people." Neither of them said anything about the risk of susceptible young people choosing to transition based on a peer contagion. Or about morality or sanity.

True Websites Dept - Lefties beg Brandon "Don't run Joe!"

If I hadn't read this on The Progressive Newswire [See? Walt does read something other than Breitbart! Ed.] I wouldn't have believed it. Seem that a key "progressive advocacy" (read: looney left) group, RootsAction.org, which supported President Brandon in 2022, has not only withdrawn its endorsement, but has now launched a new website called... wait for it... Don't Run Joe.

Really, and fie on those who believe Walt makes up our True Facts! RootsAction is planning on spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a #DontRunJoe ad campaign, set to begin the day after the Democrats are crushed in the 2022 midterms. 

Where the money is coming from, no-one knows, but I wouldn't bet against it being from someone whose initials are GS or KH.

Don't Run Joe  calls Brandon "neither bold nor inspiring", and invites those who share that sentiment to sign a petition telling Hunter's Dad not to run again, saying to do so would be a "tragic mistake." What follows is the complete text of their appeal.

In 2024 the United States will face the dual imperatives of preventing a Republican takeover of the White House and advancing a truly progressive agenda. The stakes could not be higher. The threat of a neofascist GOP has become all too obvious. Bold and inspiring leadership from the Oval Office will be essential.

Unfortunately, President Biden has been neither bold nor inspiring. And his prospects for winning re-election appear to be bleak. With so much at stake, making him the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer in 2024 would be a tragic mistake.

The #DontRunJoe campaign will launch nationwide on November 9, 2022 -- the day after the midterm elections. Until then, maximum efforts should be expended to defeat Republicans in congressional and state races across the country.

The shortcomings of the Biden administration should neither be denied nor used as an excuse to sit out the 2022 midterm election battles. "Moderate" policies have failed to truly address such pressing concerns as the climate emergency, voting rights, student debt, health care, corporate price-gouging, and bloated military spending in tandem with anemic diplomacy. Meanwhile, no Republican candidate on the horizon is worthy of being elected to any of the 435 House seats or the 35 Senate seats up for grabs this year.

Biden triumphed over Donald Trump in 2020 with vital help from extraordinary grassroots efforts in swing states by progressive organizations (including RootsAction). A president is not his party’s king, and he has no automatic right to renomination. Joe Biden should not seek it. If he does, he will have a fight on his hands.

I love it when the libtards start fighting amongst themselves, and wish RootsAction every success in their effort to get rid of Brandon. I'm hoping they secure the 2024 Dumbocrat nomination for Kamala Harris [Who she? Ed.] or possibly Dr Jill (no relation to Dr Phil), once she learns that Taco Bell is not a Mexican phone company. 

Further reading: "New York Times to Biden -- Time to Go!", by Patrick J. Buchanan, Taki's Magazine, 12/7/22. 

Note from Ed.: Because it seems appropriate, Walt has changed the ribbon in his computer to red to write the following FOOTNOTE: In case you missed the news, the Bidenflation rate has now increased to 9.1%, the highest level in four decades. Get ready to tighten your belt another notch. It's true: get woke, go broke!

UPDATED: Rogers outage caused by a cyber attack?

For hapless Canucks, Friday the 8th turned out to be even more distressing than Friday the 13th. The "Please stand by" graphic Ed. posted on the 7th turned out to be oddly premonitory, as Canadians struggled to cope with a massive disruption of mobile and internet "service" provided by Rogers (aka "Robbers") Communications.

Canada's telecoms market is dominated by just three "service providers". [You understand why Walt is using quote marks, right? Ed.] -- Bell, Rogers and Telus. Knocking out their networks disrupts not just mobile phone calls, but money transfers (Interac, using debit cards), data exchange (problems for airlines, pharmacies, banks, etc), wi-fi (disastrous for those working from home) and even 9-1-1 service. 

But that's what happened yesterday, as Robbers customers  found themselves unconnected for most of the day. Last night, the company said it had restored mobile and internet service for the "vast majority: of its customers. However, it added, some customers may experience delays in regaining full service as its network comes back online and traffic volumes return to normal. 

In a statement posted to the company's social media channels (which customers of other telecoms companies could read, one presumes), Rogers apologized for the disruption the outage has caused to its customers and said it "will be proactively crediting" all customers. Which means: don't call us asking for a refund, we're already doing it. 

Tony Staffieri, CEO of Rogers, said in an open letter that the company apologizes for the service interruption but offered no explanation for the outage or how many customers were affected. Staffieri says Rogers "is committed to understanding the cause and would make changes to meet and exceed expectations in the future."

As of this morning, Rogers still hasn't said what caused their service to go down. Mr Staffieri said they would investigate "the root cause of this outage." Walt humbly suggests they read "FBI director calls China 'biggest' US threat; authorities warn of North Korean cyber attacks", posted on ABC News on July 6th.

