Greetings and welcome to the pre-Purim edition of Laura's Links. Yes, another Jewish holiday where we celebrate the fact that 'we won, they lost, now let's eat'. I am filing this column literally up to my elbows in flour as I make hamentashen, and my ever so delicate hand-model mom hands are getting a real workout putting together the requisite little packages of yummy things to deliver to friends via an intermediary. Said intermediary of course, is one of my children and yes, I am a fan of slave labor thanks for asking.
My gracious host Mark Steyn PBUH (Pocket squares be Upon Him, ameeeeeen, ameeeeen) has been so busy lately! He's been hunkering down in his solid granite man cave, with all his many, many Big Thoughts! I don't know the square footage of the cave, but frankly, it's got to be YUGE to have enough room for the great prophet and all of his ideas. He had so much going on this past week! He guest hosted twice for Rush Limbaugh, spoke to John Oakley (hilarious stuff), did a fantastic live Q&A, and penned another lovely Song of the Week, among other things!
Mark! If you need a change of pace, and want to party with a bunch of drunk Jews dancing around while celebrating the destruction of an ancient anti-Semitic enemy in the same location where there is a current anti-Semitic enemy, just say the word. There's still time! Call me for the secret ZOG handshake and password!
*waves*
Anyway, aside from Purim preparations and Mark's big brain, I suppose there are a few other moderately interesting things happening around the world, so let's take a look at what has been percolating throughout the internet and the news cycle over the past week.
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America:
Pompeo rips the UN Human Rights Council a new one.
Where's Hunter? Hustling for a gig teaching law.
Comrade Bernie loooooooves Cuba.
Rosalind P. Walter, the original Rosie the Riveter, has passed.
The curious activity of George Soros in Virginia.
Yeah, definitely bipartisan consensus on this.
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Coronavirus:
Good news! China is looking for the real culprit. There's an OJ joke somewhere in here.
While they search and hide stuff, Jack Posobiec found something interesting.
Canada creates a committee to have a national conversation or something about the virus. That should do it!
Is the coronavirus mortality rate lower than we think?
Thanks, China, for all your help and for this magnanimous sacrifice.
Oddly, Iranian leaders seem to be hardest hit. Have they blamed Da Joooz yet? Asking for a friend. (Editor's note: They have.)
A lecture on coronavirus(es), past and present. More here.
VDH: It's what we don't know that scares us.
Some facts.
Rush asks why Democrats and the leftist media are toning down their criticism of President Trump and the Orange Virus Man Bad theory of the coronavirus.
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Israel and the Jews:
History geek out: researcher identifies caves where the Jews fought the Romans in the Galilee.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center reveals the names of 12,000 Nazis that fled to Argentina.
My Idiot People: When Jews equate leftist policies with repairing the world. Repairing the world is actually not one of the 613 commandments. Just sayin'...
Melanie Phillips: the post-modern anti-Jewish reconfiguration of the West.
The "happy baby" guru brings his spiel to Israel. Babies!!
More from My Idiot People: when Jews are dumb and of the left, they are truly dumber than a bag of hammers. I have other things to say, but I'll leave it at that for now.
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Europe:
Sweden is doomed.
The U.K. is screwed.
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Kook and Humourless Left, Wokestapo and Trans:
Comrade Bernie is really a massive, fossilized turd of a hypocrite, a control freak and a spoiled brat kook.
Twitter bans and then reinstates NY Post writer Jon Levine for exposing socialist hypocrite.
Woman with moustache wants to be listed as "father" of her baby.
"The kids are ready." Okay sure, nothing to see here. No creepy agenda, carry on.
Your betters in higher education: MIT celebrates the politicization of knitting.
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Human Grace:
"I always say the good Lord has been very good to me": Single Mom, aged 100, continues to take care of her Down syndrome son.
Eleven-year old girl receives an R2D2 bionic arm and a bonus call from Mark Hamill.
Four-year old Iowa girl regains her vision after losing it to flu.
Iwo Jima hero, aged 96, has a new US warship named after him. The USS Hershel 'Woody' Williams was commissioned Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia, with the World War II veteran present.
Baby born with only one leg gets prosthetic one and promptly starts to dance.
See y'all post-Purim! Now away you go to comment.
Mark Steyn Club members can let Laura know what they think of these stories, or any others from the past week – in the comments below. Laura's Links is our weekly open thread, so the "no going off topic" rule is suspended. If you're not yet a Mark Steyn Club member and want to join in, get yourself or a loved one a membership here. For in-person revelry and review with your fellow Mark Steyn Club members, get in on the upcoming Mark Steyn Cruise by booking yourself a stateroom for our Mediterranean voyage alongside Douglas Murray, Conrad Black, Michele Bachmann and Mark Steyn himself.
