Programming note: Mark will be back on the telly with Tucker this evening. Tune into Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News at 8pm ET / 5pm PT to watch.
Hi everyone and welcome back to the pre-Christmas Eve edition of Laura's Links. I may have mentioned previously that Jewish holidays always start the evening before the actual day of the holiday, and "evening" in Hebrew is "erev". So there's "Erev Rosh Hashana" which means Rosh Hashana Eve. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Christmas the only Christian holiday with an official eve? That makes it a little more Jewish in my books. I mean, so does Jesus being Jewish – that's pretty Jewish. Then again, most of the best Christmas songs have been written by Jews, which is pretty Jewy, too. But I digress!
By my calculations, this column will be out on Erev Erev Christmas – the night before the night before Christmas!
The fact that I even bring this up should make perfect sense to all of you because it is a well-established fact that I am one of those notorious Christmas-loving Jews. You know, the kind that actually says "Merry Christmas" and not that el stupido, lame, wimpy, groan-o-rama "Happy Holidays". One of those "Christmas Adjacent Jews", in other words. I like the songs, I like the tinsel, the reason for the season, the cookies (especially the cookies), the movies, the spirit of giving, the Joy to the World stuff, and the lights, much unlike this guy. So from the SteynOnline In-House Jewish Mother's house to yours, a very merry Christmas.
Now I know this is going to surprise the heck out of you, but I'm actually writing to you from lockdown! I know, right?!?! Who could have possibly imagined that happening? My home province in the Deranged Dominion is now undergoing a Super Dooper Bionic Nuclear Butch Leader Enlightened Tyranny Iron Man Circuit Breaker lockdown. And it's 'only' for a month! They promise! Pinky swear! The virus will comply this time! We are gonna flatten the curve completely! This time for sure, for sure, FOR SURE, it's gonna work.
I am so frigging sick of these lockdowns, and so disgusted by my government that by the time you read this, I may have moved to Wuhan to finally escape the Wuhan Flu Lockdowns. But enough of my fantasies of freedom and onto fantasies of a certain, specific Honourable Lord Doctor Baron Prophet Earl Duke and Viceroy Mark Steyn, First Gentleman of Macedonian Web Content Farming, Esq, PBUH (Pocket squares Be Upon Him).
You know, that guy had a very busy week as you may well know. In case you missed anything written or spoken by Hizzzzhonour, do catch yourself up. I mean, he certainly had me at motherf****s (no big secret if you've been reading my stuff for any length of time). He also took a look at the ever-catching-up conservatives of the world, made an impassioned exhortation to surrender nothing (hot!!!!), poked fun at those cutting the line for the China Flu jab, and delighted us with a familiar Song of the Week, Here Comes Santa Claus.
My typing fingers and brain are (for now) a few of the only things not in lockdown. If I'm not sent to re-education Gulag for the "holiday break", I'll see you back here next week, and of course, in the comments.
Merry Christmas!
~
North America:
"There needs to be a more balanced approach."
I hate these people. Disgusting lying, evil bureaucrats.
More on that here from the great Daniel Greenfield.
~
New Middle East:
Who could have ever imagined? OMG just noticed the flight number is "Hamsa Hamsa Hamsa" (555). That's a nice touch.
This is wild.
~
Israel and Jews:
This is pretty interesting, a video interview on what Chassidic women have to say and believe. I really liked it.
~
Russia:
~
Humourless Kook Left, Wokestapo and Trans:
A reflection on a terrible, avoidable suicide.
As Mark has often said, this is the way to make it harder to "cancel" people. It takes all of us, with our names, doing our part to prevent the cancel crowd from terrorizing others. Nobody is immune.
Don't send your children to government schools. More here.
~
Human Grace:
He was scared, but he didn't want his little sister to die.
"You're not doing this alone." (From last year, but still worth it.)
When you need a helping hand, look to the end of your arm.
Seek, and you shall find beauty in the most unexpected places.
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Remember two years ago when the government shut down and they cried "Reopen the government or people will die. Government workers are suffering." Now we have real shutdowns of business and of life but now it's okay because they're not essential workers and are not important in the grand scheme of things.
