Saturday, August 8, 2026

Looking Ahead

Saturday, August 1, 2026
Speaking of the New York Times, as subscribers we get home delivery and unlimited online access. I go back and forth between paper and pixels. Lately, however, I've become annoyed by a timing problem. I will read an article online that doesn't appear in print for many days. While my buddies are normally up to date on the daily paper, they may not have same online reading habit as I do. I am disappointed when my usually loquacious companions only produce a blank stare in response to my inquiry: "What did you think of Donald Trump, Jr.'s critique of The Catcher in the Rye?" 
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I think that I belong on this chart.


Sunday, August 2, 2026
Happy Birthday Burt.
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Jacob’s Pickles, 680 Columbus Avenue, takes up half the block between 84th and 85th Streets and almost every inch of it, indoors and out, was taken by the brunch crowd today. I moved right to the bar to avoid the crowd still waiting to get in.

Last week, I had probably the biggest fried chicken sandwich ever at Bob White Counter, 34 Avenue C. Jacob’s came awfully close, piled high with shredded lettuce and pickle chips ($22). It may have also been the worst fried chicken sandwich that I’ve ever had. The chicken was room temperature and had the texture and taste of an item that had been forgotten in the back of the kitchen. The French fries were only a slight improvement. I did not finish my meal. I repeat, I did not finish my meal.

The final indignity was the $4 Diet Coke, one of those tiny bottles that might have come from a child’s play kitchen.
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I salvaged this trip out of the house by going to Trader Joe’s, 670 Columbus Avenue, and then Zabar’s, 2245 Broadway, to shop for things to delight my young bride upon her return home tomorrow.
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Wirecutter is the New York Times’s embedded version of Consumer Reports. When I read its recommendation for T-shirts, I was convinced. 
The last two of the 14 that I ordered in various colors came today. They have more colors, but I exercised self-control.

Monday, August 3, 2026
“Belgian Jewish Organization Sues Local Railway Operator For Holocaust Deportations"   https://share.google/gCZLMLiI7mVGtZUq4

Reading this article took me back 25 years. I had no job when I graduated law school, so I volunteered to do research for a group of real lawyers who were suing SNCF, the French national railroad, for its role in the Holocaust. SNCF rented boxcars to the Nazis to carry Jews and others to Auschwitz and other death camps. And when the war ended, SNCF billed the de Gaulle government for unpaid Nazi charges.

We lost the case, because the relevant U.S. statute did not extend to these circumstances. My research showed that the statute was drafted incorrectly, misunderstanding the historical precedents. However, that’s not an argument that wins in court. 

Justice was eventually served years later. SNCF was trying to sell technology to U.S. railroads. Okay, just pay remaining survivors and the descendants of victims and you have a deal.  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30351196
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“Using travel data, Tel Aviv University researchers estimate that between 45,000 and 50,000 Israelis left the country in each of the past three years, amid war and increased political strife.”

https://share.google/TzAbXOzfq7uniG7TE

This movement is a crucial brain drain and ultimately a threat to Israel’s security, because these emigrants are among its most highly educated citizens.

As a liberal Zionist, I fervently hope that the Israeli government ceases its foreign adventures and concentrates on rebuilding the trust and support of its population. Israel’s future lies in Tel Aviv not Tehran.

Tuesday, August 4, 2026
I mentioned Wirecutter above. Today, I received another message from them that I swear could have been written by George Costanza. “Change Your Toilet Seat, Change Your Life.”
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Profiles in Porridge - "The [committee] vote paves the way for Todd Blanche's confirmation as attorney general."

Wednesday, August 5, 2026
“Despite only being 1% of the Canadian population, Jewish Canadians made up 68% of reported religiously motivated hate crimes and 18.8% of overall reported hate crimes in 2024—the largest in either category.”
Anti-Israel                    Anti-Zionist                Anti-Jewish
Anti-Jewish                  Anti-Israel                  Anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionist                 Anti-Jewish                Anti-Israel

There are some people who can distinguish these terms, but it's too much trouble for many.

