Greetings and welcome back to another edition of Laura's Links. I took some time over the past week to do some structural renovations to the Links. If we weren't still under endless emergency orders here in Ontario I would have totally brought in a crew of young, yet soulful; buff, yet intellectual; and strong, yet sensitive construction workers to help with the task. You know the kind.
Alas, I had to chop and cut all by myself! And so, my friends, you'll see that I have removed the Murderous Barbarian Chinese Communist Wuhan Coronavirus section and going forward, I will simply put links about the Kung Flu in the appropriate regional or thematic category. I'm doing so because every region of the world has different Wuhan flu issues and I'm kind of up to my eyeballs in news about this virus already.
But mostly, I'm doing so because America – my precious and beautiful America – is burning right now. I don't want the world they are building for us. This is not the America of my dreams. How does it relate to Kung Flu? Well, almost overnight, this insurrection of domestic terrorists has pushed most of the official, bureaucratic, political and public health fiats regarding the Chinese coronavirus right off the radar and into the dustbin of the most epic, and irreversibly damaging public policy failures in human history. Suddenly, crowds are okay and rioters are asked to pretty please politely to socially distance themselves. Suddenly, Italy has declared the virus pretty much not a thing.
Rush Limbaugh explained earlier this week how the lockdown wasn't necessary. Do read the whole thing. It all needs to end. End it. Just end it.
My week started off on a slightly despondent note when I saw my government's plan for continued lockdowns, and how stupid my city is and how utterly creepy the Mayor of Toronto is, but I carried on and did what I wanted to do without the government's approval on my movements, my social activities and family arrangements. And that's what I'll continue to do.
My gracious host, the great Prophet Mark Steyn, PBUH (Pocket squares Be Upon Him) also was on fire content-wise over the past week. He produced several audio editions of The Mark Steyn Show including The Wuhan Armada, Locked Down But Looting, and a look at The New Normal and The Old Normal. He offered up some choice comments upon The Supreme Ayatollahs of Expertistan and celebrated the wonderful Tom Jones in an essay about Delilah in the most recent Song of the Week.
The pictures coming out of America have really broken my heart, and angered me as well. They are another stark reminder that evil never rests. We can see once again that only a very small spark is required to light the blaze of flaming and untameable barbarity that exists in the souls and hearts of so many seemingly civilized humans in their seemingly civilized societies. Take care of yourselves and your families wherever you are. Stay safe, well and ever-vigilant. And now let's take a look back at the week that was.
~
North America:
The mayor of NYC is a scumbag.
America is brave and beautiful. She is not invincible.
"Americans don't get ruled." Not sure about that, but read the whole thing.
The lockdown sham: "If people are free to smash up streets, they should be able to go to a bar or a swimming pool."
"With each new tranche of declassified documents, we see something big and hideous emerging from the Swamp..."
Summarizing the "shame on you" phenomenon.
This Jew agrees. They definitely need Jesus.
Two Brooklyn lawyers charged in attack on NYPD cruisers. Lawyers!
Starbucks that employs Deaf persons exclusively is vandalized BECAUSE SOCIAL JUSTICE.
Canadian Jews launching constitutional challenge against the Ontario government for violating freedom of religion and peaceful assembly. Yes! Go Jews, go!
They survived the worst battles of WWII but not the Chinese coronavirus.
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Israel and Jews:
What an interesting and strong young woman! Impressive!
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Middle East:
Iranian girl beheaded by her father in "honour" murder. What a sick and disgusting barbarian.
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Europe:
Hungary outlaws changing gender on birth certificates.
Norwegian TV flooded with complaints after lavish Eid broadcast.
Also from Norway: Yah, we closed everything because we were terrified. Oops.
From France: Big whoop. Have we figured out the cause of the fire yet? I'll wait...
Italy says 96% of virus fatalities suffered from other illnesses. Oh, okay.
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The Formerly Great Britain:
Oh joy, a trailblazer.
Victims of terror in the UK are victimized once again, this time by the state.
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Human Grace:
Teenage girl gets prosthetic arm (that cost under $60) to play the violin.
Hugs are the physical transmission of soul to soul caring.
Take care and I'll see you in the comments!
Let Laura know what you think of these stories in the comments below, or other happenings she may have missed. Laura's Links serves as SteynOnline's weekly open thread, so we'll look the other way on the typical 'no going off topic' rule (while holding to other rules, such as abstaining from profanity and ad hominem attacks). If you want to join in on the fun, get yourself a Mark Steyn Club membership here.
