A Marxist, Antisemitic, New York Mayor and the Jewish Vote

The race for the next mayor of New York is shaping up to be a major inflection point in the ongoing infiltration of socialist/woke/Marxist ideology into the fabric of the United States. The success of Zohran Mamdani is very concerning for the future of NYC, the most important and consequential city in the US. If he becomes the mayor, the deleterious effects will be immediately and permanently consequential. The seat of capitalism for the entire world will be led by a socialist, anti-capitalist. To boot, the most Jewish city outside of Israel will be run by an avowed antizionist, pro-Hamas, antisemite. 

It is a complete failure that a better candidate wasn't recruited to run for mayor. It is critical for the financial industry centered in New York to have a moderate mayor and the blame and consequence will be directed at them. Where are the finance leaders like Jamie Dimon that invest billions into NYC? Where are the NY real estate moguls that have so much to lose if Mamdani wins. There should have been a candidate for mayor from the business world. Instead we had the choice of a Marxist, a washed out disgraced politician in Andrew Cuomo, and an ineffective incumbent in Adams. But it is too late.

It is inconceivable that the majority of New Yorkers desire Mamdani to lead their city, but he can win for several reasons. The small but vocal woke minority will be sure to get a high percentage of its adherents to get out and vote, while the complacent moderates will have a lower turnout. Futhermore, it is appearing  that the  anybody but Mamdani vote will be split amongst more than one competitor. This anybody but Mamdani vote has to consolidate behind one candidate for their to be a chance.

Most importantly, the Jewish vote has to be motivated and mobilized to vote. There is every reason for every Jew in NY to vote against this antisemitic, anti-Zionist. The Jewish vote can sway the election holding 12% of the electorate with the potential for an even greater relative percentage by pumping up turnout. Every Rabbi should begin immediately sermonizing to their congregations about the importance of coming out to vote in November. Every Jewish organization should be pounding its NY members to vote.  

We cannot sit idly by and watch an anti-capitalist lead the center of capitalism and we cannot allow an anti-semite lead the center of Jewish life in the diaspora.

If you are horrified by the events of October 7 and the public's pro-Hamas response it is incumbent on you to vote. If you are Jewish or supporter of Israel, please make it your business to vote on November 4 . 

NO EXCUSES.

for early voting by mail or in person:

https://vote.nyc/RequestBallot

Private Equity Scam

 I recently had a very honest sprinkler mechanic come by my house to fix some issues and I was enlightened by his description of the sprinkler business. Basically, the sprinkler companies pump up their earnings by requiring their technicians to upsell questionable services and repairs. After achieving a certain level of revenue they sell the business to a private equity firm for a multiple of the revenue. The private equity firm consolidates several of the sprinkler acquisitions into one company which it then sells for a profit. Is this good for the consumer?

This model seems to be effecting many business, including the medical business, where private equity  gobbles up profitable, autonomous, doctors practices then employs doctors at a set rate. The doctor becomes an employee and earns a salary based on productivity and doesn't gain from the profit of the business. The PE firm tries to maximize its profit by increasing the revenue and minimizing expenses. Basically, the business goes from a doctor run enterprise to a doctor employee model. Does anybody think that the employed doctor would be as motivated as the doctor owner? Does anybody think the PE firm cares about the best interest of the patient's health?

We are experiencing the corporatization of many businesses that were traditionally run as Mom and Pop endeavors and are being consolidated into larger entities by private equity and this is not in the interest of the consumer. Pre-sale, it creates negative incentives for small business owners and results in unscrupulous business practices.  Post-sale, the corporatized employees that ultimate deliver the services have little incentive to generate satisfied, recurring customers but only to generate a cash flow for their bosses to pay off the debt incurred by the acquisition. Furthermore, the corporatized business will attempt to drive down expenses, including salaries, in an attempt to reach projected targets. The greater the profit minus debt service, the greater the value of the enterprise and hence, valuation to the next buyer. Until it all comes crumbling down.