I look at the RINOs that have turned their backs on Trump and it got me to think of the conversation Rush had with a listener yesterday. The caller said that we were fed up and are speaking out against this and Rush said he hardly sees anyone on our side doing anything. We didn't show up when our cities were being burned down. We didn't show up when Obama was running our nation to the ground. Rush said our base hasn't shown up to hold anyone we've elected accountable for decades. We may think of it as absurd that these RINOs would dare tell us "We're not risking our positions for you because you wouldn't do it for us.", ask yourselves this: How has risked it all for our side that wasn't named Donald Trump or was a conservative with a platform? Other than a student standing his ground against a Native American "activist" and a husband and wife being arrested for defending their property against the mob, not a peep. We created the RINOs because deep down, we are RINOs. We only show up every first Tuesday in November and we disappear. We need to admit that the establishment Republicans exist because we allowed it to exist. We aren't without blame in this. Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong but unless we share the risk with Trump, or voices will be silenced and we will lose America.
"We created the RINOs because deep down, we are RINOs. We only show up every first Tuesday in November and we disappear. We need to admit that the establishment Republicans exist because we allowed it to exist. We aren't without blame in this."
It's unusual to see conservative self-assessment articulated so clearly and honestly. "Rush said he hardly sees anyone on our side doing anything" - which is true. (Mark alluded to it recently when statues were being defaced and toppled - without evidence of any pushback.)
As a group, conservatives rationalise 'doing nothing' - other than voting - which might explain the collective acquiescence in the face of a blatantly stolen election. Jesse Watter's on-air reflections - "A Complacent Country" - are a tragic indictment of the situation in America. Will the base retreat further into isolation and anonymity in the event Biden-Harris are installed?
We fell into the trap of believing our government is something you can "Set and forget". We knew politicians are dirty and it's impossible to weed them all out but we just flat up given up on doing anything about it. It's like saying "Why take out the trash when we just make more of it?" We gave up and now the swamp is dirty. Trump is the lone boat trying to clean up the trash in the Pacific. For every ton of trash he brings back, ten more are dumped. Fighting corruption is like the fight against evil: It never ends. The establishment that has held back Trump is the establishment we helped create through our own inaction.
Freedom is like the crops a farmer has. Farmers know how to grow and take care of the fields. But what happens when that farmer doesn't know a thing about farming but knows about technology and the work is done for him by machines? One day, an EMP attack happens and the so called "farmer" is screwed because he doesn't know what to do because the machines did all the work for them. The same thing goes for our nation. We gave our nation to the experts and when the experts turn on us like the machines did in Terminator, we have a people wanting freedom without even knowing how to get it. Our fore fathers never wanted conflict but never feared it when it came. If we go back to being the party that allowed the establishment to exist as it is now then no matter how we vote, nothing will ever change.
Laura, *thank you* for the link to the Greg Lukianoff piece on Mike Adams' tragic suicide: all the indications are that there'll be an escalation in this phenomenon with the ramping up of cancel culture via official ("code-of-conduct") channels and social media mobs. The "moral pollution" (described by Pamela Paresky) is very real, and consistent with the experiences of Mark and others on the free speech front.
An observation that really stood out was this: "The culture war is supposed to be a war in metaphor only. Even in war, people often express sadness or remorse for the death of people "on the other side." In Mike's case, the inhumanity shown to him and his friends started with some of the reporters covering his death and extended downward. I will refrain from linking to some of the hundreds of absolutely ghoulish tweets gloating about his death, but they weigh heavy on my heart."
The viciousness - and the goals - of these moral crusaders can't be underestimated: their AIM is to push heretics to the point of self-harm. Not only do they openly encourage suicide: they openly celebrate it (in the aftermath).
PS. Brilliant tweet by Ron Coleman. Gad Saad and Rita Panahi and others have made similar points (about risk-free anonymity). To modify Mark, the cancellations and intimidation will only end if there's a collective message to the effect that: "You'll have to cancel us all!"
Actually Laura, I may be wrong, but I believe that Halloween is the "Eve of All Hallows (saints). Nov. 1st being All Saints Day. Merry Christmas my wonderful sister in faith. I do so enjoy your columns. Shalom.
Thank you, Joseph. Is Halloween still considered a religious holiday? I knew that it had been called All Hallows Eve, but I didn't think it was celebrated as a religious holiday, thought it was mostly in the realm of the cultural now.
I think probably every Christian holy day has had its vigil. How that vigil was/is celebrated has varied, however. For instance, there is this famous passage from "Henry V":
"He that shall see this day, and see old age, and live old age, / Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, / And say, 'Tomorrow is Saint Crispian.'"
