We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Letter To My Son (on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, 1831):
To my beloved son, Isaac, may his light shine;
May the Almighty strengthen your heart and move you on the great and fearful day of Rosh Hashanah which is appraching, that you may make it your purpose henceforth to renew yourself each day for good. Do not lose a day without a period of solitary meditation, during which you will contemplate your ultimate purpose. Snatch each day as much study of Torah, prayer and good deeds as you will be able to steal from this passing shade, this vanity of vanities, this evanescent cloud. Remember well that all our days are nothing. Every man can snatch in them some piece of eternity on some level.
In the Talmud is written: "In the place where repentant sinners stand perfect saints cannot stand." The estate of the repentant sinner is even higher than that of the perfect saint. The repentant sinner had to struggle more fiercely to subdue their evil inclination.
Bird Dog alerted me to this delightful video. Among all the seriousness, we still find ways to have fun. Fun often transmits messages just as well.
A note about understanding "Shana Tovah", the traditional Jewish New Year's greeting: Literally, it means a good new year. Many, however, offer it as a happy new year. But, happiness is not an accurate measure of goodness. Further, "shana" as a verb can mean change. What we work for is to change for the better.
”When in the course of human events…” Well, we’ve reached that course.
Hillary Clinton is corrupt and corrupting of everyone she touches. President Obama has engaged in outrageous executive conduct so often as to be numbing. Those in powerful positions throughout this administration behave like lawless thugs and keep getting away with it. The courts have been packed with judges who find excuses to not enforce the laws or who create ones out of ideology contrary to intent. The major media shamelessly look away or cover up for the lawless and abusers, and seek every opportunity – or blow out of proportion every trivial thing – to damn opponents of the regime. Much of the Republicans in office lack the guts or integrity to fight back, outside of mewing noises.
Where does that leave us now?
The Tea Party movement occurred at a point in time between elections, and succeeded in electing many who promised to be better. Some have been. Many have been useless or become tools. Now, it is election time, and the demonstration we require is at the ballot box.
Donald Trump is far from the perfect leader. But, then it takes someone with gumption and determination who will not be intimidated to take on the rot that permeates our government and self-appointed ruling class. And, Trump is the only revolution we have available.
Anyone deserves the end of our once-renowned Republic who stays home or turns coat or otherwise fails to stand up for recovering an America with basic laws and justice, an America which is not beholden to those who would exploit the government for self-aggrandizement or profits, an America with justice for all which does not favor the wealthy or powerful sycophants of state power.
Donald Trump is not George Washington. But he’s the only revolution we have, and very probably our last chance. I have faith in the American people who will bring us back from tottering over the brink of ruination to make it work when Trump is elected.
Get out and work for local candidates and for Trump. Otherwise, be part of the ruination. It's that simple and brutal a truth.
I am from the school of loyalty belonging in God, family, country, in that order. When it comes to voting, my loyalty does not belong to any individual or political party. My vote belongs to me. And, I have an obligation to behave responsibly and sensibly with my vote.
In that vein, whether I am a lifelong Republican or conservative is important, but only in so far as my deeply held beliefs are furthered or protected. Many Republicans or conservatives are disaffected or in pique by the apparent triumph of Donald Trump. However, for me, Trump does not get my vote because I am a Republican or conservative but because the alternatives are far worse in a continuation of the Democrats' ongoing literal destruction of our ethics, our economy, and our national security, while in actuality doing relatively less to upraise the unfortunate than to tie them into being lackeys of the central government instead of their own initiative, compounded by our citizen poor being undercut by uncontrolled inflows of foreign competitors for jobs and public funds. To not vote is to vote for the continuation of the past 8-years of the outright assault on the very fiber of the United States.
I cannot accept with any respect any Republicans or conservatives who will now support Hillary Clinton. They do not deserve it. They exhibit themselves as rent-seekers, to profit from her probable election to the presidency due to the lock that Democrats have on a near majority of the electoral college. Or, they exhibit their overriding loyalty to their liberal social circle in New York or Washington. They do not exhibit the judgment to choose the lesser of evils, and they increase the probability of loss of Republican control of the Senate and House, which only increases the damages from a leftist administration.
