Saturday, July 16, 2022
I left the house today, for the first time since getting Covid one week ago. Unfortunately, one of the first things that I encountered was the ravages of inflation; Pastrami Queen, 138 West 72nd Street, raised the price of its Monday special, a pastrami sandwich with pickles and a can of Dr. Brown's, from $16.99 to $19.99. It's still a good deal, but no longer a great deal. On the other hand, some things cannot be measured by price alone.
. . .
The director of the Vinton, Iowa library quit because of complaints that "the library had a children's book about Vice President Kamala Harris and
one written by first lady Jill Biden, but no children's books about
former President Donald Trump."
Just imagine a children's book about the adventures of Donald Trump, the lessons that they would learn about bankruptcy, Stormy Daniels, the "perfect" telephone call to
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or the hunt for 11,780 Easter eggs in Georgia?
Sunday, July 17, 2022
A new survey ranked North Dakota first for low housing rent costs.
As I said above, some things cannot be measured by price alone.
. . .
Displacement theory at work: "Edison [New Jersey's] public schools serve about 16,500 students in two preschools, 11 elementary schools, four middle schools and two high schools (Edison High and John P. Stevens). The student body is 66 percent Asian, 12 percent Hispanic, 11 percent white and 7.6 percent Black. In the 2020-21 school year, the average combined SAT scores at the two high schools were 628 in reading and writing, compared with a state average of 557, and 653 in math, compared with a state average of 560."
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/
. . .
In his opinion overturning Roe v. Wade,
410 U.S. 113 (1973), Samuel Alito found no justification in text or history for a right to abortion. While the quality and thoroughness of his research is questionable, he emerged with the critical phrase "unborn human being" as one deserving constitutional protection. This is not a term from colonial times, uttered at the Constitutional Convention or appearing in the 14th Amendment. Rather, he lifts it from the challenged Mississippi statute. “The Court agrees with Mr. Fox that the henhouse reasonably resembled his own domicile."
Monday, July 18, 2022
Here is a pair of numbers related in time and space, yet defying logical explanation. There were 376 law enforcement responders on the scene at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 students and teachers were massacred.
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
A museum in Los Angeles has just opened an exhibit on the Jewish delicatessen. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/
The exhibit will come to the New-York Historical Society in November and eventually visit Houston and Skokie, Illinois. While we can appreciate memorialization of this vital institution, we wish that it wasn't being seen in the rear view mirror. As the article notes, "There were an estimated 3,000 Jewish delis in New York City in the
1930s; now there are just a few dozen, according to the New-York
Historical Society," a count that I find optimistic.
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Doctoral Candidates. A British university suggested that its graduate students sell Avon products to make ends meet.
Friday, July 22, 2022
Aside from a pot luck dinner at the house of friends last night, I had my first meal outside the home today. I had been held back by two Cs, Covid and Celsius. The former seems to have mostly departed, while the latter remains at a heightened level.
I was in Midtown East and, among the many alternatives, I had a hard time making a choice between the known and the unknown. I wound up at Sai Gon Dep, 719 Second Avenue, a tiny Vietnamese joint for the first time. It has six two-tops fronting a long, red imitation leather banquet along one wall opposite a shallow counter with seven stools plus one four-top toward the back. The most interesting aspect of the interior were 21 vividly-colored vintage travel posters. How vintage? They are still speaking French.
From the simple menu, I ordered a Banh Mi, chicken with pickled carrots, pickled daikon (radish), cucumber, cilantro, lettuce, red jalapeño and siracha aioli on a crispy 9" baguette ($10). It was delicious and accompanied by a complimentary small bowl of pho, the hot nectar of Vietnam. I took a guess on this place and came up a winner.
Please provide cite where you found that quote about the Court agreeing with Fox that his domicile resembles a henhouse. The fuller context might be interesting.
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