UPDATED: Bondi Beach terrorists pledged allegiance to ISIS

It's just past 1400 FMT. Here's the latest information we have on the terrorists -- so described by the Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia -- responsible for the atrocity at Bondi Beach, near Sydney NSW, today. (Scroll down for our initial report, with video.) 

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told the meeja a couple of hours ago that the investigation into the shooting has "progressed" overnight and confirms officers aren't looking for a further gunman. He said the two shooters involved were a father and son aged 50 and 24. The father died at the scene -- apparently shot by police -- while the son remains in hospital in critical condition.

In response to questions from journos, Insp. Lanyon said the "50-year-old male" (he said "father" only once) was a licenced firearms holder and had six firearms linked to him. The cops think those six firearms were used in the "offences" on Bondi Beach, he said, adding that he vows to investigate the matter thoroughly. 

Oh really? When asked whether the two shooters were known to the police and whether he will comment on reports that a black ISIS flag was found at the scene, the inspector said he wouldn't go into specifics or speculation. "We will look at the motives behind this attack and I think it is important as part of the investigation," he said, adding that there was no indication suggesting that either of the men involved in yesterday's shooting was planning the attack.

On really? Are we to believe that they just happened to be carrying six (count `em, 6) firearms -- as well as two "active improved devices"! -- as they went to see the Jews celebrate Hannukah on the world-famous beach? 

When asked for the names of the perps, which must have been known to the police in order to obtain search warrants and find out about the firearm licences, Inspector Lanyon declined to answer, saying that was part of the investigation.

But... woops!!!... someone said the quiet part out loud. Listen carefully.

For those who couldn't quite understand the bingo-caller's accent, here's the name and the sources. The Jerusalem Post reported that the 24-year-old, whose name is Naveed Akram is a Muslim man of Pakistani origin, who had studied at Central Queensland University in Sydney. He was also previously associated with Hamdard University in Islamabad and the Al Murad Institute. 

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), citing a law enforcement source, said Mr Akram was a resident of Sydney's south-western suburb of Bonnyrigg. Police raided his home on Sunday evening as part of the investigation. According to the Daily Mail, the Akram family has owned the Bonnyrigg property for about a year.

I think that's enough for us to run, once again, the same old South Park meme.

Walt wishes (Don't you?) that the two non-Christian Abrahamic religions would confine their wars of extremination to their own turf... say no more than 1000 miles from Armageddon.

UPDATED 15/12/25 with report from Breitbart News: "Father-Son Duo Terror Suspects Reportedly Pledged Allegiance to ISIS Before Bondi Beach Attack - The suspected father and son terrorist duo who killed at least 15 during a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration on Sunday were previously investigated by Australian intelligence for ties to the so-called Islamic State, and ISIS flags were reportedly found in their car after the apparent antisemitic attack."

Turks invade "Kurdistan" -- What next?!

And so it begins. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Twitter Wednesday that the Turkish offensive into northeast Syria has started. He calls it "#OperationPeaceSpring". The aim of the operation, he tweeted, is to "eradicate the threat of terror against Turkey." And the invasion will be good for Syria too, of course. "We will preserve Syria's territorial integrity," he wrote, "and liberate local communities from terrorists."

What kind of terrorists? Well, "PKK/YPG and Daesh terrorists", of course! You can't tell the players in the Muslim civil war without a programme, Walt will elucidate. "Daesh" is the name the PC media use for ISIS/ISIL, to avoid have to use the word "Islamic" (as in "Islamic terrorists"). "PKK" stands for "Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê" (= Kurdistan Workers' Party‎), a Kurdish far-left militant and political organization based in Turkey and Iraq. The Turkish government has been trying for years to suppress them, often by making them dead. "YPG" is the armed wing of the leftist Kurdish Democratic Union Party, closely allied to the Syriac Military Council, a militia of Assyrians.

The Kurds are an Iranian ethnic group native to Western Asia. Their mountainous "native land", known as Kurdistan, includes southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria. The most widely practiced religion in the region is Islam. According to a 2011 study conducted by the Pew Research Center, nearly all Kurds (98%) in Iraq identified as Sunni Muslim, while the other 2% identified as Shiite Muslims.

The predominant branch of the Religion of Peace in Iran is Shia Islam. In Turkey, Sunni Muslims are in the majority, with about 80% of the populartion. 19% of Turks are Shiites.

