The trouble with the Bee (which I read regularly and commend to you) is that you can never be sure what's true and what's satire. Beneath the article is this disclaimer: "A Babylon Bee subscriber contributed to this report." So maybe it's fiction? But I don't watch the Clinton News Network because of its obvious leftie bias, so can't say that the story is not true. I wouldn't be surprised if it is true. Would you?
In June of 2019, with a federal election looming and anti-immigrant (and especially anti-"refugee") backlash mounting, the alleged government of Just In Trudeau put into effect measures (buried in April's "omnibus budget") which were supposed to prevent refugees from seeking protection in Canada if they have made similar claims in other countries. That was supposed to discourage Nigerians, Haitians and other bogus refugees from jumping across the World's Longest Undefended Border (TM) at such notorious crossing points as Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle QC.
The government's own figures, revealed now in the Star's exclusive, put the lie to Mr Blair's statement. Since Still-President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, more than 50,000 "irregular migrants" (government-speak for "illegal border jumpers") crossed the land border at places like Lacolle and Emerson MB, claiming asylum in Canada. As of September 2019, there were still 29,000 claims to be heard and determined.
Statistics from the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship [sic] show that some 12,000 asylum claims were made from January to September of this year alone. The number of claimants deemed ineligible since 21 June 2019, when the "new" rules took effect, is... wait for it... 400. That's right -- four hundred out of 12,000.
The Star says the Ministry for Refugees did not track asylum-seekers who had made claims in other countries, so the new policy did not set a target. However, 400 is a much lower number than that anticipated by "migrant rights" groups who were critical of the policy change. "We were surprised to see the low number," said Janet Dench (no relation to Judy), of the Canadian Council for Refugees. "It is not clear how [the policy] helps by denying refugees access to the Immigration and Refugee Board. From our perspective, this is for the government to send the message that you are not welcomed here and we don't want you here."
Well yes, that's the message the Canadian people want to see given out, and that's what the Liberals are pretending to be saying. But, as with almost everything M Trudeau and company say, the truth is something quite different.
Last time we heard from Poor Len Canayen, he was mildly optimistic about the Montreal Canadiens' chances of making the NHL playoffs this spring. Now... not so much. Over to you, Len.
Tank youse, Walt. Last night les Glorieux played the 41st game of the 82-game schedule. The conventional wisdom is that if you're not in a playoff position at the half-way point of the season, you're not going to make it. As things stand, after their 2-1 loss (4th in a row) to Tampa Bay last night, the Canadiens have fallen to 6th place in the Atlantic division. And the Metropolitan division is so strong this year that only the top three Atlantic teams look playoff-bound, with the two wild card spots going to Metropolitan teams (Carolina and Philthydelphia). The Habs' playoff outlook is pretty dismal.
The main problem, as I see it, is lack of depth. Injuries are killing the Canadiens. [Kind of awkward phrasing. Must be Len's lack of familiarity with English. Ed.] Yesterday morning, coach Claude Julien announced that Brendan Gallagher has been placed on the injured-reserve list with a concussion, suffered the injury during a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on New Year's Eve in Carolina after being checked by Jordan Staal and then getting accidentally kneed in the head by teammate Ben Chiarot while falling to the ice. Here's the video. Warning: content may be disturbing![That's to make sure you watch it! Ed.]
Gallagher joins teammates Joel Armia (hand), Paul Byron (knee), Jonathan Drouin (wrist) and Matthew Peca (knee) on the injured-reserve list. Peca is one of those in-betweeners, better than average in the AHL, but not cutting the mustard with the big team. But Drouin, Armia and Byron are all top forwards, and when you are missing four (counting Gallagher), you're going to have trouble putting the puck in your opponents' net. And that was exactly the problem last night and in the New Year's Eve loss to Carolina. You won't win many games scoring only one goal.
The good news -- such as it is -- is that the Habs' defence has improved, although there's still a lack of communications, at times, between the defence pairs and the goalie. And the "third defenceman", goalie Carey Price, has been inconsistent. TBL's winning goal, last night, resulted from Price leaving the puck right on his doorstep, thinking that Victor Mete would pick it up... which he (Mete) didn't.
The defence should be improved as of tomorrow night, when Marco Scandella joins the team, having been acquired by GM Marc Bergevin in a deal with Buffalo yesterday. Scandella will probably take the place of Brett Kulak, who has been less than reliable this year, and will now get on the bus for Laval.
If the Habs are to have any hope of making the playoffs, Bergevin is going to have to buy or rent a couple of seasoned players. Drouin and Byron aren't expected back until the end of January, and there's no help coming from Laval. Three or four of the sputtering Rocket have been called up and have done nothing much. I won't name and shame them, but the initials of one are Charles Hudon.
The good news is that some of the younger players on the forward lines are playing well. Max Domi scored in six consecutive games, before last night. Ryan Poehling shows signs of adjusting to his quick move from college hockey to the NHL.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who himself was concussed until recently, is improving, although not to the point of being the marquee player fans are hoping for. The coming superstar is more likely to be Nick Suzuki, acquired as a bonus in the trade that sent Max Pacioretty to Vegas. In the last four games, he has been the best player on the ice, on either team, several times -- truly a delight to watch.
So... we're only half-way through the season. It's easy enough to see the glass as half-empty, but if you look not at the scores but at the way the Habs have been playing, it might just be half full. The fat lady hasn't sung yet!
