How Not To Solve Healthcare

It is disengenuous for Obama to say that he welcomed Republican's help with the creation of Obamacare. It sounds good but the two parties were so FAR apart in their philosophy about how to approach Healthcare that it was either the President's way or the highway. And that's the way it turned out -- with not one Republican vote.

OF course Democrats call that obstructionism. And you can say it was!  But there was just as much unwillingness on the part of the Democrats to accept the Republicans ideas on HealthCare.  Both parties stood their ground and America became divided.  Here's is a NY Times article that delves into this.

It is not that Republicans are evil and uncaring people. And lets face it, they have the same healthcare problems - they get sick, and have pre-existing conditions, and struggle with the costs just the same as Democrats!  It is just that Republicsns have philosophical differences about how to solve problems. And Republican's knew Obamacare was ultimately a Trojan Horse version of Hillary care.  And here is why ...

Republicans foresaw what the President refused to admit - and actually lied about to sell his plan! Republicans, and Libertarians, anticipated the present and looming financial failures of Obamacare in the long run and how it would discourage competition and ultimately cost considerably more to taxpayers. Republicans were right about real problems, loss of carriers, and escalating premuims.

The President knew what was coming down the pike as well.  Many believe Obama expected competition, under the ACA as designed, to fail and drop coverage. Just as he knew ultimately many would not get to keep their original plan and the premiums would skyrocket. And, that insurers would drop out, as they are, because of rising costs and limits on government  reimbursement. This begs the question of why - what good come from designing a failure?  Here's the answer ...

In the end, the President gambled that there would be a Democrat in the White House. None other than the Queen of Socialized medicine - Hillary R Clinton!  SO, when the ACA failed BY DESIGN, the goverrment could "save the day" by moving to a "single-payer system," a Monopoly, and THEN the government could mandate prices through legislation. In essence a socialist system versus a capitalist system!!  Hello Bernie Sanders.  Obama's plan B.  And maybe his best salesman!  But clearly a Socialist!

I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to give up on our Founding Fathers vision for America's economic system.  But if you are maybe you should move to France, just saying.  (Pardon my snarky humor.)

It is also misleading to ONLY point to the people that now have coverage who could not get it before, and OTHER benefits of the ACA, as the reason that Obamacare is working.  Of course there are some Pros. But the system still has to be sustainable. So to only point to the positive misses the full picture.  Nor do they mean the overall program is optimal.  Nor should Republicans be relieved of an obligation to figure out how Americans can obtain coverage who might otherwise have been shut out. There are other Pros to the ACA and Republicans will have to cope with those challenges.

Obamacare started with many lies, and today as predicted it is failing under its own weight. Obama knows it, which is why he welcomes the Republicans to propose changes.  There will be major fixes needed for it to survive.  So, it is tempting for Republicans to opt to let it come apart on its own.  Which would be an embarrasment to the President if his legacy failed by design, however, if Democrats want to play it that way, that's an option.

But that's not the way to fix our problems! It is just another way to not fix Healthcare

I have never seen a departing President lead an effort to undermine the incoming President. America is a freaking mess! And until we start working together we are not going to solve Healthcare or our other major issues.

Here is a follow-up article on a Quick Fix to Healthcare. 

Why I Believe In Reincarnation

Recently I became a believer in reincarnation.  I personally witnessed evidence of it. And I am here to share it with you.

Reincarnation is the belief that an aspect of a living being goes through successive starts in a different physical body or form, called rebirths. And that "Karma," which literally means "action," is the sum of one's actions and the force that determines ones's next reincarnation.

(Before I go any further, let me be clear that what I'm about to describe does NOT FIT the classical definition of reincarnation!  It's probably not appropriate to even use the term, other than as an asociation and to serve the purpose of a headline.  But I digress and having your attention, I thank you, and can move on.)