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The history behind the archeological caves excavation finds is fascinating. This one link leads to another and another providing me with more information than I'd ever have uncovered very easily without some starting point. I'm learning a lot here, Laura.
Thanks for the laughs and links Laura.
Maybe your column would be more accurately entitled, "Laura's Laughter and Links.".
My pleasure, Dennis.
A (Jewish) COVID-19 aside: Well ahead of the official "pandemic" announcement by WHO, it was interesting to see draconian measures taken in Israel days ago (with 76 cases; 1 critical; and no deaths on 10/3/20), including notice that "police will help catch Israelis who break quarantine", and "law enforcement will monitor Israelis returning from abroad". Israel seems to have the best model with respect to assessment, preparedness and mitigation of risk - of all kinds.
And they might come up with a vaccine soon, too.
Ah, good ol' MIT. I recently got a message from "Deplorable Knitter" (who was interviewed for the article), informing me that Hinda Mandell (who recently published the book "Crafting Dissent: Handicraft as Protest from the American Revolution to the Pussyhats" and now has a traveling art display called "Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts And Activism" touring New England) has put out a casting call for Conservative Knitters. Besides wanting to yell, "It's a trap!", it does bring up an important point, that is echoed in the forward of her book: There are plenty of liberal "Craftivists" (try saying that with a straight face), but almost no conservative ones. The closest you will find are people who knit baby clothes for pro-life charities and crocheting hearts for "Jewish Hearts for Pittsburgh" after the shooting there. Perhaps conservatives are far too practical, but it's worth noting that there were plenty of pro-EU hats and scarves that were knit, and almost no Brexit ones. Or at least, Brexit hats that were posted about on social media.
I never considered myself a conservative knitter, but I guess I am since I knit to support, not protest. I knit scarves for Operation Gratitude to send to service men and women, and knit mufflers for the World War 2 Museum's Knit Your Bit campaign. From now on, I will gleefully think of every stitch as a silent protest against idiotic, self-focused leftists.
That's very cool! I hadn't heard of that museum or campaign before, Margaret.
Both want simple scarves that any beginning knitter can make. No complex pattern or deep thought required, so I can watch TV and even read while I'm making them. Instructions can be found on both charities websites. The WW2 Museum distributes them to veterans and Operation Gratitude to active service men and women.
Yes, I just checked out that site. They have some very nice patterns. I especially liked the Fibonacci design! They appear not to be taking any just right now because of the Covid-19 situation. I heard of the the group that knits for premature babies. They're active knitters here for that but none of the ladies mentioned Operation Gratitude. I have yarns out the wazoo. It's good to know this.
.
A male fairy godmother? Isn't that a Dean Martin joke?
And I know that Hollywood is in the remake business, but Cinderella (2015) was the only remake worth doing. Unfortunately, having a beautiful female lead whose character is built upon courage and kindness, meeting a handsome prince who has a good relationship with his father, and living happily ever after is WAY too close to morality for anyone to bear. The plot made sense and there were no PC insert characters. They even had the audacity to create stunning sets and costumes, all with an elegant soundtrack. Characters did things on PRINCIPLE, for crying out loud! Oh no. No no no. Get thee a gender neutral fairy godmother, pronto...
Hi Laura
This Soros thing has always kind of blown my mind. I get that he hates the West, especially the USA, I don't really understand why he is willing to spend mind-boggling amounts of money to fiscally and physically hurt innocent citizens (DA's that won't prosecute violent crime, etc.). I think that he is just a mentally ill guy that happens to be incredibly wealthy and can isolate himself from any consequences. As far as the UK link, whenever I read this type of story from over there involving young girls being abused by the usual suspects, I think of Mark and his interviews with a number of victims of horrible abuse. I have asked before, where are the men? The rapists and the do-nothing cops should be beaten, if not to death, at least crippled. I can't clearly describe my feelings after reading that article. I guess there is good reason for vigilante justice on occasion. If I was a UK citizen, I would probably be arrested for this commentary, maybe Laura also for exposing it (the crime and commentary).
A little background on that "so-called" Human Rights Council [clears throat for long oration]. Remember, dear reader, that the HRC (no, not HER!) was created to replace the hopelessly corrupt (well, maybe her), virulently antisemitic CHR--the Commission on Human Rights. That benighted body was so infested by base abusers of human rights, all of whom also slandered Israel obsessively--step forward China, Zimbabwe, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, culminating with Darfur-era Sudan--that even the UN was embarrassed by its actions (even more so by its inactions). In 2006, they pulled the plug, rearranged the letters, and--hey presto--we have the UN Human Rights Council of today. On which sits (or has recently sat) the likes of--oh, come on, you know--China, Zimbabwe, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Sudan, and may I add Venezuela? You want to guess which entity has NEVER sat on the Council (hint: it rhymes with lionist)? Also Iran, ironically enough--though the Islamic Republic received rave reviews on its human rights record from 85% of UN member states just last November.