The story quotes FBI Director Christopher Wray as saying the Chinese government (not those nice Chinese people, especially immigrants) is set on stealing our technology. Speaking alongside his British counterpart in London on Wednesday, Mr Wray called China the "biggest long-term threat" to both the US and the UK. (He didn't mention Canada because, no matter what Justin Trudeau says, Canada's not important.) 

"The Chinese government is set on stealing your technology -- whatever it is that makes your industry tick -- and using it to undercut your business and dominate your market," said Mr Wray, adding, "They're set on using every tool at their disposal to do it." 

Canada's telecoms, including Rogers, already use Huawei equipment, although M Trudeau (a great admirer of the ChiComms' ability "to get things done") now says they won't be allowing any new Huawei 5-G technology to be used in Canadian networks. Is it possible the Chinese (or North Koreans) hacked the Rogers network as a test, to see how easy it would be to throw a country into confusion and chaos? Just askin'....

UPDATE ADDED 10/7/22: Rogers Communications Inc. says it believes the massive system outage it suffered on Friday occurred after a maintenance update to its core network, but critics are unimpressed with the explanation after the telecom’s second major service interruption in two years.

This critic -- yr obdt svt -- wonders if Rogers would say anything different, if the massive outage had indeed been caused by hackers working for a hostile foreign government, which they (Rogers) did  not expect and could not control. Given the panic that would likely have ensured had they admitted such a huge security breach, would they not have said, "Oopsy. Our problem. We fixed it. Nothing to see here." Just askin'....

VIDEO: Pierre Poilievre talks about old wood (???) - a message for freedom-loving conservatives everywhere

For those readers, especially Americans, who don't follow Canadian politics [Why would they? Ed.], let me bring you up to speed. By comparison with the Excited States, Canada is a pretty laid-back... or just plain dull... country. And Canucks like it that way. They generally elect governments which are either slightly to the left or (occasionally) slightly to the right of centre. There hasn't been a really conservative Conservative federal government since Adam was a little boy.

It has therefore come as a shock to the liberal Laurentian establishment that someone who sounds like a conservaative-cum-populist, in the mould of Donald Trump, looks like becoming the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and, quite possibly, the next prime minister of Canuckistan.

That someone is Pierre Poilievre, about whom I've written before. Mr Poilievre is not truly a social conservative like Leslyn Lewis, the dark horse on the right. He has refused to grasp the nettles of the abortion, gay "marriage" and critical race theory issues. See "More on Poilievre and Lewis + Brown", WWW 2/5/22.

He has, however, championed the cause of freedom from Big Government, associating himself with the leaders of last winter's Freedom Convoy, and condemning Emperor Justin's use of emergency powers to impose vaccine and other mandates on the Canadian sheeple.

In so doing, he distances himself from Jean Charest -- the last of the Red Tories -- and Patrick Brown, the puppet of the World Sikh Organization of Canada. [The link is for those who think Walt is making this up. Ed.] This week the CPC disqualified Mr Brown for violating was campaign rules and (possibly) the Elections Act. 

That leaves John James Charest (his real name) as the only serious (?) candidate of the old "Conservative" establishment, with the likely outcome of September's vote being the coronation of Lucky Pierre. But M Poilievre isn't taking a landslide win for granted. His team has just released a clever and skillfully made video, in which he waxes poetic over some old planks. What does this have to do with conservative values? Check it out.  

 

For those who didn't or couldn't watch the video, here's a synopsis. Mr Poilievre at home in Ottawa admiring a wooden post he recovered from an old barn and used in a DIY project. Early lumberjacks hewed it from logs, he says, leaving the scars of their axes as evidence of their labour. Then he turns to the planks on the wall. He bought them from a farmer, and spent hours cleaning and restoring them. 

Why? Because they tell a story about the people who fashioned them and the elements that weathered them. All he did, he says, was to reclaim what was already there in the wood. And reclaiming Canadians' lost freedom is what his campaign is about. That's his message.

Liberals, he explains, have been trying to build a kind of utopia, knocking down statues, sweeping away history and banning words as they go. This is nothing but a pretext to give themselves "vast new powers," which they've been trying to do all through the past seven years of Liberal government.

"Reclaim your life," he concludes. "Reclaim your freedom!" That's a powerful message -- a challenge which ought to resonate with not just the sheeplike Canucks, but with Americans, Britons and lovers of freedom throughout the western world. Walt says, "Right on!"

Walt is in a funk

UPDATED: VIDEO: Tuba Skinny runs afoul of the New Orleans LAW!

Walt's message for Independence Day: America is no fun any more! In this video, starting at the 3:55 mark you'll see Walt's favourite Dixieland New Orleans jazz band, Tuba Skinny, get busted by the New Orleans po-leece for "blocking traffic" on Royal Street. This was on April Fool's Day, but it was no joke.  

