Monday, June 19, 2017
Are you surprised that 7 percent of Americans believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows? Maybe you should be encouraged that the number isn't greater.
. . .
The Pew Research Survey that reported that almost four-in-ten Americans (39%) who have married since 2010 have a spouse who is in a different religious group needs a closer look. http://www.pewresearch.org/fa
Jews are particularly sensitive to intermarriage, because Jewish affiliation and identity are notably weakened through the generations by intermarriage. Those eight nights of Hanukkah apparently are not attractive enough to withstand the lure of the Christmas season.
What I found most interesting in the Pew survey from my atavistic Jewish perspective is how various branches of Christianity "are treated as separate religions." Do Methodist parents sit shiva when a child marries a Baptist?
. . .
I have visited Gotham Market, 600 11th Avenue, twice, each time to have the wonderful ice cream at Ample Hills Creamery. Today, I had lunch at Genuine Roadside, one of the 8 food stands within the market. It offers a limited menu of hamburgers, chicken, seafood tacos and salads. I chose the buttermilk battered chicken sandwich with apple/celeric slaw and sambal (chili-infused) mayo ($10.56). It was sloppy to handle, but delicious to eat. The only thing that prevented a declaration that this was the best lunch ever, anywhere, was my self-control. I left without having any ice cream.
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
In how many Congressional districts do half or more of the adults have a college degree? Do you live in such a district? https://www.nytimes.com/2017
. . .
Joe Forstadt, CCNY '61, threw me a lifeline when my legal career stalled in 2009, a kindness that I will never forget. Today, there was a memorial service for Joe at the 60 Centre Street courthouse, where I worked from 2010 through 2015, a fortunate coincidence. A very large crowd heard about Joe from friends, judges and colleagues, but the tributes were very much the same regardless of the position of the speaker. Joe's decency, his sense of fairness and responsibility were recognized by all who knew him.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Today's food section of the New York Times has a mildly interesting, short graphic essay on tartufo, the Italian ice cream scoop enrobed in a hard chocolate shell. https://www.nytimes.com/intera
I recall a great tartufo from three or four decades ago that has never been approached by later versions. It was served by Trattoria, an Italian restaurant that sat in the northeast corner of the lobby of the Pan Am Building from 1964 to 1993. While I have vague memories of good Italian food there, the tartufo remains crystal clear. It had dark chocolate ice cream with a note of rum, rolled in dark chocolate shavings, not your ordinary configuration, but far superior. A Hall of Fame dessert.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
The CCNY Gang had our brown bag lunch today at the law offices of Nick Lewin, Stuyvesant '57, CCNY '62. I used the catering service of the Halal wagon at the southeast corner of 54th Street and Third Avenue, lamb/chicken combo over rice with a pita on the side ($8). Before I went upstairs to lunch, I had to confront the legal concerns of the Halal guy whose former girlfriend has gotten an order of protection against him. He discerned that I was a lawyer (even retired) and was seemingly stymied by the legal system. As I scurried away, I told him to write everything down.
Nick is a senior partner at Morrison Cohen LLP, once Morrison Cohen Weinstein & Singer, LLP. Earlier in this century the firm's name almost became too hot to handle. Cohen, a founding partner and a recognized authority in certain matters, left the firm to pursue his specialty. Being a lawyer, his initial instinct was to sue. He demanded that Morrison Cohen Weinstein & Singer, LLP remove his name, which would entail substantial expense for the firm changing stationary, publicity materials, signage and the like. However, as a sizable New York Jewish law firm, it was easily able to dig into its ranks for another partner named Cohen, stifling the opposition.
And guess who actually sued Morrison Cohen after he refused to pay $470,000 in legal fees? He lost, but then sued again when the firm cited its work for him on its website. The $5 million lawsuit alleged that by touting its work for “the world-renowned Donald J. Trump,” Morrison Cohen invaded his privacy and "engaged in the rank commercialization of Mr. Trump's reputation and unyielding demand for excellence." Didn't win that one either.
. . .
Tonight, I finished reading "Homage to Catalonia," George Orwell's memoir of fighting the Fascists rebelling against the elected left-wing government in Spain. Much of the work describes the internecine warfare (often violent, not just verbal) among the four major groups supporting the government, socialists, anarchists, Communists and Trotskyists. Orwell eventually fled Spain ahead of Communists hunting him down because of his Trotskyist sympathies.
What struck me was how Orwell's attempts to deal systematically with Communist lies and hypocrisies in Spain and internationally hardly differ from examinations of the professions, protestations and promises of our unpopularly-elected president. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html?_r=0
No comments:
Post a Comment