I almost can't believe I'm saying this, but I am declaring myself for Ted Cruz, because I have always leaned toward the moderate wing of the Republican Party and have always been first and foremost a foreign affairs conservative. But, the Republican Party is too far away from even minimal effectiveness, even with Congressional majorities, the issues being so aligned closer to conservative values, and the sheer incompetence and thuggishness of the Obama administration so evident and scary. And, Republicans in leadership have been as willing as Democrats to allow the hollowing of our military and degradation of its spirit. The situations in the MidEast and with Russia and China are among the most fearsome that our country has faced and we have frittered away our abilities to counter these threats. At the same time, our domestic strengths have been so weakened and spent into moral and financial near bankruptcy that unless we rebuild domestically we can forget about having a future in dealing with foreign gangsters not to mention the class of gangsters -- the politicians arm-in-arm with Wall Street and megacorporations --who are looting our pockets and self-esteem.
Ted Cruz is not a foreign affairs candidate. If anything, I would expect him to be restrained, both out of traditional conservative restraint and due to concentrating on setting us upright at home. He may be too restrained for my taste but there is something more important right now at stake, the very survival of the United States as the strong beacon of values that light up the world. Meanwhile, I feel confident that Ted Cruz will help rebuild our military strength and combativeness, weakened by social experiments that disregard fighting effectiveness, and will not stand idly by as foreign slime spit at us.
Ted Cruz is a principled Constitutionalist and conservative of the stripe that used to be so common. That's why the hypocrites and sell-outs in the Senate despise him, because compared to his legislative bravery they are revealed as pygmies of pusillanimity. I remember when Barry Goldwater ran for the nomination, how castigated he was by the Republican establishment, who deserted him. He lost by a landslide, but set a standard that Americans could gather around and retake the Republican Party for conservative principle and patriotism that didn't just conveniently wave the flag but who were willing to bleed for it and for what it stands for. That is Ted Cruz. Every generation, we must reassert our standard of principles, or see them bought for a pocket of lucre and allowed to be weakened for the passing comforts of laziness.
Ted Cruz may very well go down to defeat. It is tough to buck the stacked big city states in the electoral college and the sheer wall of hatred spewed by the mainstream media against any Republican -- and most Americans still get their news and views from the mainstream media. So may any other Republican go down to defeat. None of them are inspiring. I am willing to see that happen IF, IF, the Republican candidate sets out a clear standard of conservatism and articulate, knowledgeable defense of the Constitution and decency of values. Of all the candidates, only Ted Cruz has done that and can do that and be counted on to govern that way if elected.
At National Review some of the leading principled conservatives, none of them sycophants of big government-big business, set out their reasoned opposition to Donald Trump. In doing so they actually set out the case for a real, principled, knowledgeable, brave conservative. The only one on the field who lives up to that standard is Ted Cruz.
Sober reflections by Allahpundit. The NYT quote is worth considering:
[T]he cadre of Republican lobbyists, operatives and elected officials based in Washington are much more unnerved by Mr. Cruz, a go-it-alone, hard-right crusader who campaigns against the political establishment and could curtail their influence and access, building his own Republican machine to essentially replace them…
This year’s calendar offers a way to think about two important dates in Judaism, the birth of today’s Israel and Chanukah. The two dates represent the importance of struggle to accomplish a Jewish state as well as the struggle to deserve a Jewish state.
Four days after I was born, the modern state of Israel was ratified by the United Nations partition vote on November 29, 1947. Here’s a video recollection.
In the video, a commenter says that with the UN resolution Jews were no longer the object of history, acted upon by others, but the subject, taking control over their own fate. Divine intervention may have helped but it was the struggles of man that fulfilled the two-millennia of prayers.
A humorous take is that at the beginning of a year G-d tells a pious man he will be rewarded by winning the lottery before year end. Months pass and come late December the pious man asks of G-d why he hasn’t won yet. The response: “Meet me halfway, buy a ticket.”
