Monday, February 3, 2020
Frank Bruni, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote as a gay man about Pete Buttigieg's campaign for the presidency. https://nyti.ms/37PeZoh
Frank Bruni, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote as a gay man about Pete Buttigieg's campaign for the presidency. https://nyti.ms/37PeZoh
I thought that it was an intelligent appraisal, but the accompanying illustration part
There
are only six colors, the bottom one maybe indigo maybe violet.
Which is it has been a concern of mine for a while. I can't tell the
difference. It might as well be Roy G. Bvi, except that wouldn't come
rolling off your tongue.
I
like rainbows and I don't think much would be lost resorting to Roy G.
Bi, an appellation more in tune with the contemporary sexualization of
the color scheme.
. . .
"Wilbur Ross says Coronavirus could boost US jobs"
https://www.bbc.com/news/
. . .
"Wilbur Ross says Coronavirus could boost US jobs"
https://www.bbc.com/news/
Good old Wilbur, the dedicated public servant, must have been speaking to a gathering of undertakers.
. . .
. . .
I've always admitted my attraction to lists. The real estate section this weekend offered me an intriguing example. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/
Examining millions of on-line searches to identify the U.S. cities that people most want to leave
(the ones from which the highest share of searches for out-of-town
properties originated), and the cities people most want to move to (the
ones for which the highest share of rental searches originated out of
town), yielded perfectly ambiguous results. People in Washington looked to Baltimore, while those in Baltimore looked to Washington, for instance. The same yin and yang (or would it be yin and yin?) results pertained to Tampa and Orlando.
. . .
Derided by limousine liberals as spineless, fearful of the wrath of the White House and its petty, cruel, unhinged occupant, on a path to being recognized as the worst president in U.S. history, I see something different in the conduct of Republican senators. I see courage, courage of an order that warrants a new edition of "Profiles in Courage," the Pulitzer Prize-winning book attributed to John F. Kennedy, while he sat in the United States Senate.
These men and women have avoided the easy way when sitting in judgment of the president. Instead, they have acted contrary to their oath of office, logic, morality, common sense and ethics. That, my friends, takes courage.
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
The coronavirus continues to spread, with now hundreds of deaths reported in China. The city of Wuhan is apparently the epicenter of this terrible scourge. Long before this, though, Wuhan had an important place in my personal history, not Wuhan, China, but Wuhan Chinese Restaurant in working class Brownsville.
This Wuhan was just over 2 1/2 miles straight down Pitkin Avenue from where we lived from 1942 to 1955. It was upstairs, above a cafeteria.
My parents were reluctant to dispose of any of their limited disposable income, so we ate out rarely, maybe once a month. When we did, we went to Wuhan, more often than not, for the classic choice of 1 from Column A, 2 from Column B. At first, I would have none of it, having to be fed at the cafeteria downstairs at street level.
I began my blissful encounter with Chinese food with spoonfuls of lobster sauce from the lobster Cantonese, always ordered by my parents, in contrast to the strict Kosher observance in our home. While I have many things to be thankful to my parents for, lobster sauce is certainly one of the most important.
I began my blissful encounter with Chinese food with spoonfuls of lobster sauce from the lobster Cantonese, always ordered by my parents, in contrast to the strict Kosher observance in our home. While I have many things to be thankful to my parents for, lobster sauce is certainly one of the most important.
Wednesday, January 5, 2020
When I was in graduate school, I took a seminar with the brilliant, but delightfully eccentric, Mulford Q. Sibley on Anarchism. I chose to write about the Catholic Worker movement, known to me because it was the first group to publicly challenge New York's civil defense drills in the 1950s. Dedicated to pacifism, several dozen members, led by Dorothy Day, were arrested year after year for sitting exposed in City Hall Park, while the air raid sirens blared.
I learned that Catholic Workers took the Sermon on the Mount seriously, pursuing good works -- feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, comforting the sick -- without pious trappings. Which brings me to the danger of the Internet.
