86.02/ #MotzeiShabbatMovieNight continues. Tonight, we started the 2009 Star Trek remake (the lens flare film). This was a requested film and I prepared them accordingly (story soon) tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.…
86.06/ If the pattern holds then the GOP will treat the invasion of Ukraine like they did the Jan 6 Insurrection - both events tore the mask off of fascism to reveal the ugliness they support. They'll wait until memory fades & openly cheer Putin again.
86.07/ By the grace of God, conditions in my town (no community spread, very high vax rate) combined with NJ's gov. lifting of the mask mandate allowed me to go maskless.
There's a bright line between stringency & zealotry so I felt I needed to shed the mask to demonstrate that.
86.08/ Two pieces of good news from last night:
1. The revanchist SCOTUS didn't destroy voting rights in NC & PA (for now)
86.10/ This is a clear case where being anti-Zionist is truly not antisemitic. Ironically, by making the claim, OP is conflating Israel with Judaism and that's seriously dangerous.
(Also, that's a cool looking car. That counts for something)
86.12/ This is a very useful paradigm for me, a cishet social scientist, to understand a trans teenager's perspective: "For [@trans_mum's daughter] the idea of developing male secondary sex characteristics is horrifying"
86.13/ I see the clickbait NYT has another bad-faith anti-college piece from a Young Republican about how they expected school to be all about "debate."
Look: college is about "discussion." And research. And peer-review. *That* is how we gain knowledge.
86.14/ Mazal tov to all the Lomdei #DafYomi on finishing Seder Mo'ed. We're now leaving the friendly, cushy confines of topics that are either recognizable or interesting and will plummet headlong into #Yevamot. Until July 8th. (BTW, Eruvin is still worse) dafyomi.org/machzor.php?ma…
86.15/ Was just thinking how the T-Rex had feathers (in my imagination, peacock hued) which is so jarring for such an "apex predator" & how it's like the gaudy colors on Greek sculpture. There's a paper in this. nytimes.com/2019/03/07/art… newyorker.com/magazine/2018/…
86.16/ Not to brag, but one of my favorite puzzle-tasks as a parent is to answer any question from my kids with an approx. 30 second answer (if poss). Not gonna lie, I trained my whole life for that. They know that to ask too much risks a lecture, though.
86.17/ A little biographical randomness. My son said the #NFL, in their blunt force greed, may move the Combine out of Indy. It reminded me of the 1997 Federation GA in Indy; the convention hotel is attached to Colts stadium & I saw players from this game: pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/1997…
86.18/ In honor of #InternationalWomensDay here's my list from 2021 of women on twitter who I enjoy reading. I'll add to it when I can.
I should also add @CypessSM, Prof. Sandra Cypess, who raised me to be a feminist. I hope she thinks it happened.
86.19/ I added a "yimach shemo" to the end of TFG's name because of the family separations at the border. I'm very glad that Biden & congressional Democrats have attempted to reverse the crimes against humanity perpetrated in my country's name.
86.23/ Not speculation, actual experience: around 0. I've been specifically targeted by at least two cult-leaders b/c they knew I was a threat to their plans. It's the silver lining to being a truculent non-conformist, which normally brings social scorn.
86.25/ "Knight Rider" is on Netflix and there's a button to skip the intro? What monster would do that?!
86.26/ Surely there can be a middle ground between South Korea & Peru - where acc. to this thread, every single president has been arrested/jailed after their term - and the USA where Nixon (pardon), GWBush (war crimes/torture), DJT (ya know) walked free.
86.27/ Finally, baseball is back. Naturally, I supported the the players but I was especially confident given that new Met "Mad" Max Scherzer is a union leader. Why? Because he clearly wants to play which & that added heft to his criticism of the owners nytimes.com/2022/03/10/spo…
86.28/ This is extraordinary! A frum ParaOlympian who wears a skirt and is Shomeret Shabbat.
BTW, I don't think our current "civilization" would reject animal sacrifice; many people I know would find it very significant (see: Kaparos, Tashlich)
86.33/ One of the only silver linings to cryptomoola is that only criminals and/or the aggressively ignorant (Putin is evidently both) will depend on it and thus get easily nabbed given how resource dependent the scam is
86.34/ Very well said, re: why we've been saying every election is the "most important." From me: Because (a) they have been! We're in a global civil war! & (b) because when the dilettantes sit out an election, things get horribly worse: 2000, 2010, 2016
86.40/ This is long overdue. There's no legitimate use for cryptomoola PLUS it actively ruins the environment and causes critical shortages of high tech equipment. Let's end the aggressive nonsense.
227.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #ChayeiSara 5784 2023 (LAST YEAR) @ChochmatNashim.
Downloadable PDF with working links to Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars. 19 pages. #ChayaSara #ChayeiSarah
227.03/ The first time through the cruel & stupid Trump (ym'sh) circus I read the news with trepidation because I didn't know what terrible thing he'd do next. This time, I read the news with contempt & anger because the MSM helped elect him and wants him to succeed.
225.02/ Finally dropped off our ballots this morning & took a selfie. A fun thing then happened: a young dad carrying a baby arrived after us & he said that it was his first time voting after becoming a citizen! So I insisted on taking a photo of him (with his camera). USA! USA!
225.03/ Yes, I'm the one who waited all Shabbas for the poll, taught my kids how polls work (social science PhD, baby) & what I hoped would happen (GOP leading by only 5). And they got to see my stunned elation in real time when I read the news.
224.02/ There's sticker shock and then there's "standing on the bathroom scale after 3 three-day yuntifs and 2 major fasts over 3 weeks" sticker shock.
224.03/ BTW, Trump (ym"sh) abd the MAGA-GOP going completely mask-off with racist nativism was very much on my BINGO card.
223.02/ Downside of "October is the Best Sports Month" - mixed blessing really - is that at 8pm tonight 3 of my teams will be on at the same time. NYMets facing elimination, #LIGHTITUPNYL in the last game of the finals, and the Steelers on SNF.
223.03/ #ChochmatNashim for #Vezot #SimchatTorah #SheminiAtzeret 2023-5784 (LAST YEAR). @ChochmatNashim
Downloadable PDF with working links with Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the topics of the week. 23 Pages drive.google.com/file/d/1pQso-a…
222.02/ #ChochmatNashim for #Sukkot 5784 2023 (LAST YEAR) @ChochmatNashim.
Downloadable PDF with Divrei Torah by Orthodox women scholars on the holiday & other weekly topics. 15 pages. drive.google.com/file/d/154AH4_…
222.03/ Another October sports is awesome moment: Mets playoffs, Yankees playoffs, Monday night football plus the #NYR at home. Pretty much all at the same time.