That suggests that the eve of the sacred day was once the one for celebrating in a more secular sense, which seems to apply to Hallowe'en and Shrove Tuesday, probably also to the eve of the birthday of St John the Baptist, 24th of June. If a saint's day were significant to an individual, he or she could throw a party the night before, and repent on the actual saint's day.
Since observation of saints' days and the routine confession are not part of Protestant Christianity, that may explain why the idea of the vigil got secularised into things like Hallowe'en. Among practising Lutherans in Scandinavia, the traditional time for "Christmas dinner" is Christmas Eve, with the Day itself reserved for religious observance.
Interesting, Owen-thank you!
Apologies to the Bard for hopelessly garbling the quotation, but I don't think MSC members will need me to correct it. Merry Christmas to everyone.
It's actually the central day of the Allhallowtide triduum, flanked by All Hallows' Eve and All Souls' Day (something I only know due to the school feast day/ Irish nuns).
"The Trump administration treated the pandemic as a medical problem while the Democrats and their media treated it as a behavioral problem."
The above distillation of the mess we're in is so brilliant in its simplicity, it's almost Steynian.
So true! There was an excellent column today by the (great) ex-PM of Australia, Tony Abbott, which included the following observation:
"When [Labor] state governments get away with imposing tougher restrictions on churches than on brothels and on religious services than on sporting events, keeping state borders closed for months longer than any health imperative could justify, requiring people on the street to produce their "papers" in order to avoid heavy fines, denying sick and dying people ready access to their families because of minute infection risk, failing to notice stormtrooper tactics against people in parks or in their own homes, and announcing draconian new restrictions based on impossible-to-question "expert advice" (that's invariably not released), public trust is unlikely to be sustained."
And we could have followed a more proactive "medical approach" (similar to Taiwan's, and in place during his time as Health Minister in 2003-2007): "Back then, the National Pandemic Plan included early international border closures, special isolation facilities, mobile testing and treatment, and ramped up ICUs."
PS. Dafna - I'm half way through the video on Chassidic women... very intriguing!
How close are we to having our objections to the lockdowns as a sign of mental illness? They will say "They don't have a different opinion on how to handle this pandemic, they're just not sane but we'll fix that."
The rise in the use of "conspiracy theorist" as a pejorative label is a disturbing trend, along with "disinformation". It's the modern day equivalent of dissenters being dismissed as "mentally insane", and a justification for censoring their views (and/or cancelling them).
"Super Dooper Bionic Nuclear Butch Leader Enlightened Tyranny Iron Man Circuit Breaker lockdown."
Laura, you always start my Thursday mornings with a smile. Especially now that here in Israel, we're on the verge of another loony lockdown, too.
Loved the last link to the poetic names of moths.
Thinking of changing my MSC name to "Obscure Wainscot". To many Americans, the very word wainscot is obscure.
Hey! No getting up at the break of dawn to steal the best name on the list. This will be remembered!
Hi, Laura,
All Saints Day (Toussaint en Francais) has an "eve": Halloween! I believe it used to be called All Hallows E'en and progressively got shortened to the current label. Seems like sort of a Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) relationship to Ash Wednesday -- mischief the day before the "holy" or "hallowed" day.
All the best.
Hi John, thanks for that info. I did also learn that the night before Easter has special prayers and rituals-something I didn't know about, but it's not officially called "Easter Eve".
your views & humour & style are marvellous Laura - hopefully one day I will meet you & Mark (MPSBUH)! on a not-too-distant cruise! All the best Rob Thompson (Joburg RSA)
Thank you, Robert. I appreciate that. Mark is a stylish delight in real life. I'm very ordinary but I pick excellent people to fawn over. I'm really good at that.
If anyone wants to know what Chassidic women have to say and believe, I'm happy to oblige. My family and I are completely chassidic, head covering (for me), sidelocks (for my husband and boys) and all.
Who would have ever guessed a conservative-controlled Ontario run by a Ford brother, would spend 2020 imposing more severe lockdowns than NDP-controlled BC?
Probably somebody who lives in the UK, under Boris "Elagabalus" Johnson.
The Governess of New Mexico has dictated to private schools by not informing the parents that their children attending that school wear face masks while visiting any other household over the holiday break or in any gathering in an enclosed space can not expect admittance back to school will be shut down. I didn't hear for how long. I can't get a grip around how severe the controls from the top have become. Do they hire little trolls to follow the children around for two weeks? I had just invited a friend and her two little girls over for cocoa, baking fun and games. Now I'm suddenly lukewarm to hosting the gathering. Something is seriously wrong with these people at the top.
