Yes, Virginia, there really is a Saint Nicholas

There are modernists in the Catholic Church who downplay the importance, even the very existence, of the saints, especially those canonized long ago, who aren't mentioned in the Bible and about whom little is known. 

Saints Christopher and Valentine, for instance, no longer appear in the post-Vatican II calendar. Another saint about whom there are doubters is Saint Nicholas, the philanthropic Greek bishop and inspiration behind the Christmas icon, Santa Claus.

Born some time after A.D. 260 in Myra (now the Demre district of Antalya, Turkïye), Saint Nicholas was an early Christian bishop. He became idolised for his kindness and generosity, tales of him giving money to those less fortunate lending themselves to legends of miracle work. He is now the patron saint of children and sailors.

Over time, reverence for the holy figure evolved into the creation of Santa Claus, the jolly bearded present-giver and symbol of western Christmas celebrations. The name Santa Claus came from the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas -- Sinter Klaas. His feast day is December 6th. Coincidentally -- call it a miracle? -- it was on that day that archaelogists announced that they have discovered what they believe to be the saint's tomb!

Very little is actually known about the real Saint Nicholas, except that he was buried in the church named after him following his death around A.D. 343 A.D. His actual body's whereabouts have always remained a mystery. It was thought to have been stolen in 1087 and smuggled to the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy. While scientific studies have been carried out on these bones, the evidence that they actually belonged to Saint Nicholas remain inconclusive.

What has been unearthed now is a six-foot-long limestone sarcophagus found buried six feet deep within the two-story annex of the Church of Saint Nicholas Church in Demre, long considered the final resting place of the saint.

Excavations have been under way there since 1989, but this latest find is the most intriguing yet. The project was led by Ebru Fatma Findik, an Associate Professor at Hatay Kemal University, as part of the "Legacy for the Future Project". 

Professor Findik told Turkish media,  "The fact we have found a sarcophagus near the church, which is thought to house his tomb, may indicate that this is indeed the sacred area we have been searching for. This is a significant archaeological confirmation of historical sources regarding the burial place of St Nicholas." 

So far, only the lid of the tomb has been completely uncovered, with a small section of the burial chamber visible. The team are planning further excavations in the coming months to find more clues. While its location lends credibility to the tomb belonging to Saint Nicholas, the research team are now hoping to find an inscription that might reveal more details about who was inside. Speaking to Türkiye Today, Prof. Findik added, "Our biggest hope is to find an inscription on the sarcophagus. This would help clarify the burial contents and allow us to determine the exact period it dates from."

This news should give people -- the doubters as well as the faithful -- pause to recollect that Christmas is, in fact, a Christian festival, based on not just the Holy Bible, but on the traditions handed down to us from our fathers in Faith... like Saint Nicholas.

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.

VIDEO: Ron Paul comments on long-overdue US withdrawal from Syria

In case no-one noticed, our blog quietly passed its 10th anniversary back in July. [If I'd remembered I'd have baked a cake. Ed.] How time flies when you're having fun! One of the themes that I write about again and again [and again and again. Ed.] is the folly of America being entangled in foreign wars that it can't win, especially the oil wars in the Gulf and Middle East. See, for example, "Will America never learn? The persistence of bad foreign policy" (WWW 2/5/13).

It's not that I'm a pacifist, or anti-Israel, or an apologist for the Islamists. I'm just a realist, like Ron Paul, and think it's stupid to waste tens of thousands of American lives and billions of American dollars meddling in and tens of thousands trying to act as referees in Muslim civil wars. Here's what Dr Paul has to say about Still-President Trump's announcement that US forces will be withdrawn from Syria, starting yesterday!



IMHO the withdrawal is long overdue! We have (dare I say it?) no dog in those fights. The USA will be no better off no matter who wins, and no worse off no matter who loses. The usual suspects say the Bushes, Slick Willy, and the Prez sent American forces to the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan, and kept them there, not just to convert the feudal Arab states to modern Western democracy, but to keep the Saudis and multinational companies in control of the oil that lies beneat the blood-stained desert sands.

