Oops

Monday, October 11, 2021

Last week, I threw out in passing the slogan of the Houthis, a major force in the Yemeni war, a conflict that I otherwise know nothing about.  "Allah is Greater, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam."  It's worth another look, especially for the benefit of my few remaining Gentile friends.   One might understand the antagonism towards Israel on geopolitical grounds or merely ethnic solidarity with Palestinians.  But, isn't the seamless segue from an anti-Zionist position to an anti-Semitic one exactly what we Jews often suspect as the mindset of so many of Israel's opponents?

. . . 

 

Every week there seems to be a report of a change in the real estate market.  We just read that "Signs Point to Better News for Buyers in the Home Market."  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/07/realestate/signs-point-to-better-news-for-buyers-in-the-home-market.html 

 

The has to be read very selectively, however.  Since 2019, listings are down substantially, while prices are correspondingly up.  What’s the “Better News”?  It could be worse.

. . . 

 

Another letter to the editor, unpublished. 

 

Maybe it's just generational, but I was disappointed to read Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, state that "Twitter is where I get my news."  I believe that today's important issues, including her professional area of concern, often deserve more than 280 characters to examine.

 . . . 

 

I had lunch at Joe's Steam Rice Roll, 422 Amsterdam Avenue.  It's a very small place, one narrow storefront wide, third in a small chain that started in Flushing's Chinatown.  One wall is whitewashed brick, the other flat white paint above four feet of subway tile. There are five two-tops inside and three outside in a schmutzig shed.  The joint was busy, but almost all the business was takeout. 

 

Rice rolls are steamed squares of thin rice noodles rolled around stuff, effectively Chinese blintzes.  I had the Joe's Special, three 5" long rice noodles, filled with beef, sausage, egg ($9), the fanciest thing on the menu.  It was good, but not worth a special trip. 

 

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

I don't deny being ethnocentric, so I was pleased to learn that Macdonald's and Chick-fil-A have stopped selling bagels.  https://forward.com/culture/476413/imcdonalds-bagel-mcbagel-jewish-foods-discontinued-dunkin-donuts/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_3001830  

 

Others see "bagels being a cosmopolitan mirror of multi-culturalism anchored in the Jewish identity."  https://journals.openedition.org/transtexts/249 

 

Still, you don't have to be Jewish to be repulsed by Everything Bagel-flavored ice cream.   https://www.eater.com/2021/1/25/22248809/everything-bagel-seasoning-ice-cream-jenis-cream-cheese-flavor 

. . . 

 

Dealing with the misuse of social media is a challenging subject within our constitutional framework which elevates individual rights over collective values.  Even if we could arrive at a legislative consensus, assuming we want one, reasonable implementation of controls may be impossible.   

 

I had a simple illustration of this in my e-mail inbox this morning.  Last week's blog was rejected by one of my young relative's firewall.  Given his devotion to Israel, Zionism and Judaism, I am sure that the motto of the Yemenite Houthis, also repeated above, was the trigger for the artificial intelligence mechanism controlling his messages.  Unless he is a collector of insults, I understand his desire to restrict such material. Of course, in this instance, I think that my opposition to this bile is evident, although too nuanced for AI.  

 

This reminded me of an occasion when I still worked for the New York State court system and learned that America's Favorite Epidemiologist had just published another important scholarly paper on perinatal HIV transmission.  The mothers were usually infected by their intravenous drug-using partners.  Well, this was too much sex and drugs for the court system's firewall and my attempt to fetch the article was barred. 

 

Will artificial intelligence ever be intelligent enough to separate the desirable wheat from the malicious chaff?  Human intervention seems impossible given the worldwide scope of social media.  Even if you were to trust someone to be your censor, too many millions of people and billions of dollars would be needed to monitor traffic.  

 

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

The weekly food section of the New York Times today is devoted to "the 50 most vibrant and delicious restaurants in 2021."  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/dining/favorite-restaurant-list-america.html 

 

The group is broadly national, only 5 are found in the Holy Land.  One of these is particularly interesting, Dhamaka, 119 Delancey Street, inside the Essex Street Market.  It is an Indian restaurant described as having "the unabashedly forceful cooking of the villages."  However, I admit to retreating from being unabashedly forceful when confronted with "clay pots filled with goat kidneys and testicles."   I am sure that it tastes good, as might almost any carefully prepared dish.  But, it would taste much better if I didn't know what's in it.

 

Food is about eating, not reading.  Suggested dining room motto: Don't ask, don't tell. 

. . . 

 

I never saw "Seinfeld" when it ran originally; I've only seen episodes in syndication, reruns.  Now, however, Netflix is streaming all 180 or so episodes and I have been watching them in order, usually 2 or 3 at a time.   It took me a month to watch all 86 episodes of "The Sopranos" several years ago, which were more than twice as long.  Generally, I find the Jersey boys more interesting than the  Upper West Side crew, certainly more decisive, a characteristic that I respect. 

 

In any case, my obsessiveness does not match Douglas Wolk's, who claims to have read 27,000 Marvel comic books over a five-year period and now has written All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told.   https://forward.com/culture/476510/marvel-comics-all-the-marvels-douglas-woulk-shang-chi-ms-marvel-eternals/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_3013538 

 

I do not have any desire to challenge Wolk's feat.  I was once an avid comic book reader and collector until an unflattering seventh-grade report card produced an apocalyptic reaction in our household leadership.  Overnight -- all gone, including a rare Batman 3-D just acquired.  That certainly taught me a lesson; hide your comic books better next time. 

. . . 

 

About a month after the observance of the Hebraic High Holy Days, the Boyz Club had their own celebration at Wo Hop, 17 Mott Street, the culinary Vatican of Chinatown.  We ate well in a shed outside, everything served with or on disposable ware.  The seven of us shared spare ribs, Singapore chow fun, chicken chow fun, eggplant with garlic sauce, chicken in orange sauce, beef with scallions and pork fried rice, leaving nothing behind.  Paying only $15 each added to the sanctity of the occasion. 

 

Thursday, October 14, 2021

33 Across - Run for fun, perhaps 

 

Friday, October 15, 2021

Don't accept my help, for your own sake.  A dear friend was in the hospital for a few days and told us that she was being released in the early afternoon today.  I insisted that I pick her up and spare her having to deal with some car service.  I drove across town and parked near the acreage consuming hospital complex to await her call. 

 

While the doctors were finished with her at noon, the paperwork took another hour-and-a-half.  I sat in my car, regretting that I didn't listen to my young bride's suggestion that I have lunch first before leaving.  When my friend called to say that she was finally on her way down, I pulled up in front of the hospital's main entrance eager to be reunited with her and with the bagel that I left thawing on the kitchen counter. 

I parked illegally, but strategically to be able see my friend and whisk her away quickly.  For several minutes, I watched people emerging, most seemed pleased to have received high quality medical attention.  However, there was no familiar face among them. 

There followed a series of telephone calls back and forth.  "Where are you?"  "I'm right in front of the door."  The caller and the called reversed with each call.  My notorious impatience soon took over.  "I'm standing next to my car, the silver sedan!  Look around!!  It says it right there, Weill-Cornell New York Presbyterian Hospital!!!"  Her terse response, "I'm at NYU."

. . . 

Answer = TYPO