Faith is a Funny Bunny Thing

My thoughts this early Easter morning, at the tail-end of Passover.

In a great sense, people are slaves to their sins - controlled by addictions, behaviors, and attitudes. We have free will, and too often we fail to choose wisely.  As humans, we can easily become slaves to our ways, our poor choices. It is said that we have Pharaoh's in our life.

Help to overcome the sins, and Pharaoh, in our personal life can come faith.  The two holidays, Easter and Passover which are profoundly and eternally linked to one another, are also deeply rooted in the same meaning, both offer us an the opportunity for freedom.

Both Moses and Jesus lead people out of bondage and to Freedom, be that freedom in the Promised Land or freedom from sin. A Higher Power freed us from Pharaoh thousands of years ago, and gave us the Torah at Mount Sinai. The same Power freed us from our sins and gave us the Gospel as a result of what happened on Calvary.

G-d works through Man.  In one case Moses and in the other Jesus.  Jews wait for our Messiah, putting out a cup of wine for Elijah and opening the door on Passover as a symbolic invitation. Jesus lifted a cup at Passover as symbolic expression that he was offering himself as the Messiah. 

From both Passover and Easter we can take away that there is a code of conduct for how to live our life in service to a higher spiritual purpose.  

Of course this requires FAITH. And some of you reading my post may be thinking you do not have faith.  So let me say this one thing about faith ...

Faith is a funny thing.  To explain it I will tell you a story about how I became "Toastmaster of the Year" in 1983 for the Poughkeepsie Area Chapter of Toastmasters International. True story.  An old friend from High School, Jim Brady, suggested I join this club to become a confident speaker because he told me it would help me with my career.  I was afraid to go.  But as I considered it further, and how right he was, the following paradigm shift became clear.  "You don't get confidence to speak, you speak to get confidence." So it is with Faith. You might say you "fake it till you make it."

Happy Easter and Chag Semeach Peseach friends and family!

Here is another thing the spring holiday's have in common.  The Secret Jewish History of Peeps.

This May Make the Arab Spring Look Like Nothing

In a resolution being put forward by Arab states before UNESCO for vote in May would contest Israeli sovereignty over ALL of Jerusalem. It would declare that "any action taken by Israel, the Occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration on the City of Jerusalem, are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever."
This resolution is the first time the Arab states have asked a UNESCO board to reject Israeli sovereignty over Western Jerusalem. It plunges the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural body (UNESCO) even further into the highly emotional and contested Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The resolution was submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, and Sudan. It was drafted just as President Trump is going to make a decision on the move of the USA Embassy back to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. (Refer to the following excerpts from a recent article in The Atlantic on this.)
It is as though the nation's that make up UNESCO are trying to create even greater conflict, even promote war. A military conflict is imminent. Between Israel's Iron Dome, and Arrow system, and it's the newly received and tested F35, and other modern systems that the Israeli possess, Israel should be able to deal with air threats. I just wonder how it handles the insurgency uprising we can expect in the West Bank, and whether Hamas forces would attempt a suicidal crossing out of Gaza. Attacks would be mounted out of Lebanon, but will they be limited to rockets and missiles? Iran is sure to be involved through it's proxies, but direct military action is not out of the question. Jordan's King is wild card too, though much of their population hates Israel with a passion and would love nothing more than to raise arms.
For a long time I have said that when the USA moves our Embassy, the shit will hit the fan. I say Trump will NOT renew the waiver which keeps our embassy in Tel Aviv. Israel and the USA are choosing a site and will have an announcement soon.
In 1995, when Bill Clinton was President, Congress passed a bill requiring that the USA move it's embassy back to Jerusalem. The only exception is an option for the President to sign a 6 month waiver, which needs to be signed every 6 months by the President, otherwise the embassy must be moved. Every President has done so since then. Obama signed in 8 times, the last time being in Dec 2016. President Trump campaigned on the promise to NOT SIGN the waiver! Other Presidents BROKE THEIR CAMPAIGN PLEDGE. I say Trump WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE. And i believe members of UNESCO KNOW IT. And, UNESCO motion seems to me to be a preparation for Trump's decision to relocate the embassy.
Moving our Embassy to Jerusalem will be treated as a declaration of war by a VERY large segment of the Muslim/Arab world! And the impact will not be limited to Israel. Let us keep in mind that under NATO, an attack, or declaration of war on one country is a declaration on all the NATO allies. Violent uprisings and Jihad can be expected in France, the UK, and Germany. Not to sound apocalyptic, but this waiver issue is much larger than most people are aware of.
One thing is for sure, the potential effects of the US embassy move to Jerusalem are NOT priced in to the stock market or the bond and gold markets either. Although the increased volume of gold trading activity since January is pretty incredible, the question is whether that is sign of a fear of inflation or a fear of Trump, or a fear of what? Gold has stayed in a range of around 1200 to 1250 for 4 months, which could well go on for longer. But my guess is that it when it breaks out of that range one way or the other, we will have the answer to that question. And we may have that answer, like it or not, when Trump keeps his campaign promise. The last Embassy Waiver expires in June!

