Migrant crisis: Boat people wash up on Europe's shores

Pictured below, being offloaded from the Italian coast guard vessel AMB Gregoretti is one of the hundreds of victims of what authorities are now calling "the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean".

Over the weekend, hundreds of would-be refugees were drowned lamestream media when two rickety boats operated by human traffickers capsized while trying to reach safety in Italy, Malta or Greece, in flight from the Islamic civil war (not to mention poverty) afflicting northeast Africa.

As Walt writes, foreign ministers of the European Union are gathered for an emergency meeting on the growing crisis as migrants flee the instability in Africa and the Middle East at unprecedented rates. Some are calling for a naval blockade to intercept smugglers' boats as they leave ports in Libya. Others are going so far as to call for another invasion [a re-invasion? Ed.] of Libya to restore order to the failed state left behind by the previous NATO meddling.

Premier Matteo Renzi today told an Italian radio station today he will ask his EU counterparts to confront instability in Libya more decisively than in the past, but, "At this moment to intervene with international forces on the ground is a risk that is absolutely excessive. We cannot think about sending tens of thousands of men without a strategy, on a wave of emotion."

"Sending troops without a strategy on a wave of emotion..." Wasn't that what Britain, France, Italy, Canada and the USA did the first time? Isn't that what America and its camp followers are doing in Iraq and Syria? And yet, something must be done to stop Europe from being inundated by a tidal wave of Muslim refugees. Here are some numbers, published today by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

13,500 - Migrants rescued in just one week (10-17 April), now the burden of Italian taxpayers

1,600 - Migrants thought to have died attempting the crossing so far this year

35,000 - Migrants from North Africa landed in Europe (mainly Italy) so far this year

218,000 - Estimated to have crossed the Mediterranean (mainly to Italy) last year

3,500 - Migrants died attempting the crossing last year

What with all the commotion, hand-wringing and appeals to humanitarianism, little mention is being made of what it is that all these Africans, Arabs (and yes, south Asians) are running away from. That would be militant Islamists. Just yesterday, the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) released a new video purportedly showing the killing in Libya -- by gunshot or beheading -- of two groups of Ethiopian Christians in Libya. The jihad continues.

Walt's playoff recap: Montréal Canadiens vs Ottawa Senators

Ed. here. Walt's mind and/or heart has been elsewhere this week, hence the dire dearth of new posts on WWW. From wherever he is, he has sent a number of dispatches, of which this is the first.

Walt and Poor Len were MIA for several hours on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings, watching their beloved Montréal Canadiens defeat the Ottawa Senators in the first three games of one the eight NHL playoff series. Scores were 4-3, 3-2 (in overtime) and, last night, 2-1 (also in overtime). The Habs gave up the first goal and trailed 1-0 at the end of the first period in all three games, but came back to win.

Regular readers of WWW will know that Poor Len watches carefully the every move of P.K. Subban, the PC winner of the Norris Trophy a couple of years ago, the one whom the Montreal Gazette's Dave Stubbs thinks -- even now -- is a "transcendant" defenceman. Here's what we saw this week.

In Game 1, Mr. Subban led the team in penalties, the second being a 5-minute major plus a game misconduct for a vicious two-handed lumberjack slash on Ottawa's Mark Stone, causing a hairline fracture of the Stoney wrist. Les Glorieux managed to win the game without Subban, with Jeff Petry filling the gap without doing anything stupid.

In Game 2, P.K. whistled a cannonading slapshot [Hello Danny Gallivan, wherever you are! Ed.] past Andrew Hammond to score the Habs' second goal. The Hamburglar heard the 85-mph rocket coming at actually ducked to avoid being decapitated. Very good. But Montréal fans and coach Michel Thérrien still wish that Subban would pass the puck occasionally, especially on the power play, which continues to struggle.

Last night, Mr. Stubbs's home boy was, as usual, out of position when Ottawa scored its lone goal. P.K. took a high, hard, open-ice check from Ottawa's Patrick Wiercioch. Bent on revenge, he charged over to the boards in an attempt to crunch Sens star Erik Karlsson. That left Subban's buddy Andrei Markov -- who planted a kiss on P.K. after the Friday night goal -- alone against two attackers. Result, Ottawa goal.

Poor Len stands by his recent re-evaluations of P.K. Subban, and adds that if he (Subban) ever learns to play defence, he'll become an asset to the Canadiens, rather than the liability he is now.