   

The well-named James Sterling, who posts many of the Tuba Skinny videos, writes: 

After much delay and confusion the City of New Orleans has returned Royal Street to a pedestrian mall as of April 26, 2022.   However, there is still pressure from certain business owners on Royal St. to ban the pedestrian mall so the struggle will continue. 

If you support the band and the freedom to make people happy, you can email the Civic Authorities and tell them what you think.

UPDATE ADDED 4/7/22: Good news, boys and girls! Tuba Skinny were not arrested when the New Orleans cops returned to the scene of their "crime". Guess they were in full compliance by then, because less than 48 hours later they appeared at the annual Abita Springs Buskerfest. Click here to see the just-released full video, 100 minutes of excellent Dixieland New Orleans jazz!

True Facts Dept.: What's your sign?

For those who've decided to skip the Fourth of July festivities for fear of getting into a fistfight, we present a couple of True Signs -- examples of what can happen when some of the lights go out.

Our American readers may not get this one. Ask Dr Google for help. According to Agent 34, who sent this along, Thwaites Brewery, located in the beautiful Ribble Valley, in Lancashire, England, laid off 60 workers due to a downturn in business. This is how the company's electrical engineers responded.

Being one of Walt's Agents, 34 is disqualified from the True Facts competition, but thanks all the same.

Agent 3 is disqualified for the same reason, but we appreciate his submission of a similar entry. He says he didn't actually see this sign, but saw one just like it near Bellingham WA back in the `80s.

Agent 3 says he didn't want to seem like a racist, so ate there anyway, and thought the steak was pretty good.  

In times like these, when everyone is snarling at everyone else over real or perceived grievances, we need all the help we can get to preserve our sense of humour. Keep those True Facts coming in!

The Glorious Fourth: State of the Disunion

As we head into Independence Day 2022, things are not good in the Excited States of America. 

* 1000s of flights have been cancelled, disrupting holiday travel plans. 

* If you decide to drive instead of chilling at the airport for hours, you'll pay anywhere from $5 to $10 per gallon for gas.

* How about a backyard cookout then? Better get an estimate on a steak... and the salad greens too.

* Inflation is at its highest rate since the great meltdown of 2007-8, and yet

* Wall Street has slumped into bear territory, on fears of an imminent recession.

Still... it's a great country, isn't it? At least Americans aren't afflicted with the kind of looney-left anti-patriotism which has resulted in the cancellation of Canada Day, as described here on Thursday. For this one day, at least, Americans will be unite with President Brandon in expressing their love of country and confidence in its future.

Errr, maybe not. It looks as if there will be some "alternative celebrations" on the Fourth, like this one.

Walt trusts you noticed who's organizing this amazing demonstration of loyalty and patriotism. Yes, Virginia, it's the Pima County AZ Democratic Party. You'd think they'd be ashamed, wouldn't you? Or at least afraid of embarrassing their doddering leader. Well, they did take down this social media ad, claiming it was "a mistake". According to Fox News, they tweeted:

"PCDP posted a graphic advertising a women’s march which, we agree, was in poor taste. We were eager to share the event, and in our haste we used the graphic provided by the event organizer. That was a mistake, and we will do better. Make no mistake, however. We support the event which will be on July 4 at 7 pm at Reid Park. The event was organized to help women in our community grieve for the loss of their bodily autonomy, which we consider an elemental right."

This "Fuck the Fourth" event is not an aberration. It's part of a nationwide anti-American "movement" (of sorts), which started at least two years ago. Check this out.

Right. July 4th would have been a Saturday in 2020, at which time President Trump was still in office. So obviously he was the target. The lickspittle media keep telling us he lost the fake election that November, so why are "Fuck the Fourth" protests still being held? Apparently the wokesters of BLM, Antifa, the Squad et al. won't be satisfied until one of their own [like AOC? Ed.] gets their hands on the levers of power. And God help us then!

Want more? Here...

Dear patriotic American readers, this is what you're up against! Don't be distracted by claims of conspiracy and "insurrection" coming out of the current Washington circus. The real conspirators are the extreme leftists who seek to overturn the United States Constitution and overthrow those who uphold it. 

If I may borrow some words put by playwright Robert Bolt into the mouth of St. Thomas More: America is planted thick with trees -- laws which guarantee our rights and freedoms. If the leftists succeed in cutting them all down, where will we stand when the wind blows. 

Further reading: "Screaming Liberals Run In Terror As Pride Flags Replaced With American Flags", Babylon Bee.

Further reading: (added at 1244 - 4/7/22): "'Enough of This Kind of Nonsense': GOP Rep. Waltz Blasts Independence Day Critics", Breitbart News.