Here Comes the Groom

by Mark Steyn
Clubland Q&A - Action Replay
March 21, 2018

https://www.steynonline.com/8532/here-comes-the-groom

Audio Recording

If you missed our livestream Clubland Q&A on Tuesday, here's the action replay. Simply click above for an hour of my answers to questions from Mark Steyn Club members around the planet on various aspects of identity politics, from micro-aggressions at the University of California to macro-aggressions in Telford and Rotherham - with a semantic detour into nano-aggressions and quantum-aggressions. Speaking of semantics, I saw this question after the show ended, from Steyn Club Founding Member Toby Pilling:

If with regard to language, clarity is the remedy (as Orwell would say), shouldn't the 'Asian Grooming Gangs' be re-named 'Moslem Rape Gangs'? I've been trying to make the case that they should at the local council I work for, but over here in the UK one can be hauled in for hate speech at the drop of a hat.

I agree with Messrs Orwell and Pilling on clarity in language, and have never liked the word "grooming", a bit of social-worker jargonese designed to obscure that what's going on all over England is mass serial-gang-rape sex-slavery. "Grooming" is, in that sense, a euphemism. An hour or two after yesterday's show I chanced to stop at the Upper Valley Grill and General Store on an empty strip of road in the middle of the woods in Groton, Vermont, a small town of a thousand souls that feels, if anything, rather smaller than that. And paying at the counter I noticed that they had a can next to the cash register for donations to what the hand-written card called the "Groton Grooming Fund".

Having just been on the air yakking about Telford, I was momentarily startled. It is, in fact, not a whip-round to enable the gang-rapists to buy more petrol to douse the girls in, but a contribution toward the volunteer group that maintains the local ski and snowmobile trails - ie, they "groom" the snow. Happy the town in which grooming is left to the snowmobile club rather than the Muslim rape gangs. The slogan that greets you on the edge of the village is "Welcome to Groton - Where a Small Town Feels Like a Large Family", which I always find faintly dispiriting. But it's better than Telford, where a large town feels like a small prison.

The old joke I bungled has many variations, but you get the gist:

In Heaven, the police are British, the chefs are French, the engineers are German, the lovers are Italian, and it's all run by the Swiss.

In Hell, the police are German, the chefs are British, the engineers are French, the lovers are Swiss, and it's all run by the Italians.

Feel free to adapt for our less Eurocentric times.

The most alarming question yesterday came from one of our younger members, Natalie Olson:

If I get all A's this semester my Dad will grow a beard and he was wondering how you keep it so neat.

Oh, my. I'm horrified to find my beard is apparently so ostentatiously "neat". I always instruct my beard-groomer to hit the sweet spot between assistant choreographer on La Cage aux Folles and full-blown firebreathing imam. It's evidently not so artfully poised as I thought.

Thanks for all your questions. If you're considering signing up for The Mark Steyn Club, you can find out more info here - and don't forget, for any Steyn fans among your loved ones, there's always our limited-time-only Gift Membership.

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90 Reader Comments

Dan • Mar 27, 2018 at 20:37

Hi Mark, when I talk to people about Islam, the West "and all that" they come around, particularly as having done my Masters and more on this for 13 years afterwards I am ready with the facts, figures, real world history, Koran and Hadith. Then, whether they be aesthetes or salt of the earth, they all ask "Well why isn't/aren't the government/s doing anything ? " And you know, it isn't an easy answer. The first blush is fairly simple - muslims can me directed to vote en masse as block by the mosque. A parallel was the power of the priest in Quebec if you need a North American comparable, or religion based voting in pre-muslim Europe. Taking the UK as an example, where in a two party state ( Sorry Lib Dems) only 5 percent of the vote 'swings' and can determine the next government, a muslim block which publicly proclaims the ability to 'deliver' many seats requires pandering. But then I thought the political self serving actually goes far deeper than this. Again using a UK/European example, if all parties acknowledged the existential threat from Islam and Islamic immigration it would suck the oxygen out of every other issue by far, drive "national unity governments" as essentially these countries would be in internal war. No campaigning, no careerist opportunities in politics, a lot of hard work for the incumbents, loss of big 'wedge issue' ... I could go on. Sadly I conclude this existential issue will not be addressed as it limits job prospects for the political class, and is "difficult".

Catherine Mossholder • Mar 23, 2018 at 16:58

This is so horribly serious that I am amazed by the police and other administrator's reactions.
What the hell has happened to western civilization?
Mark this with hand grenades, hand grenades!, going off in Swedish communities!
Can you imagine whole sale sex gangs and hand grenades in your community? What would you do?
I think we would have a full scale riot here in the states.
Wake up Europe!
And yet, people like Mark Steyn keep writing and writing and writing.
I wonder what will it take?

Roy A Crocker

Catherine Mossholder • Mar 23, 2018 at 17:39

Cat - One doesn't have to imagine it happening here, it already is. We've already seen more than a few on the furthest fringe of the lunatic left excuse these rapes on the basis that child sex is explicitly allowed in the Qur'an as long as the girls are infidels. The leftist logic here is that it's racist and Islamophobic to judge Muslim behavior by western standards and laws. Try and discuss this horrendous rape culture even here in the so called land of the free in any open forum and see the reaction. You'll be vilified with the most hateful language and the attack won't be coming from just leftist crackpots but from mainstream liberals as well. It's actually even worse in one respect. Much of the western media never covered this story in the first place in deference to Islamist sensibilities.

SEAN POWER • Mar 23, 2018 at 12:42

If you think 'grooming' could never happen where you live, take a look here: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/118754157164

A feature done on supper-time news this week in my little corner of the planet (a small city on the edge of nowhere, Newfoundland) exposes how a Rotherham or Rochdale gets started.

This pig was sentenced to 11 months - no federal time and probably released early for time served.

