First period is math and I'm surrounded by boys. That's OK. I need to concentrate in class. Good grades matter.
Second period is Portuguese. Should be interesting. A new language. Just my good fortune I'm sitting next to Delores, the prettiest girl from my old middle school. She had her pick of boys, certainly not me.
Before class begins, I try to start a conversation.
"Say, Delores, how was your summer vacation?"
Delores slowly turns in my direction and gives me the impression I am a bug. Then she slowly turns back. For a few moments, my self-confidence takes a hit. Can't win 'em all. I think of Ann.
When you walk through a storm, keep your head up high...
Third period is home economics class. My luck changes. I'm surrounded on three sides by females, Alexandra, Beulah and Carla (the ABC girls). They are friends and by being a little aggressive I'm included in their little circle. What a treat. Some giggling before the teacher arrives.
It was a mixed day, good and bad. Why do I keep thinking about Delores, when I can think instead of Ann and the ABC girls? Well, she is the prettiest and most desirable. On the other hand...
Be happy with what you have...
On the other hand, should I treat Delores as a challenge or just...forgetaboutit
Sunday, May 31, 2020
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Benjamin N. Cardozo
In 1981, my ex-wife Bonita and I bought the house at 69-43 Cloverdale Boulevard in Bayside, Queens. Why there? Because of the schools in the neighborhood our daughter Rachel (and future son Bret) would be able to attend.
The gem of such schools is Benjamin N. Cardozo High School on 223rd Street, a short distance from our house. Rachel graduated, class of 1993, and Bret, class of 2003.
So, who was Benjamin N. Cardozo? A man who rose to be a justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Benjamin N. Cardozo was born in New York City on May 24, 1870 (150 years ago today). All his grandparents were descendants of the Portuguese Jewish community which had emigrated from Holland to British North America before the Revolutionary War.
Beginning in 1889, Cardozo spent two years at Columbia University's law school, leaving without a degree. However, in 1891, he passed the New York State bar exam and began practicing law.
In 1913, Cardozo was elected to a fourteen-year term as a judge on the Supreme Court of the State of New York. In 1917, he was appointed by New York Governor Charles Whitman to the Court of Appeals. In 1926, Cardozo was elected (as both a Democrat and a Republican) to a fourteen-year term as Chief Judge of the State.
In 1932, Cardozo was appointed by President Herbert Hoover (and confirmed unanimously by the Senate) to the United States Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.
As a tax accountant for thirty years, I was impacted by a US Supreme Court decision, whose opinion was written by Cardozo: Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111 (1933). He held that Welch's "expenses were too personal, were too bizarre to be ordinary." Cardozo "did not consider them ordinary and necessary business expenses and therefore not deductible under Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code."
Benjamin N. Cardozo died on July 9, 1938 at the age of 68. He was succeeded on the Supreme Court by Felix Frankfurter. In 1967, a new high school in Bayside, Queens was named in Cardozo's honor.
The gem of such schools is Benjamin N. Cardozo High School on 223rd Street, a short distance from our house. Rachel graduated, class of 1993, and Bret, class of 2003.
So, who was Benjamin N. Cardozo? A man who rose to be a justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Benjamin N. Cardozo was born in New York City on May 24, 1870 (150 years ago today). All his grandparents were descendants of the Portuguese Jewish community which had emigrated from Holland to British North America before the Revolutionary War.
Beginning in 1889, Cardozo spent two years at Columbia University's law school, leaving without a degree. However, in 1891, he passed the New York State bar exam and began practicing law.
In 1913, Cardozo was elected to a fourteen-year term as a judge on the Supreme Court of the State of New York. In 1917, he was appointed by New York Governor Charles Whitman to the Court of Appeals. In 1926, Cardozo was elected (as both a Democrat and a Republican) to a fourteen-year term as Chief Judge of the State.
In 1932, Cardozo was appointed by President Herbert Hoover (and confirmed unanimously by the Senate) to the United States Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.
As a tax accountant for thirty years, I was impacted by a US Supreme Court decision, whose opinion was written by Cardozo: Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111 (1933). He held that Welch's "expenses were too personal, were too bizarre to be ordinary." Cardozo "did not consider them ordinary and necessary business expenses and therefore not deductible under Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code."
