View source for Blog/January 2016/Jan 22nd

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{{bheadernew|Jan 22nd|http://ronware.org/devar/beshalach5772.pdf}}

Another busy and productive week!  More bizarreness in the world at large. Working towards world-domination in tech.  Winter or spring — who knows?

The weather started out warmer than usual and stayed that way about half the week.  It was just about spring-like.  Then it turned cold, and now the forecast for next week calls for [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/206871#.VqHd4VN95E4 snow in the higher elevations].  So we’re not quite into spring, and not yet done with winter… but the 15th of Shevat ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_BiShvat Tu b’shevat]) is next week, which is really when spring starts here in the Land.  I don’t think it’ll be warm and spring-like then, however.

Sarah’s documentary project continues.  This week she documented her cousin’s working through some Israeli bureaucracy.  She also acted as translator, which he appreciated, no doubt.

The world, alas, continues in its accustomed mold:
* Arabs act in bestial fashion, while [http://edgar1981.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/bbcs-dehumanization-of-israeli.html the world media demonizes Jews].
* So [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/206760#.Vp-OhVN95E4 Putin offers Jews a safe-haven].  You read that right: Putin, the current Tsar of the Russias, is offering Jews a refuge.  Because, you know, Russia has traditionally been a ''wonderfully safe place for Jews''.
* Hillary is [http://www.dailydot.com/politics/hillary-clinton-encryption-backdoors-social-media-democratic-debate-2016/ bad for your privacy].  No, really.  The saddest thing is that she’s [http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/09/18/how-the-presidential-candidates-websites-rate-on-guarding-privacy/ not the only candidate] who’s clueless about security and tech.
* In a totally unexpected turn of events, [http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-some-iran-sanctions-relief-likely-to-go-to-terrorists/ Kerry admits that] “some” of the Iran sanctions money will go to fund terrorism.  Well, I’m gobsmacked!
* The upcoming political race in the USA is [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430133/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-populists-reshaping-their-parties probably between two populists].  Poor USAns!  How ever are they going to ''pay'' for the [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430133/donald-trump-bernie-sanders-populists-reshaping-their-parties ''panem et circenses''] they demand? Between Sanders’ “A political revolution is coming” and Trump’s “Make America Great Again!” there’s not much hope for sanity to prevail, whether fiscal or otherwise.

We [http://8th-dev.com/forum/index.php/topic,738.0.html made another release of ''8th''] this week, which as usual fixes some things and adds some features.  We also retained an international contract law attorney, and began negotiations with the firm we had mentioned in past weeks.  We were hoping to be done with the negotiations by today, but as of the moment we haven’t heard back from them regarding our last counter.  We’ll probably reach an agreement towards the beginning of next week, and then we’ll make some “noise” in the various media outlets.

In the meantime, we’re looking forward to a cold, possibly rainy, yet peaceful ''shabbat''!

Our dear emergency-backup daughter Dinah will be joining us this ''shabbat''.  On the menu:<br>
homemade ''ḥallah'',
potato-leek soup,
teriyaki chicken,
cauliflower ''couscous'',
''pashtidot'' of various kinds,
roasted green-beans,
''salatim'',
and ''rugelach''.


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

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