Friday, October 25, 2024

Hamas Is The Khmer Rouge Of Palestine

Saturday, October 19, 2024 
.  .  .
 
We went to an afternoon showing of the documentary film “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life.” Beyond his name, I knew almost nothing about this brilliant, unconventional character. (Doesn’t being brilliant automatically make one unconventional?)

Ric Burns, the filmmaker, spoke afterwards and explained that he only met Sacks months before his death. While he filmed Sacks then, he also drew on a large store of archival material and an array of contemporary talking heads. It is well worth seeking out, because the film captures a person dedicated to understanding others while grappling over decades with understanding himself.
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At night, we went to the Manhattan Theatre Club to see “Vladimir,” a new play. Before entering, I had no idea whether it was about Lenin, Putin, Guerrero (Hall of Fame right fielder, 1996-2011) or his son Junior (first baseman Toronto Blue Jays). As it happens, it is named for the most unpleasant one, Vladimir Putin. Although he never appears, his evil spirit lurks over a journalist pursuing a massive economic fraud and covering the Second Chechen War. The play is based on real events and serves as a warning to us of the dangers of autocratic oppression.

Sunday, October 20, 2024
“Top U.S. Metros with Highest Shares of Remote Workers in 2023;” the title of this report is clear. 

Looking at 109 metropolitan areas, using census data, it found that Austin, Texas, Raleigh, North Carolina and Denver, Colorado had the highest percentage of remote workers. The Holy Land does not appear in the top 10. Working from home was never an option for me and I doubt that I would have taken it if it were. Whether writing computer code or drafting legal opinions, I wanted the scrutiny of colleagues, best offered face-to-face.
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I had lunch with Jeffrey Heller for two reasons. He is good company and, because he spent 13 years bicycling 16,000 miles through all of the 
lower 48 states promoting the rights of refugees, talking to gas station attendants, diner employees, motel desk clerks, state troopers, truck drivers and folks curious about the guy on the recumbent bicycle, he heard from people that I never have. In brief, his view is that there are mostly good people out there, though many misinformed. Prescription: Not so clear.

We ate at Hummus Place, 305 Amsterdam Avenue, down four steps from street level. It has a dozen tables; hard surfaces make it sound like a bigger crowd. There are some more tables outside on the busy sidewalk. 

I had a brunch special, spinach shakshuka, orange juice, silky smooth hummus, pita and coffee for $21. That was a good deal for very good food.

Monday, October 21, 2024
What was the most popular baby boy’s and girl’s names the year you were born? 

Sorry, we don’t know what they are calling themselves today.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024
We added a neuro-opthalmologist to the payroll today. Actually, it’s not my personal payroll, but Medicare’s, the program that, in conjunction with Social Security, has made us alte kockers healthier and wealthier than any preceding generation. 

Have a problem with that? Vote Republican.
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Dr. Fouladvand examined me for glaucoma, the term for a group of eye disorders that damage your optic nerve, not a good thing.

But, first I ate. Montagu’s Gusto, 645 Second Avenue, is a newish sandwich shop, opposite the exit to the Queens Midtown Tunnel. It’s a busy place, about 80% of the floor space devoted to food preparation, leaving room only for four small two-tops and a ledge with six stools.

It offers sandwiches and salads. I had the Droopy, roast beef on sourdough with carmelized onions, arugula, pickled cucumber and horseradish ($13.95). I wanted to love this sandwich, but I could only like it. It seemed tired, needing aioli to pep it up.

Wednesday, October 23,2024
With the Mets failing to advance to the World Series, Holy Landers have lost a serious point of contention, Mets vs. Yankees. Just in time, another matter has arise that will divide households — the best bagels in New York. 
Several of the 17 recommended are familiar to me, including Absolute Bagels, 2788 Broadway, certainly near the top. However, I find the absence of Zucker’s, now at half a dozen locations, unforgivable. Don’t skip it. The bagels are excellent and the whitefish salad is the reigning champ.
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The Boyz Club assembled for lunch at Wu’s Wonton King, 156 East Broadway. The building once housed the Garden Cafeteria, the fabled gathering place for the writers on the Yiddish newspapers located down the block. When I lived in Greenwich Village eons ago, I used to ride my bicycle there on Sunday mornings for lox and eggs and onions, with a side of mashed potatoes or noodles and cheese. My mother’s birthplace, 13 Essex Street, is a half a block away, another connection to the site.