Watch it soon because our national broadcaster will dump it down the memory hole as soon as they realize it doesn't fit their world-view.

Regards,

Sean

Roger Beesley

SEAN POWER • Mar 23, 2018 at 13:11

It has gone already.

SEAN POWER

Roger Beesley • Mar 23, 2018 at 14:32

Thanks for feedback. Original link worked in Opera browser but not Chrome or FF.

Try this one:

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1187541571644

Fran Lavery

SEAN POWER • Mar 26, 2018 at 12:00

Caught it! Thanks! How does one recover ones' self after that kind of experience? This is why many people put their faith in a saving Christ and the Resurrection. There's a book that I will never forget, too. It seems a very good one to read if one has been through horrible experiences. It has been mentioned by other commenters in the past year: "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor E. Frankel, "a remarkable perspective on the psychology of survival," as the blurb on the back cover states.

Rich • Mar 23, 2018 at 03:20

Hi Mark, fantastic Q&A as always. A little late with the question, but have you spoken with Douglas Murray since the Count Dankula verdict, and does he fear that the police will be knocking on his door in the near future?

Cottelsloe dreaming • Mar 23, 2018 at 03:08

Mark , Thanks for all the great work you do . Where are your fourth estate mates ? The silence is deafening.

Hope I didn't miss too much in the first couple of paragraphs as I was scrolling down pretty fast. That's some sextet.

You've sometimes used the word evil in your articles. That's an apt word for those who choose to do nothing.So many of them. How do they look at themselves in the mirror ? Very easily I suppose.

That's their problem ; you're doing the right thing. Good on yer , Mark !

Janet Pajerski • Mar 22, 2018 at 21:05

Mark, you sound like an apologist for Islam when going on about Telford. And, as always, it's the fault of the victims.

Mark replies:

Absolute rubbish, Janet. I've not been to Telford in many years, but I'm one of the very few commentators on the planet who took the trouble to spend a week in Rotherham tracking down and talking to the victims. I know them, I'm still in touch with them, I've met their families. And I was stunned at how few British reporters had bothered to do the same.

Kate Smyth

Janet Pajerski • Mar 22, 2018 at 22:00

A remarkable achievement to be accused of being a fascist AND an apologist within 24hrs, Mark!

Lamentable. Pathetic.

David Watson

Janet Pajerski • Mar 23, 2018 at 01:08

It seems unpopular these days to suggest victims share responsibility for any misfortune. It's fundamental in civil litigation to assign proportional blame, but rational assignments are increasingly rare due to political correctness infecting juries, as well as pansy judges. Every victim of every circumstance was insufficiently aware or insufficiently prepared, which contributed to their fate. Self defense is a fundamental responsibility of all people, even the damaged ones. Society can teach them that, even if the parents don't. But the pansy cops are society's proxies, so it will be a while longer before we begin to recover.

A lot of hand wringing over the first ever self driving car fatality. Only one out of millions of miles driven. A lady jay walking, in the dark, in traffic, hit by a car on autopilot with a dozing driver. Maybe it's her mom's fault for not teaching her to look both ways before crossing in front of speeding cars in the dark. Or maybe from being raised without Kinder eggs. But the victims are above reproach in our irresponsible society, so the breathless news readers moan about automated cars. It will be interesting to see how the civil case turns out.

Kate Smyth

Janet Pajerski • Mar 25, 2018 at 08:35

In 2000, 16 year old Lucy L was pregnant for the second time to her boyfriend when she was murdered in a house fire started by him. The "boyfriend"— Ahdel Ali Mehmood, a 26 year old taxi driver in Telford, who turned out to have a wife and children back in Pakistan— was also father to a child born when Lucy was just 14 years of age; Mehmood told Lucy's family he was 4 years younger than his actual age (ie the family believed he was 20 years old at the time) when he "got together" with her; she was just 13.

Mehmood was convicted of murder and remains in prison, though is soon eligible for parole.

Lucy's father, who escaped the blaze (both his daughters and wife perished), now asks whether he should have done more: "I can't bear to think she was being groomed and wasn't able to ask for help." He said he "should have been tougher" and put a stop to his daughter's relationship with the older man, who visited the family home overnight on a regular basis. In retrospect, the father asks, was Mehmood also guilty of child sexual abuse and rape in addition to murder? Perhaps he was not only a homidical "boyfriend", but a paedophile too?

Presumably, this story has received widespread coverage of late because the victim in this case was murdered. Lucy's was a relatively stable, intact family, with "informed" parents. Rather revelatory, no? And yet how many other young teenage girls (and younger) were sexually exploited, either with or without parental knowledge?

Taxis would congregate at schools in Telford to pick up pupils. Yet it is "victim blaming" to even question how familial and societal factors (ie impaired "host immunity") contributed to this rampant opportunistic infection— correct?? Fortunately, Mark offers a considerably less reductionist view in attempting to analyse why many thousands (and possibly tens-of-thousands) of young girls have been sexually exploited and raped by Muslim paedophile networks throughout England in recent decades. In plain sight.

PS. SteynPost #16 is worth watching, as Mark outlines the utter heartlessness of the authorities where these vulnerable girls were concerned. Yet not a peep out of the #MeToo sisterhood. By all means, feel free to apologise and recant!

Fran Lavery

Kate Smyth • Mar 25, 2018 at 14:12

That is a horrific story, Kate. I hadn't heard it. Very hard to believe that person is eligible for parole, ever.

