OVER AT HELEN”S PAGE: a free kindle book on real estate, an Easter film, and more.
Author Archive: Helen Smith
March 24, 2021
March 23, 2021
SEEN ON HELEN’S PAGE: Books by Moe Lane.
March 22, 2021
AT HELEN’S PAGE: COFFEES FROM ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE.
SEEN ON HELEN’S PAGE: Free Military Thriller.
HELEN’S PAGE, PHASE TWO: So, thanks to all the InstaPundit readers who served as volunteer testers, we’re now ready to invite people over to look around the site. It’s not done yet, as there are still some issues we’re nailing down, but a lot of you have been curious about how the site is coming along, so I thought it would be nice to have an Open House. Poke around the place, look at our sample listings for books, legal, furniture, films, or whatever strikes your fancy.
Hope you like it! Feel free to put up a listing of your own if you like; listing is free for 30 days, but you will have to register and enter payment information to confirm that you’re a real person. Browsing is open to everyone, though, just click to agree to the terms of use and look around.
March 18, 2021
READER BOOK PLUG: As seen on Helen’s Page, The White House’s Unruly Neighborhood: Crime, Scandal and Intrigue in the History of Lafayette Square. You can get it at Barnes & Nobles here. Please support our reader authors!
March 16, 2021
READER BOOK PLUG (seen on Helen’s Page): Author David Clinton has an interesting book out now called Keeping Up: backgrounders to all the big technology trends you can’t afford to ignore. You can purchase a copy at Barnes & Noble here.
March 15, 2021
HELEN’S PAGE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: So after discussing the project I have in mind with Instapundit readers, I am relaunching a new version of Helen’s Page. To refresh your memory, here is an updated description:
A lot of people after the election are feeling more isolated than ever. So I made a place for them to meet each other. Helen’s Page is a place where people can come to find and help other liberty-minded people across the country—from selling your undiscovered screenplay or advertising your local bakery right down to finding an accountant, electrician, or other professional who shares your love of liberty.
I believe it is imperative that the 74 million + of us who believe in equal opportunity and individual success help each other. Find products and services from people who see the world the way you do. Stop spending your money and time with businesses and people who believe in the cancel culture whenever your politics come into question.
Here’s an example of how it works. You are a libertarian/conservative with a book to sell. Come over and tell readers about it on Helen’s Page in the “Book” section. The more of us who sign up, the more exposure that book will have. Publishers of libertarian or conservative books are also welcome to post. Or maybe you just want a liberty-minded friend to have coffee with or just chat with virtually, come on Helen’s Page in the “Coffee Meetup” section and ask others who are interested to message you. Or maybe you have some electronics or even clothes that you want to sell, you can list that too.
The site has taken over a month to set up with a web developer and I would love to get some Instapundit readers to volunteer to add any listings of their choice. The site requires registration and a credit card to ensure that users are who they say they are and not trolls etc. Volunteers will get a free one month trial and will not be charged anything for participating and can cancel at the end of the month or stay on for a monthly fee if they like it.
If you would like to try it out, email me at and I will send you the link. I appreciate your support!
UPDATE: We have enough volunteers so please do not email until further notice. Thanks to all who have volunteered. Your help has been very valuable.
March 13, 2021
DESPITE THE CANCEL CULTURE: Jordan Peterson’s book Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life is #1 this week on Amazon Charts.
March 10, 2021
NOW OUT AND DOING WELL: The Deep Rig: How Election Fraud Cost Donald J. Trump the White House, By a Man Who did not Vote for Him. Barnes & Noble version in nook is here.
March 2, 2021
NOW OUT: Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life.
February 18, 2021
NO RUSH, IT WAS MY PRIVILEGE: My conversation with Rush Limbaugh.
February 16, 2021
READER BOOK PLUG: From Andrew Fox, The Bad Luck Spirits’ Social Aid and Pleasure Club (Fat White Vampire).
February 13, 2021
INTERESTING BOOK ON ANTI-AGING: I am reading David Sinclair’s book Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don’t Have To and am finding the suggestions he makes to live longer very helpful. The book is a bit technical but his tips seem to boil down to taking NAD boosters in the morning along with Resveratrol, Vitamin D, K and 83 mg. of aspirin. He also skips a meal a day or has a very small one, lifts weights and jogs a bit and goes in a sauna at the gym before dunking into a cold pool. I guess one could live longer with this regimen (perhaps) but being cold and hungry doesn’t sound all that fun. If you have tried some of these techniques, have they worked for you?
February 1, 2021
HELEN’S PAGE UPDATE: Hi Instapundit readers. Last month, we discussed relaunching Helen’s Page, a place where liberty-minded people meet and help each other socially and economically through buying products, selling books, meet-ups etc. I am in the process of setting up a beta site but need your input on access and pricing. In order to keep out trolls, etc. and to pay for the site, I would like to try a subscription model such as the following:
The usual model for a site like this is to view pages for free and pay a fee to post. We’ve chosen a subscription model for the sake of user privacy. For $4.99 a month you get to view all the postings on the site, respond directly to posters by direct-messaging (so that no one has to post a public email address) and to post up to 50 times a month. Additional posts are $2.99 each. Listings can be designated public, or members-only.
