The Road to Recovery

Monday, May 24, 2021 

Happy Birthday to two icons.  Bob Dylan is 80 years old today and Will Mollard is not.

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I listened to a panel discussion on "The Future of the Occupation" yesterday, that is the occupation of the West Bank, an area that Arabs call Palestine and Jews call Not Quite.  At the heart of the problem is the belief by many Arabs that the entire territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is properly theirs (https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/half-palestinians-still-want-all-palestine-most-would-compromise-less), while many Israeli Jews hold to Eretz Yisrael, the undivided Land of Israel.  Solutions welcome.

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I count myself as a Brooklyn boy, although my family moved away just a couple of weeks after my Bar Mitzvah.  Now, several decades and many residences later, I note that many of my closest friends have Brooklyn roots, as well.   This brings to mind a factoid that I might have learned even before I left Brooklyn: One in seven Americans have Brooklyn in their background.  This article examines this idea.

https://urbanomnibus.net/2012/08/lifespan-of-a-brooklyn-fact-can-one-in-seven-americans-trace-roots-to-brooklyn/

Although the article is gently skeptical, it does not reject the proposition outright.  While there may not be any correlation between the possible origin of 14.286% of the American people and real estate activity, I marveled at the steep growth of home prices in Brooklyn since 2003 as reported in the real estate section.   https://nyti.ms/3v4JL8n

Even encompassing a market meltdown, the median (not the deceptive average) Brooklyn home price has tripled in less than two decades.  The current estimated sale price of 2798 Pitkin Avenue, the ancestral Gotthelf home, is deservedly below the borough's median, but it is still shockingly high in the range of $684,527 to $782,400.  As I recall, we paid $44 rent monthly for the first floor of the two-story building. 

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

While Jews have had success in the sciences, we are not free from superstition.  One of the least offensive surrounds chai (hi), the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and, accordingly, the number 18.  It is also the word for life, so the number has positive and lucky connotations.  Money gifts are often given in multiples of chai.  Some people, including me, wear the symbol as an affirmation of Jewish identity.

And, today is the Upper West Side's Power Couple's 18th wedding anniversary.  Luck, certainly, had something to do with it. 

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Getting back into the groove, the Boyz Club gathered at Wok Wok Southeast Asian Kitchen, 11 Mott Street.  While it had a couple of outdoor tables, it was too hot on the street to reject the air conditioned underground premises.  The vaccinated five of us shared "Original Roti" a/k/a roti canai, Indian flat bread served with chicken and potato curry ($4.25); Roti Murtabak, Indian flat bread filled with spiced chicken, egg and onion, served with curry potato chicken sauce ($7.95); deep fried fish cakes served with cucumber peanut achat (spicy, sour, sweet sauce) (5 for $6.95); Grilled Chicken Satay served with cucumber, onions and tamarind peanut dip (8 skewers for $11.95); Pad Kee Mao a/k/a "Drunk Man Noodle," chicken and broad rice noodles, Spanish onion, egg, tomatoes, bell peppers, Thai basil, fresh bird's eye chili ($11.95); Crispy Garlic Chicken ($15.95); and Thai jasmine rice ($2.00).  It amounted to $16 each and a feeling of satisfaction. 

Thursday, May 27, 2021

You had to read the newspaper carefully today to learn, as I did, which was "the only state where not a single county voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, and where all of those counties voted twice for Donald Trump."  That's really something to sing about.    https://youtu.be/kGXu0j6QDJ8

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A computer analysis of 240,000 college admission essays showed that they have a stronger correlation to reported household income than SAT scores.  https://nyti.ms/3fItpfa

The study did not evaluate quality, an elusive pursuit, but looked at choice of topic and content -- punctuation and word length, for instance.  So, dropping the SAT may have little influence on democratizing the college admissions process.  I even suggest that the opposite is true.  Wealthy families can and often do hire SAT coaches to help Junior move up the scale, but Junior has finally to wield the #2 pencil sitting by himself.  Okay, "Operation Varsity Blues" tells another story.  https://www.netflix.com/title/81130691

Essay writing, however, may easily be the work of several hands, Mom, Dad, hired gun, and that's where money talks or dictates or composes.

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I had an appointment in the north Bronx this morning, allowing me to have lunch at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, 3411 Jerome Avenue.  (There is no apostrophe and I can't find out why.)  Some people may label this a guilty pleasure, for me it's just a pleasure.  I ate indoors, at one of the five tabIes in use, an equal amount of floor space left empty.  I had a three-piece meal, breast, leg and thigh, biscuit, Cajun fries and Diet Coke for $9.99, greasy fingers included.  Spicy recipe was unavailable when I ordered, the only glitch in the meal.   

Friday, May 28, 2021

Why is this Jew, among many, reluctant to accept seriously international criticism of Israel?  "[T]he United Nations’ top human rights body voted Thursday to appoint a commission of inquiry with unusually broad latitude to investigate possible war crimes and other abuses committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories."  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/27/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-un-human-rights-council.html

 

The fly in the ointment: "Although the commission could theoretically investigate human rights violations by all parties, the resolution creating it does not mention Hamas or other Palestinian militant groups." 

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: "U.S. Faces Outbreak of Anti-Semitic Threats and Violence."  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/us/anti-semitism-attacks-violence.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20210528&instance_id=31768&nl=the-morning&regi_id=599756&segment_id=59272&te=1&user_id=1353d3a345e55ff509b5cbb17ed36984

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Modern scripture -- "The truth shall you flee."  Mitch 5:28.