Larry Robinson

David Watson • Mar 28, 2018 at 17:12

That cops are Big Government employees does not mean they are society's proxies - "society's" proxies perhaps, but aside from semantics police are essentially law-enforcement assets and, given the cornucopia of laws that modern western countries choose to adopt almost as pastimes, they can be applied in almost any situation, under any circumstances, against any person or organization that happens to attract the attention of their handlers. The chaos in the top echelons of the US Justice Department and FBI is symptomatic of the top-down deep rot infesting the corridors of power, if not Western society itself. Sure, "most of the [insert agency here] employees are eligible for beatification and there's only a few bad apples but they're not bad enough to be fired or jailed or anything so judgmental," but the bottom line is:
They have lost our trust, not only as organizations, but as individuals. Those who have been supervising these organizations have dropped the ball, and those responsible for oversight (including, but not limited to, the media) instead of reporting in a responsible manner are anxious to pounce on whoever picks it up.

David Watson

Larry Robinson • Mar 29, 2018 at 11:06

Society is defined by who's in charge. They are. We're not. Doesn't really matter whether we trust them.

Kate Smyth

Fran Lavery • Mar 30, 2018 at 16:44

Agree, Fran. And even worse than the epidemic-of-fatherlessness explanation are cases like this one, which fit well with the "cuckold" analysis. The redoubts are indeed fewer than we think, to quote Mark.

Holly Henry • Mar 22, 2018 at 20:41

Mark, I enjoyed your rendition of Kung Foo Fighting so much I downloaded it along with Play That Funky Music White Boy, and Say it Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud. I expect the authorities to break down my door tonight and imprison me for cultural appropriation. Hopefully, my cell mate won't be a hardened criminal doing time for sharing Jordan Peterson videos. I wouldn't survive the day.

MrsProdos • Mar 22, 2018 at 19:46

People often mention how the mass influx of Muslims into the West affects only the ordinary citizens who have to live with the miseries inflicted on them in their own communities, as with the rape gangs, while the "elite" live in protected communities away from the troubles.

But if those who are flooding the West with anti-Western migrants think that they're immune they're extremely short-sighted. Their enemies are both freedom-loving citizens who have had enough of Sharia-flavored changes to their culture and a growing voting block of Sharia voters. Those appeasing Islam today will be out of power tomorrow, rejected by opponents of Islamization *and* by the Islamists who prefer to vote for their own. The appeasers will be treated with contempt from all sides.

Just look a little way down the road we're on. It's not hard to see.

MrsProdos • Mar 22, 2018 at 18:34

These rape gangs have been operating for at least a couple of decades in the UK without coming to public attention. So what about in the rest of the West? Europe? Canada? Australia (where I live)? The USA?

Kate Smyth

MrsProdos • Mar 22, 2018 at 22:08

Interesting question. I think Mark explained some of the variation in local circumstances (eg England vs Holland) that ultimately give rise to the same phenomenon, ie jihad involving native girls/ women, covering the spectrum from strategic grooming and random sex attacks through to casual (consensual) relationships.

Mike • Mar 22, 2018 at 18:27

Re the identity politics, it may also be time to update the old riddle about the fox, the chicken, and the grain on one side of the river, and which you take over in the rowboat without one eating the other when left alone. Except it is updated to include the identity groups within the Democratic party/Lefitsts who would tear each other apart of allowed to be in one another's presence.

Kurt Piper • Mar 22, 2018 at 17:33

Here's a suggestion that will not be acted upon but should.

Her Majesty should not only condemn the sexual exploitation of young women but, moreover, insist that all of Her law enforcement officers should have zero tolerance for sexual exploitation of women regardless of race, creed, color, or National origin. Unlike President Trump, Elizabeth, as the head of the Church of England, is supposed to be the moral leader of Her country. Lead, Lady, Lead.

Of note, in 1992 when the partisan violence veered out of control in His country, the King of Thailand used His moral authority to force the two sides to stop the violence.

(P.S. I stole the idea for the phrase "Lead, Lady, Lead" from Bob Dylan's song "Lay, Lady, Lay" and I am not going to pay him any royalties.)

Fran Lavery

Kurt Piper • Mar 23, 2018 at 00:09

I've been wondering myself why Her Majesty is so quiet about what's going on. You would think as the Queen Mother she would have to be furious about what is happening to these young girls. It's a mystery to me.

Roger Beesley

Fran Lavery • Mar 23, 2018 at 10:19

Fran; She probably is furious about it, (well, somewhat dismayed anyway). But her number one concern is and has always been the succession, she knows well that she and her family have the world's best gig and she is going to do her best to keep it.
Elizabeth The First she definitely is not.

Ian Cory

Fran Lavery • Mar 24, 2018 at 10:49

Just a quick constitutional point Fran, the Queen Mother (i.e. the Queen's mother) died several years ago. Her Majesty is the Queen. Otherwise, an interesting point.

Fran Lavery

Ian Cory • Mar 24, 2018 at 13:47

I do appreciate you bringing this detail to my attention, Ian. I wouldn't want to make a ghastly faux pas next time I happen to dine with Her Majesty or bump into her at Harrod's in the china department. That would be an absolute (heh heh) horror, using the incorrect term of greeting. Does one need to curtsy? I think Monty Python may have addressed this bit of Royal etiquette once.

Yes, very good, indeed, to be set straight about this sort of thing. (I figured though, she's still at least Prince Charles's and Princess Anne's mother, so she's a queen and mother to them, right?) Her 92nd birthday is coming up, too, next month on the 21st. I do like her exquisite taste in china.

Ian Cory

Fran Lavery • Mar 24, 2018 at 15:17

Hello Fran,

Have you considered a career as a professional diplomat?

Fran Lavery

Ian Cory • Mar 24, 2018 at 16:12

Well, if I had an opportunity to corner Her Majesty in Harrod's or wherever she goes when she breaks out of the palace, I would make a couple suggestions. First I would complement her on her exquisite taste in china, and soften her to listening to me for a moment. I would suggest she do what her father, King George VI did when he spoke to Winston Churchill privately. When the nation is in a crisis mode, I would certainly think it would fall under my constitutional duties to speak privately to the PM.

