Hello and welcome to another edition of Laura's Links. I'm filing this on President's Day, in America, and in parts of Canada, Family Day, an invented 'holiday' courtesy of Ontario's disgraced provincial Liberals (but for real and not for joking, are there actually any other kind of Liberals?).
I'm sure I'm not alone in noticing that there has been a significant wave of bad news for "our" side lately. Of course, as you get older, you hear more and more about illnesses and of passings 'timely' and 'untimely' but sometimes there's a noticeable cluster and it can really bring you down. Mark himself, in his touching obituary of Christie Blatchford, prefaced his remarks by saying "that since the dawn of 2020 I have felt suffused in death". Unfortunately, I get his drift.
The great un-woke bloke was on the telly and the airwaves quite a bit over the week. He had a really nice chat with Brian Kilmeade, did a regular spot with Tucker Carlson, reminisced about the Creepy Porn Lawyer, guest hosted for Rush Limbaugh and also talked about Bernie. I find the whole Bernie thing really weird. I'm old enough to remember when commie Jews enthralled with Russia were considered a bad thing in America. And now all these Americans want a kook commie Jew to be the President?!? Seems strange, but hey, what do I know?
Well, I guess I must know a few things or the great Prophet Steyn wouldn't let me wildly prance about his palatial website willy nilly, and encamp in my tastefully appointed In-House Jewish Mother's Safe Space right beside the espresso maker with 1970s disco and funk playing in the background.
I don't know why the wave of crappy news has hit us lately, but I do know it's never a bad time to dole out extra hugs to those we love and to tell them how much we love them. I don't know what the week will bring, but if starting it out with Larry is wrong, then I don't wanna be right. Have a good week and don't let the Deplatforming Dumbkopfs and their ilk get you down.
Now let's begin!
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America:
More lawsuits are necessary to stop this ridiculous security kabuki.
The genius of Rush Limbaugh on the radio.
Look out world, it's Laura Loomer for Congress.
Reason number seven hundred gazillion billion why you should never send your child to a government school. Tar and feathers.
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Today In Satan:
Can we say "babies"? They were babies.
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Israel and Jews:
Arab talk show host sets off firestorm by saying Zionism is the most successful project of the past century.
"My Dad built bridges and witnessed the Holocaust."
Israeli judoka makes an Iranian friend for life.
Is there nothing these people cannot ruin? Music and joy are haram, and permitted music can only be a call to slaughter. What an absolutely horrendous, despicably anti-human "culture".
Jewish woman reveals Hitler was her next door neighbour.
This guy seems nice.
Jewish food for thought: The Cure for Envy. That was the appetizer. And now the main course. I found this piece by Lord Rabbi Sacks profoundly moving: The Universal and the Particular.
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Middle East/Asia:
Barbarians. Why have we shed any of our blood over these barbarians?
And from Iran-are you kidding me? Savage lunatics.
Speaking of barbarians, let's talk coronavirus and China. Did it originate in a lab?
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Formerly Great Britain:
Grooming gangs and indifferent police, what have we learned from the sex abuse scandals?
Well, one thing we have learned is that very few people are willing to call them what they are: Pakistani Muslim rape gangs.
They laugh at us and our decadent, capitulant weakness.
"The takeaway worker who plotted against Pride." Nothing to see here. Nothing to see here either.
Should we laugh or cry? British High Court rules that a 'transphobic' Tweet is lawful. Gee, we're allowed to think and say what we want? Thanks a bunch Land of the Magna Carta, glad you cleared things up.
Theodore Dalrymple has thoughts on the Frivolity of the British Criminal System.
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Europe:
The inmates are running the European asylum.
The view from Hungary: guys, don't talk about the invasion! As Mark always says, pay very close attention to the people who are telling you to shut up and even closer attention to what they are telling you to shut up about. More thoughts about the invasion here.
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Down Under:
Australian wife "slammed" for doing wife things. Good on her. These snarky TV jerkoffs are just jealous. She is a successful, organized person who clearly loves being a wife and a mother. Both take a lot of work. The snark is pathetic and revealing.
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Kook and Humorless Left, Trans and Wokestapo:
This evil will only be stopped by massive lawsuits.
From Spiked Online: "The Purity Spiral".
Food for thought on pronouns and Twitter bios.
Oddly enough, deviant adults continue to seek out the company of very young children.
