I heard weather people indicate different standards for a white Xmas. One claimed that it must snow an inch on either Xmas Eve or Xmas. The other said you just need an inch on the ground when Xmas arrives. This debate reminded me of this wonderful spoof. linuxmafia.com/~rick/xmas.html

A hard truth from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken: “Whenever there has been public daylight between the US and Israel and the perception that pressure was growing on Israel, Hamas has pulled back from agreeing to a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.” Those who have

And God Laughed: Humor in the Bible – Joel Kaminsky (Smith College) | UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies levecenter.ucla.edu/event/and-god-…

Pretty sure I missed the chapter in history books where Jews threw a victory parade after Nazi Germany was defeated and 6 million of them were exterminated. They held memorials for the victims and the horror their community went through. That’s how you know it was a real

My latest co-authored essay hot off the press. Oxford Handbook of Religion and Contemporary Migration Anna Rowlands (ed.), Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (ed.)

I went to Brooklyn to stand in solidarity with the owner of Miriam, an Israeli restaurant that became the target of antisemitic vandalism. Jew-hatred will find no refuge in the City of New York. A hate crime against the Jewish community is a hate crime against all of us.

Shoutout to Jansport. My rolling pack developed a hole. While I paid $45 to ship it to them (which I told them was a waste of time/money), they sent me a gift card for $150 to replace it. They’re serious about that lifetime warranty as my old pack was easily over 10 years old.

If you’re in the area come hear my former star student say interesting things about the Bible.

Tomorrow, at the University of Maryland, I (an Egyptian scholar) will speak with the great Israeli author Dr. Einat Wilf and the great Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid about our very own region, the Middle East. Yet, the notorious Students for Justice in Palestine

Having plotted many graphs on "war" and "genocide" in my two books on violence, I closely tracked the definitions, and it's utterly clear that the war in Gaza is a war (e.g., the Uppsala Conflict Program, the gold standard, classifies the Gaza conflict as an "internal armed

Jargon on the day. The rocket blew up. Spacex described it as a 'Rapid unscheduled disassembly'

File under only in Northampton or at Smith. We have the Tesla with critical comments on Musk and the miniature picnic table for squirrels on our campus with food.

If you’re in our area please do come to this very timely talk.

My former student Caterina Baffa has written a thoughtful essay on how healthcare providers might benefit from the reflections of two theologians on disability and the immigrant experience. A Theological Response to the Isolation of Medical Displacement. chausa.org/news-and-publi…

I just failed a student for submitting an AI-written research paper, and she sent me an obviously AI-written email apologizing, asking if there is anything she can do to improve her grade. We are through the looking-glass, folks.

I may be a terrible person but Veo 3 sinkhole videos are my favorite new genre of comedy

The blind side camera in my 2020 Kona needed repair at least yearly. Recently the dealer said that they won’t repair the problem due to slight damage on my bumper. Hyundai has a poorly designed camera feature that they won’t fix as noted here: hyundaikonaforum.com/threads/blind-… #Hyundai

Who leaves their car window partially open with a Zabar’s bag in full sight. I now see the truth in GB Shaw’s quote that Virtue is insufficient temptation. Not that I reached in to see if I might pilfer a chocolate babka or a marble rye but why create unnecessary temptation.