I would, with hands on hips in the manner of Bolton, say, "May, something needs to be done immediately about the problems with the Pakistani Muslim immigrants abusing our young girls. That reflects shamefully on the entire Royal Family and it's an absolute disgrace to be happening in our nation. If you want to go around singing 'God Save the Queen,' then start by doing something to save our nation's children and future mothers"!

Something like that. It's a shame though we don't have a Winston Churchill or Margret Thatcher at this moment in time. Others said it here and they are my same sentiments. There's a saying we told our girls when they went to their finals in their high school tennis championships, as they were always extremely nervous: "Stick a racket out, good things can happen"!

Ian Cory

Fran Lavery • Mar 25, 2018 at 03:55

Good points and well made.

Reid Trummel • Mar 22, 2018 at 17:00

Hard to imagine that pictured crew storming Gold and Sword Beach for King and country.

Edward Tonry • Mar 22, 2018 at 16:04

I have a much fuller beard than you do, Mark, and do absolutely nothing to keep it neat and tidy. But, for some strange reason, I get compliments on it wherever I go. At the Tower of London last year, three separate employees praised my beard, including a Yeoman of the Guard leading some troops. I get stopped so often for pictures of my beard, I'm thinking of charging a fee to cover my vacation expenses.

Jean-Paul Jean • Mar 22, 2018 at 13:09

We talk and we talk among ourselves about this topic, but it's like preaching to the choir. We are the only ones listening to ourselves. Yes, it needs to be said, but face it, we accomplish nothing. You have pointed out the ultimate reality of all this. Unfortunately you are right. The myriad identity groups will all morph into Islam and that will be that.

Elizabeth Bakoss

Jean-Paul Jean • Mar 22, 2018 at 14:09

Unfortunate dittos...but there's always the chance that some of this will leak out and influence someone, or perhaps some people somewhere will on their own begin to think with common sense.

Sol Cranfill

Jean-Paul Jean • Mar 22, 2018 at 14:17

It clarifies reality more and more, and sharpens our ability to persuade. I was just examining maps of two of California's worst congressional representatives, Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters, in the interest of persuading voters not to support them. It seems like a lost cause, but so were a lot of battles before victory.

MrsProdos

Sol Cranfill • Mar 22, 2018 at 19:11

Excellent points, Sol.

My husband and I run a weekly film night at our home - mostly documentaries and filmed talks. The topics range widely from topics related to principles of liberty, discovery and invention, economics, history, Islam, etc. The requirements of membership is a dedication to individual liberty, reasoned discussion, and the free market, and we have rules for keeping the discussion pertaining to the film afterwards on topic, free from personal attacks, and productive.

It may seem as though we're only talking to ourselves, since membership is only among people who hold the same principles, but the purpose is to explore information together, to learn and to challenge each other, and to practice better ways to communicate ideas in the midst of disagreement, because people who accept the same basic principles have plenty of disagreements amongst themselves.

The main point is to improve our own knowledge, reasoning, and understanding - to become better learners and better communicators.

Sometimes we have only five people coming, sometimes as many as 18. But in the past few weeks we've had a packed house.

As a result we become better trained in offering information and sound arguments to others, and become well-practiced in listening before we reply and in not engaging in ad hominem or in any other personal swipes (because of the strict rules of engagement laid out by the chairman).

It's a kind of home schooling for adults. :)

And then we take all the information and practice out into the world with us, to work, to extended family, to the Internet, to the hairdresser. :)

As to lost causes, I agree with you there, too. One of the films we watched a few years ago - wish I could remember the name - was about great generals who were facing what looked like absolute defeat but who, at the last minute and by thinking outside the box, turned the tables and beat the enemy.

Sometimes a situation looks hopeless because we're thinking down into the same old rut. I learned from that film that the people who manage to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat don't think that way.

Fran Lavery

Sol Cranfill • Mar 23, 2018 at 10:43

If you think you could get your message in print in some area papers within those maps, why not give it a try? The comments I read from other members does seem as if we sing to the choir here but it's very likely none but a few now and then would ever be accepted into my local Prgressive Left small town paper.

Fran Lavery

MrsProdos • Mar 23, 2018 at 10:53

That's a pretty creative and gracious way to socialize, Mrs. Prodos, opening up your home for film showings. I tried that with my Italian group once. We laughed so much but never did get around to discussing the film. That was therapeutic in and of itself! Adults never have to stop learning new things. The socializing keeps people young and sharp. Beats Bridge playing and Cribbage (although card playing was fun in college on inclement days). Sure would be interesting to hear you drop some of your favorite films shown in the last year or so especially if they line up with the Steyn post topic at hand. G'day to you:)

Sol Cranfill

Fran Lavery • Mar 26, 2018 at 10:56

I think it would take an ongoing dialogue, which something like Twitter could be used for.

Eric Peterson • Mar 22, 2018 at 12:53

In our decadent Western societal enforced confusion of pronouns and moronic group think about "gender", I for one take issue with MS's societal construct and no doubt something-ist distinction between choreographer and Imam—do we really have good reason to think that the bevy of virgins awaiting the self-imolator will be of the opposite sex? I'm sure I missed a sura or two

Elizabeth Bakoss • Mar 22, 2018 at 11:49

Hi Mark--hey when did this term "grooming" start to be used as description of these rape gangs, and who decided to use this term? This is the hijacking of a pleasant term usually used in connection with skiing, dog shows, or getting ready for an executive position at work.
Maybe I missed something in the discussion, but I think I finally understand why the term is used instead of calling it rape...and that is that these poor girls are being groomed to be baby machines in body bags, to be used at the whim of ultra randy arrogant Moslem men.
The civil servant who thinks the new word cleans up the deed, needs to be groomed him or herself.
Was happy to see that the Telford gang were arrested, but am afraid to believe it.

