Cut to the News Weekend - March 20-21, 2021
Published: Sat, 03/20/21
Here are the top eight reads for you to ponder and enjoy this weekend. :-)
Too Many Deny the True Evils of Communism . . . Here are three reasons why is it important that everyone knows what communism did. First, we have a moral obligation to the victims not to forget them. Just as Americans have a moral obligation to remember the victims of American slavery, we have the same obligation to the billion victims of communism, especially the 100 million who were murdered. Second, the best way to prevent an evil from reoccurring is to confront it in all its horror. The fact that many people today, especially young people, believe communism is a viable—even morally superior—option for modern societies proves they know nothing about communism’s moral record. Therefore, they do not properly fear communism—which means this evil could happen again. And why could it happen again? That brings us to reason No. 3. The leaders of communist regimes and the vast number of people who helped those leaders torture, enslave, and murder—plus the many more people who reported on their neighbors for saying something objectionable to the communists—were nearly all normal people.
Of course, some were psychopaths, but most were not. Which proves that any society—including free ones—can devolve into communism or some analogous evil. The authoritative “The Black Book of Communism,” written by six French scholars and published in the United States by Harvard University Press, lists the numbers of people murdered—not people killed in combat; ordinary civilians trying to live their lives—by communist regimes. — The Soviet Union: 20 million; China: 65 million. These numbers do not describe the suffering endured by hundreds of millions of people who were not murdered: the systematic stripping people of their right to speak freely, to worship, to start a business, or even to travel without party permission. By Dennis Prager Daily Signal
Hundreds in publishing sign letter objecting to book deals for the Trump administration . . . More than 250 authors, editors, agents, professors and others in the American literary community signed an open letter this week opposing any publisher that signs book deals with President Donald Trump or members of his administration. Former DC Comics president Paul Levitz, journalist Sarah Weinman and “Little Fires Everywhere” author Celeste Ng are among signatories to the letter, written by novelist Barry Lyga and titled “No Book Deals for Traitors.” “We affirm that participation in the administration of Donald Trump must be considered a uniquely mitigating criterion for publishing houses when considering book deals.
“Consequently, we believe: No participant in an administration that caged children, performed involuntary surgeries on captive women, and scoffed at science as millions were infected with a deadly virus should be enriched by the almost rote largesse of a big book deal. And no one who incited, suborned, instigated, or otherwise supported the January 6, 2021 coup attempt should have their philosophies remunerated and disseminated through our beloved publishing houses.”The letter went on to invoke “Son of Sam” laws, which prevents convicted criminals from profiting from book deals, and concluded: “We are tired of the industry we love enriching the monsters among us, and we will do whatever is in our power to stop it.” LA Times
Just like Dennis Prager writes above, the leaders of totalitarian communist regimes were nearly all normal people. The silencing of speech is a significant step toward socialism, totalitarian communism, and eventually, the firing squads of Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin’s right-hand man. Notice how participants in the Trump Administration are not simply fellow Americans who served their country by supporting a democratically elected President who happened to be the leader of the opposing party. No, they are "monsters," worthy of destruction. Very scary times now, here in the land of freedom.
Why aren't conservative women recognized during Women's History Month? . . . Just as the likes of the great conservative Justice Clarence Thomas — the only Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court — are often left out of mentions of Black History Month in February, so too, are many conservative women often ignored during Women’s History Month in March. The media and entertainment industries tend to downplay many of the contributions made by outstanding trailblazing women — if they also happen to hold conservative viewpoints. The left regularly dismisses such women as less worthy of recognition and role modeling, and in doing so, leaves out a significant part of history from “women’s history.” Last year, for example, Time Magazine highlighted one accomplished woman for each of the last 100 years. In the last 20 years alone, practically every single American woman on the list who was involved in politics or policy was from the left. They included Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and the founders of the Marxist Black Lives Matter organization, among others.
There was not a single conservative woman on the list. No first Black female secretary of State (Condoleezza Rice), no first female combat veteran to serve in the U.S. Senate (Joni Ernst) and no first woman to lead one of the top 20 largest companies in America (Carly Fiorina). The closest Time could get was a single moderate, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. So, during this month’s women’s history celebration, will we see women’s magazines, history websites and media outlets laud Amy Coney Barrett, the first Supreme Court justice and working mom? What about the women of the new freshman class in the House of Representatives — the largest number of conservative women to win seats in the House in U.S. history — a group that more than doubled the number of right-leaning women in Congress? And w about the Condoleezza Rices, the Joni Ernsts and the Carly Fiorinas of the country? By Kay James Washington Times
Or Kellyanne Conway, for that matter, the first woman to have run a successful U.S. presidential campaign.
