Hi and welcome back to another edition of Laura's Links, once again delivered to you from Lockdown Land, a.k.a. Ontario, Canada. Our power drunk Tyrant-in-Chief, Premier Doug Ford, has just "allowed" his unruly, grubby peasant subjects to enjoy outdoor activities! He has scrapped the complex colour coded re-opening matrix for a Three Stage Re-Opening Plan, which isn't really a re-opening plan because it's actually just more lockdowns. And there's still no "normal life" stage of the plan.
The goalposts just keep being shifted and the non-opening plans move slower than Joe Biden eating his morning pudding on a Peloton (like puh-lease, are you kidding me, "so fit". I mean, really. the puff pieces on this are hysterical). And there's no plan for reopening schools, so...
Our leaders here in Canada are so disgusting. I have actually had to reconsider my previous belief that Canadian Liberals are the most smug, arrogant and condescending scoundrels in the world. Lo and behold, the Wuhan Virus (Surprise! Lefties are now coming around to the idea that ooooh, maybe shmaybe, kinda oh gee shucks dunno, gotta check with Fauci, it wasn't actually bat soup, but a lab cocktail), has made "Conservatives" here in Canada the scoldy, smarmy champions. Way to go! I hereby award the gold medal in "YOU SUCK" to all of you.
Doug Ford and his appalling rat-pack of fart-catching members of the Ontario legislature, plus Jason Kenney in Alberta and Brian Pallister in Manitoba, take the cake for scoldy, smarmy, elitist "leadership". Plus, the entire Canadian media is giving Prime Minister Hairdo a pass, ignoring re-openings in America and the UK. A great many people here are profiting from lockdowns and love the limelight. As Mark pointed out earlier this week, the fact that Canadians have been going to America for free vaccines lays complete waste to the idea that the Canadian healthcare system is just sooooo wonderful. None of the members of the government-funded eunuch media want to puncture the "Canadians are so "nice/better/kinder/insert-your-choice-smug-word here" delusion.
As my better half put it, the Wuhan Laboratory Biological Weapon has proven that when push comes to shove, Canada "is a bluff" and is actually more backward than most third world countries.
Okeeeeee. I'm gonna shut up now for a while about the Chinese Communists' Biological Weapon and its aftermath and move onto a Steyn favourite, demographic doom and gloom! Now, hizzzzzzzoner has covered this quite extensively (see below) throughout the years and this past week. However, I posit that there is an angle that is the demographic elephant in the room––the spiritual dimension of having children. The reason that these economic growth-based programs to encourage fertility flop bigger than a three-hundred pound bellyflopper in a swimming pool is because you can't fix spiritual problems with money. D'uh.
This is why funding midnight basketball does not make for better crime-ridden youth citizens. Having children is the ultimate gift of creation. It is a holy thing. It is a partnership with the Creator. Throwing money at women and couples when the cultural appreciation of the holiness of childbearing and family has eroded in front of our eyes for the last fifty odd years will never work. We have a terrible, existential, spiritual crisis on our hands and the clearest way to see it is through fertility rates. This article puts it nicely.
If you have issues with these ideas, let's discuss in the comments. Of all the things I am in life––of all the roles––I am a Jewish mother first. Being a mother is the best thing in my life. The culture of life can also be seen (generally) in large religious families, and also, notably, in Israel's childbearing demographics.
Related: Another spiritual disease that cannot be solved is antisemitism. One cannot fight it. It is everlasting. One can only, and must only, fight antisemites. That's my opinion, anyway. The Judeo-Christian reverence for family and for children, and the particularly Jewish reverence for life, is something that the joyless masses really hate. Speaking of which, have you ever met a joyful antisemite? I sure haven't.
VDH puts it well when he notes:
"Hating democratic Israel while it is under attack is not just a reflection of the new woke and ethically bankrupt Left. It is also a symptom of a deeper pathology in the West, one of moral equivalence, amoral relativism—and self-loathing. Hating Israel, then, has become the surrogate Western way of hating oneself."
And what better way to express the ultimate self-hatred than to be a part of the demise of one's society, politically through nihilistic antisemitism or demographically through being childless (by choice)?
Lastly, but not ever, EVER EVER EVAH leastly, over the past week Mark was a busy bee! In case you missed it, there was a new episode of The Mark Steyn Show, 'Toeing the Line', and a live Clubland Q&A with the replay right here. Mark also took a look at the cultural zeitgeist mentioned above in The Coming of Age, Fifteen Years Too Late, plus took a listen to "Hal-elujah" as our Song of the Week.
Have a good week and I'll see you in the comments.
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North America:
Could the utterly repulsive Biden family get any more disgusting?
Why did President Dementia flip-flop on masks?
Kook Democrats would actually prefer to mask America forever.
Completely related: So, if I understand correctly, we are all supposed to be 'kind' and 'forgiving' to the mask Nazis that screamed at us normal humans all year, and wanted our small children masked forever? Now is the time for kindness and forgiveness?
Masking children is child abuse.
This is how it's done. Dude. Honestly, can you imagine if Donald Trump had pulled a stunt like this with the media? Like my beloved Kathy Shaidle always said: "Liberals: It's different when we do it".
Edmonton: "Where do the Jews live? Where are the Jews".
New York: No remorse. "I'd do it again".
Good. Sue them all.
Also: DUDE. That smile, tho. Alpha.
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Israel and Jews:
Jewish wisdom: blessings in disguise.
Israel's secret weapon: we have nowhere else to go.
What's really behind the latest war.
Twitter loves Jew-haters. Tik Tok also.
Sharansky on the Sakharov centenary.
L'Chaim OG's amazing journey.
Jon Voight: Straight from the heart.
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The Formerly Great Britain:
"We want some Zionists. We want their blood."
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Europe:
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Today in Satan:
Dawkins, you evil bastard.
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Random smart thoughts:
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Humourless and Kook Left, Wokestapo and Trans:
Men. Can. Not. Get. Pregnant.
Lego goes bonkers.
When kids have more courage than adults.
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Human Grace:
Live long by living with purpose.
All of G-d's creations are miracles.
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. 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 John O'Sullivan, Michele Bachmann, and Douglas Murray.