Tal, I saw something on Twitter which encapsulated it for me, something to the effect of "who would have thought that the crack-addicted Ford brother was the honourable of the two".
It's hard for me to put into words how angry I am at myself for voting for that tyrannical idiot.
I, too, am disgusted with Doug "One Term" Ford, and will never cast another vote for him. Remember "Ford Nation"? Yeah, haven't heard that claptrap for some time. He may have started his transformation into Lord Protector of Ontario through fear, but now I'm sure he's just bitter and angry that his own voters have turned against him, and is punishing us for our ingratitude. Clamping a new lockdown on *Christmas Eve* was so blatantly sadistic, even the worthless politicians of Ontario blanched at the damage to their self-image and grudgingly postponed the execution for 2 days.
Wanda, I am repulsed by Doug Ford and Christine Elliot. Repulsed. I think he is punishing all of Ontario as a cover for his government's colossal, ongoing clusterfark of death at the long term care homes. The whole lot of them is useless. The only ones with any balls are Randy Hillier, and then Jim and Belinda Karahalios. That's it. The rest of them are despicable.
One thing of which Daniel Greenfield was possibly unaware, when he wrote the linked Frontpagemag article, was that Neil Ferguson was able, at some stage, furtively to creep back into his previous role: i.e. purveyor of really dodgy statistics to gullible government ministers. His previous models concerning Wu-flu have failed to take into account such rather relevant variables as natural immunity. I haven't seen the code used, written by Ferguson himself, apparently, but it is said to be full of bugs and lacking an audit trail, which would make it a lot like the code used by the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. In any case, models are pointless, even with faultless code, if they casually omit material factors. (I happen to think they are pointless - full stop.)
Aside from his hypocrisy, Ferguson has no right to taken seriously, in the light of his unremitting record of failure. He has made predictions, presumably worked out on his trusty, circa-1978 Casio pocket-calculator **, which have invariably assumed the worst and consequently been proved hopelessly inaccurate. Despite this track record, however, he seems to have more influence over Boris Johnson's response to Wu-flu than Johnson himself does, since the PM clearly does not grasp that a policy which was wholly ineffective in April is not going to prove a miraculous panacea in January.
** Please don't imagine that I am knocking Casio calculators. After all, you could type "71077345" and then hold the calculator upside-down, thereby providing whole seconds of entertainment. I expect there were ruder ones than that, too.
A quick cut-and-paste from Twitter - by Buck Sexton:
"What does wartime conservatism look like right now? Good friend asked me this tonight, I immediately launched into what could be called a philosophy of wartime conservative. In rough summary form, I'd list it as adopting the following principles:
1. Everything is now political
2. Your enemies do not seek to convert you, but to destroy you
3. Your basic freedoms are under assault - and we're losing
4. Winning matters, a lot.
5. This is a ideological street fight
6. Act with honor, but expect none in return"
Read the whole thread, including one of the Steyn-esque conclusions:
"... But what I think we are seeing in action is the disparity between how the Right fights - with ideas - and how the Left fights - with activism."
Kate, something else to consider (and I can't remember who said it), is that for the left, there's no 'live and let live'. There's no such thing for them, so they must be treated and viewed accordingly.
One can only avoid conflict for so long until it becomes inevitable. We have shown great restraint when the left pushes our buttons. We need to meet them halfway and show that if they play the intimidation game, they better know the rules because it doesn't say that we can't do the same things to them. Of course, the media would condemn us but when have they ever been on our side. They could care less about how we feel and this stolen election is proof of that. We need to win back our country the way we lost it: In our schools, higher education, entertainment, big tech, news media, even social justice issues. We have allowed them to gain a monopoly over the very things that convince us growing up in this nation what the "right thing" is. They know they will lose in the verbal octagon so they chose the Roman Coliseum where their base roots for our defeat.
"We need to win back our country the way we lost it."
Indeed. And it applies to the West in general. It's also a longterm initiative that requires positive action.
"Disgusting, lying, evil bureaucrats" - that's straight out of the department of redundancy department.
Thanks for compiling these, Laura... great reading for Saint Stephen's/ Boxing Day!
Kate, my pleasure. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Thank you, Laura... I hope you and your family have a wonderful Jew-ish Christmas!
PS. Your efforts and insights are always appreciated; it's already Boxing Day here, and planning to delve into the links during the Christmas / New Year interregnum.
"The butterfly does not count in months but hours and it is enough" Tagore. Would we should all "fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run". Appreciate all that we have at this time of year especially those that we have and give according to what we have been given.