Thursday, August 6, 2026
Madam and I stayed indoors all day to avoid the ugly hot and humid weather outside. That gave us the incentive to go out for dinner. We headed to Canto, 2014 Broadway, with its high ceiling arches and large, hanging faux floral arrangements. It was crowded and noisy. Most of the two dozen tables were occupied inside and some brave souls were eating outside. 

Cantu does a good job with a conventional Italian menu. My young bride was very satisfied with her salade niçoise (French, I know), "Grilled Tuna Loin, Lettuce, String Beans, Olives, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Onion, Anchovies, and Hard-Boiled Eggs in a Lemon Dressing" ($22). I had Bucatini alla Carbonara, pancetta, egg, and a parmesan sauce over thick spaghetti  ($27). 

We were happy with our dessert choice, buying a 1.5 quart tub of Tillamook’s Salty Caramel Pretzel ice cream at the Morton Williams supermarket conveniently located in the middle of the short distance between the restaurant and Palazzo di Gotthelf ($8.99).

Friday, August 7, 2026
You don’t get out of a visit to Dr. Englebert in a hurry. Before he sticks a needle in your eyeball, his specialty, you get drops in your eye six times at roughly 15-minute intervals. By the time that he appears, he might as well be wielding a chainsaw. Just get it over with!
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Groucho Marx's trick question was "What's a paradox?" For me it was my Double Doctor Day. Dr. Lipsky, a psychiatrist, is monitoring my pharmaceutical input. Actually, I reported an elevated mood, because Dr. Englebert cleared me for cataract surgery by Dr. DeLuca. Imagine that. Happy to have surgery, that's how low I've sunk.

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Saturday, August 1, 2026

All The News That Fits, We Print

Saturday, July 25, 2026
Now that the World Cup is firmly in the rear-view mirror, I want to look at football, as it is known in the rest of world. It is also affectionately called the beautiful game, a phrase popularized by Pelé, the immortal Brazilian player. However, you won’t find me calling it the beautiful game. 

I watched many more hours of soccer during this World Cup than I ever had before. It ain’t beautiful. The championship game, Spain vs. Argentina, lasted over 120 minutes, ending 1-0. Guys were falling down all over the place. Cheap shots, dirty shots, grabbing, tripping, flopping. And dramatically confronting the referee whenever a foul was finally called. Only rarely was there a smooth flow of action, even rarer was a score. When the match ended and the winning team was being honored, the losing team turned its back. Not beautiful.
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Tonight, I went to the Awards Banquet at the 111th American Ethical Union Assembly, the federation of the 20 Ethical Culture Societies. While I make no claim to be either ethical or cultured, I had good reason to be there. Dr. Arthur Dobrin was deservedly receiving the Felix Adler Lifetime Achievement Award, named for the founder of the movement. Speaking of lifetimes, Arthur and I have known each as long as we can remember. We lived across the street from each other in Brooklyn and then our families moved across the street from each other in Queens over 70 years ago. 

The meal was catered by Carmine's, the local restaurant chain noted for large portions of Southern Italian food. Indeed, there was an abundance of food, pedestrian food, unlikely to attract future customers. However, the evening was not about food and I was very pleased to have attended.

Sunday, July 26, 2026
It is probably unwise to put the blame on Michael Corleone. This morning around 7:30 or so I thought, I heard pounding on my front door. It was Stony Brook Steve checking up on me after his many telephone calls beginning at 9 AM went unanswered. It was, in fact, 10:20 and I had been out like a light. 

After the dinner last night, I returned to my spouseless abode (Madam returns from Panama next week) and was able to watch whatever I felt like on television. Around 1 AM, I found them playing Godfather II, an all-time great. With commercials, it was running to about 4 AM. That and stupidly turning off my phone thwarted Steve’s good neighbor gesture.  
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Scanning the death notices in the New York Times last week, I saw a very distinctive last name, that of someone I taught with in 1968. I had not seen him since then. The deceased was William, but his brother Fred, named among his survivors, was surely the colleague I remembered. 