Pervert responsible for Ontario sex ed curriculum claimed he had sex with pre-teen daughters, court hears

WARNING FROM WALT: This detailed report of court proceedings, published in the National Post, contains coarse language and graphic descriptions of sex acts with children which can only be considered both illegal and immoral. I'm posting it, just as it appeared in the newspaper, to make you aware of the kind of person who thinks that "progressive" and "modern" ideas about sex should be taught in state schools, beginning in Grade 1.

If you're seeing this for the first time, Dr. Benjamin Levin was a Deputy Minister of Education in the Ontario government of Dalton McGuinty (aka "Premier Dad), while Kathleen Wynne (a lesbian and proud of it) was the Minister. Dr. Levin was hugely influential in the development of a new and "up-to-date" sex education curriculum, which was rolled out back in 2010, then withdrawn in the face of a storm of public protest.

After Ms Wynne became Premier and (surprisingly) won re-election, she introduced the new "improved" curriculum again. This time, she says, there's no going back. Ontario grade school kids are going to learn about anal sex, oral sex, the beauty of same-sex relationships, the benefits of having two daddies or two mommies -- the whole disgusting ball of wax -- whether their parents like it or not.

Just after Ms Wynne announced that the new curriculum would be taught beginning in September, Dr. Levin quietly pled guilty to three of seven charges in the nature of child pornography and child abuse, viz: making of written child pornography, possession of child pornography and counselling to commit sexual assault on a child.

Dr. Levin's sentencing hearing began in Toronto this week. At the same time, 1000s of angry parents gathered at "the Pink Palace" -- the legislature building just up the street from the courthouse -- to protest the new curriculum. Check out "Angry parents protest new sex ed curriculum at Queen's Park" (includes video).

Now, here's the National Post report on yesterday's proceedings.

Benjamin Levin was consistent and “realistic” in his descriptions of sexual assault of children during online chats and never once stressed that it was all for fantasy, the Crown argued during day two of his sentencing hearing on child porn charges.

Crown counsel Allison Dellandrea read aloud several extremely graphic chat exchanges the former Ontario deputy minister of education had with undercover officers he believed were submissive mothers interested in having sex with their own children.

The 63-year-old married father of three repeatedly and consistently claimed to have had sex with his own daughters, starting at age 12 (though, as he told one of the officers, “I wish we’d started younger.”).

Levin — who was a member of Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne’s transition team — has pleaded guilty to the making of written child pornography, possession of child pornography and counseling to commit sexual assault on a child. He has not been charged with actually carrying out a sexual assault on a child.

But the Crown worked hard to convince Justice Heather McArthur that through his persona as a “master, or even a mentor” on adult “alternative sexual lifestyle” incest chat rooms, he had significant influence in counseling to commit.

Dellandrea asked the judge to consider a prison sentence of 3 1/2 years — one for the making child pornography charge, six months for possession and two for the more serious counsel to commit. Defence is asking for just two years in prison.

Dellandrea took the court on a tour of the “depraved” online world the formerly well-respected education expert inhabited, suggesting he “wasn’t just dabbling in the child sexual abuse online world, he was a leader” there.

“He essentially boasted about having achieved sexual contact with all three of his children and successfully gotten away with it as had his wife,” Dellandrea said. “That’s an extraordinary feature of the counsel to commit.”

Levin’s wife, Barbara, whom he referenced often in his online exchanges — and even claimed his online profile that she was just involved in the child sex play — knew nothing about her husband’s activities online.

It’s rare in child porn cases to see such frequent descriptions of sado-masochistic sexual acts carried out on children, Dellandrea said. And yet they were all over Levin’s chats with undercover officers.

“‘I pushed two fingers in her mouth” one undercover officer told him of her fictional daughter. “Make her gag on them…I want to make her suck cock,” Levin wrote back. When the undercover officer wrote that she stopped when her daughter began to gag, Levin wrote “Why are you stopping?”

He also suggested the officer kiss her daughter “between blows.” This child was described as being 10 years old.

Court also learned that Levin engaged with at least one more fake persona created by Toronto Police child exploitation unit officer Detective Constable Janelle Blackadar. Her exchanges with Levin led to the counsel to commit charge.

He raised many examples with Blackadar of his experience sexually assaulting his own daughters.

“We had many wonderful years,” he said when he told her their sexual activities together faded out. “Wish we had started earlier.”

There was also discussion of “sharing” children for sexual abuse purposes. Levin even expressed interest in possibly one day sexually abusing his future grandchildren.

As the sentencing got underway Tuesday, so too did a protest against Ontario’s revised sex-ed curriculum at Queen’s Park downtown. Critics of the Liberal government’s update to what students will learn in school about sex believe Levin’s paedophilic interest influenced the update — a charge the government denies.

