China -- not a good place to be a democrat or a Catholic

China may be far from Walt's decrepit body, but it is never far from his mind. [Or what passes for it. Ed.] I pray especially -- and hope Catholic readers of WWW will too -- for Chinese Catholics who, if they wish to be loyal to and in communion with Rome, must worship in secret, as did the first Christians. Here's a picture of worshippers at an "underground church" in Yunjiang.

They are gathering in someone's home, because the few church buildings still existing in China are owned by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, the schismatic "church" set up by the Communists following the revolution of 1949. 1000s of Catholics, including priests and even bishops, went over to the CPCA, but other 1000s belong to the "underground Church", the True Church recognized by Rome.

Last month the underground Church lost one of its dwindling number of priests. Father John Peng Weizhao, the apostolic administrator of the Yujiang diocese, was arrested on May 30 by agents of the Communist "religious affairs department". His current whereabouts are unknown. Eyewitnesses told UCANews they were saddened -- but not surprised -- when the officials who were on hand when Father Peng was arrested now say that they know nothing about him.

Meanwhile, Joseph Cardinal Zen, the retired Archbishop of Hong Kong, has repeated his support for a democracy initiative in that "Special Administrative Region" of China. The prelate told AsiaNews that the people of Hong Kong will "hit back if they are repressed and forced to be enslaved."

Cardinal Zen is well known not just at the Vatican but to Catholics and human rights activists around the world, thus is unlikely to be treated in the same way as Father Peng. He has taken a prominent public role in support of a referendum calling for true democratic elections in Hong Kong. In a radio interview, he criticized a "White Paper" issued by the Beijing government, which stressed China’s "comprehensive sovereignty" over the region. In the Cardinal's view, the Communists may have sovereignty over the bodies of Hong Kong's people... but not their souls.

How one shoe can change a family picture!

Thanks again to Agent 6, who seems to be forever amused by this sort of thing. Agent 6 also sent us the hilarious photo in "Fired on the first day of work". Walt will have to coin a phrase to describe this genre. Suggestions welcome.

Mission accomplished... NOT! Iraq explodes again

Looks like the cradle of civilization is becoming even less civilized -- or more uncivilized -- this week, as the world lurches ever close to the Armageddon.

Walt refers to the looming disaster in Iraq, and suggests you have a look at the map of the "cradle" in "The Coffin of Civilization", posted here back in September of 2012. See the part of the "Fertile Crescent" labelled "Assyria"? That's modern-day Syria. "Akkad" roughly corresponds to Iraq. Here's a modern map, showing today's porous borders. Consult your programme while Walt explains who's killing whom.

The yellow stain of violent Islamic extremism starts in north-eastern Syria where jihadist rebels are fighting the forces of "Basher" Assad's government, then spreads east into northern Iraq, where the majority Kurds -- also Muslims -- have been agitating for ages to establish an independent state. In fact they already have a government of sorts in the three Iraqi states shown in olive grey.

The insurgents coming in from Syria represent a new "organization", even worse than al-Qaeda, which they call "the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant". The abbreviation would seem to be "ISIL", but they have taken to using "ISIS", maybe because... well, who knows... Islam is not the monolithic religion many westerners think it is. Muslims like fighting with each other even better than waging war on infidels. [Maybe it's because we infidels are better fighters? Ed.] The ISIS jihadists are Sunni Muslims, and regard the Shia Muslims (the majority in Iraq) as, errr, also infidels.

The Kurds, as you can imagine, are encouraging the Sunni thugs to make their whey [Geddit? Kurds and whey? Ed.] quickly south to Tikrit and Baghdad, where the Shites [Ed., please check spelling] are, and leave "Kurdistan" to the Kurds. As of today, ISIS are in control of Mosul and Tikrit and are moving closer to Baghdad. Iraqi government troops are stripping off their uniforms and laying down their arms as fast as Egyptians fleeing from advancing Israelis.

Cue the inevitable "Something must be done!" from Western leaders, the Disunited Nations, etc etc. But what?! How about sending US troops in to restore order. Considering what a great job the American-led "coalition" did last time, maybe not! Even President Hussein Obama has learned (Walt thinks) that going in is one thing, getting out quite another. Won't be doing that again!

But cheer up. Iran is ready to step into the breach! President Hassan Rouhani has denied reports that three units of Iran's crack Presidential Guards have already been sent to Baghdad to bolster Iraqi government forces' defences. But, he said, Iran stands ready to intervene if things get worse. And they are sending a dozen tanks fitted with special transmissions -- four speeds in reverse and one forward... in case the Sunnis attack from the rear.

Iran has close ties with the Shia-dominated Iraqi leadership which came to power after the Americans toppled of President Saddam Hussein, whose power base was the country's Sunni minority. That little exercise cost over $1,000,000,000,000 -- that's a trillion -- and over 4000 American lives. But it was worth it, right? Errr, maybe not.

Note from Ed.: I'm reminded of the old Iraqi lovesong: I Want a Gal Just Like the Old Bag Dad Had.

