The future is never as you imagined it. We’re supposed to be in it. At least that’s what the cartoons said when I was a kid. Reality is nothing like those childhood predictions. It’s 2024‚ cars still don’t fly‚ and now the big news is that Apple has invented … diving goggles. We still have to diet if we want to lose weight‚ the price of beer keeps going up‚ and Tinder is full of abominable chicks. The future is a stinking scam! And aesthetically speaking‚ it is as close to what we dreamed of as a Tesla Cybertruck is to a Bugatti Royale. READ MORE from Itxu Díaz: The Regrettable ‘Gay Christ’ Poster vs. the Magnificent Holy Week in Seville This week the streets are filling up with futuristic flies. In the old days we killed them with pesticides‚ and now we pay over $3‚500 to become one of them. If you see a guy wandering around in a suit and diving goggles doing weird things with his index finger‚ dodge him‚ quicken your pace‚ and be on your way. He is not trying to spearfish. Nor is he making obscene gestures at you (I assume). He’s just bought an Apple Vision Pro and is most likely watching a movie‚ listening to a song‚ or trying to recover his damn password; Apple is forcing those who lose their password to reset it in the store‚ and what I don’t know is if it now also forces you to wipe the floor with your tongue in order to recover your favorite pet’s name. In any case‚ if Google were to do the same with Gmail‚ it would be cheaper for me to rent an apartment in front of its offices.  The tech gurus have decided that even though we stare at our cellphone screens all day long‚ we still pay too much attention to ourselves. So they have invented this gadget to get rid of the rest of the universe. Now you can walk around objects and humans without interacting with any of them‚ because everyone has to understand that you’re busy‚ maybe playing Minesweeper‚ or whatever the hell they call that thing people play in the office when the boss is in a meeting.  The first images of Apple Vision Pro users look like something out of a horror movie‚ a technological utopia‚ or a vision of hell. Guys having lunch together with their glasses on; another one talking to himself on the train with a technological scuba mask covering his face; another guy speeding around on a scooter with his AVPs on‚ looking extremely amused‚ but without a beer in his hand or anything; and some really clever guy who decided to take a drive with his new glasses to conduct an experiment that‚ for whatever reason‚ didn’t seem like such a good idea to the police when they stopped him. The award for the Smartest YouTuber this year should go to the guy who decided to test the resistance of his AVP by throwing them against the wall‚ then dropping them from 6 feet and smashing them in a thousand different ways. That guy is a natural; 3‚500 bucks down the drain to finally show the depressing result and exclaim‚ “Damn‚ in the end they break!” Aside from all that‚ in a time when social classes as such no longer exist‚ we may have to divide ourselves again into two large groups: those who go through life absent‚ and those who go through it present. The absent‚ permanently connected to ever-more-absorbing devices‚ will have everything just a click away (sorry‚ with AVPs I think it’s a wink; I don’t even want to think about the number of accidental emails I might send before breakfast when spring allergies bring on the morning sneezes)‚ but they will have nothing in reality. (READ MORE: Take an Exclusive Look Inside Itxu Díaz’s New Book: I Will Not Eat Crickets: An Angry Satirist Declares War on the Globalist Elite) Those present‚ on the other hand‚ will continue to be enriched by the old experience of sharing life in society — talking‚ looking into each other’s eyes‚ touching‚ kissing. The absent will be easily manipulated through any mechanism that combines pernicious ideas and technology. Those present will still be able to develop a modicum of criteria‚ contrasting their own knowledge with that of others‚ and learning much more about human beings through an afternoon of beers with a friend than those absent‚ no matter how many hours they spend watching Netflix documentaries of What Is Man at the bus stop.  Yes‚ I’m getting older‚ more intolerant‚ and cantankerous. Not like when I was young‚ when I was just cantankerous‚ intolerant‚ and old. And it overwhelms me to see people disguised as flies walking around outside and inside bars‚ mired in a world of lies and corruption. This invasion of spectacles scares the hell out of me. It seems to me like the prelude to the end of the world. I can’t understand how it’s come to this. It should be banned! It’s aesthetic terrorism! The end of civilization! I’m ashamed to be human! By the way‚ can anyone lend me their Apple Vision Pros to watch the game on Saturday? Translated by Joel Dalmau. Buy Itxu Díaz’s new book‚ I Will Not Eat Crickets: An Angry Satirist Declares War on the Globalist Elite‚ here today! The post Apple’s Latest Invention: Streets Overrun by Guys