I am a recent witness to reincarnation.  And the realization came to me as I was searching for a song I wanted to listen to called "Asher Yatzar," named after a Hebrew prayer of the same name. The song is written and performed by an artist named Dan Nichols.  It is on his album "Beautiful and Broken."  While that song relates, it was not what triggered this blog.

I came across a song by Dan Nichols called "May I Suggest To You."  As I listened and absorbed its message I actually got a bit choked up.  It is both very sad and very joyful at the same time.  The lyrics say all one needs to say about how I percieve the concept of reincarnation and Karma.

But it was not that song either that actually triggered my thoughts on reincarnation.

It was latter on the same day when I saw a Facebook post by my daughter-in-law Melissa. In her post, Melissa shared a humorous article about the "First Intensive Care Unit Opened for Men Suffering from a Cold." Naturally this invited a series of funny jibs & jabs, sexists of course, to which my son Alex who was home suffering from a cold had now recieved "insult to his injury," and had become the brunt of the humor running through this particular Facebook thread.  Alex, like a good sport, defended himself tongue in cheek, with the following response,

"Listen, this hybrid strain of bird flu crossed with swine flu that I have is a real ass kicker. Only a man could make it out of this one alive. Just be glad I've passed on these tough as nails genes onto our daughter."

I came back with,  "I'm with you son. Very frightening.  Charlotte is very fortunate. Hopefully she has your never get cavity teeth too!!"  And then, that is when it hit me!

You see, Alex has never had a cavity.  I rarely get them either. Neither did my Dad. And his Dad, Alex's great grandfather was a dentist.  There it was, Karma - the sum of one's actions!

Mary and I, and Melissa's parents, Don and Cindy, recently all became grandparents.  And when we did, it reminded me of something I said to Don years ago while at the bar when he and I were hanging together during Alex's bachelor party.  Don, I said to him as I put my arm on his shoulders, we are going to make babies together.  Creepy, yeah, but we laughed, and cried a bit too, because Don is as sentimental as I am, and I love him, and he got it!  Don lost his father at a young age to a bazarre and tragic accident.  We both understood that our children truly are our, our parents', and our parents' parents, and on, lasting legacy. And all we wish is for them to do better than we did.

Now, if you would like, listen to the song I mentioned above in this blog post, and I hope you will understand now why I said the lyrics say all one needs to say about how I percieve the concept of reincarnation and Karma. Again, the song is "May I Suggest To You" by Dan Nichols, and it was inspired by the film "Road to Eden."

If you are a grandparent, you will get it too!

The First Twitter President

So now Russia is Tweeting.  All I want to know is when will this be good for my Twitter stock?

I will also say this to Biden, and all the others criticizing Trump for using Twitter. YOU COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG!  And you are totally missing the power and the value of that medium for speaking directly to the public without having to go through mainstream media filters.  People are under estimating the benefits derived from Twitter to the news maker in their ability to control:

1. Wording, tone, and associations
2. Timing/urgency
3. The instant viral nature of a Tweet to be re-Tweeted
4. How one can either "make news" as "react" to existing news and events
5. The impact of the seeing public support for a Tweet message through the "heart"
6. The way the Twitter user can use messages to build their audience of followers
7. How Twitter can be exploited as a tease and lead-in, and link to, a longer story and other news source.

The irony is that if you don't like Trump's Tweets, then don't "Follow" him. The media feeds Obama with an audience he would not reach if they did not report on his Tweets! For those who want unfiltered and unfettered access to our President's thoughts, Twitter is a fantasic medium.

The critics have hurt themselves.  Especially the politicians who slam Trump for using Twitter. They are stupidly putting themselves in a "dammed if I do, dammed if I don't" box. Dammed if they don't develop their Twitter audience and Tweeting skills, and dammed for looking like hypocrits if they do. Meanwhile, Trump if laughing himself to the polls every time he Tweets!

For China, and other countries that do not have the free speech and free press society that we Americans enjoy, Twitter must be a nightmare.  Talk about a censorship challenge.  Leadership there must feel totally Trumped, I mean stumped.  LOL.

