Gaza Peace Plan

What the Middle East needs is NOT in the Gaza Peace Plan. To have real and lasting peace would require the denazification within areas of so-called "Palestinian control"like Germany saw at the conclusion of World War II. These "Palestinians" have been weened on a sort of Jew-hatred the likes of which the world has never experienced. They make the Hitler Youth look tame by comparison. A mindset of murder is instilled within the young that words on paper will not fix. A complete overhaul of their textbooks and education is in order where they are not taught the highest virtue is to kill Jews. Then, the lessons they learn at home and in the mosque must be dealt with wherein they are taught to "love death more than the infidel loves life". I turn fifty-nine today and will never see peace for Israel in my lifetime. I pray my daughter, who is ten years old, survives to witness a Jewish State living in peace and prosperity with Arab neighbors, but I sincerely doubt this will ever happen. 

Fortify the Churches?

A church by its very purpose should be welcoming, but in our increasingly strange and violent times, perhaps we need to install barricades and tighten security measures, as apparently the unbalanced and evil now find about anyplace people gather a tempting target for murder. The nature of a congregation is to welcome, but sadly today, it must be to screen first. I suppose everywhere a crowd is likely to gather must enhance security measures in this troubled era. 

A Disordered Country

The anarchists and the ANTIFA-types see the government as a giant bully. Sane folks see law enforcement as necessary for an ordered society. The radicals stoke chaos, thinking in their own warped minds that they are a David standing up to a Goliath, or some other hero facing a powerful foe for the many of them that know nothing of the Bible. A chaotic country is a dying one. 

Gaza Peace Plan

Any "peace" in Gaza must begin with the release of the Israeli hostages. That is the prerequisite to any cessation of hostilities. Hamas must also lay down its arms, so Israel will never sustain another October 7 like they did in 2023. Beyond that, it matters little whether former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is administering Gaza, or someone else picked by Trump but agreed to by the Jewish State. These steps could stop the dying in an instant. 

This Generation's Churchill

Benjamin Netanyahu is the voice of moral clarity in an immoral world. It is an honor to see the vile tyrants of the world walk out on Netanyahu at the United Nations. The Prime Minister of Israel has more courage than most of the leaders in human history. He leads a tiny but righteous nation against the vast majority of countries that bask in their own despotism, corruption, and rot. As long as Netanyahu leads, Israel will never surrender to jihad. The IDF will prevail over the terrorists and the sinister forces who back them! 

Era of Darkness

The Left has always been wrong-headed. Now, members of this confused side are not just stupid but violent. For every Leftist that has served in the American military, there are several right-wingers. The radicals best not start what they are unable to finish, if personal survival means anything to them (and for some like the recent Dallas suicide shooter, waking up tomorrow is apparently not a consideration). 

Mister Wet Blanket

Jay Powell did everything humanly possible to prop up Joe Biden. He and the Fed did not seem independent then but more an arm of the Biden-Harris team. With Trump, the Federal Reserve is an opponent. America's stocks have surged under our current President. Imagine how much more our portfolios would rise if the Fed would stop acting as anti-Trump partisans. People did not like Paul Volcker. They rightly saw his high interests rates were harming their families. What do folks think of Powell as he does all he is able to thwart Trump, and in so doing, harms the economy, the people, and our nation? 

The Baseball Playoffs

Congratulations to the San Diego Padres for making it in and good luck to them in finally capturing a World Series. A relatively small market team with a small payroll standing toe to toe with the Dodgers is amazing. I watch the game for the game's sake without really pulling too hard for anybody as there is no Major League team to root for in my hometown of Nashville. The only club I really hated and wanted to lose that prevailed anyway was the Blue Jays in their halcyon days because Canada already had hockey and unmerited arrogance, and I could not stand having Canucks I knew declaring that Canadians were "even better than Yanks at America's game". Go Padres go- you may be David but sometimes the little guy still prevails. 

Bear Some Responsibility

Mark Zuckerberg certainly did not shoot Charlie Kirk, but the odious lies on his platforms may have planted the seed in the murderer's head. I have myself witnessed former high school classmates on Facebook calling our current President "Hitler" or a "Nazi". Donald Trump has a Jewish daughter and grandchildren and has done more for Israel than all former Presidents combined. Facebook acquaintances have termed all Republicans "Fascist", an outrageous lie and smear. So if you happened to be a deluded young person in Utah, you might feel compelled to try and stop the modern incarnation of Hitlerism and (wrongly) see that embodied in Charlie Kirk. The platforms that spewed calumny against Trump and his supporters might as well have loaded the gun for a lunatic who likely saw himself as a hero battling (imagined) evil. 

