Saturday, May 31, 2025

Make America Great Again, Not

Saturday, May 24, 2025
"National Security Council Staff Will Be Cut by Half"

Appropriately, the president has guaranteed that threats to national security will also be cut in half.
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Announcing that the government will no longer track major sources of greenhouse gases,  Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Fox Business on May 8, “We’re not doing that climate change, you know, crud, anymore.”

Sunday, May 25, 2025
Today is the Upper West Side’s Power Couple’s wedding anniversary and it was especially festive by having brunch with David and Julie Sandler Friedman at Casa Carmen, 5 West 21st Street. It is a deceptively large Mexican (not Tex-Mex) restaurant, decorated like a tasteful hacienda. The Tex-Mex menu has plenty of items covered in gloopy cheese, a pleasure in itself, but not found in the more authentic dishes.

Before getting to the good food, we each had a powerful frozen margarita, served in large tumblers trimmed with black salt ($18). Among the variety of flavors, I chose pineapple, David blood orange and the women original lime. Nothing could go wrong after that. I was tempted to have another, but I didn’t think that even the three of them together could lift me.

We shared an order of quesadillas, 2 each mushroom and poblano chili peppers ($24). I had huevos benedictenos, two poached eggs on a thick tortilla with longaniza (Spanish sausage) and potato, poblano sauce and a side salad ($24). Go.
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I think that I indicated before that I experience BPPV, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. In other words, my head spins. I thought that I might have found a non-medical treatment when reading Trump’s speech to the graduating class at West Point.

While some of it is the expected lauding of the troops and patriotic pride, without acknowledging his own avoidance of military service, it spins off into unforeseen directions that I hoped might counteract my own mental gyrations. For instance:

I tell the story sometimes about a man who was a great, great real estate man. 

It was a man who was admired for real estate all over the world actually, but all over the country. He built 11 towns. . . . This was a long time ago, but he was the first of the really, really big home builders. And he became very rich. He became a very rich man. . . . And he sold his company, and he had nothing to do. 

He ended up getting a divorce, found a new wife. Could you say a trophy wife? I guess we could say a trophy wife. It didn't work out too well. 

And if that doesn't work out too well, I must tell you, a lot of trophy wives doesn't work out. But it made him happy for a little while at least. But he found a new wife. 

He sold his little boat. He got a big yacht. He had one of the biggest yachts anywhere in the world.

He moved for a time to Monte Carlo, and he lived a good life. And time went by and he got bored.

I’m dizzier now.
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On the other side of the aisle:
“A big question has been on the minds of Democrats since their grueling loss in November: Who is the leader of the Democratic Party?”

This is a stupid question. A sitting president aside, there has never been a “leader of the Democratic Party.” Our parties have never been structured in a hierarchical fashion with a leader atop as found in Britain, for instance. Imagine during the Eisenhower years, if Democrats had to choose among Adlai Stevenson, Lyndon Johnson or Sam Rayburn, all formidable figures with their own domains. Similarly, during Obama’s terms
Republicans did not bother to choose among John McCain, Mitt Romney, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan as Numero Uno.
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This rabbi is worth listening to.

Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Is this my excuse? About 1 in 9 people (11%) age 65 and older has Alzheimer's dementia. The percentage of people with Alzheimer's dementia increases with age: from 5.1% of people age 65 to 74 up to 33.4% of people age 85 and older have Alzheimer's dementia.
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Months ago, we planned a special vacation, starting in London, followed by a resort in Israel with the whole family. Then, fate and/or
Houthi rockets intervened. British Airways and almost every other carrier cancelled flights to Israel. So far, our booking agent is perfectly comfortable sending us to London and flying us back from Tel Aviv without regard for the 2232.7-mile gap between them. I’ve been working the phones since Friday when we got the bad news. I had conversations with customer service representatives in Sweden and India, to no avail.

