Saturday, June 1, 2022
In
the words of Chester A. Riley, “What a revolting development this is.”
Grandson Boaz’s middle school graduation went off swimmingly
yesterday. He was one of a small group of remarkably thoughtful
teenagers who are leaving the warm and friendly environment of the eighth grade for the intimidating world of HIGH SCHOOL.
Today, Boaz joined his Natick Cyclone teammates for a playoff game in his youth soccer league and, in a hard collision with an opponent, fractured his clavicle. This unfortunate event turns some of his forthcoming plans inside out. His class is taking a camping trip to Vermont on Monday, which he may have to miss. Of greater consequence to his grandparents, the July 2nd departure on our trip to Iceland with him may be aborted (with apologies to the United States Supreme Court).
He was seen at an urgent care facility and a thorough workup may not occur until next week. Wisely, America’s Favorite Epidemiologist had taken out trip insurance, because of public health concerns. We await further developments.
. . .
Remember
the hysterical claims that the Holy Land was suffering massive
defections, typically emanating from people who never were and never
would be real New Yorkers. In fact, the latest data show that the rush
is on to squeeze back into inadequate space at exorbitant prices.
. . .
Once
you get here, you are going to have to eat something. TimeOut New York
has updated its list of the best restaurants and a few are actually
affordable.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
It may not be one of the 100 best local restaurants, but 456 New Shanghai Restaurant, 69 Mott Street, made New York magazine’s best 1,000 list. https://nymag.com/listings/
. . .
I admit that I am disturbed by
much of the thinking that passes for American public
opinion. However, in 1964, Richard Hofstadter published his essay "The
Paranoid Style in American Politics," that began "American
politics has often been an arena for angry minds" and gave evidence of
this back to colonial days. https://harpers.org/archive/
I
never thought that we were alone in this regard and am well aware of
many more bizarre and dangerous ideas throughout the world. It was the
British, though, that I considered a rock of rationality, that is, until
I read a recent study that shows "a disconcertingly high number of adults
in England do not agree with the scientific and governmental consensus
on the coronavirus pandemic." https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/
More than just expressing pseudo-scientific skepticism, almost 20% of "2,500 adults, representative of the English population for age, gender, region, and income,"
agree with each of these two disparate statements:
- "Jews have created the virus to collapse the economy for financial gain."
- "Muslims are spreading the virus as an attack on Western values."
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
I
was graced by a visit from cousin Jerry Latter -- his paternal
grandfather Samuel Latter and my paternal grandmother Yetta
Latter, were brother and sister, born in Zuromin,
Poland in the 1870s. He came to fill in some gaps in his prodigious
genealogical research into the descendants of Marx Lato and Marian Laia
Ryzowy, who married in 1857. Lato became Latter apparently when some
family members migrated to Great Britain around the turn of the 20th
century.
Bringing
his own scanner and laptop, Jerry added pictures from my brother's Bar
Mitzvah in 1949 and mine in 1955, as well as some varied Gotthelf family
photos we supplied, to his vast collection. As a small reward for his
great efforts, I brought in bagels and whitefish salad from Zucker's
Bagels & Smoked Fish, 273 Columbus Avenue.
Thursday, June 16, 2022
I
have just come across an example of cultural appropriation that may not rival sushi
at Oberlin College ("culturally appropriative sustenance system") (https://www.washingtonpost.
The Maven Law Group of Denver, Colorado, is representing
Lauren Boebert, Colorado Republican, in a potential defamation suit. https://www.yahoo.com/news/
Boebert,
as you may know, makes Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene sound like
the Voice of Reason. But that's not my point. There
isn't a Member of the Tribe to be discerned among the Maven
Law Group lawyers. https://www.mavenlawgroup.com/
Admittedly,
not all Jews are mavens, but at least some mavens should be Jews. For
example, Yan Goldshteyn is identified as the "Principal attorney" of the
Maven Law Firm of Beverly Hills, California, obviously not to be confused with the Maven Law Group of Denver, Colorado.
Friday, June 17, 2022
Medical Report
Boaz is doing fine, his right arm in a sling. He had to miss the class trip, but will only have to forgo horseback riding on our forthcoming trip to Iceland, joining me back at the corral.
. . .
Texas Senator John Cornyn, the lead Republican negotiator on prospective gun reform legislation, spoke these inspiring words to a gathering in Houston earlier today:
"Democrats
pushed for an assault weapons ban, I said no. They tried
to get a new three-week mandatory waiting period for all gun purchases,
I said no. Universal background checks, magazine bans, licensing
requirements, the list goes on and on and on. And I said no, no, 1,000
times no."
. . .
It
is America's Favorite Epidemiologist's birthday and we celebrated with dinner at Boulud Sud, 20 West 64th Street, "Chef Daniel Boulud’s vibrant celebration of the sun and the sea." We actually sat in the shade and away from the shoreline, but enjoyed ourselves, nevertheless. I ate most of the taramasalata, whipped smoked cod roe, served with homemade dill potato chips ($23). The birthday girl had "Shabazi [blend of green chiles, parsley and coriander] Spiced" Mediterranean sea bass, with tahina, bulgur wheat and green garbanzos ($38). I had Moroccan chicken tagine, with turnips, preserved lemon and couscous ($38). Nothing was cheap, but everything was very good, including the service, and the complimentary chocolate dessert was excellent. In all, a good choice for a special occasion, although I wish that more of the male guests were wearing long pants.
No comments:
Post a Comment