Newsies

A few things potentially more important than nail polish--

--The Post has provided us with another phrase for everyday use: "sex foul."

--A&P has Mrs. Clinton on the collective mind.

--The Palestinian death toll in Gaza now tops 300 (well over half are civilians). Israeli losses are 13 (ALL soldiers). I have been bereft about the ugly crimes committed by our government in the name of "our safety," driven mad by our lack of agency, by how capable of variously trouncing human rights and other nations' sovereignty without the input of American citizens or allies the Bush administration (over the past eight years) or the C.I.A. (always) have been. I feel similarly about Israel. I am thoroughly disgusted by their military brutishness and religious self-importance. I am ashamed by any association. For me, this single-minded, warring state is more "German" than Jewish.

Schul for Scandal

Caught in the midst of this holiday mess mess, I've yet to address the Madoff "make off." Even Papa Able has lost a little in the fracas, and we have been following the developments closely. There is an unsettling something about the whole affair, a comeuppance of the Jew-as-Nouveau-WASP. Bernie's fleecing flys in the face of the post-war justice-seeking that has defined the contemporary, moneyed Jewish intelligentsia. Though devastating to so many (so many philanthropic organizations to boot), this 50 billion dollar scam has begun a tough, but necessary dialogue about the real and perceived self, the liberal cum conservative Jew. The Post has shone throughout, but I say, in this matter, we answer to a higher authority, The Forward. This article titled, "Sconces and Scrapbooks: A Visit to the Madoffs" (Genius! Genius! Genius!), is a must read. More soon.