Liora Halperin

NYT: “The Israeli military unit overseeing aid entry to [Gaza], known as COGAT, said all crossings into Gaza have been closed until further notice as part of “security adjustments” following today’s escalation. That includes the Rafah crossing, a lifeline that reopened earlier this month.”

לא למלחמה
نه به جنگ
لا للحرب
No to war

My thought exactly. Do AI bots count as employees? But presumably same trend at Amazon.

Amazon no longer Seattle’s No. 1 employer Amazon hasn’t pursued future development in the city since its public spat with the City Council over a short-lived per-employee tax in 2018.

We’re number one!

“Once the largest employer, public or private, Amazon is now behind the University of Washington, which has 50,316 employees in Seattle, according to the school.”

Go to home of a colleague with same age kid who is far more sedate than my kid. My kid immediately starts jumping on the couch. Other kid “don’t jump on the couch. It could break.” My kid, “so where should I jump”?

Bike with two cloth bags of groceries in a monkey bar seat in back and a stack of library books and a box of salad greens in front basket of radrunner cargo bike. Parking lot visible in background

Cargo bike life: groceries, library trip, no problem

SOTU/STFU

Bad Cousins Listen to BAD COUSINS Episodes 1-5

Podcast rec. Beginning with a deceptively simple q: why are the Abraham Accords named after Abraham? – this series is a tour of geopolitics, theology, pop culture, & anthropological theory that picks up on old Abe as both a universal symbol & the ancestor of two peoples: the Arabs & the Jews.

The wishing tree. Side all space for people to write wishes on tags and hang them on a frame

What a lovely idea! Wallingford, Seattle

Ie “heavy,” the core meaning of the root

Gravitas, that’s why

N.C. Man Shot and Killed at Mar-a-Lago Liked to Draw Golf Courses The 21-year-old man was killed by law enforcement officers after he entered Mar-a-Lago with a weapon.

I mean, who doesn’t like to draw golf
courses?

Transcript “this message is for…liberal halpern”

Don’t call me a liberal

Kid in pink hoodie building structures with gumdrops and toothpicks at a table with adult volunteers looking on

Building gumdrop structures with Society of Women Engineers on Engineering Day at Pacific Science Center Seattle

CONMAN not in word list

And also

Spelling bee. “Concomitant” not in word list

This one surprised me. It isn’t even the name of a foreign food commonly consumed by anglophones or an obscure scientific term.

Child list of phonetically spelled animals including krikite, marmit, and elifinte

Animals

Child’s writing: vallcano, sanamywave, sandstorm, snowstorm, tornato, lightning, fire, sharks

Natural phenomena to fear

Taiga is a perfect name for someone engaged in snow sports!

COMUNADY, COWOPERASHON written by a child

Values to live by, courtesy of the kid

It’s really quite mind blowing that wealthy parents are avoiding public school and paying big bucks to send kids to private school to avoid all the screens. Technology has gone from a prestige item to the slop thrown to the masses who can’t afford better. (Parent of a public school kid here).

ARRACK not in word list for NYT spelling bee

The NYT spelling bee creators need a stiff drink (ARAK also not in word list)

Snoqualmie snow tubing + lake Sammamish sunny mild beach, within 40 min drive of each other. Love the Seattle life.

“Whitney was pious man, but not an unassuming one. His physical resemblance to his personal hero, Napoleon Bonaparte, was noted by many - and in his face some read character traits similar to those of the former emperor. A phrenological journal argued that the shape of his head suggested he was "amply sustained by INDOMITABLE PERSEVERANCE, self-reliance, and ambition" - words the eager businessman likely welcomed as he set out to sell the public on a great (and expensive railway project.”

Asa Whitney, railroad entrepreneur, phrenologically blessed (NW Railway Museum, North Bend, WA)

Stimulated service

Real sweet of NYT spelling bee to include UNLOVED (pangram) and DELUDED the day before Valentine’s Day. (Yesterday’s puzzle—does that make it ok for me to post today? Feel free to run me out of town on a rail if not).

Map showing tumbler ridge and Dawson Creek, BC

This corner of BC reflects several news stories today

Picture looks right. Text contradicts picture.

Sign saying “turn wheels to curb” against backdrop of gray concrete building

What am I missing here? These are cars pointing uphill. Shouldn’t the instruction be to turn wheels away from curb?

Ugh no bike/scooter share in Tacoma. Would have definitely been the best way for me to get from Amtrak station at Tacoma Dome to my destination, but alas. Lyft it is. (Yes there’s a transit option but takes way longer than a bike would).