Hello again and thanks for joining us here at SteynOnline for another fresh batch of Laura's Links. From all of us at Steyn HQ, we would like to thank you for all of the messages of concern and support for Mark. He is resting and recovering and appreciates the concern and heartfelt prayers. We appreciate your support as we navigate this period of time, as we endeavor to provide you with a variety of guest opinions and voices until such time as Mark is back up to speed.
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Hi guys and gals. I hope you had a chance to join me and Tal Bachman yesterday as we co-hosted The Mark Steyn Club Live Q&A Around the Planet. We took questions on music, culture and politics and even dabbled a little bit on President Trump and the disastrous migration terror in the United Kingdom. If you missed the live show, you can catch the replay here.
It has been a little busy at Chez Cohen over the past week, coupled with doing some double duty over here at SteynOnline. Nonetheless, "the universe" provided me with a pretty nice bunch of links that I hope will give you a good picture of the goings on throughout the planet over the past week.
I've had a ton of appointments with my special needs son, various sundry medical items to attend to and also the quintessential sandwich generation conundrum of balancing all that with my elderly parents. I'm not complaining - I'm truly blessed - but there never seems to be enough hours in the day for everything and I sometimes get annoyed that I only have two hands.
Speaking of two hands, I'll share a little bit of wisdom that I heard from one Rabbi or another a little while ago. I paraphrase slightly but it's basically the story of why G-d gave us two ears and only one mouth. It's so that we listen (at least) twice as much as we speak. It's so important to listen, and to really think about what the other person is saying, before we open up our mouths.
I'd like to tie that to the virtual volume that some people are speaking to one another in our comment section - who knows what is happening in real life. I think screens somewhat embolden people to "speak" in a manner quite different from how they would choose to articulate themselves in real life. And people have TEN FINGERS to do so. But even though we have ten fingers and a screen we need to remember how we were built to communicate, with our two ears and one mouth.
With that, I'll sign off for the week and hope you have a great weekend. See you deep in the thick of the comment section(s) as I'm able!
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North America:
"Words that end debate before it starts."
The new political cornerstones of the left.
"Did the iPhone reduce fertility?" Yes.
On the free speech crackdown in Canada.
Everything is great in Canada: "Iraqi refugee turned Toronto Police Officer Parsa Hazeri has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor/child luring, and suspended without pay."
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The Formerly Great Britain:
"British culture is better than Pakistani culture." This isn't up for debate.
Everything is swell in the UK.
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The Great Walkbackening, Reckoning and Accounting:
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Islam:
"Islam is a belief system and set of rules deliberately designed to unleash men's primal instincts, to turn men into savage soldiers, fierce warriors who go out to conquer, subjugate, and bring back spoils. It was never intended to civilize humanity."
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Iran:
"The Islamic regime in Iran lost the war, but America did not win it."
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Europe:
"Vienna doesn't feel like Austria anymore." No kidding.
Meanwhile, in Spain: "A 36-year-old Moroccan migrant has been arrested for the anal rape of an autistic underage girl in the bathroom of a kebab shop/pizzeria in Dénia, Spain."
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Ukraine:
Oz:
As the Great Prophet Steyn always says: demographics are destiny.
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Human Grace:
Grief is often the cost of love.
"Since this will be the soul of a child who will need special care and who will know the world differently than others, she has a special mission. She is chosen to ignite the kindness that lies dormant in people's souls and plant the seeds of empathy in their hearts; to teach caring, patience and tolerance in a way no other teacher could."