Greetings one and all and thanks for being here for another batch of Laura's Links.
I know that the America-Israel war is one of the biggest, ongoing stories of the week, but that's kind of why I am not going to wade it to it here. There's so many people talking about it, and so much fiery rhetoric on all sides and I still don't think that any of the fog of war is clearing. I'm generally more cautiously optimistic than Mark, but I know that's not saying much. It's pretty easy now that all of us have little bionic devices attached to our arms, to get sucked into the news vacuum cleaner and basically allow our brains to get sucked into Planet Screens From Hell. I'm trying to stay in the real world as much as possible, put the phone in the drawer, etc. and as our late friend Kathy Shaidle once advised me to "stop arguing with strangers on the Internet".
There's plenty going on in my real world as usual.
I had occasion to take my special needs son to an appointment with Mr. C earlier in the week. I'm trying to think of how to explain the massive nugget of wisdom and insight I gained from one of the individuals who were present without revealing too much, or violating my son's privacy. Basically, this person threw a massive truth bomb at us, and it was actually quite astonishing how quickly she computed it in her brain and then let it slip out of her mouth. She told us that sometimes we need to flip the script in our own brains. She said that parents of special needs kids often spend an extraordinary amount of time and effort not just on keeping their kids safe and healthy, groomed and calm, but also reading out an external script. It goes something like this: we're fine, our disabled child is really great, he/she is not so difficult, you won't have any issue taking care of him/her, he/she is well behaved, etc. There is pretty constant pressure to present ourselves and our kids in the most positive light possible to the external world. She looked us straight in the eyes and said that it's OK, and sometimes absolutely necessary to reveal the non-positives, the real life challenges and struggles to get what you need from the external world, the world beyond your immediate, most intimate circle of care.
I literally felt a lightbulb go off in my head.
I got a really good, stark lesson for me that it's OK to not be OK, and it's OK to not to over exert oneself by continuing to present the dreaded, puke-o-rama, trite, ridiculous, saccharine "Welcome to Holland" version of events and that it's OK and sometimes necessary to give the actual "Welcome to [INSERT YOUR CHOICE OF WAR TORN, DANGEROUS VOLATILE COUNTRIES HERE". Basically, as I've said previously, screw "Welcome to Holland".
Nobody who lives it loves it (I refer to the "poem" and not the kids). Nobody wants to listen to someone who is a complete kvetch all the time, an Eeyore, wet blanket etc... but on the other hand, completely sanitizing hardship is not honest and not always productive or helpful. Anyway, one step at a time for me on all this.
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On another note, Professor Gad Saad is the person who I believe coined the term "suicidal empathy". His new book is called "Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind". If the book hadn't already been published, then this would make a great cover. This is it. In a nutshell. In one image (related heroic image here).
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That's all I've got for now!
Have a good weekend and I'll see you in the comments as I'm able.
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North America:
It took a foreign journalist to report on Texas.
Thank feisty parents for the beginning of the end of trans.
"Loneliness is for cowards." I think that's a bit harsh, but I get her point.
A Khalistani murder in Canada.
Meanwhile, in Toronto. More here. But the main concern of The Toronto Star is...YOU GUESSED IT: Islamophobia.
"Yesterday, I explained how seven insurance firms in London shut down one-fifth of the world's oil supply. Today, Trump may have just made the most aggressive sovereign insurance play in modern history. Here's what happened and why it matters:"
You can not possibly hate the legacy media enough. Example number eleventy bazillion million is this header: "They moved here from Afghanistan seeking a better life." REALLY? Seems like they were seeking fresh, infidel prey but what do I know?
"How a Network of Political Catholic Integralists, Russian Ideologues, and Media Provocateurs Are Systematically Dismantling the Evangelical Foundation of the American Right".
RELATED: Something has gone wrong.
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Israel & Jews
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Palestine:
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The Great Walkbackening, Reckoning and Accounting:
GOOD: "Today, seven Air Canada pilots won their arbitration over denial of religious exemptions for C19 jabs, and were awarded compensation. Portions of their testimonies are in the ruling..." Details here.
More of this. Nothing can make people whole again, nothing can bring people back. But the people who forced this on us need much, much more punishment.
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The Formerly Great Britain:
"Ex-Muslims will be the conscience of the Islamophobia debate, just as detransitioners were to trans ideology."
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Iran:
"It is fanciful to think that the war in the Middle East is simply a distraction from the Epstein files. The conspiracy theorists might like an easy explanation for the conflict, but in making it all about Trump's emotions, they erase geopolitical tensions, repeated attacks on Israel and the bravery of the Iranian protesters. They cannot be allowed to get away with this."
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Asia:
"A South Korean court has convicted a woman and her two doctors of murder for killing the baby she had delivered. The woman wanted to terminate the pregnancy at 36 weeks - but prosecutors said the baby was born alive and later killed." I'm not sure why people are so surprised. Using language such as "fetus" or "clump of cells" instead of, you know, "baby" and making arbitrary determinations about the viability of human life has consequences. And one of the consequences is that it is very hard to create an argument against a 36 week termination if you believe in 35, or 32 or 20. Pity the children.
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Down Under:
Typical leftist: destroy and flee.
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Big Tech:
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Human Grace:
"Pints & Ponytails". Green flag, as the kids say.
It's open thread time! Log into SteynOnline and let Laura know what you think of these stories or other happenings from the week that was. Commenting privileges are among the many perks of membership in The Mark Steyn Club. While going off topic is permitted on Laura's Links, do stick to the other rules as you engage: no URLs, no profanity, and no ad hominem attacks.