Blogging since 2.0 was a thing
A couple of stories of people who made a difference.
This is about heroes who rescued Jews during the Holocaust, but also about Rabbi Harold Schulweis, who realizes the Jewish people owed them a greater repayment than a plaque from Yad Vashem.
This is the story of a local Jewish educator who had the chops to bring his community onto Zoom two years ago when covid made it necessary, and who then found the right equipment to make joint real and virtual hybrid classrooms possible.
So I got into an informative and I think illustrative argument on Facebook the other week. I’m republishing it here because what happens on Facebook shouldn’t stay on Facebook, and also the original thread was deleted by friend on whose page this drama took place, since he didn’t really fancy the invectives hurled my way.
But I saved screenshots. (I’ll provide links to the linked articles after the screenshots.)
It began when my friend posted an article from the pro-Trump Jewish News Service about Jared Kushner. I responded. Then things escalated. Enjoy!
Anyway, these are my New Jersey neighbors, no doubt hopped up on Fox News and its Jewish equivalents. But don’t call these Trumpists kapos: If they ever get the chance to throw me and my kind into the ovens, they will do so with joy and exhilaration, and maybe even a bracha.
Links, as promised:
Terror stats: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/number-of-terrorism-fatalities-in-israel
Vanity Fair on Jared Kushner’s culpability in the plague that killed 4000 Americans today: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/12/jared-kushner-covid-19-mba
Washington Post on Jared Kushner’s culpability in the plague: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/trump-covid-pandemic-dark-winter/
This latest post by Matt Stoller came out right after I found myself needing a partition manager because I have an external SSD that is being recognized by my laptop. Lots of scuzzy apps that promise “free” but require payment.
Twenty years ago I would have trustingly turned to Symantec and shelled out $25. But today?
Anyway: Worth a read: https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/how-to-get-rich-sabotaging-nuclear
“Employees say that under Mr. Thompson,” the Times continued, “an accountant by training and a former chief financial officer, every part of the business was examined for cost savings and common security practices were eschewed because of their expense.” The company’s profit tripled from 2010 to 2019. Thompson calculated that his business could run more profitably if it chose to open its clients to hacking risk, and he was right.
Related: My interview with Stoller last year about monopoly’s impact on the kosher food market:
A friend asked for Audible/Podcast recommendations.
The most influential and enjoyable Audible listen I’ve had over the years has been John McWhorter’s introductory linguistics course in The Great Courses series, “The Story of Human Language.“
Rumor is the coronavirus started in a Chinese lab. Here’s how we know it didn’t. Read more on Vox.com.
Yes, someone has finally made a children’s book out of that fabulous mishnah in Tractate Sukkah. About time! It looks gorgeous and I can’t wait to read it.
“Henry, once a happy circus elephant, feels lonely and sad at the farm for old elephants, where nobody wants to hear him sing. One evening, he follows the sound of music and singing to the Broner family’s sukkah. At last, a place where he might sing. But Henry cannot fit inside the sukkah! Ori knows it’s a mitzvah to invite guests, and he gets a big idea about how to include Henry in the Sukkot fun.”
In which I pretend I’m Isaac Asimov and interview Multivac. I mean Alexa.
Read more
How four decades of bad anti-trust policy sowed the seeds of last month’s kosher bread crisis.
Leave out the first T in the title and I would totally buy this book. Heck, I’d even publish it.
Don’t worry, kids: You may not be able to learn about consent, but you’ll still have access to Stormfront. Read more
