Monday, June 15, 2020
Rayshard Brooks drank too much and fell asleep in his car that sat in the drive-through lane of a hamburger joint in Atlanta. So, the cops came and put him in a cab and sent him home, right?
. . .
Last week, I noted the illogic of naming our military bases for defeated Confederate generals. The only rationale that can be uttered out loud with a straight face for celebrating losers would be recognition of their dubious role in American history. If that is the motive, here is my list of historic Americans:
Thomas E. Dewey
Adlai Stevenson
Alf Landon
George McGovern
Wendell Willkie
Hubert Humphrey
Alfred E. Smith
Alton B. Parker
Unlike the names that they would replace, none of my choices ever committed treason against the United States. According to the Constitution, Article III, Section 3, "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
. . .
For the past 3 months, I have been staying home from retirement, which isn't proving very demanding. When I last worked 4-1/2 years ago, my presence was needed in or near New York State courtrooms, so telecommuting was not feasible. Still, I was a bit surprised to learn that the conventional wisdom holds that productivity increases when working from home. "[A] 9-month experiment with a random selection of 1,000 employees [of a Chinese travel agency] revealed that working from home led to a 13 percent increase in performance plus a 50 percent drop in employee-quit rates." https://nbloom.people.
Yet, after the study ended, when the original volunteers were given the choice of continuing to work remotely or return to the office, '[h]alf of them requested to return to the office, despite their average commute being 40 minutes each way." https://www.techpolicy.com/
The X-factor is the watercooler, the symbol of socializing (clinically rendered in the literature as schmoozing). One might understand why the boss wants to keep employees far away from each other, under these circumstances.
It is also important to note that coronavirus-confined employees differ from the travel agency cohort in 4 significant ways: "children, space, privacy and choice."
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Among the reactions to the United States Supreme Court's decision yesterday eliminating job discrimination against gay and transgender employees, I took delight in how the president of the Association of Christian Schools International lamented "the impact on the hiring policies of religious institutions that teach the biblical view of marriage."
https://nyti.ms/2YGD8Kn
Starting with Father Abraham, who did everything with Hagar, his wife's servant, short of stomping on a glass, through Judah's liaison with Tamar, his son's widow, and King David's seduction of Bathsheba, among other examples, my Hebrew ancestors presented a biblical view of marriage that seems to have gone unnoticed in some Christian schools.
. . .
To help you with your vacation planning, once you return to the open road, "Here Are the 98 U.S. Cities Where Protesters Were Tear-Gassed.”
https://www.nytimes.com/
. . .
Starting tonight, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is offering a six-part series on "Seinfeld and the Law."
Meeting ID: 844 7104 7726
Password: cardozo
While it had been 19 years since I sat in a Cardozo class, for one hour I returned to the best time of my life and I look forward to being transported backwards five more times this summer.
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
If you have been exposed to my writing for any period of time (sorry, no vaccine yet), you know that I spent a lot of time in restaurants, that is, until March 13th, the first day of my incarceration. Since then, every meal served at Palazzo di Gotthelf came from the tender hands of America's Favorite Epidemiologist or occasionally me -- my lox and onions and eggs is known far and wide -- without any outside intervention.
Today, however, a special birthday warranted a special meal. So, I ordered from Noi Due Carne, 141 West 69th Street, a Kosher Italian/Mediterranean restaurant, for curbside pickup. We never patronized it before, despite its convenience, although we had enjoyed eating at Andanada, a tapas joint, the previous occupant. Comporting with its name and Kosher requirements, Noi Due Carne has a fleischigs menu, but it sits next to Noi Due Cafe, a meatless Kosher Italian restaurant, featuring pastas and pizzas.
Having drawn our line of dietary observance immediately north of Haifa, we didn't need rabbinical certification for cheese pizza, so it was carne all the way. We ordered Morocan Cigars, not really spicy ground beef with tahini ($14); Spiced Lamb Flatbread, with caramelized onion, tahini, arugula and tomato passata (puréed strained uncooked tomatoes) ($24); Chicken Liver Crostini, a very smooth paté with a fruit sauce ($16); Short Rib Tacos, with guacamole ($18); Roman-Style Baby Artichokes ($18); Hummus Pitriut, the addition of sliced mushrooms the only variant on your everyday hummus ($18). Note that Google wants to search for "patriot" when you want to search for "pitriut."
This turned out to be a lot of food for two people, although they were all appetizer portions. And, the prices were almost (but not quite) reasonable considering the sin tax applied to Kosher food. The flatbread, the tacos and the chicken liver I would order again, without apologizing for their relationship to the Divine. And, most importantly, the Birthday Girl was happy.
Friday, June 19, 2020
Another reason why my young bride is happy is the publication today of a major article that she worked on regarding the impact of the coronavirus on other health conditions, specifically cardiac failure.
https://jamanetwork.com/
While at first glance she is pushed back into et al. among the authors, I know better because I witnessed the depth of her involvement with this important research project.
. . .
"Scientists Predict Scorching Temperatures to Last Through Summer"
"You're Going To Need a Lot Of Ice Cream"
Same story on-line and in print, respectively. Which one speaks to you? https://nyti.ms/3eg6BRJ
Alan, I enjoyed one of your more entertaining blogs. Stay safe and well!
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