Those wanting to post a one-time notice can do so for $9.99, and will be able to hear from, and respond to, people replying to their notice, but won’t have full community privileges.
Categories include job offers, jobs sought, book promotions, business advertisements, product advertising, auto sales, meetups, etc. Anything from a book launch to a virtual yard sale!
There’s also a “headlines of the day” section where you can post links to news stories that you think deserve attention.
This is just an example of how the site could work but I would love to hear your suggestions for pricing as well as your willingness to use a site that has subscriptions or a one time posting fee. Let me know in the comments either way and/or make other suggestions that might be more suitable.
January 23, 2021
IN THE MAIL: From Andy Ngo, Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy.
January 19, 2021
READER BOOK PLUG: From Brad Lena, What Almost Dying Taught Me About Really Living.
January 18, 2021
WHAT DOES THE SEVENTY-FOUR MILLION PROJECT LOOK LIKE? There are over 74 million of us who voted for Trump and who are looking for ways to not only get through the next 4 (or more) years but actually thrive. In 2013 after the election, I started a new project called Helen’s page that connected those of us who are liberty-loving conservatives or libertarians with each other to sell products, meet up or crowd source. Although Helen’s page is no longer up, here is a description of the site (note the link no longer goes to the page):
A lot of people on this site and others that I talked to after the election were feeling isolated. So I made a place for them to meet each other. Helen’s Page is a place where people can come to find and help other liberty-minded people across the country—from selling your undiscovered screenplay or advertising your local bakery right down to finding an accountant, electrician, or other professional who shares your love of liberty. I believe it is imperative that those who make up the nearly 48% of the country who believe in equal opportunity and individual success help each other. Find products and services from people who see the world the way you do.
Here’s an example of how it works. You are a libertarian/conservative with a book to sell. Come over and tell readers about it on Helen’s Page in the “Book” section. The more of us who sign up, the more exposure that book will have. Publishers of libertarian or conservative books are also welcome to post.
The site did well, but was extremely expensive to operate because the web developer we hired wasn’t really up to the job. But we’re thinking of relaunching something like this. My question for you readers is this: What would you like to see in a relaunched Helen’s Page or something like it that connects us socially and economically? And any suggestions on how to set it up safely and economically? Answer in the comments.
January 11, 2021
COULD CONDESCENSION CAUSE A CIVIL WAR? Everywhere I look, the left takes it upon themselves to denigrate and show their disdain for the right. From the nastiness of Anderson Cooper’s remarks about Olive Garden (I love that place!) to the use of a “basket of deplorables” to describe their political opponents, the jokes and condescension on the part of the left never ends. As an avid student of human nature, I thought about how this condescension mixed with demonizing and dehumanizing their enemies (us) will result in an escalation of violence in our country. In particular, I read about 28-year-old Thomas Baranyi, who gave a recount of what happened to Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol:
“We had stormed into the chambers inside and there was a young lady who rushed to the windows,” Baranyi answered. “A number of police and Secret Service were saying ‘get back, get down, get out of the way.’ She didn’t heed the call….”
“I’m not injured. It could have been me, but she went in first. It was one of us.”
An emotional Baranyi asked the reporter to make this tragedy known.
“Just make sure people know, because this cannot stand anymore. This is wrong. They don’t represent anyone. Not Republican, Democrat, Independent, nobody. And now they’ll just, they’ll kill people,” Baranyi answered.
When asked who is he referring to, Baranyi answered: “Police, congressmen and women, they don’t care. I mean, they think we’re a joke. $2,000 checks was a joke to them. You know, there’s people filming us, laughing at us as we marched down the street at the Department of Justice. There’s a man in the window laughing at us, filming us. And here it was a joke to them until we got inside and then all of a sudden guns came out. But I mean, we’re at a point now, it can’t be allowed to stand. We have to do something, people have to do something, because this could be you or your kids.”
Of course there are many reasons for tension and violence right now, but belittling plays a part. According the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association:
Belittling is the intentional act of making another feel worthless, empty, and dismissed. It is one of many forms of psychological and emotional abuse. Belittling another often creates a personal emptiness and void. It can create a sense of loneliness and despair in the lives of many. It creates the attitude of “Why should I give a dam, nobody else does?” When someone belittles another he/she are often trivializing, minimizing, downgrading, running or playing down the personhood of another.
The left does not understand the personhood of those on the right, for example, J. D. Vance’s book, Hillbilly Elegy turned Netflix movie got bad reviews. Why? According to leftist director, Ron Howard, critics didn’t like the conservative politics of Vance and their bias gave way to negative reviews. While this is certainly true, it is also likely that critics did not like that the dregs of society that elected Trump were seen in the movie in a sympathetic light. This is their biggest fear, that others may see the “deplorables” as people who deserve respect and a voice. This would lessen their power.
But the problem is that the main attraction of leftist politics is to put people down in order to feel powerful. There is no incentive for them to stop and the media eggs them on and promotes belittling as a virtue. It is a vicious circle that may end in a very bad place.