July 2007 Archives

After revisiting and recounting the horrors of Jerusalem's destruction on 9 Av, we begin the process of healing and consolation. To this end, the sages instituted reading the seven haftarot of consolation beginning with Yeshayahu 40 and the appropriate introduction "nachamu, nachamu ami" commonly translated as "comfort ye, comfort ye, my people." But for those who have experienced tragedy, there is little apparent in this haftara which would be considered comforting. Most of the haftara praises God or extols God's superiority and might, which for those who experienced the hurban would be hesitant to deny, and few would turn to in times of crisis.

Nothing major today, just a few interesting links and thoughts:

• Page Six reports that a movie is in the works covering the rise and fall of electronics retailer Crazy Eddie. Aging New York couch potatoes no doubt remember Eddie's frenetic commercials - our prices are innnsaaaaaaaaaaannnnne. As it turned out that Eddie Antar was crazy like a fox, fled to Israel and eventually was sentenced to 8 years in prison for massive fraud and assorted SEC violations. Page Six reports that Danny DeVito will play the role of Eddie.
• Apparently if you try too hard to get out of jury duty, you might wind up facing one yourself. A Cape Cod man is facing charges for making up excuses in the hopes of an exemption. What's interesting here is that we have a real life case of the classic Liar Paradox
  

  "I'm frequently found to be a liar, too. I can't really help it," Ellis added.

  "I'm sorry?" Nickerson said.

  "I said I'm frequently found to be a liar," Ellis replied.

  "So, are you lying to me now?" Nickerson asked.

  "Well, I don't know. I might be," was the response.
  

  Ok so he doesn't know if he's lying but even if he was, how could he have answered the question? The exchange continues:

  "I have the distinct impression that you're intentionally trying to avoid jury service," Nickerson said.

  "That's true," Ellis answered.

  Or is it true? There's just no way to tell. And for the coup de grâce:
  

  Ellis could face perjury and other charges.

  In other words, Ellis is facing perjury for lying in court when he said he was a liar.



• Shaya sends in an AP story from today covering the declining state of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge which we recently visited. The article implies that the marsh is deteriorating due to increased levels of nitrogen from the city. It would be a shame to lose the marsh, even if so few people know it exists. If you're in the NY area, try stopping by one nice Sunday while it's still there.

In my quest for good local hikes around Manhattan, I asked resident expert and new hatan Max Davis for some ideas. Max suggested I check out a wildlife refuge on an island off of the A-Train. As a longtime rider of the A-Train, I was skeptical about the existence of such an environmental oasis in New York but sure enough waaay down the line - the stop past JFK Airport - is the small town of Broad Channel home of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

With the few days off I have at my disposal I thought the Fourth of July would be a perfect time to go exploring. So what does a "Wildlife Refuge" look like NYC style? Pretty much everything you'd expect.

(Pics in the post below)