Buried Treasure

Mark Steyn salutes the late Sam Shepard, actor and playwright, and recalls/reviews with impressive precision the Gary Sinise production of Buried Child that Steyn caught more than two decades ago.

Famous Last Words?

Feds, province confident they can handle influx of asylum seekers in Quebec

Jared Kusher a Smart, Shrewd Truth-Teller? Who Knew?

Son-in-law Kushner, whose talents as a senior White House advisor have, up till now, been the definition of "underwhelming," is casting doubt on his ability to bring about the whole peace-in-our-time-in-our-time scenario:

In the “off-the-record” discussion, which was recorded and leaked to Wired, Kushner offers a rare glimpse into his efforts to solve the Middle East conflict. 

“This is one of the ones I was asked to take on, and I did with this something that I do with every problem set you get, which is you try to study the historical context to understand how something got to where it is, who was successful, and who wasn’t successful,” Kushner said. 

“What I’ve determined from looking at it is that not a whole lot has been accomplished over the last 40 or 50 years we’ve been doing this,” he added. 

After speaking at length regarding recent efforts to quell the Temple Mount crisis, Kushner questioned whether or not the Trump administration would have anything “unique” to add to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

“So, what do we offer that's unique? I don’t know…I’m sure everyone that’s tried this has been unique in some ways, but again we’re trying to follow very logically,” Kushner said. 

Kushner added that the U.S. is trying to work with the various parties in the conflict, but admitted that “there may be no solution,” before conceding the Trump administration will continue to “focus on it and try to come to the right conclusion in the near future.”

I must admit that I've never been particularly impressed by Kusher, and I have certainly scoffed at the notion that he'll be the one to finally effect a lasting "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. I have to say, though, that these "off-the-record" thoughts show that I may well have underestimated him.

Thing is--who knows if he has the stones and the character to stand up to his raging bull of a father-in-law.

Dear President Trump: Justin Trudeau is NOT Spectacular--and Neither Is Our "Points-Based" Immigration System

In crafting his legal immigration policy, Donald Trump, who has used the "s" word in referring to Justin's performance, is supposedly taking his cues from the Canadian approach:

The administration is citing its northern neighbour as an inspiration for an immigration reform that contains definite traces of Canadian influence — but to find them, you'd need to squint past major aspects of the plan. 

The point of commonality is a points-based system in which applicants with high skills get favoured in Canada and Australia, a program pioneered a half-century ago in the Great White North which the U.S. says it now wants to emulate. 

Such a move would revolutionize an American system that has historically relied on employers and families sponsoring newcomers, in favour of just letting people apply and get a points grade based on skills and education. 

"The points-based system that Canada has, has a lot to recommend it," said Stephen Miller, a presidential adviser.

That's fine and dandy, but it doesn't take into account the fact that Canada opens its doors to untold thousands of refugees who, because of their unique victimhood status, are often as unskilled and uneducated as can be. And all they have to do is get past the Immigration and Refugee Board, a bunch of gatekeepers who tend to be highly receptive to refugee claimants from Muslim lands (or so a close relative, who has spent decades dealing with this particular government bureaucracy, has told me).

How to Keep Hating Netanyahu No Matter What

P. David Hornik has some handy pointers for the We Hate Bibi crowd.

Yes, Yes, a Thousand Times Yes!

It That an "Allahu Akbar"--Or Maybe a "Banzai"?

In a Guardian piece about the trial of a quartet of jihadis, one comes across this deliciously deranged passage:

The men were arrested on 26 August 2016 after a bag of weapons, including a pipe bomb, an air pistol and a meat cleaver with the word kafir (unbeliever) scratched on it, were found under the driver’s seat of Ali’s car. In Aziz’s car they found a samurai sword bought from a sex shop in Stoke for £20.

A samurai sword sold by a Stoke sex store salesperson, eh?

What was the name of the place--Love Hurts?

So Much For "Intersectionality"

A new study has found that, rather than fostering an "all for one and one for all" mentality (i.e. the above-mentioned concept of "intersectionality"), the existence of various victims groups can often "foster intergroup conflict"/"competitive victimhood" as each group fights to be acknowledged as the numero uno victim (victimhood having immense status in "progressive" quarters).

Update: The Canadian Museum for Competitive Victimhood is what I would rename Canada's "human rights" mausoleum.

Gag Moi

The Swedish model is a true source of inspiration: Macron

Mother Goose for the Mooch

Icarus, dicarus, Trump,
The Mooch is in the dump.
All his foul-mouthed attacks
Up and melted his wax.
Icarus, dicarus, Trump.

******
Ding dong dell,
The Mooch is gone; oh, well.
Who invited him?
It wasn't Steve or Jim.
Who kicked him out?
The Gen., without a doubt.
What a naughty boy was he
To try to be Trump's Mini Me.

******
The Mooch wasn't nimble; 
The Mooch wasn't clean;
The Mooch was blue
And quite obscene.



Update: Word is that bully boy Scaramucci has invested his shekels in an "anti-bullying musical" (news which, I have to say, sort of makes my day).

The CBC's Neil Macdonald Has a Go At Explaining the "Mob's" Antipathy to Justin (A.K.A. "Trudeau Derangement Syndrome")

And, oddly enough, he kind of gets it right:

Their near-crazed hatred of Trudeau — far more muscular than what they directed at Paul Martin or Jean Chrétien — is a bit puzzling. Because, after all, while Trudeau is a good-looking, amicable fellow, married to a lovely woman with whom he fathers lovely children, he's really nothing more than a garden-variety liberal. 

He's devoted to wealth redistribution, and taxing (and borrowing) and spending, without much discipline. Just ask the experts who study fiscal discipline. 

He promised to reform the electoral system and failed. He may or may not legalize marijuana nationwide. He sells war ordnance to Saudi Arabia, which of course uses it to kill people, and then his government pronounces itself concerned. 

He's tossed money at Indigenous people, which they deserve, and the emcee at his swearing-in intoned the new catechism about how everyone was standing on the unceded land of the such-and-such a tribe (although I noticed there was no mention of giving Rideau Hall back).

Wealth redistribution; taxing us up the wazoo; sucking up--big time--to the Indigenous: yup, that's exactly what we have against him.

That and his less than impressive IQ and oratorical skills (he always sounds like he's a drama student reading out lines in class), and his propensity to play ethnic dress up (the better to pander to certain voters).

However, I would not characterize it as "hatred"--that's far too strong a word.

I reserve my "hatred" for the likes of ISIS, Hamas and Iran's Grandiose Ayatollah.

What I feel toward Justin--and this is about as heated as it gets--is..."meh."

And sometimes--for example, when he summarily rewards a terrorist with oodles of loot--"feh."