The creation of modern Israel is when Jews got the message.Similarly, the two books of Macabbees on the origin of Chanukah offer contrasts between struggles of man and divine intervention. The first book is a fairly straight-forward reputable history. The second book contains more of the divine. (Here’s an analysis of the books of Maccabees, and theories of why they are not included in the Jewish bible.)
Maccabees (left); Hasmonean Kingdom 140-37 BC (right)
The most accepted theory of why the books of Maccabees are not included in the Jewish bible is that the Maccabee Hasmonean dynasty was not of the house of David and that it was itself later corrupted by Hellenism, due to its failure to live up to its nationalistic founding, and because the Jewish bible’s canonizers avoided provoking the Romans after their destruction of Israel, murder of as many Jews as they could and the dispersal of Jews to relative refuge elsewhere.
With the creation of modern Israel, as well as Jews promoting Chanukah as a counter to the lures upon their young of Christmas festivities, Chanukah has risen from a minor to a major Jewish holiday and the books of Maccabees are read more often.
The same tensions exist for modern Israel as for the Hasmonean and succeeding Herodian and diaspora era Jews.
To what extent is the influence or antipathy of other powerful states to be accommodated or resisted? To what extent can the core nature of the Jewish state be compromised? To what extent are the survival of the state of Israel and the fate of Jews in their own hands?
History and current events are why the original Maccabees are today’s models. Those, within or outside, who counsel surrender of vital interests or defeatism would bring upon Israel and Jews another diaspora, at best, and another likely slaughter.
At this time of year, we either join with our families or yearn for our families. That's one kind of home. But, there's another home that is always there, available and welcoming. "Lift yourself up higher and you'll find your way back home." The song is multi-denominational, open for all.
Below is the letter I received today from my good friend, fellow USMC Vietnam veteran, Del Vecchio. The contribution can be made at the website of the Vietnam Healing Foundation (www.thevhf.org ) :
Well, here it is, December again, Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas coming up fast. This is the time I send out my end of year appeal for support for the charity that brings badly needed help to the crippled old South Vietnamese veterans still eking out their lives in Viet Nam.
We are now supporting directly 100 vets and their families, and also providing partial support to 30 others who have come to us with desperate requests for some help. Our work has become more difficult because of the police taking an ever worse view of us. In February on my last visit, I was "busted" in Hue for the crime of giving money to people the top cop of that region doesn't like, and told to leave and never come back. So my days of visiting the old vets to give them some real recognition from a former comrade and raise their spirits have come to an end. This is a bitter thing for me, it was such an important thing to them to have someone come from the US to see them, and I was so deeply honored to be able to give that service.
But our work goes on, the men get older and sicker and need more medicines, and now every month or so another one passes on. But we have a long list of those waiting for help, so we go on running events to raise some funds, and of course depending heavily on donations from others who understand the plight of these men and wish to help. Please consider if you can contribute anything this year. Our overhead remains under 5%, so you know the money you give will end up right in the hands of those who need it. You can send checks or use PayPal, and all contributions are tax deductible. (If there are others you know who might have any interest in this cause, please feel free to pass this on.) Thanks again, and best wishes for a very Merry Christmas.
Del Chairman, Vietnam Healing Foundation
Here I am on my last trip, with some of the new candidates for help from us. Eight men with three operating legs between them. (Faces are blocked out for their safety, since we know too well that all our activities are watched.)
Jewish humor is well known for poking fun of the pompous. Even when it's us. Readers know how opposed I am to so-called recreational drug use. But, this video will be enjoyed by recreational drug users as well as those of us not too pompous.
The Jewish High Holy Days, the Days of Awe or the Days of Repentance as they are often called, begins tonight with Rosh Hashanah and ends in ten days with Yom Kippur. Compared to other Jewish holidays full of joy and laughs, these are somber days during which our deeds are weighed and our fate sealed for the coming year. G-d weighs our measure in fulfilling our responsibilities to G-d. Others weigh our measure in how we behave to them, and for those we have harmed will our confessions to them, our entreaties for forgiveness, and demonstrations of living better be considered real. Words alone are far from enough. Our actions are necessary in how we live.
