Interesting Posts and Articles #246

1. At Judaism.StackExchange, a question about the correct spelling of Akiva. And about sneezing during davening.
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2. Life In Israel reports on how Rav Chaim Kanievsky's bracha, once again, has paid off someone's debts. He compares a story about someone who went into further debt on Rav Kanievsky's say-so and found a bag containing 150 gold coins, precisely enough to cover the debt, with an earlier story about someone who had a mouse problem, went further into debt on Rav Kanievsky's say-so, and found 150 coins, precisely enough to cover the debt. They are obviously different, unrelated stories, though. In the first story, it was not a bag but a box, and it contained not gold coins but silver coins. Related, at Daas Torah, an untrue story about Rav Moshe Feinstein.
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3. Obama messes up twice in speeches. First, in addressing the Congressional Black Caucus, he talks about how it is fair that a billionaire should pay at least as much as a Jew. He corrects himself to say 'as much as a janitor'.
   
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   More recently, he referred to his wife as Michael, rather than Michelle:
   
4. Is End the Madness part of the problem?
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5. My hut's better than your hut: Patenting the Sukkah.
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6. Stubbornness increases the more people tell you you are wrong.
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7. 3D Helicopter view added to Google Maps. But it turns out that it is not such a great innovation, as they already had jet view.
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8. On the Main Line reviews Google Book Machine.
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9. Here on parshablog, Did the Gra Predict 1840, or 2012? The former, which is why people should not pay any attention to the shnooks and know-nothings who assert otherwise.