Greetings one and all and welcome to this week's edition of Laura's Links. I'm filing this column sitting in front of the telly with Mr. C and we are watching the formaldehyde riddled corpse of a man called Joe Biden prattle on about the wonderful hostage deal that he has procured. I have been waiting all day to hear what Caroline Glick has to say about it because I generally trust her takes and she has been a steadfast supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
So far, I'm feeling very bad about this overall. I've been asked by a number of people what I think and I'm really trying very hard to process all my thoughts about it. Basically, I believe that Israel has not been negotiating from a position of strength. When the war was declared, there were two aims, according to Netanyahu: destroy Hamas and return all of the hostages. Neither of these stated goals have been accomplished. That is not a matter of opinion, it is a matter of fact. Over 400 Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza. That is also not a matter of opinion. By the grace of G-d, I am not in the position of having a loved one held hostage in Gaza. But what we know for sure is that the release of terrorists is going to ensure more murder.
As Caroline Glick said with the Gilad Shalit exchange, we know there will be more victims, we just don't know their names yet. I also believe that the non-stop, anti-Bibi demonstrations in Israel made the price of these negotiations much higher for Israel. Hamas has been clear on that. There is a lot of mismanagement of the war in Israel. For example, I do not believe that "humanitarian" supplies should be sent to Gaza. I don't remember the Allies sending critical supplies to Nazi Germany. Helping your enemies is nothing to brag about. It makes the rapist, murderer, Nazi jihadists laugh at us even harder.
In my opinion, the Netanyahu era is over and must be over. This does not take away from the relatively impossible position that Israeli politicians are in vis a vis negotiating with death cult murderers. They are being asked to make, Holocaust style, choiceless choices.
But truly great leaders know when to exit, at the right time and on a high and not when they are being dragged or pushed out. But even more critically-while they are in power, they develop new leadership, they cultivate and not undermine talent. They have the grace to understand and accept that no man lives forever. There will be much more to be said in the coming days and weeks and I'm praying for the best.
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There are a few pieces that I want to make sure you see, so I'm putting them up front. One is this really magnificent piece of advice via Mike Cernovich.
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I mentioned a few weeks ago that sadly, a friend from high school had passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. As a result, a number of other members of the gang and I all agreed that it was terrible to only see one another at a funeral or Shiva after all these years, and that we needed to rekindle our friendships. We exchanged numbers and made some loose plans. I made a coffee date with one friend and we spent a solid two and a half hours one morning this week catching up, and it was the fastest two and a half hours I have passed in recent memory. She remembered things that I didn't and vice versa and we laughed and reminisced. NOT FOR NOTHING: Gen X rules, guys.
She also filled me in on a few others from the gang and honestly, you really never know what other people are going through, and the load they are carrying until you actually ask, or know personally what is going on. My goodness there were so many things that I didn't know about and my high school crowd was really close, fun and amazing. It's just a shame that the band split up-not for any particular reason, we just went in a lot of different directions. There were lots of hugs and smiles and laughs with my friend, and even tears in this first catching up session and we vowed to do more of the same, and also with the extended crew. It felt sadly "The Big Chill" in a way, and the terrible irony overall was that I know that the friend who passed would have loved for us all to have all been reunited. Time is something you never get back, you can't buy more of it and we have a finite amount. Spend it wisely, with as much love and joy possible whenever possible.
Have a great weekend and I'll see you in the comments.
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North America:
Justin Trudeau: The Fall of A Woke Despot
So good!! Trump's Cabinet of the Cancelled
The Intifadah Comes to New Orleans
Alex Berenson: Free Speech Wins at Meta
Happy 2025 from the Instapundit.
"It is so clear to me that events in Los Angeles constitute an attack that is part of a war.
Watch Kevin O'Leary rip Trudeau a new one. Delicious.
Everything in Canada is just fine.
This is so pathetic and sad. This is not normal adult behavior and it's certainly nothing to be bragging about.
The great Daniel Greenfield: "The LAFD Is Run By Three Lesbians Named Kirsten".
"Blame the LA Fire Horror on the Woke Religion's Ruin of Our Country". OK sounds about right.
Everything seems fine with LA leadership.
This billionaire Librano shmendrick is going to most likely be the next Liberal leader in Canada.
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The Great Walkbackening, Accounting and Reckoning:
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The Formerly Great Britain:
"A true marker of an advanced, civilised society is the degree to which it protects its most vulnerable members. On this front, modern Britain's record leaves plenty to be desired."
So it seems like gang rape and grooming is the one area of life in the UK where there is starting to be real diversity.
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Jews and Israel:
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Jewish Wisdom:
"Joseph and Levi Carry Me Through ALS.
On the Rebbe's call to build home libraries.
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Wokestapo Kooks:
If public servants WANTED women to get raped, how would they behave any differently than this?
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Human Grace:
This is an absolutely beautiful and profoundly moving tribute by Suzy Weiss to her late friend Max.
Teenager Texts (I may have posted one of these previously but they are so good and now apparently there is a book). The comments are absolutely hysterical.
Why making friends is harder as an adult.
Making hats for soldiers (in Hebrew but you get the jist).
The Elaine dance explained! I've seen a few of these, the writer explains how the process worked-the writers would pitch a bit and if it made the Seinfeld team laugh, they would get to write it up as a script.
I love this so much. The comments are absolutely amazing.
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.