Do the Math

Monday, August 5, 2019
8 ÷ 2 (2 + 2) = 1 says I, but see
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/02/science/math-equation-pedmas-bemdas-bedmas.html
. . .

I don't know much about British politics, but I know what I don't like.  Boris Johnson is a disruptive buffoon.  After a special election in Wales last week, he is left with a one-seat working majority in the House of Commons.  He remains in office by a thread.  Unlike our disruptive buffoon, his term is fluid.

However, I am not sure that I want to see Johnson gone too soon, in spite of the harm that I suspect will attend his tenure.  From what I can see, at a distance, his successor(s) would be worse.  On the right is Nigel Farage, leader of the so-called Brexit Party, with pronounced anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic views.  On the left is Jeremy Corbyn, whose tolerance for anti-Semitism is well known.  Ironically, Johnson has Jewish ancestors on his father's side, of no consequence to anyone except those Jews who strain to claim Paul Newman, Carrie Fisher and Michael Landon as Members of the Tribe.

My temporary support for Johnson has nothing to do with ethnocentricism, unlike so many other decisions of mine.  I merely want to give the British political system some time to produce a credible, responsible leader, inshallah.
. . .
According to a recent article, the Orthodox Union, the largest Kosher food certification organization, puts its OU seal on 800,000 products in 100 countries.  Decades ago, while still employed as a management consultant, I spent a day at OU's headquarters in Manhattan, interviewing the rabbi in charge of Kosher certification.  He had some good stories, including how his mashgichim (Kosher inspectors) had to travel in disguise in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, to examine cooking oils.

I particularly enjoyed his explanation of why aluminum foil carried the OU label.  Yes, inorganic, inedible, nondigestible aluminum foil.  Reynolds Wrap, a leading manufacturer of aluminum foil, asked for the certification, because some Jewish housewives in the Bronx believed that the shiny side of its aluminum foil was coated with lard, or so it claimed.  (Go to your pantry; our ShopRite Aluminum Foil Wrap has the OU label.)
. . .
Nate Cohn, adept with numbers, makes the case that  that "[t]he Democratic electorate is not clearly or predictably split into clear 'lanes' of progressives and moderates. Many don’t hold consistent views on the left-to-right spectrum."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/upshot/2020-democrats-ideology-demographics.html
. . .
I started with numbers and I'll end with numbers: 6-2 and 5-4.  Those were the scores of the Mets victories in today's doubleheader.  I was fortunate to be at the first game in the company of Amy C.  As you are no doubt aware, the Mets are currently the hottest team in baseball, after a spell as the worst, baruch Hashem.
 
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
NYU estimates that the total cost of attendance for undergraduate students during the 2019-2020 school year is $76,614.  For the many students who receive financial aid, the average cost is around $40,000, still a nice piece of change. 
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=New+York+University&s=all&id=193900&id=193900#netprc

What is the most expensive college in the U.S.?  Well, it depends on whom you ask.
Harvey Mudd College - https://www.statista.com/statistics/244041/most-expensive-colleges-in-the-us/
or 

Columbia University - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-most-expensive-colleges-in-america-2018-02-27

or

University of Chicago - https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2019/7/15/most-expensive-college/ 
or 

San Francisco Art Institute (net of financial aid) - https://www.niche.com/blog/most-expensive-colleges/

Wednesday, August 7, 2019
"Motorcycle Is Mistaken for Gunshots in Times Square, Causing Panic"
You probably saw the video of thousands of people surging up Broadway, running from they don't know what.  I can't help but think what I would have done.  Can you dispassionately apply reason when you think that your hear gun shots a few days after massacres in other American cities?

. . . 

A Trump-friendly letter to the editor today caught my interest.  "To blithely accuse someone of racism without actually knowing what’s in the person’s heart is not only politics at its very worst, it’s humanity at its very worst."  I interpreted it as a call for more Republican cardiologists.
. . .

Stony Brook Steve and I had lunch at Tri Dim West, 467 Columbus Avenue, sister of Tri Dim Shanghai, 1378 Third Avenue (March 22, 2017).  It replaced Canteen 82, where the two of us ate on September 20, 2016.  The long, narrow space has been substantially redecorated since then; a light gray wall opposite a charcoal brown wall, dark brown leather cushioned chairs at a dozen plus four-tops, a full service bar with casual seating right inside the door.

As its name suggests, Tri Dim offers a menu of about 2 dozen dim sum plus a regular menu, including lunch specials.  We shared an excellent scallion pancake ($7) and very good "Chicken Soong Served with Lettuce & Hoisin Sauce" ($15), diced chicken and vegetables to be wrapped in iceberg lettuce leaves.  I ordered tangerine beef ($10.95), with a cup of good wonton soup, as a lunch special. 

Although the Upper West Side is heavily populated with hungry Jews, I've observed before that we suffer a shortage of Chinese restaurants, good, bad or otherwise.  I hope that Tri Dim, a good one, prospers.

Thursday, August 8, 2019
Speaking of letters to the editor, kudos to Stony Brook Steve for getting on the editorial page of the New York Times today, as follows.

"Regarding the proposed 'red flag' laws, which, one may hope, will recover guns from unstable people, thereby helping to prevent mass shootings:

While I support taking guns from perceived unstable people and gun regulations in general (no one not in the military needs a semiautomatic weapon), these red flag laws will probably not survive constitutional testing.  Who on earth can tell what is in a person’s mind and his or her future intention?  It’s a slippery slope.

And if these proposed laws do survive, how does one calculate whether they were effective in preventing mass shootings?  It’s a gun advocate’s mild sedative to those who want stronger gun control."

I am not concerned about the constitutionality of competency hearings.  Rather, I fear what will transpire when police officers go to the trailer park to collect weapons from Bubba after he was "red-flagged" in a legal proceeding.

Friday, August 8, 2019
If you can ignore its coziness with Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, Deutsche Bank has gathered some interesting statistics.  For instance, the price of beer and cigarettes puts Melbourne and Oslo at the top of the Bad Habits Index, while venal sin is cheapest in Manila and Lagos.  Kuala Lampur and Istanbul offer the cheapest weekend getaways, roughly 1/3 of what it costs to escape Milan or Copenhagen.  https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000494405.pdf
. . . 

Today's headline:
"Trump’s Opponents Want to Name His Big   Donors.  His Supporters Say It’s Harassment."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/us/politics/trump-donors-joaquin-castro.html

You have to feel for those poor rich people.  They are just trying to contribute to the destruction of American democracy in private.  Is that a problem?
. . .

Dear Gentile friends,

You must occasionally wonder "Why are Jews like that"?  Consider the reaction to the stabbing death of an 18-year old unarmed Israeli soldier, out of uniform, after getting off a bus on the West Bank.  "In Gaza, the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad praised the killing, as did Hamas, which called it a 'heroic and courageous act' and urged Palestinians to harbor the perpetrators."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/world/middleeast/israel-yeshiva-student-west-bank.html

. . .

Because of the success of our outing on Monday, Amy C. and I decided to attend Friday night services at Congregation Citi Field.  As Jews familiar with Ecclesiastes, we know that there is a time to every purpose under heaven.  There was a time to weep as the Mets came to bat in the ninth (last) inning trailing 6 to 3.  But, there came a time to laugh as the Mets scored 4 runs and won 7-6.  Turn!  Turn!  Turn!