Eventually this has to be good for Twitter stockholders ... I keep telling myself.

IF>THEN: You Do The Math on the Middle East

To use a rather crude expression, "The shit is about to get real!"

You can call me crazy, and I would be the first to agree that my psyche is obsessed with this matter for some reason.  But it has been my sense, and I have been speaking up for months now, that we are in important and treacherous times. It would be one thing if it were all "in my head."  But it is not -- I am working off articles in legitimate news sources about actual current events. Shouldn't we all be at least as concerned about a full fledged war breaking out between Arab Nations and Israel as many people are about Russians hacking the DNC?

As we enter the month of March, just after the French Middle East Peace Conference which will no doubt condemn Israel, there is another International Conference, this time in Ireland, but it may as well be any country in Europe, with a slate of speakers that are a “Who’s Who” of radical anti-Israel activists and academics, to literally "Explore the Elimination of the State of Israel" as the conference is titled. It does not take a 5th grader to tell what their conclusions might be!

I find the timing of these two international conferences to be either profoundly coincidental or divinely prophetic.  Is there anything to the dates?  In the month of March, Jews celebrate Purim. Purim is a joyful and fun festival based on The Book of Esther to commemorate the defeat of Haman, an evil Persian who plotted the destruction of the Jews, only to meet his and his families end for doing so.

So where might things in the Middle East go from here?  
There are many moving parts, and as I perceive them, they are somewhat linear in terms of sequence. Furthermore, each part is consequential, in other words dependent on the other.  So, one leads to another.  To lay them out I will apply a boolean expression, otherwise known as an "IF > THEN STATEMENT," starting with a long set of IF's:

IF - The French Peace Conference culminates with a proclamation condemning Israel and laying out wording for a United Nations Resolution declaring a State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital, and the Israeli settlements are required to be vacated, and IF;

IF - The United Nations supports passage before Obama and Kerry leave office, and IF;

IF - The Congress and New President pass a bill to move the USA Embassy to Jerusalem, and IF;

IF - TERRIBLE riots erupt on the Temple Mount along with Jihad in Israel and the West Bank, and IF;

IF - Jordan, which is responsible for controlling the Temple Mount, supports such revolts rather than putting them down, and IF;

IF - Israel police and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) take steps in to assertively put down that violence on the Mount and in the West Bank, and IF;

IF - Terrorist attacks breakout throughout Europe, and possibly the USA, and IF;

IF - Iran, and possibly other Nations attack Israel or otherwise become directly involved in the violence, THEN:

THEN:
A war in the Middle East has broken out!

Then, sides must be chosen! And I suspect Israel's Prime Minister will make that perfectly clear in a televised speech, saying it is time for every Nation to choose between Israel and Iran.

No doubt what side America is on. My guess Britain too. On the flip side, I do not think there is any doubt about Lebanon, where Hezbollah calls the shots. Jordan, given the IFs above, we can assume takes the enemy side. There are some 100+ Nations in the UN that have already shown their enemy stance against Israel!

But what nations will join the actual fight?  Syria, given their current state of internal military challenges, can at best send over missiles.  Israel knows that, having literally JUST divulged intelligence about those advanced missiles sites, so one might expect Israel to proactively take them out.  But I am not so sure that either Syria or Russia takes the enemy side. Israel's relations with Putin Russia are actually quite good.  And, Trump's "bromance with Putin" does not look so stupid after all when you consider what is brewing here.

Did US Intelligence Services miss the potential for all of this, like they missed ISIS and Bhengazi!? Or are they just too preoccupied with election polotics and DNC hacking? I seriously doubt Israel's intelligence is behind the curve. This may explain why Bibi Netanyu said he would wait until Trump is in office before divulging intelligence to the USA President. Bibi knows better than to trust anyone in the Obama administration, and especially not Obama or Kerry themselves, let alone our UN Ambassador, who have all brought this pot to boil by orchestrating the UN resolutions 2334 which kicked off the entire series of events. Thank goodness the USA Congress has Israel's back, still bleeding from Obama and Kerry, and Bibi knows it.

