Weather It Is (Palestinian Black Mail/Purim Snowmen)

Good Morning:

It is extremely satisfying to read in the papers that a jury in Manhattan ruled against the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority.  They basically convicted these organizations of murder.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/the-11-families-at-the-heart-of-the-landmark-palestinian-terror-trial/

Of course, the list of plaintiffs is only a small sample.  The stories of others murdered by Palestinians cast a dark pall over my feelings: for example: the husband and wife blown up outside a building after learning that the wife was pregnant with twins.  Nearly entire families murdered in Gazaand and Itimar.  A father murdered on his way to Passover Sedar (he was not the only target).  A young lady murdered in Gush Etzion, residents of my town. A Passover Sedar blown up, buses... These are select people and selected areas, but the Palestinians have been an equal opportunity people, not discriminating by place, time, or person (man, women, children).

Moreover, they continue to blackmail us:  unless we agree to all of their "peace" terms, they will sue us in International Court -- even though these terms sign our death warrant and make false assumptions about international law itself.  They don't pay their electricity bills and expect us to continue to provide free electricity or they will riot.  We need to provide food, electricity, and building materials to Gaza, or they will shoot missiles now rather than later (after they have used these materials to build tunnels under the border).

Moreover, the proclaim a state that has no borders and can't even come close to balancing its budget!  It almost seems that the only thing they (as in the leadership and that percentage of the population that supports them) take seriously is their efforts to rid the world of us -- everything else is commentary.

Enough of this.  Perhaps we need to let them implode (or explode),  and hope that "survival of the fittest" will see a moderate voice emerge.

Regarding our weather, it is really a mishmash.  Or rather, the circulation pattern is a mishmash of relatively small waves.  One of those waves will approach us in the next few days and bring steadily increasing temperatures.  In fact, it will be about 10 to 15 C warmer than it has been. But then by late Shabbat the wave will pass through and it will be as cold as it was, and possibly not as cold as it will be.

By Purim time, we see a greater possibility of rain.  At the moment, we can't tell how serious a rain and we can't tell just how cold it will get.  There is still about a 20% chance of wet snow in one of these more rainy episodes.  But, before we start dressing up like snowmen we should first wait and see which way the wind blows: wetter, or wetter and cold.

Barry Lynn