With Minion Eyes appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Country music giant Toby Keith died peacefully of stomach cancer Monday in his native Oklahoma. He was 62. He’s survived by his wife‚ Tricia‚ and three children. His family was with him at his death. Keith was a country megastar‚ scoring 20 No. 1 country hits and selling more than 40 million albums. He ran the table on country music awards. He wrote most of his own songs and was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015. His songs contain the clever wording‚ humor‚ and patriotism that account for why country music has millions of fans (include me in). One of the great song titles of all time is Keith’s “Beer for My Horses.” Keith’s breakout hit in 1993 was “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” (How many accountants have thought this at tax season?) More hits followed: “How Do You Like Me Now?!”; “I Wanna Talk About Me”; “I Love This Bar”; “As Good as I Once Was”; and others. One of his later hits was “Don’t Let the Old Man In‚” the theme song of Clint Eastwood’s most recent movie‚ Cry Macho. (READ MORE from Larry Thornberry: The Good‚ the Bad‚ and the Unlikely) Keith was the authentic country item‚ born in Clinton‚ Oklahoma. His father was an oilfield worker‚ his mother a housewife. Before his musical success‚ Keith worked as a rodeo hand and an oilfield roughneck. He even played defensive end for a bit for the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers. (Keith was a big‚ strong boy.) He clearly has the blue-collar bona fides of so many country stars. Before success called on him‚ Keith paid his dues‚ working first in an Oklahoma group called the Easy Money Band‚ which played in some rough night spots. When Keith made it to Nashville‚ he started out busking on streets corners. Overnight success took years. But it came‚ and it was well deserved. After 9/11‚ Keith’s songs took on a more patriotic tone‚ including “Courtesy of the Red‚ White and Blue.” This one stuck in many liberal craws‚ creating a tiny backlash among those for whom 100-proof patriotism causes a rash. The New York Times obit writer said that the song could be heard as either “a patriotic rallying cry or a jingoistic rant.” No points for guessing how Keith and the song are seen in the Times newsroom. Faced with the small-bore kvetching from the left‚ Keith shrugged it off by saying that he would never apologize for “being patriotic.” Keith never served his country in uniform‚ but he had the greatest respect for those who did‚ doing 11 overseas USO tours singing for the troops‚ with whom he was a great favorite. His father did serve‚ losing an eye in service. Keith said he never complained of this and flew an American flag at his house every day. Keith was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2020. He fought it with chemotherapy‚ radiation‚ and surgery. This grueling regimen allowed his to return to the stage for final concerts in Las Vegas last December. But he lost his battle Monday. In a statement‚ his family said‚ “He fought his fight with grace and courage.” NO one who knew Keith could doubt this. In addition to his successful music career‚ Keith knew the meaning of “give back.” He was active in and generous to various charities‚ including building a home in Oklahoma City for children battling cancer. Keith was a fine country singer‚ a true gent‚ and a great American. RIP‚ cowboy. You done good. We’re sorry to see you go so soon. The post A Tip of the Cowboy Hat to Toby Keith appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

I don’t know whether I should be proud or ashamed to say this publicly. (Let me pause a moment to be sure I want to admit this.) (Still thinking…) (Still…) Oh‚ OK. What the heck. Here goes: READ MORE from Dov Fischer: Cut Off the UNRWA I have never ever in my life heard a single song by Taylor Swift. I would not recognize a Taylor Swift melody or lyric if it hit me in the head. I would not recognize a lyric. In time‚ I will try to read some lyrics on one of those websites to acquaint myself with the phenomenon. But until now‚ I don’t know what she sounds like‚ and I don’t care what she‚ uh‚ thinks. I don’t care what she is wearing today or whether she will be with Kelce‚ or whether she will eat pizza at the Super Bowl. A few people last the test of time. Meryl Streep. Michael Douglas. Oprah. Martin Short. Dolly Parton. These others are flashes in the pan. They come‚ and they go. I have lived through my share of them. For a few years‚ all the media craze was Britney Spears. You couldn’t go anywhere‚ read anything without hearing about Britney Spears. I once was in a doctor’s waiting room‚ and the TV was on‚ and she was being interviewed: “How does it feel to be a role model for young girls?” She answered‚ “I don’t see myself as a role model.” I thought to myself: “Wisdom beyond her years!” Soon enough‚ poor thing was being admitted into UCLA Medical Center‚ and some hospital staffer eventually violated her privacy‚ broke into the