Callahan "Not Fazed"

The Titans football coach is unperturbed that virtually all the fans (save for those in his own household) want him fired. What should bother him (beyond the inevitability of his coming departure) is that he led Tennessee to the worst record in the National Football League last season and is on course to duplicate the dubious feat. Callahan declared he does not "think about those things". Another matter the soon to be ex-coach does not consider seems to be how to win football games, which does not commend him as the leader of a team. 

The Pitiful Titans

Some teams are under-coached. Some are over-coached. The Titans would be better off if they had no coach than they are saddled with Brian Callahan. 

Quote Du Jour

I don't know if love can save the world, but I do know lust makes life more interesting. 

End of Summer

Don't you just hate it when you have to close up the pool for the season? It is almost like a little bit of you dies. My ten year old seems to be happiest in the water. She was in the shallow end more than the rest of us put together. As I recall, I was only in once, perhaps twice (at most). I know it is an expense, but little in life these days is not. 

A Cultural Phenomena

Some folks had never even heard of Charlie Kirk until the unfathomable act of evil that took him but have now watched many hours of his persuasive videos and had a sort revival of faith itself thanks to their new acquaintance. Kirk may touch many millions more after his departure than he did in life. 

A Tardy Fed

The Federal Reserve finally lowered interest rates. They had kept them too high to fight the chimera of inflation that Trump had already dealt with by cutting Biden's unprecedented government spending. The only reason the rates were kept unnecessarily high by the Fed seems to have been to damage President Trump. 

The Developers' Friends

The Mayor of my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, the Metro Council, and the Zoning Appeals Board are all handmaidens to those who come in with deep pockets and intentions to build expensive projects that completely alter the character of neighborhoods and that almost all the residents already living there oppose. The Mayor and most Council members talk a class envy game that they are all for the "little man", then in the event, they turn multimillionaire developers, almost exclusively from places far distant from Music City, into billionaires while ignoring the will of the voters who elected them. 

Some Great Pageantry

I think the ownership of the Tennessee Titans is more concerned with a great national anthem singer, attractive cheerleaders, and a spectacular halftime show than giving fans a competitive football team in Nashville. Of course, there will be a talented performer to sing the Star Spangled Banner because this is Music City USA. Certainly the halftime performance will be among the best in the League, but people buy tickets to enjoy a winner in the actual game, not the contest-adjacent activities that fill the time on the field where everyone gets up to use a restroom or buy concessions. 

Titans Need Coach

When Brian Callahan was brought to Nashville to lead our professional football team, we were told he was a brilliant offensive mind and that we would have the bonus of getting a package deal with his father, who was said to be the best offensive line coach in the game. The Titans offense is terrible. The offensive line is pitiful. I do not know why ownership has not fired the head coach, who is a LOSER. In sports as in life, you may have stasis, which is okay if things are going well, an upward trajectory, which is what normal folks want, or a downward slide, that is all team Callahan has delivered. The Tennessee Titans will become a perennial doormat, if they do not find a better head coach. 

A New Powerhouse

I naturally assumed based on history that the University of South Carolina football team would clobber my hometown Vanderbilt Commodores in Columbia. The Gamecocks were supposed to be pretty good and with their rabid fans, great. USC at home I thought was virtually unbeatable. Vandy smacked them down like the proverbial redheaded stepchild with a final score of 31 to 7. The Dores are really tough this season, maybe even better than they were when now Penn State coach James Franklin had them at that recent peak. 

Superficial Security Arrangements

Charlie Kirk had faced death threats, but I really think his protection detail was more concerned with someone coming and attempting a punch or making an effort to stab the protectee than having a sniper taking a shot at Charlie. Were the roofs swept before the event? Were guards assigned to the base and roof of buildings that overlooked the event? Was a camera-equipped drone in the air monitoring the gathering? It looked to be that a few bodyguards were around Kirk more to dissuade an assault than deployed to properly prevent a sniper. With rigorous security arrangements, Charlie might not have been shot. This horror demonstrates the illusion of security over the reality of threat. His team was haphazard, and it cost him his life and us his inspiration and brilliance. 

Essence of Evil

Charlie Kirk came to campus for an open exchange of ideas, which should be what the college experience is about, not to scold or mock or curse or shout down people who perceive the world differently. He did not silence his critics but brought them to the front of the line so that they could speak. Kirk did not reproach them but greeted them with the love and light of Jesus Christ. The murderer did not want that persuasive conversation to take place, so he did what those devoid of both decency and a compelling argument do and lashed out in the worst way possible, and slaughtered a devoted husband and father and the greatest patriot of his generation. 

Laden With Tragedy

A day of darkness, September 11, has turned into a day of light with service done in the name of those lost.  This continues even after yesterday's horrific and senseless act of murder in Utah, inflicted on a man of peace and goodwill. I believe that Charlie Kirk too would want us all to use his loss and the legacy of logic, reason, and common sense always so well-stated for good. He did not come on campus to intimidate but to inform, and he did that with greater eloquence than anyone ever. Charlie Kirk will surely be missed, but for the good of America and the world, we must advance his ideas. 

