15 Minutes to Communism :: SteynOnline

Programming note: On Friday our Clubland Q&A live around the planet will air at 3pm North American Eastern – that’s 8pm Greenwich Mean Time.

Greetings one and all and welcome to this week’s edition of Laura’s Links. And finally, it was a week that brought us good news, namely that he’s baaaaaaaaaaaack.

Yes indeed! Much to the great chagrin of his enemies and lawfare tormentors, the Great Prophet Mark Steyn PBUH (Pocket squares Be Upon Him ameeeeeeeen ameeeeeen) is up and at ’em, back in bespoke and ready to re-enter the civilizational gladiator’s forum. This is wonderful, wonderful news and I’m so relieved and happy. PHEW.

As usual, I’ve been doing a lot of reading. I read a Substack post by Mike Cernovich who suggested that reading five books on any given topic was a good start to being somewhat expert on that particular topic. I liked the idea so I have been trying to focus some of my reading on various clusters of books. I’ve been reading a lot of psychology lately, mostly about narcissism, anxiety and personality disorders. It’s very interesting stuff. I’m not into meditation per se, but I have found some of the techniques prescribed for anxiety to be quite thoughtful and personally helpful. Focusing on the present – on the concrete – or on a particular object in order to tear oneself away from intrusive or unpleasant thoughts sounds simple, and possibly even trivial, but it’s a big deal and smart. A rabbi I follow (Rabbi Manis Friedman) says that the best way to get rid of intrusive thoughts is to force yourself to think about something else, that you really can’t think of two thoughts at the same exact time (it works, I have a nice list of favourite switcheroo topics).

The techniques for dealing with narcissists are good in general for dealing with even moderately difficult or challenging people. Most of the time, the best thing to do with such creatures is to consciously refocus your energy away from the stressful people who won’t change, and back into creating a good life for yourself and your loved ones. Festering about someone who will not or cannot change is not healthy or productive.

A lot of this genre of literature has been making me think about what is really important to me and what I want to spend my time doing. The “deathbed” things, as some refer to them. What would I really want said or thought about my life at the “deathbed” stage? What really matters? For me it’s being a good Jew, a good mother (tied) and wife and daughter, and then a good friend.

What’s important to you?

Mark’s recovery is the centerpiece of this week’s column. He’s important to many and to me!

May he go from strength to strength and live long, happy, healthy years.

That’s all I’ve got for now!

Have a great weekend and see you in the comments.

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North America:

How awful is the Trudeau government? This awful.

How did this get past the censors and all the Trudeau media bail out eunuchs at CTV?

When I read these kinds of stories, I am heartbroken for America.

Bake My Cake as a murder weapon. They want to kill him. This is a lawfare murder technique.

This is perfect. Just perfect.

What the heck?

New ideas.

This is not a small thing.

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Israel and Jews:

Sure, let’s make peace with these people.

Digital diplomacy and Iran.

A Holocaust commemoration in Cairo.

“Blinken warns Israel against limiting the power of the left.” EXACTLY.

Jewish smarts: nature, nurture or both?

When we are slaves to our own minds, we are in Egypt.

How the unvaccinated got it right.

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The Formerly Great Britain:

Perfect. More central planning. This should do the trick. Do you think ‘raze it to the ground’ is in the plan? Where is Rishi Sunak anyway?

They were spying on us all.

Fifteen minutes to communism. Take them down.

As Mark says, lose your past, lose your future.

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Europe:

A bug in the plate.

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!!

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Middle East and Africa

“We are treated worse than animals.“

What could possibly go wrong?

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Left Wing Predators, Kooks and Trans Cultists:

This is so perfect. FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS AMIRITE?

As I alluded to in last Friday’s Live Q&A Around the Planet, this is the best explanation I have seen for why evil people insist that bepenised men “must” be in women’s prisons because they “identify” as women. Really the best.

Pay very close attention to what these lunatics want to do to you next. They mean what they say. There is no “live and let live”. See how their minds work. Don’t turn away.

I saw this at Kate’s place. I also haven’t seen it covered anywhere but here.

Nothing to see here.

This is an excellent catch and a point I’ve made previously. There is no “live and let live” for the political left. There’s always the next thing. Take note.

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Human and Canine Grace:

This made me cry. If you want to talk about the jealousy factor in antisemitism, as we touched upon in last week’s Q&A Around the Planet, maybe it has something to do with this. This is how I feel about my children. Hineini: here I am, I am here for you. This is a very important phrase in Judaism.

Incredible.

The dogs of war.

Blueprint for dealing with media. Rockstar. I seem to remember musician John Mayer doing something similar. Reporters were asking him something about politics as I recall and he cut them off, reminding them that he plays guitar and would they like to ask him something about playing guitar?

It’s open thread time! Log into SteynOnline and let Laura know what you think of these stories or other happenings from 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.