computers‚ downloaded Britney’s records‚ and sold them to one of the gossip rags. Poor thing. Shoulda bin a cowgirl. They come and go. Like seasons. Many‚ like Oprah‚ have invested wisely and now are gazillionaires who own restaurant chains or TV networks or islands or planets. Some simply were happy to leave Hollywood and the high intensity of the spotlight or the pressure to do a concert in another city every night‚ never able to cancel a performance‚ no matter how sick they got‚ because it would mean canceling 20‚000 pre-sold and scalped tickets at hundreds of dollars each. So they take drugs to keep going. Some‚ like Michael Jackson and Jimi Hendrix and Prince and Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison and even the King ultimately manage to kill themselves one way or another. Shoulda bin cowboys. Poor thing. Demi Moore? One day she is married to Bruce Willis‚ then to a handsome guy a hundred years younger than she. Last I remember‚ she was using leeches to cure someone or something. Remember all the fuss about Lindsay Lohan? Hottest person of the day. Poor thing‚ ended up getting caught stealing a necklace. Shoulda been a cowgirl. One day George Reeves was Superman. I still sometimes catch an old episode on Amazon Prime. Next day he was dead by suicide‚ and not by Kryptonite but by deep personal issues. They come and go. The bigger the flash‚ the smaller the pan in which they get fried. Tonya Harding‚ Olympic medalist? Lance Armstrong‚ biking sensation? Deeply flawed media heroes. Shoulda bin cowboys. They call themselves “stars.” But I don’t see them in any galaxy. Or R. Kelly. No one will be seeing him anywhere for a while. Or howzabout that New Jersey crowd that were all the rage? Snooki? Pauly D? Mike “The Situation”? A combined IQ of 2. How did they capture so much attention? The Situation? Really? Or‚ while on that level of intellect‚ how about Tila Tequila? And the chicken of the sea‚ Jessica Simpson‚ a nice enough person‚ but to be idolized? We live in what we Orthodox rabbis call “The World of Sheker” — the world of Lies. A world in which a corrupt media that lives on promoting Fake News‚ corrupt morality‚ violence‚ and just unwholesome garbage dominates the minds of the masses. And they could not get away with it if the masses did not buy in. If masses did not buy tickets to those movies‚ did not consume those products. If. There are others — worlds greater‚ true stars in a galaxy — outside the limelight‚ unknown. In my world‚ names you may not know: Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l‚ Rav Yosef Ber Soloveichik zt”l‚ Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l. Rav Avigdor Miller zt”l. They lived into their 80s‚ and each impacted hundreds of thousands for half a century. Instead of fading with time‚ their genius and wisdom grew‚ as did their followings. They rarely or never made the New York Times. Just as well because‚ if they had‚ they would have been caricatured and misquoted. I am thinking a great deal about the nature of “celebrity” today‚ as I read of the passing of Toby Keith at the comparatively young age of 62 of stomach cancer. He was no Rav Feinstein‚ Rav Soloveichik‚ Rav Yosef‚ or Rav Miller. I really cannot discuss him in the same paragraph as them. So a new paragraph: But he was very important to me and in many ways touched my soul with his music. After 9/11‚ I needed to hear him sing about “The American Way” and how we would hit back hard “Courtesy of the Red‚ White and Blue.” I knew then‚ and know now‚ that our America now paradoxically does not fight “The American Way.” We fight like France and Italy‚ unable to win‚ begging others to join us even when we are dealing with medieval rag-tag Houthis‚ and changing sides midway through wars as we did in Vietnam and again with Taiwan and now partly with Israel. We are not the America of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt and Truman. Of Mount Rushmore. We are the America of Obama‚ Biden‚ and Taylor Swift. Maybe we will make America great again soon. And maybe not. It was important for me to hear real anger after 9/11. Toby Keith provided it. Darryl Worley provided it after 9/11 in “Have You Forgotten?” It is like the anger that resonates and comes now from Jason Aldean in “Try That in a Small Town.” It is the anger amid the craziness of the late 1960s that was expressed so powerfully by Merle Haggard in “The Fightin’ Side of Me” and‚ especially‚ in “Okie From Muskogee.” Toby Keith had a wicked sense of humor‚ too‚ that spoke to me equally. I love my wife. My readers in this column know that I was married 20 years to the love of my life until glioblastoma‚ a form of cancer‚ took her in 2020. And now I am remarried‚ blessed with a wonderful‚ sweet‚ kind wife who literally has saved my life more than once as she dragged me to a hospital to be evaluated immediately for a lung transplant. So I love her‚ OK? And I loved my wife of 20 years. But Toby Keith’s “I Wanna Talk About Me” hit the mark so well that I have been humming it for the past 22 years. ’Nuff said about that. Before I married Ellen of blessed memory‚ I had been through a tough 25-year marriage and then a deeply painful‚ though not litigated‚ divorce. For the first time in a quarter of a century‚ I was alone at home. My kids‚ whom I loved and still love to pieces‚ no longer were 5 feet away from a hug and kiss but only present half the week. It was tough. I had not yet met Ellen. And then Toby Keith came out with “How Do You Like Me Now?!” I cannot begin to describe what that song did for me at that time. I knew my best days were ahead of me.  