Patrick, absolutely. There is much to be grateful for.
Laura, Good call on the link at Israel and Jews -- Youtube video "What Hasidic Women Have To Say (eye-opening experience!)" That's fascinating. It's 38 minutes long, and definitely worth watching. Who knew there were kosher films? I'll review this more. Thanks for finding it and reporting it to us.
Hi Elisa, I really liked it. I mean some of the ideas were not unfamiliar to me, but I really liked hearing how she (and the musical friend of hers) found a way to live a Hasidic lifestyle but also provide for their families, doing what they love within the confines of an observant lifestyle. I also thought her approach to the Muslim community was very enlightened-how she forced herself to remember that she read one single book, and could not allow herself to judge an entire people by one story and one book. A good lesson in there for all of us, about many things.
Excellent links, as always!
Ron Coleman: well said. We all have to stand up to the bullies together, from the famous down to us Twitter eggs
Keeping kids out of government schools: I was expecting to see a link to the North Carolina teacher who said that those who are trying to reopen schools are white supremacists. Do these folks hear themselves? A few weeks ago, I read Bad Teachers by Guy Strickland, and just yesterday I finished Charter Schools and Their Enemies by Thomas Sowell. A number of my close friends are teachers, and I'm sure they're excellent at what they do, but as someone who works for a small private business, it's absolutely nuts that all the incentives are aligned for the worst performing teachers to keep their jobs
Thanks, Richard. I had a childhood friend whose parents were teachers. She decided she wanted to be a teacher. I asked her why and she said quite candidly, 'so I can get my summers off'. She is a teacher. She did get married, and has a cat but has no children. She never wanted them, although apparently her husband did-it was a deal breaker from what I understand. I don't actually think she even likes children but she has her summers off.
Summers, weekends, federal holidays, the occasional week sprinkled throughout the year, but if only they had more money, kids would start to learn!
One word for your last sentence: unions.
In 1991 I visited Morocco. I was told that if I had an Israeli stamp in my passport that I would be turned away at the border. I thought that seemed harsh and unwarranted, but I didn't have the stamp, so I decided to go on the trip. About five years ago, I went to Israel and I got my passport stamped. I wondered then if it would create a problem for me when I travelled. I didn't care if it did, but I did wonder about it. Both trips and both experiences were good one. I am happy to see peace between those countries.
The peace deals brokered by 'Orange Hitler' are extraordinary - and ignored by the MSM/ Left.
Imagine what Trump could achieve (globally) by ensuring an end to totalitarian rule within China!
New Year's Day is a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics. It has an eve. I don't remember all the details about it now, but I know it is a Holy Day of Obligation, and it has an eve.
Thanks for the reminder, Eliza. January 1st is a Holy Day of Obligation (but not everywhere according to Wiki). It is the Feast of the Solemnity of Mary who Catholics believe is the Mother of God.
"..I am one of those notorious Christmas-loving Jews. You know, the kind that actually says "Merry Christmas" and not that el stupido, lame, wimpy, groan-o-rama "Happy Holidays...I like the songs, I like the tinsel, the reason for the season, the cookies (especially the cookies), the movies, the spirit of giving, the Joy to the World stuff, and the lights,.."
I'm beginning to feel a similar way as you about Chanukah. This was the best Chanukah I ever had, evah!
When the world gets dark with misery what better way to react than by lighting it up with Joy?!
This last comment I meant to address to Laura.
Lighting up the world with joy is a wonderful thing. Now more than ever.
This used to be a holy day of obligation, but has been "dropped" (along with many other such days) by bishops; rules vary between countries.
PS. Many - with good reason - insist that it still is (regardless of what the bishops might decide).
The first line of "The Hunter Biden Christmas Song" has been simmering in my brain for the past few days. You "inspired" me to finish it. Sorry.
Crack pipes smoking with an open flame,
Jack Ma kissing at my feet,
Politics ain't beanbag, not a children's game,
Trump is ranting in a tweet.
Everybody knows a turkey name of Joe,
"The Big Guy", "Mr. Ten Percent".
The money to him you must show,
Before it's earned it's always spent.
Grieving widows are my heart's desire,
It's amazing the dames that you can hire.
Bed any cocktail hostess stripper,
When you're known as the highest tipper.
I've got dad's back and he's got mine,
Odds are he's got about a year,
Just long enough to see that I pay a small fine,
His last Merry Christmas, I fear.