For lovers of the English language

Ed. here. Walt has taken a couple of days off to ponder the meanings (if any) of the Republican and Democratic conventions. He is trying to figure out why any American would not vote for Donald Trump. In his absence, to fill the space, I have lifted a couple of posts from a bulletin board for ESL teachers....

On the importance of correct punctuation:

What's the difference between making love to twenty-nine year olds and twenty nine year olds? 25 years to life!

Never date an apostrophe. They can be possessive.

Two limericks:

There once was a man from Japan
Who wrote poetry no-one could scan
When told it was so
He replied, "Yes, I know
But I like to get as many words into the last line as I can."

There once was a gasman named Peter
Who, while trying to read an old meter
By chance struck a light
And blew out of sight
And, as anyone who knows anything about the structure of English poetry will tell you, also ruined the meter.

And finally:

A knock was heard on the Pearly Gates.
"Who's there?", Saint Peter said.
"It is I", replied the voice from without.
"Go to hell," said Saint Peter. "We've got enough English teachers here."

UPDATED: Sorry, Holy Father, the war IS about religion

Commenting on the murder of Father Jacques Hamel, RIP, a Roman Catholic priest, while he was saying Mass in a small town near Rouen, France, his boss of bosses, the increasingly delusional Pope Francis, said yes, there is a war going on, but it's not about religion. Not about religion! Can you beat that for crazy talk? The killers who slit Father Hamel's throat after making him kneel while they preached a sermon in Arabic, were Islamic terrorists who shouted "Allahu akbar!" as they did the despicable deed.

The crazed Muslims were doing their small, ugly part in waging jihad -- holy war -- against the "infidels", i.e. non-followers of the Prophet Mohammed, non-believers in "Islam, the religion of peace". But according to the Pope, they were not Islamic warriors, but poor marginalized people who were victims of social inequality and the evils of capitalism.

Walt wonders what it would take for Francis, who loves everybody except traditional Catholics, to admit that the Islamists are trying to kill us. Obviously the murder of an elderly priest in a backwater of northern France isn't enough. Would an attack on the Holy Father's own person in the middle of St. Peter's during Midnight Mass cause the scales to fall from his eyes? Perhaps. But the jihadis wouldn't dare to do that, would they? Would they?!

Further reading: "By killing a priest in France, terrorists have clearly stated they’re waging a war on Western religion", by Rex Murphy, in the National Post.

Key quote: A secular West mainly regards jihadism as an attack on modernity, as a primitive hatred for progressive ideals and liberated lifestyles. That’s true. But it is just as much a revulsion against the roots of our Western ways — the Christian stream of thought and practice that has always centred on the idea of the dignity of the individual and the integrity of every human life. We may have forgotten those roots, but the murder of Fr. Hamel, and the manner and place of his murder, should tell us that the jihadists have not.

Further reading, added 2/8/16: "Italian bishop disagrees with Pope, sees 'ongoing assault by Islam on Christianity'", Catholic Culture. Walt's comment: Of course you'd have to be Catholic to see it that way.

Ever hear of "the Hillary standard?"

It's the same as the "double standard", only just for Hillary Rotten Clinton, the woman who can't handle two e-mail accounts at once but wants to be President of the USA.

Seems like Hellery's good friend and chief fixer, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, meets the standard.

"Hot lesbians" ad leads to trouble with LGBT "community"

The "Canada Oil Sands Community" has been quick to distance itself from the pro-oilsands ad below, posted to his Facebook page by Robbie Picard, a gay Métis Albertan. (For our non-Canadian readers, a "Métis" is a person of mixed blood -- French-Canadian and "First Nations", as we now call Indians.)

The image of two attractive women kissing offended many of the less attractive members of the LGBTQ community. The past president of Calgary Pride, Dallas Barnes, said, "In my head I can see what he's doing, but being part of that community, I'm kind of disgusted. "Sure, some girls do look like that, but it's demeaning. It sexualizes."

Defending himself, Mr Picard explained, "We are getting fuel from countries that butcher gays and lesbians — I mean, butcher them, hang them, publicly beat them. My goal has always been to include everybody, and if I've upset half the people I'm trying to reach, then the post was a fail." Errr, yeah!

