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@raf@babka.social

Humanist Jew living in Berlin by way of NYC. Intelligence officer for the Kosher Nostra. Contains unreasonably strong opinions on bagels. A shlemiel at heart. Socialist. Unapologetically Diaspora. תיקון עולם maximalist

Deep commitments to pluralism, diversity, and egalitarianism

Solidarity not Assimilation

0 Followers

0 Following

18 Posts

Joined November 16, 2022

Pronouns:

he/him/он/ער

Creed:

Cosmopolitan

Posts

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@raf@babka.social · May 10, 2026

Who here was interested in Ashkenazi herbalism? I swear someone who follows me does

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@raf@babka.social · May 07, 2026

Assaults on Jewish people are at a 46 year high. Importantly, none of this started on October 7th

https://www.axios.com/2026/05/06/antisemitic-assaults-jews-2025

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@raf@babka.social · May 05, 2026

My rabbi after giving me a long list of things to do: Aber leben und leben lassen.

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@raf@babka.social · May 03, 2026

Lots of hate in world right now, but I saw two kids with Knicks kippahs dribbling a basketball. And that's just beautiful

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@raf@babka.social · May 01, 2026

Currently locked out of my PayPal. Payouts will go out later today.

Solidarity and strength to my fellow workers today ✊

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@raf@babka.social · Apr 29, 2026

Finally digging out my old journal papers!

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@raf@babka.social · Apr 29, 2026

Replying to @julieofthespirits@kolektiva.social

@julieofthespirits@kolektiva.social American exceptionalism is a helluva drug

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@raf@babka.social · Apr 29, 2026

Hearing my folks tell stories from their youth always feels like this weird mashup of literary genres

Dad: Son, it was different then. We were all broke. You didn't expect much from people and you made things work with what you had.

Mom: What about Pustik?

Dad: Pustik was selling crack to the Italian Mob and got shot on the corner off Nostrand Ave. Fuck him and the pathetically short life he lived

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@raf@babka.social · Apr 23, 2026

Replying to @celesteh@hachyderm.io

@celesteh Also in brief defense of this linguistics professor, he was saying this more in the spirit of this: Here are these beautiful theories that while very useful to explain languages many Westerners encounter, completely fall apart when working with for example Bantu or Sino Tibetan language families. So of course while it's nice to learn these highly influential theories, everyone has moved past them since they have real limitations. I hope you take more courses with me to learn more

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@raf@babka.social · Apr 20, 2026

Replying to @celesteh@hachyderm.io

@celesteh Yea, I also think there are things like this in high context cultures. Where everyone expects you to know this already. Where willingly choosing to violate the norm communicates something.

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@raf@babka.social · Apr 20, 2026

Replying to @celesteh@hachyderm.io

@celesteh Highly relateable. I took a linguistics class like 25 years ago. All I remember was the last lecture where he said this is all antiquated BS that no working linguist believes anymore. Then he wished us a happy summer and walked out

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@raf@babka.social · Apr 20, 2026

Replying to @celesteh@hachyderm.io

@celesteh I'm curious how he skewered virtue ethics. While I used to think lots of what these tech people espouse is a form of vulgar utilitarianism, I think a good chunk of the ai systems are actually being encoded with a form of virtue ethics. Like Antropic's “Constitution” https://www.anthropic.com/constitution

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@raf@babka.social · Mar 23, 2026

Replying to @em@babka.social

@em@babka.social That's why I think there needs to be a political demand. Of course the UK government will pay for the ambulances to be replaced. But what measures will the govt take to make this act less likely?

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@raf@babka.social · Mar 23, 2026

Now besides strong words, what are authorities in London or the UK going to do about this?

Four ambulances set on fire in London in suspected antisemitic hate crime
An arson attack on ambulances belonging to a Jewish community ambulance service in north London is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, the Metropolitan Police has said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyj1p49gdpo