The place was busy. Gentleman Jerry noted that all the other patrons appeared Asian; not a tourist in the crowd. The five of us ate soup buns ($8.99 six pieces); scallion pancake ($5.99); braised beef lo mein ($11.99); seafood chow fun ($19.99); “Famous Garlic Aromatic Crispy Chicken” ($19.99). The scallion pancake lacked crispness, else all was consumed with pleasure.

Thursday, October 24, 2024
Who called Trump a “sleazeball,” a “narcissist” and said that the former president is “stupid as well as being ill-tempered,” adding that Trump is “not very smart, irascible, nasty, just about every quality you would not want somebody to have”?

A) Bernie Sanders
B) Mitch McConnell
C) Melania Trump

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For my first Ranger hockey game of the season, I had the company of Sam Fuchs, All-American Boy. Sam played football for Stuyvesant High School and now volunteers as a coach. He told me of a program that allows high school kids to play a sport at another school in their district, if their school does not offer the opportunity, the PSAL All-Access Program. https://thhsclassic.com/18308/sport/new-psal-policy-opens-the-door-for-student-athletes-to-compete-in-more-sports/
 
It's a modest attempt to balance equities in the New York City public school system. In the increasingly challenging college application process, participation in a sport has to be a plus.
 
Before the game, we enjoyed the largesse of Chase Bank, which has tied itself firmly to Madison Square Garden, offering free food and drink to a limited number of ticket holders. The menu was empanadas, tuna tacos and flautas, an excellent start to the evening and it should have been the end of the evening, sparing us the first outright loss of the season.



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Saturday, October 19, 2024

Then We Eat

Sunday, October 12, 2024 
We went to JCC Harlem, 318 West 118th Street, again on Friday night and Saturday morning for Yom Kippur services. Before Friday night’s services, we also visited Lee Lee’s Baked Goods, 283 West 118th Street, a long-established bakery noted for its rugelach. We first bought some a week-and-a-half ago and knew that they would be a good treat in the new year. Later today, we will indulge.

JCC Harlem uses the prayer book published by the Rabbinical Assembly, a major denominational organization. Only a few prayers are contemporary; most are centuries old, some a millennium or more. The opposing pages are numbered in duplicate, page 99 faces page 99. The right hand page is predominantly Hebrew while the left hand page is English with transliterations of key phrases opposite. “Israel/ יִשְׂרָאֵל" appears time after time, page after page, belying the argument that somehow Jews are strangers in a strange land. 
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Zillow is a successful real estate website. Here, it looked at inquiries by potential renters about the amenities in available properties, including both apartments and standalone homes, which fuzzed up the results in my view.

Some features are peculiar to a multi-unit property, such as “happy hour,” while some to a private home, “finished basement.” If we bother to separate the apples from the oranges, there is some interesting information, notably the importance of parking space, something which we find very convenient.
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It’s late Sunday night and we have the first weekend of sports in the new year and Grandpa is Grumpy. The Rangers lost, the Giants lost and the Mets lost to teams from Salt Lake City, Cincinnati and Los Angeles, respectively. In fact, only the Rangers were competitive, getting to overtime before losing. The Mets were overwhelmed, the Giants inept. The only bright light was the New York Liberty winning the second game of the Women’s National Basketball Association championship series. I admire the team, but I have not yet developed that long-term visceral attachment as I have to the others.