Michelle Dulak

Elizabeth Bakoss • Mar 22, 2018 at 17:01

Elizabeth, I think the "grooming" term came in roughly when these gangs did. The idea seems to be that the "white slags" are softened up a bit, and then are (allegedly) amenable to whatever you care to do to them. "Taming" might be more the mot juste.

This, um, merde burns me up, not least because my husband thinks that I'm only het up because the people accused are dark-skinned. This is, well, so not true that it's ludicrous.

Gerry K

Michelle Dulak • Mar 22, 2018 at 18:31

Hi Michelle, Muslims come in every color and from every race, their religion is what guides and councils them. If you ever are able to stomach it, read the Koran. They are not lying to us, they have been very truthful about their intent. It is the west that is so apathetic as to not even notice.

Roger Beesley

Gerry K • Mar 23, 2018 at 09:01

I recommend "Mohammed's Koran" by Peter McLoughlin and Tommy Robinson.
What would be really sweet is to insist the local public library buy it!

PK33 • Mar 22, 2018 at 11:30

One more little thing, regarding language. From the around the world timezone check in the intro, it is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight Savings Time. The misspelling/mispronunciation is one of my pet peeves, biannually. It's right up there with moot point incorrectly and more commonly becoming stated as a mute point, or as once notoriously put, a "moo point, as in a cow's opinion, which doesn't matter."

Michelle Dulak

PK33 • Mar 22, 2018 at 17:07

Yeah, "Daylight Saving Time." And it's a "moot point," as in it's an irrelevancy -- though "moot court" is very infrequently about irrelevancies. (I'm a violist; I know from mutes.)

Michelle Dulak • Mar 22, 2018 at 10:07

I am intrigued by Mr. Pilling's use of "Moslem" rather than "Muslim." Back when I was in high school, thirty years or so ago, we were taught that "Moslem" was correct, and "Muslim" was wrong. Now, of course, the opposite is true -- heck, even Mr. Steyn's software says so, by underlining "Moslem" but not "Muslim." I'm not entirely sure when the memo went out, but there had to have been one, or the change could not have taken place so swiftly. Given that we're transliterating anyway, does any of this make actual sense?

Andrew A

Michelle Dulak • Mar 22, 2018 at 13:03

Mu = member of. Mu-islam as in Mu-hamid, mu-jihadi etc. "Moslem" seems almost poetic; "Muslim" is artless and explicit. Like people, it looks uglier over time and at closer range.

Wayne Lanham • Mar 22, 2018 at 09:41

Regarding Alex's comment about state sponsored "genocide" and your reluctance to twist the word's meaning to suit the ongoing Islamization of Britain, isn't this precisely the technique used by the Left to move its agenda? The Left engages in a constant twisting of the language in order to obscure truth. There are countless examples of the Left distorting the plain meaning of words in order to advance its cause. Might Alex's suggestion be a good example of fighting fire with fire?

Sol Cranfill

Wayne Lanham • Mar 22, 2018 at 12:04

The twisting of language has become a hall-of-mirrors maze that has gotten them hopelessly lost in a prison cell with a life sentence. They want us as their cellmates. The truth sets us free.

Kate Smyth

Wayne Lanham • Mar 22, 2018 at 12:21

I was so glad to hear Mark make this point— re the (mis)use of terms such as "genocide"— in response to the question. It was an important reminder that we must "be precise in our speech" (to quote Jordan Peterson), particularly with important terminology.

Kate Smyth • Mar 22, 2018 at 08:39

Another great Q&A, Mark. It was interesting to hear your discuss Islamic opportunism (in the form of organised child sexual exploitation networks) in the context of hyper-libertinism and the disintegration of the family. As well as the broader issue covered in "America Alone", your column from a few years back— "Real 'Modern Family' not so funny"— outlined the trend towards transient family structure; how tragic for these young women to know they have "no value", to either relatives or the "protection services" as their last line of defence.

In your Telford infidel child rape column, you mentioned that girls you interviewed alluded to the "accidental death(s)" of police officer/s who may have asked questions. For systemic sex crimes involving minors to persist over decades on this scale requires more than mere PC complacency on the part of the local authorities: there must have been some amongst the "pansy coppers" who were more directly involved in such organised crime. Surely there should be a full royal commission if this has played out for decades all over England?

PK33

Kate Smyth • Mar 22, 2018 at 09:13

Regarding "protection services" as their last line of defence, the state agencies have become methods to sluice off ever more taxpayer funds to form new bureaucracies with plum executive positions and legions of union members who will vote Left to keep their jobs. It no longer has anything to do with public services.

Kate Smyth

PK33 • Mar 22, 2018 at 12:16

Agree. Hence "protection services". How sad, though, to note the absence of even the most rudimentary concern for the welfare of these girls by fellow human beings. I'm sure the murders went virtually unnoticed as merely "deaths" that go with the territory,

PS. Any tips on how italics etc can be used in comments?

Sol Cranfill

Kate Smyth • Mar 22, 2018 at 18:50

It's a *secret.*

Sol Cranfill

Sol Cranfill • Mar 25, 2018 at 16:45

HTML would look so.

PK33 • Mar 22, 2018 at 07:50

It is the same message from the ruling class almost everywhere in the West. HRC framed it this way:

"What the map doesn't show you is that I won the places that represent two-thirds of America's gross domestic product. So I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."

Anyone who isn't considered "optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward" can go straight to H E double hockey sticks. The Rotherham, Telford, Bradford and other communities would never have happened in Oxford, Cambridge, or York. At least not yet. If you live in an "Asian" enclave and dare to complain about the tragedy going on before your eyes, congratulations, you are a deplorable and no one elected or employed by the state gives a fig about your condition.

PK33

PK33 • Mar 22, 2018 at 08:14

I meant to say that the Rotherham, Telford, Bradford and other ATROCITIES, would never have happened in Oxford, Cambridge, or York.

