War, What Is It Good For?

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Where to begin? Bombing Iran to destroy what the president insisted we previously obliterated? It sickens me to say it, but Israel has become a bad place. The Trump-Netanyahu alliance is truly an axis of evil. While the preemptive attack on Iran may lead to regime change there, what will it take to have regime change in Israel? Our midterm elections in November will only throw some sand in the gears of authoritarianism, at best.

The Iranian government has apparently been killing its citizens promiscuously. “Eyewitnesses say government forces have begun opening fire, apparently with automatic weapons and at times seemingly indiscriminately, on unarmed protesters.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/world/middleeast/iran-protester-deaths.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Trump and Netanyahu, however, thought that the killings were not going fast enough, so they put on their warmonger pants. Frustrated by being denied the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump warned that U.S. strikes “will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5760879-operation-epic-fury-iran/amp/

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We ended this difficult day with an evening of peace and friendship, Havdalah services at the home of Rachel S., marking the end of the Sabbath. All five senses are engaged in Havdalah with the use of a cup of wine, a candle and a container of aromatic spices — feel the cup, smell the spices, see the flame of the candle, hear the blessings and taste the wine. 

 

Sunday, Match 1, 2026

For some people, domestic peace is as remote as international peace. “Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have issued a draconian decree that . . . allows men to beat their wives so long as they don’t break bones or leave visible, lasting wounds.” https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/01/asia/taliban-afghanistan-domestic-violence-legal?cid=ios_app

If anything, moral relativism has met its boundaries.

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Changing its name from Facebook to Meta cost millions of dollars, including paying a bank to drop Meta from its name. https://hypebeast.com/2021/12/facebook-owner-meta-name-rights-60-million-usd-acquisition

However, those clever devils paid for it many times over by moving profits from countries like the United States, Japan, France and Germany to Dublin, Ireland. From there, they moved profits to an additional subsidiary that, for tax purposes, claimed to be managed in the Cayman Islands, which has no corporate income tax. The savings — $15 billion. That’s right, with a B.    https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000010723457/why-the-irs-wants-15-billion-from-meta.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

 

Monday, March 2, 2026

In the great American tradition of kicking a man when he is down: “Tens of thousands of Americans are losing access to treatment for H.I.V. as nearly 20 states impose restrictions on assistance programs and several others weigh such changes.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/health/hiv-drugs-ryan-white.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

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Gentleman Jerry and I had lunch at Shanghai Dumplings Fusion, 158 West 72nd Street, a place that I found only satisfactory in the past. Today, the tide shifted, permanently I hope. Everything we ordered was very good. We had chicken soup dumplings ($11.95 for 5); scallion pancake with beef, really good ($9.95); Shanghai Combination Stir-fried Noodles, lo mein in a thick brown sauce ($16.95). With a couple of Diet Cokes, we unintentionally exceeded $39.95 and got a plate of just ordinary orange chicken as a bonus.

 

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Absolute Bagels, 2788 Broadway, between West 107 & West 108 Streets, usually was at the top of the best bagels list. However, they were closed down once their secret ingredient was discovered — vermin. The business changed hands and was renamed New Absolute Bagels. The old owner objected and now it is simply 2788 Bagels.

 

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

This illustration speaks for itself, but its collateral message is trouble for Democratic presidential candidates with the growth of Texas and Florida and the decline of New York and California.

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In case we had a little time on our hands. “U.S. Opens Military Action in Ecuador Against ‘Terrorist Organizations’” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/us/politics/us-ecuador-trump-military-operations.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

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In print, the headline reads: “Initiating War Is a Risk to the Legacy of President Trump” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/us/politics/iran-trump-polls-republicans.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

 It definitely evoked a chuckle. Legacy? What legacy? Winner of a secondhand Nobel Peace Prize? Convicted felon? Serial bankrupter? Draft dodger? Twice impeached? Sexual predator? 

 

Thursday, March 5, 2026

It was a simple choice: Two friends vs. One wife. Stony Brook Steve, Terrific Tom and I planned to have lunch today. However, with the rain unceasing, I could not abide my young bride schlepping up to the Bronx on the subway. I had to rev up the Gottmobile to shelter her from the storm. Sorry fellas.

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Is a bánh mizza an Indochinese rite of passage ceremony for adolescent boys? No, it is a cross between a pizza and a bánh mi, the traditional Vietnamese hero sandwich. Completely unknown to me until today (reading about it, not eating it), it actually has been around for at least 11 years. https://youtu.be/xC4LxvxahUI

 

Friday, March 5, 2026  

Eleanor the Great (2025) is a movie about a woman who gains renown when she co-opts the Holocaust memories of a deceased friend. This fiction about a fiction is being approximated in real life in court at present. A wealthy and well-connected woman published a memoir about being sexually abused as a schoolgirl. The alleged abuser, whose identity was discernible, is not the one charging the author for invasion of privacy. Rather, a classmate of the author claims the events described in the best-selling (ghost-written) work actually occurred to her not the author. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/nyregion/amy-griffin-the-tell-lawsuit.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share 

Assuming the truth of the plaintiff’s claim, the hijacking of events, was this a crime or a tort (civil wrong) or a wrong without a remedy? I hope that Irwin, Nicky, Ronnie or other legal eagles offer a judgment. Meanwhile, my opinion is that the harm, if any, was to the publisher and the public who were literally sold a false bill of goods.