A severe case of the overlong band name virus. The post Where did Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever get their name&;#63; first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

A name best forgotten. The post Who was the real ‘Maggie May’ from Rod Stewart’s song&;#63; first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

American universities rode a tall wave of public esteem in the last few decades. In the Information Age‚ the value of learning naturally soars. By 2008‚ the chaos and violence of the Sixties and Seventies campuses was so forgotten that the revelation that Obama was sponsored by violent young radicals Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn meant nothing to the voters. America likes to forgive and forget. Americans are losing trust in the training ground of what we may gently call educated fools. But intellectuals do not like to forget‚ and radical intellectuals like even less to forgive. They found their niches in academe‚ utilized free speech and inquiry as radicals do (good for me‚ not for thee) and set in motion currents that few knew of or paid attention to outside the ivory towers. For those who even heard about it‚ Deconstructionism seemed too odd a flower to survive outside the campus hothouse. The idea that texts and ideas have only the subjective meaning imposed by readers seems so incoherent that it would crumble under the weight of its own absurdity. That the campus should shelter such a thing seemed reasonable in the way that we grant a lab the ability to keep a deadly virus for study‚ trusting the lab to keep us safe in the meantime. (READ MORE from Shmuel Klatzkin: From Chamberlain to Biden‚ Lessons in Appeasement) Perhaps it is no coincidence that the failure of the Wuhan lab to control the monster virus it created came at the same time the huge wave of intolerance surging out of the universities crested. Suddenly‚ intolerance seemed to be in control of every institution in America‚ from the schools to the media to the grim realm of power politics and the ever-expanding bureaucracies it spews forth. Incoherent Deconstructionism had gotten a gain of function‚ having been gene-spliced to New Left Marxism. The adherents of this new monster dismiss every argument that doesn’t please them as being nothing more than a power grab. And power‚ they know by direct communion with the Objective Truth they so strenuously deny — is meant only for them. And they use it with a vengeance. The years of hell generated by this monster have led most Americans to lose their faith in the institutions that spawned it. Gallup found in 2015 that 57 percent of Americans had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education. By 2017‚ that figure declined slightly to 48 percent. By last July‚ it was down to 36 percent — and that is before the shocking performance of the university presidents before Congress and the widespread outbreak of violent antisemitism that the universities seem unable or unwilling to confront. American citizens have belatedly realized that something had been hatched in the darkness and has been working on the minds of our children while we were focused on other things. We had trusted the universities because we valued their great striving after truth. We did not realize that they have long made truth a lower consideration. Infected with wokeness‚ they worship power. Top-heavy with administrators‚ its professors have relieved themselves of the exacting demands of scholarship in favor of the exhilarating ride of the new True Belief. Research and experiments don’t matter because they know in advance what the outcomes will be. All they need to do is make sure you accept the Belief or get out of the way. Now we are realizing what has happened. For several years‚ I taught a unit on the Holocaust in a small Jewish day school in Dayton‚ Ohio. I thought it important not just to expose the horror but to teach students where hope lies as well. To that end‚ I once brought in a woman who had been newly married when her native Holland was conquered by the Nazis. She and her husband sheltered a series of Jewish families in their home‚ saving them from the fate of 90 percent of Dutch Jews. She was no intellectual and put on no airs. But the students’ jaws dropped when they heard her matter-of-factly detail the risk they ran for years. “How could you be so brave&;#63;” one student asked her at the end. She seemed genuinely puzzled. “Brave&;#63; Anyone would have done what I had done.” An ordinary person‚ she was in her own mind. But the people who thought themselves extraordinary usually did less well. How few acted as she did&;#33; How many of the better educated and more self-regarding were skilled at the rationalizations that kept themselves safe and that eased Hitler’s path. I also showed the students a film about Le Chambon‚ a small village of farmers in France’s remote Massif Central. Only one or two people in the town had a college education. But these religious‚ simple people saved about 5‚000 Jews from the Nazis. The director of this film had been born on a farm there to a Jewish couple sheltered by one of the farm families. He‚ too‚ asked the farmer who had sheltered his family how he had the courage to do what he did. The farmer shrugged his shoulders and said‚ anyone else would have done the same thing. But they didn’t. For those who live in the abstractions universities are good at