But the virulent antisemitism? Surely, they got that under control. Not as such (and don't call me Shirley). In its first year of existence, the chip off the old Jew-hating block condemned Israel for anything and everything (including breathing)--yet managed to miss any abuses anywhere else on the entire globe. The HRC has only grown stronger and more arrogant over the years, serially citing Israel for "fake abuse" while ignoring the real thing, earning this appraisal from former US Ambassador, Nikki Haley: "a cesspool of political bias". She's going to have to mend fences with the sewage disposal lobby over that if she's going to run for president.
But I still find it in my heart to forgive the UN and its loathsome Human Rights Council: they represent all nations of the world, without favoritism toward liberty, democracy, human decency. With the good guys so thin on the ground, how could these "international bodies" (bloated corpses that they are) be anything but the dens of iniquity that they are?
Well good luck, Laura, but you'd better hurry. I hear that a lot of stores are sold out of Purim and people are having to find other ways to sanitize their hands.
(Typed with masks on both hands.... which makes it difficult.)
Have you heard the latest from Iran? Dozens were killed after trying bootleg alcohol that they said would prevent the virus. If drinking alcohol was the cure, what drink would Mark prefer?
That's awful. My heart really breaks for the Iranian people. The leadership can go to hell.
Hopefully the virus will do the job but stranger things have happened.
Strange isn't it that Trump is called a racist for flight restrictions to China yet we see the cancellations of events and playing sports in empty arenas. I thought it was a good idea but when you dig deeper, are they implying that civilians are less responsible than the people who are in charge of the events? Are they saying that there is no way sports athletes are infected and are capable of being infected if they went this route? They don't care about the spread of the disease to the American people. They don't want their beloved sports figures and Hollywood elites to get sick from a disease that came from the peasantry of America.
Maybe the Chinese created corona virus and the propaganda to produce the ensuing panic in an effort to get rid of President Trump. China must be very nervous at the prospect of President Trump getting re-elected. The Chinese government started paying off people in the federal bureaucracy to assist in the destruction of the U.S. back when bill clinton was in the white house. They must be writhing at the thought that President Trump is undoing their progress. Notice how the leftists running for office step in line behind the blithering biden. Someone is telling them it will benefit them.
The left seems to have been rooting for the virus, yes. But as Rush Limbaugh noted, that seems to be slowing down.
The virus itself will slow down as all these sorts of things are self limiting. The common cold is a corona virus. As I've said elsewhere, more people have died of Lyme disease related complications in past years than the corona virus, but the federal government isn't allocating $8 billion to deal with the problem. Your body mounts a cell mediated response to a virus which is usually pretty effective. A bacterial infection on the other hand is a more serious problem. This virus will hopefully be done making its way through the general population in the next couple of months and die out.
America could learn from this that the U.S. is way too dependent on the Chinese for medication and medical supplies. If the Chinese manage to create a truly devastating virus along the lines of smallpox they could withdraw all the medical supplies the U.S. currently relies on that they supply and America would be devastated. Viruses can travel. Imported items from China could be inoculated with a virus and U.S. citizens would be infected all over the country in short order. The Chinese government hates America. I pray we see sense and bring all our manufacturing back to America.
Hey, Laura... the Purim treats look *much* more appetising than the Wuhan bats!! Really informative links on COVID-19 - thanks! - including the lecture (only 15 minutes in).
Sobering thoughts from Melanie Phillips, too: "And the problem — and tragedy — for the Jewish people is that so many of those subscribing to this liberal onslaught are themselves Jews."
Wonderful "grace" story about mother and son.
PS. Related to your UK link, the cancellation - by Labour - of Trevor Phillips is HUGE. He has been hyper-critical (along with those like Conservative MP, Priti Patel) of government suppression of certain "characteristics" of "grooming gangs" reported in the official review; he has therefore been cast out as "Islamophobic". It's good to see the Free Speech Union make a very strong and unambiguous statement on "Islamophobia" in his defence (after looking wobbly on the issue a few weeks back). As a genuine human rights campaigner, Trevor Phillips was honest and bold enough to admit, albeit belatedly, the evidenced-based glaringly obvious about Islam several years ago - https://www.steynonline.com/7512/the-late-late-show.
The Democrats, led by The Squad, aren't far behind UK Labour.
Kate that photo was from about 11 AM yesterday. There's about 4 left now :) Will have to read up more about Trevor Phillips, but I have read that Boris is sticking up for Ms. Patel and that's a good thing.
I'm sure they taste as delicious as they look!