I believe that many of these consolidated business entities will fail as they will have overpaid for the underlying businesses, projected unrealistic goals, and cannot generate the cash flow required to support the debt. Additionally, the services provided by these large businesses will be of poor quality in comparison to the small business providers, further decreasing their profits leading to their demise. 

Private equity is creating short term profit at the expense of reliable, honest, quality services. Their goal is only to increase the value of the business to sell to the next buyer at higher valuation. Ultimately this model will not succeed. But as with everything, opportunities arise when other things fail. The appeal of a committed local small service provider and the relationship between a local provider and his/her customer will be preferred. Personally, I always search out for the individual plumber, HVAC technician, or sprinkler mechanic.

Lessons from the First Israel Iran War

There are two lessons that can be learned from the ongoing Israel Iran war started on October 7, 2023, its mission, to eradicate the State of Israel and the Jews. The first is that Israel is most vulnerable when they have been lulled into a sense of security and complacency as was the case prior to October 7, 2023. The second lesson is that the enemy has only 12-24 hours to achieve enough of their goals before Israel has the time and ability to mobilize. And this is an obvious weakness of the Israeli military since it relies heavily on its reserve forces to compensate for its smaller population and hence smaller standing army. Time is required to mobilize this reserve force as most are going about their normal lives.

As in the case in the 1973 Yom Kippur war, Israeli intelligence failed to recognize the impending attack which resulted in the enemy forces making significant progress against Israel in the beginning of the war. They failed to capitalize on these gains and allowed Israel time to mobilize which eventually led to their defeat. Had the enemy been able to disrupt the mobilization of Israeli forces, the outcome may not have been favorable for the Jewish state.

If there is another existential war against Israel, the enemy will have probably learned their lesson and after a surprise initial attack would plan a secondary mission to prevent mobilization of Israeli reserve forces. This may take the form of disrupting communications via electromagnetic pulse or a biological or chemical attack.

Israel must prepare for such a scenario. Their best preparation is to capitalize on their strengths which include their intelligence and their technology advantage. In addition, it is clear that preemptive attacks by Israel results in its best outcomes and this was proven by the 67 war, the destruction of the nuclear reactors in Iraq and Syria, and the recent attack against Iran. Intelligence will lead to necessary preemptive attacks preventing full scale existential strikes against it as well as secondary strikes.

Israel's demographic disadvantage can be offset by their technological advantage. They require a force to withstand the initial attack to give it time for its reserve forces to mobilize. This may take the form of a drone/robotic force led by artificial intelligence that requires minimal front line personnel. Imagine a force of remote controlled tanks, remote controlled drones, remote controlled surface to surface missile banks along with a defensive shield. This can all be controlled by a small remotely located technology group assisted by AI, allowing time for reserve forces to mobilize.

We are living during the first Israel Iran war which started on October 7, 2023 led by the proxies of Iran. Israel is winning the war on multiple fronts but lessons are learned by both sides and both will make changes as a result. Israel has to invest in its natural advantages to overcome its demographic disadvantage. Although hopefully there wont be another, the second Israel Iran war will look very different from the current one.

Hardening of the Heart

In the story of the Exodus, it took 10 plagues for Pharaoh to allow the Jewish people to leave Egypt. And even then, he chased after them. You would think he would have seen the writing on the walls way earlier, preventing all the death and suffering experienced by the Egyptians. It is written that Pharaoh's heart was hardened and this prevented him from conceding defeat and he continued to pursue the enslavement of the Jewish people. Ultimately the Jewish people escaped and became a nation.

In the 1967 Six Day War, the king of Jordan was warned by Israel not to join with the other Arab countries to go to war against it. If they had stayed neutral, their borders would not have changed. Jordan's King Hussein decided to throw in with the Egyptians and went to war against Israel, resulting in the rapid defeat of the Jordanian army. This terrible decision by King Hussein led to Israel's capture of all of Jerusalem, including the temple mount. Was his heart hardened?

