Monday March 30, 2020
On Sunday, before noon, I entered my shopping list (the more precise the better) and Fairway Market as my destination, along with my name, address and telephone number. No credit card number, no bank account routing, no donation pledge. How wonderful. And, even more wonderful was the appearance in our lobby of Nancy and boyfriend Spencer with 3 shopping bags full of the groceries, exactly as we ordered, in less than 4 hours from my first keystroke on the website. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, for the 2 pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, I listed 6 flavors to choose among; we received Cherry Garcia (cherry ice cream with fudge flakes) and Chunky Monkey (banana ice cream with fudge chunks and walnuts).
Every so often, I drop a bit of the mommaloshen, the mother tongue, Yiddish, into this stew. It's not a mistake and I'm pleased to do it. My parents knew Yiddish and spoke it regularly with their parents, as did their many siblings. My father, I recall, wrote letters in Yiddish for Esther Malka, his mother-in-law, with whom he had an admirably warm relationship. As a result, I picked up some of the more common words, phrases and curses. This article gives a good introduction to Yiddish. Sei gesund. https://
While most of us have the same wife or husband as in 2014, at least as of yesterday, only 4 Rangers remain on the 23-man roster since then. I find it sad to hear the names of so many past favorites on the broadcasts, some still playing with opposing teams. Just as I will remain figuratively with the team forever, can't they do the same?
"Never let a good crisis go to waste" may have been uttered by Winston Churchill well before Rahm Emanuel was even born, but, in any case, right now's the time to move towards more fairness in American society. We have two overarching problems, racial and economic inequality, overlapping, but not entirely identical. I have done more reading on the former and I commend Ira Katznelson's When Affirmative Action Was White (2005) and Richard Rothstein's Under Color of Law (2017). They share the same theme -- Government consciously separated Black and White America to the severe disadvantage of Black Americans.
Katznelson documented the consistent policy of the federal government in the New Deal and post WWII periods to advantage white Americans without offering the same benefits to black Americans, notably with Social Security, the GI Bill, housing subsidies and loan programs. While the scales were eventually levelled in these areas, more or less, Rothstein contends that this discrimination robbed black Americans of opportunities in education, housing, business formation and wealth accumulation that kept and keeps them, to a great degree, on the margins of American society.
I don't know about you, but with nothing to do, I can't find time to get anything done. Part of the time is spent keeping up with the bad news, especially since there isn't much of the other kind. This weekend, it got personal. Trader Joe's on Broadway at 72nd Street closed after one employee (that they know of) came down with coronavirus.
I need not list all the items that I regularly buy at Trader Joe's, although they are not all chocolate-covered. I last shopped at that particular Trader Joe's around noon on Monday, March 23rd, exactly one week ago. That's significant because the infected employee reportedly worked in the store until Thursday, the 26th. It's not that my memory is that sharp, by the way. In fact, accompanying my current inactivity is a general fuzziness concerning ordinary details of date and time. Accordingly, the only way I know when I last shopped at Trader Joe's was rereading a text message from my young bride, reminding me to buy cauliflower on that shopping trip, as if I could forget.
I had direct contact with 3 employees at Trader Joe's then, that is face-to-face. Indirect? Who knows? There were very few customers, quite unusual for that store. Tape strips on the floor positioned us a reasonable distance apart when checking out. I understand if you stand back from this blog at this time. I hope that we will be able to get back together again eventually.
On the other hand, this venture may play a larger role in meeting your information and entertainment needs now that Playboy Magazine has ceased publishing. Sources of truth and beauty are becoming harder to find.
We did find one particularly bright spot this weekend. On a tip from neighbor Roberta Katz, I turned to a group of volunteers for a grocery delivery. It's a brand new operation, founded by a couple of local college students in response to the Trump Virus scourge. At no charge, a volunteer shops for you at a store that you designate and delivers as close to your front door as allowed.
On Sunday, before noon, I entered my shopping list (the more precise the better) and Fairway Market as my destination, along with my name, address and telephone number. No credit card number, no bank account routing, no donation pledge. How wonderful. And, even more wonderful was the appearance in our lobby of Nancy and boyfriend Spencer with 3 shopping bags full of the groceries, exactly as we ordered, in less than 4 hours from my first keystroke on the website. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, for the 2 pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, I listed 6 flavors to choose among; we received Cherry Garcia (cherry ice cream with fudge flakes) and Chunky Monkey (banana ice cream with fudge chunks and walnuts).
. . .
You may have been enchanted by the suggestion of Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick that grandparents "take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren." https://www.
In other words, alte kockers tote that barge, lift that bale to keep our economy maldistributing wealth in the great American tradition. If this means standing shoulder-to-shoulder, ignoring the the social distancing guidelines, remember it's not for Uncle Sam, he's too old. It's for future generations of Texas oil men, many still in swaddling clothes. My suggestion -- Texas elected officials first.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Happy Birthday to law school professor David W. Being surrounded by his lovely wife and his three effervescent children all day, morning and night, every waking moment is certainly a prescription for staying young.
. . .
