Big Daddy’s Diner. Manhattan. White Wine Problems. Tibor Rubin. Medal of Honor. George W Bush. Jan Hummel. Donald Trump. The Donald. Michelle Fiore. Nevada Assemblywoman. Venezuela. Maduro. Chavez. U2. Angels of Death. Paris. Bataclan. Stephen Ambrose. New History of World War II. Kindle.
As I am sitting down to write tonight, I am in a booth at Big Daddy’s Diner on 91st and Broadway in Manhattan. Why? Remy, who cleans the apartment in New York, is cleaning and I made an escape. I went to Starbucks where, not surprisingly, there wasn’t a single seat so I came to Big Daddy’s thinking I could use their WiFi. It’s not working so I am perusing the Internet with my phone connection and I am running out of juice on that.
Ah well, these are very much first world problems. One of my friends calls them “white wine problems.”
It’s been a funny day, here in the city. It was grey this morning and while chill, it was above normal in temperature. As it has been for the last six weeks or something.
It seems the human race is experiencing a new neurosis: fear of climate change. There was something about it in the New York Times. If there is something to worry about the human race will turn it into a neurosis.
It is something to be concerned about but I’m not sure that being neurotic is going to help.
In the LA Times there was a heart warming story of Tibor Rubin, who passed away recently. A Hungarian Jewish survivor of the Holocaust he swore that he would join the US Army if he ever made it to America. In 1948, he did. He joined the Army and was sent to Korea where he served with distinction, no, more than distinction. He held off the Chinese for 24 hours by himself and did more.
Three times his fellow soldiers pushed for him to receive the Medal of Honor. Three times an anti-Semitic officer prevented it from moving forward. His fellow soldiers testified that their commanding officer sent Tibor on the most dangerous assignments because he wanted to kill the Jewish soldier.
He finally received the Medal of Honor in 2005, from President George W. Bush. He never spoke badly of the Army or of that officer who tried to get him killed. He remained grateful until the day he died.
My favorite Conservative, Jan Hummel, wrote an email to me that said: He’s an idiot. If there was more it didn’t get through so I emailed back: who’s the idiot?
Donald Trump. Yes, The Donald IS an idiot but he is a popular idiot and that’s frightening.
He has proposed banning the entry of ALL Muslims to the US. Everyone is outraged. Except, perhaps, Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, who takes an even more aggressive stance. She announced she was about to get on a plane to Paris and shoot them herself.
Then she qualified. She would only get on a plane to shoot Syrian terrorists. I’m not sure how she would tell which was which.
Yes, she is Republican.
In Venezuela, President Maduro has been roundly defeated in legislative elections. The opposition has swept to power in the legislature though it is still stuck with Maduro as President, which might limit their effectiveness BUT it is a huge sea change in that country. It is a repudiation of Chavez and his socialist movement.
Interestingly, Maduro has had the television stations playing old Chavez speeches and sports events rather than covering the elections but the people know and have been celebrating in the streets.
Paris, battered on many levels since the November 13th attacks, has seen Angels of Death return with U2 for a concert. Angels of Death were performing at the Bataclan Theater where most of the deaths occurred. U2 had a concert scheduled for the following night, which it postponed.
It is dark here in New York and soon I will return to the apartment and read a book. Last night I finished Stephen Ambrose’s “New History of World War II.” I have many books on my Kindle. I will choose from one of them.
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From New York 12 10 15 River ramblings…
December 10, 2015Global warming. Todd Broder. Broderville. Uber. Trump. Goldwater. Lyndon Johnson. West Point. Penn Station. Moynihan Station. Grand Central. Union Station. “Newtown.” Odyssey Networks.
It’s Thursday afternoon and I’m riding north, leaving the city for the weekend. It’s the 10th of December and the sky is bright and the temperature is hovering near 60 degrees.
Gallows humor jokes about global warming proliferate. Burdened with things I am returning to the cottage, I got an Uber to take me to Todd’s office for a call. Chiek, my driver, and I discussed it most of the time between the apartment and office.
He just became an American citizen and so we talked about the election scene. He said in the six years he has been in America, he’s never seen anything like it. I must be twice as old as he and I’ve never seen anything like it either.
Trump barrels on, his foot firmly inserted in his mouth, a condition which does not seem to prevent him from topping the Republican polls. As far as I can tell from newspaper accounts, Republicans are terrified of him and too terrified to do anything about him.
Some are saying that if he is nominated it will be the harbinger of a defeat of the magnitude of 1964, when Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson and was overwhelmingly defeated, taking down much of the party with him.
If that happens, there is a part of me that says they deserve it if they give the nomination to him.
The Republican circus is dismaying me. And probably most other thinking adults…
We are gliding past West Point, the redoubt looking splendid in the afternoon sun as we move north.
When I got on the train today, I remarked to myself what a depressing place Penn Station is, especially when compared with Grand Central or Union Station in Washington DC. Those places put a bit of pep in your feet while Penn grinds down the soul.
If I live long enough, they may eventually move train traffic from Penn across the street to what is now being called “Moynihan Station.” Named after the late New York Senator, Daniel Moynihan, the new station will be forged from the old Post Office, designed by the same architect who built the original Penn, torn down in one of New York’s greatest moments of folly.
I woke up grumpy this morning and made a conscious choice to be happy, to enjoy the day – and I am. Yesterday, a project I have been working on died with a whimper.
Yesterday, I was surrounded by friends and a dinner held by Odyssey for its Board and friends at which were shown clips from the films they are working on. “Newtown” has been accepted into Sundance and The White House has asked to see their film on mass incarceration. Much to celebrate.
But when I got home and the laughter passed, I took a little time to mourn my project, falling asleep wanting my teddy bear.
When I woke, the sadness was still hanging on me so I got a grip on myself and reminded myself that the sun had still risen, it was a remarkable weather day for the 10th of December, that other opportunities will come and there are other project joys to be found in the future.
Tags:Broderville, Global warming, Goldwater, Grand Central, Lyndon Johnson, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Moynihan Station`, Newtown, Odyssey Networks, Penn Station, Todd Broder, Trump, Uber, Union Station, West Point
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