A most excellent podcast from James Delingpole with the great Douglas Murrary. I know I should be restrained in my praise of Mr. Murray but restraint has never been one of my soooper doooper top qualities. So, all I can say is listen to the whole thing but ESPECIALLY the last fifteen minutes. The bit about a certain American company that makes the most disgusting, drekiest, foul tasting coffee on the planet, and their Transgendered Cookie Crusade is magnificent. I also love the various calls to action sprinkled through the recording. OK. I'll stop now before I say anything that might embarrass my gracious host like... OHNEVERMIND.
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Human Grace:
Police officer saves a little baby.
American restaurant opens early to give a 3-year old cancer patient the meal of a lifetime.
Deaf man adopts deaf rescue pup and teaches him sign language.
The great Douglas Murray on his friend Jordan Peterson. This is a must read. This is how friends, who are public figures, support one another in their dark hours.
Passengers throw spontaneous baby shower for adoptive parents and baby on their flight.
The moment a father hears his late son's heart beating inside someone else.
Chin up all, and now off you go to comment!
Let Laura know what you think of these stories in the comments below. If you're not yet a Mark Steyn Club member and want to join in, you can get yourself or a loved one a membership here. Laura and her family will be on the upcoming Mark Steyn Cruise along the Mediterranean, so you can share your thoughts with her in person by booking yourself a stateroom.
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You and Mark need to take up the implications of California Governor Gavin Newsom proclaiming in his State of the State address: "Health care and housing can no longer be divorced. After all, what's more fundamental to a person's well-being than a roof over their head? Doctors should be able to write prescriptions for housing the same way they do for insulin and antibiotics."
The implications are vast and dark.
If you're interested in what I as one Steyn Club member thinks, see https://americacanwetalk.org/gavin-newsom-poster-boy-for-liberalism-confirms-the-dark-direction-of-socialized-medicine/
The article by Frank Venuto moved me to chills and tears. The moment when he saw his father in the photo at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, upon the elevator doors opening was quite moving. Thank you for including this one. There's a small but nonetheless quite impressive Holocaust Museum in El Paso. The photos on display were quite unforgettable. Someday I hope to make it to the museum in DC.
I loved the article on the Purity Spiral: Social justice in the Instagram knitting world is a story I've been following pretty closely (Because I'm a knitter... on Instagram), and it is truly wild. Just like with football, you are not allowed to have a non-political hobby. There has been quite a few wins lately on the non-liberal side: Dr. Karlyn Borysenko, who has been doing the press tour lately after her viral "After Attending a Trump Rally, I Realized Democrats Are Not Ready For 2020" article, was only turned on to the nastiness of the left after seeing it in the knitting world. Maria Tusken, (who was named in the article) pushed back with a yarn line called "Polarized Knits", which got more hate than ever AND sold out in hours. Polarized indeed. Recently Emily Franck (a big designer under the name Blue Mouse Knits) came out with a video called "What's Wrong in the Knitting Community" where she calls out the online bullies and apologizes for standing by when others were attacked out of fear that they would do the same thing to her. Yes, she's getting hate too, but it's also been a rallying point for others to "come out" as dissenting from the Ravelry Party line. I know this all sounds trite, but Emily states in her video that because of the controversy of NOT being a SJW she will have to get another job because she fulled expects her knitwear business to be destroyed. And as it says in the Purity Spiral article, people's businesses are being destroyed in not only knitting, but as young adult authors, gamers, and other smaller entertainment industries. There are many little hills that don't seem worth mentioning, much less fighting for, but without them there will be no hills left.
"There are many little hills that don't seem worth mentioning, much less fighting for, but without them there will be no hills left."
This is such a great summary, Anne. The "purification" is happening everywhere, as you point out: The real culture wars - and the war on free speech - are fought and lost on the little hills. The enemy army is vast, well-coordinated and quickly mobilised, whether online or on-site. But the casualties are largely "unmarked". The fact that lives are permanently destroyed - including by suicide in some cases - shows how serious it is. Most victims (and their defenders, if they exist) have neither the "platform" nor means to defend themselves, as Douglas Murray noted in his interview with Mark. So it's the high-profile cancellations we tend to hear about, and where pushback (if any) occurs.
The progression from pseudo-justice (administered by "human rights" commissions and other levers of officialdom) to drive-by "social justice" (administered by the mob) has happened in a few short years. And the "cancel culture" of the latter has a similarly coercive self-censoring effect (just like the "phobia" blasphemy codes of a certain religion): at some point, neither the state nor the mob need to bully and threaten individuals if they're trained to silently assent to the approved position.