The funeral was scheduled at a nearby funeral home on Sunday at 11:30 AM. Thanks to Steve’s intervention, I got there shortly after 11 and went into the parlor where the family was receiving guests before the service. When I did not recognize my former colleague, I asked a young man if Fred was there. By chance, I was talking to Fred’s son who told me that his father was ill. I explained myself, gave him my card and asked him to extend my condolences to his father. 

I hope that Fred recovers soon and calls me after his mourning period so that we might catch up on 58 years.
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From the funeral parlor, I headed to Brooklyn to pick up Geri and accompany her to visit her husband and my longtime (but not as long as Arthur) friend Burt Grossman, currently in a rehab facility. Burt had a nasty fall while moving stuff from his old apartment to his new one in the same building. 

I didn’t want to say anything, but moving to a lower floor in the same building invites the Evil Eye. Kinahora (or kein ayin hara) is a Yiddish phrase that translates to "no evil eye," used to ward off envy and misfortune.
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Driving back to Manhattan, I sought someplace interesting to eat lunch, someplace with a parking space in the same Zip Code. I lucked out at Bob White Counter, 94 Avenue C, one of four locations with an excellent reputation for fried chicken.

It’s a small joint, five two-tops, one four-top and a scattering of stools. While I sat there, a constant parade of bicycle delivery men came to pick up orders. I had The O.G., the biggest fried chicken sandwich that I ever had and one of the best ($8.59). It held two chicken tenders, pickles and mayonnaise. Plus I had a very large portion of hand cut fries ($4.99). It was a lot to eat at almost bargain prices. 

Monday, July 27, 2026
This morning it was Dr. Brickman the dermatologist, not Dr. Brucker the urologist, and I was able to keep my pants on but barely. She found a few things worth further scrutiny, but assured me that I will survive at least long enough to pay my bill.
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Good neighbor Trent was available for lunch and we went to Pho Broadway, 2058 Broadway. We took the last of the six wooden two-tops coated in polyurethane. We each ordered a Banh Mi, Trent the Special Combo, pork roll, pork belly, pate and butter; me, flank steak and brisket. Both sandwiches came on narrow 6" toasted baguettes with cucumber, cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon radish, priced at $10. Adding the hoisin sauce from the squeeze bottle that sat on the table improved my sandwich considerably.

Tuesday, July 28, 2026
I was thinking about paintball today and wondering how it is being celebrated. It turns out that there are at least two paintball halls of fame, the World Classic Paintball League Hall of Fame (https://www.playwcpl.com/wcpl-the-hall-of-fames) and the Hall of Icons (https://www.iconicpaintball.com/post/hall-of-icons-2025-nominee-s-revealed-professional-paintball-honors-hall-of-icons). This division is understandable considering that paintball is a highly competitive endeavor. Note that neither is a physical structure; they are notional categories, supported by the miracle of the Internet.
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Alert!
Tinker Bell is leaving Disneyland on August 4th, apparently involuntarily.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026
I agree heartily with Tom Friedman:
“New York is the only city in the world in which at least 750,000 Jews and Muslims apiece live side by side. Rather than being a constructive bridge builder between them, [Zohran] Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, has chosen to be a bridge destroyer — using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as his ax. It is such a waste of a truly charismatic political talent.”
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Gentleman Jerry and I had lunch at La Dinastia, 145 West 72nd Street, one of the few remaining Cuban-Chinese restaurants that were a byproduct of Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution, sending top Chinese chefs to New York when luxury Havana hotels were expropriated. In fact, La Caridad 72, 130 West 72nd Street, right across the street, is another example, once La Caridad 78, 2197 Broadway at 78th Street, until it relocated. 