Monday, October 14, 2024
Gentleman Jerry, Stony Brook Steve and I went for a ride to the vicinity of the George Washington Bridge to have lunch at Dutch Baby Bakery, 813 West 187th Street, a funky café that evoked Ithaca, New York or Flagstaff, Arizona. It's actually a full-service restaurant, serving wine and liquor along with all sorts of coffee concoctions to go with their attractive baked goods. The 20 or so tables in two rooms inside and the four on the sidewalk were occupied most of the time. 

You order at the counter and pick up there or have it brought to your table. The menu says "All breads, dressings, pickles, slaws, sauces & syrups are made from scratch in house!" I had the fried chicken sandwich, "Pan-fried chicken breast on focaccia, with veggie slaw, chipotle mayo & pickles. [S]ide of salad or potato hash" ($15). This was a very good sandwich, the mayo adding a kick. The chicken crust much stiffer and tighter than Popeyes', for instance, generally a standard of greasy excellence. My companions enjoyed their food as well, Steve shakshuka and Jerry frittata. I think that we will find excuses to go north again.
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As if we did not enough to worry about, a new study claims that Christopher Columbus was Jewish. 
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Mike Sapraicone. Now you know.
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Milano’s Market has two locations, 2892 Broadway and 1582 Third Avenue. I visited the former soon after it appeared on the list of 57 Sandwiches That Define New York City. It was a wonderful experience, even though I had to eat my hefty hero on a bench in the center of Broadway at West 112th Street. Still another doctor’s appointment on East 85th Street made me choose Milano’s East 89th Street location for lunch today. A look at their website seemed to show seating, alas an illusion. With no benches in sight, I turned to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, 1572 Third Avenue, prompted by its mention yesterday.

Such a deal, two pieces of chicken (both thighs), a biscuit, French fries, coleslaw and a refillable soda for $7 plus tax. They call it the Big Box, which it ain’t, but generous it is. 
.  .  .

Late afternoon, I went to Roosevelt House, once the home of FDR and Eleanor, at 47-49 East 65th Street, now owned and operated by Hunter College as a conference and meeting center. The program centered on “Higher Admissions: The Rise, Decline, and Return of Standardized Testing,” a new book by Nicholas Lemann, author and Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. Lemann spoke along with another educator and the CEO of ETS, f/k/a Educational Testing Service, 2 to 1 against the SAT. In 2015, 2,500 post-secondary institutions required a standardized test, notably the SAT or ACT. Today, only 200 do, a colossal decline. The magic word now is “holistic.”

After the discussion, I approached Lemann and said that the SAT at least deserved credit for the advancement of Jewish students in the 20th Century and Chinese students in the 21st Century even though other minorities have not benefited. 

Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Adam Gopnik made an interesting observation in The New Yorker this week. “[D]uring the past three or four decades . . . liberals have wanted political victories while reliably securing only cultural victories, even as conservatives, wanting cultural victories, get only political ones. . . . Nixon took the White House in a landslide while Norman Lear took the airwaves in a ratings sweep.”
.  .  . 

I traded a periodontist for a doctor today, but I added a CT scan to my normal adventures. That meant no food from 9 AM to 3 PM, so I rushed into Little Thai Kitchen, 223 East 53rd Street, as soon as I was released without taking the time to look for fried chicken three days in a row. It’s a narrow, very deep joint, attractively decorated with a variety of wood patterns on its surfaces. There seems to be an upstairs or at least a stairway to heaven. 

I was in time for the lunch special, a main course and appetizer. I started with two small spring rolls and then had drunken noodles, a large portion with beef, onions, broccoli, carrots, corn and green peppers ($17). It helped to restore the balance of my waking hours to food consumed.

Thursday, October 17, 2024
It was like being on vacation, I only had a quick visit with my oral surgeon today.
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Bibi Netanyahu is cruel, he is malicious, he is arrogant, but he is not stupid. The death of 
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, gives him the perfect opportunity to declare mission accomplished in Gaza and end that terrible conflict with the possibility that some hostages survive and may be returned home. If he chooses to continue his surrogate battle with Iran in Lebanon, while more significant strategically, it will draw far less attention and opposition in the West, because of Iran’s rogue status. It’s time for prayer.