But, hark! My carefully crafted, grammatically correct message attracted the interest of Seth Kugel, author of the “Tripped Up” column in the New York Times devoted to consumers’ travel problems. Will his probing right the wrong? Stay tuned.
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In 1989, I spent two weeks in the Netherlands, starting in Amsterdam. I stayed in a canal house around the corner from Anne Frank’s hiding place. I visited it, of course, and was most moved by the pictures of American movie stars cut out of newspapers by Anne and pasted on the wall. Fortunately, they were covered by plexiglass, because I instinctively ran my fingers over them trying to commune with the long gone teenage girl.

The hiding place is recreated at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street.  Marilyn Ratner generously passed on tickets to the exhibit and we attended this afternoon. It is very well designed and executed, offering both the broad context of the Nazi regime and the specific details of the Frank family. It has been extended until October and should be a destination for all who cannot get to Amsterdam.

Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Stand up comedian Toby McMullen sat down with me at Citi Field to endure the terrible spectacle of the New York Mets losing 9-4 to the Chicago White Sox, otherwise vying to be the worst team in major league baseball.

Thursday, May 29, 2025
Caring Ken Klein and I had lunch at The Gyro Project, 2062 Broadway at the corner of West 71st Street, the newest location of a small New Jersey chain. The corner spot provides a lot of natural light and the light-toned furniture, 10 two-tops, adds to the open and airy feel. 

You order at a long counter displaying all the many possible food ingredients, centered by three towering vertical spits, recognizable from sidewalk food carts and curbside food trucks. You choose the combination of stuff to generously fill a bowl, a platter or a pita. I had a bowl of rice, Greek slaw, Dolmades (“cigars”), shaved beef & lamb, Mediterranean salad, hummus and green goddess sauce ($14.95). As if that wasn’t enough to eat, we started with a Dip Sampler, two thick pitas cut in wedges with tzatziki, baba ghanoush, spicy feta & hummus ($12.95), which alone could have satisfied two normal human beings.

Friday, May 30, 2025 
It’s not that we are fickle, but here is a list of our recently owned automobiles:

2010 Lexus ES 350
2016 Lexus 300h
2022 Lexus 250 UXh
2023 Toyota Camry SE
2025 Toyota Crown Limited 

The last four were owned in a period of 39 months as of today when we picked up the irresistible Supersonic Red Crown. 


This car like, its last three predecessors, has been labelled The Last Car We Will Ever Buy.
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Moving the goal posts is a very effective example of changing the rules of the game. The Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee has apparently done that to the detriment of fair-minded people and me too. The scope of Kosher words has been expanded to place names, geography. Flip open an atlas, point to any place on the map and ask a skinny kid, with South Asian ancestry, to spell it. Recent contests included Uaupés, the name of a river in Colombia and Brazil, and Abitibi, the name of a shallow Canadian lake.

For me and many other provincial Americans spelling the name right of this year’s winner and his mother — Faizan Zaki and Arshia Quadri — is a sufficient challenge.
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Saturday, May 24, 2025

A Good Man Gone

Saturday, May 17, 2025
Yesterday afternoon, we got the latest Covid shot. While it might spare me another bout of Covid in the future, it delivered a miserable day today. It felt like everything wrong with aging came in one bundle. I had forgotten that I had the same reaction to last year’s shot, so presumably it is recoverable.
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At a snail’s pace, I made it to Lincoln Center to see “Floyd Collins,” a musical play set in 1925, about a Kentucky man stuck in a cave deep underground. It was very well done, based on a true event, but its grimness delayed the return of my normally unfailingly cheerful demeanor.
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Speaking of show business, the Cannes Film Festival has published a dress code leaning towards more modesty than in the past. Specifically, “nudity is prohibited on the red carpet.” This seeming "no nipple" policy is not welcomed by all.