We both had the well-reputed fried chicken crackling (what this word adds, I'm not sure because it usually means pigskin snack), Jerry boneless, me boned ($13.95 either) with a choice of rice white or yellow, beans black or red. The four pieces of very crispy chicken and the starch will keep you going well past dinner time.

Where we substantially differed was afterwards, Jerry stopped at the Häagen-Dazs store around the corner at 263 Amsterdam Avenue for a chocolate chip cone, while I went to Fairway Market, 2131 Broadway, for a 1.5 quart tub of Tillamook's Oregon Dark Cherry ice cream. To each his own.
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Even if epidemiologists were not held in such high regard in our family, we would still be disgusted by the treatment of Dr. Anthony Fauci by Republican senators yesterday. These politicians were poised to embarrass, insult and compromise him legally. These same public servants have, on the other hand, studiously avoided examining any of Mr. Tangerine’s seeming conflicts of interest or self-dealings.

By following his lawyer’s advice to take the Fifth Amendment, Fauci left his opponents to urinate in the breeze.

Friday, July 31, 2026
The New York Times delivered to our door comes in several sections, a different combination each day. Here is a picture of a page in today's business section.


All four stories have “A.I.” in their headlines. The page itself is labeled Artificial Intelligence, which I only noticed after seeing the headlines.  What does this all mean? It means that I don’t know what the Hell they are talking about. 
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Saturday, July 25, 2026

And They Speak English

Saturday, July 18, 2026
Stony Brook Steve and I had lunch at the Fairway Cafe, 2131 Broadway, one flight above the market. Its windows overlook Broadway and the ceiling is high, otherwise the room is dull. It has about two dozen two-tops made of a composite black material. 

We return often because the food is consistently good. I had a Chicken & Fig Sandwich, toasted sourdough bread, grilled chicken breast, fig jam, spinach, brie cheese with a generous portion of French fries ($18). Be advised though that they offer Diet Coke in miniscule bottles.
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I found this compilation interesting, where tourists outnumber locals.


This is particularly valuable if you want to travel to meet tourists.

Sunday, July 19, 2026
If you follow the World Cup, you know that FIFA, its governing body, maintains an oppressive, corrupt control over every aspect of the event. MetLife Stadium, the venue for the championship game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was temporarily relabeled New York New Jersey Stadium because MetLife would not pay a sponsorship fee. 

A singular halftime show was created for the final match today, with Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira and BTS as headliners, plus Burna Boy, a Staten Island elementary school chorus and the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. The result was a break of 27 minutes while Law 7 of the 17 foundational Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board provides that “Players are entitled to an interval at halftime, not exceeding 15 minutes.” laws-of-the-game-2025-26-single-pages

Of course, according to the foul head of FIFA, 27 is to 15 as Donald Trump is to peace.

Monday, July 20, 2026
I had an appointment with Dr. Brucker this morning. It’s the kind of appointment where you stand around for half an hour without any pants on. I realize that women more often have a doctor’s appointment without any pants on. However, standing around without any pants on, I imagine, is different than lying down without any pants on. Standing around brings back distant memories of boyhood when running around without any pants on felt joyous and liberating. “Look at me.” Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

Things were a bit more sober this morning, but I derived some pleasure from a benign assessment. I come back in November. 

Tuesday, July 21, 2026
If you are feeling a lack of spirituality in your life, you might consider relocating to a more religious location. An ancillary benefit will be the increase in the number of Republican friends and neighbors.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Until now, I reflexively considered anti-immigrant sentiment to be racially based. It's Black, Brown and Yellow people who are being turned away from our borders and being rounded up and deported when already here. Their virtues, circumstances and histories are ignored as the likes of Stephen Miller, White House Homeland Security Advisor, rejoices in stating that "America's doors are closed fully to asylum seekers."  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-stephen-miller-says-americas-doors-are-closed-fully-to-asylum-seekers-after-supreme-court-rulings