Benjamin N. Cardozo died on July 9, 1938 at the age of 68. He was succeeded on the Supreme Court by Felix Frankfurter. In 1967, a new high school in Bayside, Queens was named in Cardozo's honor.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Oliver Brown
During the thirteen months from my arrival in Chapel Hill (March 2007) until I finally gained the employment I was seeking (UNC), I did have some interesting experiences. The best was with Kohl's Department Store (where you can expect great things), but even working as a substitute teacher for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools had its moments.
During the academic year 2007-2008, I worked in a number of their schools, from the primary grades all the way up to high school. One of the things I was impressed with was the integration of the student bodies, white and black kids mixing freely with each other.
However, forty years earlier (1966) the local school system was legally segregated, with blacks and whites forbidden from going to the same school. What happened?
In 1896, the Supreme Court of the United States "upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality." The case was Plessy v. Ferguson and the doctrine became known as "separate but equal."
"In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. The plaintiffs were thirteen Topeka parents (including Oliver Brown) on behalf of their 20 children." The case became known as Brown v. The Board of Education. The plaintiffs complained their children were denied admission to all-white schools close to their homes.
The District Court held in favor of The Board of Education citing the Plessy case. The US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal.
On May 17, 1954 (66 years ago today) the Supreme Court voted unanimously in favor of Brown. It held that "the segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other tangible factors may be equal, deprives the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities."
It took the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School six years before they started to implement the new legally mandated integration of their schools and another six years before it was completed. Why?
After the Brown decision, the State of North Carolina passed a law requiring parents "to request a transfer if they wanted their children to attend a school of a different race." In 1959, "Stanley Vickers requested a transfer to an all-white school, but was denied." The family sued and, in 1961, won the case, thus gaining the transfer.
"All transfers were allowed in (the school year) 1963 to 1964. School district lines were redrawn to assign equal percentages of black and white students to the schools."
By the time of my arrival in North Carolina more than forty years later, the period of racial segregation in the public schools of Chapel Hill-Carrboro was all but forgotten. But, it can't be forgotten. We must remember our history, warts and all.
During the academic year 2007-2008, I worked in a number of their schools, from the primary grades all the way up to high school. One of the things I was impressed with was the integration of the student bodies, white and black kids mixing freely with each other.
However, forty years earlier (1966) the local school system was legally segregated, with blacks and whites forbidden from going to the same school. What happened?
In 1896, the Supreme Court of the United States "upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality." The case was Plessy v. Ferguson and the doctrine became known as "separate but equal."
"In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. The plaintiffs were thirteen Topeka parents (including Oliver Brown) on behalf of their 20 children." The case became known as Brown v. The Board of Education. The plaintiffs complained their children were denied admission to all-white schools close to their homes.
The District Court held in favor of The Board of Education citing the Plessy case. The US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal.
On May 17, 1954 (66 years ago today) the Supreme Court voted unanimously in favor of Brown. It held that "the segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other tangible factors may be equal, deprives the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities."
It took the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School six years before they started to implement the new legally mandated integration of their schools and another six years before it was completed. Why?
After the Brown decision, the State of North Carolina passed a law requiring parents "to request a transfer if they wanted their children to attend a school of a different race." In 1959, "Stanley Vickers requested a transfer to an all-white school, but was denied." The family sued and, in 1961, won the case, thus gaining the transfer.
"All transfers were allowed in (the school year) 1963 to 1964. School district lines were redrawn to assign equal percentages of black and white students to the schools."
By the time of my arrival in North Carolina more than forty years later, the period of racial segregation in the public schools of Chapel Hill-Carrboro was all but forgotten. But, it can't be forgotten. We must remember our history, warts and all.
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Do I look Jewish?
In the 1997 Academy Award winning film, As Good As It Gets (see blog post), Melvin (Jack Nicholson) tells Carol the waitress (Helen Hunt), "There are Jews at my table." How does he know that?
The two actors (Peter Jacobson and Lisa Edelstein) cast as restaurant customers in this scene have stereo-typical Jewish faces. But is it always so easy to identify who is a Jew?
