Saturday, January 29, 2022

Praise the Lord and Skip the Vaccination

 Saturday, January 22, 2022
35 Across - Words read with feeling

Sunday, January 23, 2022
Here is "2022's Best & Worst States to Raise a Family."

If I tell you that, based on 51 measures affecting the quality of family life, Massachusetts and Mississippi are at opposite ends of the survey, want to guess which is where?

Monday, January 24, 2022
In November, Kelly Canon, a Texas Republican Party official, wrote in Facebook, "No jabby-jabby for me!  Praise GOD!”  She died of Covid-based pneumonia on January 10th.

Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Not unlike the students in Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, I am certain that my readers are all above average and scrupulous, as well.  Therefore, I want an honest response to the question (which stumped me, by the way): What is Stellantis?  Let's have a show of hands.  Aha!  You are as behind the times as I am.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Ken K., who survived the witches brew of an education from the Yeshiva of Flatbush, Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, accompanied me on a visit to a semi-incapicitated friend.  We not only brought some cheer into his confined circumstances, but we got free Covid testing before we were even allowed onto the premises.  We were positively Negative.

Thursday, January 27, 2022
Today is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army in 1945.  While well more than 1 million people had passed through, mostly Jews, mostly killed, 7,000 prisoners were found alive in the camp.  One lingering memory of my visit in 2005 was the size of the camp.  Just about everything that could be burned to the ground in that 60-year interval had been, but the brick foundations of the barracks remained and extended in all directions.

Of course, there is a huge inventory of far more terrible Nazi-related memories and, tragically, a desire by some to turn history into current events.  In many instances, the past is not even relegated to the past.  The Forward reports today that the number of "statues, monuments and other public showcasing of Nazis and their collaborators around the world" now totals "1,455 in 25 countries, including the United States and five Western European nations."  https://forward.com/news/481224/the-many-monuments-that-still-honor-fascists-nazis-and-murderers-of-jews/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_3596269

Clearly, the American South is not the only place that pays homage to traitors, losers and criminals, although Werner von Braun, Nazi rocket scientist ("he aimed for the stars and hit London") remains celebrated in Huntsville, Alabama even after its most prominent Confederate monument was removed.  https://www.wsfa.com/2020/10/23/madison-county-confederate-monument-removed-early-friday-morning/
 
Some folks are not just satisfied honoring traitors, losers and criminals, they take the trouble to dishonor genuine heroes, such as Jackie Robinson.  https://one2seek.com/a-marker-honoring-jackie-robinson-was-defaced-m-l-b-helped-replace-it-23760.html
 
And, it was far from the first time.  
. . .

From a political point of view, I applaud the decision of Stephen Breyer to retire from the United States Supreme Court.  But, what's so old about 83?

Friday, January 28, 2022
When I read about the death of Olavo de Carvalho, a self-styled political pundit from Brazil, I was struck by his contention that Pepsi-Cola is flavored with aborted fetuses (is there a Portuguese word for meshuggenah?).  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/world/americas/olavo-de-carvalho-dead.html
 
However, I learned that he wasn't alone in discovering the secret ingredients in some of our favorite foods.  https://www.genuinechristianitynow.com/2019/10/07/aborted-babies-in-pepsi-kraft-and-nestle-shocking-report/
 
By the way, Senhor de Carvalho, who derided Covid-19 as “moronavirus,” died from it.  Praise GOD.
. . .

Answer = BRAILLE

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Judicious/Jew Dishes

Saturday, January 15, 2022
The headline reads "Pay on Wall Street Will Surge After Year of Record Profit"; another reason why Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.
. . .

While wasting time on my smartyphone, an advertisement popped up that is most likely to discourage my patronage: "Influencer-approved sneakers."  Do you think that while my talented, accomplished young bride strains to keep my conduct civilized, I'm going to be swayed by some ill-educated teenager who pays extra to have her pants ripped?

