Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Thursday, October 22, 2026
more from Europe
The riots are even spreading to Switzerland.
Les émeutes gagnent même la Suisse.
And some comments:I’m Swiss, living in Switzerland, and I’ve never seen such a damn mess!
Why doesn’t this have a content warning for violence?
Thanks to everyone that reached out, the family is safe and we were able to escape into the mountains until the unrest settles 
When the Swiss are up to their old revolutionary tricks, they don’t sort their recycling, and if they’re really angry, they wash coloured clothes together with the whites
Wait 2 minutes
...and he'll put it back in place all by himself!
"Because, well, we can't make a mess either, right?"
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
la mairie de Limoges
Je suis en larmes… voici les rares photos de la mairie de Limoges, vue de l’intérieur. 143 ans d’histoire et de beauté, ravagés en une nuit. Elle avait survécu à deux guerres mondiales.
Inaugurée le 14 juillet 1883 grâce au legs d’Alfred Fournier, pensée par l’architecte Charles-Alfred Leclerc (Grand Prix de Rome), elle était le château de la République des Limougeauds : style néo-Renaissance inspiré de l’ancien Hôtel de Ville de Paris, escalier d’honneur aux marbres roses, toiles marouflées d’Henri-Paul Motte sur le palier (l’union du Limousin à la France et l’atelier de Léonard Limosin), plafond du Salon Bleu, salle des mariages peinte avec son « Ubi Fides Ubi Amor »… Tout cela, les ors, les boiseries, les allégories de l’orfèvrerie et de l’émaillerie, le campanile de 43 mètres, parti en fumée. La partie historique est quasi entièrement détruite à l’intérieur. La toiture s’est effondrée, le beffroi est tombé. Il ne reste qu’une coquille vide là où des générations se sont mariées, ont fait enregistrer leurs enfants, ont siégé pour décider de l’avenir de la ville. Un monument historique depuis 1975, symbole de la maison commune, brûlé volontairement en quelques heures. Les Limougeauds sont sous le choc, en colère et en deuil.La République tient encore, disent certains, mais le cœur patrimonial de la ville a été arraché. On parle déjà de reconstruction, mais rien ne remplacera ces décors, ces souvenirs, cette lumière particulière qui filtrait dans ces salles.
I’m in tears… here are the rare photos of Limoges town hall, seen from the inside. 143 years of history and beauty, ravaged in a single night. It had survived two world wars.
Inaugurated on July 14, 1883, thanks to the legacy of Alfred Fournier, designed by architect Charles-Alfred Leclerc (Grand Prix de Rome winner), it was the castle of the Republic for the people of Limoges: neo-Renaissance style inspired by the old Paris City Hall, grand staircase with pink marbles, marouflaged canvases by Henri-Paul Motte on the landing (the union of Limousin with France and the workshop of Léonard Limosin), ceiling of the Blue Salon, wedding hall painted with its “Ubi Fides Ubi Amor”… All of that—the gilding, the woodwork, the allegories of goldsmithing and enameling, the 43-meter bell tower—gone up in smoke. The historic section is almost entirely gutted inside. The roof has collapsed, the belfry has fallen. All that remains is an empty shell where generations were married, had their children registered, and sat to decide the city’s future. A historic monument since 1975, a symbol of the communal home, deliberately burned in just a few hours. The people of Limoges are in shock, angry, and grieving. The Republic still stands, some say, but the city’s patrimonial heart has been torn out. Talk of reconstruction is already underway, but nothing will replace those decorations, those memories, that particular light that filtered through those rooms.
Monday, October 19, 2026
Rabbi Shraga Silverstein
Shraga Silverstein
Rabbi Shraga Silverstein was a Rabbi, author, and translator. He translated a number of books, including seventeen that were not published by 2014, and wrote three books himself.[1] He lived in Jerusalem until his death in 2014.[2][3]
Biography
Rabbi Shraga Silverstein graduated from Brooklyn College summa cum laude, with honours in English. He was also an alumnus of Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin. He taught in universities in the United States and Israel and served as Principal of various yeshivas.[2]
Books authored
Translations
- Shmirath Halashon (by the Chofetz Chaim)
- The Knowing Heart: Da'Ath Tevunoth (by Moshe Chayim Luzzatto)
- Ways of the Tzaddikim: Orchos Tzaddikim
- The Gates of Repentance: Sha'arei Teshuvah (by Jonah Ben Abraham Gerondi)
- The Path of the Just/Mesillat Yesharim (by Moshe Chayim Luzzatto)
- Derashoth HaRan / The Discourses of the Ran (by Nissim of Gerona)
- The Essential Torah Temimah (by Boruch Halevi Epstein)
- The Rashi Chumash (by Rashi)
- Pathways to Teshuvah (by Moshe Chaim Luzzatto)
- Sefer Hamitzvot (by Maimonides)
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Germany before Germany
This is what Germany looked like before Germany existed.
Hundreds of duchies, bishoprics, abbeys, cities, and tiny lordships were packed into the Holy Roman Empire. Some were even fragmented into several disconnected pieces.
Friday, October 16, 2026
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Survey says:
The 82% figure comes from a March 2025 survey by Prof. Tamir Sorek (Pennsylvania State University) with Prof. Shay Hazkani, published in Haaretz. The exact question: do you support the "transfer (expulsion) of residents of the Gaza Strip to other countries?" — 82% of Jewish Israelis said yes.
Expel Arab citizens of Israel too 56% (up from 48% in Pew 2016)
IDF should kill all inhabitants of a conquered city, as at Jericho 47%
- Ben-Gvir's "Disengagement 710" plan (September 2026) targets 250,000 Gazans leaving in year one and 1.86 million within seven years — nearly the whole 2.1 million population.
So there you have it. 1/2 of Israelis support extermination of all the people in Gaza.
82% support expulsion of all the people in Gaza.
And now stats on population
The numbers, from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (end-2025 brief):
Since then the toll has kept climbing despite the October 2025 ceasefire — Gaza's health ministry reported 74,370 dead as of 10 October 2026, and Wikipedia's running tally puts Palestinian deaths at 75,000+ by late September 2026. Al Jazeera counted 1,460+ killed since the ceasefire began; the BBC reported 900+ this year alone. A peer-reviewed Lancet Global Health field survey found the official toll is an undercount, and some estimates run past 100,000.
Two important caveats on that 10.6% figure:
- It's measured against a counterfactual projection — where Gaza's population would have been by now with normal growth — not against the pre-war actual. Against the actual ~2.2 million, the net drop is smaller, because births partly offset deaths and emigration.
- Estimates carry real uncertainty. The defensible range from published sources is roughly 2.05–2.13 million.
Context on what's left behind:
- 39% of Gaza's population is under 15; 14% is aged 0–4. It remains extraordinarily young.
- GDP has contracted 84% versus 2023; unemployment is 78%.
- 94% of hospitals and health facilities damaged or destroyed; only 19 of 36 hospitals partially functioning, with ~2,000 beds for over two million people.
- 179 government schools completely destroyed.
For scale: Gaza is about 365 km². Two million people in that area is among the highest population densities on earth — which is precisely why the "where would they go" question and the emigration debate are so loaded.
And now Arabs in Israel
By question, from the August 2026 PCPSR poll
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