Mark replies:

By the way, it did happen in Oxford. The redoubts are already fewer than you think.

PK33

PK33 • Mar 22, 2018 at 09:11

Both interesting and disappointing to know. I would have thought that in the more elite and progressive communities, such would not have been permitted to take root. I stand corrected. And gobsmacked that there are probably no real redoubts left in Britain now.

I had many business trips to London over the past few years, typically staying at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge. Over those few years I saw a rapid change in the "mix" of people in the shops, restaurants and at Waterloo station.

You warned the world Mark. It happens very quickly and there is no turning back the clock.

Robert Orr

PK33 • Mar 22, 2018 at 09:20

Indeed, Mark.

In September 1916 I saw a covered woman in Broadford (NOT Bradford, look it up and you ll see what I mean).
The place she was shopping was NOT one a visiting sheikh and his entourage would have visited, btw.

PK33

Robert Orr • Mar 22, 2018 at 09:44

I realize Broadford is not Bradford, not even close, but I've never been there. On my last visit to London in 2016 I saw plenty of covered women. Only twice saw a full burqa, but I assume those gals are rarely, if ever allowed out of the house. More and more niqabs seemed to appear with every visit. I barely notice hijabs anymore, they are ubiquitous.

I've had many business trips to the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany and it is the same, with the Netherlands probably furthest ahead in the race to cover women and Islamization in general. But that's just my view from business districts and limited further travel within the countries. On my trips to Budapest, Bucharest and Prague, I did not see the same, and people there were pretty open about their resistance to a change in culture. Traveling in Italy last year, locals would bring up the subject of migrants and voice their displeasure without any prompting. They blamed the government and the recent election reflected that sentiment. So, I believe there is resistance and possibly some hope for Europe, as long as the neutering of self-defence is reversed. As Mark correctly notes, you cannot count on the state to defend you. Forget about protection. They will persecute you if you try to even voice dissent.

Tom Korte

Robert Orr • Mar 22, 2018 at 10:07

Well spotted Robert. I am, however, assuming that you meant 2016. Either that or you've seen even more change than you're letting on.
Now why do you suppose someone like that would be drawn to a place like that? The cuisine? The way that it reminds one of home?
I believe that this immigration is highly organized. Newcomers are directed to go to areas that haven't yet been colonized or that need more 'diversity' driven into them for some other reason, be it an upcoming election or what have you. These activities are directed and supported through the mosque and imam network so that money, muscle, malice and migrants show up where and when they're needed to advance the cause. These level of infiltration of the society, the bureaucracy, and the instruments of power doesn't happen this rapidly by accident.

Robert Orr

Tom Korte • Mar 22, 2018 at 15:41

Oooops! Thanks for catching that one, Tom. 2016 it was.

Gerry K

PK33 • Mar 22, 2018 at 18:38

PK33, Neutering of self defense, How very apt! I guess when push comes to shove, I'll defend myself as needed, and they can lock me up afterwards.

Joshua Passell • Mar 22, 2018 at 07:05

Who wouldn't want a few "grooming" tips from these handsome hunks of the Hindu Kush? "Lie back and think of England" used to be the advice offered to fair English roses on their wedding nights. Today, it serves as the slogan for the "white slags" climbing into the backs of Vauxhalls in Telford, Bradford, and other "Asian" communities across this septic isle. Only, what England are they thinking of? One that protects not its children, but the feral beasts that prey on its children. Dickens reads like Laura Ingalls Wilder compared to this degeneracy. And "Asian"? Anyone of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Filipino, etc., etc., etc. should sue for defamation of character. "The love that dare not speak its name" used to be a euphemism for homosexuality. Today, it is the predations of Englishmen of predominantly Pakistani origin on underage English girls. That's not "Asian", and that's not "love".

Gerry K • Mar 22, 2018 at 02:56

Hi Mark, I really feel compelled to at least, make a statement regarding "Asian Grooming Gangs".
This disgusting, and detestable, (I'm regrettably controlling my language) "Grooming", of children in my original UK home, makes me sick to my stomach! That so called, authorities, would "turn a blind eye", to this sick raping and sexual slavery of children, but arrest any Conservative speaker that dares to arrive at the international airport is a portrayal of a much larger, and deliberate attempt to change the whole concept of civilization! Change, that is more to "Their requirements" for a more base ideal for those in charge, and therefore, not ideal for those who are suppressed by them! I am, honestly amazed that the British people will not rise up and force a change to the controlling elites. I would suggest the whole British public has been "Cuckolded" by those In power. If it were my daughter being savagely raped by Muslim "grooming" gangs, I know that I would be "Hunting" for those rapists, and show them some real British justice. If they cannot control their base sexual urges, simply because the new society they now live in, allow the female gender to show their ankles and wrist's, without a religious police to chastise them, if they cannot live alongside people that do not share their "religious/political views", then I suggest politely, that they go back from whence they came. Less politely, I wonder how long the original Britons, will stand for this deliberate civilizational rape, and this sick, disgusting, wholesale change to their way of life! Their whole society is being twisted and abused, and there is no going back! This is the new reality for all of Europe. It has gone too far, and has descended into a pit of apathy that they will never recover from! I left over three decades ago, and have NEVER been back, and have no intention to ever go back, ever! I am so sick to my stomach of this religious/political invasion, I am having a very hard time controlling my language for this post! We, the west, need to wake up, and find some courage, and reject, in the most extreme way possible, this wholesale planetary change, forced upon us by the elite, those controlling our societies, do not have to deal with the base elements of the invading forces, WE DO! It is up to us as civilized human beings to reject this new reality and stand up for our way of life. To stand up for our children. and our western society as a whole.
Basically, we need to get up off our knees, find some courage and stand up for our future, if we don't, the next generation will not know anything better than to stay on their collective bended knee, and accept the political jargon being spoon fed to us all! Nuff said!

