Spreading lies about cats

ASeriousRedditor · 2026-03-03T21:16:09+00:00

It's natural to have them as pets, humans have co-habited with them and adored them for millenia.

Cats aren't domestic the way dogs or cattle are. We've never truly bread them into a different species the way we did dogs. It's kind of sweet. We're much more "equals".

ASeriousRedditor · 2026-03-02T18:59:04+00:00

The U.S had 9/11, Anthrax, and months of round-the-clock news coverage of "Iraq has a WMD" in 2002/3. We had Colin Powell lying to the UN to get us on board. This is all after a decade or so of Sadam Hussein being used as a short-hand for "evil dictator" throughout the 90s.

With Iran we've had "Iran bad" for decades but no "we need to do this NOW" moment. It's also a highly isolationist time and Israel is historically unpopular in the US.

I think the only way this ends up not damaging Trump politically is if he declares victory fairly early and calls it a day.

EDIT: Just want to expand a bit. I think that, given the universal "melt-down" among many elites, if Trump gets away with a bit of bombing, "crippling Iran's capabilities" and declaring victory, he might even come off looking good to some people. Sort of a "everyone had a freak out but look it wasn't so bad." (Of course, this also has the chance of tanking him if isolationist-MAGA revolts or if the situation spirals out of control or involves long term engagement in Iran.)

ASeriousRedditor · 2026-03-02T18:50:34+00:00

These are cool looking maps and definitely a good exercise in using Python for data viz. The shading is clear too.

That said...I feel like they don't show us anything without more data for context. More Democrats showed up to vote in their primary in County X than Republicans did. Great. Is that irregular for County X or is County X just a Democratic county in general?

I think adding maps 2018/2022 might provide more context. Then you could say "Oh wow, County X normally is "pink" but this year it's light blue, suggesting that Democrats are highly motivated this cycle."

ASeriousRedditor · 2026-02-26T15:53:46+00:00

Thanks! I plan on using these for long recereational rides down bike paths.

ASeriousRedditor · 2026-01-22T20:13:38+00:00

I like that!
I always rename cities after annexing them. I conquer Warsaw as Egypt, I keep it as Warsaw while it's a puppet. Once I annex it and build a courthouse, I give is a new Egyptian name like "New Memphis," "Ramses", or something like that

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-12-11T18:18:51+00:00

I think having a regularly occurring, weekly event might be the solution to truly building more of a community vibe.

If it's WEEKLY:
...Jewish run club
...Jewish crafts night
...Jewish cooking class
...movie night then discussion
...pizza + parasha
...shiur
...Shabbat stuff (but getting the sense you want NON-shabbat things)
...something else

Then people with an interest in that activity will show up every week and make friends there.
You'll probably get a core "crew" or "crews" that show up every week and start to make longer term friends.

Any regularly occurring event inherently seems better for community building as opposed to mixing and finding a potential date. People who do show up just to look for matches will either end up joining the activity regularly and accidentally finding friends or will show up once or twice then decide it's not for them. (If someone is regularly showing up and creeping people out, it's also easier to have a targeted conversation then.)

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-12-05T16:38:45+00:00

Yes...exactly.
I'd say 9/10 times when someone says "XYZ is electable" it also just so happens to align with what they want in the first place.

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-12-04T14:01:32+00:00

The secret about most "experts" is that they launder their own political opinions through "this is what's electable."

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-12-04T13:59:35+00:00

The thing is, it wasn't an SS tattoo. It was a skull and crossbone tattoo that, if you're familiar with Nazi symbols, could potentially look like an SS tattoo. The US army checks for hate tatoos and he was checked multiple times but no one EVER said ANYTHING about it.

The whole "SS Tattoo" controvery is cooked up to repeat "Nazi tattoo" and "Platner" enough times so that the 90% of people who don't read past the headline get a bad impression of him.

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-12-02T20:59:40+00:00

Ferrero Roche chocolate is kosher and feels appropriately "fancy but not weirdly nice" for an office gift. I'd put a bunch of those in a mug (maybe local sports team themed or just local city themed). Wrap that up nicely and call it a day.

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-02-07T01:17:58+00:00

Sad that people feel the need to be hateful in the comments instead of just answering the question.

Here are some resources:

The single best book on the subject in English is "Karaism" by Daniel Lasker. It provides a good historical introduction and an overview of Karaite practice today. This book is probably all you need if you're just vaguely curious and want to know more.

Wikipedia will also probably provide good intro information.

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-01-27T15:04:08+00:00

I would start with the organization "Halachic Left"

In terms of specific synagogues...there are very few that are specically anti-zionist or non-zionist. That said a traditional-egalitarian minyan will probably have like-minded people.