So you might think that there should be no friction, in Turkey, between the Sunni Turks and Sunni Kurds. You would be wrong. The problem is that the Kurds of Turkey would prefer to be united with the Kurds of Iran, Iraq and, yes, Syria in an independent Kurdistan. That is what they have been fighting for, allying themselves with whatever other groups or powers may be useful. See "How goes the war against IS/ISIL/ISIS? It's a fiasco!", WWW 27/5/19 (includes video).

The problem for the Kurds is that they just lost their biggest ally, the Excited States of America. Still-President Trump's decision to withdraw American forces from Syria, opens the desert of northeast Syria for Mr Erdogan's "Operation Peace Spring". (Dontcha love how all these invasions -- no matter who leads them -- have names that include "Peace", "Freedom", "Liberation", etc?) A UK-based Syrian war monitoring group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported today that people were fleeing the border town of Tal Abyad, which Turkey is expected to attack first. And Turkish television reports said Turkish jets had bombed Syrian Kurdish positions across the border from Turkey.

And so it begins. What happens next? Will Shia Iran seize the opportunity to move against the Sunni Kurds in its westerly regions? Will the Arab Iraqis try to oust the ethnically different Kurds from the oil-rich northern party of their alleged country? Where will it all end? God (or maybe Allah?) only knows. But don't forget that south of Syria lies Israel, and within Israel lies... wait for it... Armageddon.

Further reading (and viewing):
"Meanwhile, in the Middle East, something big is on the horizon", WWW 10/11/17 (includes video from Ron Paul Liberty Report)
"Scrapping the Iran deal: another milepost on the road to Armageddon", WWW 10/5/18.

Scrapping the Iran deal: another milepost on the road to Armageddon

Yep. Saw the "Mr President, you are right about Iran" ad, and would have signed it if anyone had asked me. [Guess you don't have a very big presence on the world stage. Ed.] In case you missed it, the main message of the full-page ad, featured prominently in the lamestream media today, is: "Iran is a danger to us, to our allies, to freedom. We stand alongside you in ending the dangerous appeasement of Iran and making all and any action required to stop Iran going nuclear, help its people, halt its spreading of terror and achieve peace and stability in the Middle East and among all peoples and nations."

There are those who disagree -- the usual gang of liberals, one-worlders (including the wimpy leaders of Britain, Germany and France), "progressive thinkers" and (((leaders of world opinion))). And the Prez. Remember him? Barack Hussein Obama thinks POTUS was misguided to renege on the Iran deal (read: capitulation to the Muslims) which was negotiated on his watch and for which he took credit, as befits the winner of a Nobel Peace Prize -- aawarded in advance by the aforesaid gang.

What the doves never explained was why, if the Iran deal was such a great game-changer, peace didn't break out in the Middle East the minute it was signed. The object was to prevent Iran from developing a nuculer (giving it the American pronunciation) weapon, and stop them from mucking around in Syria and other Muslim civil wars -- Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, etc etc -- by bringing them (Iran) back into the world economic community. So how did that work out?

The Prez and all the other one-world, appease-the-Muslim wienies have responded to POTUS' decision to scrap the Iran nuke deal by saying that his decision has moved us closer than ever to a full-scale war, yea a veritable nuclear holocaust! So if the Middle East explodes, it's all Trump's fault. Right?

Errr, no. In "Meanwhile, in the Middle East, something big is on the horizon" (WWW 10/11/17) I wrote that "recent events [in the Middle East] suggest that an escalation of that conflict is imminent." My point was that we were on the road to Armageddon well before the Iran deal! See "3 portents of the coming Armageddon", WWW 26/8/14. Scrapping the deal makes no difference other than to immanentize (slightly) the eschaton.

VIDEO: Meanwhile, in the Middle East, something big is on the horizon

Are we witnessing the beginning of a bigger Middle East war? ISIS seems to be just about finished, at least in the sense of occupying a defined territory. The Syrian government of Basher Assad has overrun the last ISIS stronghold and seems likely to turn its attention to putting the Kurds back in their place. The Kurds are also being attacked by the so-called Iraqi National Army. Those conflicts will continue, while the western powers dither about whose side they should be on. See "Gulf Wars drag on: Walt's guide to who's fighting who", WWW 16/10/17 and "Why the Canadian Army is 'suspending' ops in Iraq", WWW 2810/17.

