Blog/September 2020/Sep 25th

Sep 25th

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Since this past shabbat was an unusual (for us) two-day holiday, we had a slightly shortened week. Since we’re on heightened "lock-down" due to TCV (The Chinese Virus™), we were at home mostly all the time. We did make a quick shopping trip for groceries, and to pick up pharmaceutical supplies. Other than that, it was "Home, sweet home!".

Because we have such an effective government, as of this morning we still do not know if an even stricter version of the lock-down will go into effect; nor, if it does, what exactly the restrictions will be (and nobody knows whether or not the lock-down will be effective). Always entertaining, our Knesset!

I uploaded my family-tree to the "Geni" web-site this week, just to see if it might prove useful. Almost immediately, a Brazilian third-cousin of Esther’s (who we hadn’t known existed, previously) showed up. It turns out he might also be a third-cousin of mine (perhaps from my paternal grandfather’s side, which would be exciting if true). It seems like "Geni" is much better for making contact with other genealogical researchers than "Ancestry" is. I’m looking forward to hearing more from these far-flung oddments of the family!

A friend said he was concerned that if he were walking down the street late at night, and three black guys came towards him and he crossed the street to avoid them — that it might be racist. I told him that no, that was simply prudent since 80% of violent crimes (in the US) are perpetrated by black males. It would be racist, however, if he denied employment to a black person because their skin was black. The idea that everything in any way connected with skin-color is somehow "racist" is a fatal poison in the body-politic.

As an aside: actual racism is incredibly stupid. Just sayin’…

Various:

• Why criticism of the Israel-UAE/Bahrain deal is unjustified.
• An Arab opines on a post-Palestine Middle East.
• Another Arab wrote an excellent article on the Jews of Lebanon.
• The concept of "indigenous ways of knowing" has become popular of late. Perhaps they can draw inspiration from the Aztecs and Mayans for human-rights ideas.
• There might be hope for Baltimore after all.
• And what's the difference between cheap and expensive non-stick pans?

If you’re at all interested, I’ve written a review of the laptop I mentioned last week. I’m getting used to it, to the point where using my MBP feels clunky. Well played, System76! Windows users should know the US gov’t issued an emergency order for agencies to patch a critical Windows security flaw. Not something that should affect most private users, but if you’re in an office environment it needs to be addressed.

It’s "just shabbat" this week, and we’ll have:
homemade ḥalla, meatballs, rice, various salatim, and fruit crumble.

N.B.: for the pre-yom hakippurim meal, Sunday afternoon, we’ll have our usual puchero with matsa balls.

Until next time,
shabbat shalom and gemar ḥatima ṭova!

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