PROUD TO BE: Watch the Video, Time to Change the Washington Redskins Logo

February 12th, 2016 by

The word, Redskins, is derogatory and hurtful, most likely far beyond what you may be aware of, and I will not say more here. The Washington Redskins football team logo must change. I support the campaign 100%, and congratulate the National Congress of American Indian for taking a lead on this issue.

Bagel Scoopers, Ruining NYC?

January 11th, 2016 by
When you grow up with bagels as a main-stay every Sunday and beyond, you do take the issue of scooping a bagel quite seriously, as a matter of fact you learn well what is a great bagel and what is only a fair bagel.  None compares with New York’s bagels, and I saw this article, and clearly  it was a question we all face.  And I would add, does the scooping of a bagel change the rating of a bagel, whether it scoops well or not?  The issues of our times.

Bagel scoopers are ruining NYC

January 3, 2016 | 12:26pm

Photo: Brian Zak (2)

Tucker Christon fondly remembers the bags of steaming-hot bagels his family shared growing up in Fresh Meadows, Queens. But when he moved back to the city 10 years ago, a nefarious trend had overtaken bagel eaters in New York: People were scooping out their bagels, as a way to cut down on carbs.

“That’s heresy!” he recalls thinking. “That’s bulls - - t.”

Heresy has its temptations, though: One Friday a few years ago, suffering a “bagel hangover” from too many carbs, he decided to give it a try. Christon become a convert.

“It’s still chewy, it’s still delicious,” he says of his regular order of whitefish, lettuce and tomato at Bagel World in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. “But the [counter] guy looked at me like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ ”

Few things inspire more passionate disdain among New Yorkers — bagel scoopers are lumped in with people who eat their pizza with a fork or wear flip-flops on the subway. Part of the anger is aimed at the literal gutting of a food New Yorkers regard with beatific pride; part of it is the waste involved — all scoopings go directly into the trash.

Modal Trigger A Brooklyn woman says seeing her now-ex-boyfriend scoop out his bagel was a dealbreaker.Photo: Brian Zak

“It was the moment I realized my ex was a monster,” Lisa Rosenberg, a 27-year-old graphic designer living in Bushwick, Brooklyn, says of a guy she dated for about a year. “Even watching someone eating [a scooped-out bagel] is completely repulsive.”

The controversy is covered in a new book “Should I Scoop Out My Bagel?” by dietitian Ilyse Schapiro and Hallie Rich, out Tuesday.

“Scooping a bagel won’t leave you missing anything important,” they claim, “but it will help you cut excess calories and carbs.”

But the number of calories saved is minimal, other experts counter. “You’re saving maximum 75 calories by scooping it out,” argues nutritionist Marissa Lippert. That’s about as the same calories as an apple.

The authors recommend downright sacrilege: buying lower-calorie packaged bagels from the supermarket. “The taste may not compare, but we love our asses in our favorite jeans more.”

Jillian Steinhauer, a 31-year-old editor in Park Slope, Brooklyn, doesn’t buy that argument.

“In that case, why are you ordering a bagel?” she asks. “You may as well just eat the cream cheese on its own.”

Like it or not, scooping is now here to stay. Top bagel shops including Terrace Bagels, Bagel Pub, Ess-a-Bagel and La Bagel Delight scoop on request. Notoriously fussy Murray’s Bagels in Greenwich Village, which only changed its no-toasting policy in September, has a “Scoop Both Sides” option at registers.

“The customer comes first,” says Melanie Frost, chief operating officer of Ess-a-Bagel.

Dan Pashman, host of the WNYC podcast “The Sporkful,” describes scooping as a symptom of a larger alarming trend: The classic NYC bagel is disappearing due to “bagelflation,” caused by transplants who come to New York accustomed to huge, doughy rolls masquerading as bagels.

He’s come up with a compromise: trifurcation — slicing the bagel twice across and removing the middle disc.

“You improve your ratio of spread to bagel,” he says. Still, a real New York bagel is meant to be work, not a health food.

“If you eat two bagels,” he says, “your jaw should be a little sore.”

Hanukkah in Myanmar

December 22nd, 2015 by

'L-R: Rabbi Baskin, former commander in cheif, Canada, US, Israel Ambassadors, Speaker of Parliament, Yangon, daughter of former Prime Minister U NU , Chairman of Myanmar Travel Association..'Hanukkah is a special time of year, and Sammy Samuels filled the only remaining Synagogue in Myanmar to the rafters, as he takes on the mantle of leadership in the year after the passing of his wonderful father, the late Moses Samuels..  They single-handedly have carried on the tradition of Judaism in Myanmar, and having visited with Moses at the synagogue in Yangon a number of years ago, I am so thrilled to see this beautiful synagogue in such a special brightness of the holiday, now led by my friend Sammy.

Sammy Samuels's photo.“It was such a beautiful evening to host Ambassadors, Government officials, former commander in chief, leaders from Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Bahai and Hindu community and many other distinguish guests at the Yangon Synagogue. In other part of the world getting together of all religious leaders would be impossible but in Myanmar it’s real and it’s possible.

We miss my father very much but I am sure he will be very happy to see that we continue to keep the Spirit of Hanukkah alive in this beautiful city of Yangon.”

Sammy Samuels's photo.  Sammy Samuels's photo.

 

Manal Faisal al-Sharif, banned candidate in Jeddah

December 22nd, 2015 by
I am really so thrilled with my friend Manal, who is on the front lines of fighting for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.  Here’s her words from a Saudi paper right before the recent elections.

Manal Faisal al-Sharif, banned candidate in Jeddah

I think I was banned because people complained that I was using the media to promote my campaign. But I wasn’t. I simply tried to give women information about how to vote, the process. I tried to raise awareness about the vote. I wanted to encourage them to go to the centres with the correct papers. I guess someone got angry and made formal complaints.

Manal Faisal al-Sharif

Manal Faisal al-Sharif
In any case, I am still very excited about the elections. I’m proud of my colleagues, neighbours and friends. I’m on WhatsApp groups with women and there is a real sense of solidarity. Some are like training centres for how to go and vote and participate. It’s a big step towards equality.

Tomorrow, I will vote for a female candidate because I believe she has a good programme. She will help the area. But my biggest fear is that no women at all will be elected.

Saudi Arabia does have very conservative segments of society, but we have people in the middle. And I think those that encourage women are in the majority.

Women can effect change, and I think by having women in these positions will build bridges with the people who hold ultra-conservative views.

Myanmar (Burma) Jewish Tradition Continues

December 10th, 2015 by

Moses Samuels single handedly carried on the hundreds of years’ tradition of a continuing Burmese Jewish community, and passed on this year at age 65. His son Sammy Samuels now is the voice of the community, and will be opening the most beautiful Congregation Mesmuah Yeshuah synagogue, where he was married this year, for the High Holiday services. I was there, I met them, got to know them over the years, and they are true Jewish heroes of our people.

Times Square Crackdown

December 10th, 2015 by

Dennis Hamill wrote in the Daily News, “Mister Mayor, tear down this mall! Hizzoner should heed the call of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. to level the Times Square pedestrian mall.” Humbug! What a terrible idea, essentially said Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, who has built Times Square with vision to become a mecca for major happenings and a regular stop for tourists. A magical New York place. We await the news of how the Mickeys, the Batmen, the Naked Cowboy and Painted Women of Times Square will sensibly be dealt with, short of tearing up the Plaza and reintroducing traffic. Stay tuned.


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