But what will Egypt do?  What will Saudi Arabia do?  If it is a case of my "enemies enemy," then the question must be what do those countries perceive to be their bigger threat, Israel or Shia Muslim centered Iran?  Any guess on what side France and Italy will take?

YOU DO MATH:
When you work out this IF>THEN statement, what do you come up with?  I come up with War in the Middle East.  But is that a World War?  There are bound to be many millions with the eyes out for the Mesiah.

And, as you can see, there are "a whole lot of ifs!"  Besides, who am I to call for this level of destruction.

I made it very easy to follow along.  This is an unfolding situation which can be turned back at any "IF statement" along the way. The next two big events to keep an eye on are the French Middle East Peace Conference in Paris on Jan. 15th, followed by the UN response while Obama is still President.  If I am right, Kerry has foreshadowed in speeches and writing that the Obama administration is going to take two key parting shots at Israel before leaving office. Two States or Not Two States?  That is the question!

Remember the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and what came out of that - the Treaty of Versailles, the "Peace to End All Peace" which ultimately lead to the rise of Germany, Hitler and WWII.  Let's pray that what comes out of the Paris Peace Conference of January 2017 doesn't lead to WWIII.


LINKS TO OLDER POSTS:

World Warning

Change Can Make Your Head Spin

Bibi Grabs Victory from the Jaws of Defeat

It Begins

Trump Wants Biggest Trophy Ever

Russian Reset

One State of Israel

Teaching New Dogs Old Tricks

My blog post title is a word play on the the old catch phrase, "You can't teach old dogs new tricks." My implication is that, by applying reverse logic, people today can learn old ways of doing things. And it is this notion that I am applying to a concept called "Collective Wisdom."

I was reading an article about a Chinese Telcom company that is manufacturing a phone that it is competing with Apple and Samsung.  They are just launching their newest phone in USA.

The company's name is Huawei, and Richard Yu, the director and CEO of it's consumer business means to take on Apple and Samsung. At the technology trade show taking place in Las Vegas as I type, Yu made it clear in a keynote speech, "We never hide our ambition ... We have a vision to make the world's best smartphone."

What struck me most was another remark embedded in his remarks about how he expected to accomplish this enourmously bold goal.  He said, "'Genius' is no longer the domain of a chosen few."  He eleborated by saying his company is a different managment style than other companies. NOW, he had my attention!  He called it "Collective Wisdom." He went on, "We are not only diligent ... we are also flexible."

I had to know more. What is this "collective wisdom" style Yu is referring to?  Turns out that it not a knew concept. In fact, it is very old.  How old?

So I did a little research, commonly called "googled," on the phrase and found that the concept of collective wisdom can be associated with works as early as the Torah, Buddah, and Plato. Thomas Jefferson referred to the concept of collective wisdom when he made his statement "A Nation's best defense is an educated citizenry."

The truth is that I really know very little and don't portend the implications of the concept of collective wisdom in business managment and organizational structure.  But it struck me enough to call out, through my blog, that this rather notable business leader of a rather large business made a huge claim of how collective wisdom was going to enable his company, Huawei, to overtake two of the biggest conpanies in the world! And there are credible reasons to take him seriously.

In conclusion, if like me you think that is darn impressive, then you may want to make the same note to yourself.  "Time to learn an old trick," and get a better understanding of how to apply collective wisdom to my business endeavors.

Hopeful and Living on the Edge

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” 
― E.E. Cummings

This post marks my last blog post for 2016.  It seems fitting to look back.  It also seems fitting to look forward.  Which, puts us squarely in the middle - between the past and the future - you might also say, "living on the edge."  