Friday, October 18, 2024
Long before little ramshackle huts appeared in front of food service establishments in dense urban areas as a way to curb Covid transmission, Jews were erecting them for eight days every year to commemorate the long trek in the desert after fleeing Egypt, the Sukkot (sue•coat) holiday. 

The observant eat their meals in the deliberately flimsy Sukkah; some may sleep in them as well. We had lunch yesterday in Butch and Toby’s Sukkah in Englewood featuring two different lasagnas, one gluten-free, but that didn't stop me. Tonight, we had dinner by Judi and Stu, also in Englewood. In fact, where Beverly Hills seemingly has a swimming pool behind every house, much of Englewood has a Sukkah, emphasizing that this is a family-focused celebration. 

Aunt Judi continues to push the boundaries of Kosher cuisine. We started with one of my absolutely favorite dishes, deep fried gefilte fish, something that Judi has been serving to me for years, creating a huge balance in the gratitude bank.  Then, a thick artichoke and parsnip soup. The mains all came together, beautiful London broil; skinless, boneless chicken breasts in mushroom sauce; corn pudding; leek kugel; orzo; Have-I-left-out-anything slaw. So little room remained after this spread that I only had frozen lemon pie for dessert, leaving chocolate chip cookies, brownies and slivered almond cookies untouched. Note that everything but the fish was tenderly, carefully homemade. My only regret is that we don't live close enough to drop in for leftovers.

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Friday, October 11, 2024

Ever Again

Saturday, October 5, 2024 
Which country leads the world in innovation, asks The Economist. Its answer is Switzerland, followed by Sweden, United States, Singapore and Great Britain. 

If this result surprises you as it did me, note that the article says it “adopts a broad definition of innovation.” I’m not sure how I would define innovation — number of patents, adoption of technology, improvements in public services? Of course, the issue always remains “To what end?” Consider Henry David Thoreau’s comment: “We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.”

Sunday, October 6, 2024
The Washington Post has published an important investigation into Hamas’s preparations for the October 7th attack on Israel.

It helps one understand the initial success of the invasion and the challenge of the Israeli response. It found that, instead of relying on outside sources, much of the weaponry was developed in Gaza in a vast underground network that seemed to be vastly underestimated by the IDF and outside observers generally. “Costing, at minimum, hundreds of millions of dollars — money that Hamas diverted from humanitarian and economic development projects intended to improve the lives of ordinary Gazans — the tunnel system by Oct. 7 extended more than 300 miles, longer than the New York City subway, or about the distance from Tel Aviv to southern Turkey.”

An ugly consequence of this accomplishment is the vast destruction of lives and property as Israel sought to eliminate this critical element of the Hamas war effort.
.  .  .

As a renter, your feelings about your local real estate market are probably determined by your position -- well entrenched vs. poised to change. What's considered a hot market may be too scalding for many.    

If God rivals or exceeds Mammon in making your life choices, regard this. "The Dallas-Fort Worth region is home to more than 6,500 houses of worship, the highest concentration in the top 10 largest urban regions in the country, according to the 2020 U.S. religion census. Four of the 20 largest churches in the country are in the area."

Monday, October 7, 2024
Today is another day that will live in infamy. I cannot imagine an appropriate way to commemorate this day in the future. However, David Prager makes a valuable contribution. 
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How can you ignore a place called Handsome Rice, 133 East 31st Street, especially when it is around the corner from one of the multitude of doctors now on my payroll? It’s a tiny storefront with four two-tops on the sidewalk and a shed at the curb. It serves Korean comfort food and hamburgers.

I ordered bulgogi, a large portion of tasty shredded, marinated beef ribeye over purple rice (that’s where the handsome comes in) ($15).

Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Another day, another doctor. This time it’s for mo’ MOHS, an attack on an ugly patch of skin on my forehead.
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To begin the healing process, I had lunch with Terrific Tom at The Corner, 698 Ninth Avenue, my second visit in a few weeks, the memory of a very good lunch still fresh in my mind. Of course, another $20 off coupon helps my appetite.