Out of the Ashes of Health Care

How ironic, that Republicans had successfully voted numerous times to repeal Obamacare, only to have the President veto the bill to do so.  And YET NOW that Republicans are more in charge and have the Presidency, they fail to pass a repeal.  WHY?  Democrats didn't hand Trump a defeat, CONSERVATIVES did because Trumpcare was in some ways as flawed as Obamacare.  A straight repeal would have made conservatives happy.

The Democrats may have been right about the merits of Obamacare, and the havoc that would have been wrought by “Trumpcare”.

Bob Shrum, a Democratic consultant and politics professor at the University of Southern California, said: “The truth is it might have been worse for him had it passed because he would have faced a potentially devastating midterm election."  It is being said that Friday’s debacle may yet be a blessing in disguise for the president. I still contend that Trump "walked away from the deal" and gained an advantage down the road.

Now the question I haven't answered for myself is how WE AS A NATION move forward with health care, since it surely appears that Obamacare will continue to fall apart without congress to rescue it.  We are likely to see many areas in USA where there is NO coverage.   So you will have people and businesses paying mandates and penalties and getting NO health care to show for it!  How much does that suck?

Maybe their won't be a comprehensive plan, such the ACA.  Perhaps health care is too complicated, controversial, and politically charged to be fixed in a big ACT of legislation.

Maybe we just get a series of new smaller bills and more minor legislation and regulatory changes, each of which addresses some issue with health care.  It is not as grand and conspicuous as some large bill, but maybe a new approach will emerge.  Perhaps it makes better sense to fix one piece at a time?  I am open to that for a variety of reasons.  Especially if it allows for greater bipartisan cooperation.

We might not like the fact that we need two systems.  One that is like Japan's non-profit system which regulates prices and limits coverage but costs 1/10 of the USA, AND covers 100% of their population. PLUS a second free market system that allows people to purchase added coverage if they can afford it.

And nothing will work if we don't drive down costs, speed up drug and device approval, change how we deal with end of life care,  reduce liabilities that raise insurance rates that are passed onto consumers, provide for new delivery systems such as pharmacy testing and vaccines, AND hold citizens to greater accountability for their own health!!

We need to recognize how external factors and trends such as marriage failures, poor wage growth and poverty, opioid usage, alcohol, cigarettes, etc effect health care costs.  Fixing our economy and robust wage growth will help!  Legalizing marijuana as an alternative to alcohol for recreational relaxation will help too.  Promoting a healthy life style and educating children on better health practices will help.  Many of the nations with lower mortality rates than America also have lower obesity rates!

Fair to say that Obamacare and the American Health Care Act are both going to be ashes by the time Congress is through. The question is whether a phoenix will rise from the mess that is American Health Care today.

This Time Is Different - Judgement Will Be Served

"The U.S. Has One Message For ISIS In Mosul: You Will All Die."

Did you know that Mosul is the city which was once historical Niniveh?  Biblically speaking, the last person to declare judgment and the end to everyone in that city was Jonah.

ISIS destroyed the Tomb of Jonah.  Yup, this Jonah is glad to see judgment delivered today!  And something tells me that ISIS will NOT repent, and judgment will be done.

The United States is calling for the complete and utter annihilation of ISIS in Mosul. Every last jihadist holdout must die.

At a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday, Brett McGurk, the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition To Counter ISIS, delivered a major update on the U.S.-backed coalition’s offensives against IS-held Mosul. Following a meeting with Iraqi and Kurdish leaders, McGurk confirmed that ISIS is on the brink of defeat, with the group’s fighters falling like flies on the battlefield.

Coalition forces are “committed to not just defeating them in Mosul, but making sure these guys cannot escape,” he emphasized.

I am perfectly comfortable with this message. I even consider it politically correct. Finally, America is getting it's foreign policy act together. Thank goodness Obama's days are over!

