A Long Reach

If Israelis are murdered, Israel will go to the ends of the earth to avenge their deaths. There is no sanctuary for terrorists who target citizens of the Jewish State, not in Lebanon, and not even in Tehran. You target innocents, and the IDF will eliminate you. 

The Turkish Threat

So Erdogan, the mad mis-leader of Turkey, says he will invade Israel if the IDF retaliates in Lebanon. The Turkish tyrant says the Zionist entity is no different than Libya or Karabakh, but he should remember that Israel has the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world (larger that that of France and behind only those of Russia, the United States, and Red China) with means to deliver the most destructive weapons including cruise missiles launched from German-built submarines and now, reputedly, domestically produced hyper-sonic missiles as potent as any in Russia's arsenal. Recep might want to rethink taking on the Jews.

Head of Snake

It is not enough for Israel to simply attack Hezbollah. Iran orchestrated all the recent aggression against the Jewish State, including the one day Holocaust of October 7, 2023. Tehran has gladly sacrificed the "martyrs" of Hamas and Hezbollah, but would be less apt to continue if Iran itself pays a price for the attacks they sponsor. 

Lebanon Will Pay

A dozen Israeli children were murdered in an attack by Hezbollah that came from Lebanon. I would not want to be near any of these terrorists there, because surely the IDF will extract vengeance, and there will be considerably less living jihadists with which the world must contend. 

Relishing the Olympics

I assure you that I am every bit as interested in these Summer Olympics as cricket matches. There is no more amateurism at the highest level of sport, and the leader of America's men's contingent in the Games Mr. James of basketball fame is a great lover of the Chinese Communist Party. I would rather have Enes Freedom Kanter on our basketball team and lose than LeBron and win. I will not be watching. 

Certain Environmental Factors

Trying to figure out why all our dogs except our three year old remaining companion have ended up with cancer, I have to guess that our pups suffered some sort of exposure to carcinogens, particularly since they all lived around creeks, except Bru who lived on a lake when we rescued him. Of course, he was nine years old then and had come from Oklahoma, so I have no idea what he faced in his earlier life. Everything drains into the creeks, from chemicals used to treat lawns, to people's pest control products, even to antifreeze and motor oil handled carelessly. We did not let our dogs roam unsupervised or to bathe or swim in the streams, but they were occasionally in and out of those tainted waters. Of course, your dog can't live in bubble wrap. Whatever took the other pups, we will try hard to keep Zari away from it. 

Cancer for All

Every dog I have had in my adult lifetime developed cancer. What is causing this horror? Is it commercial dog food? Is it our environment? Is it something in the flea and tick preventatives or the heart worm blocking medication? Is it vaccines? It is uncanny, every single dog ending up with cancer! 

Down to One

When we had five dogs in the house, it was sometimes chaotic, but it sure was fun. Now, we are down to the Highlander pup, the sole survivor. She is young (relatively) with Border Collie energy and (maybe) intellect. The problem is that she is headstrong, potentially to her own detriment. She will receive much attention now, and we know she loves us. 

A Great Dog

Over eleven years ago, I drove Mom to Medina, Tennessee, where we "rescued" a pair of eight month old puppy brothers. They were "twins" and litter mates who had cost nine hundred dollars apiece when they were purchased together just after they weaned, but ended up discounted to fifty dollars each or both for seventy-five dollars when we were informed by Paws New England they were listed so cheap in a Craigslist ad that they might end up as bait dogs for pit bulls. They were called "Gizmo" and "Peta" from the Gremlins movie. Well, Peta vomited all over his brother and our minivan on the ride back to their forever home in Nashville. Gizmo became Gizzy and passed away from complications of cancer last winter, and Peta who became "Sage" left us yesterday after his cancer had infiltrated most all of his major organs. They were great companions and will be sorely missed. 

Biden Train Wrecked

The smoldering hulk of faded Joe's campaign just mercifully came to a grinding halt. There was much "et tu, Brute" at the end as the rats jumped off the sinking ship. Biden is being replaced with his oh so successful border Czar, who is noted mostly for her cackle. We will see in November though who has the last laugh. 

Agenda, Not Candidate

When somebody is selling horse manure, the salesman does not matter so much as the product. If a different vendor is selected, what is being sold will still stink. 