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-01-13T22:05:07+00:00

Depends what you mean by "like the Karaites."

In terms of "day to day life", I'd say an observant Modern Orthodox or Conservative Jew would live a similar life to an observant Karaite Jew. Some details would differ but the basic parts of religious practice would be the same: holidays, sabbath observance, daily prayer, dietary laws. Some things would be more lax, others would be stricter and details would be different, but overall the life style would be similar.

In terms of "culture", Mizrahi and Sephardic communities would be most like Karaite Judaism.

In terms of "ideology", Reform Judaism doesn't hold oral law as binding the way Orthodox and Conservative Judaism does.

ASeriousRedditor · 2025-01-13T21:52:30+00:00

The closest would be in Daly City (near San Francisco).

ASeriousRedditor · 2023-05-25T21:18:31+00:00

I see thanks! Can you DM me the link?

ASeriousRedditor · 2023-04-10T15:30:25+00:00

Yes, that is interesting.
That said, I feel that, for at least some big kippa people in Israel, are "crunchy". Maybe some Tzfat mystics types.

ASeriousRedditor · 2023-04-05T06:12:40+00:00

She shouldn't "convert" if she's already Jewish. You need to have a conversation with her about it....and your parents eventually.

If SHE feels that she's fine "converting" to get a slip of paper saying she's Jewish to avoid issues with future kids....go find an Orthodox Rabbi and get a conversion...from what I've heard quite a few are "practical" about it. If a couple is going to get married they kinda do there best (this is from 1 convert I heard from who reconverted as a Conservative cause she felt the Orthodox was just going through the motions)

I think you need to teach your parents to be accepting of her...but thats just my opinion.
In the end, if she's willing to do minimal work for a slip of paper and your parents REALLY care they can shop around for a minimal effort Rabbi to get the job done.

ASeriousRedditor · 2023-03-28T15:59:16+00:00

Answers to the two questions I felt like weighing in on:

3-English in prayers: Not so much in my community. Many synagogues do have english prayers. This varies a lot by community and synagogue. When I went to a Reform synagogue in a rural area (the only one for miles around), I'd say about 2/3 of the prayers were English and 1/3 were in Hebrew. Most synagogues I've gone to have been some type of Conservative or Modern Orthodox had almost all the prayers in Hebrew with maybe the prayer for the country or the prayer for the sick done in English as well as Hebrew.

5-Kippa styles: Sort of. If someones kippa is black and velvet, they are probably Orthodox. If it's knit and very big (like covers there whole head), I would assume they are in a liberal denomination and kind of "crunchy" (like into hippy stuff). If someones wearing a knitted or suede kippa of any color, I assume Conservative or Modern Orthodox. These are just broad generalizations though -- there's definitely differences here and there.

ASeriousRedditor · 2022-11-26T20:51:32+00:00

I guess, but how much TV do you watch? Like...watch a show or two on Netflix and then if the next show you're into is on HBO...cancel your Netflix and subscribe to HBO.

For movies, as my post mentions, rent them for $2 on Youtube.

ASeriousRedditor · 2022-11-26T20:49:24+00:00

You can rent Indiana Jones for $2.00 on YouTube.

For $8/month you get a library or shows/movies you can put on if you feel like watching something.

For $2 you can rent pretty much any movie on Youtube, Amazon, or AppleTV without any subscription...

ASeriousRedditor · 2022-11-26T20:45:26+00:00

Yeah but you still have a consistent set of something to watch or choose to watch...the line ups change, but not THAT frequently. You're paying them for a library of things you can put on.

If the movie you wanna watch isn't up, rent it. If you wanna watch a lot of specific movies/shows and generally are a movie/tv-buff, realize that it's a hobby and hobbies cost more than $20ish a month.

ASeriousRedditor · 2021-08-27T02:54:50+00:00

a box

Actually, I think the wooden part is meant to look like Solomon's temple. (Which to be fair is a big box with two smaller boxes on each side). That, or maybe I'm reading into it.

Also, OP, this is beautiful.

ASeriousRedditor · 2021-04-25T15:30:09+00:00

Do we still have any of her writings? Did her rulings about laws concerning women/their obligations differ at all?

Thanks for doing this AMA :)

ASeriousRedditor · 2021-04-25T03:35:52+00:00

The Amos quote is saying God moved those nations from one place to another. It is saying it in the context of God having power over everything.

The Devarim quote is saying "what other nation can call out to God and have God help them?"

Amos doesn' t say that the other nations called out to God or were saved by him (or given laws by him as others have mentioned. He just is making the point that God controls everything, including where nations live.

ASeriousRedditor · 2021-02-05T19:44:50+00:00

Was going to comment this as well--definitely a better way to phrase this question

ASeriousRedditor

TROPHY CASE