However, antagonism towards the stranger, the other, is found even where the differences are subtle, even invisible to the naked eye. In South Africa, Africans from other nations are being hounded and expelled in large numbers.  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/more-than-53000-immigrants-have-been-deported-or-repatriated-by-south-africa-in-a-crackdown

Rodney King, the unfortunate victim of police brutality in Los Angeles, asked "Can we all just get along?"    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King

Not yet.
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Oh, by the way, my wife left me today. Actually, I left her. I left her at Penn Station so she could take the train to Boston, where she would meet our granddaughter and prepare for their trip to Panama tomorrow. I am staying behind in order to help facilitate peace in the Middle East.

Thursday, July 23, 2026
“Numerous gun shops that had their licenses revoked under the Biden administration are now back in business.”

Feel safer?
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“Nicaragua's long-serving president Daniel Ortega said the Central American country will no longer hold elections, eliminating the possibility ‌of an electoral challenge when his term ends next year and further entrenching the rule he shares with his wife.” 

Melania, are you listening?

Friday, July 24, 2026
Today, for the fourth time, I had my physical therapy session by video in order to avoid the hot spot of Legionnaire's Disease on Manhattan's Upper East Side where five people have died and many more remain hospitalized. This also allows me to wait until the last moment to get ready, skip combing my hair and wear the shlumpiest of clothes. Unfortunately, my convenience comes from a great cost to public health. It's not a fair trade.  
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Saturday, July 18, 2026

But What About Donald Duck?

Saturday, July 11, 2026
My niece Susan was visiting her father in New Jersey from Shanghai along with her older son Tomas from California and her daughter Emma from Minnesota. We were, of course, drawn to this multigenerational assemblage. The gathering inevitably occurred at Seasons 52, 217 Lafayette Avenue, Edison, New Jersey, which should not surprise regular readers. This location, very close to my brother’s home, is one of over 40 nationally. Maybe the others stink, but this one consistently satisfies us. The tables are well spread out, service is attentive, the food is good and they have Coke Zero on tap.

I started with a bowl of lobster bisque, garnished with fresh lobster and roasted corn relish, topped with a splash of sherry and chives ($11.50). It seemed a little thicker than necessary. For a main course, I chose “Wood-grilled shrimp that are caramelized and served over stone-ground grits with tomatoes, savory bacon and chorizo” ($25). This is the second time ever that I had shrimp and grits, the first in Charlotte, North Carolina. Again, I was disappointed. I don’t fault the kitchen; the dish just isn’t very interesting. It’s less than the sum of its parts.

On the other hand, the desserts are always interesting. They sound familiar, but they are deconstructed and served in tall shot glasses in an attempt to keep the calorie count down. All are $5. I had a raspberry chocolate chip mini cannoli, the shell kept separate from the filling. Yes, it was very good, as were the blueberry and lemon, the turtle cheesecake, and the chocolate peanut butter concoctions. 

Sunday, July 12, 2026
I know at least one very nice Karen; I don’t know any Chads. Without any other information, those names supposedly carry the most negative connotations, “with Donald, John, and Damien appearing frequently among the names most likely to trigger a negative reaction when heard for the first time.”
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There’s no place like home, it was once said. However, starting in the middle of the last century, young adults (“roughly 20 to 35 years of age” https://dictionary.apa.org/adulthood) seemed to prefer anywhere but home. For many of us, an apartment lease quickly followed a diploma. Today, economic conditions have reversed the tide. “The Crowded Nest: More Adults Are Living With Their Parents” https://www.realtor.com/research/adults-living-with-parents-june-26/

Here is a visualization of the situation.


Monday, July 13, 2026
We traveled to Kenya and Tanzania in 2018, spending most of our time observing animals. There were thrilling sights day after day. Giraffes might have been my favorite; there is simply nothing like them. There were also hundreds and hundreds of zebras, an impressive sight. I understand that every stripe pattern is unique, although I don’t know how you prove it. 