This New Year's Eve day also happens to be the day leading into the last night of Hanukkah - the 8th night. Hanukkah being the story of Judah and the Maccabees, a small band of Jewish fighters, who led a successful rebellion against the oppression of the Jews by the Syrian Greeks in the land of Israel in 167 BCE, over 600 years before the birth of Mohammed. 

Looking back in history, sheds light on today's present day events.  But what does it tell us about the future?  After all, much of what we consider in making our New Year's goals is the desires we have to depart from the past. Turning over a new leaf is symbolic of letting go of the past.  

We can get stuck in the past.  Psychologically it is hard to be in two states at the same time.  Five years ago, in 2011, I had to find a way to do just that!  And,  through that experience I discovered a deeper meaning to the word "hopeful." 

In 2011, on the day before Thanksgiving we were told Mary had cancer.  And, it was rather serious, not that any cancer isn't.  On Thanksgiving, a day devoted to being "thankful" and during a season we associate with joy, I struggled with a paradox - my desire to cherish life and live every moment, versus wanting to fast forward a year to be done with the multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, and weeks of radiation that Mary was to face. As the doctor put it, "It's going to be a very long year!"  

In the experience of the months that followed, I came to appreciate more than I ever had, what it was like to live on the edge. I learned to accept a paradox about life.

One can both savor the moment and look forward to the future at the same time. The concept is found in the meaning of the word "hopeful." Hopeful is the present value of the future. Being hopeful provides inspiration for today and optimism for tomorrow.  During Rabbi's sermon at last night's Shabbat Candle Light Service, on the 7th Night of Hanukkah, she told a beautiful story about the importance of the symbol of the Light and Hope.  

Being hopeful is more powerful than the tradition of simply making a list of your goals. Being hopeful empowers one to achieve your goals! That is because being hopeful turns a goal into a belief.  Beliefs are when your mind says a goal, something you haven't actually achieved or don't have yet, is a virtual reality. Our brain operates differently when you believe!

What you believe in, you stand for.  Belief overpowers fear.  Belief  = Courage. Who doesn't benefit from having the courage to turn your New Year's goals into reality? Here are quotes on Courage.

What do you believe?  This year, while practicing the Jewish ritual ceremony of Tashlich, I abandoned fears that I held. And on Thanksgiving I came forward with one of the things I believe in - One Love. One State. ISRAEL.  When one believes, Change can make your head spin. 

Happy New Year everyone!  And, THANK YOU for reading my blog!

Russia Reset

IF VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE, THEN MAYBE IT IS TIME FOR DETENTE ...

Watching the diametrically opposed way that Obama and Trump are handling Putin and Russia it reminds me of the old interrogation tactic referred to as "good cop, bad cop."  In such a tri-fold relationship the one thing all three parties know is that the two cops are working with a "bad guy." Even the bad guy knows he is a bad guy.

Let's assume Russia hacked the DNC.  Let's also assume Putin and also Trump know it, even though neither are admitting it.  In the scheme of "good cop, bad cop," the only one talking tough on the "bad guy" is the "bad cop."

The only difference in this case the "Bad Cop," Obama, is either unaware of what the "Good Cop," Trump, is up to, OR, Obama should get the Oscar for how he is playing his bad cop role.

Obama and Kerry, as well as virtually everyone in congress regardless of party recognize that Putin is a KGB "bad guy" who operates in ways that make American leaders and National security professionals, let alone most Americans and Westerners around the world, very uncomfortable.  So to think that Trump can not figure this out, even with the national security briefings that only the President receives is just absurd!  If you can not understand and accept that Trump knows darn well, and better than you or me, what Putin is about says more about your bias hatred for Trump than it does about Trump's intellectual capacity.

So do not be fooled by Trump's "sweet talk" -- He is not oblivious to Putin's darker side. Trump is doing something that I believe not enough people are giving him credit for.  He is very cleverly going about a complete reset of American and Russian relations. Something Bush II tried to do but failed at. 