FYI, the "Free Speech Union" has just been launched, and there's a must-see YouTube interview - Toby Young: The Free Speech Fightback To Prevent Outrage Mobs Destroying Lives & Careers - outlining the framework of this much needed initiative (which will hopefully expand and be replicated, as he says).
The problem with Niall Ferguson's proposed "NATO" alliance (in the wake of Roger Scruton's cancellation) was the idea of protection of free speech *for academics*. That's all well and good, but the battle is being fought (and mostly lost) by "nobodies" who are just as entitled to express their views (however ill-informed and unscholarly those views may be).
I could go on forever on this topic, so will sign off for now. I'll definitely take a look at the names/ links you've mentioned... Thanks!
A very thoughtful response to Anne Pinkava's informative comment, Kate. I'm keeping up with both of your suggested links. Look what Laura started:)
Agree, Fran - the links and discussion here are invaluable. Also, it's "citizen journalists" and independent reporters - such as here in the comments - who give a far more accurate picture of what's going on compared to the MSM. Example: there was a knife attack (of the usual type) in Brisbane yesterday - young male known to police etc etc - which is "unexplained", but definitely "not terrorism" according to official reports. The only reliable information is from the (reformist) "Imam of Peace" on Twitter.
There's really no point to reading "the news" anymore.
I know what you mean, Kate. I haven't watched an news outfit in the MSM in thirty years. I look at Twitter a little and get auto alerts for Laura Rosen Cohen, Mollie Hemingway, Sara Carter and Donald Trump) and try to catch all the daily material here, Rush 24/7, Tucker nightly, the local paper to see what the locals are writing about, and the FOX News feed. Also, the various podcasts from Ben Domenech and anything I can get from VDH and Douglas Murray. Now Brian Kilmeade is on the radio here before Rush. Oh, and True North keeps me up on Canadian items. Who's a good one to link to from Australia? I guess that's my weakest news link.
I just caught up on comments, and the "Free Speech Union"! Thank you for the video: it's a brilliant concept, and it would be wonderful if it takes off as planned. I will certainly share that one around. I stumbled across quite a different video yesterday which made me think of this current free speech crisis: It was "Jan Pinkava on Jiřà Trnka's Sixties Masterworks". To save you the time, Jiřà Trnka was an artist, sculptor, and puppeteer in Czechoslovakia who was a genius at stop motion picture and Children's book illustrations. It was mentioned in the video that when the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia many excellent artists shunted themselves into children's art: the state had less of a purity test for illustrating Grim's Fairy Tales than they might have had otherwise. While propagandists piped on, there was a breath of freedom still in the land of make believe. In contrast, it struck me how insidious it is now: In "The Purity Spiral" it's the young adult stories that are taken out first, not scrubbed up later. The worlds you are given to stretch your imagination in are just as stale and correct to the party line as school, the movies, the news. Not truth but TRUTH. No nature but what we say is so. No world or meaning beyond. So why resist if you can't imagine a different outcome? But that is where I could go on forever.
I also agree with the later points of looking elsewhere for news... beside here and Rush, I've been a terrible Nigel Farage junkie lately. I think my family are going to have me and my Union Jack tea cozy committed any day now.
That contrast with fiction for children is very dispiriting, Anne. If you haven't already, make sure you see Mark's interview with Lionel Shriver.
Thanks for the links, Laura.
Andrew Murray has further cemented my respect with his support for the great Jordan Peterson. Having watched a recent documentary on Amazon Prime about Peterson (that seriously broken Leftists tried to suppress) I was alarmed to see that Peterson covers all his available home wall space with totalitarian themed "art" such as a giant portrait of Stalin. It seems that's part of his immersion into understanding everything totalitarian. I certainly admire and appreciate his dissection of totalitarianism and how to counter it but question how anyone could stay mentally healthy when surrounded by such devilish imagery at home.
The not unrelated article on Men not Working (as Josh Passell might say, if that's not a band by week's end we are doomed as a nation) highlights the success of the Left in its efforts to destroy the family as a key strategy for bringing down any healthy society.
Make that Douglas Murray. The Murray clan has lots of admirable offspring.
Thanks Nicholas. I agree with you that the destruction of the family has been a key goal for the left and the consequences have been completely devastating.