I call BS on that. With the development of fracking and shale oil, and the slowly lessening use of plastics and other oil-based products, America is virtually self-sufficient in oil. And if the liberals on both sides of the Canada-US border would smarten up and support the development of Canada's oil sands and the import of Canadian oil through pipelines which the leftists don't want to be built or expanded, oil self-sufficiency would be guaranteed. Who needs Arab oil?!

Mr Trump's announcement late Sunday has set the lefties' hair on fire. Expressions of shock and horror are being heard from all liberal quarters, notably Brussels, the capital of the European Union, and (of course) the commentariat of America, Britain and Canada.
* America is leaving its Kurdish allies in the lurch!
* America is surrendering! Another failure for Trump!
* America is caving to Assad!
* The Turkish invasion of Syria will be disastrous!
* More millions of refugees will be washing up on our shores!
and, inevitably
* We're inviting a resurgence of Al-Qaeda and ISIS!

Walt says, who cares?! Let the Islamists duke it out. And if a humanitarian disaster ensures, let the Europeans and Canucks take care of it, if they're so minded... and can afford it. Getting out of the Middle East is absolutely the right thing to do. As Dr Paul and Dan McAdams say near the end of the video, it's not going to happen overnight, but this week's decision by Still-President Trump is a step in the right direction.

Further reading: "Worried for Kurds in Syria, abandoned by US? Here’s an obvious solution but it will make Washington hawks MAD", by Nebojsa Malic, on the Ron Paul Institute website, 8/10/19.

Happy New Year! ISIS takes credit for Istanbul massacre

So, farewell then, 2016. And welcome 2017. What will the new year be like? Walt has a few predictions. Here's one. The Islamic terrorist attacks against Western civilization and any Muslims who don't agree with their extremist views will continue unabated. The Muslim civil war will continue. Two "incidents" this weekend prove me right, as usual.

Yesterday, New Year's Eve, a pair of suicide bombings minutes apart hit al-Sinak, a flea market in central Baghdad, Iraq. Minutes after the first suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden belt, a cry of "Allahu akbar!" rang out again, as a the second attacker struck amid the crowd that gathered. 28 people, mostly Shia Muslims, died. 54 were wounded.

In a statement posted by its Aaqmaq news agency, the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks, and confirmed that the blasts came from a pair of suicide bombers. Later on Saturday, three separate attacks in and around Baghdad killed another 8 people, including a policeman, and wounded 17. Provisional total for the day: 36 "infidels" dead, 71 wounded.

This morning at 0115 local time -- just over an hour into the New Year -- a gunman who entered the crowded Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, and opened fire, killing at least 39 people, including a policeman, and wounding 69 others. At the time of the shooting, about 600 people were inside the club, located near a bridge that crosses the Bosphorus River. The venue was popular with wealthy locals and tourists. An Israeli woman has been identified as one of the victims. Other foreign victims came from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon and Libya.

As yet, no-one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is reminiscent of last June's massacre of 49 people (and wounding of 53 others) at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando FL. The killer in that case was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old "Muslim-American" security guard. In a 9-1-1 call shortly after he started shooting, Mr Mateen swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the ISIS/ISIL. He said the shooting was "triggered" [bad pun! Ed.] by the American killing of Abu Waheeb in Iraq the previous month. He later told a negotiator he was "out here right now" because of the American-led interventions in Iraq and in Syria, and that the negotiator should tell the United States to stop bombing ISIL.

Although no connection with ISIS has been established in the Reina killings, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has issued a statement in which he says "I vehemently condemn the terror attack in Istanbul's Ortakoy neighbourhood in the first hours of 2017." Offering his condolences for those who lost their lives, including "foreign guests", Mr Erdogan said, "Turkey continues its combat against terror and is absolutely determined to do whatever is necessary in the region to ensure its citizens safety and peace." Walt wishes the Turks good luck with that!

Walt is keeping his eye on the mojo wire for reports of rape and other Islamic New Year's celebrations from Koln, Berlin, Stockholm and/or other European cities. My prediction: Cries of "Allahu akbar!" will echo around the world for the remaining 365.5 days of 2017. Happy New Year!