Is Trump stupid. NO!  He is handling the situation brilliantly.  It is just that most of Washington and most of America don't yet understand Trump, let alone what he doing.  But rather that writing a much longer blog post trying to explain what I think Trump is up to, I'm going to simply tell you whose views about Russia I share and provide links to some articles in order to back up my view.

The individual to help make my case is one of the greatest foreign affairs geniuses in the past century, Henry Kissenger. Trump is doing something Henry Kissenger projected decades ago that we would need to do: Pivot sway from China and over to Russia.

Here are just three recent articles, but there are many more and Dr. Kissenger has been making his case for Russian relations for decades, we just have not listened.

Article Links:

• Kissinger, a longtime Putin confidant, sidles up to Trump
• Henry Kissinger has 'advised Donald Trump to accept' Crimea as part 
• Moscow would welcome Henry Kissinger’s expertise in Russia-US relations

What I find as fascinating as the case for why we should rebuild relations with Russia, is how Trump is going about developing rapport with Putin in order to do so.  I can not call what they have "trust," because guys like Putin and Trump are not going to truly trust one another for a long time or maybe ever.  They only need to both understand what the other is up to and be able to see it in their personal/National interests to play along with one another.

Putin and Trump both started with a mutual contempt for Obama and Hillary, and the desire to make their country great again. So it was pretty easy for Trump and Putin to get off to a great start with each man flattering the enormous ego of the other. But there are much deeper and significant forces and motives at play.

Trump is using the forces mounted against Putin, which in turn draw a counter force reaction by Putin, like a Jujitsu martial artist who manipulates his opponent's force against his him rather than confronting him with his own force.  Trump is leading Putin to where Trump wants Putin to go, which is also to place where Putin wants to be.  Let me try to explain as briefly as I can starting with listing each man's national objectives.

Putin wants three main motives/objectives:

1. Putin wants Russia to be respected on the world stage.
2. Putin wants to rebuild the Russian economy.
3. Putin wants to crush radical Islam and keep a tight lid on fundamentalist Muslim activity in his territory.

All three above are in America's interests too. Trump has three additional motives/objectives:

1. Trump wants Russia to play a supporting role in guarding against Iranian domination mitigating threats to Israel. (See * at the end.)
2. Trump wants Russia oil & gas interests to compete against OPEC in order to hold down prices and diminish Arab domination in both world politics.
3. Trump wants Russia to act as a counter force with China and help to bring pressure on North Korea.

Putin is seeing that Trump will help Putin to achieve his three objectives, and in the process, through the dance of foreign affairs, which appears on the surface like an iceberg, Trump is dancing his way to his American objectives.  So what appears like a Putin & Trump Bromance, is really much more sophisticated, artful and forceful than it appears!

This is what a "Russian Reset" looks like and most folks are failing to give either Trump or Putin credit for it.  But they will once both economies are booming again.  Because, as I explained in a previous blog post, "Prosperity is a Hate Spoiler."  All of this is why I went on the record before with Prediction #7 about improved Russian and American relations.

Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is ending his Presidency having revived the Cold War and culminating with the largest expulsion of diplomats even during the cold war.  To which Putin responded brilliantly with a checkmate move inviting US Diplomats to a party.  The contrasts between the "Good Cop" and "Bad Cop" could not be any greater, and so will be the contrasts between their Presidencies!!

* During Hanukkah I have been focusing on Israel and what I envision to be the beginning of a new Era in the peace process. It may seem with a quick read of this article that I have gotten off that theme.  NOT SO! In fact, I could say this is the most important post of all related to that theme because it is my opinion that Trump's actions with regard to Russia will play a crucial part in this.  Russia, as well as the Ukraine, are going to be key to bringing about pressure on certain Middle Eastern factions in order for Israel to achieve its peace objectives in a new way with newly defined borders.  While it is less evident in main stream media, I am noticing very constructive actions between Israel and Russia which have the potential for tremendous economic, technological, cultural, and political working relations!  

Previous Posts
- Change Can Make Your Head Spin

- Bibi Grabs Victory From Defeat