Hello once again and welcome to your SteynOnline In-House Jewish Mother's mid-Chanukah batch of Laura's Links. They're fresh and assorted, but certainly not as delicious as Laura's Latkes, which were devoured at Chez Cohen over the week.
Mercifully, the execrable year 2020 is creeping towards its end. But it's a stubborn bugger of a year and it is still throwing fitful punches at us. This is another one of those times in my life when I have felt like those weighted inflatable kids' clowns that spring right up after you punch them. You punch it again, it goes down for another few seconds, and then up again. This week has been up and down, up and down.
One thing I have been thinking about a lot is how social media should generally be used with great caution, because Big Tech is quite sinister. As I may have mentioned before, one of my social media axioms is that there is a direct correlation between an individual's number of selfies and their crazy factor. It's a very strange phenomenon to observe people taking pictures of themselves as they wish to be seen. It's a narcissistic cocktail. But there's a genre of social media that is equally strange and narcissistic and appropriate for our cultural zeitgeist; healthcare worker scolding posts. Everywhere you look, health care workers strangely have time to publicize their exhaustion, post photos of their mask-pocked faces, warn us that "it's real", and even to disclose details about their patients. There's a strange, complimentary and cultish worship of the NHS in the UK. I find it quite troubling and I'm keeping an eye on it. This is one explanation for it, but feel free to share your thoughts as well in the comments.
I would comment on the American elections but I don't have much to say other than I'm completely revolted by the GOP, Conservative Inc. and all the masses of slug-like, gutless, pathetic, embarrassing, pea-brained, popularity-seeking, opportunistic, slobbering, elite wanker, godless, repulsive, faux conservative eunuchs all over the Western world. That's all I can say politely.
And now, a look back at the Great Prophet Steyn's week. He examined the Quantum of Swalwell with an additional complementary Topical Take throwback to Monsieur Butterfly. There was much food for thought in a new episode of The Mark Steyn Show called Safe Harbors and Pious Ears, a relevant re-post of another episode discussing The "Leader" of the "Free" World. Mark also kindly covered this week for our dear Kathy on the cinema beat, and looked at Passing Pleasures. His Song of the Week was Do You Hear What I Hear? . Lastly, do check out the Monday edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show. Mark guest-hosted for Rush and if you didn't catch it live, you can catch the replay right here. Don't miss it.
Wishing you all a healthy and good week, and I'll see you in the comments.
~
North America:
The heroism of the lockdown resistance.
I don't want to believe this but...
Big Social is evil. You can thank all the butch, beltway Republicans and Conservative Inc. for all their helpful inertia on this file.
This is not normal. We should not be normalizing this. It is evil to do this to children. Woe unto us for allowing it.
CUNY profs plotted to exclude Jew from meeting.
Related: noted NY anti-Semite vows to shut down those uppity dang Jews for good.
This is stupid. So much for the biggest, baddest army in the world. Sigh. How about "winning wars" as a strategic goal for an army?
Follow the lockdown money. There's a lot of money changing hands now between bailouts and testing. I guess I'm in the wrong line of work.
"It's not a reset, it's a counterrevolution."
So. Much. Unity.
A look back at the putrid media.
Laying the groundwork for the Kamala Coronation.
~
Land of the Rising Sun:
Japan doubles down on Steynian demographic predictions. Pretty sad.
~
Israel and Jews:
A Catholic tribute to Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks.
A look at Israel's secret ties with Morocco.
Why the cultural elites truly despise Chanukah.
Chanukah history geek out! More here.
~
New Middle East:
Get a load of this. It is truly incredible. I follow a bunch of Emerati folks on Twitter and I am completely delighted watching this warm peace unfold in front of my eyes in real time.
Israeli PM Netanyahu notes the amazing sights of Dubai.
~
China:
Look at a new delight that the murderous Chinese have wrought. Every day, a new cruddy thing, courtesy of China.
~
The Formerly Great Britain:
Nothing to see here.
Follow the lockdown money.
This is not normal. Stop pretending it's normal, or acceptable.
~
Today in Satan:
The tweet in question has been deleted or just that the individual in question locked down their Twitter account. However, I did see the tweet and it was a celebration of that person's favourite Christmas ornament, placed on a tree. It was a pair of gold abortion scissors.
~
Humourless and Kook Left, Wokestapo and Trans:
JK Rowling calls for an end to the climate of fear on debating trans issues (good luck with that).
