Welcome to the first batch of links for 2023. Last week, if you recall, I bid good riddance to 2022. Well, I'm happy to report that 2023 started off with some great news for humanity.
As Mark continues to tend to his big, magnanimous, and gracious heart, the rest of us here at Steyn HQ will do our best to keep the ship afloat and make sure that he gets the rest he needs. I've got to tell you though, for real and not for joking, that it's just been absolutely exhausting beating back the hordes of buxom French nurses in their form-fitting little nursing outfits (I literally think they are Chanel) who keep fighting over who gets to take care of Monsieur Steyn.
Rest assured, dear readers, there are no bodyguards like uppity Jewish mom bodyguards! I'm on the case and I have been guilting those hottie nurses into oblivion like only a Jewish mother can when they overstay their welcome. I've also got Mr. C on backup duty and he served in the IDF so we are keeping the hottie nurses at bay! I'm not gonna lie, Mr. C has also noticed this bevy of babes, I mean he is a dude, but as per our longstanding agreement: LOOKY NO TOUCHY, so all's good and kosher.
ANYWAY: A minor silver lining in this story for now is that Mark happened to fall ill in the land of unpasteurized cheese, one of his true loves, so at least there's that.
In other news, I have two nuggets that I wanted to share with you. The first is, on the surface, a story about how representatives of the Chabad Hassidic Jewish movement go out into the world and try to find Jewish men and get them to "lay Tefilin" (put on phylacteries).
"Are you Jewish," they ask random strangers in every country in the world. The first time a Jewish man puts on Tefillin is actually his Bar Mitzvah from the point of view of Jewish law. Anyway, this is a story ostensibly about Tefillin, but also about how even when you think something has ended negatively, that you basically don't know anything. G-d has a plan and you should even count the "no's" that you get as positives. The "no's" can also be a positive even if you're not religious. I just loved this story.
The second story is about how people can just be assholes. This guy (had never heard of him before this, and I haven't listened to his podcast but I hear it's popular), put out a reading list for 2023.
Mr. Fridman updated that he was not reading many of the books on the list for the first time, but re-reading them. So I'd like to add my two cents to this re-reading thought. I may have shared this story before, but it's worth a re-tell as well.
Every Shabbat, there are pre-printed articles at our synagogue to take home and read over Shabbat. One week, there was a collection of very dense articles on various religious laws. I read something there that changed my life. The Rabbi said that one of the prime ways to respect our elders, and particularly to honour our parents is to hear everything they say as if it was the first time. Why?
When older people repeat their stories, a common reaction is to shrug, or roll eyes or to say "yes, I know – you told me", but the Rabbi said that you must listen to it as if you've never heard that information before. That is because you definitely didn't hear all the words and all the nuance in the previous iteration.
(In my head, I could hear my mother saying "in other words, don't be a knacker", which is basically a blowhard/aggrandizing idiot). As in, be a mensch, and not a knacker. I don't know a lot of Yiddish but it was my Bubby's and Mom's first language so many words and expressions are deeply ingrained in my soul.)
Go forth and be mensches, not knackers.
See you in the comments.
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North America:
VDH: The new black antisemitism.
"The Biden administration just cleared a Chinese company to own 370 acres of land within 12 miles of Grand Forks Air Force Base in Grand Forks, North Dakota."
"So is just no one going to acknowledge that the most powerful paper in America, the New York Times, is on an ongoing and focused crusade against Hasidic Jews..."
How Ronald Reagan predicted the rise of tyranny through medicine.
This is awful as well.
The fearless Jenin Younes on vaccine mandates for kids.
The NYT/
"The woke people have taken over the world.
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Jews and Israel:
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Formerly Great Britain:
Eugyppius: The Year of Omicron
EXCUSE ME WHAT?? More here. Hmmm.
As per Neil Oliver: this is happening because the people in power want it to be happening
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Europe:
"French writer sued by Paris mosque for expressing an opinion..."
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Middle East:
Repulsive: child 'marriage' in Turkey. Obviously, there needs to be another name for this. It's not marriage. It's child abuse and rape but that's a little clunky for a headline.
Another side of Turkey: the whirling connects people.
OMG, definitely do not go back!
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Predatory Kooks and Trans:
What a strange coincidence. Imagine the chances.
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Misc Cool Stuff:
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Human Grace:
Welcome home, little cookie guy.
"Sometimes the Internet is not so bad.
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.