Priest murdered, nuns taken hostage in France -- Allahu akbar!

You can't know, dear reader, how much I hate to see WWW turned into a daily count of victims of Islamic terrorism. But we're now seeing attacks by fanatical Muslims every day! With the possible exception of Latin America, where the Muslim population is minuscule, no place on earth is safe! Everywhere else, radicalized Muslims, "soldiers of ISIS", are murdering "infidels" -- that's US -- wherever they may be found, just as their "religion of peace" commands.

Today's attack took place in the northern France, in the small town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvrayench, near Rouen. Two attackers were heard to shout "Allahu akbar!" as they hacked to death Father Jacques Hamel, 84, as he was saying Mass in the parish church. They then took a number of hostages, including two nuns, seriously wounding one before being shot dead by police.

Interior Ministry spokesthingy Pierre-Henry Brandet told France Info, "At one point, the two assailants came out of the church and that's when they were killed by the BRI elite force," Brandet told France Info radio, referring to France's specialized police group. Speaking later on BFM-TV, he said the RAID special intervention force was searching the church and its perimeter for possible explosives. Terrorism investigators have been summoned, he added, and the usual suspects will be rounded up.

The perps have not yet been identified, but Walt won't be surprised if they turn out to be radicalized Muslims born in France of north African parents, or -- more likely -- a couple of the African "refugees" who've been camped near France's northern coast waiting their chance to infiltrate Britain. While we wait for further news, pause to consider again the wise words of former French President Charles De Gaulle, who warned in 1959 about the perils of Muslim immigration.

The French can't say they weren't warned. And Americans? Are you paying attention? Only one presidential candidate is standing up to the pro-immigration, pro-Muslim political and media elites. And it's not Hellery Clinton!

10 more warnings that shouldn't be necessary

We start with a little joke (?) submitted by Agent 6. Ed. calls him "Mr Reliable" because when we need a chuckle to dispel the gloom, he's got one! This is a story about a heartbroken lawyer... as if a lawyer would have a heart!

When a father sent his three sons to university, he told them, "I feel it's my duty to provide you with the best possible education. You don't owe me anything for that, but I want to know that you to appreciate it. As a gesture of appreciation, please each put $1000 into my coffin when I die."

And so it happened. His sons became a doctor, a lawyer and a financial planner, each very successful financially. When their father’s time came, and they saw him in his coffin, they remembered his wish.

First to approach the casket was the doctor, who put ten $100 bills onto the chest of the deceased. Then came the financial planner, who also placed $1000 in the folded hands of his dad. Finally, it was the turn of the heartbroken lawyer. He reached into his pocket, took out his cheque-book, wrote a cheque for $3000, put it into his father's coffin, and took the $2000 cash!

Agent 6 goes on to say that the heartbroken lawyer went on to become a successful politician, which is hardly surprising. But the story is really about the trouble with lawyers, which happens to be the theme of The Case Against Lawyers (Broadway Books, New York, 2002), by Catherine Crier, a former lawyer and judge. This highly recommendable book tells how the lawyers, politicians and bureaucrats have turned the law into an instrument of tyranny... and what we as citizens must do about it.

A few days ago, Walt posted "15 warnings that really shouldn't be needed". In Chapter One of her book, headed "We Love Our Rules", Ms Crier gives 10 examples from the Wacky Warning Label contest sponsored by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, as follows.

10. The label on a handheld massager advises "Do not use while sleeping or unconscious."

9. A sign on a public toilet reads "Recycled flush water unsafe for drinking.:

8. A can of pepper spray warns users "May irritate eyes."

7. Please heed the warning on a laser printer cartridge: "Do not eat toner."

6. A 13-inch wheel on a wheelbarrow warns "Not intended for highway use."

5. A label on prescription sleeping pills warns that they "may cause drowsiness."

4. A cardboard car sunshield that keeps sun off the dashboard warns "Do not drive with sunshield in place."

3. Bicycle shin guards warn "Shin pads cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover."

2. A household iron warns "Never iron clothes while they are being worn."

And finally, the author's favourite...
1. The baby stroller label that cautions "Remove child before folding."