Do these Jewish actors look Jewish?: Jeff Chandler, Lee J. Cobb, Kirk Douglas, John Garfield, Paulette Goddard, Edward G. Robinson, Hedy Lamarr, Dinah Shore, Eli Wallach, Lauren Bacall, Tony Curtis, Peter Falk, Judy Holliday, Walter Matthau and Vic Morrow.
Do I look Jewish? Let me tell you a story.
The two actors (Peter Jacobson and Lisa Edelstein) cast as restaurant customers in this scene have stereo-typical Jewish faces. But is it always so easy to identify who is a Jew?
Do these Jewish actors look Jewish?: Jeff Chandler, Lee J. Cobb, Kirk Douglas, John Garfield, Paulette Goddard, Edward G. Robinson, Hedy Lamarr, Dinah Shore, Eli Wallach, Lauren Bacall, Tony Curtis, Peter Falk, Judy Holliday, Walter Matthau and Vic Morrow.
Do I look Jewish? Let me tell you a story.
One day in the 1990s, my friend Joe and I left our office (Seagram's Tax Department) at 800 Third Avenue in Manhattan to go out for lunch. I noticed a Lubavitch (Ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement) van parked on the street and a number of young Lubavitcher men walking around.
As a secular Jew, I feared they would approach and try to pressure me to put on tallit and tefillin and return to the religion of my birth. That was something I did not want to do. Best to avoid them.
Joe and I managed to do that on our way to the restaurant. However, after lunch while returning to our office, I noticed a young Lubavitcher man walking directly towards us. There was no escape.
I started to formulate my response. Instead, he asked Joe, an Italian-American, “Are you Jewish?” He of course answered no. Then the young man walked away, ignoring me.
I was indignant. I am Jewish, I said to myself. How could he think Joe was Jewish? How could he not know I was the Jew?
Or is it not always possible to identify who is a Jew by their face?
Or is it not always possible to identify who is a Jew by their face?
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Crimes and Misdemeanors
The phrase Crimes and Misdemeanors is in Section 4, Article Two of the United States Constitution (regarding impeachment of the president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States).
The film Crimes and Misdemeanors is a 1989 drama written and directed by Woody Allen and starred among others Allen, Mia Farrow (Allen's girlfriend at the time), Martin Landau, Claire Bloom, Angelica Huston, Sam Waterston and Jerry Orbach.
The film received three Academy Award nominations: Best Director (won by Oliver Stone for Born on the Fourth of July), Best Original Screenplay (won by Tom Schulman for Dead Poet Society) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Landau, but won by Denzel Washington for Glory).
Judah (Landau) is a successful ophthalmologist married to Miriam (Bloom), but having an affair with Delores (Huston). After it becomes obvious to Delores that Judah will not end his marriage, she threatens to disclose their liaison to his wife.
Anxious how to handle the situation, Judah confides in a patient who is a rabbi (Waterston). The rabbi advises honesty, but Judah believes this would destroy his marriage.
Instead, Judah turns to his brother, Jack (Orbach), a criminal. Jack arranges for Delores to be killed. The marriage is saved, but Judah is then stricken with guilt and turns to his previously rejected Jewish religious teachings.
In a separate story line, Cliff (Allen), a documentary film maker, falls in love with Halley (Farrow), a colleague of the subject of his latest project. A year after the murder of Delores, Cliff and Judah meet at a wedding reception and are sitting together in a secluded area. Judah discusses what happened to him, but in the abstract.
"I have a great murder story. My murder story has a very strange twist. Let's say there's this man who was very successful. He has everything...and after the awful deed is done, he finds he's plagued by deep rooted guilt. Little sparks of his religious background which he'd rejected has suddenly stirred up.
He hears his father's voice. He imagines that God is watching his every move. Suddenly it's not an empty universe at all, but a just and moral one and he's violated it. Now, he's panicked-stricken. He's on the verge of a mental collapse. An inch away from confessing the whole thing to the police (like Rascolnikov in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment) and then one morning he awakens, the sun is shining and his family is around him. Mysteriously, the crisis is lifted.
(He) takes his family on a vacation to Europe and as the month passes he finds he's not punished. In fact, he prospers. The killing gets attributed to another man. Now, he's scot free. His life is completely back to normal, back to his protected world of wealth and privilege.
