Blog/January 2010/Jan 15th

Jan 15th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

Starting the day with Freedom Coffee (to Hell with Turkey)! This week was pretty quiet, though I managed to have two doctor appointments. First for my shoulder (which as I reported last week, has been hurting for a long while). The doctor saw me for approximately five minutes, during which time he examined and diagnosed me, and gave me a prescription for pain medication and a referral to a physical therapist (in case the pain doesn't go away). In the US, this visit would have taken several days, since the doctor (to prevent lawsuits) would have sent me for medical imaging. Not to mention that the cost of the treatment would have been much higher (I will be charged 20₪, approximately $5.40, because I went to a specialist.)

My second appointment was with the nutritionist, who was very pleased that I'm continuing to lose weight (albeit at a much slower rate than before). Now my fasting glucose is down around 105 (from a previous high of almost 150) -- if only my shoulder were painless I would be in great shape! B"H!!

Esther's doula client is poised to give birth sometime soon, so she's got her "travel kit" ready. She can leave at a moment's notice... sort of like an emergency responder. Hopefully she won't have to doula this shabbat, but we don't control the timing of these things.

Sarah will be spending shabbat with her classmates, in Jerusalem somewhere. We'll miss her, but I think she won't miss us. Not too much, anyway. Well, she will miss her mother's food ... but that can't be helped. She managed to sign up for some of her choices for sherut leumi, so she's somewhat more calm now. I didn't really get to talk to Daniela this week, so apart from knowing she's "ok", I have nothing to report on her this time around.

Freedom of expression is a topic much in the news lately. Here in the Land, the (almost entirely Left-wing) media feels that it is perfectly fine to demonize an entire segment of society. Whereas in the USA, political-correctness means it is already impossible to name the actual enemy. Despite the Israeli Left's pretensions to liberal thought, it seems the "right-wing religious" public is far more tolerant of Muslims than they are. Unlike the "civilized" Swiss, of course. Given the rabid secularist's complete lack of respect for their own culture, it is no surprise they respect no-one else's.

The biggest civil-liberties news this week is that Google might leave China over privacy issues and government-sponsored hacking. This is incredibly big news, and may even result in bringing change to China -- though I wouldn't hold my breath. Still, it's an encouraging move for those of us who were dismayed by Google "Do no evil" agreeing to censor search results in China.

From the sublime to the ridiculous:

• Exhibiting a flair for "security theater", the stalwart TSA has been hassling an eight year old terrorist. Don't you feel so much safer now? They couldn't stop the PantyBomber™, but they'll be damned if they'll let that Cub Scout endanger anyone!
• Israel makes a comeback in the Hummous wars
• Pregnancy for Dummies? What can you say?

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom!

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