Sunday, January 16, 2022
Even as the National Football League began its championship playoffs this weekend, Jews news came out on top.  First, of course, was the synagogue hostage situation in Texas.  Fortunately, the small number of congregants and the rabbi went unharmed physically.  The oddest wrinkle was the intended beneficiary of this mad act -- Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman sentenced to 86 years in federal prison for attempted murder.    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/28/lady-al-qaeda-the-american-educated-doctor-the-islamic-state-desperately-wants-freed/

Siddiqui's interesting biography is highlighted by her doctorate from Brandeis University, founded and supported by the Jewish community.  Yet (or because), she demanded that jurors in her trial in federal district be DNA tested to prove they weren’t Jewish.  “If they have a Zionist or Israeli background, they are all mad at me.  They should be excluded if you want to be fair.”

At about the same time that the crisis in Texas was being resolved, the trustees of the University of Michigan were dealing with another.  Mark Schlissel, Brooklyn-born president of the university, was being fired for conducting a long-term romantic relationship with a female employee.  

"According to emails posted by the university on its website, Schlissel wrote to the female employee regularly, including in October 2019 when he emailed about receiving a box of knishes.  The woman said in reply that she liked the doughy snack food.  Schlissel replied again: Can I 'lure you to visit with the promise of a knish?'"    https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2022/01/15/university-michigan-president-mark-schlissel-fired-board-investigation/9162810002/

Forget for a moment the prurient nature of this exchange.  Clearly, the reporter or the woman involved or both are not Jewish.  A knish more closely resembles a doorstop than a "doughy snack food."  Pretzels, M&Ms are snack food.  A knish entails a major investment in time and calories, not an idle pleasure.
. . .

My aunt Rosalind Cohen Goldenberg died today, 105 years old.  She was the wife of my mother's youngest brother, the last survivor of my parents' generation.  This lovely woman had three children, 10 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Only 3 of the great-grandchildren are actually named Goldenberg, two boys and one girl, and, in fact, there are no other limbs of the family tree with young Goldenbergs.  This may be an example of regression to the mean since, as proven by the invaluable research of Ittai Hershman, the name was adopted in 1909 when my grandmother Esther Malka joined her husband Joseph in America.  According to the immigration records, the family was known as Chelchowsky until they arrived here.  Family lore was that my grandmother's young sister Tillie, already an American high school student, urged the name change.

There is every reason to believe that the name Chelchowsky itself was misrecorded and was really Chelchowski, a much more common Slavic spelling.  An Internet search finds no one named Chelchowsky anywhere in the United States or Poland, while there are Chelchowskis in both.  According to the website Forebears, it is a "Polish surname, derived from the word, chełch, which means 'liar', 'chubby', 'chattering'."  If the shoe fits?

Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Can you think back to the weekend, when everyone's attention was on the Texas synagogue hostage situation?  Remember CNN's coverage (probably the same as everyone else's)?  
 
 
Serious-looking people moving about, standing about.  Serious-looking vehicles moving about, standing about.  And what happened?  Will the National Rifle Association offer a new slogan?  "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a rabbi with a chair."

Wednesday, January 19, 2022
You go, girl.
-- Headline: "Top Editor Files Discrimination Suit Against The New York Post"
-- Subhead: "In the lawsuit, Michelle Gotthelf said the tabloid’s longtime top editor, Col Allan, had retaliated against her after she turned down a sexual proposition."
. . .

Responding to the wit and wisdom of the United States Supreme Court, Starbucks has added Covid-19 to its menu for the convenience of its customers.  https://www.marketwatch.com/story/starbucks-ends-workers-vaccine-mandate-after-supreme-court-ruling-01642617488?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo

At present, this will only be available in-store.  However, a product development team is working to extend this to drive-through orders as well.

Thursday, January 20, 2022
We found ourselves on Long Island at the end of the lunch hour today and were in perfect agreement.  Kosher delicatessen.  We headed to Ben's Kosher Delicatessen, 59 Old Country Road, Carle Place.  It is a branch of the mother ship on West 38th Street, a familiar destination, not to be confused with Ben's Best Kosher Delicatessen, 96-40 Queens Boulevard, Rego Park, sadly out of business for more than three years now.  