generating‚ the world of action in which the young Dutch wife and the French farmer lived is just another interpretation‚ just another hypothesis. Morality is just a power play‚ since one mode of explanation is just as arbitrary as another‚ and all that matters is making your abstraction jibe with what everyone else in your identity group is saying‚ because your group alone knows the truth. Contemptuous of those so crude as to believe in a real world and a moral law‚ many university denizens become a living parody to all but themselves. “Queers for Palestine” reads the sign of a college student who would be thrown off a Gaza rooftop or hanged and left dangling from a crane in Iran. “Stop the Genocide” reads the signs in support of a group who only failed to commit genocide on October 7 because they were stopped by military force (and who have vowed to keep on trying to do so‚ an aim furthered by the utterly unironic sign-carriers). (READ MORE: No‚ Red Cows Won’t Spark War in Israel) A poet basking in her own banality feigns an epiphany on discovering that the etymology of “gauze” may lead back to Gaza. For the poet‚ this is a Beautiful Thought ‚ stunning in its abstraction from the shattering horror of mass rape and deliberate‚ intentional butchery of family after family. For the poet‚ this etymology somehow lets her in to the great secret of the woke — today’s home of rape-for-the-cause has really only been interested in healing the world‚ as beneficent as a patch of gauze. Meanwhile‚ those who are stopping the murder and rape the only way it will be stopped are the bad guys. It is no wonder that Americans are losing trust in the training ground of what we may gently call educated fools. If only they were so harmless. Ask Samar Tartuk‚ stabbed in the eye with the pole of a Palestinian flag at a Yale “demonstration. Ask the Jewish students at Cooper Union‚ locked into the school library by a mob. Ask the Jewish students about the active intimidation and threats to which they are subject at Columbia‚ where New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft‚ for years a generous donor‚ has announced he will withhold all funding until the university shows it can protect its Jewish students. This is not so new for universities. German universities were a breeding ground for the antisemitism that eventually formed itself into the Third Reich‚ starting with the student Hep&;#33; Hep&;#33; Riots of 1820‚ and after a century‚ supplying many of their graduates to the ranks of the SS. Early in the 20th century top American universities‚ such as Princeton and Harvard‚ had strict quotas on the number of Jews they would accept. It was chic among this crowd in the Thirties to approve of many aspects of Hitler’s regime‚ as documented Prof. Stephen Norwood‚ who wrote of what he called the universities’ “very shameful record of complicity and indifference to atrocities committed against the Jews from 1933 onward — and actually a lot of collaboration.” So‚ it may not be new‚ but it is even more disgraceful. Reverting to old sins disavows any repentance they may have achieved. America is not well represented by its universities. It still abhors the doctrines of hatred for which her sons shed their blood to defeat and expunge from the earth. That dedication to good‚ beyond equivocation and rationalization‚ is the source of our real greatness. And it is that real greatness that America intends to assert‚ and it will remove its support from those who have betrayed its trust. The post American Universities Have Squandered The Public’s Esteem appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

A one-month-old baby is being evacuated from the U.K. to the Vatican’s Bambino Ges&;ugrave; Pediatric Hospital in Rome for treatment of a congenital heart condition. The British National Health Service (NHS) told the baby’s parents that specialized treatment for the condition was not available in the U.K. The child’s father is reportedly an Italian citizen working in the U.K. and so turned to his home country for assistance. Italian family lawyer and former senator Simone Pillon managed to secure the child’s transfer to Pope Francis’s hospital last week before the case was referred to British courts. Parents recognize the inherent dignity and worth of their children and will move heaven and earth to protect that dignity and worth. Pillon had been involved in the case of Indi Gregory last year. Indi was diagnosed with a serious mitochondrial condition which British clinicians said was incurable. Pillon tried to have her transferred to Italy for treatment but British courts blocked his efforts‚ even after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared Indi an Italian citizen. Instead‚ the courts decided it would be in the eight-month-old girl’s “best interest” to turn off her life support. “The NHS and the courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life‚ but they also took away Indi’s dignity to pass away in the family home where she belonged‚” said Indi’s father Dean Gregory. “They did succeed in taking Indi’s body and dignity‚ but they can never take her soul. They tried to get rid of Indi without anybody knowing‚ but we made sure she would be remembered forever. I knew she was special from the day she was born.” (READ MORE from S.A. McCArthy: Speak Boldly‚ Not Softly: Pope Francis and the Absence of Moral Clarity) Previously‚ British courts have been responsible for