Here's the scary part. The fighting in Syria and Iraq is just a proxy war, a smaller part of the larger Muslim civil war between the Shi'ites (read: Iran) and the Sunnis (read: Saudi Arabia). Recent events suggest that an escalation of that conflict is imminent. This month has seen a huge purge among Saudi royals, accusations of Lebanese aggression, and threats by Hezbollah. Recent semi-secret trips by (((Jared Kushner))), President Trump's son-in-law and advisor to visit with the Saudi crown prince raise questions about the position of the USA. Israeli policy seems to be lining up with Saudi regional policy against Iran and Hezbollah. The Yemen war is at a standstill. Tensions are rising throughout the sandpit.

Is this the start of something big? In the November 7th edition of the Ron Paul Liberty Report (running time 16:50) Dr. Paul and co-host Daniel McAdams analyze the signs and portents, and conclude that we are getting ever closer to a major conflict. Notice that I didn't use the word "Armageddon", but only because they didn't use it!



Walt suggests that you bookmark the Ron Paul Liberty Report. There's a new broadcast every day at noon, Eastern Time.

Islamic suicide bomber disguised in burqa kills NATO soldier

Walt has warned before about the ease with which a man intent on no good can cover himself with the extreme Muslim outerwear known as a burqa, under which not even the wearer's eyes can be seen, to perpetrate whatever evil deeds he has in mind. See "A good reason to ban the burqa", WWW 4/11/13, which dealth with just such a case in Not-so-great Britain. In spite of that case and a number of Islamic terrorist attacks -- most recently the Manchester massacre -- the UK government has yet to ban the wearing of Islamic costumes.

Islamic dress is, of course, de rigueur, in Abu Dhabi, one of the statelets that make up the United Arab Emirates. There, last June, a Pakistani dressed in a burqa lured an 11-year-old boy from a mosque in before raping and murdering him. According to Abu Dhabi Police Department Major General Mohammed Al-Knacker, the criminal cross-dressed as a woman since he knew that the little boy would not go with a man without permission from his parents.

Surveillance footage shows the suspect with a purse getting into an elevator with the young victim, whom he brutally raped and strangled the 11-year-old to death soon after they reached the roof of the apartment block. A report in the Conservative Daily Post says that air-conditioning technicians found the victim on the roof of his residence, half-naked and with a Quran in his hands.

To be clear, the clothing shown in the police mug shots looks to me like niqab, not a burqa. If, like the writer of the article, you're not clear on the difference, see "Hijab, niqab, burqa -- what's the difference?", WWW 28/7/10, which has a fine picture of three ladies (???) dressed in burqas.

We come now to the headline story, from Afghanistan, where (believe it or not), NATO troops are still carrying on the US-led mission to defeat the Taliban/ISIS/Al-Qaeda/whoever and bring peace, prosperity and the benefits of American democracy to the people of that benighted country. No matter what the government says, we are losing that battle.

Yesterday, in northern Takhar province near Qarabagh, barely 18 miles north of Kabul, a Taliban suicide bomber struck a NATO patrol in Afghanistan, killing a "service member" and two civilians. Six service members, including an Afghan translator, were wounded. A spokesthingy for the US military confirmed that a service member was killed but did not reveal the soldier's nationality. A district governor said the jihadi concealed his explosives beneath the all-enveloping women's garment known as a burqa.

The attack was the second suicide bombing in as many days that targeted NATO. On Wednesday, a suicide attacker hit a convoy on the edge of the southern city of Kandahar, killing two American soldiers and wounding another four. Both attacks were claimed by the Taliban. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesthingy told AP over the phone on Friday that one of its fighters from Takhar province carried out yesterday's attack. He claimed 11 Americans were killed, but the insurgents routinely exaggerate their claims. So that's OK then.

Still more news from Armpitistan... Today, in southern Helmand province, the Taliban stormed a market in the Gareshk district and fired at a nearby police station. As Friday is the Muslim sabbath, the market was closed, so no casualties were reported. The day before, yet another suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into a police outpost in the same town, killing two cops and wounding another two. Gareshk is obviously not a good place to live, or even visit. Last month, the Pentagon confirmed that an errant US bomb destroyed a police outpost there, killing 12 officers and wounding another 11.