An Irreplaceable Voice

The three conservative stalwarts I am aware of were William Buckley, Rush Limbaugh, and Charlie Kirk. Buckley was the initiator of the modern conservative movement, with his seminal National Review. Limbaugh was the voice in the wilderness, when there were no major conservative outlets before FOX News ever existed. Kirk strode into the lion's den of intolerant, empty-headed Leftism that our colleges have largely become to redeem the ignorant with forthright, courageous, well-articulated, logical speech. You see we have ideas, compelling ones that change minds and convince those who are not so brainwashed that they are no longer persuadable. God bless Charlie Kirk. His life blessed America.

Qatar No Sanctuary

Israel eliminated some bloody-handed terrorist masterminds, who incorrectly believed the Jewish State would not dare strike them in a country that houses American military bases. Qataris have long been playing a double game, pretending they are allies to the United States and the West, while cuddling up to the mad mullahs that enslave Iran. The Trump administration distanced itself from the actions of the IDF, but Netanyahu must do what he has to to finish Hamas off, wherever they hide. Israel is not an appendage of the United States and has to place the survival of Israelis first, because nations do not have friends, only interests. 

Evil by Design

Some folks still believe Israel has a "partner for peace" in the Palestinian Authority (PA), but the PA engages in a "pay to slay" policy wherein those who murder Jews or their survivors are rewarded by the Palestinian Authority. There can never be peace with an entity that pays for the slaughter of women and children. Hamas is obviously beyond redemption but so is the PA. 

Crux of Dilemma

Jews do not have it good at the moment. We are receiving the message "you don't belong here" no matter where we happen to be. From Bondi Beach to Brooklyn, we are being physically attacked. In Israel, we are simply murdered. I think we shall try to remain wherever we want, because "go back to Poland" is not an option for Nashville Jews whose forebearers arrived here in 1850, and "why don't you go to Israel" does not fly either as simply boarding a bus there will get you killed. No, we will be at whatever place Hashem calls us, because when you wear a target everywhere on earth, there is no running away. 

An Instant Classic

The Buffalo Bills stunned the Baltimore Ravens in the best first week game in NFL history. The Ravens seemed to have it won, but Buffalo never gave up. What a spectacular contest! 

Wrong About Commodores

I will be the first to admit on the rare occasion that I do not make the right call. I earnestly thought that Virginia Tech playing at home would be too much for my hometown Vanderbilt football squad, but in the event, after a shaky fist half, Vandy looked like world beaters, dominating VPI in the second half. At least I did not have any money riding on the outcome. 

Every Building Leveled

Those big bad Israelis seem to be demolishing all the structures in Gaza City. The IDF is NOT doing this out of pure viciousness but because each of the places the forces attempt to enter is booby-trapped. 

Revenge for Tech

Vanderbilt stunned the Hokies last season when they visited Nashville. I do not think Vandy will be able to repeat the feat this year in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech looks considerably better (on paper at least). I will be impressed if Vanderbilt is able to duplicate what they did in 2024. 

A Weird Game

Before the competition started in earnest, one of the better Philadelphia defensive players manged to get himself ejected. The contest was interrupted by a long weather delay in the third quarter. I believed and wrote Philadelphia would win, but in the event, they won less convincingly than I expected. A win is a win though, and Dallas remains the Eagles' doormat.

Pro Football Starts

The regular season of the National Football League kicks off tonight. My first fearless prediction is that the Eagles will smash the Cowboys in game one. My second call for the entire season is that my hometown Tennessee Titans will earn themselves another number one draft pick by being the doormat of the League. I am not rooting for either of those outcomes. I am just a realist. 

President's Failing Health?

Gee whiz, Trump makes himself scarce a couple of days and media gadflies and never-Trumpers speculate he is not long for the Presidency and maybe not for this world. Many of these same folks never brought up that Biden was obviously fading mentally and physically for his four years in office, and some even outrageously claimed shortly before Biden withdrew from his reelection campaign that this was "the best Joe Biden ever".  A President recently was flagging alright but not the one currently in the White House. 

A Giant Flop

I watched Bill Belichick's dreadful college head coaching debut, what I could endure of it, and have reached the conclusion that maybe his unparalleled success in the professional ranks really was all Tom Brady. The Carolina boys looked like they couldn't beat the Sisters of the Poor last night, which was disappointing after all the "greatest coach" hype. 

Lost Labor's Love

In the age of sweatshops and Samuel Gompers, there was a compelling need for unions. They are an anachronism today in America, as laws have now long been on the books protecting the rights of the worker and preventing abuses. Was organized labor necessary? Yes, but that was a century ago. I wonder if the robots replacing the workers will ever call a strike?