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Israel update: we have until this coming Wednesday to avoid [https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272777 third elections]. The responsible body decided that we can have the elections on the day they fall out by law, which happens to be [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purim ''Purim'']. I would be hard-pressed to think of a more appropriate date. It’s a [https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/A-political-rat-race-609566 rat-race] for real.

Just spit-balling here, but maybe for the new ''Israeli Elections 2020™'' we could just randomly throw darts in the Knesset; and whoever was present, and survived with the fewest puncture marks, wins. At least we’d know the winner was lucky and/or tough.

In the USA, the Democrat primary races have become even more intense, as [https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/04/three-reasons-kamala-harris-crashed/ Kamala Harris drops out]. If only she were running in Israel, she could still be a contender!

You may have heard of this woman who’s associated now with the Bernie Sanders campaign in the USA: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Sarsour Linda Sarsour]. She’s an outspoken anti-Israel activist, as well as a rabid anti-Semite. [https://medium.com/@Claire_Voltaire/about-linda-4502ddb11c7c Here’s an excellent piece] clarifying the historical background of “the conflict”, and why Sarsour is a dangerous person. It’s also just a bit delicious that “Sarsour” means “cockroach” in Arabic. “As her name is, so is she”, as we say…

Why hasn’t Sanders, who claims he’s a Jew when it benefits him, yet bothered to make any kind of statement about the Roach’s anti-Semitic outbursts?

As for us: it was a quiet week. The most exciting thing to happen in our small world was the “book swap”. This is a charity event in which people with books they’ve read donate them, while others purchase them for a very nominal price. We both contributed books and purchased others, but I think we went a bit overboard. Apparently, I took someone else’s books as well as the ones we wanted, since neither of us recognized those books as having been ones we wanted or chose. Well, it’s a long stretch until ''Yom HaKippurim''…

The good, the bad, and the just plain weird:
* On [https://reason.com/2019/12/05/ethical-algorithms/ Ethical Algorithms].
* Climate change: [https://reason.com/2019/12/01/climate-change-how-lucky-do-you-feel/ How Lucky Do You Feel?]. An interesting article from a former sceptic.
* A new “blue membrane” might allow us to [https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/rivers-could-generate-thousands-nuclear-power-plants-worth-energy-thanks-new-blue generate terawatts of power] from river-ocean interfaces. Of course, fully utilizing that technology would have a devastating effect on the ecology. And so it goes.
* Unsurprisingly, some of the stalwarts of the “clean energy” movement [https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/12/which-of-the-cleaner-states-imports-dirty-electricity/ import dirty electricity] from somewhere else. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY NIMBY] is a real thing.
* A fascinating article giving [https://medium.com/s/story/the-surprisingly-solid-mathematical-case-of-the-tin-foil-hat-gun-prepper-15fce7d10437 The Surprisingly Solid Mathematical Case of the Tin Foil Hat Gun Prepper]. Food for thought, indeed.
* Creepy Joe Biden’s [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl6Or7uNLuU “hairy legs” comments]. He’s definitely presidential material, now that Trump’s lowered the bar. 
* “Jessica” Yaniv is [https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/05/transgender-activist-jessica-yaniv-shocked-gynecologists-dont-treat-men/ back in the news]; which, I assume, is the point.


We got a tiny bit of rain this week. We were supposed to get more, but I suppose we didn’t pay the Water Bill. It’s been chilly, and it’s supposed to remain chilly with once in a while a bit of rain. ''Shabbat'' will be cold and dry, though.

Our guests this ''shabbat'' will enjoy:
<br>
homemade ''ḥalla'',
vegetable soup,
baked chicken,
turkey “''shawarma''”,
baked yams,
roasted green-beans,
various ''salatim'',
and [http://bakingandcooking.yummly.com/2011/11/meyer-lemon-bars.html lemon-bars].

Until next time,<br>
''shabbat shalom''!


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