Welcome to the first Patates Braavos 💌🥔

TLDR: let’s not omit terrorism; leek recipes; reading list; biz updates

random cool things corner

• Girls: the effortless pant by Wilfred at Aritzia is the everyday comfortable staple that will make you feel like a bad bitch (sorry guys) (got mine on sale and it’s worth it)

• Had dinner at The Shore Club with my mentor Roger Greenberg (former CEO and now exec chairman of the Minto group), delicious sesame-crusted tuna, and nice chats about life, war, and the future

• Had a V-Day dinner with my girlfriend at Play Food & Wine which was a nice surprise for the price. Impeccable service and draped satin on the ceiling for the theme.

• FB groups: check for a buy-nothing group in your area to score cool free stuff (I have antiques and designer vintage clothes) and to give away things.

• Feb 17 marks the end of my 30-day self-challenge to post a short story online every day on Facebook. I learned to use my voice. At first, I was scared to even say I’m a Jew, let alone post about it. Since then, my community expanded exponentially. For example, I’ve made friends with an incredible 60-year-old woman, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, who felt safe to reach out to me. Don’t hide your true nature. If you want to know what it feels like to speak up in this time, read this.

business updates

I’m now in my fourth year of running my business. This year I’m focusing on growing my client base. Highlights of the week: pitched to Business Insider, got declined but the editor was kind, personable, and polite; applied as a freelancer to an agency, they responded and asked for a sample and an estimate, then I learned they’re in London, England!!! (cue converting CAD to pounds). Had a cool call with someone who needs basic copywriting resources so I’m pricing that out. Need to add a new page to my website. Socials doing well. Newsletter is happening live!

reading list 📚

• for apt613: European science+art symposium

• near-extinct Indigenous pony story

• urban sketching event at the Museum of Nature

• Becoming Supernatural by Dr. Joe Dispenza changed my whole life

food corner

My New Year’s resolution this year is to cook more. This week I made honey garlic glazed chicken thighs (combine sauce & bake), leek & potato soup (6 mins in the instant pot), and mini leek & cheese quiches with my own dough from scratch. I use my blender or food processor to puree soups. For the quiche crust, I used my food processor to incorporate the butter. It was really easy and you probably have all the ingredients on hand already. Also made 1-bowl brownies, twice.

Rest in Peace Alexei Navalny 🕊️ Пусть земля будет тебе пухом 💔

politics corner: Israel-Hamas war 🇮🇱🇵🇸

for context: I’m a Ukrainian/Russian Jew. I did my Birthright trip in May 2023. I saw beautiful coexistence, thriving LGBTQ+ culture, and peace. After the horrors of October 7th, I’ve spent countless hours reading through the history of the land since the beginning of time and attending lectures with military officials and long-standing ambassadors. I believe the leading cause of antisemitism in Canada is misinformation and lack of education so I am sharing everything I’ve learned so far with you to shed more light, to uncover propaganda, and to demystify a complex multi-arena geopolitical war. Cognizant of the fact I am not writing a book, below summarizes a current flare-up. More details to follow in the next editions. If you are interested in more resources let me know and I’m happy to provide them. Every newsletter will be different so if the Middle East war is not your jam, don’t fret.

What happened in Rafah this week?

This week, Israeli forces entered Rafah, a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip. The mainstream media exploded with headlines about “catastrophic ground offensive,” “raids,” and sieges. Hashtags like #RafahUnderAttack and #HandsOffRafah trended in the Free Palestine community. The important question here is…

Why did the IDF enter Rafah? Do they have nothing better to do than to terrorize innocent civilians of Palestine? No. It was a secret mission that resulted in the successful rescue of 2 hostages (60 and 70 years old) who have been in captivity for 4+ months now. The hostages were kept in a civilian building. This is a common tactic by Hamas.

Why is Hamas hell on earth for the Palestinian people?

By using hospitals (ya, the one they bombed themselves, blamed it on Israel, and the media ran with spoon-fed Hamas rhetoric before learning the truth), and other civilian objects, Hamas sacrifices their civilians on purpose. It’s not a secret anymore that Hamas terrorists wear civilian clothing (war crime, inflation of civilian casualties from Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry). Through fear and terror, Hamas forces holy mosques to store weapons and worse: (read this: “My Father Is an Imam in Gaza. Hamas Kidnapped Him for Refusing to Be Their Puppet.”). Many Palestinian minors perished in the building of the 500km+ tunnels the terrorists hide in. Now, were the civilians housing the hostages combatants or terrorized actual civilians? We don’t know.

Yes, Free Palestine. From Hamas. I want nothing more than for Palestinian and Israeli innocent people to stop falling at the hands of a fundamentalist extremist death cult. It’s not resistance, it’s just terrorism.

For more, read this analysis which “considers Israel’s obligations in the Gaza conflict in light of these difficulties, using the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Law of War Manual as a guide.” Written by: a former member of the U.S. Army JAGC Corps and a former attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.

When thinking about Rafah this week, let’s remember who started this war on October 7th. Who leads with the manifesto to exterminate all Jews on the land of Israel? (Hamas manifesto is accessible online and that’s what “From the river to the sea” means by the way.) 134 hostages remain (their abuse and rape are war crimes).

People preach for a ceasefire. There was one in place on Oct 6th. There have been ceasefires since that Hamas violated and outright declined (literally just happened this week). How do you negotiate with terrorists? Perhaps releasing the remaining hostages (elderly, baby, women) will lead to a fragile peace… #bringthemhome

Mission details. Palestinian peace activist to follow.