We draw inspiration from G-d, and we draw upon our decency and learning to behave in a just way.
The traditional Jewish egg bread, the challah, is usually an elongated braided loaf for the Sabbath. On Rosh Hashanah we bake the challah in a circlular braid, symbolizing the crown of G-d our King and our reverence to G-d's commandments. Many centuries of experience across lands and cultures have proven them to work and be best. We dip apple slices and challah in honey to symbolize our hopes and wishes for a sweet new year to come.
There are many prayers of public confession and begging for forgiveness from G-d and from our fellow beings. Most are ancient and carry special meanings and messages. Some are more recent, or annotated, to help deliver relevant meaning to the reader or listener. There are personal prayers for our own improvement. Most come down to the basic asking G-d to help us find the strength within to do what's right. It is our responsibility to reach down deep and live up to our better self. That is my daily prayer, and it works.
Whether Jewish or other, may the coming year be one of living better.
Private industry employers spent an average of $31.39 per hour worked for employee compensation in
June 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries averaged $21.82 per
hour worked and accounted for 69.5 percent of these costs, while benefits averaged $9.56 and accounted
for the remaining 30.5 percent. Total compensation costs for state and local government workers
averaged $44.22 per hour worked in June 2015. Total compensation costs for civilian workers, which
include private industry and state and local government workers, averaged $33.19 per hour worked in
June 2015.
Employees of Federal Contractors to Get Paid Sick Leave " 'Contractors should take note that this requirement
does not take effect immediately and is not self-implementing. It takes effect
in 2017 and only after the Department of Labor issues rules,' [said Shlomo Katz,
a government contracts lawyer at Brown Rudnick].... 'The executive order
requires covered contractors to provide sick leave in addition to vacation and
other fringe benefits already required by the Service Contract Act and Davis
Bacon Act,' Katz added. 'Some will argue that the President is exceeding his
authority by mandating sick leave because Congress has already legislated via
those two laws (SCA and Davis-Bacon) that government contractors provide
'prevailing' fringe benefits to workers, and there is no indication that the
President has done any studies to determine that sick leave is a "prevailing"
fringe benefit.' " (Bloomberg BNA)
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just reported that President Obama has already effectively raised the minimum wage.
How so? The Obamacare employer mandate requires employers that do not provide “qualifying” health benefits to pay a steep penalty. Few minimum-wage employers provide Obamacare-compliant health coverage. So the penalty adds to their cost of hiring—and thus reduces employment. As the CBO puts it:
[S]ome employers will respond to the penalty by hiring fewer people at or just above the minimum wage—an effect that would be similar to the impact of raising the minimum wage for those companies’ employees.
Increasing the minimum wage would have two principal effects on low-wage workers. Most of them would receive higher pay that would increase their family’s income, and some of those families would see their income rise above the federal poverty threshold. But some jobs for low-wage workers would probably be eliminated, the income of most workers who became jobless would fall substantially, and the share of low-wage workers who were employed would probably fall slightly.
We are now in the midst of the Hebrew month of Elul. This is the month of extra introspection to recognize the errors of our ways, and to publicly admit them and ask forgiveness from those we may have harmed, and correct our ill ways for the future. Elul leads up to the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, at which our fate is sealed for the coming year.
This poem, "The Guy In The Glass", by Dale Wimbrow is appropriate.
When you get what you want in your struggle for self, And the world makes you King for a day, Then go to the mirror and look at yourself, And what that guy has to say.
For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife, Who judgment upon you must pass. The feller whose verdict counts most in your life, Is the guy staring back from the glass.
He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest. For he's with you clear up to the end, And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test, If the guy in the glass is your friend.
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years, And get pats on the back as you pass, But your final reward will be heartaches and tears If you've cheated the guy in the glass.
Ideas are the force that drives history. If we aren’t willing to fight for what we believe, then we will lose to those who are. And make no mistake, we are not winning this war.