Walt has published several posts on Ontario's new sex education curriculum and the influence of the evil Dr. Levin, including:
Lesbian premier of Ontario pretends not to notice as pervert who drafted new sex ed curriculum pleads guilty to kiddy porn charges
VIDEO: What's really in Ontario's new sex ed curriculum
UPDATED: Anger mounts at "graphic revisions" to ON sex ed curriculum

The Crown says Dr. Levin was "a leader" in a depraved Internet community. Walt adds that he was also a leader in Kathleen Wynne's Ministry of Education. Why would any parent trust people like him to teach their children about sex and morality?

Hellery Clinton, champion of everyday Americans

Once again, Walt is unable to resist the temptation to share an excellent editorial cartoon by the Globe and Mail's Brian Gable.

Canuck readers will geddit instantly. For those south of the world's longest undefended (?) border, "The Camembert is cold" refers to the complaint of a fat, old, privileged, lesbian Canadian senator, who was criticized by auditors for having billed taxpayers for a breakfast, when (the beancounters said) she could have eaten the breakfast served on the airline as she flew from Toronto to Ottawa. To which Nancy Ruth (née Jackman) -- for it was she -- replied, channelling Marie Antoinette, "Those breakfasts are pretty awful. If you want ice-cold Camembert with broken crackers, have it."

Any suggestion that any of the adjectives used by Walt to describe Ms Ruth are meant to apply to Ms Clinton is, of course, completely without foundation.

"I can't bake you a cake, because I love you"

Suppose you're a Christian -- a committed Christian who takes seriously the teachings of the Bible and the Church, including the teaching that homosexual sexual acts are morally wrong and will lead those who perform them to face the judgment of God.

And suppose you're a baker, one whose business it is to create, among other things, wedding cakes for couples who are about to celebrate their marriage. According to the politically correct laws of the land -- many US states and all of Canada -- that would include gay couples intent on entering into a same-sex "marriage".

Advocates of same-sex "marriage" -- Walt puts the word in quotes because a union between two men or two women cannot be a valid "marriage" sanctioned and blessed by God -- want to force Christian bakers to bake cakes celebrating such "marriages". If they don't, they face civil or even criminal penalties for refusing to do what their religion and conscience forbid them to do.

In "I Can't Bake Your Cake, Because I Love You", published yesterdary on Aleteia, a website for searchers for the truth, Dr. Dennis Bonnette argues that the Christian's refusal to accept the custom of a homosexual couple is not an act of homophobia or hate, the PC lamestream media would have us believe, but an act of love.

Dr. Bonnette has been mentioned before here on WWW. Until his retirement in 2003, he was a Full Professor of Philosophy at Niagara University in Lewiston NY. He is the author of Aquinas' Proofs for God's Existence and Origin of the Human Species: Third Edition. He is presently teaching free courses in philosophy at the Aquinas School of Philosophy in Lewiston. Agent 10 (to whom much thanks for sharing this) attends regularly, and will send you details if you let me know your e-address.

Also by Dr. Bonnette: "What Marriage Is and Isn't, and What to Expect from a Redefinition"

Worth reading again on WWW: "Homosexuality condemned in the Word of God"

Walt explains his silence, reflects on this week's political events

Ed. has been giving me excrement for not posting anything since the post-Easter flurry at the beginning of the week. After three days with no new articles, he was forced (he says) to run the stupid cat story yesterday. It's not even a real phenomenon, like the gold/blue dress. It's just an optical illusion, something M.C. Esher
might have drawn, like this one.

The stupid cat is all over the Internet, and on TV too, so (Ed. sez), we might as well have it too.

Then, with still nothing from Walt left on  his escritoire in the corner, Ed. got on the horn to Poor Len Canayen and prevailed on  him to write the piece  on the Montréal Canadiens salute to Dollard St. Laurent and (especially) Elmer Lach. Very nice if you're a fan of Canada's team, but we know not all our readers are such. One or two are even fans of the Toronto team. To them, Walt can only say that we know it's spring, because the Leafs are out!

But OK, I get the message. I shouldn't let an entire week go by without some trenchant observations on matters of greater importance than cats and hockey. [What could be of more importance than hockey? Poor Len]  Herewith, then, three capsule comments.

The Obama-Kerry deal with Iran looks increasingly unlikely of being ratified by the US Congress. Good. Even if you're not paranoid about Iran (and all the other craziness of the Muslim world) you have to admit that any agreement which is time limited can only be described as a temporary cessation of hostilities. The Prez admitted as much when he said that after 12 years -- assuming the mad mullahs keep their word for even that long -- a nuclear-armed Iran will be some other president's problem. Indeed.