There is a recent study of the value of stripes to a zebra. It has been established that zebras are less the target of flies than monotonic animals. Researchers in Japan painted stripes on cows and found that they too were less bothered by flies. The stripes did it, although exactly why remains uncertain. Presumably, they are waiting for flies to testify.

Gentleman Jerry and I had lunch at Simply Noodles, 267 Amsterdam Avenue, a small, efficient joint. Noodles, dumplings and some miscellaneous items are on the menu. We shared a thin, semi crispy scallion pancake ($8). I had a Rainbow Dumplings assortment, vegetable, pork, chicken, beef and shrimp pot stickers, in distinctive wrappers ($11). It was all very good, but not gut busting.

Wednesday, July 15, 2026
My hope for an England-France World Cup final will have to wait four years, although they compete Saturday afternoon for third place if anyone cares.
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Today is Margie’s birthday and her sisters made it special. Betsy, younger, was the host (or is she still the hostess? [if not, what about Hostess Cupcakes?]) of a lovely dinner party. Betsy prepared an intricate DIY sushi meal. It was great fun, if not occasionally messy, wrapping seaweed around salmon, tuna, cucumber, sweet potato, panko, sesame seed, scallion, wasabi, soy sauce, rice and aioli.

Susan, older, baked a delicious chocolate birthday cake and, blessedly, there was enough left over to give me a piece to take home.

Thursday, July 16, 2026
It’s that time of year again, the New York City Department of Education announcing the results of the competitive process for admission to nine selective high schools. Eight rely solely on a written examination; one, devoted to the arts, use auditions and/or portfolios. 

Stuyvesant High School, Alma Mater of my brother, Alan, Ariel, Arthur, Benjamin, Burt, Fred, Ghada, Hank, Jenny, Margarita, Mark, Marty, Melanie, Nicky, Pete, Ronnie, Samuel, Steve and me, as well as any number of departed friends and relatives, offers the most disturbing picture. Admission has been granted to 777 new students for the upcoming year, only three identified as Black. This is not an instance of white supremacy; 133 are identified as white. Asian students, predominantly Chinese, are the core group, 534. 

With each year’s results, there are calls to abandon the test, including New York’s Democratic Socialist mayor, himself a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, another elite institution. John McWhorter, Associate Professor of Linguistics at Columbia University, examines the issue and concludes that “[s]aying that the analytical reasoning required by standardized tests is incompatible with Blackness sounds a lot like saying Black people are less intelligent than others and should settle for excellence in sports and entertainment but not academia.” 

For years, I have unsuccessfully been trying to find the quote by Arthur Ashe, the Black tennis star, to the effect that if kids applied themselves as intently to academics as they did to athletics, they might achieve comparable success. Even if he never expressed that directly, I believe it. 

Friday, July 17, 2026
Urban Hawker, 135 West 50th Street, a pan-Asian food hall, populated by Singaporean vendors, is closing today. Pan-Asian meant Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian and Malay cuisines. Good Neighbor Trent just returned from a visit to Singapore where, he told me, there were similar enterprises. 

The building has changed ownership, effecting a change of plans for the space. I will miss it. The variety and quality were high. Prices were almost reasonable. Maybe I have to go to Singapore.

Friday, July 17, 2026
It was another date night, dinner and a show. We ate at Frena, 773 Tenth Avenue, a newish Middle Eastern restaurant. It’s fairly large, a dozen tables outside, a bar with 10 stools and about two dozen tables inside arrayed at a 90° angle. The decor is an attractive combination of off-white, beige and tan, the wooden furniture mahogany and wicker. It was empty when we walked in at 5:15 PM and full 45 minutes later.