An article the other day discussed a young man who belonged to Su Casa Catholic Worker Community in Chicago, a house of hospitality, the focus of the movement's activities. I had long been out of touch, so I went to Google and first found out that "there are over 185 local Catholic Worker communities providing social services, each with its own mission, goals and means," a number that surprised and encouraged me. Su Casa, one of three Chicago houses of hospitality, had its own nicely-designed website. https://new.sucasacw.org/
An article the other day discussed a young man who belonged to Su Casa Catholic Worker Community in Chicago, a house of hospitality, the focus of the movement's activities. I had long been out of touch, so I went to Google and first found out that "there are over 185 local Catholic Worker communities providing social services, each with its own mission, goals and means," a number that surprised and encouraged me. Su Casa, one of three Chicago houses of hospitality, had its own nicely-designed website. https://new.sucasacw.org/
The problem was the Google reviews, giving Su Casa a 3.9 star rating. It seems absurd, in the first place, to rate a charity, "a community of hospitality and healing for families in crisis," that asks nothing in return, relying on volunteer efforts. Then, I read a terse one-star review, which helped drive the score down: "Nasty food." It's a soup kitchen, you idiot. Put away your Michelin guide and look around. Just about everything is donated. Or, are you even dumber in posting a review of Su Casa Catholic Worker Community, 5045 South Laflin Street, intended for Su Casa Mexican Restaurant, 49 East Ontario Street. And, don't ask me to understand the plight of this fool.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
Speaking of Mexican food, last week I noted that Mexico has apparently taken over the March Air Force Reserve Base in Riverside, California, evidenced by the food served those Americans held there after being airlifted from Wuhan, China. This week, I encountered another troubling erosion of our sovereignty.
Leaving midtown Manhattan with my young bride after accompanying her on an errand, I turned on CityMapper, an app that dopes out urban transportation alternatives. Not only does it show alternate routes, it reports on arrivals of transit vehicles in the vicinity, allowing you to plot your course based on time, footsteps or scenery. Wait for a northbound M7 bus on Sixth Avenue, take a B or D train to Columbus Circle and change for the #1, walk over to Seventh Avenue and take the #1 directly?
Speaking of Mexican food, last week I noted that Mexico has apparently taken over the March Air Force Reserve Base in Riverside, California, evidenced by the food served those Americans held there after being airlifted from Wuhan, China. This week, I encountered another troubling erosion of our sovereignty.
Leaving midtown Manhattan with my young bride after accompanying her on an errand, I turned on CityMapper, an app that dopes out urban transportation alternatives. Not only does it show alternate routes, it reports on arrivals of transit vehicles in the vicinity, allowing you to plot your course based on time, footsteps or scenery. Wait for a northbound M7 bus on Sixth Avenue, take a B or D train to Columbus Circle and change for the #1, walk over to Seventh Avenue and take the #1 directly?
Of course, CityMapper recognizes where you are as a starting point, or it is supposed to. However, standing on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 47th Street, CityMapper showed me this screen.
Three days later, I am still in downtown Moscow. Putin, you couldn't stop with mucking up our elections, now you are trying to put the City That Never Sleeps into a coma of confusion? According to the New York Times, "the New York region generates 10 percent of the
[U.S.] gross domestic product. Mass transit makes it possible, almost
in spite of itself." Clearly, the enemy is within our gates.
. . .
. . .
After an absence of several weeks, I had lunch at Miznon North, 161 West 72nd Street, with gentlemanly Irwin Berg. I was not only lucky in my choice of companion, Irwin being informed, articulate and insightful, but getting to the restaurant when it was serving Queen Malka Schnitzel for lunch ($33). A boneless chicken breast is pounded real thin, folded over creamy mashed potatoes, breaded and deep-fried. Yummy. It takes up most of the plate, leaving little room for little dabs of mustard, chrain (grated horseradish mixed with beets), coleslaw and cubed pears.
Remember, go for lunch, not dinner, and tell Zee that you're a friend of mine.
Friday, February 7, 2020
None of us were in a position to witness personally what happened on February 20, 1939 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Fortunately, a young filmmaker has gathered available footage of the Nazi rally held there, attended by more than 20,000 people, and offers it for all to see. https://anightatthegarden.com/
Friday, February 7, 2020
None of us were in a position to witness personally what happened on February 20, 1939 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Fortunately, a young filmmaker has gathered available footage of the Nazi rally held there, attended by more than 20,000 people, and offers it for all to see. https://anightatthegarden.com/
The film is brief and self-explanatory. Sinclair Lewis has been quoted as saying: "When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
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