Roger Beesley

Gerry K • Mar 22, 2018 at 05:43

Amen Brother:
40 years ago I foresaw this situation, and don't think this is the bottom, it isn't, there is plenty of pit below today's situation.
Living in Wembley at the time, I decided, in the words of the Animals song: "We have got to get out of this place". The worst part was the apathy, the total lack of any recognition of, or reaction to, what was being done, deliberately, to our society.
Here in the US we have Numbers USA and many similar organizations, support them! They are fighting for our civilization!
TG for President Trump.

Gerry K

Roger Beesley • Mar 22, 2018 at 14:26

Hi Roger, Well, that's a twist! I was born in Wembley, but grew up just north of London. I spent a few years on Merchant ships, and when I returned, realized how far in a short time the place had changed. I resolved to "escape" ASAP. A couple of years later, I left for Western Canada. I'm not sorry I left, but was sad to go!
The whole Country was slowly disintegrating, and turning into a an excrement hole. What I've seen from over here, saddens me further than I can explain. I admit I am no fan of Mr Trump, but if crooked Hilary had gotten in, the US would of started to disintegrate too. I'm now very glad he's there. Of course up here we have an airy fairy boy child running Canada. Hopefully the Canucks will wake up on the next election, or we'll start down the same poop highway as well, and it ain't no Yellow Brick road!

Fran Lavery

Gerry K • Mar 22, 2018 at 15:29

Gerry, I agree with all that you wrote here. I find this story to be one of the most revolting that I've heard in ages. The things that I think about which ought to be done in retaliation to the abusers involved with these youngsters could not be printed. I just had a chat with a Vietnam Air Force Vet at the market this morning. He didn't want to talk about his experiences but that of his father who used to tell him a lot of stories as a seven-year old while the dad was shaving. His father was a POW in a labor camp in Manchuria toward the end of WWII. He told me that the Japanese were planning on killing the POWs if we ever struck their country. Well, I guess just before we dropped the atomic bombs we must have struck elsewhere because the Japanese bulldozed open a huge pit and put the POWs in there and poured gasoline all over them and lit a match. I could not help but think of the young women in those English towns who have been abused again and again. You expect to hear about atrocities in wartime, you don't expect to hear about them in peacetime. Especially not in one's own country during peacetime.

siberianmo

Gerry K • Mar 22, 2018 at 15:50

Gerry,

In my ever-increasing reticence to partake in forum commentary (other than directly from Mark) I found yours to be spot on in comparison to my views. Not that opposing views bother me, but rants and overly lengthy blah-blah-blah's do. I could have authored your post with a few substitutions here and there with regard to the places being referred to.

My rant follows:

In my country (USA), I have witnessed the continuing downward spiral in terms of reluctance to stand up for America and the ideals set forth in our founding documents. Archaic? You betchaboots and I am as proud of maintaining that point of view as I am for devoting a large measure of my adult life to serving our citizenry - emphasis on citizen.

It is beyond my comprehension to accept the bi-lingual approach that has taken root in my country with regard to "press one for English" or whatever. Our Congresses have never passed an oh-fish-ul language piece of legislation that has become the law of the land. If it had, most assuredly in the society of these times, that law would have most assuredly been ignored along with the enforcement of other laws (illegal entry comes to mind). After all, it is now in vogue to ignore the laws we do not like whilst hurling expletives in the direction of those legally representing us whether they be political, law enforcement or our military.

I am not in possession of a crystal ball with regard to what the future holds for my country. What I "see" though is not good nor comforting for my grandchildren and others to follow. The melting pot has given way to disorder, disrespect and dishonor (D3) as far as I am concerned.

What is happening in Europe and the UK sickens me to the core. Then again, I have a backbone whereas it seems to me those so-called "leaders" who have willingly stepped aside to permit the onslaught do not. Many of these "leaders" could not lead a starving rat to a mountain of cheese. Where oh where is the next Winston Churchill when the western world so needs another? I digress - which for me "happens."

"They" may think "we" will roll over for the societal takeover being planned - whether by the illegal alien supporters or those espousing support of a faux religion bordering on nothing more than a cult. Ain't gonna happen to me or mine for as long as I remain bipedal.

Nuff said from moi, as well.

Tom in Missouri

Ian Cory

Roger Beesley • Mar 22, 2018 at 17:48

I agree absolutely that President Trump is a great President. I also agree absolutely with his decision to restore Winston Churchill's bust to the Oval Office.'

Gerry K

Fran Lavery • Mar 22, 2018 at 18:14

hi Fran, Thanks for your supportive comments. My only query, "In ones own Country, In Peacetime". Fran it is everywhere in the western world, and I would also suggest we are not really in "Peacetime" but rather, a covert invasion, and therefor a covert war. It is deliberate, the Muslim brotherhood completed their plans for world domination in 1924 or thereabouts. They are simply executing their plans for the caliphate.

Gerry K

siberianmo • Mar 22, 2018 at 18:19

Thanks Tom, Even though I'm in the great white north, and therefore have a slightly different point of view, I am a great supporter of the true American way, and am also a member of the NRA, even though it doesn't really count up here. It's a question of mutual support for all of us that want to push back, and will if the opportunity arises. I salute you sir.

Roger Beesley

Gerry K • Mar 22, 2018 at 18:40

Gerry: Do we know each other? I worked on merchant ships (ESSO) for a couple of years after my apprenticeship at AEI in Willesden. I emigrated to Vancouver BC in 1981 but later moved to Whitby, Ontario (a wonderful little town). Thanks to my wife's Irish heritage we got the chance to move to the US in 1993. We have lived in paradise (Florida) since then.
I really should forget about England and its troubles, but that would be like cutting out my heart.
All the best to you.

