WEST SIDE CHANUKAH STORY (Video):

No word yet on whether this vicious street gang is representative of the Sharks or the Jets.

GLEICHSCHALTUNG: Eye Roll: Merriam-Webster Announces Word of the Year.

CYBER MONDAY DEAL: Fitbit Charge 5 Advanced Fitness & Health Tracker with Built-in GPS, Stress Management Tools, Sleep Tracking, 24/7 Heart Rate and More, Black/Graphite, One Size (S &L Bands Included). #CommissionEarned

HMM: Despite Internal Turmoil, NRA Looks Like It’s Winning The Long Game. “On the one hand, more states are allowing Americans to carry weapons in public without permits, and the gun-rights movement could be on the verge of a major Supreme Court victory. On the other, the National Rifle Association, which advocates on behalf of gun owners, faces an existential crisis that’s mostly due to the NRA’s own missteps.”

And this is from Robert Spitzer, who’s not very friendly to gun rights, to put it mildly. Long-time InstaPundit readers may remember him accusing me of fomenting “vigilantism” with my Second Amendment views.

Also, one doubts that the New York Times of today would solicit a column like mine.

HOW ABOUT SOME CAUTIONS AGAINST ACTUAL LOOTING? San Francisco TV Reporter Cautions Against Use of Word ‘Looting.’

MANDATE CAVE: Biden to Suspend Vaccine Mandate for Fed Employees. “This is a huge cave for an administration whose remaining anti-COVID effort is focused almost exclusively on the vaccine mandate. Further lockdowns are out, according to one report. People have lost patience with social distancing and travel restrictions. And it’s probably not too much of an exaggeration to say that ‘Which famous person isn’t wearing a mask today?’ has taken the place of ‘Who in Hollywood is secretly gay?’ as America’s favorite gossip.”

STILL POPULAR: New Apple AirPods Pro. #CommissionEarned

CANCEL CULTURE IS ALL IN YOUR MIND: Far-Left Groups Organize Push To Get Kyle Rittenhouse Kicked Out Of Arizona State University.

PRIORITIES: Israel Bans All Foreigners Except Beautiful Women Due to Omicron Variant.

Despite Israel being one of the first countries to close its borders due to concerns around the new Omicron COVID variant, it is still planning to host a cavalcade of beautiful women at the Miss Universe pageant at the Red Sea resort city of Eilat in December.

Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov made the announcement on Sunday, a day after Israel said it was banning all foreigners from entering the country.

The minister told reporters that participants at the Miss Universe beauty pageant would be given waivers while possibly undergoing PCR testing every two days, as well as other precautionary measures.

“This is an event that will be broadcast in 174 countries, a very important event, an event that Eilat, too, is very much in need of,” Razvozov said before Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting. “We will know how to manage this event. So, by using the waivers committee, we will have events like this, to which the country already committed itself and cannot cancel.”

Newsweek has contacted the ministry for comment.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett gave a televised address during the cabinet meeting, in which he said Israel needs “to clamp down” on its borders to keep the country “open internally.”

Israel plans to host the competition for the first time on December 12.

It’s crucial to keep calm and stay focused during trying times.

WHY AMERICANS DON’T TRUST EXPERTS: The Pall of Politics Descends Upon American Medicine. “I’ll add here that public health’s imperial aspirations pose grave risks to America’s constitutional stability. Public health exhibits a recurring pattern: (1) Declare that X is now a public health issue. (2) Declare that X is in crisis. (3) Flout legal and constitutional norms to quell said crisis.”

CHINA IS ASSHOLE.

SO IS DISNEY.

OOPS: Community policing found to be ineffective in improving trust or reducing crime.

WHOA: The Taliban had secretly infiltrated “every organization and department” inside Afghanistan’s government and universities years before Kabul.

Curiously, Marcel Duchamp was not enough to shift them towards a Western worldview…

UGH: Warning: Your Favorite Holiday Charity May Be Promoting CRT. “That’s right, the 156-year-old Christian charity known worldwide for its Holiday Red Kettle campaign has gone ‘woke.'”

JUDICIOUS BEHAVIOR? Judges Who Rescind Their Senior Status Announcement Because They Don’t Like Their Replacements.

THE NEW NORMAL: Biden’s Supply Chain Crisis Is Going To Be Here For Awhile.

There is a major supply chain crisis in our country, and it is not going away anytime soon. But if you listen to the White House, it’s no big deal. Nothing to see here. It will all end soon.

Not so says economist, consultant and writer, Milton Ezrati.

“The supply chain issues will be around for quite awhile, I’m talking about the 2nd half of next year at the earliest.”

So what is the problem? The two biggest issues are, too much government spending, and the Biden administration shutting down oil and gas.

“That’s not a supply chain issue, that’s policy” Ezrati told KTRH.

You could call it a crisis by design.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:

Shot: Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past.

—The London Independent, March 20th, 2000.

Chaser: Storm Arwen traps customers in Britain’s highest pub for third night.

Staff at a pub cut off by snow were preparing a karaoke evening on Sunday as they expect guests to be unable to escape for a third night.

More than 60 people have spent two nights camped out at Britain’s highest pub due to heavy snowfall brought on by Storm Arwen.

Customers first became stranded at the Tan Hill Inn, in the Yorkshire Dales, on Friday night after going to watch an Oasis tribute band called Noasis.

Those staying at the inn, which is 1,732ft above sea level, woke up to around 3ft of snow.

Due to a fallen power line and snow blocking the main routes out, they have been unable to leave since.

Shot: Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past.

—The London Independent, today.

AND YET PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE WHO TRAVELS INTO SPACE REPORTS FEELING THAT: “We didn’t evolve to feel awe about hurtling through space.”

DISPATCHES FROM KILLADELPHIA: Temple University Student Fatally Shot in Broad Daylight as Philadelphia Breaks Homicide Record. “Philadelphia has recorded at least 506 homicides this year, making 2021 the deadliest year on record in the city. ‘We are deeply saddened by the death of Samuel Collington, and strongly condemn this and any acts of violence in our city,’ a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office said. ‘We grieve every life lost to violence, and we’re heartbroken for Samuel’s friends and family as they cope with this unimaginable loss. Our thoughts are with his loved ones, the Temple University community, and his colleagues in the City Commissioners’ Office.’”

(Classical reference in headline.)

GOOD READS: Support Non-Woke Authors: Buy Indie Books Now on Sale Through Tuesday.

CYBER MONDAY DEALS: Save on Handpicked Laptops, Desktops, and Chromebooks.

GRIFT: How the Build Back Better Act Steers Billions of Medicaid Dollars to Labor Unions.

NOT GOOD: Americans Are Having a Lot Less Sex. “Americans had a lot less sex in 2018 compared to 2009, according to a new study published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior. The finding mirrors a downward trend also seen in many other parts of the developed world, including the UK, Australia, Germany, and Japan.”

Patton said that a soldier who won’t f*ck won’t fight. I think the general libidinal observation applies to societies.

DISPATCHES FROM THE INTERSECTION OF WEIMAR AMERICA AND THE K-12 IMPLOSION: Self-Proclaimed First Grade Teacher Boasts: ‘My Favorite Moments Are Always When My Students Ask About My Queerness.’

David French assures me that this one of the many “‘blessings of liberty.’”

HANUKKAH: Armed Jews Week.