That song pushed me forward. Which brought me Full Toby. I am called to be a rabbi. I also am passionate about writing and teaching. I do not have the slightest interest in making money or being rich. I leave that to Tevye. My goal: just to have enough. In my first marriage‚ forces restrained my passions and coerced me to pursue a different path‚ that of lawyering. And then I would listen to “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” I know Toby did not mean it quite the way I needed to hear it. But I would be sitting in the law library at Jones Day at 3 in the morning‚ preparing for a deposition or drafting a legal memorandum due by 9 a.m.‚ and I would pause to think: “I don’t want to be here. I was a practicing rabbi for 10 years. It is my calling. I have got to get back to that‚ somehow.” Soon‚ I would start singing softly to myself‚ with my own set of lyrics‚ “I Shoulda bin a Rabbi.” And unlike the singer‚ I was determined not just to pine but indeed to be like Gene and Roy. I always wanted to meet Toby Keith for a “New York minute” to say thanks for how he touched my life. I feel the same about the early Garth Brooks and his “If Tomorrow Never Comes‚” “The River‚” “The Dance‚” “Unanswered Prayers‚” and “The Change.” But we shall leave that early pre–Trish Garth for another day. With Toby Keith dying‚ a part of me dies with him. We will always have his music‚ but we will never know how much more might he have written and sung. For me‚ there is the similarly impactful everlasting music of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach‚ the deeply moving lyrics of Safam who dried out‚ and‚ more recently‚ the extraordinary songs of Israel’s Ishay Ribo. We are left to wonder‚ as George Jones did‚ “Who’s gonna fill their shoes?” Or his. To receive Rav Fischer’s Weekly Extensive Torah Commentaries or to attend any or all of Rav Fischer’s weekly 60-minute live Zoom classes on the Weekly Torah Portion‚ the Biblical Prophets‚ the Mishnah‚ Rambam Mishneh Torah‚ or Advanced Judaic Texts‚ send an email to: shulstuff@yioc.org His 10-part exciting and fact-based series of one-hour classes on the Jewish Underground liberation movement (Irgun‚ Lechi‚ and Haganah) and the Rise of Modern Israel can be found here. In it‚ he uses historic video clips of Irgun‚ Lechi‚ and Haganah actions‚ decades of past Arab terrorist atrocities‚ as well as stirring musical selections from the Underground and video’d interviews of participants‚ to augment data‚ statistics‚ maps‚ and additional historical records to create a fascinating‚ often gripping‚ and scholarly enriching educational experience about issues that remain deeply relevant today as Israel engages in an existential war in Gaza against Hamas terrorism. His latest deeply moving weekly series of informational and inspirational programs on the Hamas Gaza war may be found here. His 40-part Bible Study series covering all of I Samuel (First Samuel) intensively with Talmudic and Midrashic commentaries is now up here. And his 9-part intensive Megillah (Book of Esther) Bible Study series is up temporarily here at until Purim. The post Toby Keith’s Songs Touched My Life appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

China offers a cautionary lesson on what happens when an elite exclusively rules. The Celestial Empire has come crashing down to earth: the latest sign being a $6 trillion stock loss over the last three years. The world’s largest country‚ the world’s second largest economy‚ and America’s only superpower adversary is confronted and confounded by serious problems. What is more: These serious problems are ones its own elite created. READ MORE: Joseph Nye Claims Trump Supporters Are a Greater Threat Than China China was once the paragon of decisive action. Overpopulated and underdeveloped‚ backward and bullied‚ China’s elite perceived its problems and with absolute autonomy took aim. It was not bogged down by the inefficiencies of democracy and dissent. It ruled by fiat and issued forthwith its solutions. Ah‚ to be China‚ the rest of the world’s leaders‚ entangled in their democracies‚ sighed. Now the full flowering of the Chinese elite’s imperiousness is blossoming in full view. For its over-population problem‚ China’s elite prescribed a one-child policy that ran from 1979 to 2015. It was wildly successful in reducing China’s population by discouraging births and aborting babies (especially girls). Now its consequences