We were only moderately hungry but enjoyed what we ordered and shared. We had a trio of dips, baba ganoush, roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon juice, and garlic; labne, creamy yogurt; and matbucha, red peppers, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil ($28), served with a freshly baked bread, brushed with olive oil, Maldon salt (sea salt harvested in Maldon, England), rosemary and sage. The bread was so good we had another loaf for $11. Then, we had wasabi and pepper crusted tuna, four slices, roughly 2" square, tasting very good, but overpriced. With this caveat, put this place on your list.
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A good meal and a great parking space would have made for a successful night out even if the show was a dud. However, Birthright by Jonathan Spector, winner of a Tony last year for Eureka Day, earned very positive reviews from the New York Times and America's Favorite Epidemiologist. Of course, I quibbled, but you should not be deterred. The play deals with a group of young adult (see above) Jews weeks after they return from an all-expense paid trip to Israel on the Birthright program. In three acts with two intermissions (a rarity these days), their interrelations and their attitudes about Israel are tested. It would be a rare Jew outside ultra-Orthodox circles, however, who doesn't share their concerns.   
    
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Saturday, July 11, 2026

Married To Your Job?

Saturday, July 4, 2026
“A New York Times review of securities filings from nearly 500 companies showed that they avoided taxes by attributing hundreds of billions of dollars in earnings to low- or no-tax foreign locales like Cyprus, Bermuda, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. Often, corporations funneled the profits through subsidiaries in places where they had no employees, offices or customers.”
Why didn’t I think of that?
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Fifty years ago today, I celebrated the Bicentennial with my Original Wife on the beach at Santa Monica, California. We must have been with other people, but I can’t remember any other details. Today started with my Real Wife on our living room sofa, as usual.
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An article in the New York Times states "In his two decades on the court, Justice Alito has emerged as one of the most reliable conservative votes.” I would substitute farbissener for reliable, resorting to the street language of my people. It means embittered, sullen, “someone who not only isn’t enjoying herself, but is determined to make sure that nobody else has any enjoyment either.” (https://archive.nytimes.com/krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/the-farbissen-faction/). 

Remember Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) which took constitutional protection away from a woman’s right to an abortion? Alito wrote the majority opinion stating that Roe v. Wade (1973), the precedent on the matter, “was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.” 

I think Alito actually first wrote those words as soon as he was confirmed for his seat on the Supreme Court on January 31, 2006, waiting for the day that he could use them. He might have been the inspiration for Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber Burns on The Simpsons, except Alito emerged in public well after Burns. 

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We got off the sofa this evening and went to Carole Kessner’s 28th floor apartment for dessert and to see the holiday fireworks. Unfortunately, another high-rise building was directly in our line of sight, but that gave us more time to enjoy the eats. I had an impeccably poached pear, cookies and ice cream, almost every vital food group.

Carole’s biography of Marie Syrkin, educator, writer, Zionist advocate, won the 2009 National Jewish Book Award for Biography. She described the origin of their relationship when Carole was in Syrkin’s English literature class at Brandeis University. She was assigned to write a paper on King Lear over Winter break, but a marriage proposal and other stuff kept her busy and distracted.

Just before going back to campus, a cousin offered her a well-received paper on King Lear written for another college. Carole took the paper and submitted it. “See me” was Syrkin’s comment. When they met, Syrkin expressed her doubt that Carole wrote the paper and Carole quickly confessed. Syrkin accepted her explanation and they formed a lifelong bond.

Sunday, July 5, 2026
Today’s chuckle:
“The Justice Department on Saturday forcefully argued that an offer from India’s richest man, Gautam Adani, to invest billions of dollars in the United States played no role in the department’s decision to abandon criminal charges against him.”
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We had dinner with Barbara and Bernie, cousins of cousins, at Nisi Estiatorio, 32-07 30th Avenue, Astoria, a relatively new Greek restaurant. It's a large, asymmetrical space, painted white with touches of blue. Undeservedly, it was almost empty at dinner time.  I say undeservedly because it proved to be a very good restaurant, with good service and good food. 