It turned out to be a wise choice, even a superlative one.  The sprawling premises sitting right next to Barnes & Noble was almost empty after 2 PM, which hastened delivery of our order.  Madam had a chopped liver sandwich after first satisfactorily taste testing a sample ($13.49).  The sandwich was big enough that the second half became my dinner at home.  I had a pastrami/tongue combo ($20.99), superior meat, machine sliced, piled very high.  By the way, we skipped testing the aphrodisiacal properties of a knish and shared well-done, crinkle-cut French fries instead ($4.99).

Friday, January 14, 2022

It's Called Acting

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Here is a quick overview of the North American bagel business, from New York and Montreal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/07/business/st-viateur-ess-a-bagel-business.html

. . .


In case you are thinking of personally downsizing or, at least, throwing your brother-in-law out of your basement, take a look at “The Best (and Worst) Places for Singles to Rent Studios.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/realestate/best-worst-places-to-rent-studios.html

 

This compilation doesn't just look at rents, but factors in local income levels.  Goodbye Miami, hello Wichita.

 

Monday, January 10, 2022

Paul Hecht, Thespian Emeritus, responded to objections to Helen Mirren playing Golda Meir: "Of course I am not in agreement with that Brit MP about the casting of Golda M.  I have played Jews (Herzl) and non Jews (John Dickinson).  Plus many others of dubious ethnic origins.  I guess I'll never get to play Othello."  

. . .


The anniversary of the January 6th Capitol riot increased debate about prosecuting the ex-president for inciting the events.  By the way, Harry Truman insisted that he was a former president, having left office on his own power, while Herbert Hoover was an ex-president, having been defeated for re-election. 

 

I, for one, oppose bringing a criminal action, because it is bound to fail.  The prevailing legal standard comes from Brandenburg v. Ohio395 US 444 (1969): "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."  The words directedimminent and likely offer a huge playing field for a defense attorney and would allow even Rudy Giuliani to win in court.

 

The result would be another "victory" for the ex-president, loudly and widely proclaimed, rather than the disgrace that he deserves by common morality and decency.

 

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

News from the chocolate chip cookie frontier

Last week, I found packages of fresh David’s Cookies at ShopRite, 40 Nathaniel Place, Englewood, New Jersey, returning me to the finest years of my middle age.  Today, at Fairway Market, 2131 Broadway, I came across another significant cookie development.  Levain Bakery is packaging their cookies, pre-baked, frozen, eight 2 oz. cookies for $8.99; "heat them in the oven at 350°F for five to seven minutes."  At one of their expanding network of stores (5 in the Holy Land plus Boston, Bethesda and Georgetown), Levain sells its 6 oz. cookie for $4.50.  Size apart, these seem to be the same cookie.


Many sources consider Levain the best chocolate chip cookies anywhere.  Not me.  I admit that Levain makes excellent chocolate chip cookies (with or without walnuts, peanut butter and the like), but my heart and my gullet belong to Jacques Torres, with three locations in Manhattan.  Both outfits feature superior contents and careful preparation; size, shape and texture distinguish them and that's where I prefer Jacques Torres.  Don't worry.  Conducting your own taste test will produce a happy mouth, in any case.

. . .


One place where happiness cannot be found is the schoolhouse during Covid-19.  Today, students at several prominent local high schools walked out of classes, seeking remote learning.   https://gothamist.com/news/scores-nyc-high-schoolers-walk-out-classes-demanding-remote-learning-during-covid-surge?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=shared_email  


The Rhode Island teachers' union takes the same position.

https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/education/2022/01/10/national-education-association-rhode-island-school-districts-online-learning/9158664002/ 

 

"In a statement released Tuesday, the St. Paul Federation of Educators Local 28 union called for the district to take several actions, including making a temporary shift to remote learning, providing masks, expanding testing and maintaining a 10-day isolation period for those who test positive for the coronavirus."    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/unsustainable-st-paul-educators-demand-more-extensive-response-to-covid-from-district/ar-AASFQpl


In Chicago, "students are set to return to school after the teachers union and city landed a deal on Covid-19 measures."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/us/chicago-schools-union-mayor-deal-reached/index.html


Consistent with the more relaxed Southern way of life, "Georgia School Teachers Who Have Covid Are Allowed To Go Back To School If Asymptomatic And Masked." 