have become clear: Today‚ China faces a demographic crisis of plummeting birthrates‚ an aging population‚ a skewed gender balance in the younger population‚ and a declining workforce‚ as there are insufficient workers to replace its retiring elderly. As the Committee to Unleash Prosperity points out‚ China’s population shrank by 2 million in 2023 — double 2022’s loss — and the average births to women of child-bearing age dropped to less than half (1.0) of the 2.10 required to simply maintain the population. One Chinese village is now offering rewards to matchmakers who can make a marriage. For its backwardness‚ China’s elite prescribed a host of measures. Adopting a mercantilist mindset‚ it pursued growth at any cost. Internally‚ its one-child policy helped reduce the demand on resources. Externally‚ it aggressively exported and controlled imports. IP rights of foreign competitors were (and still are) ignored and limitations put on foreign investment in China. China’s economic development has been extremely uneven. There is too little personal consumption (see: one-child policy)‚ while too much investment has flowed into SOEs (state-owned enterprises) and speculative real-estate investment. The abridgement of foreign countries’ rights in trade has brought retaliation. Together‚ these have triggered decreases in much-needed foreign investment and sell-offs in China’s stock markets. Of course‚ the elites were not only focused on economic development when it came to China’s perceived backwardness. There were also recalcitrant groups and individuals who stood in the way of dictated progress. China’s elite does not brook dissent. The treatment of ethnic minorities has been labeled genocide in the Uyghurs’ case‚ Tibet is a captive‚ Hong Kong’s promise of “One Country‚ Two Systems” was broken‚ individual rights are abridged‚ and there are political prisoners aplenty. For being bullied‚ China’s elite prescribed an aggressive-to-the-point-of-belligerent foreign policy. As a result‚ China has alienated all around it — including those not in proximity to it. With its massive Belt and Road Initiative‚ it has made enemies even where it has made investments. The result has been that China is largely a global pariah with only other pariahs — Russia‚ North Korea‚ Cuba‚ Venezuela‚ and Iran — as its only dependable friends. China’s elite has made the country a global example of what happens in the absence of the checks supplied economically and politically by broader society. Of course‚ the economically and politically excluded Chinese people are the first and biggest victims of their elite’s unrestrained hubris. But they are hardly alone. China’s elite has inflicted its policies’ fallout globally — and threatens to do so even more (ask Taiwan‚ India‚ or Japan about that). And then there is the question of culpability in COVID — a question not of “if‚” only how much: Does it extend all the way back to the virus’s creation and a lab leak (which appears increasingly likely) or just to a coverup‚ foot-dragging‚ and lack of cooperation after the discovery? But China is unique‚ you say? Hardly. Note well who China’s allies are. Russia‚ North Korea‚ Cuba‚ Venezuela‚ and Iran are themselves exclusively ruled by their own elites. And each country is racked with its own elite-inflicted problems as bad or worse than China’s. All autocratic countries share the same pyramidal structure of rule by an apex that believes it has the sole ability and right to govern. But it cannot happen here‚ you say? Just recount into how many blind alleys our comparatively democratically encumbered elite has already led us. They have given us DEI’s transparent racism; they have squandered federal resources on green energy projects that average Americans don’t want‚ while targeting home appliances that average Americans do use; they are at the forefront of the cancel culture mob mentality; they welcome and urge removing from ballots politicians they find objectionable and refuse to cover speeches made by them; and during the pandemic they favored draconian lockdowns and censoring dissent (even from credible sources with credible facts that later turned out to be right) if these ran counter to its views of what official practice should be. As the global diversity of today’s examples of exclusionary elites shows‚ their negative practices will happen anywhere an elite is given an exclusive opportunity to govern. And it will because these elites all share the same fundamentally fatal flaw: a belief that they are smarter than any one of us‚ and that this in turn makes them smarter than all of us put together. J.T. Young was a professional staffer in the House and Senate from 1987–2000‚ served in the Department of Treasury and Office of Management and Budget from 2001–2004‚ and was director of government relations for a Fortune 20 company from 2004–2023. The post The US Learns China’s Lessons on Elitism appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

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