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22 Member Comments
Nice to see the mayor of Toronto taking leadership on a pivotal issue of our times. Menstrual Hygiene. It is a sensitive and polarizing topic split between pro- and anti-hygiene; menstruators and non-menstruators.
While we are on the topic of personal hygiene, perhaps the mayor of San Franfeces will be encouraged by this to voice support for Defecation Hygiene Day.
Well done -- again -- Laura.
Thank you, Bob.
Laura, concerning the concentration of Wuhan Virus deaths in nursing homes, here in the Tri-Cities of Southeast Washington, population 300,000, 90% of the dead have been residents of concentrated senior residential facilities. The local health department did a breakdown of infected and fatalities by age group, which found that those in their 60s who were infected had a 12% death rate. That's right, the death rate for the entire population (including seniors) us only about .012 %, 1 part in 1,000 of that. For people in their 70s it is 18%. For people age 80 or above, if infected, their chance of death is 28%. That's like playing Russian Roulette with 2 bullets in the revolver. Almost all of these victims were in nursing homes or senior apartment complexes. Yet there are no stories explaining the extraordinary measures being taken to protect people being held in solitary confinement in those establishments. There are ridiculous rules banning family members from coming in to see their spouses, siblings, or parents, even though hundreds of staff workers who live in their own homes with their own families are allowed to go in and out with minimum supervision, often working shifts at two other nursing homes. Since the elderly are stuck in their rooms, they are not the vectors of disease transmission. It is the staff, and the drivers who pick up and deliver laundry and institutional food and medical and cleaning supplies.
The other fact worth noting is that the death toll in our 300,000 person community is the same as the entire State of Utah, which has 3 Million people! Utah's population is concentrated in a contiguous metro area a hundred miles long and 20 miles wide on the west slope of the Wasatch Mountains. What that shows is that a human factor has killed ten times more people than necessary in our community. We are flailing around following government procedures, but they are not working. The lockdowns are not protecting the vulnerable elderly. The only thing that will protect us in the long run is to let the younger people get, and get over, the virus, as we know they will, so they will no longer present a threat of transmission to the elderly. "Vaccinating" the rest of the populace with the live virus will stop the transmission of the virus six months before any vaccine can do it. Edward Jenner learned immunization from the way cow pox prevented infection of milkmaids with smallpox. We need to do that with the young.
Hey everybody! Remember Obamagate? The many-headed monster that spied on Americans, entrapped innocent people in acts of non-crime, and moved heaven and earth to cripple the Trump Presidency? You don't? Well, read the "Swamp" article under North America for a reminder. And for good measure, read Gregg Jarrett's Fox News article on Trump's lawyer, John Dowd, about the sainted Bob Mueller.
Dowd steered his client, President Trump, down a path of complete compliance with Mueller's investigation: all documents were provided; all witnesses were made available. Dowd's plan worked to perfection, and Mueller had to admit in March 2018 he had nothing on Russian collusion. Strangely, however, he waited a full year before admitting so in a written report. Why the delay? To try to entrap Trump into committing perjury--which we have seen in the cases of General Flynn, Roger Stone, and George Papadopoulos was Mueller's signature move. Dow wouldn't have it. With all the evidence already provided from primary sources, what use would Trump's memory be, except to exploit his temper and ego into contradicting facts that already cleared him? Dowd now says: "That is when I knew he had lied to me in our original meeting (June 16, 2017) and every meeting thereafter. Robert Mueller —'D.C.'s great man' — completely and deliberately misled us in order to set up a perjury/false statement trap for POTUS. It was a monstrous lie and scheme to defraud." [Emphasis mine]
He further stated: "They knew there was nothing to investigate. People subverted the system of justice. One corrupt act after another. It's staggering. The lies were monstrous. It was all pretense and fraud. Mueller should not walk. Rod Rosenstein should not walk."
[Jarrett:] And neither should James Comey, Andrew McCabe and disgraced ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok.
I accept that the killing of George Floyd was a crime. I accept that the Made-in-China virus was an emergency (still is). But I do not accept that either measures up to the heinous butt-ugliness of the Obama regime's final days. I very much intended the Nixonian resonance of that expression--but is it accurate? Isn't the Obama regime still in charge of whole swathes of government? And isn't the only method of extermination four more years out of power? To answer my own questions, not very, absolutely, and at least.
George Floyd: Contributing factors of death/Hennepin County Medical Examiner 5/25: Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use.