Walt hasn't written much lately about Armpitistan and the endless Muslim civil wars of the Middle East. I'm sick of all that, and truly sick, sore and tired of seeing the waste of western lives and treasure in affairs which are none of our business. And there's the ancillary problem of refugees and asylum-seekers. All the trouble in the world emanates from the heart of Islam. Can the final solution be anything other than the Armageddon?

Islam "the religion of peace"? Politically correct madness!

ISIS (or ISIL, as Obama and his government call it) has beheaded two Americans and one Brit, and published videos of the barbaric acts as a warning to the USA and its allies. At the end of the latest video there is said to be a warning that another British captive will be next. Today's Independent names him as Alan Henning, a "kind and funny" aid worker from Salford, taken captive in Syria. Such, we are meant to believe, will be the fate of all "infidels" who dare oppose the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

"Infidels". That's what ISIS calls us "Christians", which Walt puts in quotes because they mean people who come from so-called "Christian" countries, although the majority of "Christians" aren't really believers in the True Faith. Whatever they believe, they're not believers in Islam, therefore "infidels". ISIS wants to kill all the infidels -- Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists -- and even those Muslims who don't belong to their own (Sunni) branch of "the religion of peace".

And yet the leaders of the free world [? Ed.] or the Christian world [??? Ed.] keep telling us that the Islamic fundamentalists don't really mean it. They want to co-exist peacefully with us because their religion is really a "religion of peace". Killing infidels really isn't part of it. They just do that because... because... well... errr...

Anyway, not all Muslims are like that. That's what President Obama and British Prime Minister Cameron are saying, even as they watch the horrifying videos. Mr. Cameron was quoted as saying, "They [ISIS] are not Muslims! They're monsters!" The Prez said ISIS "is not Islamic". [But if he's not a Muslim himself, how would he know? Ed.]

To Walt's way of thinking, to deny that ISIS is not an organization of Muslim fanatics, waging a jihad -- "holy war" -- on the rest of the world, is pure, unmitigated, politically correct bullshit! See "Quit making apologies for ISIS terrorists! They're Muslim fanatics!", posted here a few days ago.

Someone who agrees is a self-proclaimed atheist named Sam Harris, who writes "As an atheist, I cannot help wondering when this scrim of pretense and delusion will be finally burned away — either by the clear light of reason or by a surfeit of horror meted out to innocents by the parties of God.... Which will come first, flying cars and vacations to Mars, or a simple acknowledgment that beliefs guide behavior and that certain religious ideas — jihad, martyrdom, blasphemy, apostasy — reliably lead to oppression and murder?"

"Understanding and criticizing the doctrine of Islam — and finding some way to inspire Muslims to reform it — is one of the most important challenges the civilized world now faces. But the task isn't as simple as discrediting the false doctrines of Muslim 'extremists,' because most of their views are not false by the light of scripture. A hatred of infidels is arguably the central message of the Koran."

Those quotes are taken from a post on Mr. Harris's blog titled "Sleepwalking Toward Armageddon". Oh yeah... Armageddon! Didn't Walt mention that not so long ago? Indeed I did! See "3 portents of the coming Armageddon", posted here August 26th. If even an atheist can see it coming, I'd suggest our religious and political leaders ought to govern themselves (and us) accordingly.

Judgment Day - 19 September 2016 ???

3 portents of the coming Armageddon, published here a week ago, is drawing considerable interest. And why not? End-of-the-world questions and prophecies have been on people's minds and lips since about 90 seconds after Our Lord's Resurrection.

When is Jesus going to return in glory? How much longer will God tolerate the wickedness and perversity of His people? When will be the awful day of judgment? How long do we have to get ready?

These questions were perhaps even more real, more urgent to the people of the mid-14th century than they are to us, six-and-a-half centuries later. The 14th century was a time of terrible turmoil, with people from kings to commoners suffering from the Black Death and constant wars and pillage. The Church was even more corrupt and dissolute than it is today, held captive in "Babylon" (Avignon, France), then torn in the latter part of the century by the Great Schism.

In her monumental work A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous 14th Century (Ballantine, 1978), historian Barbara Tuchman tells us that the people of that time were fascinated and entertained by liturgical plays (such as the Passion Play, which survived in parts of Europe until the end of the 20th century) and "miracle plays and mysteries", whose subject matter was religious, but scripts and presentation more like secular drama.

