Saturday, December 4, 2021

Eight Candles Might Not Be Enough

Saturday, November 27, 2021   
Clue 49 Across - Head of Hogwarts?
. . .

Once upon a time, the Montreal Canadiens were allowed to pick two French Canadian ice hockey players aspiring to play in the National Hockey League before any other team had a choice.  In those days, the league consisted of 6 teams, Montreal and Toronto and four U.S. cities.  While Montreal had a period of dominance, the value of the French Canadian Rule has been effectively disputed.  https://sihrhockey.org/__a/public/column.cfm?cid=3&aid=361

In any case, the rule was abandoned as a byproduct of the league's expansion, eventually to 32 teams, including 6 in Canada.  A draft system based on a team's previous year's performance and the widespread introduction of European players produced the near-calamitous present state of affairs for French Canadians.  Sweden has more players in the National Hockey League than Quebec and, at times, the Canadiens have skated without a Quebecois player.

These indignities have galvanized François Legault, the premier of Quebec.

In a bold gesture, he announced "the creation of a 14-member committee led by a former N.H.L. goalie, Marc Denis, to study the problem."  Of course, after M. Legault handles this crisis, he plans to join Jared Kushner in bringing permanent peace to the Middle East. 

Sunday, November 28, 2021
As we continue to adjust to the never ending pandemic, local homesellers are benefiting from pent-up demand, resulting in quicker sales closer to asking price. 

Of course, the question that these homesellers face when they cash in all that appreciated value is: Where now?

Monday, November 29, 2021
Some commentators try to minimize the crisis that I believe we have in the jurisprudence of the current United States Supreme Court by comparing it to the New Deal era when FDR's domestic policies were regularly being rejected by the Court applying principles of federalism and contract rooted in the 19th century.  The Court changed course, "the switch in time that saved nine," as political controversy threatened its legitimacy.  While the parallel exists in the gulf between the judicial/political outlook of today's Court's conservative majority and the socioeconomic realities of the country, there is an important difference between then and now.  

The current court members are by descending age:
Stephen Breyer - 83
Clarence Thomas - 73
Samuel Alito - 71
Sonia Sotomayor - 67
John Roberts - 66
Elena Kagan - 61
Brett Kavanaugh - 56
Neil Gorsuch - 54
Amy Coney Barrett - 49 

Roosevelt had had no vacancies to fill during his first term as president.  He introduced his ill-fated plan to expand the Supreme Court in February 1937.  At the time, the Court consisted of:
Louis Brandeis - 80
Willis Van Devanter - 78
James McReynolds - 75
Charles Evans Hughes - 74
George Sutherland - 74
Pierce Butler - 70
Benjamin Cardozo - 66
Harlan Stone - 64
Owen Roberts - 61

In fact, seven of these nine died before Roosevelt.  The age differences between the courts is obvious, putting aside the likely healthier condition of today's senior citizens.  The conservative posture of the current Supreme Court will be with us for a long time, by design.  While the left agonizes over pronouns, the Federalist Society grooms conservatives from law schools through lower court appointments all the way to the Supreme Court.  Six of the nine sitting Justices are current or former members; no need to guess, by the way.

It aims, in its own words, to "reorder[] priorities within the legal system to place a premium on individual liberty, traditional values, and the rule of law."  

Somehow, this almost always seems to align with partisan Republican policies even if it requires a high degree of elasticity.
. . .

It could have been worse.  I was stuck in the elevator for only about 6 or 7 minutes, I was alone without anyone contributing hysteria, and I had gone to the bathroom just before leaving the eye doctor’s office.  It did spoil my timing, though.  When I walked the two blocks to Pastrami Queen, 1125 Lexington Avenue, the tiny space was jammed, with every seat taken by someone who appeared to have only sat down 5 or 6 minutes earlier.  The lunch that I wound up with at a joint across the street was unspeakably ordinary.

Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Michelle Goldberg's column deserves to be quoted at length.
On Nov. 12, a federal appeals court stayed the [federal government's] mandate dealing with companies that have over 100 employees.  Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt, a Trump appointee, wrote that the public interest is "served by maintaining our constitutional structure and maintaining the liberty of individuals to make intensely personal decisions according to their own convictions — even, or perhaps particularly, when those decisions frustrate government officials."  Engelhardt, a former member of Louisiana Lawyers for Life, obviously doesn’t believe that all individuals should have the liberty to make "intensely personal decisions according to their own convictions."  But that doesn’t mean he’s a hypocrite. He simply appears to believe, as much of the modern right does, that there are some people who should be subject to total physical coercion, and some who should be subject to none at all.
. . .

As a homeseller considers where to park all the money that she made selling her house in this hot market, one place to cross off the list is Tel Aviv.  According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, it has jumped to the top of the list of the most expensive cities in the world.  

It has overtaken Paris, Hong Kong and Zurich to earn this unwanted distinction.  This may be a sign of the return of the International Jewish Conspiracy.  Two other Hebrew homelands place high on the list, New York in sixth place and Los Angeles ninth. 

Wednesday, December 1, 2021
The Boyz Club met for lunch at Shanghai Asian Cuisine, 14A Elizabeth Street, today.  This joint is consistently good for soup dumplings and scallion pancakes and we started there.  The five of us pushed on through cold sesame noodles, tangerine beef, pork lo mein and sliced chicken with eggplant in garlic sauce.  With our usual generous gratuity, it came to $18 each.
. . .

Copyright is the the exclusive legal right to literary, artistic, or musical material.  Does a recipe qualify?  How does it compare to a poem or a song?  Would a duplicate list of ingredients itself be infringing regardless of how they are handled?  How can we keep grandmothers out of court?
 
Friday, December 3, 2021
Here is the headline on an obituary today: "Marcus Lamb, Christian Broadcaster and Vaccine Skeptic, Dies of Covid at 64."  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/us/marcus-lamb-dead.html
 
Of course, the irony is obvious, but I need help with a mystery.  The New York Times said he "frequently suggested on the air that people pray instead of getting inoculated."  In Mr. Lamb's own words, "we can pray, we can get ivermectin and budesonide and hydroxychloroquine."  Don't get vaccinated.  Take crap instead.  Please explain.
. . .

It is always a pleasure to dine with Aunt Judi and Uncle Stu.  She treats us to the finest in Kosher cooking, while he serves wines that would have hastened the progress of the Israelites across the Sinai Desert.  Tonight's occasion celebrated Hanukkah and the memory of Fred and Eleanor, parents of my wife and Stu.  
 
As expected, Aunt Judi stepped up to the plate and delivered a bunch of RBIs.  We had chicken matzoh ball soup (Aunt Judi falls on the soft side of the hard/soft matzoh ball divide), "Aunt Judi’s meatballs," thick slices of corned beef, stuffed chicken, potato latkes with homemade apple sauce, cous cous, roasted Delicata squash (a small winter squash with an edible skin) with red onion, and string beans "teriyaki."  Somehow, we made room for chocolate mousse with whipped cream (non-dairy, of course) to wrap up a special evening.
. . .

Answer = LOO
 
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