The only reason Walt can think of for Obarmy's relentless pursuit of the Iran deal was his felt need to do something, before leaving office, to earn the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded in advance. Bah.

It is understood that the starting gun will be fired today for Hellery Clinton's run for the White House. More bah! [Maybe "meh" would be better? Ed.] If La Clinton had tried harder to wrest the nomination from Obama eight years ago... or if she had refused to accept the poisoned chalice he handed her (appointment as Secretary of State)... she'd have had a better shot.  As it is, she has to run not on but against her record of incompetence and arrogance in that office, not to mention the legacy of the failed Obama presidensity.

The only reason no-one's going to challenge Hellery for the nomination is that no other serious candidate wants it.

The one item that has really captured Walt's interest this week is the long-awaited trial of Canadian Senator Mike Puffy ["Duffy", shurely! Ed.] on over thirty (30) charges of bribery, fraud, corruption, premeditated flatulence and mopery in the first degree. Since Canadian courts don't allow video or audio feeds, Walt has been relying on press reports and tweets from Agent 3, who is running a book on the outcome.

The trial began with opening statements by the Crown and defence on Tuesday, and adjourned Friday afternoon, having heard from just one (1) witness, the former law clerk to the Senate, who agreed with defence counsel  that the Senate's rules are fuzzy and hard to understand, on a par with Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.

The best line of the week was uttered yesterday by the Crown attorney, responding to the suggestion by the defence that because Steve Harper appoint the Duffster as a senator from Prince Edward Island, he effectively became a resident of that province, even though he really isn't. (With us so far?) The Crown asked whether, if Mr. Harpoon appointed Justin Bieber (aged 21) to the Senate, that would make Mr. Bieber effectively 30 (the minimum age requirement). Good one!

For more on the Duffy trial and its ramifications, Walt suggests "Mike Duffy's the one on trial, but blame and shame abound", by the CBC's National Affairs Editor, Chris Hall.

For a really scathing review of the political career of the hypocritical, fat-faced liar, who Steve Harper called "one of my best appointments", check out "Mike Duffy's finest hour", by Rick Salutin in today's Toronto Star. Wish I'd written that!

Habs honour greats Elmer Lach and Dollard St. Laurent, RIP

Poor Len here. Dave Stubbs, of the Montreal Gazette, thinks I am racist, because I have no time for P.K. Subban, who Mr. Stubbs maintains is "transcendant". He is wrong about Subban, and wrong about me. I am not a racist, just a realist.

However, Mr. Stubbs is quite correct when he writes, today, that "No one does history better than the Canadiens, in part because theirs is so rich; no one does these farewells more elegantly, in part because the Habs sadly have too much experience recognizing their lost heroes."

He was referring to memorial moments planned by Canada's team for former players Elmer Lach and Dollard St. Laurent, both of whom passed away earlier this week. Sadly, the pre-game tributes planned for Thursday night were nixed by the National Hockey League (New York lawyer G. Bettman, Prop.) because they would take up too much time, in a game of great importance to at least one of the competing teams.

The magnanimous Mr. Bettman allowed the Habs two (2) minutes before the national anthems in which to say a few words. Very few, since it works out to one minute for each of the departed. But the Canadiens' management didn't let their lovingly prepared video tribute to Elmer Lach go to waste. It was screened during the first intermission, and posted on the team's website. Ed. was unable to get to the embed code to work [Désolé. Ed.] so click here to see it.

Elmer Lach played for les Glorieux from 1940 to 1954. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living member of the NHL as well as the Hockey Hall of Fame. When Mr. Lach's was born, the NHL itself had been in existence for a mere 57 days, and the Montréal Canadiens for some eight years.

Mr. Stubbs calls Dollard St. Laurent "a template for the blue-line pillars of his Original Six era, part of the bedrock of the Canadiens’ glorious clubs of the 1950s and a beloved member of the hockey community long after he’d hung up his skates." He was all of that, for sure, and also a model stay-at-home defenceman, the kind who (unlike certain present-day players who shall remain nameless) could be counted on to play his position and put the team ahead of himself.

CONGRATULATORY FOOTNOTES: A tip of Len's toque to:
Carey Price, the best goalie in the world, who won his 43rd game last night, breaking the old club record shared by Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden, and
Habs coach Michel Thérrien, inducted this week into the Québec Major Junior Hockey League Hall of Fame, and
Carey Price (again) for winning, for the fifth time in a row, the Molson Cup, awarded to the player most often selected as one of the three stars of the game, and
Dale Weise, winner of the Jacques Beauchamp Trophy as the team's "fourth star" -- the unsung hero.
Ils ont gagné leurs épaulettes!