She goes on to describe "The Day of Judgment" and "The Harrowing of Hell", which may have been performed at the historic entertainment in Paris of Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor, by Charles V, King of France. Read carefully her synopsis of these plays of prophecy.

"Apocalypse...was enacted in the Day of Judgment and the Harrowing of Hell, when Christ goes down to lead Adam and the prophets out to Paradise. Anti-Christ appears at his appointed time, traditionally fixed at three and half years before the Last Judgment. Born of Satan's seduction of a woman of Babylon, and instructed in all the demonic arts, he gains such power that kinds and cardinals pay him homage until he is overthrown at Armageddon in the triumph of good over evil. The saved are separated from the damned, and angels empty the vials of wrath." [My emphasis. Walt]

Now let us suppose, just for the sake of the argument, that Pope Francis is the Antichrist, the devil wrapped in a cloak of gentleness and humility. Francis was "inaugurated" -- the Church doesn't "consecrate", "crown" or "enthrone" popes any more -- on 19 March 2013. Add the "traditional" three years and six months and you get 19 September 2016. That's the date. Don't say Walt didn't warn you!

I'll give you that it's hard to see in Pope Francis the "Peter the Roman" named in the prophecy of St. Malachy as the last pope. But hold on. Francis has been rumored for some time to be in poor health. Since being "installed", he has cancelled several audiences and appearances, and the Vatican has press office has denied he is sick, which means he probably is. Suppose he dies? Then all bets are off and we will look for some "Petrine connection" in his successor.

What about "the woman of Babylon"? Ask any evangelical Protestant preacher and he'll tell you the Church of Rome is the "whore of Babylon" spoken of in the 17th and 18th chapters of the Apocalypse of St. John the Divine (or Revelation).
"I will shew thee the condemnation of the great harlot, who sitteth upon many waters (17:1)... on her forehead a name was written: A mystery; Babylon the great, the mother of the fornications, and the abominations of the earth. (17:5)"

The mystery plays speak of "Satan's seduction of a woman of Babylon". Has the devil seduced and perverted the Church of Rome, founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ when He walked among us? Don't take Walt's word for it. Heed the words of Pope Paul VI, who, following Vatican II and towards the end of reign, said publicly that "the smoke of Satan has entered the Church". He knew it full well, having been the pope who held open the window.

So there you have it. 19 September 2016. Walt isn't about to paint a placard saying "The end of the world is nigh" and go stand in front of the cathedral. Not just yet. But neither would I recommend turning a blind eye to the signs and portents.

What I do recommend, if this talk of Judgment Day is making you a bit nervous, is that you read Crucial Truths to Save Your Soul, by Father Nicholas Gruner, reviewed here last month.

3 portents of the coming Armageddon

Walt has written several times about Armageddon -- not the movie but the place in present-day Israel which the Bible tells us will be the site of the final battle between good and evil, between God and Satan. See the 16th chapter of the Apocalypse (or Revelation). See "The coffin of civilization", posted here almost two years ago.

Yes, there is such a place -- Tel Megiddo. Since it's more of a plain than a mountain, the prophetic vision of Apoc. 16:16 should not be taken too literally. The traditional view is that "Armageddon" symbolizes the progression of the world toward the "great day of God, the Almighty" in which the great looming mountain of God's just and holy wrath is poured out against unrepentant sinners, led by Satan, in a final confrontation which results in the literal end of the world.

Yet it seems not unlikely (to Walt, at least) that the Armageddon could take place at Megiddo. Look at the map. Even if you believe, as many do, that the actual battle will be at Jerusalem, Apoc. 16:16 tells us the armies will gather at Armageddon... not so far away.

When is this going to happen? Walt suggests that you not make any plans for Thanksgiving! Well, OK, maybe that's a bit extreme, but when you look at current events you have to wonder just how much longer God is going to hold His hand. Here are three items from this week's news which, individually, don't look like much, but added together make me think we're now playing in "extra time".

Item 1: USAF U-2 spy planes and drones have been flying over eastern Syria, most of which is held by the ISIS jihadists. It is thought the Prez may call in an air strike or two, to go with the attacks on ISIS in Iraq. This will be more than a bit embarrassing for Mr. Obama, as he will be obliged to ask permission from Basher Assad, whose regime he (Obama) was talking about overthrowing less than a year ago. Making common cause with the Syrian government will put an exclamation point on the failure of US foreign policy in the Middle East.

