Fine Dining in Jersey City

Believe it or not, Jersey City and environs have some pretty nifty restaurants. See Helen Stapinski, Only the Food Is Exotic, The Ethnic Buffet of Hudson County, N.J. NYTimes (May 28, 2013).

Laico's is an Italian restaurant hidden on a residential street in Jersey City. (NYTimes)

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Letting Go (of Books etc.)

Stanley Fish, Moving On, NYTimes (May 27, 2013):

Snippets:

"I have sold my books. Not all of them, but most of them. I held on to the books I might need while putting the finishing touches on a manuscript that is now with my publisher. I also kept the books I will likely need when I begin my next project in the fall. But the books that sustained my professional life for 50 years ... are gone.

 ...

"The ostensible reason for this de-acquisition is a move from a fair-sized house to a much smaller apartment. It is true, as Anthony Powell said in a title, that books do furnish a room, but in this case, too many books, too little room. But the deeper reason is that it was time. What I saw on the shelves was work to which I would never return....

"... I had always thought that I could return to my annotated copies of familiar texts and pick up where I left off. That fantasy, I now see, was part and parcel of the core fantasy that I would just go on forever, defending old positions, formulating new ones, attending annual conferences, contributing to essay collections, speaking at various universities, teaching the same old courses, confidently answering the same old questions.

"I’m not going to go on forever. ...

"... Behind these musings is a word I can barely utter — 'retirement.' ..."

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I recently retired from full-time teaching - but not from writing. So I threw away some of my books, but not most of them. In any event, quite a few of my books are for purely personal pleasure and are still unread. So I can't throw those away, can I?

• Addendum: Some of my "academic" interests survive my retirement; some of the questions I ask myself genuinely interest (and preoccupy) me.
  

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What Is a "Crisis"?

“If investments in the banks fail, ‘Oh, it’s a tragedy,’ ” [Pope Francis] said, speaking extemporaneously for more than 40 minutes at a Pentecost vigil last weekend, after a private audience with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the architect of Europe’s austerity policies. “But if people die of hunger or don’t have food or health, nothing happens. This is our crisis today.”

Rachel Donadio, Francis’ Humility and Emphasis on the Poor Strike a New Tone at the Vatican NYTimes (May 25, 2013)

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Guns in the Sky; Good Guys with Guns

Nicholas Davidoff, More Guns in the Sky NYTimes (May 25, 2013). A snippet:

"Confidential. For N.R.A. internal. Now that the Senate has voted down new gun control laws and we have the president on the defensive — never thought I’d say it, but God bless the I.R.S.! — we have a real opportunity to guide Congress along a common-sense path that will further ensure the freedoms of peaceful, law-abiding citizens. Herewith, talking points on the next crucial phase of our work. Please distribute to all concerned elected officials who share our love of liberty and public safety.

"Objective:

"We aim to pass laws that will allow passengers to carry guns on commercial airplanes; this will make business class the safest place in America.

"Talking Points:

"Experts say, 'This is the most progressive means of preventing hijacking in aeronautic history.'

"Air Marshals are good people, but on a modern aircraft anyone can nod off. Our plan mitigates snoozing risks. And consider the budget savings when every flyer becomes a Citizen Air Marshal (CAM).

"CAMs eliminate the need for uniformed personnel patrolling our nation’s terminals. Now trained personnel can be deployed to the domestic and international hot spots, including war zones and schools.

"Duty-free ammo sold on international flights is good for the American economy."

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Obama on Guantanamo: A True Profile in Courage

Barack Obama: a genuine profile in courage. I have had reservations about some of Obama's policies. But he has now won me over 100%. That's because President Obama has just proclaimed again his determination to close Guantanamo and reduce injustice to those people who are needlessly detained there - and his explanation of the importance of doing this is just magnificent. See the C-Span video of his speech.
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Hitting the Wall

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Naked Mayoral Power in Jersey City

Charles Hack, Jersey City Mayor Healy tells Star-Ledger 'three Hispanic girls' lured him out of house for naked pix nj.com (May 5, 2013):

"So you think you've heard all Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy had to say about the naked pictures of himself, slumped on the stoop of his Ferry Street home, that surfaced shortly before the November 2004 special election? Well, think again.

"Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran reports today that Healy has offered new details about the photos that comes, in Moran's words, 'with a bizarre sexual twist.'

"According to the version offered to Moran, Healy said three young women woke him up by banging trash cans outside his house, so he rose from bed, wrapped a towel around himself, and went to investigate.

“'Three Hispanic girls, young kids,' Healy is quoted as saying. 'So I go out on the porch and they pulled the towel off me. Now I start laughing, and then they started doing other stuff. I said, "I’m old enough to be your grandfather."'

“'It was filthy,' he says. 'I chased them away, and I just sat down.'"

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Warfare Over Empire

Charles Bagli, 102 Floors, 10 Million Bricks and One Tangled History NYTimes (May 4, 2013):

"The Empire State Building stands as an enduring symbol of New York City — and of the mayhem and legal conflict to which New York City real estate titans are prone."

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Should we call such magnates "titans"?

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There was also much legal and other "mayhem" over the reconstruction of the One World Trade Center. See, e.g., Larry A. Silverstein.


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