The article about Slovakia backing Hungary's prevention of illegal border crossings by "military age men" was interesting. Maybe the US should pass illegal immigrants on the southern border directly to Canada, the way Mexico was previously passing along people illegally crossing its border with Guatemala to the US border. Do you think Canada would help fund a Rio Grande border wall?
"Take my money."
Jordan Peterson's tent revival has given so many of the battered, blamed, forgotten, and reviled hope and reassurance. He is simply a good man.
I do wish he would take better counsel on American politics: speaking to Joe Rogan, he has conflated Trump supporters with unsavory, violent leftists and even fascism. It's disappointing that he falls for the usual stereotypes, clearly out of ignorance of the American political scene outside the bubble.
Academia simply isn't any good for intellectuals and other living things.
Tina, I think there's a generalized problem of public figures speaking outside their actual area of expertise. Peterson is excellent on the human spirit and meaning, excellent on men and purpose-American politics not so much.
Good way to articulate the fine lines, Laura! You're such an incredible source of light and wisdom.
He's done so much to help so many people, as you say. As part of that - extending help to all those who might need it, regardless of background - Peterson seems to want to avoid being labelled "conservative" (and Christian, for that matter) to the point that he risks excluding many of his supporters.
As an aside - as the details were readily made public - I'm puzzled as to what treatment (from which he suffered complications) could only be offered in Russia and not "the West".
Love your prancing intro, Laura! Excellent piece on "The Purity Spiral". Have to come back to Rabbi Sacks and a few others.
I admire Douglas Murray's loyalty, but especially his integrity: he defended Roger Scruton not (just) because he was his friend, but on principle. I think DM would defend his "enemies" if it was the right thing to do (as Mark and others have done re the so-called justice system - and the social justice system of "cancellation").
PS. What is a woman to do when the enhanced pat-down (eg cleavage swipe) is performed by a muscular, full-bearded "transwoman"? The "military-age men" moving to Europe to plot against Pride don't go in for this nonsense. Their ilk can stroll through security with explosive panties - undetected - after all.
Thanks Kate. Prancing about my Safe Space is a great workout.
Kate, after that article I'm rethinking slow boats and my South Bay sailing lessons. For North America, I'll drive. I've got the time. Loads of podcasts to listen to, too! Airline security has all become totally unacceptable.
I agree, Fran. Flying is just too much trouble these days - both the intrusive security, and having to share a very confined space with random other people (can they not keep their footwear on and seat upright for an hour?)
Other things tend to happen up in the air, too, and there's often no way out of a jam, Kate. Three examples:
One time flying from Atlanta to El Paso (three hours) and I was I seated in between two young musicians. I started chatting with one just to be polite but with the intention of dozing, if possible. But before take off he realized there was something different going on with his seat. Such a nice young man, too, you prefer to see this happen to a jerk, but there he was stuck by the window and much taller than me. His seat had somehow fallen down inches on one side like it jumped off of its base and it wouldn't budge back or forth. If anything it was too far forward. It felt like he was sliding into my seat and it was slightly awkward. We got along fine, though, chatting about the greatest rock bands of all time from the sixties and seventies but he just could not ever get comfortable. There just was no helping him because the plane was jammed packed.
He insisted that he would be okay when I offered to switch but he was cursing during most of the flight that he would never fly that airline again as long as he lived. You just couldn't blame him. How they could put a passenger through misery like that is unfathomable. There's just no escape when you're 30K' in the air.
Another time, on the same route, an elderly woman had a heart attack and they had to land the plane in Nashville. When the plane landed the woman refused to get off. Finally, they had to get personnel from inside the terminal to carry her out of her seat and off the plane. Can you imagine? Your grandmother is on her way to El Paso for the weekend and you have to fly to Nashville to retrieve her. The entire thing was very dramatic. That took an extra hour on the ground. I'm sure people missed connections. But a heart attack is life and death serious.
A bad scenario happened once to my husband flying from Dallas to El Paso late one night. He said they were forty minutes out of Dallas when there was an enormous bang and everyone thought the plane was hit by a rocket and they were going down but the plane kept flying. The pilot came on and told the passengers that one of the engines died but there was still one left. He turned it around and changed planes back in Dallas. I think my husband and the other passengers really thought that was it! He did come home safely, but at three am.
Thanks for what you do, Laura. I could listen to Douglas Murray talk all day long!
Thanks, Fran. You and me both!