When I was a poor boy in Brooklyn, I read as many biographies of great people as I could, in order to learn what character traits led to their accomplishments so I could learn how to raise myself in the world.Now, many decades later, I live content that I have lived my dreams and fantasies and along the way have marked up a few signal accomplishments that made a real difference. There was a character trait that I don’t recall showing up in the bios I devoured, one which has given me satisfaction, being content with living on one’s own terms, regardless the prices. That is the character trait that you, the reader will see in the memoir written by one of my oldest friends, Sol Sanders, PEOPLE!: Vignettes gathered along the way through a long life.
On his 89th birthday. Sol’s life and anecdotes are a testament to full tilt living a “Forrest Gump” existence as an
international journalist. I and everyone who knows him delight in his behind the curtain tales of history being made or bungled, of personal insights into the mighty and often their salacious private lives. For years, I nudged Sol to get it down in a book. There are so very few such very revealing autobiographies. Sol includes me in his dedications, writing that I “made the original suggestion for this memoir but who bears no responsibility for its metamorphosis.” That’s right, because Sol has crafted a unique memoir beyond what I had in mind as a standard chronology that emphasized the magnitude of the events he witnessed and the inside stories of the events and those who made the history of the latter half of the 20th century.
Instead, what stands out in Sol’s memoir is his journey, the rocks or rapids of fate and purpose, and the personalities of the great and influential he met. It is the personalities and environment that are the focus, and hence the book’s title PEOPLE! As Sol writes at the end of his memoir, “These individual pieces obviously were purposely not chronologically arranged, in an attempt to give the reader an overall sense of the larger tableau on which my life has been written….I do not intend that the reader will come away with any specific knowledge of my life and times, but rather a general impression.” Sol’s memoir is a series of brief chapters about the personalities and foibles he encountered, and along the way reveals his formative experiences, the happenstances that flung him from a tiny mountain town in North Carolina through the first J-School, headlong into the close of WWII in Italy, on to Paris, India, Indonesia, IndoChina, Japan, NYC editor of world news, and today still a columnist whose discussions and judgments are among the most concise and telling one can find anywhere. There are 381-pages of tales, and there could have been many times more as I recollect many of Sol’s adventures and interactions that aren’t in the book.
For the reader who has not had such a life, or who is not familiar enough with the history of the second half of the 20th
Century, Sol’s hopping around may be unusual. For me there are many parallels which make Sol’s ruminations and adventures personally touching and sometimes a mirror, prowling the alleys of Flatbush as Sol prowled the alleys of Franklin, patient adults who took us under their wings, growing up with a Judaism, core values and integrity that was imprinted through family life and love, heedless of family restraints or prudence setting off to experience and conquer the world on our own terms, starting out as a young socialist (a quite different thing among early 20th century immigrants – focused on the dignity of the individual – rather than the overwhelming, homogenizing, incompetent welfare state of today) but becoming more conservative as reality taught other overriding lessons, bouncing from place to place to be in the centers of what’s happening in the world and meeting up with and basking in friendships with the powerful, forming judgments that come from the front line and from behind the Potempkin fronts that those who haven’t that exposure lack, and loving almost every minute of it.
Maybe in another 22-years, when I am Sol’s age, I can commit the unembarrassed self-exposure that Sol does in his memoir. For now, come along and meet Westmoreland, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Bill Casey, McNamara, Kuan Yew, Diem, Norman Thomas, and so many others your head may spin. Meet some personalities of whom you may never have heard, who shaped our history. Go through India and Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam (where Sol was one of the best correspondents, due to his personal relationships with Vietnamese insiders), Laos and Cambodia, Japan, journalism, as they went through the decades after WWII and took us along. Feel the friendships that Sol enjoyed. If you want to understand people and the real world, live in it, or at least get a glimpse in Sol Sanders memoir.
I just received the following email, and the link to the video.
For myself, I'd add, that could be my son disarmed and allowed to be murdered by a jihadist right here at home in the USA, and that girl murdered in downtown San Francisco could be my innocent daughter murdered by an illegal immigrant criminal allowed to roam free by "sanctuary" liberals, but President Obama acts like he could care less, while instead rousing hatred and street violence by he immediately mourning street thugs who happen to be Black.