This essayist laments that this “Cannes power play is tone-deaf at best and misogynistic at worst. It also comes at a time when women’s autonomy over their bodies is being threatened worldwide.” Which brings me to the oft-criticized male gaze, women as sexual objects from the perspective of a heterosexual male. That more or less fits me and I gaze, especially when there is a lot to gaze at. Can you blame me? Okay, blame me.

Sunday, May 18, 2025
A housing shortage seems to be a national malady. A new study shows that the rate of apartment building generally has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

In spite of the rise in telecommuting, allowing people to work from home in their gotkes, 63% of major metropolitan areas have posted a decline in multifamily building permits since the pandemic.

There seems to be no pattern to the areas with the most growth and the least. For instance, the Rust Belt does not stand out in either category. Cleveland, Ohio was among the slowest growing, while Columbus, Ohio was among the fastest. Several Florida cities had strong growth even as other Sun Belt cities fell to the bottom.
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Another reason to make a Jew crazy: Scheduled for June 28th during Pride Week, the 2025 New York City Dyke March’s official Instagram account posted that they were “strengthening their commitment to anti-Zionist, anti-racist, pro-LGBTQ+ community standards.”
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We stepped out for dinner at Jaz Indian Cuisine, 813 Ninth Avenue, uncharacteristically quiet when we arrived. This resulted in efficient service for us, enhancing the good food.

I had two starters, the Tandoori platter, two pieces each of chicken tikka, ginger chicken and sheikh kebab ($18.72, the credit card price 4% over the cash price), and two baby lamb chops ($20.80). My young bride had Malai Kofta, vegetable croquettes in a spiced cream sauce ($21.84), which I had the pleasure of sampling. By the way, look for a Jaz discount on Groupon to increase your pleasure.

Monday, May 19, 2025
Judaism has been associated with fierce justice throughout the millennia. When we were docile, we were repressed or worse. On October 7th, Hamas unleashed a savage attack on Israel and anyone found on its ground. The 1,200 deaths that Israel immediately experienced in its population of 8 million would translate into 49,500 deaths in our population of 330 million, approximately 16 times the toll of 9/11.

Israel, deeply physically and psychologically wounded, responded strongly, then harshly, now cruelly. A desire to be rid of its enemy is understandable, but unrealizable. Israel’s relentless assault in Gaza has made it nearly impossible for us to maintain our support of Israel (Zionism?). Our conscience is deeply wounded. The hypocrisy of others should not allow us to look away. I am traveling to Israel next month. Can peace arrive there before I do?

Wednesday, May 21, 2025
[Some] America[ns] First Department 
Headlines on CNN.com this morning, in case your coffee does not give you a sufficient jolt:
  • "House GOP lawmakers are proposing nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and food stamps."
  • "The 10 richest Americans got $365 billion richer in the past year. Now they’re on the verge of a huge tax cut."
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I had lunch at Kuu Ramen, 1275 First Avenue, a small Japanese joint, blond wood, slats, kanji calligraphy. About 1/3 the floor space was given to food preparation. A wood counter in the front window had four stools, another facing the open kitchen had five stools. Additionally, there were eight two-tops close together.

The menu had a variety of chicken, pork, beef and vegetable dishes. I chose Karaage Curry Rice, Kuu fried chicken with "10 hours of [mildly spicy] Japanese beef-based curry," red pickle and white rice ($16). The six pieces of chicken,  >1" <2" (Musk's next child?) were filling, the meal pleasant.
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I received an unsolicited message today from a new website. When I saw the title “Endless Urgency,” I thought at first that it came from my urologist.

Thursday, May 22, 2025
Then, there was last night’s historic collapse by the Knicks in the playoff game on their home court. It’s a tale that will frighten little children for decades to come.
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“This call may be monitored for quality or training purposes.” You get this message almost immediately upon entering any organization’s voicemail system. However, do you imagine that anyone, in fact, reviews the conversation that follows given the cockups that often ensue?
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With a high temperature of 53° and showers on and off today, Manhattan in May felt more like Manitoba in March. However, the Boyz Club boldly ventured forth to Chinatown and met for lunch at Green Garden Village, 216 Grand Street. Several of us were particularly thankful that it was just a short stroll on level ground from the nearest subway station.

