04/05/24: Friday Weekly Roundup
Summary and links to my Medium posts this week
Esperanto was a synthetic, eponymously aspirational language hoping to bring the world closer together with a universally shared, common tongue. The Tower of Babel story in Genesis 11:4–9 does the converse, demonstrating humanity’s hubris, and its consequences. Let people be, tribalism always wins, and with the instinct we welcome countless accents:
The Israel Hamas War of 2023–4 is polarizing the world against the Jews, and the Jews against each other. I recently saw Chris Rock’s classic “Civil War” standup routine, and used it as an analog for what can now be called the “Chuck Schumer Jew” vs what I’ve described as the “Militant Zionist”. The result is tradically funny, and the most popular post this week:
As I continue to bring to light writing projects from decades ago, I continue to be amazed, appalled, and apologetic. This 80,000+ word turd is without a doubt one of the strangest things I’ve ever read, let alone written. A bizarre mix of my best and worst writing, I’m simultaneously impressed and embarassed, and post it verbatim as trial and testament:
A colleague-friend reached out this week after months of my pings and pokes, Facebook messengering me to see if I have some time next week to catch up. He then vanished again, making me think that our “ease of use” technology is making it more convenient for all of us to be assholes. As I wrote this blog, I nodded my head, agreeing with that supposition:
Thanks for reading, the typing continues…
MOOKIE