He also participated in porn videos.
Floyd has a criminal history going back to the 1990's.
He most recently served 5 years in prison for a Texas aggravated robbery, using a firearm. Floyd pleaded guilty for entering a woman's home, pointing a gun at her stomach and searching the house for drugs and money; he was also sentenced twice for cocaine possession; there is a string of other arrests.
The Minneapolis arrest last week was due to a complaint that Floyd passed a counterfeit twenty dollar bill.
Data: The Daily Mail 06/02/20; TMZ 06/01/20; The Officer Tatum/YouTube 06/02/20; Pornhub TheHabibShow.com from papayapa.
Black Thugs Matter
Watching "the Detective", starring Frank Sinatra. In the context of the riots, it is worth a watch. A bit bleeding heart from Frank, but interesting. If the police had Twitter back then, they would have deployed hashtags, just like Michelle Obama.
BTW, last night I watched Tony Rome. Mark covered the end tune recently, and it worked, even though it was truncated.
Oh - as Rome, Frank runs like a girl, and he said vase correctly - "vaase", not "vase". And he out-acts everyone in every scene except the running).
Jill St. John and you notice pronunciation. SMH
Conspiracy 101: Somewhere there is a planning and monetary link between Antifa/BLM and the Democrat Central Committee. How many mayors and governors are getting there daily instructions from the Dem Politburo? It's Cloward-Piven writ large. Want to bring up Russian, Iranian, Chinese collusion... please do. How much of those pallets of cash Obama sent to Iran are spreading around money in US? How many corporations facing fines in US chose the cheaper path of donating to government approved organizations.and how much a piece of the action was skimmed?
We haven't hit bottom from the Wuhan Flu and now this. Wrecked businesses, wrecked lives, wrecked dreams. This is war with both attacks from abroad and 5th column here. The Governor of Virginia refused to send its National Guard to DC as he calls it a photo op. The police are instructed to not police. There is no real Republic for now... someone has to win and someone will have to lose and lose big. This is beyond ideological disagreements ,this is deeply psychological in conflict.
I love the story about the six year old boy that found the 3,500 year-old archaeological clay depiction while out on a hike with his family. That article, and one I read this week about a 103-year old Massachusetts woman celebrating beating coronavirus by drinking a bud light, were I think the only two bits of happy news I read all week.
Buff yet intellectual.... Hmmm... Think I saw that show at a Ladies Club in Dallas in the 80's
Well my feelings are nothing compared to those fearing for their lives and livelihoods in the beleaguered cities and am so disgusted by the media here and there virtue signaling about racism. And now we have people like Don Martin of CTV news in awe of Trudeau pausing for 20 seconds at a press conference to show his displeasure with Trump when asked what he thought of Trump's threat to use military force to suppress protests about George Floyd's death.
Liberal death wish. What can I say?
Slobbering suck ups.
Anyone want to make a bet that 10 days from now we'll be reading headlines about a "spike" or "dramatic surge" in WuFlu cases in Minneapolis? If not, it'll demonstrate that this whole government-sponsored social chokehold was all garbage, and the lockdown, social distancing, and mask-erade were all a totalitarian fantasy we were all press ganged into submitting to, for no practical purpose at all. A pretty high price to pay to get people to wash their hands more often, the only useful result to come out of 3 months of insanity.
Mask-erade! That's good.
If you are keeping score in the George Floyd game, this past weekend only 82 blacks were shot in Chicago by other blacks, 22 of them fatally. I missed the protests and burning cars on this.
Congratulations Laura on finding "Just End It", the first article worth reading in the NY Daily News in years. Glad it pointed out the bewildering juxtaposition of the current "Loot If You Want To" attitude of the cops to their wanker-like enforcement of Kung Flu edicts a week ago. Sure it pays lip service to de Blasio and Cuomo for their "hard work" saving us from the virus. But other than that, it's spot on. Unfortunately, what it mostly does is illustrate the benefits of realizing certain politicians are sub-morons BEFORE electing them. Ah well, maybe next time.
Laura,
The mayor of NYC is a scumbag is not really news.
True, but I don't actually tire of mentioning it.
Would the influential Jews of New York ever come out in explicit condemnation of De Bloatio's anti-Semitism? There have to be plenty of ambitious Democrats who are Jewish who could take him on.
Dov Hilkind seems to be the only one with any sense and I think he's retired? Also if I recall, he just posted a bunch of stuff on Twitter that made me groan....
And no, I don't think they will condemn DeBlasio.