Maybe once in a while he has a bad moment, but it passes, with time it all fades. People carry awful deeds with them. What do you expect him to do, turn himself in? This is reality. In reality, we rationalize. We deny or we couldn't go on living."
Three years later (1992), Allen and Farrow's real-life romantic relationship is slowly ending. Then, he takes up with Farrow's adult adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn (father, Andre Previn), whom he subsequently marries and with whom he raises two children. When Farrow discovers his relationship with her daughter, she plots to take their seven year-old adopted daughter (Dylan) from Allen.
Farrow concocts a story that Allen sexually assaulted Dylan...once. Despite two authorities (Connecticut and New York) concluding there is no physical evidence the assault occurred, Farrow brainwashes Dylan into believing the assault did indeed happen. As a result, Woody Allen has been unjustly smeared ever since.
Last year, Cristina and I saw Allen's recent film, A Rainy Day in New York, here in Brazil. Unfortunately, because of the false accusation against Allen, now taken up by the #Me Too movement, the film is unavailable in the USA. What a pity!
The film Crimes and Misdemeanors is a 1989 drama written and directed by Woody Allen and starred among others Allen, Mia Farrow (Allen's girlfriend at the time), Martin Landau, Claire Bloom, Angelica Huston, Sam Waterston and Jerry Orbach.
The film received three Academy Award nominations: Best Director (won by Oliver Stone for Born on the Fourth of July), Best Original Screenplay (won by Tom Schulman for Dead Poet Society) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Landau, but won by Denzel Washington for Glory).
Judah (Landau) is a successful ophthalmologist married to Miriam (Bloom), but having an affair with Delores (Huston). After it becomes obvious to Delores that Judah will not end his marriage, she threatens to disclose their liaison to his wife.
Anxious how to handle the situation, Judah confides in a patient who is a rabbi (Waterston). The rabbi advises honesty, but Judah believes this would destroy his marriage.
Instead, Judah turns to his brother, Jack (Orbach), a criminal. Jack arranges for Delores to be killed. The marriage is saved, but Judah is then stricken with guilt and turns to his previously rejected Jewish religious teachings.
In a separate story line, Cliff (Allen), a documentary film maker, falls in love with Halley (Farrow), a colleague of the subject of his latest project. A year after the murder of Delores, Cliff and Judah meet at a wedding reception and are sitting together in a secluded area. Judah discusses what happened to him, but in the abstract.
"I have a great murder story. My murder story has a very strange twist. Let's say there's this man who was very successful. He has everything...and after the awful deed is done, he finds he's plagued by deep rooted guilt. Little sparks of his religious background which he'd rejected has suddenly stirred up.
He hears his father's voice. He imagines that God is watching his every move. Suddenly it's not an empty universe at all, but a just and moral one and he's violated it. Now, he's panicked-stricken. He's on the verge of a mental collapse. An inch away from confessing the whole thing to the police (like Rascolnikov in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment) and then one morning he awakens, the sun is shining and his family is around him. Mysteriously, the crisis is lifted.
(He) takes his family on a vacation to Europe and as the month passes he finds he's not punished. In fact, he prospers. The killing gets attributed to another man. Now, he's scot free. His life is completely back to normal, back to his protected world of wealth and privilege.
Maybe once in a while he has a bad moment, but it passes, with time it all fades. People carry awful deeds with them. What do you expect him to do, turn himself in? This is reality. In reality, we rationalize. We deny or we couldn't go on living."
Three years later (1992), Allen and Farrow's real-life romantic relationship is slowly ending. Then, he takes up with Farrow's adult adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn (father, Andre Previn), whom he subsequently marries and with whom he raises two children. When Farrow discovers his relationship with her daughter, she plots to take their seven year-old adopted daughter (Dylan) from Allen.
Farrow concocts a story that Allen sexually assaulted Dylan...once. Despite two authorities (Connecticut and New York) concluding there is no physical evidence the assault occurred, Farrow brainwashes Dylan into believing the assault did indeed happen. As a result, Woody Allen has been unjustly smeared ever since.
Last year, Cristina and I saw Allen's recent film, A Rainy Day in New York, here in Brazil. Unfortunately, because of the false accusation against Allen, now taken up by the #Me Too movement, the film is unavailable in the USA. What a pity!
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