Some of the items here are actually pretty delicious looking but what the hell are those peas made out of?!
Just before Hanukkah 2003, Gabi and Rivki
arrive in Mumbai with little in tow but his knives and her wigs and
Menachem Mendel, not yet 1. They set up shop in a rented room at the
three-star Shelley’s Hotel on the water in the main tourist area: not
an ideal situation, with no kitchen, little space, and a highly
disagreeable owner. Still, they get to work, offering Torah study,
officiating at bar mitzvahs and weddings, serving meals, and, because
there is no kosher meat to be had—and no beef, of course; it’s
India—slaughtering hundreds of chickens a week.
This is an incredible piece. Not just because we already know the ending, but because it does an outstanding job of describing why Chabad has become so iconic and important to Jews everywhere, even ones who fundamentially disagree with the mission - like me. Read it, and weep.
I am not a
designer but I’ve come under the sway of some of the most amazing design and
design-thinking blogs. They’ve really helped me in my own work by training me
to make the little things I make (emails, spreadsheets, credit card forms) simple
and sensical. My choice of blog colors and font (Helvetica, natch) are chosen
on purpose. How many folders? 43. My inbox?
Happily approaching zero.
Most
importantly, I feel that they’ve made it easier for me to enjoy the working
part of my day, and not just the surfing part.
.
Guyana Leader Was Always Her Own (Jewish) Woman, by J. J. Goldberg;
Like many Depression-era teens, Janet outraged her parents by taking up communism. Unlike most, she spent her life in the struggle. In 1942, she met and fell in love with Cheddi Jagan, a son of Indian-Guyanese sugar cane workers. Nearly every biographical account dwells on the instant spark between the “beautiful Jewish” student nurse and the “dashingly handsome” foreign dental student.
They were married in August 1943. Her father cut off contact with his daughter, vowed to disown her and threatened to shoot the dark-skinned, non-Jewish Cheddi, Janet would recall. In the fall of that year, the couple moved to what was then British Guiana. Cheddi opened a dental practice, and Janet worked as his assistant. Together they began meeting with other radicals to discuss independence.
via The Forward
I love Maira Kalman and this piece on democracy, de Tocqueville, and the Salisburys.
Be sure to also check out he 'In Love With A. Lincoln' too:
via NYTimes
I love this map and I find the very idea of it to be really provocative. I've been to Israel many times and I've spoken with both Israelis and Palestinians as friends. But the actual land itself of the West Bank has always proved to be something more elusive to me than the Palestinian people themselves. The west bank, for me, has always been presented with the same caution and fear that many people approach the ocean.
Even though this map of L’archipel de Palestine orientale (‘The Archipelago of Eastern Palestine’) is set in the same area and uses a similar theme, the cartographer behind it refutes any allegation that it is meant to reflect the same Biblical dry = good, wet = bad analogy. “The map is not about ‘drowning’ or ‘flooding’ the Israeli population, nor dividing territories along ethnic lines, even less a suggestion of how to resolve the conflict,” gasps Julien Bousac, the Frenchman who created this map.
“Maybe posting the full map would help to take it for what it is, i.e. an illustration of the West Bank’s ongoing fragmentation based on the (originally temporary) A/B/C zoning which came out of the Oslo process, still valid until now. To make things clear, areas ‘under water’ strictly reflect C zones, plus the East Jerusalem area, i.e. areas that have officially remained under full Israeli control and occupation following the Agreements. These include all Israeli settlements and outposts as well as Palestinian populated areas.”
via Strange Maps
April Fools Day is a special time of the year for me. It
brings up all kinds of fun memories.
Like this one time, back in Davis, Daniel and I played an epic prank on our roommate, Jordan. She’s very much the progressive, vegan, anti-corporation type. On her bedroom door, she had all kinds of anti-McDonalds, anti-Coke, and anti-Starbucks paraphernalia. So, one day we decided to play with her a little.
Daniel and I drew up a fake letter from Starbucks “Outreach
Office” telling Jordan that in honor of her accomplishments and achievements in
advocating for a more just and equitable world for all, that she was being
offered a special scholarship of $20,000. We completed the letter with a pretty
legit looking letter head that we faked with a Starbucks logo we found online
and signed the letter “Loren Evans”.
The result was amazing.
Jordan, understandably, freaked out with excitement over her new scholarship money. Only when we asked later, “Your not going to take that money, are you? That money was made unjustly off the backs of poor farmers!” did she enter the existential crisis we were seeking. It was great. Finally, we told her that we were behind the whole deal and that “Loren Evans” was Daniel’s and my middle names put together (my middle name being Loren and his being Evan).
We’ll Loren Evans has struck again. This time though, it was
Evans striking against Loren.
I got to work this morning and within minutes, I started receiving phone call after phone call asking about my TV for sale on craigslist. Apparently, on a visit last night to visit their sick old friend Adam, Daniel and his compatriot Denise, took a sneak photo of my TV and posted this to craigslist.
the link wont last forever, but incase you cant read the image above, try checking it out here. I've received nearly 40 calls already and I've had to change my voicemail message to say that the tv is no longer available.
Well played, Loren Evans. Well played.