Item 2: Last week "unknown" military aircraft made a strike [or a spare, at least. Ed.] against Islamic extremists who were attacking the Tripoli (Libya) airport. The terrorists took the airport anyway, but the news here is that the air strike came as a complete surprise to to the USA and other western nations who, it seems, were not consulted or even notified in advance. Whodunnit? Today we learn it was jets of the United Arab Emirates, operating out of a base in Egypt. The threat here is that if these fractious Middle Eastern states start attacking each other without the involvement of the West, war could spread across the entire region like wildfire.

Item 3: Some would say that war has already started, referring to the fighting between Israel and Hamas. It seems only a matter of time before some other power jumps in -- overtly or covertly -- on the side of the Palestinians. Like who? Like Iran, that's who. Just yesterday the Iranian National Guard announced that it had shot down an Israeli drone which was intercepted flying over an Iranian nuclear facility. The other shoe could drop anytime... with a bomb attached.

The Church tells us to "despise not prophecy". Time to start "cramming for the finals"! If you haven't got time for the entire Bible, just read the Gospel of St. John, to which you may profitably add Crucial Truths to Save Your Soul, reviewed here earlier this month. The time is coming!

Hank Williams sings about Armageddon

Agent 88, who lives in the Far (and mysterious) East, reports that the sun rose as usual this morning. Therefore I expect to see it rise over the treetops of Fort Mudge in another hour or so. The world hasn't ended today. Lifetime .pct. 986.

But that doesn't mean we should stop thinking about it. As the preacher says, it's got to happen sometime! II Peter 3:10 tells us:
The day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up.

Are you ready? Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be...? II Peter 3:11.

OK, I won't preach at you. But I'll share a really obscure old song by Hank Williams Sr. (aka Luke the Drifter), called "The Battle of Armageddon".



For those who collect old vinyl -- maybe even old 78s -- I understand this was on the "B" side of a not-so-great hit called "Window Shopping".

The Battle of Armageddon, the final cataclysm that ends the world as we know it, was not just foretold in Holy Scripture. Our Lady of Fatima almost certainly talked about the last days in the Third Secret of Fatima, which still has not been fully revealed by the Vatican.

As Holy Mother Church "celebrates" the 50th anniversary of Vatican II -- the council that did such serious damage to the Catholic Church -- Walt would like to remind his Catholic readers of something that was said by the seer Malachi Martin, in a radio interview with Art Bell in 1998.

"The [central element of the] real Third Secret is...awful. I have no authority to [reveal it]. I can't make that decision... It would have such dire effects, on much more than Christians. The Cardinal who showed it to me had been present at a meeting with Pope John XXIII to outline to a certain number of Cardinals what should be done with the secret. He, John XXIII, thought it would ruin his ongoing negotiations with Khrushchev and the Kremlin."

Note from Walt: Please read "How the Vatican sold out to Communism".  Back to Malachi Martin...

"On October 11, 1962, at the opening of Vatican II at St. Peter's, John XXIII derided most contemptuously the people who he called 'the prophets of doom,' and there was no doubt in our minds that he was talking about the prophecy of Fatima. He was against that. What is in the secret...horrible! ...essentially, the onslaught of natural powers...terrible catastrophes, chastisements, and that's not the essence of the 3rd secret; it's not the frightening one."

"I have no authority, no angel has tapped me on the shoulder, I may be putting my foot in my mouth... Besides, it's a question of shock, of frightening people, of polarizing society. I can't do that... This will fill up the confessionals on Saturday evening. It will fill up the churches with worshippers striking their breasts."

Click here to read these and other excerpts from the Art Bell radio interview with Malachi Martin.
Further reading on Armageddon: "What if the Mayans were out by a month?"

What if the Mayans were out by a month?

Walt has repaired the rabbit ears so as to be able to watch TV reports from Gaza. Yesterday, in a briefing to Israeli soldiers and reservists, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz said, "We are here tonight on the eve of a possible ground operation. This is not our first time in Gaza."

