Time Trials

Monday, February 4, 2019

The space-time continuum is the subject of scrutiny in physics.  I only have room to worry about time at present.  Two headlines this weekend pose a challenge for me on the meaning and use of time.

"Virginia Governor Ralph Northam Resists Calls to Resign"  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/us/politics/ralph-northam-virginia-governor.html

"He Committed Murder. Then He Graduated From an Elite Law School. Would You Hire Him as Your Attorney?"  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/business/bruce-reilly-murder-conviction-lawyer.html

Ralph Northam, the governor of Virginia is being assailed for staging and displaying an ugly, racist photograph in his medical school yearbook in 1984.  He was 25-years old at the time.  Bruce Reilly, an admitted murderer, who served 12 years in prison, subsequently graduated law school in 2014 and now works for a criminal justice reform organization.  He was 19-years old in 1992, when he stabbed and beat to death a college professor whom he met hitchhiking.  Reilly is not admitted to practice law anywhere and "it’s highly unlikely that he could pass the 'character and fitness' portion of the bar admissions process."

How much time is sufficient to demonstrate an elemental change in a person's character?  Is there never enough time?  Specifically, may a bleeding-heart liberal accept the rehabilitation of a murderer, while withholding support from an embarrassed politician, or vice versa?  Or, do we flush both of them down the great toilet of history?

. . .

The headline tells the story: "The Luckiest Sports Fans, Ranked"

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/01/opinion/luckiest-sports-fans.html

The sad truth is that Boston, whether or not it eats Wheaties, is the home of champions.  In the early years of this century, all of its professional teams have reached the top of their respective piles.  No other city comes close, although New York had an exceptional run in baseball 1951-1970, when all three home teams won the World Series.

As you may know, Atlanta has never broken through in any major sport.  However, it deserves honorary mention in at least one regard.  Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, relocated from Stuttgart, which hosted the Super Bowl this weekend, charges $5 for domestic beer and $2 for hot dogs.  According to a study in 2016, the average price for a beer at NFL venues was about $7.40, and a hot dog was more than $5.00.   https://www.foodbeast.com/news/check-out-the-outrageous-beer-and-hot-dog-prices-at-each-nfl-stadium/

Madison Square Garden, where I regularly go to get my heart broken, is proud of its array of food and beverage offerings.   https://www.msg.com/madison-square-garden/food-drink  However, to go along with its first-class collection of vendors, it features ultra-class concession prices, domestic beer $11.50 and hot dog $7.  I could lose weight at those prices.

. . .

I came across a wonderful phrase this weekend, the Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility, defined as the furthest point from any ocean or sea.  Near Kazakhstan’s border with China, you might still beat Gwyneth Paltrow to it.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

My command of Chinese vocabulary is still weak, so I don't know how to say "medium" to specify portion size and maybe I don't need to.  When you order a pizza or coffee, you usually have a choice of small, medium or large.  However, I've observed that your typical Chinese joint serves soup, noodles or fried rice only small or large.  I'm not complaining; it may be more efficient for buyer and seller, for all I know.

This came to mind today at Dumplings & Things, 45-26 46th Street, Sunnyside (Queens), when I emerged from quarantine to get my car serviced in Long Island City.  This gave me the opportunity to dip into the culinary potpourri across the East River.  Dumplings & Things takes up very little room on a busy street just off Queens Boulevard.  It has 6 four-tops and 3 two-tops in a boxy room completely devoid of decoration.  The menu is simple as well, dumplings, noodles and soup (usually together) and a handful of rice platters.  I ordered pan fried chicken, shrimp and cilantro dumplings (5 for $4.25, but was served 6) and pan fried spicy beef and kimchi dumplings (5 for $4.25).  The dumplings were well prepared, but lacked zing.  The spicy beef wasn't.  I used the rice wine vinegar and soy sauce bottles sitting on the table to make a dipping sauce to help the cause.

But, I want to talk about the hot and sour soup, my first course.  I had the small ($3), which was decidedly larger than small, although not large ($6).  If they had a word for it, it should have been called medium.  Anyway, it might have been the best hot and sour soup that I have ever had.  It made me smile.  When was the last time that happened to you.  

I smiled even more when I left, turned right on 46th Street and right again on 47th Avenue (one of the marvels of Queens County is the presence of numbered Streets, Avenues, Roads, Lanes, Terraces and Drives, sometimes parallel, sometimes intersecting).  Heading west, there is an unobstructed view of the Empire State Building, square on.  I found it breathtaking, or maybe it was the tail end of my pneumonia.

Thursday, February 7, 2019

There is a new study of prescription drugs, who gets what.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/upshot/income-strong-predictor-drug-purchases-serious-diseases.html

"Patients in wealthier neighborhoods were much more likely to pick up prescriptions for lifestyle problems: erectile dysfunction, baldness, anti-wrinkle Botox injections and an eye medicine that thickens eyelashes."  Additionally, "richer patients were more likely to buy drugs for certain serious conditions, including mental health disorders."  However, "[s]ome mental health problems are more prevalent among Americans with lower incomes, evidence shows. But longtime holes in the health care system mean that richer patients are more likely to have private insurance or extra money to pay for psychiatric care that is not covered by insurance."     

Maybe it's better that rich people get more/better treatment for mental problems, since they are more likely to do harm to the general public.