Six of us ate heartily as usual, sharing mei fun (angel hair) with scallions and ginger ($9), beef chow fun (broad rice noodles) ($9), shrimp with spicy peanut sauce ($19), beef with black pepper sauce ($23), garlic aromatic crispy chicken ($18). Thus fortified, the return to the subway was easily managed.
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Write your own headline 
The Trump administration announced that funding Boston’s Museum of African American History “no longer serves the interest of the United States.”
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I just learned that Larry Storrs died this morning. We met in 1962, entering graduate school together. He was a serious Mormon from a small town in Utah and I was not much worse than I am now. I was an usher at his wedding in 1965 and then we took different paths, reuniting briefly in 1990. Reconnecting last year after another long pause, he proudly attached the mezuzah I sent him to his doorpost.

Friday, May 23, 2025
I wondered above whether peace (or at least reasonable de-escalation) might arrive in Israel before my visit in mid-June. Well, British Airways has changed the equation. We were going to London for a few days before continuing to Israel on BA. This morning, BA cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future. Right now, we are confirmed outbound to London and inbound to New York from Tel Aviv on El Al. America’s Favorite Epidemiologist and I are very concerned about the missing leg of the triangle unlike the booking agent, the one that we thought we were using and its unannounced subcontractor.
 
We are hustling to find an alternative. Keep a light in the window. 
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Singer-songwriter Billy Joel has announced that he has normal pressure hydrocephalus, a neurological disorder that affects gait, balance and cognition. It often can be substantially controlled by surgery. Late last year, several doctors were certain that I had hydrocephalus and I spent four days in the hospital being tested. Good news/bad news. I don’t have this serious condition/I still have serious symptoms. It leaves me a little envious of Billy Joel. He has what I don’t, a diagnosis.
 
 

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Saturday, May 17, 2025

Moving Around and On

Saturday, May 10, 2025
The president has revived the idea of a statue garden of 250 American heroes that he proposed during his first term. There are familiar names, such as Benjamin Franklin and Ray Charles (truly worthy of such an honor), and some folks that I wouldn’t want to be stuck in an elevator with, such as Whittaker Chambers.

Maybe the most intriguing choice is Hannah Arendt, the German émigré political philosopher. Best known for her reporting of the Adolf Eichmann trial, I think that it was another work that caught the president‘s attention. She published “On Lying and Politics” in 1972, recently republished by the Library of America, not originally named the Library of Mexico contrary to rumor. I won’t speculate on the president’s reading habits, but I think that he thought it was an instruction manual.
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Meanwhile, Yeshiva University has rescinded approval for a LGBTQ+ student club on campus. 

The school claims doctrinal reasons for its decision, but I think it was intimidated by the prospect of a wild profusion of colors on “those people.”

Sunday, May 11, 2025
“Everybody gotta be somewhere” is the punchline to a classic joke. Well, here is a look at where youngish people are choosing to be. https://www.evernest.co/blog/top-us-markets-for-millennials-and-gen-z

Minnesota, Michigan and Alabama have the highest rate of under-35 home ownership determined by the interplay of home prices and annual income.
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We headed downtown on this beautiful Mother’s Day. We had lunch at the legendary Shopsin’s General Store, 88 Essex Street in the Essex Street Market. This business grew out of a grocery store at the corner of Morton Street and Bedford Street in Greenwich Village that opened soon after I moved from the middle of the block. Calvin Trillin described it very well. 

The owner is now deceased, many of his quirks abandoned, but the eclectic dense menu remains. I had the Egg Bomb, a hollowed out ciabatta roll stuffed with bacon, egg and cheese ($15.95). Very satisfying and very filling. Madam had a pecan pancake and cinnamon pancake, both "specials," which she reported as delicious ($8 each).