Indeed. Walt wouldn't be surprised if just after sunset tonight -- when the Sabbath ends -- 1000s of Israeli troops will storm across the border of the Gaza Strip, in search of the Hamas terrorists. If they can't find any terrorists, well, any old (or young) Palestinians or other Arabs will do. Yes folks, we're talking about a real, boots-on-the-ground, shooting war in the Holy Land. Again.

Christians who have read their Bible, and believe in the End Times and the prophecies contained in the Third Secret of Fatima -- still suppressed by the Vatican -- understand that the final battle betweeen Good and Evil will happen at Armageddon: Apocalypse (Revelation) 16:16.

The modern name for the place St. John the Divine was referring to is Megiddo -- a town approximately 25 miles (40 km) west-southwest of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee in the Kishon River area of Israel.

Which leads Walt to wonder... The Mayan calendar is supposed to end -- meaning the world will end -- on 21/12/12. Right? But suppose the calendar has been misinterpreted.  Suppose the actual date is 21/11/12? That would have a nice symmetry to it!

Kind of makes you think, eh. If 21/11/12 is the real date, you'd better head for church this (Saturday) morning, because there's going to be a looooong line at the confessional. Don't say Walt didn't warn you!

The coffin of civilization

Readers of a certain age may remember history being taught in schools. Of course there was less of it, then. I rather enjoyed history, and learned from studying it that, to see more clearly where you should be going, you need to look back to see where you've been.

Which brings us to the Middle East, where human history began. Or so we were taught in Ancient History 101. Civilization began, we were told, in the Fertile Crescent, the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, stretching from modern-day Turkey down to the Persian Gulf.

Superimpose today's national boundaries on the map, and you'll see that this cradle of civilization takes in five 21st-century states: Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and "the Zionist entity" aka Israel. If you count Palestine, you get six mutually antagonistic nations.

Just to the east lies Iran, historically known as Persia. From 2000 BC to 1000 BC [Dates are approximate, since Walt wasn't actually there. Ed.] Persia was occupied by people known as Medes, whose empire (known as Media -- no kidding) stretched from Cappadocia (eastern Turkey, today) across central Asia to what is now Pakistan. Media was one of the four great powers of the ancient Near East, until 550 BC when it was conquered by Cyrus the Great. Today, one man's Mede is another man's Persian.

The Fertile Crescent has been fought over since Cain and Abel. Visitors say the parched and dusty land seems hardly worth fighting about, but when you add in the competing claims of three religions, you have a recipe for endless warfare. The Semitic peoples -- the term includes Akkasians (Assyrians and Babylonians, Elbaites, Ugarites, Canaanites, Phoenicians (including Carthaginians), Hebrews (Israelites, Judeans and Samaritans), Ahlamu, Arameans, chaldeans, Amorites, Moabites, Edomites, Hyksos, Arabs, Nabateans, Maganites, Shebans, Sutu, Ubarites, Dilmunites, Bahranis, Maltese, Mandaeans, Sabians, Syriancs, Mhallami, Amalekits and Ethiopian Semites -- take great delight in killing each other for any reason (or no reason) whatever.

To come to the point [Thank you! Ed.] Walt predicts that the cradle of civilization is going to become the coffin of civilizatin, sooner rather than later. I won't put my lifetime pct (.989) on the line by giving an exact date for the commencement of the Armageddon, but the signs and portents are there.

On Friday, when the world was thinking TGIF and not paying attention, the Canadian government quietly closed its embassy in Tehran. The announcement was made by the Foreign Affairs Minister, John "Nancy" Baird, who was attending the APEC summit in Vladivostok with his puppet-master, "Call me Steve" Harpoon.

Remarkably, a couple of Canadian journalists were still sober enough to catch the play, and the story was -- even more remarkably -- soon on the international wire services. Read in isolation, the Canucks' decision to close up shop, and send home the Iranian dips in Ottawa, seemed no big deal. The British closed their embassy after an incident a couple of years ago, and the Americans did the same long before that. The Harper government has become notorious for sucking up to Israel, so this latest move would seem to be a logical extension of Canada's so-called policy on the Middle East.

But why now? Why choose a quiet, end-of-summer weekend to decamp? Canada officially declared Iran to be a terrorist state, or at least a sponsor or supporter of terrorism. And, Mr. Beardless said, Iran hadn't stopped work on developing a "nuculer" bomb. Nothing new there. So why now?

