Monday, November 5, 2018
Did protecting preexisting conditions necessarily mean keeping Ted Cruz in office?
Friday, November 9, 2018
David Brooks, a conservative faux intellectual that The New York Times keeps around as a political shabbos goy, has a column today on "What the Working Class Is Trying to Say." However, I believe that Brooks never gets closer to a blue collar than the shirt department of Brooks Brothers (no relation).
There
are frequent unresolved inter-urban and intra-urban disputes about
bagels. No such controversy surrounds bialys, which, if given the
proper attention, would receive the acceptance and admiration that they
deserve. Bialys signal the nearby presence of Jews, as scat signals the
presence of a wild animal, although the presence of Jews does not
insure the presence of bialys.
Most of you don't have to be tutored on bialys, but for the unfortunate few who have been denied the pleasure, cf. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
. . .
Shu Jiao Fu Zhou may sound at first like haiku, the delicate Japanese poetic form. However,
it is a Chinese restaurant at the corner of Eldridge Street and Broome
Street, a microclimate that still hasn't been thoroughly gentrified,
retaining an aura of crumminess that helps explain your grandparents'
eagerness to depart. In this regard, the corner location, with windows
on each side, only serves to bring the crumminess indoors to a dingy
interior. 18 chairs are crowded up to ledges around the perimeter, with
one round table seating 6.
Decor aside, Shu
Jiao Fu Zhou is a reasonable choice if you are hungry, if the outside
temperature is cool to cold, and if you don't have or don't want to spend
much money. The menu is simple, a few dumplings, a few soups, a few
noodles, all reaching 3 digits only if you go to the right of decimal. I
had 10 boiled pork and chive dumplings ($3.50!) and rice noodles with
peanut butter sauce ($2.50). It was a lot to eat and requires manual
dexterity by having to handle the slick noodles with
only chopsticks and a plastic spoon.
. . .
Today's paper has an interesting article on political ideology and philanthropy. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
It is based on an academic study examining how political differences affect charitable giving, comparing voting returns with census data, county-by-county.
Both major sides of our political divide can derive satisfaction from
the findings consistent with their ideological posture. Republicans
living among Republicans make higher charitable contributions than
Democrats living among Democrats, but Democrats' combined income tax
payments and charitable contributions exceeds Republicans'. One
unwelcome finding is that charitable contributions and tax
collections decline as an area becomes more politically competitive. It
seems that a concern for the common good, whether expressed through
private or pubic channels, weakens when the common good is not so
common.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
I don't know much about Canada, but I know what I like. Paul Hecht, our favorite male thespian, helps us in this regard by forwarding current Canadian crime statistics. https://www.macleans.ca/
I don't know much about Canada, but I know what I like. Paul Hecht, our favorite male thespian, helps us in this regard by forwarding current Canadian crime statistics. https://www.macleans.ca/
Cities can be sorted by over a dozen types of crimes. Cities
in Western Canada, in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta,
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, lead in almost all the criminal rankings -- violent crimes, homicides, robbery.
These provinces have a total population of 11.6 million, while Ontario
has 14.2 million people and Québec has 8.4 million (all 2017 figures),
but account for the majority of mayhem. The notable exception to this
geographic dysmorphia is sexual assault, where 5 of the "top" 10
locations are in Ontario Province. However, your neighborhood
epidemiologist might point out that the apparently rough and ready
atmosphere of Western Canada might dampen the reporting of sexual
assault.
Another surprise was the absence of Québec cities from anywhere near the top of any list, with the exception of cannabis trafficking, there appearing in the first spot (Mirabel/Saint-Colomban) and the tenth spot (Montréal). I say that I am surprised, because Québec's
Francophone posture puts it at odds with the rest of Anglophone Canada
and might well arouse anti-social or hostile conduct.
Hockey fights are not recorded separately.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
The
voting is over; the ballots counted; the results are in. You can
consider what they mean to you as you plan how to spend future days and
nights. I mean the 2019 Michelin Guide to New York City restaurants.
https://guide.michelin.com/us/
My score (accumulated over time) is zero for 5 three-star joints, two for 15 two-star joints and five for 55 one-star joints. Please don't hesitate to offer your assistance to improve my performance ratings. Credit cards accepted.
https://guide.michelin.com/us/
My score (accumulated over time) is zero for 5 three-star joints, two for 15 two-star joints and five for 55 one-star joints. Please don't hesitate to offer your assistance to improve my performance ratings. Credit cards accepted.
By
the way, Michelin isn't all hoity-toity. It just published a list of
better-than-average local fried chicken meals and if you are going to
ignore cholesterol, there is no better way to do it than with fried
chicken. https://guide.michelin.com/us/
. . .
Did protecting preexisting conditions necessarily mean keeping Ted Cruz in office?
. . .
Fortunately,
Michael Ratner gets hungry just about the same time as I do. So,
today, we went to the oddly named and very crowded House Special, 171
Hester Street, for lunch. We were the only round eyes among the 30 or so patrons, which was encouraging.
We
ordered a healthy amount and variety of food, as has been our tendency
lately. We had the House Chicken ($16), half of a plump, juicy,
crispy-skinned roasted chicken cooked with fried shallots, garlic
and soy sauce. Mark this down; eat this chicken. The other dishes were
very good, as well. We had jumbo shrimps in lobster sauce ($20) and
the exhaustively-named "Double Egg w. Fried Scallop Shavings & Mixed
Seafood Fried Rice" ($15), which managed to also include bacon, Chinese
broccoli and raisins. I think that we are obliged to return soon.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
A
letter to the editor instructs us that "[u]ntil the left . . . comes up
with something other than
bashing Mr. Trump and trying to obstruct everything the Republicans try
to do for our country, it will remain out of touch with the American
people." Yeah, we lefties were so out of touch that, this week,
"Republicans had 41.5 percent of all votes cast in Senate races, and
Democrats 56.9 percent. The GOP received more than 33.5 million votes
to the Democrats more than 46 million." https://www.newsweek.com/
David Brooks, a conservative faux intellectual that The New York Times keeps around as a political shabbos goy, has a column today on "What the Working Class Is Trying to Say." However, I believe that Brooks never gets closer to a blue collar than the shirt department of Brooks Brothers (no relation).
Akways nice to get a mention
ReplyDeleteMel Brooks I believe.
ReplyDeleteAlbert Brooks I believe.
I'd sooner believe the late Foster Brooks than David of that name.