https://www.scarymommy.com/georgia-school-teachers-covid-isolation/


Meanwhile, deep in the heart of Texas, school districts are asking parents to fill in as substitute teachers as COVID cases rise.

https://www.tpr.org/education/2022-01-10/school-districts-ask-parents-to-fill-in-as-substitute-teachers-as-covid-cases-rise-in-central-texas?_amp=true

 

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

If you are worried about what might happen to your brother-in-law after you throw him out of your basement, relax.  The number of available lucrative, high-status positions seems very high.  Right now, symphony orchestra conductors are being sought in New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, while National Football League head coaching jobs are open in New York, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis, Denver, Las Vegas, and Jacksonville.  In several cases, one fare will put him in position to apply for both jobs.

. . .


Paul Hecht, quoted above, was born in London during the Blitz, so he did not hesitate facing a viral bombardment today.  Michael A. and Ken K. were born in Brooklyn and similarly ventured forth bravely to meet me at Tipsy Shanghai, 189 East Broadway, for lunch.  It's the third in this new mini-chain.  At the end of the block that used to be the Fleet Street of the American Yiddish press, it is pleasantly decorated with accents of red and steel gray. 


It is serious about its Shanghai roots.  Noodles are generally limited to soup; no lo mein or chow fun.  This complicated ordering for four, easily divided.  We wound up with Shanghai wonton soup, Spring noodles (really beef noodle soup), pan fried vegetable dumplings, tangerine beef, eggplant in garlic sauce and chicken fried rice.  It amounted to $22 each. 


Had I been better prepared, I would have explored the menu more deeply.

Thursday, January13, 2022

Here are two more views of the controversy over casting Helen Mirren as Golda Meir in an upcoming movie.  The first is an essay framing the debate in light of British anti-Semitism, often more overt than our home-grown variety.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/12/helen-mirren-golda-meir-maureen-lipman-david-baddiel-row-jews-bojack-horseman 
 
The second illustrates Helen Mirren's ability to throw herself into a role. 
 
 
Friday, January 14, 2022
In voiding the administration's mask mandate for larger employers aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, the United States Supreme Court has adopted and adapted New Hampshire's state motto thusly: Live Free and Die.


Saturday, January 8, 2022

Think Negative

Sunday, January 2, 2022
Late yesterday, January 1st, we got a text message from a relative that caused a bit of a tizzy.  We had seen him on December 25th at a small family gathering and he was just offering a friendly follow up.  "Oh, by the way, I tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday [December 27th]."  

America's Favorite Epidemiologist and I experienced no physical discomfort during the intervening week, but that did not rule out asymptomatic infection.  Where had we been, whom had we seen in this time?  Additionally, what was planned for the next week or two in case of continuing uncertainty or worse?  

By coincidence, I had taken a Covid test at one of the many street kiosks nearby, when out on a stroll with Stony Brook Steve on Monday, December 27th, but had not received the results yet, 6 days later.  Fortunately, my ever competent child bride had secured home testing kits as a precautionary measure and we both stuck swabs up noses as instructed.  NEGATIVE.

As I considered the alternative, I tallied mentally the number of telephone calls that I would have to make to give notice to the people whom I might have unknowingly victimized.  

Monday, January 3, 2022
The tiny, wood-beamed interior of Ratatouille, 154 East 39th Street, looks and feels like it belongs in a Quebec forest, surrounded by sugar maples.  Its narrow, chicken-centric menu, however, is French not French-Canadian.  

I sat at one of the 4 small two-tops inside.  The cold weather kept them and patrons indoors.  I had the rotisserie chicken sandwich, a generous amount of pulled chicken with some roasted potatoes stuffed alongside ($11.02 plus tax).  It was served on a warm, 8" roll, an effective cross between a baguette and a ciabatta.  In all, a good deal.
. . .

Last year at this time, the Murdoch media were proclaiming the death of New York.  Everyone was leaving, the world's financial and cultural affairs were moving far away.  Woe to the suckers stuck behind.  https://nypost.com/2020/08/11/new-yorkers-flee-nyc-in-droves/

What might have been true momentarily last year is now as up-to-date as Ivana Trump's fashion line.  The current headline is: "In 2021, New York’s Housing Market Made a Stunning Comeback."  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/31/realestate/in-2021-new-yorks-housing-market-made-a-stunning-comeback.html

Enjoy nowhere, suckers.
. . .

