In the pages of Los Angeles’ Jewish Journal, Jon E. Drucker makes me blush.

Yesterday was a hard day for Israel and for anyone who cares about the country. Our old friend Shmuel Rosner had some interesting thoughts on it in Slate.

Maayan Jaffe has written a very kind review of my book in the Baltimore Jewish Times. Thank you, Maayan Jaffe.

Israelis and Syrians are really good at it.

A friend of mine who teaches philosophy at a major university in the Midwest has just received a student evaluation far funnier than any I have ever received for my own teaching.

The evaluation says that the student liked her teacher but that looking at him made her sad, because studying philosophy had “kept him from believing in God.” The evaluation ended by saying that the student often prays for her teacher.

London’s Jewish Chronicle was kind enough to ask me to write an article for them as a sort of sampler of my book. If you have been reading this blog for a while, nothing in it will be at all surprising (or interesting). In case you haven’t, though, I would be remiss if I did not point you in its direction.

Also, this sunday evening, I will be a guest on “The Weekly Filibuster.”

The latest weapon in the Middle East: photoshop.

If you think it might be a good idea to call Israeli Army Radio, claiming to be part of Al Qaeda — and who knows, maybe it is? — you might want to block your phone number on the call. Or maybe not.

Related:

• 101 Bad Ideas: Idea Number Seven
• 101 Bad Ideas: Idea Number Six

Soon everything in the Middle East will be just fine. After all, “scientists” have now cracked the genetic code necessary to clone the biblical red heifer, and some land has been allocated to raise children as pure members of the priestly caste. Special sets of priestly clothing are even being made for those who will run a Third Temple in Jerusalem, the building of which would of course not cause any problems at all. I’m glad to hear that everything is under control, and the whole Middle East will soon be a delightful gummy drop land full of marshmallow dreams.

Some Random Thoughts From the Past Few Days:

1. I went skydiving yesterday. It was, in part, for a possible writing project I might be working on. And it was much more exciting “research” than calling Middle East policy analysts for quotes and endlessly waiting for them to call me back.

2. If it’s a Friday, don’t ask me “How was your weekend?” It makes no sense, confuses us both, and sets us up for conversation that is even more awkward than typical small-talk.

3. I saw a man riding a unicyle down the street, with another, identical unicycle strapped to his back. I don’t know what to think of that except to say that at that point maybe he should just have been riding a bicycle?