Ms Crier asks us to remember that these are all legitimate labels to protect us from ourselves. They're not superfluous "information" (she writes) but responses to lawsuits in which courts have expanded and approved the right to be an idiot. Who's to blame? Lawyers -- the USA has more of them per 100,000 than any nation on earth -- and politicians -- ditto.

Muslims cause more trouble in Europe and Middle East

Walt has returned from a long and blissful weekend on an island far removed from the hurly-burly of politics, race riots and Islamic terrorism. (See? Unlike the Prez, I calls it by its name, as I sees it!) I cut myself off from TV and the Internet. It didn't really matter because I knew, even before it happened, what the news would be.

Donald Trump was officially chosen as the Republican candidate for the presidensity. The lamestream media found further "evidence" of his unsuitability in the speech given by his current other half, about 6% of which seems to have been lifted from a speech given by Mrs 0 eight years ago. So what. There's no copyright in ideas, and how many different ways can you say people should work hard, dare to dream, keep their promises -- did Mrs 0 really say that? -- yada yada yada. Big deal.

In Armpitistan this weekend, ISIS claimed responsibility for a "joint suicide bombing" Saturday that killed dozens of people during a peaceful demonstration by a minority group in Kabul. An Afghan freelance journalist told CNN, "I saw tens of people laying [sic] down in blood around me and hundreds of people running away from the scene." So far, 80 corpses and more than 260 wounded people were taken to hospitals in the Afghan capital, according to a spokesthingy for the Afghan Health Ministry. I'm not sure what a "joint suicide bombing" is. Maybe people should stay out of those joints!

And today in Iraq -- pronounced "Ee-rak", please, not "Eye-rak" -- terror struck the streets of Baghdad yet again after a suicide bombing killed at least 21 people in a residential neighbourhood. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya, which injured more than 35 others. The claim by ISIS was released by the terror group's media wing Amaq and on pro-ISIS social media accounts circulated by its supporters. The attack came just weeks after the deadliest terror attack in war-weary Baghdad in years, when a suicide truck bomb plowed into a busy shopping district killing almost 300, most of whom were co-religionists of the Islamic terrorists.

Muslim troubles continue in Germany too, where terrorists, either inspired by or working with ISIS, continued apparently random attacks. There was the massacre in Munich on Friday, the work of a "German-Iranian", whose motives were, according to the Polizei, "unclear". Then today a 21-year-old Syrian "refugee" was arrested after killing a pregnant woman with a machete. Inspector Katzenjammer said the homicide did not appear to be linked to any militant groups or designated terrorist entities. All the same, that's the second or third -- I've lost count -- killing by Muslims of Middle Eastern descent in the last week.

But, as Vince Offer used to say, wait... there's more.

Word has just reached us via the mojo wire that, in the southern German city of Ansbach, a man was killed when an explosive device he was believed to be carrying went off near an open-air music festival, injuring 10 others. Local police said that just after 10 PM local time on Sunday they were alerted to an explosion in the city centre. "A man — according to our current knowledge, the perpetrator — died" in the blast, they said in the short statement.

The German news agency DPA reported that the nearby open-air concert with some 2,500 in attendance was shut down as a precaution after the explosion. The Bavarian Interior Ministry (responsible for the police and the security of the Vaterland) told DPA that it appeared to possibly be a bombing attack, saying that there was evidence that there was a "deliberate explosion." That's good police work, boys!

So here we are again... or still.... Islamic terrorists keep killing people in Europe and the Middle East. Yet the lamestream media and the Democrats keep saying The Donald is a fascist and a madman for calling for controls on Muslims coming to America. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it? Speaking of which, the Democratic convention is set to start tomorrow in the City of Brotherly Love... well, about six miles from the city centre, actually. Expect a lot more nonsense between now and next weekend. Stay tuned.

Further reading (and viewing): "'It’s the Immigration Problem, Stupid'", on Dr. Rich Swier's blogsite. Includes video of Senator Jeff Sessions speaking at the GOP convention.