100-year-old twin sisters have their picture taken

These twin sisters just turned 100 in St. Luke's nursing home. The editor of the Fort Mudge Moan told his photographer to hurry over there and get a picture of the centenarians before they died!

One of the twins was hard of hearing, but the other could hear quite well. When the photographer asked them to sit on the couch, the deaf one said to her twin, "What did he say?"
"WE GOTTA SIT OVER THERE ON THE COUCH!" was the reply.

Then the cameraman said, "Could you get a little closer together, please?"
"What'd he say?"
"HE SAYS SQUEEZE TOGETHER A LITTLE!"
So they scrunched a little closer to each other.

"Just hold on for a bit longer," said the photographer. "I've got to focus."
Yet again, "What did he say?"
"HE SAYS HE'S GONNA FOCUS!"
With a big grin, the deaf twin exclaimed, "REALLY??!! BOTH OF US???!!!"

Thanks to the shy and retiring Agent 1, who is not a twin.

French cops racist? Main non! It's only a "negro party"!

Several police officers from the Paris suburb of Kremlin-Bicêtre [no kidding. Ed.] are in trouble after photos surfaced of them in blackface at a "negro" party, according to a report in Le Figaro.

Here we see les flics, some apparently wearing frizzy or dreadlock wigs [No kidding? It's not their real hair? Ed.] dressed in what seems to be improvised African garb. This is not a costume, they explained, but a representation of normal street clothing as seen every day in many Paris suburbs.

As for the second photo, well, what can one say except that the party was meant to be private. However, one of the cops' colleagues, Claudy "the Rat" Siar -- formerly a "racial equality officer" posted the images online. Guess he was miffed at not being invited to the party.

The five officers, whose names were not published, face an internal review. It's not clear what sort of disciplinary action they may face. Deportation to... let's say Detroit... seems not to be an option.

OOPS! It was American air power that killed US soldiers in Afghanistan!

Walt is embarrassed to admit that in "Memo to Obama: Afghanistan is over! We lost!" he relied on early reports that suggested five American soldiers serving i Armpitistan were killed by "friendly fire", which he took to me the Afghan army and/or police. WRONG!

BBC News reports that "coalition forces" had called for air support to fend off a Taliban attack in Zabul province. The airstrike was delivered by... errr... American planes. US Rear Admiral John Kirby called it "friendly fire from the air".

An Afghan soldier and an interpreter were also killed. They weren't counted in the original report.

Five (or six) "friendly casualties" beats the previous record, set in April of 2002, when four Canadian soldiers were killed by a bomb dropped by a US F-16 during night exercises in Kandahar.

Are Muslims taking over your kids' school? Beware the "Trojan Horse"!

Today's online edition of The Telegraph reports the announcement by British Education Secretary Michael Gove that, beginning in September, all of England’s 20,000 primary and secondary schools will be required to teach "British values of tolerance and fairness". Imagine that!

Why do you suppose Her Britannic Majesty's Government feels it necessary to institute this campaign? Errr... well... it may have something to do with a report by a number of head teachers [= school principals, for Walt's North American readers] revealing an organized campaign to impose a "narrow, faith-based ideology" at some schools in Birmingham.

Which "faith-based ideology" would that be? Why, Islamic fundamentalism, of course. No prizes for guessing!

A report by Ofsted, the toothless watchdog of English education, recommended placing five Birmingham schools in "special measures" after "deeply worrying" findings that the schools had been taken over by Islamists.

One of the schools was funding a Madrassa -- a school for the study of Islam -- from its own budget, while at another Muslim children had been taken on trips to Saudi Arabia. A third school regularly broadcast a call to Muslim prayer over the school’s loudspeaker in the playground while another school taught in biology that "evolution is not what we believe".

Mr. Gove said that this would change. He told Parliament, "We already require independent schools, academies and free schools to respect British values. Now we will consult on strengthening this standard further, so that all schools actively promote British values." Mr. Gove did not include the word "Christian" in his speech, nor did he explain exactly what values should be considered "British".

However, current guidance asks schools to "enable pupils to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law" and "provide pupils with a broad general knowledge of public institutions and services in England". Pupils are also encouraged "to respect the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs".

How that last part squares with letting Muslims drive their "Trojan Horse" into Britain's schools is similarly unclear.

And, dear reader, lest you think the Islamic fundamentalists are only taking over British schools, be aware that the camel's nose is already inside the tent flap in every Western country, particularly places which are determined to "celebrate diversity" at the expense of European Christian culture and values, such as Ontario (see below).

Have you checked your kids' school lately to see what's going on there? Do they, for example, have a prayer room for the Muslim kids, but not for the Christians? (Could be...even in a so-called Catholic school. See below.) Take a look. Take a good look!

Further reading (lots of it!) on WWW:
"US schools turning kids into Muslim fanatics, says ACT! founder"
"Islamization of Ontario schools still part of government agenda" - Ontario residents! Please keep this in mind as you vote on Thursday!
"Muslim camel's nose inside door of 'Catholic' school"
"Geert Wilders warns USA: Muslims taking over Europe -- you're next!"