the deaths of other children diagnosed with difficult or “incurable” diseases or conditions. In 2017‚ infant Charlie Gard was diagnosed with mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDDS) after being hospitalized in Great Ormond Street Hospital‚ an NHS children’s hospital. The hospital and Charlie’s parents agreed to send Charlie to New York-based neurologist Michio Hirano‚ who was working on an experimental treatment for MDDS. After Charlie suffered a seizure‚ still in London‚ the hospital determined that experimental treatment would be futile. Charlie’s parents disagreed‚ so the NHS asked the British High Court to intervene. Charlie’s parents appealed the Court’s decision to keep Charlie in London but the British Court of Appeal and Supreme Court‚ and the European Court of Human Rights‚ all denied their appeals. Pope Francis and then-President Donald Trump both offered to assist in Charlie’s transfer‚ treatment‚ and care. Hirano visited Great Ormond Street Hospital and‚ after examining Charlie’s condition‚ lamented that it was now too late for treatment to be beneficial. Charlie was transferred to hospice in July 2017 and his life support was turned off. He died at the age of 11 months and 24 days. In 2016‚ Alfie Evans was hospitalized at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital‚ another NHS institution‚ with an undiagnosed neurodegenerative disorder‚ later identified as GABA-transaminase deficiency. Alfie’s parents sought to have him transferred to the Bambino Ges&;ugrave; hospital late in 2017‚ with the cooperation of Italian authorities and hospital staff. Within just a few months‚ the NHS had applied for a court order to turn off Alfie’s life support. Pope Francis himself‚ who had met with Alfie’s father‚ criticized the decision‚ as did Vatican Secretariat of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin‚ who called the NHS’s refusal to transfer Alfie to Rome “incomprehensible.” Not yet Prime Minister‚ Meloni still managed to secure Italian citizenship for Alfie‚ expressing hope for his “immediate transfer to Italy.” In February 2018‚ the British High Court sided with the NHS and Alder Hey Hospital‚ ordering the removal of Alfie’s life support. The Court of Appeal agreed and the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights rejected further appeals from Alfie’s parents. In April 2018‚ Alfie’s life support was turned off. He died aged 1 year and 11 months old. Four years later‚ in 2022‚ 12-year-old Archie Battersbee was hospitalized after having suffered cardiac arrest and an extended period of unconsciousness. The NHS requested a court order to perform brainstem testing‚ believing that Archie’s cardiac arrest and unconsciousness may have rendered him brainstem dead. The NHS also sought a second order‚ to shut off Archie’s life support if either he were declared brainstem dead or if the first order were rejected. Of course‚ Archie’s parents opposed these actions‚ but to no avail. (READ MORE: Lessons From the Life of Evelyn Waugh) The High Court‚ the Court of Appeal‚ and the Supreme Court all sided with the NHS over Archie’s parents. In August 2022‚ Archie’s life support was turned off and he died. With assisted suicide legislation being advanced across the world‚ even in the U.S.‚ it is worthwhile to examine the passion and ferocity with which parents have fought for their children in these cases. Parents recognize the inherent dignity and worth of their children and will move heaven and earth to protect that dignity and worth. While the practice of medicine can be wholesome‚ healing‚ and even lifesaving‚ the medical industry has prioritized profits and convenience over all else‚ even over the lives of children. The post Britain Allows Child To Travel to Vatican Hospital for Treatment appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

I never thought that I would be spending Passover in Japan. The idea was always‚ “Next year in Jerusalem” not Tokyo‚ but here I am. Several currents conspired to bring me here with a few other members of my family. First of all‚ my older son fell in love with a marvellous Japanese girl while she was an exchange student in Toronto. After she returned to Japan to finish her degree‚ he began visiting her there and that promoted Japan to the top of my family’s bucket list. Then‚ Japan recently had a major earthquake and Air Canada announced a seat sale as a goodwill gesture. Not able to resist a bargain a few of us booked a two-week vacation in the Land of the Rising Sun. Oh‚ did I mention that my son and his girlfriend are planning on getting engaged while we are here&;#63;&;#33; [T]he Japanese think of Hiroshima as their Holocaust…. It is their “Never again” moment. I packed the minimal fixings for a Seder in my carry-on‚ a handful of Haggadahs and the ceremonial items for the Seder plate. I usually grill a chicken neck instead of the shank bone but I was told that you can’t import meat so I substituted a beet‚ the vegetarian alternative instead. My roasted egg got crushed and the parsley wrapped in cling wrap was confiscated at customs so they had to be replaced at the convenience store near our hotel. It was a very simple Seder‚ just the highlights to introduce the future member of our family to one of our most important customs. She is keenly interested and has even started to study Hebrew. In turn my son has been learning Japanese as is his wont but it appeared at the Seder