Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life
September 8, 2021
Jewish New Year’s services live streamed
The front page of today's Miami Herald is dominated by a picture of a Jewish New Year service, and notes that technology taking over with many services being live streamed. (We will watch services on Zoom.)
September 8, 2021
Vaccinated, but not acting that way
A woman is quoted in a Times article on the status of covid in the US as saying, "We're still living like we're unvaccinated. If we go to a restaurant, we see if we can eat outside, or take out." This totally describes my wife and me. Restaurants limited to places with outdoor dining -- what happens when the winter comes?
Visit the COVID-19 Information Center for vaccine resources.
September 8, 2021
Asian-American students at the Kennedy School twenty years ago
I happened to ask a former student who is Korean-American whether he liked the show Kim's Convenience. Said he loved it, and wished it had been around when he was growing up. "There was nearly zero Asian American representation when I was growing up. So I leaned in on African-American content as a proxy."
September 8, 2021
Vaccination as a birthday present
The Times reports on increasing number of parents giving their child covid vaccination as a 12th birthday present. They say it is beginning to rival other birthday milestones such as turning 17 to see R rated movies.
September 8, 2021
Why is the virus so bad?
I will confess I do not fully understand why the virus has gotten so much worse recently. I understand the Delta variant, but so many people are vaccinated now, a year ago nobody was.
September 8, 2021
Labor Day and workers
It says something about my Facebook friends that a fair number are noting that today is Labor Day in the sense of celebrating American workers. How many of my Facebook friends know the song solidarity forever?
September 8, 2021
Hate crimes against Muslims and Jews
In 2019 the FBI reported 176 anti-Muslim hate crimes and 953 against Jews.
September 8, 2021
Vaccine refusers
My friend Peter Wolodarski, editor of Sweden's leading newspaper, writes of vaccine refusers, "A minority's egoism, nonchalance, and indifference affects the rest of society, which has to adopt more restrictions on freedom to protect itself." Well-put.
September 8, 2021
“Effeminate men” in China
China has announced that "effeminate men" will no longer be allowed on television.
September 8, 2021
”Inherit the Wind” – one of the greatest movies ever
One of the great movies ever, on the Scopes monkey trial. Taught me a lot of what I believe about tolerance. Haven't seen it for decades, though have probably seen close to 10 times.
I had a big part in our high school production.
Jim AshleyTurner Classic Movies For Fans!
September 8, 2021
Twitter and Facebook usage
Only 29% of Americans use Twitter, and 70% of them are 29 or younger. Facebook usage is much wider and less age-skewed.
September 8, 2021
Inequality in China and the US
The USC Annenberg China center reports that since 2010 the share of wealth held by the top 1% has increased dramatically, while that held by the bottom half has gone way down. In the US numbers since than about the same. "Communist" China close to as unequal as "capitalist" US.
September 8, 2021
Jewish New Year and non-Jews
Well over half of those "liking" my post about the Jewish New Year are not Jewish. Non-Jewish friends -- this is especially appreciated. Makes me feel so good that my post on Jewish New Year liked by people named Heng Ju Li and Ben Wang.
September 8, 2021
China likes Taiwanese conservatives
An editorial in China Daily reports that relations with Taiwan were better under the previous Kuomintang government. They note that in 2008 China gave the Taipei zoo two pandas ominously named "reunion." The irony here is that this is Taiwan's conservative party, the party of right-wing authoritarian Chiang Kai-shek who lost to the communists in the civil war. Big business in Taiwan today favors closer ties with China in the hopes of getting more investments in China from which they can make money. The ruling DPP party, which China hates, grew out of human rights fights against the right-wing government.
September 8, 2021
Fighting to save Al Capone’s house
The Miami Harold reports that Florida preservationists are fighting to prevent the former home of Al Capone from being demolished.
September 8, 2021
Leading questions on Fox News
Fox News reporters have an annoying habit of asking incredibly leading or almost rhetorical questions. An example would be (here I am not quoting the exact words but the gist), "How did you feel when you learned that president Biden had no concern for you at all?"
People will not be surprised to learn that this question would not produce an answer such as "I had no problem with it."
September 8, 2021
“Gong fu” in Chinese
Just learned in one of my Chinese lessons the word "gong fu" meaning effort. This is the same word we in the West know as "kung fu" as in Bruce Lee.