Your Sunday smile

Ed. here. Walt isn't available today -- making up for the role of Zwarte Piet at a Christmas party -- so I'm dipping into the slush pile to share a little cartoon someone sent us a while ago. Let it be your Sunday smile.

Zwarte Piet (aka "Black Pete") sighted in Nova Scotia

As Walt told you almost a month ago, when Sinterklaas (aka "Santa Claus") comes to the Netherlands, he comes with an assistant, a comical fellow known as Zwarte Piet (= "Black Pete"). Piet is not really black of course, people of that hue being infrequently seen in Holland... until recently.

Zwarte Piet has been a part of the Dutch Christmas tradition since time immemorial. But in the politically correct 21st century, he has come under attack as being... wait for it... a racist stereotype. People in public life should keep that in mind before being seen, let alone photographed, with poor Piet.

Unfortunately for his political career, a newly-elected member of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly, forgot this lesson in political correctness. Halifax MLA Joachim Stroink has been forced by the PC police to delete a photo he tweeted of himself posing with the controversial character at a Christmas event hosted by his Dutch-Canadian constituents last night.

Mr. Stroink, who is evidently of Dutch descent, said he never meant for the photo to offend. "As a child growing up and celebrating the Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet tradition, the blackface did not lead me to think less of my African Nova Scotian neighbours and friends, and as such I was not sensitive to the potential to offend," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Still, Stroink stressed that Dutch culture has long emphasized a black elf-like character as part of its Christmas tradition. "While the history of Zwarte Piet and the blackface have contributed to perpetuating negative stereotypes," he added, "to ignore or to disavow Zwarte Piet would be to ignore that history within the Dutch community."

And that's how things are in Canada these days. And in the USA, the UK, Australia and New Zealand too. Cultural and religious traditions are wonderful... as long as they're not Western Christian traditions. To the PC Grinches who want us to turn our backs on our religion and culture, Walt says "MERRY CHRISTMAS"!!!

Footnote: Hope you noticed that Sinterklaas is wearing the mitre of a Christian bishop... because that's what he was!

When it comes to gay rights, Africa is... errr... ???

Africans are just like the rest of us, right? We in the West -- Europe and North America -- are no more civilized or progressive than our dusky-hued brethren in the Dark Continent. Right? And they're just as committed to equality for everyone, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation. Right? That's what the "human rights activists" keep telling us.

However, as this Amnesty International map discloses, there is at least one significant difference between Europeans (including us gringos) and Africans. The latter overwhelmingly reject the sexual diversity which our governments, media and opinion-makers tell us we must embrace. The Church told us (under Pope Ratzinger at least) that homosexuality was "disordered". But in most African cultures, being gay is regarded as sick, depraved and contrary to the laws of God and nature!

It follows that homosexuals acts, even between consenting queers, are illegal in most of Africa -- the countries shown in red. Walt is surprised to find Chad, Niger and Mali (in west Africa) coloured grey, given the strong Islamic influence in those states. Perhaps they have not yet adopted Sharia law, which also forbids homosexual acts. But Sharia is surely coming, and the LGBT crowd should be packing their bags.

Turns out that queers from the "red countries" are already en route to Europe in record numbers. Having mastered the English word "REFUGEE", they are arriving by the hundreds in EU countries such as the Netherlands [home of Zwarte Piet! Ed.], where they believe they will be made welcome and gifted with houses, cars and condoms. Will you be surprised when Walt tells you the gay asylum-seekers are not entirely welcome? I thought not.

In fact the Dutch Council of State asked the European Court of Justice -- the EU's supreme court -- whether homosexuals could be considered a "particular social group" (thus potential victims of discrimination) and whether criminalization and possible imprisonment amount to persecution. Will you be surprised when Walt tells you the ECJ's opinion?

Not much of a spoiler here then. The ECJ ruled that homosexuals from Sierra Leone, Uganda and Senegal who fear imprisonment in their home country have grounds for asylum in EU member states. Asylum can be granted, the court said, in cases where people are actually jailed for homosexuality in their home country.

The ECJ says laws specifically targeting homosexuals do indeed make them a separate group. (Walt guesses that would be "the LGBT community" that the gay rights activitists and our lamestream media bang on about.) But, the court said, it is up to the national authorities - in this case the Netherlands - to determine "whether, in the applicant's country of origin, the term of imprisonment...is applied in practice". In other words, do the "homophobic" laws exist only on paper, or do places like Uganda actually lock up their queers?