Hi Laura,
Two quick takes
— Melanie Phillips is and has been a heroic truth teller.
— About the Iranian conspiracy theories on the Coronavirus —I was wondering if they had yet surmised that the virus' spread to Persia was carried out by those Zionist, yiddish-clicking dolphins that viciously attacked Gaza a few years ago. ...
Tom! The Dolphin Squad is Mossad. DUH!! Jeeez!! Get your Zionist conspirators straight! The Biological Warfare division is completely separate from the Animal Weapon section.
O, Canada! Let's get a big group of people from all different places into a confined space to find out something about highly contagious diseases. Maybe invite the general public and hold it in a big auditorium!
And Trump rallies best avoided - especially with Democrats saying they plan to actively target them if/ when infected. Sick!
Just wondering what that MIP writer was expecting when entering the JBW event -- an echo chamber? Wow. A more virulent intolerance would have to be carrying an automatic weapon with a 50-round magazine. Sheesh.
With your links, You show us the best of times and the worst of times. Jolly good show, Laura.
Thank you, Marc!
Before I dig in too far on the links here, and fill a couple of hours.
Just wanted to mention and ask who else might have seen the latest trailers out for that film "The Hunt." It had been withdrawn from release last fall because it was so controversial. So what changed in six months that now it can come back? I knew that it would be seen some time, as they must have spent plenty to make the thing.
That's one meaningful cookie! A perfect little party food for these troubled times! Happy Purim, Laura!
Laura,
I hope you'll indulge some comments on Coronavirus. I'd be interested to hear what you and other SteynOnline readers think.
I feel almost certain that when we look back at 2020, Coronavirus won't have made the top ten in North America in terms of fatalities: self-harm, pneumonia, and workplace accidents will all rank higher in terms of causes of death for 2020, as will opioid overdoses by the way; where we average one a month just in one small town near where I live in NH.
But, I also understand that Coronavirus is a very nasty flu epidemic that, as far as we know, seems to particularly effect those over 70 and even more so those over 80. The incubation period is somewhere from 1-3 weeks? And some younger healthier people may get it and maybe won't know they have it, even after symptoms have set in?
OK, but if these assumptions are more or less correct (and who knows if they are), then those over 70 and 80 are really at risk. So the vast majority of of us in North America won't die from Coronavirus. But for a small, especially vulnerable subset of our population, this is a very real danger. We could carry the disease and give it to our parents or grandparents?
For this reason in particular, I'm afraid this epidemic will have a very significant, albeit hopefully short-term, impact on us here, and will likely continue to impact the global economy and markets in general.
Sorry to be gloomy.
Jamie
Jamie, as a sixty-something with a wife of similar vintage with COPD,we are not traveling and otherwise teying to stay away from groups with high mobility. There's too many sci-fi stories with targeted bio-weapons in them to totally dismiss the possibility. How's that for gloomy?
Laura -- mind if I use your "bag of hammers" line elsewhere it fits? That's even better than a box of rocks, even if it doesn't rhyme.
No that beats my gloomy. My father is in his 80's and vacationing in South Carolina. I think he should just stay down there for a while, like maybe a few months. Apparently flu viruses don't love hot humid weather, isn't that kind weather right around the corner down south?
"So the vast majority of us... won't die from Coronavirus".
You're right, Jamie. My less-than 2 cents worth: The legitimate concerns seem to be about healthcare systems being overwhelmed in a short period by those who are infected and get very sick (survival statistics aside for the moment). How many get "very sick" - but have a good prospect of recovery with appropriate treatment - matters if it's many people in a geographical area in a short time. It sounds as though it's inevitable that most of us will get COVID-19 over the next year or so (many without being aware of it): but if it spreads in an orderly, "controlled" manner - hopefully with the development of a vaccine in the interim - then the chaotic Wuhan/ Northern Italy scenario can be mitigated. What's obvious is that instructions for individuals to self-isolate (after unknowingly spreading it around for the preceding fortnight - with transmission most often within families/ households) were largely ignored from the outset, and that coordination/ access re testing remains sub-standard in many places. As per Laura's Links, the silver lining is that denominators are way out at the moment.
The "worldometer" site has some interesting regularly-updated stats by country, including those who have not recovered: "active cases" - "serious/ critical".
I just had a bit of downtime to check that "worldometer" site, Kate. Public health expenditures are presently rising at ~$12 million per minute.
I've only really looked at the bad news about COVID and where it's headed. That's more bad news though.
Hi Laura,
Have you seen the latest fashion statement from the squad?
https://pjmedia.com/trending/rep-tlaib-pictured-wearing-t-shirt-that-wipes-israel-off-the-map
I think Mark said the Democrats have decided to exchange their Jewish base for an Islamic base.
We live in interesting times!
Glen