table that it has been displacing his Hebrew. Oh‚ well. He loves learning languages but I guess that there is only so much room in the noggin. I have loved and admired Japanese culture for most of my life. In high school I used to read Japanese poetry in translation and even composed some haiku in English‚ though I have always been aware that its not the same thing. In any case it was a pleasant break from composing English sonnets and sestinas. In university I came to admire Japanese architecture and of course film. (READ MORE from Max Dublin: A Very Unhappy Anniversary) Because I enjoy working with wood a friend once gave me a few classic Japanese woodworking tools‚ a block plane‚ a marking gauge‚ a hand saw‚ and a hammer. I still use the hammer‚ saw‚ and marking gauge from time to time but the plane is beyond me. Keeping the blade honed and properly set in the wooden frame is an art and I have never been able to find the time to master it. The action of the plane and saw are all about pushing rather than pulling‚ quite the opposite of what we do in the West. Tokyo is marvelous‚ full of the energy of one of the great cities of the world and very special in its own way‚ especially given the times that we live in. There are no homeless in the streets‚ no public trash bins but also almost no litter — you carry it home and dispose of it there. It is also a very safe city which is rather welcome. People in the street do not try to make eye contact as they do in the West‚ but nor do they necessarily avoid it‚ they are simply reserved. All of this reminds me of what Toronto used to be like when I was growing up there. Flashy electrified signs are everywhere beckoning for your attention. It’s like a low-key version of the original movie version of Bladerunner but without the menace. Japanese society is rather conservative. The people are hard-working and value tradition but‚ in many ways‚ especially in their casual dress‚ also rather au courant. My son tells me that the Japanese are not very interested in politics‚ which suggests to me that they are well governed. Things get done quickly and efficiently. There are no pro-Hamas protests‚ which is a relief for me at this particular moment. The only protest that I came across downtown was a rather feeble one protesting the continued presence of the American military base on Japanese soil. After all these years the Japanese have had enough of the American post-WWII occupation. Japan happens also to be a good friend of Israel but because this country does not like to grandstand on the world stage the friendship is low key. It turns out that many Japanese feel a certain affinity with the Jewish people. When I asked my future daughter-in-law what is her favorite Japanese movie it turned out to be the anime film‚ In This Corner of the World. It is about the experiences of a Japanese family surviving World War II culminating‚ of course‚ in the bombing of Hiroshima. I cannot recommend this film too highly. It is entirely lacking in rage and self-pity but is mainly embed with a quiet stoicism‚ with love‚ perseverance‚ and acceptance of a tragic and dreadful fate. I have been told that the Japanese think of Hiroshima as their Holocaust‚ not in the sense that the experience is the same but as a watershed moment engraved in a people’s collective memory. It is their “Never again” moment but playing out‚ as it were‚ on the other side of the net. Germany has its own version of this but it has played out very differently. This appeared in stark contrast when Angela Merkel decided to let in a million Moslem refugees early in the ongoing Syrian civil war. This decision was ostensibly based on a blind post-World War II guilt. However‚ at the time that Merkel made this decision the late famous fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld observed with high irony something to the effect of‚ “You feel guilty about murdering millions of Jews in the Holocaust so you invite a million Jew-haters into your country&;#63;” Japan has some great advantages over Germany in the fact that the former is an island nation. Like Britain‚ that other famous island nation‚ Japan is not contiguous with other rival nations. When the European Common Market (ECM) was formed after World War II‚ it was basically an economic entity. The idea was that free trade among its member nations would prevent them warring with one another. (READ MORE: Biden Pulls a Bait and Switch on Israel) However‚ when the ECM morphed into what is the European Union (EU)‚ a huge conglomeration of nations ruled by unelected bureaucrats‚ it was not surprising that Germany‚ with the largest economy‚ wanted to be the boss. After transforming from basically conservative after the War to left-wing‚ Germany adopted self-destructive policies around open-borders and climate change and now those chickens are coming home to roost. To their credit the Japanese have embarked on a much more sensible trajectory of very limited and controlled immigration along with sensible environmental policies. It is not as if Japan is a perfect country — no nation is. It has its own problems‚ including a slightly faltering economy and the occasional political scandal‚ but it seems to be able to deal with them sensibly. On a personal note‚ given that Japan is basically a mono-cultural country‚ as a Jew I feel safe and secure here. The post A Passover in Japan appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.