Ice cream so woke!
I'm in the wrong line of work.
~
Human Grace:
Beloved bakery saved by the Friendship Circle.
"My white privilege didn't save me but god did."
Good people are everywhere.
It's open thread time! Log into SteynOnline and let Laura know what you think of these stories or other happenings from week that was or the election results that never will be. Commenting privileges are among the many perks of membership in The Mark Steyn Club. While going off topic is permitted on Laura's Links, do stick to the other rules as you engage: no URLs, no profanity, and no ad hominem attacks. Meet your fellow Club members, including Laura, in person by joining us on our rescheduled Mediterranean cruise alongside Tal Bachmann, Michele Bachmann, and Conrad Black among Mark's other special guests.
Comment on this item (members only)
Submission of reader comments is restricted to Mark Steyn Club members only. If you are not yet a member, please click here to join. If you are already a member, please log in here:
Member Login
36 Member Comments
Gen. Clarke reminded me of the Duke of Wellington's (I think) comment:
I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me.
Once again, I'm going to say that we need a true Open Forum page on here. Sure we can discuss whatever we like here, but I am reluctant to do it. Laura works hard to put up a variety of things she finds interesting and worthy of discussion and it seems rude and unappreciative to basically take our arm, sweep that all off the table and say, "Nah, I want to talk about this." Just feels wrong to me.
I do want to bring this up somewhere though, what the hell is going on with the vaccine? I know I often think that the two political sides just automatically are for whatever the other side is against and vice versa, but the vaccine thing has spun so fast my head is spinning.
A very short while ago, the Right was touting the vaccine and what a great job Trump had done in getting it out so fast. The Left thought it was dangerous and not to be trusted. And now? That seems to have totally flipped. Now the Left thinks the vaccine is great and should be mandatory and the Right thinks it's dangerous and not to be trusted.
Really?
Excellent set of links, as always! A few thoughts:
Completely agree about the healthcare worker shaming/narcissism. The pandemic exacerbated the heightened self-importance of certain people and groups, (read: teachers), and it has emboldened healthcare workers. Funny: everybody wants to be a hero, but no one wants to do anything heroic
Similarly, I completely agree with the sentiment that we should not normalize night school for children, how schools should not be shut down during the day. That said, I'm not surprised it was a charter school that was innovative enough to provide some sort of solution for their families
As to "unity" with the Bidens and Democrats, it's interesting that Joe's campaign manager called Republicans "f***ers," and that former Rep Katie Hill tweeted in support, "Stop being that and unity/healing will be a hell of a lot easier." That one-two reminded me of Mark's interview with James Mitchell, when Mitchell asked Khalid Sheik Mohammed how it was possible that Islam could be "a religion of peace" when it seemed like Jihadists were blowing up buildings and beheading civilians left and right. KSM replied that Islam was a religion of peace, and that the world would be at peace when everyone was either converted or killed. The Democrats will believe America is unified when everyone votes progressive and all dissent is eliminated
Thanks. I don't think I've ever taken a selfie and your opening rant of adjectives for the Gathering Of Prostitutes just felt right.
Glad you liked it, Andy.
*Off-topic*
Mark has previously covered the story - and the scandal - of the wrongful conviction of Cardinal George Pell (overturned after he'd spent more than a year in prison in solitary confinement).
Further to the revelations in October regarding the substantial sum of money ($1 million AUD) wired to Australia by Cardinal Becciu (in payment for false charges of paedophilia to be brought against Pell), we can only hope we'll be learning more about the Vatican Deep State and its influence. Or maybe not...
'On Friday (October 23rd, 2020) a Victoria Police spokeswoman told Guardian Australia: "Austrac [Australia's financial crimes watchdog] has made Victoria police aware of transfer of monies from the Vatican over a period of time to Australia. They have not advised Victoria Police of any suspicious activity related to these transactions," she said. "In the absence of any other evidence or intelligence, Victoria Police has noted the advice from Austrac. We are not at this time conducting any further investigation."'
And this week: 'Vivian Waller, the lawyer for the complainant in the cathedral abuse case that led to Cardinal Pell's incarceration, said there was no evidence to justify the conspiracy theory. The complainant did not comment, but Ms Waller said: "There is not even enough (evidence) to warrant an investigation." The AFP [Federal Police] said it was reviewing "the relevant information" while IBAC [Independent Broadbased Anticorruption Commission] said the claims didn't reach the threshold for investigation."'