Most American Schools Are Damaging Your Child . . . I have been telling parents for decades that sending a child to almost any college is playing Russian roulette with his or her values. But it is a different version of Russian roulette. In the traditional version, only one of the gun's six chambers contains a bullet. In the college version of Russian roulette, 5 of the 6 chambers contain a bullet. If your child attends almost any university in America (or Canada or anywhere else in the English-speaking world), the odds are that your child's decency, intellectual acuity, faculty of reason, character and moral compass will be damaged, perhaps permanently. The worse news is that sending your child to almost any elementary school or high school — public or private — is fast becoming equally toxic. More and more schools are being taken over by left-wing ideologues and by non-ideologues who lack the courage to confront the ideologues.
Once infected with leftism, these schools teach children to hate reason, tradition, America, Christianity, whites, excellence, freedom and masculinity. Why would you send your young child to a school that sponsors a "Drag Queen Story Hour" or that dwells on "nonbinary" gender identity? Do you think such things do not damage your child's innocence? Do you want your child to be challenged about his or her sexual identity? Why would you send your child to any school that teaches The New York Times' "1619 Project"? This project holds that America was not founded in 1776 but in 1619, with the arrival of the first black slaves in North America, and that the Revolutionary War was fought not to gain independence from Britain but to preserve slavery. Creators
H/T to Cut to the News reader TL for finding this great piece.
Book Review: Jordan B. Peterson’s ‘Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life’ . . . Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist and professor is, as has been remarked before, a once-in-a-generation kind of writer. His new book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, promises to be a companion work to his wildly successful 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. While the first book focused on defeating chaos in its various forms, the second explores the dangers of excessive order. At first glance, his new set of rules seems indistinguishable from his last. But the rules are merely a conceit. Whether it is the problems of chaos or control, Peterson forces us to confront our lives, in ways that are entertaining and insightful, as a hero's journey of sorts—a story with a meaning.
The 12 rules are straightforward answers to perennial questions: How might humans reform stagnant social institutions? What characteristics make up the ideal personality? Should we seek happiness in life or responsibility? Is true romance possible? And how can we be grateful despite our suffering or the suffering of those we love? Peterson manages these, as well as other questions, with his signature polymath style, combining insights from his private clinical psychology practice, ancient mythological traditions, popular children's literature, scientific research, art history, medieval alchemy, dreams, and the Bible. Washington Free Beacon
Parents Erupt Over FDA Failure To Regulate Toxic Metals in Food . . . Congress released a report in February finding that popular baby foods contain worrisome levels of toxic heavy metals. Lawsuits were filed within days but the intense blowback against baby food makers obscured an even larger problem, watchdogs say. The reality is that concerning levels of lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium can routinely be found in many foods that families use, including rice, sweet potatoes, carrots, juices and spices. Heavy metal contamination is relatively common across the food supply, so infants aren’t the only children vulnerable to possible health effects, and the federal government is doing next to nothing to reduce their exposure. The issue has been on the Food and Drug Administration's radar, but there have been no changes to any food standards. Politico
A Passover-Ready Recipe From Tiktok’s ‘Modern Mensch’. . . New cookbook ‘Jew-ish’ contains recipes both creative and culturally rooted. Author Jake Cohen dishes on maximalist entertaining, go-to utensils and those infernal sprinkle-bomb cakes. PUMPKIN-SPICE BABKA. Shakshuka alla vodka. Challah panzanella. According to Jake Cohen, these recipes qualify as “Jew-ish.” This month, Mr. Cohen, 27, a food writer and gregarious social media star with a devoted following on Instagram and TikTok, unleashes the notion on the world in “Jew-ish: A Cookbook: Reinvented Recipes From a Modern Mensch” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Published just in time for Passover, it’s Mr. Cohen’s personal, uniquely millennial interpretation of Jewish cuisine, including the Ashkenazi dishes he grew up with, the Persian- and Iraqi-Jewish recipes that he learned from his in-laws, and the foods that simply capture his imagination. Wall Street Journal
Concealed Carry For Women . . . Let's talk about carrying concealed for women and some of their struggles. There’s an old saying that says “God made men, Colt made them equal”. This saying is even more true for women and over the last decade, there has been an increase in women carrying concealed firearms for self defense. The firearms market is dominated by males and because of that, the majority of products are designed with a man’s body structure in mind. Some women have real struggles in finding the right firearm and gear for themselves. Depending on a woman’s body type, it can be fairly difficult to find a comfortable carry style. Women naturally have wider hips and sometimes they are set higher than most men who carry a concealed firearm. Let’s dive into the struggles of concealed carry for women. Firearm Blog
Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End of Love (Official Video)
Have a delightful weekend!
Rebekah