Greetings to one and all and welcome to this week's edition of Laura's Links. I'm sitting in my little workspace looking out at the pouring rain and feeling blah. This is the fifth or sixth straight day of rain so far this "spring" here in southern Ontario. It's so wet and dank and gross and, honestly, this weather brings out the ninja level kvetch in me. It's also been a tough week for a number of different reasons in my "real" and personal life, so I guess it's catching up with me.
Anyway, earlier this week, I was catching up on all things Mark Steyn – the shows and the last Q&A, etc., and I'd like to particularly recommend "Thanks a Lot, Tucker" to you all. The whole show, of course, is great, but one of my favourite bits was Mark riffing on how we live in a world of adult children. He talked about how it used to be that you were a child for a very set number of years, and then you started working on the farm at around eleven or twelve years old and then you were an adult and then you died (pretty much). There was no prolonged adolescence, no Peter Pan life, no 30 year old "students". But now there is, so our culture has changed completely and perhaps irreversibly.
It made me think of something else that there never was.
The "relationship".
Not long ago, it used to be that you had a boyfriend or a girlfriend and then you had a fiancé(e) and then a wife or husband. There was no obsessive, navel-gazing category of MY RELATIONSHIP. Is anyone else sick of hearing this term? What the heck is going on? What is this new third party? Did any of your parents talk about THEIR RELATIONSHIP? Did anyone you knew growing up, ever, ever, EVER talk about being IN A RELATIONSHIP, or looking FOR A RELATIONSHIP? It's this strange, hulking, narcissistic noun occupying mental and emotional space between people for no productive or apparent reason and I find it almost as annoying as the term "partner". It's like a creature, it's like it's a living, breathing thing of its own. GLECHHH.
What the heck is this all about?
I suspect that it's a way to stay away from commitment and to stay adrift from traditional values. In the end, these new terms and the idea of "the relationship" being a living and breathing thing are making people more unhappy, more lonely, less secure, more self-absorbed and with less meaning in life.
Or, alternate theory: the pitter patter of the rain, and the dampness and lack of sunshine over the past week has pushed me into the Epic and Ridiculously Major Grouch lane this evening and pretty much anything that people younger than me are doing, saying, reading or watching would annoy me tonight. I gotta grab some ZZZZZZs and chill out.
Before I go, I want to point your attention to this column, which discusses some ideas about 'why so many Covid authoritarians are suddenly shifting their narratives'. Good food for thought. I think it's pretty simple. They are doing the Great Walkbackening Wiggle Wiggle because they want to try to evade all responsibility and liability, they know they will not likely be accountable for their lies and terrorism and though they sleep perfectly well at night they always want to be adored and seen in the "right" light and to be perfectly reasonable. I believe they will all get away with it. With Tucker Carlson off the air, there is one fewer voice talking about it all, making it much easier to memory hole everything. Anyway, let me know what you think.
As always, your theories and suspicions are, of course, always welcome in the comments and I'll see you there.
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North America:
It's heartbreaking watching the death of America. Death by diversity.
Just a reminder of what this lying liar did to us.
Another disgusting, gaslighting, child-hating, wicked liar.
When 12 year olds are braver than adults.
Why does America drug its children to this degree?
A tale of elder abuse. Disgusting and pathetic.
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The Great Walkbackening, Reckoning and Accounting:
On friendships with the self-righteous.
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Israel and Jews:
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Jewish Wisdom:
"What is the purpose of life?"
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Europe:
Oh dear. I think I prefer the old fashioned way.
I used Google translate on this, but basically it's "African migrant rapes and brain damages child and then is abandoned by the state".
The proper response to this is: no way, you leftist kook.
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Predatory Leftists, Pedophiles And Their Enablers, Assorted Kooks:
The proper response to this is: piss off.
As per Neil Oliver: this is happening to your children because the people in power want it to happen to your children.
And it's going to keep happening.
This is batsh&t crazy even for Biden standards. Or as Michael Yon says ""Biden" offering $500,000 to get your head sawed off in Pakistan — video by your own phone and sent to your entire social and private lists".
Hahaha! BLUEPRINT.
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Human Grace:
I saw this article and reached out to the author immediately, sending love and support. This bit resonated with me, I could have written it myself: "I exist in the regular world with other people and families around us, but then I also exist in my world where one child's needs dictate and affect every.single.thing. About me, my marriage, my other kids, my relationships with people outside our house ... just everything. Our special needs world is expected to fit with the regular world around us, but the truth is it rarely does. Nobody understands except for other families that have kiddos like yours, and even then there are vast differences that often make it hard to completely relate." A very courageous essay. Kudos.
A doll that looks like me.
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.