We dug in and had an excellent meal, starting with Peking duck egg rolls ($14 for 2 pieces) and thin, crispy scallion pancakes ($8). Then, we turned to main courses, large portions of walnut shrimp, “Crispy giant prawns are quick-fried and tossed in our grand marnier sauce” ($28), and Sizzling Black Pepper Filet Mignon, stir-fried with mushrooms and onions ($26). The flavors nicely contrasted, both delicious. 

On each occasion, The Corner had very little business at lunchtime. It is located right in the Theater District and maybe it has a bustling dinner business to keep its doors open. I can only hope.

Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Last week, Marjorie Taylor Greene, congressional representative from Georgia, created a new scientific discipline, ethnopolitical meteorology. “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”
Since then, it has been bantered about as to who these hurricane propagators are. We Jews are the #1 candidates, always a reasonable deduction. However, I am dubious. We are just too busy exercising international political and economic power to deal with the weather.

Thursday, October 10, 2024
This headline caught my eye. "TD Bank Pleads Guilty and Pays $3 Billion to Settle Money-Laundering Case." I am awed by a business having $3 billion lying around to be able to pay such an enormous fine. Or, do they have to borrow money from the Rothschilds?
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Quote of the week.
Thordur O. Thordarson, the Reykjavik museum’s chief operating officer: “We are a penis museum, yes, but we are a serious penis museum.”

Friday, October 11, 2024
Kamala Harris calls for us “to turn the page,” a convenient way to distance herself from Presidents Biden and Trump, the former viewed as a burden, the latter as an obstacle. I wish it were that easy. I recoiled at this print headline, slightly different on-line. “A Columbia Student Group Endorses Hamas and Oct. 7”

I believe that this group, at least, is so deeply rooted in historic prejudice that a future of reconciliation and peace is unattainable. 5785, please prove me wrong!
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After that recent episode with the bacon grease at Temple Israel of Natick, I am trying to stay within the boundaries of my faith/heritage/religion/nationality/ethnicity/ancestry/belief system/tradition/tribe. Therefore, I am releasing this missive before sundown ushers in Tishrei 10. To play it safe, you might want to wait a day to read it.



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Saturday, October 5, 2024

שָׁנָה טוֹבָה‎‎

Saturday, September 28, 2024 
Hurricane Helene has set some unfortunate records for destruction. A number of organizations have stepped forward to aid in the recovery process for the affected areas. 

At the urging of Governor Ron DeSantis, I have assembled a large team of hearty Venezuelans who are being bussed to Tallahassee this weekend to assist Floridians in bringing sunshine back to the Sunshine State.

Sunday, September 29, 2024
I saw this list of allegedly the most important dishes in American cuisine and I knew that I could do better.   https://www.cnn.com/travel/american-food-best-dishes-cuisine?cid=ios_app

Here are my 20 items.
  • Apple pie
  • Bagel and lox 
  • Barbecue
  • Black and white cookie 
  • Blueberry muffin
  • Brownies 
  • Cheesecake 
  • Chocolate chip cookie
  • Coca-Cola
  • Deep dish (Chicago) pizza
  • Eggs Benedict 
  • Grilled steak
  • Hamburger 
  • Hot dog
  • Lobster roll
  • Peanut butter and jelly sandwich 
  • Potato chips 
  • Roast turkey 
  • Southern fried chicken 
  • Spaghetti and meatballs 
Some comments. I am not going to get embroiled in a barbecue debate. Deep dish (Chicago) pizza is a radical departure from classic Neapolitan pizza. Europeans roast good beef, we grill it. The contents of a hamburger and a hot dog were well established, but putting them in a bun was American ingenuity.