Walt finds it interesting that the Netherlands would ask the ECJ "Do we have to take them?" What the Dutch -- always a practical people -- should be doing is greeting them at Schiphol and handing them one-way tickets to JFK, LAX or (best of all) SFO. [Crackheads could be sent to YYZ. Ed.] American and Canadian politicians wouldn't dare ask the queers to prove they were legitimate asylum-seekers. Hell no! Instead, they'd probably organize a "pride parade"!

The Canuck version of Zwarte Piet?

Walt's earlier post about the Disunited Nations' disapproval of "Zwarte Piet" ("Black Pete") -- a character from Dutch Christmas tradition -- brought an almost instant message from Agent 3, with a link to "Board apologizes for vice-principal's blackface costume".

This story comes from the central Canadian province of Ontario, whose ultra-liberal Liberal government -- headed by a self-proclaimed lesbian -- is so politically correct that it won't offend anyone... except white, born-in-Canada Christians. If you work for an Ontario school board, woe betide you if you do, say or even think anything that could possibly be construed as racist, homophobic, Christian, pro-life, and so on ad nauseam.

The lesson was apparently not learned by Lionel "Blood" Klotz [no more cheap jokes, please. Ed.], a vice-principal at Mayfield Secondary School in Caledon, Ontario. Mr Klotz foolishly dressed up for Hallowe'en as, errr, Mister T. Fool!!!

Putting on blackface anywhere in Canada, even just to amuse the kiddiewinks, is like following a lit fuse in search of an explosion. You don't have to wait very long. Progressive thinkers in Caledon -- one of Canada's richest exurbs -- complained to the Peel District School Board, who duly investigated and found Mr Klotz guilty of racial insensitivity, for which he is going to be disciplined. And the school board has issued the standard grovelling apology to any and all who might have been offended.

Meanwhile, as seems to be SOP nowadays, an online petition in support of Mr Klotz has been started. Hundreds of students -- smarter than their teachers perhaps -- have already signed at #SaveKlotz2013. According to the Red Star, Mr Klotz could not be reached for comment this afternoon. Agent 3 thinks perhaps he's on his way to Amsterdam to take up a new position as a Zwarte Piet.

UN PC police out to get Zwarte Piet

Today Walt was saddened (but not surprised) to learn of the latest attack of the PC police on European Christian tradition. The target this month is a character from Dutch-Flemish folklore, an important part of the Santa Claus and Christmas tradition of the Netherlands and the northern part of Belgium.

The big day for good little Dutch boys and girls is December 6th. That's when Sinterklaas [= "Santa Claus"! Ed.] comes to town. Families gather together to read poems ["The Night Before Christmas" maybe? Ed.] and exchange gifts.

Jolly old Saint Nick doesn't come by reindeer-powered sleigh. No sir! He comes by boat, not from the North Pole but from Spain. And he has company, too -- a comical helper known as "Zwarte Piet". As you can see in the picture, "Black Pete" (as he would be called in English) has a black face, red lips and curly hair. So, as was bound to happen eventually, the chairthingy of a UN Human Rights Commission yesterday condemned Piet as "an offensive caricature of black people".

"The working group does not understand why it is that people in the Netherlands cannot see that this is a throwback to slavery, and that in the 21st century this practice should stop," Verene Shepherd told the Dutch television programme EenVandaag.

Many of the horrible racist Dutch -- including many dark-complected folks from the Dutch bits of the Caribbean -- disagree. Piet's supporters say he's a positive figure whose appearance is harmless. At one time, Piet was referred to as a "servant" of the elderly saint, but in recent years those references have been replaced with the idea that he gets black from soot as he climbs down chimneys to deliver toys and candy for children who leave their shoes -- wooden, of course -- out overnight.

Those opposed to tinkering with tradition have set up a Facebook page, with a "Pete-ition" [geddit? Ed.] to preserve the traditional appearance of Zwarte Piete. According to the Economist the page has already had over 2 million "likes", showing the strong emotional attachment that most Dutch have to the character. Being the last person on earth who refuses to join Facebook, I can't give you the link, but if you're on FB it shouldn't be hard to find it. Please do!

Further reading: "Christmas in Holland / the Netherlands".