Meanwhile, back at the International seed bed for anti-semitic and anti-Israel actions, the United Nation, Rex Tillerson is getting it Done! Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that he urges the UN Human Rights Council to reform, or else possibly face U.S. withdrawal. Tillerson reiterated the USA's "strong principled objection to the Human Rights Council’s biased agenda against Israel.”

In related sense, the recent visit by Saudi Prince Mohammed to the White House to meet with President “put things on the right track, and marked a significant shift in relations, across all political, military, security and economic fields," according to a senior Saudi adviser.

“This meeting is considered a historical turning point in relations between both countries which had passed through a period of divergence of views on many issues,” the adviser said in a statement on Wednesday. Trump said he believes revived relations and new administration policy can lead to 200bln dollars in Saudi investment in the USA.

Trump middle east policy is in sharp contrast to Obama.  Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states believe the 2015 nuclear deal Tehran signed with the US and other world powers emboldened Iran, which they accuse of fuelling conflicts in the Middle East and meddling in Arab states, including Syria, Iraq and Yemen. A major screw up by Team Obama.

So go ahead Dems, you worry about Russian conspiracies costing you the election,  Obama's tax returns, the world being destroyed by fewer regulations, and the possibility of a women who waited 7 months losing her option to abort a developed child. Half of America has a different view, and that half won and earned the right to lead this country.

The month of Adar is proving to be a good month.   The world has waited too long for justice to be served on ISIS. Hezbollah and Hamas are next.

Less Eyes On Washinton

Trump is cutting the enormous Federal Government JUST LIKE HE campaigned on.  His expected budget proposal calls for:

• 25% cut to the EPA
• 14% cut to HUD
• 18% cut to the Commerce Dept

According to the Washington Post, and economic analysis by Mark Zandi, Chief Economist for Moody's Analytics, the cuts would result in a reduction of employment in the Washington region by 1.8% and a personal income decline of 3.5%.  Robert Reischauer, a former director of the Congressional budget office said, "These Cuts would require a wholesale triage of a vast array of federal activities."

• At the same time, Trump is pushing to strengthen defense and security, another promise. He will propose major investment in our needy infrastructure, as he also said he would.  Tax reform, regulation reduction, and repeal of the failing ACA are all in progress too. Expect to see jumps in business investment and consumer spending to follow. 

Like it or not, Washington is finally getting things done and you know who likes it and is showing it??  Businesses and markets across the country!  The uptick in hires, wages, stocks, and Fed rates are huge signs of approval.

Unlike the Obama years of painfully slow growth that mostly benefited the wealthy with invested assets, and actually hurt the middle class and poor, the growth ahead will benefit wage earners and people who want to return to the workforce.

While some skeptics think the market is set up for a crash, there are serious market watchers who say otherwise. There are experts who say Trump's pro growth action will usher in a new era of economic expansion that will result in doubling of the stock market over the next 5 years.

All Democrats can see are the horrible headlines. The assumption is that every regulation cut equates to terrible egregious actions by those the regulation was written to prevent. That lack any faith in free markets and the value of animal and entrepreneurial spirits.

Creative destruction brings temporary pain for some, and prosperity for others.  But telephone switchboard operators eventually found new jobs.  Change never comes easy. Mistakes, set backs, adjustments, and fixes will be needed along the way. Health care is a perfect example!  The optimal approach will takes years to work out. And aspects take time in order for markets forces and feedback loops to kick in.

It is important to see the big picture.  Our country is finally going in the right direction - the direction that Republican and Democrats alike have been looking for.  Trump is reducing the size of the Washington DC economy and increasing the American economy.  Rather than lining Washington's pockets, the focus is on filling our own bank accounts. Rather than all eyes being on Washington, eyes can turn to how well we run our states, our towns, our schools, our business, and our own household, and even our own personal health.

Life Without Women - A Lesson We Did Not Need To Learn

Are we really a nation that needed to be taught a lesson of what life would be like without women? Are women so devalued in America, and the Western world, that women needed to go on strike to prove their value?

At time in history, NOW, feminist are protesting the unfair treatment of women in a country, the USA, where they never had it better.  No offense Ladies, but a lot of men are confused.

ALL the guys who love their wife and daughter and mother with all their heart and would give them a kidney if they needed it, wonder how we went so wrong.  Or maybe it is only Republicans who are oppressing women?  Or at least the Republicans who do not love their wife, daughters, or mother. Still confusing.