Afterwards, we walked over to the Greek Jewish Festival, a block party in front of Kehila Kedosha Janina, 280 Broome Street, the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1927, when many Jews fled Greece as a harsh Orthodox Christian regime replaced more tolerant Ottoman control. Romaniotes, neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi, date back 2,300 years. Roots aside, I haven’t seen so many happy Jews in a long time.
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Amazing Coincidence Department 
Early last year, we took a surprisingly pleasant trip to Madeira, the Portuguese territory off the coast of Africa. Carolyn B. was one of the nice people we befriended and have remained in contact with. She wrote of her New York friend Tara F., a granddaughter of Russ, as in Russ & Daughters, the world class appetizing store on the Lower East Side. (“Appetizing” is a Jewish euphemism for lox, whitefish and pickled herring.) 

“You mean Tara F. who lived at West 13th Street and Sixth Avenue, who taught art in public school and whom I dated in 1968?” Exactly.

Monday, May 12, 2025
Stony Brook Steve bravely accompanied me on a short road trip, visiting automobile dealers in the Bronx and Englewood, New Jersey. Of course, we ate, stopping about halfway in time at Brownstone Pancake Factory, 717 East Palisade Avenue, Englewood Cliffs. The name does not quite fit the setting, a very spread out diner. Although pancakes figure prominently, many other good choices are available.

I had Vanessa’s Famous Grilled Cheese, roasted turkey (real turkey, not some glued together concoction), imported Swiss cheese, sliced Kosher dill pickles and Thousand Island dressing, pressed on artisanal multigrain bread ($18); add $2 for waffle fries and you got a hearty, tasty meal. Thank you, Vanessa.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine now has 11 locations around the Holy Land, but I think that today was the first time that I had ever eaten in one, at 401 East 68th Street. It sits on the edge of the collection of buildings that constitute the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, a small city in itself. For all that was going on around it, Sophie’s was relatively quiet, not all the ten two-tops were occupied.

All of its food was arrayed on steam tables, either to be plated or put in sandwiches or wraps. I chose a combo, a baked chicken sandwich, a bag of potato chips and a can of soda ($12.99). The sandwich was very good, the chicken taken right off the bone (I watched), a six inch roll, a dab of mayonnaise and some lightly marinated onions.

Wednesday, May 14, 2025
How to make a Jew crazy:
"[A] Queens community garden . . . required prospective members to sign a 'statement of values' that included a commitment to opposing Zionism, homophobia and transphobic behavior."
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I went to the funeral of Henry Saltzman this afternoon. He had a very full 95 years. I had the pleasure of interviewing him on a broadcast dealing with his memoir of teaching in an ultra-orthodox Yeshiva soon after his graduation from college, "Oy! Oy! Oy!: The Teacher is a Goy."

Thursday, May 15, 2025
Madam and I retraced the steps that Stony Brook Steve and I had taken on Monday, even having lunch at Brownstone Pancake Factory, 717 East Palisade Avenue, Englewood Cliffs. This time, madam actually had pancakes, two fluffy buttermilk pancakes covering a whole dinner plate ($8). I had the Firecracker Chicken Sandwich, two thick pieces of crispy chicken in spicy buffalo sauce & pepperjack cheese, topped with coleslaw, lettuce & pickles on a King's Hawaiian roll ($18). Even without the side of twice-fried French fries, this was as bulky to eat and hold as you could manage and as good to eat as it sounds. I'm two for two now at BPF.  
 
Friday, May 16, 2025
  • “Trump Administration Fires Hundreds of Voice of America Employees”
  • “Gabbard fires two senior intelligence officials focused on assessing threats to US”
Reading a couple of random headlines indicates that the enemy takeover of the U.S. government is nearly complete.
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I served as shomer (watchman) for the body of Volker W., a member of our community. It's an interesting custom, whether to protect the body from interference or to keep the soul company. I see it as recognition of the person we are losing.
 
 

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