The Other Convention

We have all seen the pitiful little man behind the current and know he is no source of awe. If the DemocRATS maintain the dementia patient as their chosen leader, the will lose by historic margins, but if they open their convention up and have a new selection process, many will tune in to find out who they ultimately pick. A certain excitement returns to the scene and enthusiasm for someone new is likely to come with it. If the party sticks with the senile influence peddler, we can welcome Trump forty-seven in January. 

An Evangelical Fervor

I have never seen as much enthusiasm at a political convention as at the just concluded GOP gathering in Milwaukee. In some aspects, the event had the feel of the best aspects of a tent revival, but staged on the grandest scale. If the election were today, I believe that Donald Trump would prevail in a landslide. 

No More Tokenism

Donald Trump did not pick the woman, or a Black guy, but the person he thought was most capable of fulfilling his expectations of a Vice President, and that happens to be a white fellow from a hardscrabble background, who is beyond question, an achiever of the highest level. No criticism of Nikki Haley (although she did become a turncoat to Trump), or Tim Scott, who may be a President in the future, or Dr. Ben Carson, who is also undeniably brilliant, but Trump was not interested in checking boxes. He was interested in assigning the best person for the job, and to his mind that is James David Vance. 

A Rousing Convention

To this point, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee has been the most exciting I have seen in my half century plus on this earth. The reason is not the speeches, though they are inspiring. It is not the staging (although that too has been professional). It is the MIRACLE that preceded the event. 

Build Back Stamina

My wonder now as I (hopefully) recover from Coronavirus is how long will it take to regain my strength. I was walking on ten degree days or hundred degree days five miles and a minimum of eleven thousand steps as measured by the pedometer on my phone. During the whole time of the pandemic, I did this literally only missing my target one day when I started watching a subtitled movie with my 5 miles already in, but when it ended after midnight realized I had only trod 10,959 steps before I sat down and became engrossed in the show. Since I developed symptoms, I have not been able to make it close to my normal daily distance and have been too sick to try or even care. When (if) the virus eases, will my energy pop back up or will I have to build back slowly? Wish me luck. 

The COVID Train

Trying to look on the bright side of being as sick as I have been in memory (I nearly died as an infant but have no recollection of that), the virus helped me lose eleven pounds in two days without even trying. Still, there are better ways to shed a few lbs. 

This Really Sucks

After avoiding COVID for several years, I finally had a close personal encounter. I could have lived without it. Between the roasting and the chills, the difficulty in breathing, I can say "all in all, I'd rather be in Philadelphia". 

A Sick Writer

Please bear with me if my writing is less prolific for a few days. I am battling my first fever since before COVID emerged. Hopefully, this too shall pass in short order, sparing the author of this blog. 

Birthing a Monster

A "State of Palestine" will be conceived in rape and born in the blood of Jews. It is not an insignificant minority of Muslims in the Holy Land that favor the destruction of the Jewish States and the Jews that exist there. Almost no so-called "Palestinians" favor coexistence, and those that do keep their opinions quiet about it, because other Palestinians would quickly kill them if their views on living alongside Jews became public. Their is no peace constituency on the Arab side, and most Jews who may have held pacifist ideology before October 7, 2023 do not want and are not going to commit suicide. 

One Jew's Perspective

I watched the Biden spectacle tonight. Fading Joe placed the onus for the conflict not on the bloody-handed terrorists who initiated the war, but on Netanyahu and Israel's "conservative war cabinet" (which it was not particularly at the inception of the fighting as the now departed Benny Gantz was liberal to his core and joined the government to demonstrate unity in the face of the most horrific barbarism the Jewish State had ever faced and the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust). Biden also failed to mention the hostages still being held, including American citizens, and continued to insist on the risible notion that two states will soon exist side by side when one is comprised of murderers who want to obliterate the other. Corrupt old Joe is a tragic joke whose punchline will be millions of unnecessary deaths. 

Bright Day Dawning

DemocRAT leaders are shocked that polls show unprecedented gains for Trump among Hispanic and Black voters. They should not be. Did they think Latinos want MS-13 thugs marauding through their neighborhoods? Did they think African-Americans want their wages cut by a glut of labor streaming in from the Third World? Could DemocRAT honchos not see everyone wants safe communities? I think Americans from all backgrounds now realize Biden is a hollow shell, and nobody from any race or ethnicity wants to vote for that. 

