Blog/January 2026/Jan 9th

Jan 9th

Happy birthday to me! Esther and I celebrated by braving the journey into Manhattan, walking about for a bit, and having a fancy (and very good) lunch at an “upscale” restaurant. We did some “people-watching” as well (quite entertaining, in the Big Apple; lots of “interesting” folks wandering around). Since the Grands were in school, there was no big party (sorry, Naomi!) but we did enjoy a festive “double-berry cake” after dinner. I’ve heard-tell something will be afoot after shabbat, but I don’t really know.

I did not expect to exit shabbat to news that the US had deposed a tin-pot dictator in (checks notes) 90 minutes — these “forever wars” are getting shorter and shorter! Trump can be hard to grok, so for your benefit here’s a thread to assist you, and an article which might help a bit.

What’s up next: Iran? Colombia? Minnesota? Shake the Magic 8 Ball™ and find out!

Of interest:

In an unsurprising display of malintent, one of newly inaugurated NYC mayor Mamdani’s first acts was to reverse the antisemitism order adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism. And y’all thought he was just a cuddly Commie! Perhaps his “warmth of collectivism” comment was referring to ovens?
Venezuelan Vice-Presidenta (now interim Presidenta) Delcy Rodriguez said the US operation capturing ex-Presidente Maduro has ‘Zionist undertones’. She could be Mamdani’s understudy if things don’t work out in VE. Progress, comrades! And if you’d like to know the truth about Venezuela…
T. Becket Adams asks where Sarah Palin can go to get her apology (re: Canadian health care), and opines that Marco Rubio “sticks it” to EU censorship goons.
Sarah Hoyt on “beautiful losers”. Republicans, take note.
William Merhvarz on the Iranian situation.
Nerdism: things every hacker once knew.

Is AI coming for your job? If it does, it will do a “sloppy” job of it. Yes, AIs can write reasonably convincing articles. In my personal experience, they do a terrible job of writing functioning code, though others claim “great success” using them for that. Expect some decades of even worse software as “developers” cede the thinking part of coding to AIs which don’t actually think, but rather do “pattern matching”. You’ve been warned.

Continuing the theme of “you’ve been warned”, the epidemic of vocal antisemitism from both the Lunatic Left and the Retarded Right all across the world (USA and EU being leaders, of course) should have got my coreligionists’ “Spidey sense” tingling, finally. It’s become “uncomfortable” to be visibly Jewish in many places (yes, here in the US as well), and it’s becoming an impediment to financial and professional success in the Exile. Time (long past, in fact) to think very, very, carefully about where your future as a Jew is in this world of 2026. The clock is ticking.

On a less alarming note, the weather has finally turned sunny and the snow is almost all gone. It will be well above freezing on shabbat, with possible rain in the afternoon.

This shabbat we’re still at Daniela’s, and hope to enjoy:
homemade ḥalla, potato-leek soup, roast chicken, sweet potatoes, kebabs and fries, carrot salad, green veg, and brownies.

Until next time,
shabbat shalom!

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Blog/January 2026/Jan 9th

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