Yeah right - as if the Vic Police will investigate (themselves). God rot them... along with the judges and the media!
PS. Notice that conservatives' claims about such crimes are always dismissed as "lacking evidence" or "conspiracy theories" nowadays?
Thanks for the very thoughtful piece by Sohrab Ahmari on Rabbi Lord Sacks, Laura.
My pleasure, Kate.
Love your stuff, Laura. The Edi Wyatt story was heart breaking. I wish her the best of luck in the future.
Thank you, Lowell. Yes, a really heartbreaking story but also inspirational.
Worked as a volunteer at Fort Bragg Womack Army Medical Center. As retired military myself it was depressing watching the army falling for the diversity nonsense. When that army big wig said diversity is our greatest strength, I almost cried.
You had me at latkes, Laura. My mouth is still drooling, and what a great pan! Would you share your recipe? By the way, in a previous post you mentioned that fish and chips originated in Jewish cuisine. Could you be persuaded to share your Gefilte Fish and Chips recipe?
Hi Paul. LOL. The pan is actually from Israel, we schlepped it back with us one time. Latkes are actually pretty easy to make. The best recipe I have seen actually is via a Jewish drag queen (I'm not kidding) who did a video for either Bon Appetite or some other web site and it never failed. I will have to take a look around for the video. Basically, you just peel a bunch of potatoes and a few onions, and run them through the food processor with the shredding wheel. Then, the main thing is draining all the liquid out of that mixture, either by squeezing it through a cheese cloth (best) or a strainer. You want pretty much all of the potato and onion juice out of it. Once that mixture is dry-ish, put in a bowl, add an egg and a couple table spoons of flour so that the latkes will bind together when you fry. Add salt and pepper as well. That's it-heat the oil and use an ice cream scoop to put them into the pan, brown on each side. Serve with sour cream, apple sauce or sugar. We don't do gefilte in my house! We're a mixed marriage (Sephardi Ashkenazi) so gefilte is all but verboten.
Thank you, thank you, for the recipe, and I knew that pan didn't come from around here. This reminds me: last year, at my request, Nicola Timmerman posted a fantastic recipe for mince pie. I don't know why we can't have some kind of Cookery Corner here. I'd love to publish the steps for my chicken gizzards flambé.
Hi Laura,
This is the same recipe that my college roommate's boyfriend taught us over 50 years ago. I'm still making latkes the same way. No leftovers no matter how many I make!
Great recipe. Thanks for posting it.
Try the recipe from Kosher By Design, Laura (the original one). It's so geshmack you'll kvell :-)
Great Links and Latkes, Laura!
Interesting contrast between the "healthcare heroes" and Dr Kory (at the Senate hearing).
How many people have DIED because of this??! Not only from Covid, but from lockdown suicides?? At the risk of national chauvinism... Australian scientists identified ivermectin as a likely effective treatment in April (Monash Uni group), confirmed several months later by Prof Thomas Borody (who recommended it as part of a triple therapy): they were mocked and dismissed for promoting an inexpensive and readily available drug with an established history of safety. (See, The Daily Telegraph - August 11, 2020 - Why are they silencing a miracle coronavirus cure? Local doctor may have breakthrough - by Miranda Devine.)
Is any more evidence of groupthink bullies - and their wickedness - needed?
Hi Kate, Ontario has also been counting suicides as Covid deaths. It's very sinister. Lots of big things and little things have suddenly changed after the election. The AMA said why yes-hydroxychloroquine actually can work against the China Flu. Twitter changed it's re-tweeting policy back to regular as well. Lots of very dark forces at work here.
Not to get all Betty Friedan on you--make that Gloria Steinem, way cuter--but why are women always the "unintended" victims of the extension of "rights" to people previously "marginalized"? (Sorry for all the "", but ambiguity and obfuscation are hard to communicate in print.) When "Syrian" "refugees" overran Europe, it was women (and Jews, to be fair) who had to bear the brunt of their "cultural" "differences". (Ambiguity and obfuscation are hard work--don't let anybody tell you otherwise!) Women could no longer swim at the public pool unless they didn't mind being groped, fondled, or penetrated. (There's a joke to be made about the "shallow end" and the "deep end"--but not by a gentleman such as myself.) To appear in public without a hijab was to invite scorn or worse.