The Ayatollah in Iran is experiencing a similar scenario. Hamas and Hezbollah were defeated. Syria and the Assad regime have fallen and allow the Israelis to use their air space to attack Iran. Iran's nuclear facilities have been destroyed and the IRGC are being gradually eliminated. Israel flies freely over Iranian air space, bombing military installations, assassinating enemies at will. Yet, the Ayatollah doesn't concede defeat, obvious to anyone looking from the outside.

Why will the Ayatollah not give up? Is his heart being hardened?  Perhaps, there is a larger plan in place that is yet to be played out. In the above two examples, the hardening of the leader's hearts led to the Jewish people becoming a nation and to the reunification of Jerusalem under Israel. What will be the result of this obstinance by the Iranian leader?

We are living through historic times. These weeks that we are experiencing now will be remembered for centuries if not longer. It is clear, the orchestrator is moving pieces around and we are at an inflection point in his plan. Hardening of leader's hearts is just one tool He uses to achieve his goals.

Am Yisroel Chai!

Caitlin Clark

 Caitlin Clark's popularity and rise to fame has generated a lot of racial controversy within the WNBA in particular, but also within the sports world generally, and the country as a whole. An organization with predominantly black players, the WNBA has seen it popularity explode with the entrance of Caitlin to it's league. This has generated blatant resentment toward Caitlin by the other, mostly black players, who have subjected her to flagrant fouls and verbal attacks. To her credit, Caitlin has been the ultimate professional throughout, disregarding the attacks and never complaining about her undeserved treatment. She maintains her composure on and off the court and plays with admirable sportsmanship. 

Beginning last year with Caitlin's introduction, attendance to WNBA games has soared, salaries have improved for all players and the teams travel more comfortably. But even with that, it is understandable why the black players should feel resentment. They make up 70-80% of the players, are very talented, but who had received little to no attention prior to Caitlin. Then, here comes this white girl and the sport explodes in popularity. 

It is absolutely clear that it is the fact that she is a white girl successfully competing in a predominantly black sport that has generated this giant leap in popularity and attention to women's professional basketball. This is undeniable and rightly causes resentment amongst some black players who worked so hard for many years, devoting their lives to the sport but generating little interest.

From the viewpoint of the sports fan, seeing a white woman play at such a high level is compelling and draws viewers and attendees. Yes, this is based on her race since if Caitlin were black, she would be just another ordinary but excellent basketball player in the WNBA rolls. The white sports fan sees the anomaly of a white woman competing in a black space and feels intrigued and proud.

But is this any different than a Tiger Woods who shattered the mostly white golf world or a Serena Williams who dominated in tennis. Are Tiger Woods achievements a source of pride for black people? Do black people see Serena Williams as one of their own dominating in a mostly white sport? And for that matter, did black people feel proud when a black man was elected president, twice. I believe the answers to these questions are yeses and black people should be proud of their achievements. So then why cant white people be proud of other white people when they excel in arenas dominated by other races.

Apparently, when white people are proud its considered racist but black pride is acceptable. 

Caitlin Clark's and the WNBA's exploding popularity are being triggered by her white skin. This is difficult to say out loud in our race obsessed culture but it's the truth. 

Some People are Just Very Lucky in Life

Some people are just very lucky in life. Things have a tendency to go their way for whatever reason, regardless of their intelligence or any inherent advantage. It is as if they have an external force that works in the background making sure that they succeed in whatever endeavor they pursue. And when things tend to go awry, they suffer little setback. One such person is Donald Trump.

If you look at his history, it is amazing what he has been able to achieve even though he is not exceptional in any way. He doesn't have great intelligence, great looks, great communication ability. But, he has managed to be a successful real estate developer, successful tv personality and successful politician. Furthermore, he survived two assassination attempts, one by millimeters. Their must be a force acting on his behalf, it cant all be attributed to luck.

I believe this partly contributes to what triggers TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome). His detractors cannot accept the enormity of success achieved by such an average man. And even more to a man they see as unintelligent, coarse and a blowhard. It drives them crazy as the more they try to bring him down, the more victories he wraps up. 

