"The mayor, who is known for his broad, effervescent smile, seemed especially stung by the opposition to him expressed by the pro-Palestinian crowd in Union Square,

"... given his consistent support of their cause. During the vigil, he stared stone-faced, and at times looked crestfallen, as the activists chanted in support of Hamas, called for the deaths of Israeli soldiers and denounced him as a 'traitor,' many citing his meetings with President Trump or his efforts to build ties with Jewish leaders.... 'Zohran, you coward!' someone yelled from the crowd, which numbered in the hundreds. Others yelled, 'Zohran is a sellout!'"

I'm reading "For Mamdani, Oct. 7 Anniversary Sets Off Anger and Bitterness Hours after some Jewish leaders denounced Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s remarks about the attacks on Israel, activists interrupted a vigil to call him a traitor to the Palestinian cause" (NYT).

My son Chris happens to be in NYC this week, and he went to Union Square and got this photograph:

Statues of Chicago.

Photographed by my son Chris:

Those are "Bibi on the Ball" and "Brooke with Beach Ball" by Carole Feuerman. I like these a lot! A closer view: here. 

That's "Reclining Liberty" by Zaq Landsberg. Seems to allude to a reclining Buddha. 

Bonus: a view of Chicago, with the President's imprint.

Chris sends pictures from Teotihuacán.

It's quite the climb, and you have to get back down again. Or hang out in the blazing sun:

Chris sends this snippet from a book:

Here's the book: "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" (commission earned). I'm going to read that. I can't see me climbing those steep stairs in full sunlight, but I do want to read that book.

"Pease Park's giant troll sculpture burned to the ground after early morning fire."

The Austin-American Statesman reports.

In happier times:

ADDED: Back in 2022, another troll by the same sculptor was burned to nothing: "'Damaged beyond repair': police investigate after WA troll sculpture set on fire/Blaze destroys one of six Giants of Mandurah by Danish artist Thomas Dambo with arson squad examining cause" (The Guardian)(WA = Western Australia).

AND: My son Chris, who lives in Austin, photographed the Pease Park troll last year:

"You know, the hot one, with polio."

My son Chris took a photo of a sign in an ice cream shop in Austin, Texas:

Chris happens to reading a book about FDR at the moment — "FDR." On Sunday, he sent me this passage that describes FDR’s first public appearance after being paralyzed from polio:

Unique Way/True and Life.

My son Chris sends another photograph from New York City:

How New York City really looks in the snow.

My son Chris happens to be sojourning in NYC in the midst of the big blizzard, which doesn't seem too overwhelming. 

He sends these pictures, which make things look more amusing than calamitous:

Hey, that's a cop car!

Bookstore photograph — notice anything?

My son Chris sends this from Austin:

"... the baby is fat... "

Chris, who reads biographies of U.S. Presidents, texts me this photo from "The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism" by Doris Kearns Goodwin (commission earned).

If your first baby was "frail from birth" and died at 14 months, you too would experience joy to see the new baby is actively fat. Taft grew to a heft of 340 pounds, our fattest President by far.

Chris also sends this photograph he took, in case you are wondering what Christmas decorations look like in Austin:

"Exposure to other tourists... can improve our mood and enhance cognitive function. And travel can lead to healthy eating."

So says an expert quoted in the WaPo article "Travel can slow the aging process, new study says/According to researchers in Australia, positive tourist experiences can help you live a longer life."

This gets my "things not believed" tag, of course, but here's a picture my son Chris sent me this morning from Tokyo:

At the Moral Urgency Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

The photo — showing the University of Wisconsin's central campus at night — was taken by my son Chris.

And here's another Chris pic that has an animal theme (see the kittycat?):

A fairy garden for Kamala.

"This is something people do around here. There's a name for it, I think, but I've forgotten what it is — if I ever knew" — I wrote, back in 2021. Commenters told me what it is: a "fairy garden."

Here's one that my son Chris found today:

Photo by Chris.