UPDATE 1/1/17: AP reports that President B. Hussein Obama expressed condolences for the attack and directed his team to offer US help to Turkish authorities. Whether the Turks want American help is another matter. The White House condemned the incident calling it a "horrific terrorist attack". Notice the omission of the word "Islamic". Even now, the Soon-to-be-ex-Prez can't bring himself to call Islamic terrorism by its name.

UPDATE 2/1/17: To no-one's surprise, AP reports today that ISIS (The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) is claiming responsibility for the New Year's Eve Istanbul nightclub massacre. The ISIS-linked Aamaq News Agency said that the attack was carried out by a "heroic soldier of the caliphate who attacked the most famous nightclub where Christians were celebrating their pagan feast."

It said the man opened fire from an automatic rifle and also detonated hand grenades in "revenge for God's religion and in response to the orders" of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They went on to describe Turkey as "the servant of the cross" and suggested the attack was in retaliation for Turkish military offensives against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Your militant Muslims today (Islamic terrorism update)

Following up yesterday's posts on attacks in Europe and the Middle East for which fanatical Muslim terrorists are responsible...

In Germany, the toll from the death truck which was deliberately crashed into people thronging the Christmas market near Kaiser Wilhelm church in Berlin has climbed to an even dozen (12), with four dozen (48) reported injured.

Die Polizei arrested a Muslim-looking person caught running away from the scene, who turned out to be... wait for it... a Pakistan asylum-seeker. But now Herr Inspektor Hitler [Ed., please check name.] says they may have got the wrong man. "They all look the same," he told the press.

In a separate statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose policy of Willkommenskultur has opened Germany's legs [Arms! shurely. Ed.] to over a million "refugees" and asylum-seekers in the last year, said she was "disappointed". Walt says she's not half so disappointed now as she will be after next year's elections.

The gunman who assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey turned out to be a native-born Muslim, hardly surprising since the vast majority of Turks are followers of the Prophet. If Turkey is ever admitted to the European Union (which now seems highly unlikely) it would be the first Muslim nation to be included in once-Christian Europe. The whole idea of Turkey being considered a European nation is ludicrous, but I digress...

Turkish police say it was easy for the assassin to get close to the ambassador since he (the killer) was an off-duty policeman. As he pulled the trigger (eight times) he shouted "Allahu akbar!" and other dire imprecations in Arabic, but then switched to Turkish for a rant about Syria and Aleppo. Although his family and roommates are helping police with their investigation, it's unclear whether the killer was acting in support of ISIS or the militias who are revolting against the Syrian government. This one may not be "Islamic terrorism"... merely a "political statement".

The excitement over the Berlin and Ankara attacks was such that a less spectacular incident in Switzerland got buried in the inside pages, so to speak. In Zurich, a gunman wounded three people attending prayers at an Islamic centre, before turning the gun on himself.

Witnesses to the attack reported that the gunman, dressed in dark clothes and a woolen cap, had escaped on foot after the shooting. Swiss police have not identified a motive for the attack on the Islamic centre, which was largely frequented by members of Zurich's community of Somali "refugees". An update on the investigation is expected momentarily.

Finally to the Middle Eastern sandpit of Jordan, where seven members of the country's security forces, two local civilians and a Canadian tourist were killed on Sunday in an attack on a Crusader-era castle in Karak, south of the capital, Amman.

At least four gunmen laid siege to the popular tourist attraction for reasons as yet "unexplained". Four of the attackers were shot dead by police. 15 members of the security forces were injured along with 17 Jordanian civilians and two foreigners, including the son of the Canadian lady who was killed. The attack is said to be one of the bloodiest incidents in Jordan in recent memory. ISIS has claimed responsibility for a series of weekend shootings, in a statement released today by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant internet traffic.

Further reading: Geert Wilders says Angela Merkel has blood on her hands, after Berlin attack. Fox News, 20/12/16.

Russian ambassador to Turkey shot dead! "Allahu akbar!"