Re the Chatanooga shootings:
I was at the airport as they offloaded Lcpl. Skip Wells's body and proceeded with appropriate respect to the funeral home. The Patriot Guard (with whom I used to ride until my knees became so untrustworthy that I was afraid to ride a Harley), the Legion Riders, police scooters from Atlanta, DeKalb Co., Cobb co. and other places, along with many other folks, led the hearse away to the funeral home. I pulled over to the side of the rode overlooking the exit from the cargo area, unfurled my flag that usually flies on the front of my house, waited for them to pull away, and did my best attention, saluting--uncovered!--as the entourage and Skip's body passed by.
Tears were rolling down my face. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people all over Atlanta who stopped to honor the procession, something that really made me feel good. I didn't cry for my brothers who died when I was young, but lots of things bring tears to my eyes these days. I must be getting soft in my dotage. I do not know why this latest shooting event has touched me so, but it has really bothered me. I think Obama's refusal to lower the flag until pressure mounted helped.
ASIDE: Monday morning, I went to work (I teach part-time at the local technical college, GED classes), went to the security guy who usually raises the flag, and took it along with a police academy guy, raised it and lowered to half-mast. I told them to tell anyone who complained that I did it. Turns out the police wannabe guy was a Marine, too. We did out best at "Colors." I saluted--uncovered--because I thought I should. His mother was in a following hearse, and she blew a kiss at us out of the window.
After the procession passed, I went to the international terminal with my wife and two grandsons to meet Kyle as he arrived on leave from Germany. He is fine. He is scheduled to be deployed to Egypt in the fall.
My son just showed this to me at a news site. A gamer in Russia caught the so-called "rebels" that have broken away eastern Ukraine, actually the Russians and their stooges, trying to accuse the U.S. of supplying Stinger missiles to the Ukranian government. What they actually showed was a replica of a Stinger missile taken from the game Battlefield 3. Remember, all evidence shows that the Russian stooges shot down a civilian airliner, killing all aboard. Their excuses didn't hold water, and this poor propaganda doesn't pop either.
Go to this link for the whole story in English, and click on the Youtube uploaded by the Russian gamer today.
The official US commemoration of those who served and fought in Vietnam is under threat of subversion by the aged radicals who undermined support at home and launched vile attacks upon our nation's and our veteran's honor. Working with a group of other aging Vietnam veterans, some of whom I've known since then, others leading scholars on the war, we formed the Vietnam Veterans for Factual History. We have launched a petition to be delivered to the General at the Pentagon who is charged with coordinating the commemoration.
Please click this link to the petition and sign on to help keep the faith with our Vietnam veterans and their families.
I’m not going to paint this post with pictures or videos, but just let the words stand on their own. Today is Yom Hashoah, the day of remembrance of the millions of Jews singled out for slaughter in World War II and the heroes who fought back. Everyone says “never again”, but we all know that is a hollow pretense for almost all who say it. We have watched mass slaughters, including some specifically targeted against discrete ethnic or religious groups, and done little or nothing. As always, almost all say it’s not their business or they don’t want to get involved or similar. So, where does that really leave the Jews of Israel who are daily, openly threatened with extinction by MidEast fanatics who are gathering the means to do so, and getting closer? It leaves the Jews of Israel to do everything possible within its limited persuasion and power to protect itself. That’s the simple truth of the matter. And, the other simple truth of the matter is that the enemies of Israel have so infected this administration in Washington that it is speeding and easing the day of confrontation, in effect and in direct consequences of Washington’s weakness.
It is not surprising that some Jews in the US go along, either out of comforts or lack of ever actually feeling the wolf’s breath. There have always been such. And, although fate has not been kind to them in the past, they are an infection that is not due any excuses for their perfidy. These are simple truths. We will all face the violent outcome and consequences -- regardless of religion or national background -- either by fallout or the burning of our souls in the hell deserved for cowards. Or, we can be more forthright and outspoken and involved in doing all we can, really, to turn this administration away from utter capitulation and the prospective presidential candidates from any shadow of such policies.