UPDATE ADDED at 1130: Cazart! Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin just announced that they have signed Russian star [has-been? Ed.]Ilya Kovalchuk to a one-year, two-way contract which will pay the right-winter $700,000 if he plays with the Habs, 1/10th of that if he winds up in Laval.
Kovalchuk, 36, used to be the terror of NHL goalies, but parted company with the Los Angeles Kings in November after failing to perform miracles. Whether he can do so for the Habs is an open question, but at that price, it's worth a try. And don't forget that la Sainte Flanelle had another Great Russian, not so long ago, whose name began with "Kov"! Wonder if No. 27 is available?
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn, written in 1772 by John Newton, an English poet and Anglican clergyman. The words come from Rev. Newton's personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by others' reactions to what they took as his recalcitrant insubordination.
He was pressed (conscripted) into service in the Royal Navy. After leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so severely that he called out to God for mercy. This moment marked his spiritual conversion but he continued slave trading until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether and began studying Christian theology.
Thanks to Agent 6 for sending us the link to this beautiful rendition by Monica Narranda, at a concert at Barcelona's Sagrada Familia Cathedral. Ms Narranda is accompanied by the Barcelona Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Catalan Xuntanza Harmonica Band and the Puig-Reig Polyphony.
Now I need to explain the headline. There are three good (IMHO) reasons why I change channels or hit the "mute" button every time I hear the first notes of "Amazing Grace" on TV.
Although it's in the modern Catholic hymnals, "Amazing Grace" isn't sung in the SSPX chapel I go to, because it's not really Catholic, and that's my first reason. The theology is wrong. It was Martin Luther who said one could be saved by grace alone. Saint Thomas Aquinas and Catholic theologians down through the centuries say there's more to salvation than that.
My second reason is the inevitable bagpipe accompaniment. The music lends itself to being played as a lament, and the image of the lone bagpiper playing on a windswept hill is burned into our race memory, or so it seems. IMHO bagpipes should be used to play only marches. Period.
The third reason why I abhor "Amazing Grace" is that it's been done to death in recent years. Every time there's a news clip of the funeral or grieving following some kind of killing or disaster, that's the "music" you hear. It seems people know only that one hymn, so that's the default and it's usually played badly and sung worse. (What's with this modern style of singing, where you waiver through four notes for every one that's written? Listening to the modern interpretation of national anthems before sports events is just excrutiating!) So you hear this terrible caterwauling and the images are of fat women hugging each other and rubbing each other's backs. Bah! Please, people, stop abusing this fine hymn. Stop it, I say!
The first baby born in Toronto in 2020 was little Ameer Deeq Mohammed, son of Ikran Ahmed Mohamed, left, and Deeq Mohameed Farah, born at 0000, the stroke of midnight, on New Year's Day.
Looking at the Greater Toronto Area [sic], the "miracle baby", as his father called him, narrowly beat out a Hindu baby, Aryan [sic] Walia, who was born 50 seconds after midnight at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga ON.
That's all ye know and all ye need to know about how things are trending in the Great No-longer-white North.
During the Christmas rush, things tend to pile up on our desks -- Ed.'s and mine -- to be seen later... or never... We were doing a bit of dusting and cleaning... the old D&C... today, while we got over Ma Nifkins' jellied gin -- and found a note of the URL for this video, posted by Ezra Levant on YouTube on December 17th.
A few days earlier, lawyers for Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of All Canuckistan (except Alberta and Saskatchewan) made a shocking decision -- one which must have been approved by Mr Socks hisself. They -- the ones that work for Elections Canada -- decided to investigate Mr Levant and Rebel News for publishing and promoting The Libranos: What the Media isn't telling you about Justin Trudeau's Corruption.
The book came out during last fall's election campaign, ya see, so obviously it was calculated to influence Canadians to vote Not Liberal. And that would be wrong! Right? Two other books, by John Ivison and Aaron Wherry and John Ivison, both paid indirectly by the Liberal government, also appeared during the campaign, but that's OK because both Mr Ivison and Mr Wherry are sweet and sweeter (respectively) on the King of Blackface. It's only Ezra Levant who has to STFU during elections.
For criticizing the Liberal government, in print, during the election period, Mr Levant faces a possible fine C$5000 ($3850 in real money). It's not a lot, and Mr Levant could save himself a lot of grief (not to mention many guineas in legal fees) by bending the knee to Elections Canada and admitting he was a bad boy. But what about free speech? How come Messrs Ivison and Wherry can publish books, but not Mr Levant? Doesn't everyone enjoy freedom of speech, or is that only for liberal/Liberal media typists? [Don't bother posting your answer in the comments section. We already know the answer. Ed.]
Whose side are you on? If you want to support Ezra Levant and The Rebel media in their continuing battle for freedom of speech, here's what to do. First, buy the book! You can find it on Amazon.ca, or buy it directly from The Rebel. Links are to be found in the YouTube post. Second, click here to donate to the Save The Rebel defence fund.
"First they came for our Catholic countries, then they came for our Mass, then for our priests..."
As Pope Francis's popularity among practising Catholic falls to new lows, Remnant TV releases a New Year's resolution video, vowing to resist him. Running time is 2:45. Watch it, and join the crusade to take back our Church!