Every so often, I drop a bit of the mommaloshen, the mother tongue, Yiddish, into this stew. It's not a mistake and I'm pleased to do it. My parents knew Yiddish and spoke it regularly with their parents, as did their many siblings. My father, I recall, wrote letters in Yiddish for Esther Malka, his mother-in-law, with whom he had an admirably warm relationship. As a result, I picked up some of the more common words, phrases and curses. This article gives a good introduction to Yiddish. Sei gesund. https://
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
While Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21st, she observes her official birthday on the second Saturday in June, a tradition for the monarch since 1936. This abandonment of randomness was intended to maximize the chance for good weather on this public holiday for the British people.
Additionally, all thoroughbred horses in the Northern Hemisphere have January 1 as their official birthday. This facilitates organizing races by age category, a convention of the sport.
Allow me to suggest that we adopt a similar approach for this president and, with any luck, for this president alone. Let's make April 1st Donald J. Trump's official birthday. It won't be hard to remember, since we have observed it as April Fool's Day for decades.
. . .
Unlike the Confederacy, the New York Mets actually won something and I was hoping that this year might again be cause for celebration, an optimism carried over from my days as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today, I would have attended my first game of the season, an afternoon game against the Philadelphia Phillies. In fact, the tickets were a gift from the team, rewarding my loyalty.
As of now, however, nobody's winning anything, except for corporate lobbyists striving to maximize the amount of public funds they can siphon off that was otherwise intended to lessen the current economic pain for ordinary slobs.
. . .
Speaking of games, after a week of New York Knickerbocker basketball replays, a test of patience for any sports fan, New York Ranger hockey games are being replayed on the Madison Square Garden cable network. Two weeks ago, watching games from this season, including ones that I attended, was a bright spot in this dark time. It's different this week. Today's repeats are from 2014, the Rangers most successful season of this century.
While most of us have the same wife or husband as in 2014, at least as of yesterday, only 4 Rangers remain on the 23-man roster since then. I find it sad to hear the names of so many past favorites on the broadcasts, some still playing with opposing teams. Just as I will remain figuratively with the team forever, can't they do the same?
Thursday, April 2, 2020
"It's too soon," we often hear after a distressing event, whether to make a joke or propose legislation. We are in the midst of a major public health disaster, but it's not too soon to consider what comes next, not just in the critical area of public health, but of public policy generally. Staying home, watching the news incessantly gives further exposure to the major inequities in our social and economic systems.
"Never let a good crisis go to waste" may have been uttered by Winston Churchill well before Rahm Emanuel was even born, but, in any case, right now's the time to move towards more fairness in American society. We have two overarching problems, racial and economic inequality, overlapping, but not entirely identical. I have done more reading on the former and I commend Ira Katznelson's When Affirmative Action Was White (2005) and Richard Rothstein's Under Color of Law (2017). They share the same theme -- Government consciously separated Black and White America to the severe disadvantage of Black Americans.
Katznelson documented the consistent policy of the federal government in the New Deal and post WWII periods to advantage white Americans without offering the same benefits to black Americans, notably with Social Security, the GI Bill, housing subsidies and loan programs. While the scales were eventually levelled in these areas, more or less, Rothstein contends that this discrimination robbed black Americans of opportunities in education, housing, business formation and wealth accumulation that kept and keeps them, to a great degree, on the margins of American society.
Not all whites gained from the disproportionate treatment of the population on racial grounds. The factory or warehouse worker earning 1/221, at most, of his CEO is almost as likely to be white as black. https://www.epi.org/
I think that coronavirus will leave us with more than a bad memory. The economic dislocation has been so sudden and so substantial that the new normal will be far from normal, jobs will be lost forever, businesses will not reopen, people will not return home. That's our opportunity to push and pull, prod and pound our economic and social policies into more equitable shape. Whether or not we need Bernie's revolution, our society's tolerance for change will be tested by reform, if we can even accomplish that. I don't have plans; I would defer to Elizabeth Warren, the next Secretary of the Treasury, there.
It's not too soon. The bad guys aren't waiting. Here's a headline and sub-headline today: "Obamacare Markets Will Not Reopen, Trump Decides -- The move would have made it easier for people who have recently lost jobs to obtain health insurance."
Let's roll.
Friday, April 3, 2020
We drafted a shopping list for the good souls of the volunteer shopping group this morning, but learned that it has paused accepting orders until Monday. When we found Fairway Market's own delivery service was completely suspended, we tried its pickup service; we have a car that could pull up curbside on Broadway and get what we ordered on-line. First the bad news, the earliest slot for filling an order was Tuesday morning. Then the bad news, the virtual shelves seemed nearly empty. You could only get what no one else apparently wanted.
. . .
And now for the final bit of news that you don't want to hear: Jared Kushner has been put in charge of the White House's coronavirus response behind the scenes.
https://www.politico.com/news/
https://www.politico.com/news/
Michelle Goldberg, New York Times columnist, aptly describes this as "dilettantism raised to the level of sociopathy."
To Alan's excellent choices of the Katznelson and Rothstein books on Gov't separation of races to the detriment of Blacks, I add "Shades of Freedom" by Leon Higginbotham in terms of separation by laws.
ReplyDeleteI feel a certain vindication. For many months I have been arguing that I would not support Elizabeth Warren for President because the right job for her is Secretary of the Treasury. I am more than delighted to find Alan on my side.
ReplyDelete