The boys and I just spent 5 days hiking in the desert hills of Joshua Tree and the higher elevations at Idyllwild. Perhaps I'll post some photos later. It being Passover, we do not eat leavened cereal grains, so the bread in sandwiches is out. Craving calories, we went to the Jewish deli in Palm Springs, Sherman's, and found its solution to the Passover sandwich dilemma: a pound of corned beef wrapped in two big potato latkes (pancakes). Gluttonous heaven.
Good art opens vistas to the viewer that he or she wouldn’t ordinarily see or know are there. The new film American Sniper is great art, and we have Clint Eastwood to thank for it. For a nation in which so very, very few serve in the military and in combat, there is huge ignorance of the simple and essentially heroic motivations of our defenders and their sacrifices unimaginable to a civilian. Each and every serviceman experiences war in their own way, and each has a story that is unique. Most do not share that story with anyone or with more than a trusted few. I’ve probably seen as many “war movies” as anyone, and it is rare that the connections to a man’s service is served up so realistically to the audience. There are no John Waynes. There are individuals who stand tall when needed and meet their responsibilities at any cost. The theater was packed and entirely silent, not a person stirring in their seat. We filed out in silence, each person experiencing the film in their own way and thinking. How rare for a film to take the audience’s breath away. That’s art.
The negative response from the people whom Mr. Obama portrays as the beneficiaries of his initiative is one reason to question his contention that Cuba should be treated like China and Vietnam, two Communist nations with which the United States normalized diplomatic and economic relations decades ago. The United States was not able to join with opposition movements in those countries in demanding democratic reforms as part of a normalization process because, at the time, such movements barely existed in either place. In Cuba’s case, the opportunity was there.
Engagement with China and Vietnam also offered huge economic and geopolitical benefits that don’t exist in the case of Cuba, an impoverished island whose main interest to the United States is the freedom and prosperity of its 11 million people....
The Washington Post describes the human rights results in China and Vietnam, after their rulers and lackeys profit from US trade:
But in the past decade, political freedom in China has declined — there is less freedom of speech, of the press, of cultural expression. More political prisoners have been locked up and tortured. Tens of thousands of censors keep tight control over the Internet. The same is true in Vietnam: more foreign investment, less political and religious freedom, more bloggers in prison. And these are not anomalies: In the years that Mr. Obama has been in office,freedom has receded across the globe— without much protest or response from his administration.
Instead, the Washington Post supports the human rights demands from those brave enough to speak out within Cuba:
In Cuba’s case, that means listening to the brave freedom fighters Mr. Obama spurned. Mr. Obama’s prescription was not the only alternative to what he saw as the failed policy of the past half-century. Opposition leaders from throughout the island have agreed on four immediate demands to put before the government: the release of political prisoners; the end of repression against human rights and pro-democracy groups; the ratification of international covenants on human rights; and the recognition of Cuban civil society groups.
Read it and weep, not only about this "comprehensive bailout — from the Obama administration" as the Washington Post editorial terms it but it continues "Mr. Obama says normalizing relations will allow the United States to be more effective in promoting political change in Cuba. That is contrary to U.S. experience with Communist regimes such as Vietnam, where normalization has led to no improvements on human rights in two decades."Further, it will encourage other despots and their useful idiots in the Western Left, as "they will press the Obama administration not to sanction Venezuela."
Then weep that ignorance at Maggies Farm abets useful idiocy, and gives a pass to the dispiriting of those facing the China and Russia bullies.
The creation of modern Israel is when Jews got the message.
The Jewish High Holy Days, the Days of Awe or the Days of Repentance as they are often called, begins tonight with Rosh Hashanah and ends in ten days with Yom Kippur. Compared to other Jewish holidays full of joy and laughs, these are somber days during which our deeds are weighed and our fate sealed for the coming year. G-d weighs our measure in fulfilling our responsibilities to G-d. Others weigh our measure in how we behave to them, and for those we have harmed will our confessions to them, our entreaties for forgiveness, and demonstrations of living better be considered real. Words alone are far from enough. Our actions are necessary in how we live.