Chance with Trump

Israel has a better prospect of survival with Trump as President rather than Biden or the candidate DemocRATS would choose to replace him with during Joe's current glaring incapacity. The former President has no magic wand to wave to mend the world, but he is better on a policy basis than fading Joe or the captives to the "Squad" that increasingly anti-Jewish party would summon. Trump consistently had the proverbial back of the Jewish State and was the President who finally moved the US embassy to Jerusalem. If you are an American Jew who does not vote with the Republicans this time, you are actively harming Israel. 

The Next Question

Let us take this administration at its word.  We will (for the moment) accept that Biden is not being treated for Parkinson's disease. The next question the White House press corps must ask is "what is the President being treated for?" That is the logical next step. 

My Fearful Prediction

If DemocRATS remain in power in Washington, Israel as a Jewish state will cease to exist within five years, and as many Jews as those murdered in the Holocaust will be slaughtered yet again. You might consider that when you go out to vote in November, particularly if you want your Jewish neighbors to survive. 

Open an Office?

With so much remote employment now, nobody in their right mind would develop office space. My hometown of Nashville is a boom city, but there is copious office space for lease at low prices, and it seems few are interested in renting it. Of course, doctors and lawyers still need space to meet patients and clients, but for so much else in our economy, physical office space is now unneeded. 

Gas So High

Over this holiday weekend, gasoline prices in America are outrageous. They are so high that a Saudi sheikh sent me a thank you note for the gold bidet he was able to buy his fourth wife with the proceeds from my fuel purchase. Yep, even the filling station saw how expensive their 87 octane was, so they made me an offer: I could have the petrol in exchange for my first born, but that did not seem very practical, as that was who I was traveling to pick up. I thought about selling my plasma to fill the tank, but I would have run out of blood in the process. At least under Trump, you could afford a drive to the beach. 

Biden's Holiday Message

Old Joe told the DemocRAT governors that he "needs more sleep". Yep, those days of putting the work in from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon are awfully hard on him, as difficult as say the work-a-day Americans are now facing, who have to decide if they are able to afford a second meal today, or have to forego their medicine to pay for their food, or if they need the gasoline to be able to get to their workplace more than sustenance and can go two full days without eating. Yes indeed, Biden has it so tough that he has spent forty percent of his Presidency on vacation and when he puts in his labor, has the shortest workdays of any President since Woodrow Wilson suffered his stroke. The good news is that unless the cheating in the coming election is enormous, Biden will be able to go on holiday for the rest of his life in January 2025. 

Detestable Dependence Day

America has a particular political party that wants as many people on the dole as possible, reliant on them and always voting their self-interest to keep them in power. This would be the DemocRATS who now even want illegal alien sneak-ins on our welfare roles. The US should never grant benefits to those who have come here from abroad and not paid into the system. 

Behind the Scenes

The decision may already be out of Biden's hands. There are machinations afoot within the DemocRAT party apparatus to replace Joe on the ticket. Some of the tactics will involve direct pressure in meetings with Governors from that party, and other means may even include invoking the Twenty-fifth Amendment although Biden's immediate circle is said to be reluctant to become the first administration to ever remove their putative leader by this means. Given these considerations (even with nothing else involved), it clearly demonstrates that Biden is incapable of serving a second term. 

No Questions Answered

Biden demonstrated he could still read a bit off a teleprompter yesterday, even inadvertently blurting out "end of quote" as he spoke. Then, with the press pool shouting questions,  Joe wheeled around and slipped away. Biden did not even attempt to answer one query because he can no longer think of spontaneous answers at all. SAD!

The Puppet Master?

I guarantee you Ron Klain was NEVER making the decisions in the White House. Jill Biden likely has more influence than many give her credit for, as Joe would not move forward with his wife's approval. I do not think Obama respects Biden in the slightest or ever did anything but use him to show the "moderate face" of what was actually a radical administration. My bet is that Susan Rice is conveying Barack Hussein Obama's policy desires to Team Biden, and they are dutifully carrying them out with Joe never having very much influence over what is done in his name.