Walt thinks the Israelis -- whose prime minister, "Bibi" Netanyahoo, within seconds issued a statement praising the Canadian action -- are getting set to pull the trigger, and gave their Canadian friends a little advance warning so there'll be no smell of cooked back bacon and maple syrup hanging in the air of Tehran.

Would Israel strike first? It wouldn't be the first time. Their own people are expecting it and preparing accordingly. In Jerusalem, gas masks are reportedly selling briskly.

Armageddon sick of this!

Please don't interpret the last paragraph of the last post to mean that Walt is in favour of going to war to protect Israel from the forces of Islam. Not at all. If we (the West) are going to wage war, let us pick on weak little countries where we know we can win -- like Libya and Afghanistan. [Is this right? Ed.]

As for the Zionist entity, let's see if Ahmedinajad can make his prediction about the world of tomorrow come true, with or without the help of the 12th imam. Perhaps the Hidden Imam will turn out to be one and the same as the Antichrist predicted in the Apocalypse of St. John the Divine. Perhaps we should take more seriously -- and more literally -- Apoc. 16:16. "He shall gather them together into a place, which in Hebrew is called Armagedon."

"Armagedon" is the late Latin spelling of the Hebrew הַר מְגִדּוֹ‎, Har Megiddo, literally Mount Megiddo. What and where is that? Mount Megiddo is a "tell" on which ancient forts were built to guard the main highway, the Via Maris, which connected Ancient Egypt with Mesopotamia. Megiddo was the location of various ancient battles, including one in the 15th century BC and one in 609 BC. Modern Megiddo is a town approximately 25 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee in the Kishon River area. That would be in ... wait for it ... Israel.

And what will happen at this place? Apoc. 16:13-14: "And I saw from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits.... For they are the spirits of devils working signs, and they go forth unto the kings of the whole earth, to gather them to battle against the great day of the Almighty God."

"False prophet", eh? Would he have a name? Beginning with M? As for the dragon and the beast, some interpret "the beast" as a great bear, the modern icon for Russia. And the dragon is the symbol, ancient and modern, of China.

Not that China, Russia and Islam have any monopoly on false teachings and unclean spirits. There are more than enough of those to go around, even within Holy Mother Church.

So what the vision of St. John the Divine seems to foretell is that the whole lot will one day get together at Megiddon -- Armageddon -- to duke it out. And then? Keep reading! Think of it as "cramming for the finals".

"Après moi, le déluge"

Louis XV, king of France, said that. Charles de Gaulle isn't known to have said it, but must surely have thought it. Both of them believed that after they were gone, all hell would break loose.

That is what the West fears will happen when Egypt's dictator, Hosni Mubarak, is deposed, as he will be within the week. (Remember that Walt told you so. Lifetime average: .973.) Even the Jews fear that he will be replaced by someone or something even worse, perhaps another ayatollah.

Today nearly a quarter of a million angry people thronged the downtown streets of Cairo in a demonstration the likes of which have never been seen in Egypt before. Some had signs reading "Your plane is waiting!"

It will not be enough for Mubarak to resign. He will have to leave the country, like his Tunisian counterpart. Canadian embassy officials are doubtless waiting at the airport to process his refugee application.

Who will replace him? Who will be in charge? There's one phrase on everyone's lips now: "the Muslim Brotherhood".

Reports are that in Muslim Brotherhood -- Islamic fundamentalists who constitute Egypt's only real opposition -- did not foment the demonstrations. But they know a good thing when they see it. In the fashion of good politicians, having determined which way the people are going, they are quickly running around to get at the head of the parade.

To have a large country run by Muslim extremists -- another Iran -- in charge of the Suez Canal is causing Western leaders to wet their pants with worry. That's why nobody, right up to President Al O'Bama, has mentioned Mubarak by name, let alone suggest that he ought to go while the going is good.

As for the Israelis, the prospect of having a militant Arab state right next door scares them spitless. If there's a rematch of the 1967 war, it won't be a six-day affair this time. And the result could well be the erasure of Israel from the map.

Or it could be the Armageddon, the final battle predicted in the Apocalypse. Better start reading your Bible, friends. And saying your prayers. This could be the start of the big one. You laugh? It's got to happen sometime. God told us it will, and God will not be mocked.

Footnote: If you choose not to believe the Christian prophecies, how about the suddenly famous Mayan calendar? December 12, 2012 could be D-day, as in Doomsday.