Hi guys and gals, welcome to this week's edition of Laura's Links.
A few weeks ago, I was mindlessly doomscrolling on one of the crack-like apps on social media and I came across a meme that was pretty funny. I forget the actual wording but it was something to the effect of "if you sneeze while scrolling, and in that millisecond your scroll stops on a frog croaking by the side of a pond, within seconds the rest of your day you will be bombarded with frog videos from all over the world" (and now AI frog slop as well).
I started laughing (and may have even posted it here because I think Elon Musk re-posted it), but there's also a serious and dark undertone. It is very hard to pull your eyes away from the phone - by design. Sometimes, I have to say to myself "TURN YOUR PHONE OVER" - like actually speak to myself aggressively, and make my hand put the phone down, face down and go back to things I actually enjoy more in real life. And that breaks the spell.
The one time that I went to Las Vegas (and I would never go back again, it's probably the place that I least liked in what I have seen of America so far), I was really saddened by the sight of people parking themselves in front of a machine for the whole day, with their supplies within reach, pulling down the arm of the slot machine over and over. I'm not a gambler, but I am definitely slightly more sympathetic to the mechanism of addiction, seeing and experiencing a small degree of it with phone-related things. My curated "for you" feed on X is now, unsurprisingly, all about Spencer Pratt's LA mayoral campaign. It is extremely entertaining and amusing but I have noticed a "here's a frog at a pond" feeling about it.
This is another reason why I really value the Jewish Sabbath and holidays, it's a complete break from all electronics, and an excellent brain reset. Speaking of which, the Jewish holiday of Shavuot is coming up next week, so I'll drop in a little bit of info about that, perhaps a cheesecake recipe and links to any articles about the holiday, or the Book of Ruth that I find along the way. Stay tuned!
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From brain reset to completely brainless, we now feature the Mother's Day message of the Prime Minister of Canada.
A friend sent this to me and I was like "mother figures"? You want to talk about "mother figures"???? My mother figure is, wait for it... A PEAR. Yes, that is what happened to my body as a result of being a mom. I have no complaints or regrets, I'm just reporting the news.
Now, the standard non-dumbkopf, non-woke response to this preening, ridiculous message is "what a dork" or "can you believe this guy", etc. But I think that it's important to take a step back and remember that they themselves do not believe in this crap - just like they don't believe that men can have babies, that women can be hung like Gunga Din or that men can have more impressive, swellings racks than all of Neiman Marcus.
The point is, as Mark frequently points out, is to make you swallow the lie.
The point is to humiliate you, and to make you articulate or be silent about something that is so clearly preposterous in order to humble you, and make you ever more compliant. In short, mocking is deserved, and even expected. But understand that that is not the point of the exercise.
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Apropos Spencer Pratt, and Lost Angeles, etc., here's a little update on the Palisades arson that was, of course, blamed on "climate change". We need to talk much more about leftist violence, and there need to be much more severe punishments for violence in order for there to be any deterrence in the future and to preserve any semblance of what is left of civilization in the West.
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Lastly, another supersized dose of stupid from the Official Jews of Canada.
Things are falling apart, Jewish people are getting murdered on the streets of Toronto, synagogues and Jewish schools are shot at and vandalized and antisemitic migrants from all over the world keep flowing into Canada and what do the OJs do? They convene a meeting of the elders, and over a fresh tray of bagels and lox say:
SUMMON THE JEWISH LAWYERS, STAT!!!!
This is so cringe it's almost unbelievable.
I know it's hard for Canadian Jews to understand that they are no longer at all relevant in Canada, but it's that and more. They are in danger and there will be no recovery, and no reset to what it once was. I suspect that most of the community will trend in the French direction, pretending that they are actually really French and not Jews first, hanging on to businesses and ever more isolated bubbles, more security systems, safety patrols and pathetic, desperate pleas to the government, and local law enforcement for protection. The problem is that all of these systems are affected and corrupted. The jig is up.
The hardest thing for Jews to read is not Hebrew. The hardest thing to read is the writing on the wall.
And on that happy note, I hear some moderately entertaining croaking from my phone and a new frog video awaits!
Have a great weekend, and see you in the comments!
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North America:
"Business as usual is a death sentence for Los Angeles."
Why is California funding an alleged Hamas front?
Good. I love you, America but you all take too many drugs and are too fat. More here.
Not unrelated: What the heck, American hospitals?!??!
Everything is just swell in Toronto. RELATED.
Meanwhile, throughout Ontario...
Suicidal empathy is killing the West.
Meet the "Respect For All" worker at a NYC public school.
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Israel and Jews:
The ultimate decolonization project done by the ultimate indigenous people.
Related! Israel's Eurovision entry. Maybe I should have put this into a new category "stuff that absolutely nobody in North America cares about"? Regardless, Noam Bittan is a hottie and the song is very cute. Total ear worm. The dancers are gorgeous and even their groovy/cheesey outfits with the mod boots are growing on me.
*waves to Mark, the biggest and bestest (and only) Eurovision connoisseur of New Hampshire*
"Yesterday, I met Smadar Haran."
"When Jews spit on Christians in Israel - an utterly deplorable thing that is rightly condemned - it makes front-page news all over the world. When Christians and Muslims curse and spit on Jews, it's routinely ignored. Forget headlines."
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The Formerly Great Britain:
OH REALLY??? WHATEVER COULD HAVE CAUSED THIS?
There are things we need to talk about.
Welcome to Britain, car rammings. This started in Israel and was soon seen in Germany and now it's in the UK. Well done, everyone.
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The Great Walkbackening, Reckoning and Accounting:
Yes, this is a real mystery. We may never, ever know the answer.
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Middle East:
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Down Under:
Oz - I barely knew ya.
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Kooks:
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Human Grace:
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.