This is breaking news so just a short post pending details. AP reports that Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, has been shot and killed in a gun attack [How else would you be "shot and killed"? Ed.] in the capital Ankara.

An AP photographer said a gunman fired shots at Karlov at a photo exhibition where the ambassador was making an address.

According to Burhan Ozbilic (the photographer), the ambassador was several minutes into a speech at the embassy-sponsored exhibition when a man wearing a suit and tie shouted "Allahu akbar!" and fired at least eight shots.

The AP photographer was alert (and steady) enough to snap a pretty good photo. Here it is. Pretty snappy dresser for an Islamic terrorist, eh. You were expecting maybe a turban? It is not clear whether the killer was against Russians or against paintings depicting people (forbidden by Holy Qu'ran) or both. The Russian/Turkish/American reaction should be interesting. Stay tuned. I'll make the popcorn.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East...

A random selection of headlines from this weekend's news...

- 25 dead after bomb explodes during Mass at Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo

- Turkey stadium bombing death toll rises to 38, including 30 police officers

- 9 months after being driven out, IS militants recapture Palmyra

- Iraqi offensive against ISIS stronghold in Mosul stalls; Defense Secretary Carter arrives to assess situation

- Syrian army, Russian warplanes pound rebel-held Aleppo but advances halt

- Death toll hits 45 in Yemen suicide bombing

- Kerry calls for "grace" as Syrians set to take Aleppo

- US Sends 200 More Troops To Syria Days After Obama Lifts Ban On Arms Supplies To Rebels

Meanwhile, the Prez (soon to be ex-Prez) thinks the most important thing he should do before leaving office (at last!) is to prove that the Russians are responsible for the election of Donald Trump. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Further reading: "Trump’s Promised 'New Foreign Policy' Must Abandon Regime Change for Iran", by Ron Paul, 4/12/16.

UPDATED: Washington shooter turns out to be Turkish

Apparently random murder spree in a typical suburban American shopping mall. Five dead, ranging in age from a teenager to a senior citizen. "No apparent motive," the cops said. Just random.

Massive manhunt for the suspect, first described as "Hispanic-looking" ensues. Last night, Island County Sheriff's Lieutenant Mike Hawley, on patrol in Oak Harbor WA, spots someone who looks like the guy in the video, and arrests him.

Now in police custody is Arcan Cetin, aged 20, a sometime resident of Oak Harbor, arrested previously for assault, DUI, and more assault. Last December, he was ordered by an Island County District Court judge not to possess a firearm.

Authorities did not say how the suspect may have obtained the weapon -- whether he retrieved it from outside or picked it up in the mall -- but they believe he acted alone. The weapon was recovered at the scene.

"Arcan Cetin?", Walt hears you say. "Doesn't sound Irish or Dutch." Well, no. Mr Cetin immigrated to the Excited States of America from... wait for it... Turkey.

So far, nothing has been said about Mr Cetin's religion (or lack thereof), and nothing has been said about his motive (or lack thereof). Walt suspects nothing more will be said until after tomorrow night's Great Debate. Why make things any more awkward for Crooked Hillary than they are already?

Further reading (and watching -- VIDEO embedded): "'The more Muslims you have, the more terrorists.' (Mark Steyn)" WWW 21/9/16.

UPDATED 25/9/16: From the AP mojo wire... "Cetin also appeared to have blogs on the site Tumblr that had not been updated in many months. They included seemingly random posts about serial killer Ted Bundy, a collection of selfies, the top-secret Area 51 Cold War test site and photos of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The two blogs linked back to each other and one of them linked to what appeared to be his Twitter page." Walt's emphasis. Stay tuned for more....

ONLINE NOW: halal sex shop!

You couldn't make this stuff up. And let this story be a chastisement to anyone who says the Muslims are not entrepreneurial and business-minded.

Reuters reports that Haluk Murat Demirel, a young Turk -- well OK, he's 38 -- has opened what he says is the first online sex shop for Muslims. It's called Helal Sex Shop Bayan, and sells everything from lubricants to herbal aphrodisiacs.