If I hadn't heard about the mermaid cookies here, I'm not sure where I would've heard. I stopped going to Starbucks after I tried one those cardboard baked goods. I think it was a cake lolly. I thought it was disgusting. I may have ordered a black house coffee the very last time and it wasn't tasty at all. Never went back.
Well done...well done as usual, Laura.
The Doug Murray piece you linked was Outstanding.
Thank you, Bob. Agreed.
To your "Israel and Jews" section, let me add the physical assault by Waqf police on Yehuda Glick on the Temple Mount for the "crime" of walking too slowly while on site. Of course, the pace of his gait wasn't the real offense. But was he trying to walk slowly and pray at the same time? That is not allowed. Glick has been detained before for this suspected assault on all things holy (to Muslims), earning himself a Palestinian bullet in the chest for his troubles. Why bother, I have to ask? It's only faith. And G-d's dwelling place.
Ulrich Klopfer was well-named. Vasiliy Ulrikh presided over the Moscow show-trials for Stalin. Gerhard Klopfer represented Martin Bormann at Wannsee, 20th January, 1942.
Both the Fox and Mail articles seem to be regurgitated AP (they are word-for-word, in one or two places), but, given the contortions the writers put themselves through to avoid referring to "babies," as Laura points out, they really should be in some sort of circus. And how about this for a photograph caption:
"This Sept. 17, 2014, file photo shows Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, one of the Midwest's most prolific abortion doctors, days after he died."
Dint these peepul evva go too skule?
Since all this happened in and around South Bend, Indiana, have any recent office-holders in that neighbourhood had anything to say on this subject, or did CNN not quite find time for that?
It's very revealing that there's not a peep about this from Mayor Pete on this terrifically evil thing.
Everyone needs a friend like Douglas Murray.
I have a lot of things I need to do today but your column always comes first. (After Mark's.) I'll do them tomorrow
Thank you Lowell, that is high praise indeed!
Where can I find these TSA agents? I mean, I already paid hundreds of dollars for a plane ticket. What's a guy have to do to get an "enhanced screening"?
Dress as a lady? Who knows? Depends on which direction the wind blows at these airport security stations, Brawndo. It's such a crap shoot, sadly, ain't it? Me, I'm stickin' with the stagecoach routes for a while longer, at least until the Border Patrol knows the American men from the American boys.
Be careful not to scald yourself, Laura, in that hot shower you must take after compiling these columns. I was a big fan of Mike Rowe's TV series, Dirty Jobs, but nothing he ever attempted--not Sewer Inspector, not Cow Inseminator--comes close to the piles of putridity you sift through to "enlighten" us. There are no words of thanks equal to our debt to you.
That said, I'm not sure I can forgive you for reminding me of the charm exuded by otters. I saw the film Ring of Bright Water as an impressionable lad, and it's taken decades of repression and sublimation to patch my broken heart. Shattered again in an instant. What now, therapy?
Josh, it's all in a day's work. An otter day, an otter dollar.
Speaking of therapy, I'm reading F*ck Feelings (Michael Bennett, MD and Sarah Bennett), and I'm pretty much in love with the book. They had an anonymous blog for years which I was addicted to and finally "came out" and published a book. So great. Highly recommend it.
I always look forward to your weekly summary.
Thanks, TimIn ThePacNW, I appreciate you reading!
"[...] Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement that the laws governing the sentencing of terrorists will be made more severe, while welcome in itself, deserves only one cheer out of three. Though right, it does not go far enough." Stick around: it's going to be a rich vein.
Or I miss my guess. Happened before.
Under the heading the left gets everything 180 degrees wrong: the war on men has been the reality, not a war on women, screamed in every headline, march and sound bite over the MSM. That includes the war on fathers and boys. It is not good when able men are no longer seeking work (as in the link Laura provided.)
When it became obvious there was an all-out war on men, there was speculation that it would be only a matter of time before women - who could see the injustice done to husbands, sons, fathers and brothers - would push back. It didn't happen, and was only made worse by men joining the (man-hating) #HeForShe movement.
What's interesting are the off-the-record personal stories of women who've reluctantly given up the role of running the family to become the main breadwinner (often in lower-paid jobs) thanks to "gender equity": it's not uncommon that the husband/ father has been "displaced" from better-paid employment by (anti-male) affirmative action. All-round lose-lose for many families... but it's not up for discussion.
"They even decorated everything in her favorite color." I'm not crying, you're crying!!
Gah!! I know!!!