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My neighborhood is full of home-improvement projects, including my own. What I see says a lot about today’s American government. Most homeowners and landlords maintain or upgrade their properties. New owners often make major renovations. On my daily walks, I see up to two dozen subcontractors providing electrical and plumbing services, hardwood floors, windows, sheetrock,…
A favorite novel begins with a terrified protagonist: “The footsteps—thick-sole, steel-toe heavy, no pretense at stealth—approached our floor from the wrong direction. On a Monday morning, most people left their apartments for work, shlepped their still-sleepy way down the stairs as Indira had earlier. The stomping that terrified me came up from the lobby. I…
Shabbat ends tomorrow (Saturday) night and Passover begins. The weeklong holiday will bring both joy and distress. Passover commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and slavery (though not of the Black American sort). What’s more, Pharaoh ordered the deaths of newborn Israelite boys. The story is familiar to most Americans, though not all. Several years…
A drive to brunch at a friend’s house provided a jarring encounter with a suburban hermit. As I parked at the curb at the house next-door, the neighbor’s front door flew open. A white-haired man popped out. He wore a red, white and blue bathrobe over white pajamas. His feet were tucked into red slippers.…
What happens when an American President reviles competence? One week ago, Donald Trump called out Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for reporting that Elon Musk would receive a Pentagon briefing on potential war with China. Trump went schoolyard bully. He called Haberman, Maggot. He said she should give him her Pulitzer Prize. And:…
Mea culpa! I didn’t understand Donald Trump when, during the presidential campaign, he said that “starting on Day 1,” he would drive down inflation, including egg prices. I didn’t comprehend during his inaugural address when he proclaimed that “the golden age of America begins right now.” Now, I get it. The President of the United…
The internet revealed Vladimir Putin wrote Donald Trump after Trump’s address to the nation last Tuesday. I herein pass it on. Everyone knows, if it’s on the internet, it’s true. Tovarich Donald: I applaud 99-minute speech you gave Tuesday night America time. Comrade’s advice: Leader’s speech should be minimum three hours. Four, better. Five, you show…
Last Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemned Russia 93–18. Sixty-five nations abstained. Conscience forces me to protest Israel’s vote against. According to news.un.org, the resolution “called for a commitment to ‘the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders’ and the…
A good friend is disturbed by photos of the cosmos. What is a human being in the vast universe? Rabbi Simcha Bunim (1765-1827) addressed this. He exclaimed that everyone should have two pockets. One should hold a note declaiming, The world was made for me. The other should hold a note stating, I am but dust and ashes. We’re motes…