Fran Lavery

Gerry K • Mar 22, 2018 at 20:16

Certainly, Gerry, so it's not truly peacetime, and it sure doesn't feel like it when it would appear that this covert invasion is played out more like a kind of psychological wargame; but since nobody is permitted to engage the enemy, not to breathe a word publicly without paying the penalty, then there is the problem. Only can the British people, and now the world, stand as helpless spectators as the children are turned out like some raw meat ready for the barbarian vultures' picking. But are we helpless? Is there not a solution?

Gerry K

Roger Beesley • Mar 22, 2018 at 21:09

hi Roger, No, I don't think we know one another, although it can be a small world. I came from Watford, and did have family in Willesden. I worked on Norwiegan ships from 67 to 72.a bad fall put me out. I came to Canada in 82. If I ever get to Florida, (Doubtful) I'll try and look you up. However, smile, your on Candid Camera, the world can read our chat.

Roger Beesley

Ian Cory • Mar 23, 2018 at 09:04

Considering Churchill's service to the the USA his bust certainly deserves to be in the White House. Don't know about the Oval Office though, a more suitable location would be the gardener's fertilizer closet.

Fran Lavery

Gerry K • Mar 23, 2018 at 10:59

Ha ha! I doubt very much anyone cares about our posts. If "they" want to track us can't "they" track us through our cell phones now, even when they're turned off? Once I accidentally shared my location with a cousin in Staten Island to test the feature and forgot to turn it off. She knew what liquor store I frequented when I spoke to her a month later! (I doubt she knew which label of stout I chose though).

Fran Lavery

siberianmo • Mar 23, 2018 at 13:12

Tom! That's an excellent point you brought up about how there was never a law passed for our bi-lingual state of being citizens in the USA. How infuriating is that? One of the pillars of a country is a common language. Funny how that major change just crept in under the radar without so much as a bleep! Our goose is cooked if we get to: "Press 3 for Arabic"!
But I do have to cling to my rants here in Mark Steyn space, after all, to give my occasional rant came with the price of admission.

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly
I gotta rant 'til the day that I die.
Can't help lovin' those rants of mine.
Tell me i'm lazy, tell me i'm slow,
Tell me i'm crazy, maybe I know.
can't help lovin' those rants of mine.

All the best!-Fran

siberianmo

Fran Lavery • Mar 23, 2018 at 14:30

Fran,

One again I find myself at the keyboard in my self-imposed restraint for all things "blog."

However, yours is a response that brought a long-needed grin. Always luv'd that Jerome Kern tune with some crafty lyrics from Oscar Hammerstein. Nice touch.

For the life of me I cannot identify any single "thing" that unites a country more than a common tongue.

Press 3 for Arabic and the next sound one hears is a "Ka-boom" - another martyr bites the dust.

Best back-atcha . . . .

Tom in Missouri

siberianmo

Gerry K • Mar 23, 2018 at 14:36

Gerry,

The Great White North has a connection here; childhood godfather from Montreal and bride's family resides in the greater Halifax region. Could add scores of VIA Rail Canada trips to the mix as well.

Anyway, NRA membership of mine was begun simply to put my money where my mouth was (and is); that from a person who is not a "gun nut."

Should the time ever arise when that "push back" becomes necessary, at least there are two of us who are unafraid to stand for the cause.

Tom in Missouri

Ian Cory

Roger Beesley • Mar 24, 2018 at 12:25

Well, the Oval Office is where it is!

Sol Cranfill • Mar 22, 2018 at 02:22

The mascot for UC Santa Cruz is the banana slug, whose slime is an anesthetic. Though I didn't try it myself, I learned on a camping trip that licking a banana slug will make your tongue go numb. The campus of UC Santa Cruz is flanked by thick forest, so if you are there, worried about making a remark that could be construed as insensitive, the safest thing to do is apply the underside of a banana slug to your tongue.

Steven Payne • Mar 22, 2018 at 01:43

I saw that Emily submitted a question about the "opioid crisis" and drug laws and I was hoping that Mark would address that so that I could expound without being off-topic. Alas, no.
Also, it'd be nice if the audio player had one of those bars that shows the progress of the show time wise and a full rewind function.
Other than that, good stuff!

Tom Korte • Mar 21, 2018 at 23:24

Mr. Steyn;
Your comment about the younger member reminded me of a rhetorical question I wanted to ask.
Did you give Lindsay Shepherd a free Club membership as part of your celebrity guest swag package? You should, in my opinion.

Fran Lavery

Tom Korte • Mar 22, 2018 at 09:11

Great idea! I'd pitch in a donation to make it happen.

Holly • Mar 21, 2018 at 23:22

I like Gary Larson's take in The Far Side, "Welcome to Heaven, here's your harp." Next panel: " Welcome to hell, here's your accordion."

PK33

Holly • Mar 22, 2018 at 07:36

I've seen that comic and I am certain my dog would agree. I was classically trained on several musical instruments and recently decided to teach myself the accordion, just for fun. My dog hates it and has taken to barking at me before I even get it strapped on. Perhaps once I get to the level of "Accordions of Paris" he will like it? Or maybe the accordion will always be hell for him.

Richard Vinas • Mar 21, 2018 at 22:06

Mark, I had no idea you were so influential with Customs and Border Protection! I just saw an ad on TV for Kinder Eggs that were definitely the same as the ones we used to get for the kids in Germany when we were stationed there. Regardless of what happened, I am giving you credit for this change.

Matthew Wilson • Mar 21, 2018 at 22:01

At my middle school, the mathlete par excellence was Taiwanese - Chinese, in other words. I believe the only two children to get perfect 800s on the math portion of the SATs were Chinese. One of them being the Australian-American Terence Tao.

Regarding that old joke about heaven and hell, Peter Ustinov said (I'm paraphrasing), "I imagine hell this way: English wine, German humour, Italian punctuality." I would say that Hell on Earth includes Russian politics and Arab religion.