It seems to me personally, that nearly any woman or man's life is largely in their own hands.  Call me naive for thinking that either a woman or a man's future opportunities will be mostly determined by how hard they work, their personal choices, the way they treat others, and their values and priorities. Surely God's gifts, and the genetic advantages which control intelligence, talent, appearance, health, and other things factor in. But over all, once one combines both those things which are within one's control with those that are not, is there really that much left that it is worth going "On Strike" over?

I am all for celebrating women, but that does not seem to be the tone or message being sent by this "A Day Without Women" protest.

Do feminist think men do not get women's concerns for their health? Are all the husbands, fathers, and sons not caring enough?  Or is it only those men who are unmarried, without daughters, motherless and that are also in congress, or rise to the level of Supreme Court Justice, that are the problem?

Any man who is not deranged gets that you want to be able to make choices over what you do with your body.  Any man who puts on a shirt to go to work gets that you will sue your employer, or get people fired if you are sexually harassed. Men, especially including husbands, get that you expect to be paid fairly for your work. So do we.  And who would not want 12 paid weeks off work to spend time with their new baby? But try to have a little heart on a small business that has many challenges already making payroll.

Has the the situation in America turned so bad that women need to rise up and protest the treatment of women?  Or does the protest have nothing to do with current conditions?  Is it only a protest over what has not happened yet but will happen when a Republican Administration with the support of half of America oppresses women in America in the future?

Would it be so awful if some stricter rules were applied to abortion, NOT THE TOTAL OUTLAW?  Given all the birth control methods available, as well as the means to end an unwanted pregnancy in the earlier stages, do you think woman are going to lack the means to opt out of unwanted parenthood?  Besides, some men and women alike do not consider giving SOME protection to a LATER term viable fetes to be altogether unfair. Surely there will be some women who will walk this earth as a result who would be thankful for such protection. AGAIN, a women would still have many PRIOR months to alter the course of an unwanted pregnancy.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I truly DO BELIEVE a protest is called for women who DO HAVE IT BAD! Horrifically bad.  But not here in God Blessed America.  In countries where Sharia Law is adhered to!  And the women who are the victims of the sex traffic that crosses our borders illegally day in and day out.  Those women can NOT protest for themselves!!!  But it does not seem like the "A Day Without Women" protest is directed at support for them and against the oppressive regimes they are under. Isn't one the organizers a supporter for Sharia Law in America?

Finally, if a "A Nasty Women" is mostly a way of saying we are very upset that HRC lost the election and that Trump won, I have a fair question.  Does Trump, who is fighting against the evil and oppressive treatment of women by ISIS and radical Islam, as well as the sex traffic that comes in illegally at our borders, get any credit for that?  Doesn't it mean anything that Trump's daughter Ivanka is standing by his side and speaking up for the greatness of women?  Isn't it notable that out of the 45 individuals who have ever become POTUS, that Trump's campaign was the first to be lead by a woman?  I am even willing to get Trump credit for selecting a black woman, and a Jewish woman to be his "Apprentice" on two seasons of his show.

Anyway, here is Andrew Klavan to explain things with his trademark extreme sarcastic humor. A Day Without  Feminist.

Time For the Gallows?

PM Netanyahu has laid out his argument against Iran like a prosecutor.  This recent article and video seems like his summary argument.

The question is not whether Iran is guilty or innocent. It is an open and shut case.  The question is the penalty that Israel will seek.  What action? When?

Israel has laid much ground work to take back the support that Obama damaged through his eight years of support for anti-Zionist. Bibi lead the charge on diplomatic and economic fronts, in the media, face-to-face, on the phone, directly and through others. Bibi has traveled the world speaking one-on-one and to our house of congress.

As a result, Israel has strengthened relations with Sunni Arab nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Bibi has built trust and cooperation with Russia.  Israel as realigned positive support for it's place in the world with countries such as Singapore, Australia, France, and England. And last but certainly not least, with enormous and historic help from President Trump and his administration, Israel and the United States stand as inseparable allies to discredit and dismantle the United Nations body for it's abysmal treatment of Israel. Together, Trump and Netanyahu have neutered Abbas and set his strategic efforts to do an end-run against Israel to the diplomatic graveyard.

Now, as we approach Purim, in a month that bodes well for Israeli action against Iran, Hamas, and Hezbolla, the question is this:  Will Israel and the IDF send Haman to the gallows, metaphorically speaking, by lifting swords against the threats they pose to Israel's destruction.