We started with a generous assortment of dips and spreads, tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber dip), tirokafteri (feta cheese, red peppers, and olive oil), skordalia (potato and garlic dip), and melitzanosalata (eggplant dip), accompanied by fresh pita ($26). With a couple of beers we could have stopped here, but we persevered. I nibbled some of the large horiatiki sataIa (Greek salad) shared with the others and then I had paidakia arnista, three lamb rib chops, with thick wedges of lemon potatoes, overpriced at $51. In retrospect, I'm not sure what I expected for $51. 

Two very nice desserts came gratis, bougatsa, custard cream pie, and something similar but different. A collateral benefit of visiting Nisi Estiatorio is the giant fruit and vegetable market right across the street, white peaches, yellow peaches, red watermelon, yellow watermelon, red, yellow, green and orange peppers, colorful displays at lower than Manhattan prices.

Monday, July 6, 2026
Naz reminded me that we had not had lunch together for a while, so we met at Little Pine, 125 Division Street, yards from 13 Essex Street, Mother Ruth Gotthelf's birthplace. My Aunt Sophie, my mother's older sister, told me that a Chinese family lived across the hall, but I am sure that none of our family ate Chinese food back then.

Little Pine is a new restaurant, featuring Northeastern Chinese (a/k/a Dongbei) food, with the feel of a potentate's tasteful home, no accounting for the name, however. Note that if you look up Little Pine, you might find reviews for a Los Angeles joint with the same name serving Italian food or a state park in Pennsylvania.

Everything we ate was very good. We chose one of the dozen lunch specials to build on, all with a cup of egg drop soup, a small salad and white rice for $13. We had fish fillets in black bean sauce, Naz taking the salad, me the soup. 

Then, we ordered Rainbow Glass Noodle Salad ($18) and Traditional Dongbei Sweet and Sour Pork ($23). The noodles weren’t multicolored, the vegetables on the plate were, making a tasty combination. Sweet and sour pork is a cliché in most Chinese restaurants, but not here. The meat is pounded thin and delicately coated before frying. The sauce was not sticky, gluey, the result memorable. We ended with Crispy Milk Custard, six cheroot-sized, coconut-coated cylinders ($11). 

Naz had printed a helpful Reddit review to help with our ordering. When a young sailor sat down by himself, I gave him a copy, too.
.  .  .

I found an article by Nicholas Lemann, former Dean of Columbia University’s School of Journalism, to be very insightful. “It’s an illusion to think that Jewishness can ever be entirely comfortable or that our identity can be made to comport seamlessly with some set of universal ideals. We are, historically and also in the present, much more outsiders than insiders.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/opinion/jewish-america-identity.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Thursday, July 9, 2026
Here is a fascinating chart matching jobs and divorce rates.


I admit to favoring doctors over actuaries.

Friday, July 10, 2026 
Whether you have marriage in mind or not, but you want to impress your date this weekend, here are our dining suggestions.

Top 20 Fast Food Chains in America, 
According to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index

​

Chain​

2025 Score​

​2026 Score

1

Jersey Mike’s

N/A

84

2

Chick-fil-A

83

83

3

Jimmy John’s

N/A

81

4

Panda Express

80

81

5

KFC

77

80

6

Papa Johns

79

80

7

Pizza Hut

79

80

8

Domino’s

78

79

9

Raising Cane’s

N/A

79

10

Starbucks

80

79

11

Subway

76

79

12

Burger King

77

78

13

Culver’s

78

78

14

Dunkin’

78

78

15

Little Caesars

77

78

16

Panera Bread

79

78

17

Arby’s

79

77

18

Chipotle

76

77

19

Sonic

73

77

20

Wendy’s

75

77
Consumers ranked the nation’s largest chains on a number of factors (including quality, value, and reliability).

What I found most interesting is how close the scores are. Are they basically all operating at the same high level or are they all essentially mediocre?






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