Good Question

Monday, August 29, 2021 

Yesterday was the 58th anniversary of the historic March on Washington. I've confessed before that I sat at a great distance from the podium, soaking my feet in a reflecting pool, while Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous speech. I still can't believe that I found the right bus to get back among the hundreds and hundreds parked all over the place. 

 

So, what has changed? The right to vote was a stated goal of the March. Now, there are notorious efforts to limit voting times, places and methods in many states. Hey, Texas, explain to your grandkids what part of democracy you don't like.

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Memo to American nationalists: Of the 13 U.S. troops killed in the Kabul bombing last week, four had Hispanic surnames and one married woman had a Hispanic maiden name. 

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76 years after the end of WWII, there are still active disputes over the ownership of artworks owned by Jews before the rise of the Nazis. In one current case, in the Netherlands, Amsterdam's governing body, the College of Mayor and Alderpersons, called for a Kandinsky painting to be turned over to the heirs of the pre-war Jewish owners. https://nyti.ms/3mz2SpB 

 

“The suffering inflicted on Jewish citizens in particular during the Second World War is unprecedented and irreversible,” they wrote in February, adding that society had “a moral obligation” to redress that. Affirmative action, anyone? 

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Take a look at two studies. First, we have "The Best and Worst Cities to Live Without a Car." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/29/realestate/the-best-and-worst-cities-to-live-without-a-car.html?smid=em-share 

 

I don't have all the data, but I am guessing that there is probably higher granola sales in San Francisco, Portland, Oregon and Washington, at the top of the list, rather than Shreveport, Louisiana, Montgomery, Alabama and Little Rock, Arkansas, at the bottom. Second is "Where Are Workers Making the Longest Commutes?" identified as "metropolitan areas [that] have the highest rates of workers whose commutes last 90 minutes or more in each direction.  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/realestate/supercommuter-longest-commutes.html

 

Long commutes don't seem to correspond to the convenience of a car. The only pattern that I can discern is the proximity to real estate "hot spots," the need to work in places too expensive to live in. 

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We had dinner with Barbara and Bernie, cousins of cousins, tonight and their residency on the East Side led us into unfamiliar territory. And, we were all happy that it did. We went to Chez Nick, 1737 York Avenue, a friendly place with extensive outdoor seating opposite Asphalt Green, a large public park that allowed us to see a lot of sky. 

 

Nick’s menu is fairly simple, three or four salads, three or four pastas, five or six main courses. We shared two excellent salads, the Heirloom Tomatoes with grilled peaches, herbed goat cheese, and black pepper vinaigrette ($16), and the Little Gem Lettuces with shallot vinaigrette, marinated marble size potatoes, baby beets, gremolata (a green sauce made of chopped parsley, lemon zest, and garlic), and manchego cheese ($15). 

 

We then went off into separate directions, “Amish Chicken” for Bernie (no, it did not arrive at the table in a horse-drawn buggy) ($25), Baja shrimp for Barbara ($19), chicken liver mousse, with shallot marmalade, whole grain mustard and cornichons, for me ($14) and roasted Branzino for my young bride ($29). Everyone liked everything, a recipe for world peace that eludes us. 

 

Tuesday, August 31, 2021 

Fortunately, the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain canceled the seminar “Auschwitz/Gaza: A Testing Ground for Comparative Literature.” https://forward.com/fast-forward/474687/spanish-university-cancels-auschwitz-gaza-seminar-comparing-holocaust-to/?utm_source=Email%20Article&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%20Article 

 

What might have been the basis for comparison? The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has been tracking deaths in and around the occupied territories, Gaza and the West Bank, since 2008 and its data show that 5,600 Palestinians died up to 2020 while 115,000 were injured. According to Wikipedia, "Of the 1.3 million people sent to Auschwitz [1940-1945], 1.1 million died. The death toll includes 960,000 Jews (865,000 of whom were gassed on arrival), 74,000 ethnic Poles, 21,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and up to 15,000 other Europeans." 

 

I am not naive enough to think that the seminar was organized to dispel the overheated rhetoric that Israel's opponents resort to in trying to eliminate it from the family of nations. Putting Auschwitz and Gaza together was simply an attempt to tar Israel with the murderous brush once lavishly applied to Jews. 

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Last week, we had the Chief Rabbi of Israel trying to keep a Jewish cemetery pure, now we have news that the good citizens of Oberlin, Louisiana, when they could still keep their heads above water, sought to preserve the racial integrity of their local cemetery. https://www.klfy.com/louisiana/allen-parish-family-denied-burial-because-of-skin-color-people-need-to-know-its-just-not-right/ 

 

In the immortal words of Roseanne Roseannadanna, "It's always something." 

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As long as I did not read the newspapers, today was a good day. I walked around midtown Manhattan, stopping for lunch at Joe's Home of Soup Dumplings, 7 East 48 Street, a very big, open space appearing even airier by having predominantly blonde furniture. It contained a dozen tables spaced far apart inside and four more outside. One long wall enclosed four cooks at work behind a glass partition. A counter with 12 stools widely spaced apart faced the partition. 

 

Joe has a very big menu, but, true to its name, soup dumplings are the main attraction. In fact, very few other dumplings or buns are offered. But, these were really great soup dumplings, crab meat and pork stuffed in thin wrappers, six pieces for $11.95. It wasn't just the real estate that justified the high price; the conventionally-sized dumplings were filled with far more meat than found elsewhere. While the cold sesame noodles were just average ($7.95), the soup dumplings will not be forgotten. 

 

Wednesday, September1, 2021 

Quote of the day comes from Terry Trieller, dental hygienist from Lake Placid, N.Y. "If you’re not booing, you’re not a Mets fan." 

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What is this? A free lunch for the first correct answer.

 

Thursday, September 2, 2021 

Michael Ratner and I planned to go to the Mets game tonight, expecting to issue sounds of delight or dismay in response to what we were witnessing. However, the opportunity was denied us by the flotsam and jetsam left by Hurricane Ida, the fifth largest in U.S. history. In our absence, the Mets won. 

 

Friday, September 3, 2021

My brother informed me of the death of Mal Z. Lawrence, a classic Borscht Belt comedian. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/arts/mal-z-lawrence-dead.html

 

He will always be remembered for telling of the waiter who went over to the table of alte kockers (senior citizens) and asked, "Is anything OK?"