Hello one and all, and welcome to this week's edition of Laura's Links. I'm reporting to you from ever so slightly less wacky Ontario, where bits of normalcy are returning to our lives, little by little, after two long hard years. As it happens, I just returned from my local library – my first trip since the mask mandates were removed. I had a feeling that most clients would be barefaced and most librarians still masked, and I was exactly right! It was a little irritating still seeing those utterly useless plastic shields at the information desk and check out station but I'm just gonna let that slide for now. It was just wonderful to walk into the library bare-faced, finally free to browse the shelves without the added stress of the mask plus glasses (always fogging) combination. Baby steps!
Things are finally getting better locally, but Canada is still a big mess. The nearly six million Canadians who have chosen not to get the Covid 19 vaccines are still trapped in our allegedly free country. More Canadians are leaving Canada permanently than ever before. Even new immigrants are leaving. Canada's brand is tarnished. It is no longer a free country. As I've mentioned previously, I'm pinning some hope on the anti-mandate cases that will be making their way to the court in or about September to restore Canadians' freedom of movement, but that's still a long way away.
Globally, things have been relatively insane. Joe Biden came a hair's breadth away from starting World War 3 with Russia. No biggie, right? Interestingly, after that utter fiasco, all of the sudden, after two years, Hunter Biden's laptop is in the news because it's now real! All of the sudden, American court eunuch media are singing in perfect unison from the "oh this looks very bad for Biden" hymn sheet. You know, Nancy Pelosi gurgled on with her dentures rolling around her mouth about Trump and the 25th Amendment, but I guess she was just doing a dry run for the inevitable real target: the demented, feeble, nasty and corrupt Big Guy. So get ready for President Cackling Passage of Time Harris to officially take over (more on the cackling here). Anyway, the timing is very odd and certainly something to keep an eye upon.
Lastly, a thought about the power of words. I took my disabled son out for a walk last Sabbath. I was grateful to be able to get out as the weather was slightly better than it had been in weeks. As I was pushing his wheelchair, two smartly dressed, adorable and cherubic little boys were running toward us, on their way to synagogue with their grandmother about 50 feet back, trying to keep pace with them. They got closer to us and looked at my son and stared. As they passed, I heard the older boy say "what a funny face" about my son. (Unknown to many, when children with unusual or dysmorphic features are born, doctors often will note "FLK", Funny Looking Kid, on the chart until genetic testing is done. This is an actual thing.) The grandmother quickly caught up to us, yelling at the boys to stop at the corner and gave me a big smile and said "Gut Shabbos" (good Sabbath, in Yiddish). She hadn't heard her grandson's laughing about my son. I wished her a Gut Shabbos back.
I try to be Teflon about my son for the most part but sometimes words hurt (the boys who clearly meant no harm and were just observing honestly as kids are wont to do), and then words heal (the friendly grandma) all in the space of a few moments. Ironically, this week's Torah portion pertains to "tzara'at" (wrongly translated as leprosy) and the power of the spoken word. Words can wound, inspire, comfort and remain through the ages. Judaism wisely has very strict rules about gossip.
Anyway, it was all a timely reminder to always choose words wisely. Once something has been uttered it can never truly be taken away.
Have a good week and I'll see you in the comments.
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North America:
What we need is a return to reality: "...we cannot seek a return to 'normalcy.' We will not get out of this by grasping at some dim mirage of days gone by—if the Biden fiasco has taught us anything, it should have taught us that much. Normalcy under Biden is a watchword for quietism. It means consent to indulge in the civic theater of better days, cooing fondly about sounding presidential while our actual situation deteriorates rapidly by every available measure.
Instead, what the Right needs to win is a return to reality."
This is a heartbreaking picture of Joe Biden's America.
Why do these horrible people choose to make difficult lives more difficult? So cruel. So inhumane.
Trudeau got a well-deserved drubbing in Europe. This is the brave Christine Anderson telling him what he is: a disgrace to democracy.
Kamala Harris: The Vice President nobody wanted.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya (such a voice of reason and such a mensch): "Two years later, be honest about what worked and what didn't."
Covid truth is the only truth. It's so truthful that physicians must be punished for wrongthink about Covid.
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Middle East:
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Ukraine/Russia:
A Ukrainian illustrator has fled to Poland, and is looking for work. Beautiful stuff.
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Formerly Great Britain:
"How did we let lockdown happen?" Good question, great article.
How do you lose your liberty? By swallowing the massive lies they are feeding you.
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Barbarians:
"Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Kabul this morning." And what could possibly be wrong with that?
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Culture:
How did our regular vocabulary get so kooky?
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Down Under:
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Predatory Left and Trans:
"Why are you pursuing this?". Legitimate question.
Good thoughts on this here.
They. Are. After. Your. Children. More here.
And this bit of ridiculously perverted Disney Wine Mom sh&t.
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Human Grace:
I laughed my head off at these (the "Get Better Soon" card item was a personal fave).
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.