Monday, September 30, 2024
Speaking of Southern fried chicken, I went to H Mart, 210 Amsterdam Avenue, which offers high quality produce, a huge inventory of Asian packaged products and prepared food to go, particularly South Korean fried chicken from bb.q Chicken, the international chain. I bought a box of Golden Original Boneless, more than a pound of crunchy pieces ($13.49). There is no place to sit in H Mart, so I walked about a block onto the grounds of Lincoln Towers and parked on a picnic table, where I almost finished the whole box of chicken.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Happy Birthday, Susan, Moshe and Jimmy.
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New York’s Mayor Eric Adams, the second African American to hold the office, has been indicted by the federal government on charges of using his influence in exchange for luxury travel benefits. This morning, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York admitted to a serious case of mistaken identity. The actual alleged perpetrator is Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
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My young bride deserved a treat, so we went to Baazi, 2588 Broadway, a new Indian restaurant replacing an old Indian restaurant. Its front is all window and one long wall is mirrored. Half the opposite wall is a bar with a drawing of the Red Fort in Old Delhi in the rest of the space. There is also a second floor that I never saw.

We didn’t eat much, just a main course each, but the food was very good. I had “Hyderabadi murgh biryani,” chicken biryani by any other name ($22). I’ve rarely had better, distinguished in quality and quantity. It was loaded with very tender chicken. The vegetarian side of the table had “Seven leaf saag Paneer,” cottage cheese in super smooth spinach purée ($22).

Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Tonight begins the Jewish High Holidays. Our days run from sunset to sunset. We passed on sunrise to sunrise and midnight to midnight. We will be attending services at the JCC (Jewish Community Center) Harlem, 318 West 118th Street, a new venue for us. I am changing after 20 years, because our synagogue has become a platform for anti-Zionism. To our enemies, Zionism is about the State of Israel, to me, Zionism is about the Jewish people.

Harlem and Jews are not an unusual combination. When Harlem was developed as a residential neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century, Jews flocked there. I don’t know why, but African Americans began to populate the area after WWI, eventually establishing Harlem as the capital of Black America. 

In the last 20 years or so, the demographics have changed with new construction and the refurbishment of older structures. According to the 2020 census, Harlem no longer has a Black majority. 

CCNY, my alma mater, as well as my brother’s and so many of my friends’ till this day, sits in a prominent place in Harlem. Unfortunately, in my day, there were few Black students and negligible engagement with the community.

The college’s student body has changed inversely to the surrounding population. Once home to first generation Jews from the Lower East Side and ethnic enclaves in Brooklyn and the Bronx, it now has a predominantly Black and brown student body, with a strong element of foreign born students.
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Before we entered the JCC’s building, I noticed Lee Lee’s Baked Goods, 283 West 118th Street, reputed to have excellent rugelach. What better way to start the new year? We bought half a dozen hefty ones, $3 each. Later in the evening, after returning from services we were able to confirm the wisdom of our purchase. A#1.

The 80 seats at the JCC were all occupied, mostly by whites, but not as monochromatically as too many Jewish congregations. The building, an open rectangle, is easily recognized as having once been a garage. Mira Rivera is the rabbi, the first Filipina-American woman to be ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary. The Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative) prayer book was used and the service was friendly and familiar. We are returning.

Incidentally, given the multi-front warfare in the Middle East and the reaction to it here, the mood of the assembly seemed wary, but ultimately positive.
 

Friday, October 4, 2024
I’m old enough to say “To Hell with the future. I don’t care about what’s coming up.” However, for whatever reason, I’m unwilling to ignore the future. I just looked at recent credit card statements and found that I made 23 contributions to political campaigns from July 10th through September 8th. Involved were the presidential race and a healthy handful of Senate and House contests throughout the country. Quick, who is running against Kirsten Gillibrand?
.  .  .
 
The label Amazin’ Mets emerged in 1969, when the baseball team created in 1962 went from last place in 1968 to win the World Series the next year. This Worst to First run was not singular, but quite rare in all professional sports, especially in baseball. Last night, we saw a giant step in resuscitating the label as the Mets rescued their season with a last minute victory in Milwaukee about as dramatic as the last minute victory three days earlier in Atlanta. It’s a great start to 5785.


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