Even losing the 2020 election turned out to be a big win for him as it is allowing him to be a much more effective leader as a discontinuous president with a gap in between. And losing to Biden ,allows him to be compared to a president with dementia. Very easy comps.

Because of this unexplainable success, I think it would be a mistake to bet against Donald Trump. I think both domestically and internationally, he will continue to succeed. Yes, the administration is somewhat chaotic, in terms of the economy, tariffs, taxes, etc. but my bet is with the perpetual winner. To try and counter this trend is a foolish endeavor.

It is unexplainable why some seemingly undeserving people succeed endlessly. And why good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. Is it just luck and randomness or is there an entity moving around the chess pieces. It reminds me of the movie Amadeus, in which Salieri questions how such incredible talent could have beed endowed into such a boorish character as Mozart. In any case, it is a good lesson in life to recognize the winners in society, pay attention to them, latch onto their coattails and ride alongside them. 

Juneteenth, MLK Day, and Passover

 As a white Jewish American, I struggle to understand the need for an additional day off that has recently entered our calendar, Juneteenth. It seems that MLK day already achieves the purpose of highlighting the freedom achieved by Black Americans and the entire nation should rightly remember and celebrate this. Having two days confuses and dilutes the issue and many non-Black Americans view Juneteenth mockingly.

Alternatively, one can suggest that there is a difference between MLK day and Juneteenth. The message of MLK day is a universal truth that one should be judged not by the color of his skin (or sex, religion, race, etc) but by the content of their character. A lesson all Americans need to hear regularly and reminded of frequently, especially in such a diverse society as ours. 

In contrast, Juneteenth recognizes specifically, the freedom from slavery achieved by Black Americans, a uniquely Black American experience and rightly celebrated by Black Americans. But I question whether the entire nation should celebrate Juneteenth and further, whether making Juneteenth a national holiday actually dilutes its meaningfulness to Black Americans and the nation as a whole. 

Passover, similar to Juneteenth, celebrates the transition of a people, the Nation of Israel from slavery to freedom. We remember, retell, and actually relive our historical path some 3500 years ago on Seder night. This highly choreographed service achieves several important cultural goals, one of the primary being for the children to be active participants by asking questions. We perform strange rituals on that night specifically to prompt the children to be intrigued and inquire. This accomplishes the goal of teaching the children who they are and where they came from and perpetuates the tradition through the generations. We acknowledge the slavery and suffering at the beginning but end with and stress the celebration of freedom. 

Passover is celebrated by the Jewish people as it is our unique historical experience. It is a celebration of our freedom, not a condemnation of past grievances. It allows us to continue to pass our tradition through the generations and to warn of future threats (uniquely needed by the Jewish people). It is meant to be a fun, instructive, positive, encouraging experience. To remember and be forewarned but not to dwell. To ultimately provide pride and hope.

We wouldn't expect the current day Egyptians to mark this achievement and certainly not any other non-Jewish nations. It is our journey and only we own it. It is not intended to provide universal national or international lessons. It shapes our culture. 

Juneteenth can be a similar experience and can be choreographed to be an important tool to instruct Black American children and shape their culture. Of course, they will start by learning that their ancestors suffered as slaves but will then transition to attaining freedom and conclude with the remarkable achievements by Black Americans, overcoming immense challenges. This will have the consequence of the children learning where they came from and more importantly, instill pride in their historical path and provide hope for their futures. It should minimize the grievances but concentrate on the achievements and the future. 

Juneteenth should be a holiday celebrated by Black Americans commemorating their unique journey. It is their history, their suffering and their achievements and they should own it exclusively. Not to be diluted and mocked by others, but to be admired and to be used as a tool to advance their own culture and provide pride and hope to their children.  How much more powerful would it be for the entire nation to observe Black Americans take the day off in commemoration of their journey while the rest of us work. 

Juneteenth should be a holiday for Black Americans exclusively similar to Passover for the Jews.  If planned properly, it would be more meaningful to both Black Americans and for the nation as a whole. Yet most importantly, provide the pride and the hope Black American children truly deserve and need.