I went back to the street kiosk where I had been tested for Covid-19 one week ago, but the guy working in the sub-freezing temperature was only able to give me telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to make further inquiries.

Tuesday, January 4, 2021 
Still no report from last week's Covid-19 test, but America's Favorite Epidemiologist assures me that I can trust the at-home test results considering the lack of any symptoms.

Actually, I really shouldn't be worried about the pandemic, that is if David Bateman is to be believed.  Mr. Bateman, a tech entrepreneur, the kind of person generally esteemed by Wall Street, chambers of commerce, underemployed space scientists and university administrators in need of major funding, has some significant insights into our present public health crisis.  
 
It's the Jews.  Me and my kinsmen are responsible for "a sadistic effort underway to euthanize the American people."  After all, "[f]or 300 years the Jews have been trying to infiltrate the Catholic Church and place a Jew covertly at the top.  It happened in 2013 with Pope Francis."  What more do you need to know?  https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/entrata-chair-emails-tech-ceos-claiming-covid-vaccine-part-of-sterilization-plot-by-the-jews
. . .

7:00 P.M. The test results came into my inbox: NOTDETECTED (too harried to even include a space).  But, what if it had been otherwise?  What if I had been roaming around the Holy Land from December 27th through January 4th infected, though asymptomatic?  Given the highly contagious coronavirus variant that we are now facing, delay is obviously dangerous.  This time, at least, we avoided the bad consequences of the casualness of our relative and the inefficiency of the (overburdened?) lab.  

Wednesday; January 5, 2022
Color blind casting?  Kosher blind casting?
. . .

I am unapologetically a sports fan, although I don't believe that all sports are created equal.  Team sports interest me more than individual sports.  In either case, I prefer that the stars are distinguished by their in-game performance rather than by their idiosyncratic personalities.  That's why I was pleased by this story about "the world’s No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player."  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/sports/tennis/novak-djokovic-australia-visa.html

Briefly, "Novak Djokovic Is Refused Entry Into Australia Over Vaccine Exemption." 

Thursday, January 6, 2022
Another day that will live in infamy?
. . .

Mens sana in corpore sana.
"NPR looked at deaths per 100,000 people in roughly 3,000 counties across the U.S. from May 2021, the point at which vaccinations widely became available.  People living in counties that went 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.73 times the death rates of those that went for Biden. Counties with an even higher share of the vote for Trump saw higher COVID-19 mortality rates."   
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/12/05/1059828993/data-vaccine-misinformation-trump-counties-covid-death-rate

Friday, January 7, 2022
16 Across - ID seen at the post office
. . .

If you were around the Holy Land in the 1980s, you may have shared my devotion to the noble efforts of David Liederman, otherwise known as David's Cookies.  His main location was on Second Avenue between East 52nd and East 53rd Streets, six blocks from my residence.  People would line up to get those chocolate chip beauties right out of the oven.  In fact, the store would insist on letting the cookies sit for a few minutes to avoid people barbecuing their tongues. 

I loved those cookies, but I had the opposite approach.  My cookies went into the freezer and I would eat them once they were cold and hard.  It's a practice that I continue, most enjoyably these days with Jacques Torres's chocolate chip cookies (https://mrchocolate.com/pages/chef-jacques-torres), since David's disappeared from the normal retail channels.  But, yesterday I had a surprise.  On a cross country trip to the enormous ShopRite supermarket in Englewood, New Jersey I found bright packages of David's Cookies.  

There were only two varieties on the shelf, although the package advertised more.  I chose the s'mores in the absence of the straight up chocolate chips that once helped me dispose of my disposable income.  The s'mores were closer to rocky road, marshmallows and chocolate chips in a chocolate batter, a creditable effort.

I'm a married man with responsibilities now and seek different pleasures, but if this will help make America great again, I'm on board.
. . .

Reminder - You need to register for the January 13th Zoom session with Mike German, former FBI agent, discussing the January 6th Capitol riot. 
REGISTRATION HERE
. . .

Answer = IDAHO