Then we allowed biological men to declare themselves women, willy-nilly (heh), for whatever purpose they chose: athletics, rest rooms, motherhood. Never mind that your 14-year-old daughter feared playing soccer against a "boy" better suited for the offensive line on the football team; or to shower with "him" after the game. To object was to declare your "transphobia", or worse, your "misogyny". To stand up for women was to trample their "rights".
Perhaps most demeaning of all is the beatification of Sarah Fuller for kicking an American football for an extra point-after-touchdown. You can see the video if you haven't had your retinas scarred by it already. She kicks the ball an astonishing 63 feet (a hair over 20 meters for you Godless communists) peaking at a height of about 12 feet. Wonder Woman was a weakling next to Sarah; Xena was a wien-uh. Never mind that children in elementary school--more than a few of them girls--could accomplish the same feat. Never mind that the US has a world-class women's soccer team, every member of which could make that same kick from twice the distance. As could 90% of all women collegiate soccer players and the majority of high school girl players. Sarah Fuller had to wear pads and a helmet, but only for uniform regulations; no man on defense made more than a quarter-hearted effort to rush her or block the kick.
Good for Sarah, she didn't miss. There are some all-time choke artists in the history of the game who have. But come on. Women have done a lot more than she in athletics alone. I would mention the legendary Martina Navratilova, but she was cancelled last year for calling men playing women's sports "cheating". A gay woman, gone. Who's next?
Vanderbilt could've found someone on the men's soccer team but it was disbanded in the mid 2000's to appease the Title IX Goddesses. But I have to hand it to the university: By pulling this stunt they got the Wokestapo to ignore them firing one of the handful of black head coaches in D1 college football so well played!
I was thinking about Scott Norwood as I wrote, SabreMike, but I didn't want to mention him. That kick was no gimme, and he has been unfairly maligned.
Headline: World to End, Women and minorities affected most.
Well played, Lowell.
Well, I do feel free to share my thoughts, Laura. In fact, I was just thinking of the odd timing of me reading this. You see, after I'd done a joking post on Facebook about how Time magazine considered Biden and Harris each half of a person for naming the two of them Person of the Year, I had just made a new post. In it, I said how the more I thought about it, the angrier it made me. I thought that the real Persons of the year should be our health care workers first and all essential workers second.
Funny now to find out that they're just a bunch of egotistical narcissists. Hmm...
Kamala savaged Biden in the debate over his racism to where he had nothing to say and hung his head in shame. Then she dropped out because nobody would vote for her.
Persons of the Year indeed
Matthew Hancock, Flu-Finder General, annoys me less by possibly getting his second cousin's younger brother's sister-in-law's stepson a lucrative sinecure, than by existing in the first place. He is simply incapable of telling the truth. He is one of those politicians who will lie by reflex. Like a Sicilian mafioso, he regards the truth as an offence to omertĂ .
The quote by General Clarke reminds me of what Truman said of MacArthur and other Generals:
"I fired him because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President...I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a b$&#h, although he was, but that's not against the laws for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail."
MacArthur should have been in gaol from the time of his disastrous "defence" of the Philippines.
Well, you put it in quote marks, but yeah, what defence.
I lived in the Philippines for four years. One day I was having my car serviced and got in a conversation with several locals about dugout Doug. I asked if any one could name the General who stayed behind? Crickets. So I told them about General Wainwright and how MacArthur hindered his getting the MoH. Probably didn't change their view of history but made for good conversation.
Regarding the resistance to lockdowns (the Breitbart opinion).
He talks about the early 80s when this all happened before with the AIDS virus. I don't remember any restrictions whatsoever. I use it as an example of the opposite. Yes it had pretty much a 100% death rate, yet there was no isolation of people, even people who were high risk. I wonder where he lived?
So, Laura, tell us what you really think of gutless faux Conservatives!
I don't have Twitter so thanks for all the links. Let's hope the new year brings more human grace and less disgracefulness!
Amen, Nicola.
"Diversity and inclusion requires action. It requires decisions and it requires leaders that must put themselves out there and must make purposeful decisions," Gen. Richard Clarke, commander, USSOCOM speaking at Tampa ROCKS, Inc. over the weekend. Diversity strengthens."
When a US general is called Clark(e), you can be sure he is utterly useless. An uncle of mine fought at both Salerno and Anzio and had the measure of the execrable Mark Clark.
And we wonder why we can't win our endless wars.
As Mark has pointed out many times, winning is never actually discussed as a goal of the war.