And there's more! If you read Turkish, you can get advice on how to have "halal" sex. They'll tell you which sexual practices are banned by Islam, and which are not. [Don't go there. Ed.]

Mr. Demirel said he was inspired to launch the website by friends who wanted sex advice and products, but found the content on other websites and in specialist stores too explicit. "Online sex shops usually have pornographic pictures, which makes Muslims uncomfortable," he said. "We don't sell vibrators for example, because they are not approved by Islam." Walt suggests that perhaps that's because electricity was unknown in the days of the Prophet. [And still is, in parts of the Islamic world. Ed.]

In theory, Turkey is a secular country. [Like France? Ed.] However, the majority of its citizens are Muslims. [Like France? Ed.] So sexual mores provoke a lot of debate... a lot! There are relatively few bricks-and-mortar sex shops, even in major cities, although in parts of Istanbul those that do exist advertise themselves with neon signs.

Mr. Demirel said his website, launched only last week, has already proven popular, with 33,000 visitors on Sunday alone. And Walt is sure that the counter has ticked over by at least one, just within the last two minutes. So how's your Turkish? Could you figure out what "seks" means? LOL

Prime Minister calls abortion "murder"

"I see abortion as murder. What’s the difference between killing a baby inside a mother’s womb and killing a baby after birth?" Good question, posed by the prime minister of a NATO country on Saturday.

No, it wasn't David Cameron or "Call me Steve" Harper. Neither of them could be so un-PC as to speak the truth about baby-killing. The truth-teller was actually Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey, speaking to his ruling party’s women’s branches in Ankara.

Mr. Erdogan went on to say that support for abortion should be seen as "a sneaky plan to wipe [Turkey] off the world stage." Abortion is legal in Turkey through the first ten weeks of pregnancy. But their PM wants to encourage the people of Turkey to maintain the country’s high birth rate, arguing that population growth helps to strengthen the country both economically and socially.

The Turkish leader -- who happens to be a Muslim, by the way -- has called for a "3-child policy" that would urge families to have at least 3 children. Think about that. If the Turks and other Muslims have 3 women per child, and the women of "Christian" North America and western Europe have just a tad over 1, how long will it take for the Muslims to be in the majority?

Mr. Erdogan has done the math. How about Obama, Cameron, Hollande, Harper and the rest of our "leaders"?

Footnote: In England and Wales (Rt. Hon. David Cameron, Prime Minister) 189,931 abortions were performed in 2011 -- but 7.7% above the rate 10 years ago. 36% of all abortions were procured by women who had had an abortion one or more times before.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, the head of Christian Concern, said that the new statistics should prompt new thinking about the legal status of abortion. In passing the Abortion Act of 1967, “Parliament never intended abortion to be available on demand,” she said. Yet the overall number of abortions continues to rise.

Christianophobia strikes again

It's getting so massacres of Christians in Muslim countries (Iraq, Pakistan, and now Egypt) or Hindu countries (India) barely make the front page.

If you didn't see it in your local birdcage-liner, 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians were killed in Egypt a couple of days ago as they left mass. Meanwhile, in Iraq, where hundreds of Catholics were murdered by Islamic fundamentalists, celebrations of the Christmas season feasts were held in private homes, rather than risk having another church desecrated and more martyrs sent to Heaven.

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out against this obviously rising "Christianophobia", but the reaction of the lamestream media has been a big ho-hum. "Well," you can hear them saying, "he would say that, wouldn't he?"

So let's give credit to USA Today -- not usually known for incisive or in-depth coverage of hard news -- for an item in its "Faith & Reason" blog entitled "Does Egypt bomb blast signal rising 'Christianophobia?'"

Hello, blogger! The answer is YES! Isn't it obvious? While you're at it, why not ask if the Pope is Catholic?

But at least USA Today is asking the question. Other lamestream media outlets still haven't noticed!

Footnote: Walt followed a link in the blog to the map below. Here you can see for yourself where the state forbids or restricts the practice of Christianity (red) and those where violence against Christians is endemic (orange). Includes a lot of the world, doesn't it?