The Doctor Is Out!

So one huge downside to this Coronavirus shutdown is that you can barely get any help for other medical conditions or elective surgeries. 

I just heard this morning from a relative about family members that can’t get shots they need for pain control or surgeries for breathing problems.

Everything now is COVID-19.

That’s the priority (maybe all of the top ten priorities)!

But does it really make sense to completely triage COVID-19 above Cancer, Heart Disease, Respiratory Disease, Strokes, Alzheimers, Diabetes, Kidney Disease, Liver Disease, Parkinson’s, and more. 

Coronavirus patients are who the hospital and ICU beds are for now. 

And the respirators. 

The testing. 

The new research dollars. 

Perhaps, the global medical community has gone a little Coronavirus crazy, extreme, radical, overboard in their singular focus, panic, and chaos over just one virus to the exclusion of everything else!

Apparently, our totally “overwhelmed” medical system can’t “walk and chew gum at the same time.”

Certainly, we have a lot to be grateful for to the dedicated and selfless doctors and nurses in the medical community for everything they are doing to help people with Coronavirus under very trying circumstances.

The problem is that in the meantime, people that have new or other chronic conditions are being left out and sometimes to rot. 

Unless of course you are a big fan of telemedicine, which may be good to get something routine looked after, but something major, and I think you’re in big trouble. 

After this Coronavirus (assuming there is an after), there is going to be a lot of pent up demand for medical care. 

I think a lot of people are suffering now with conditions that they were waiting to take care of until they were absolutely necessary, but unfortunately when it became necessary, then the care was not there. 

Makes you wonder whether and when you should do or put off medical procedures in the future: just because the care is there “today,” doesn’t mean it will be there tomorrow. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Getting Rid Of The “Farting Cows”

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Getting Rid of the Farting Cows:

When politicians are extremists (Alt-left or -right) and want to get rid of “farting cows” and airplanes, then who knows what or who is next on their genocidal list (and with the elimination of cows being all too reminiscent of the notion of Jews going “like sheep to the slaughter.”)

Bigotry, hate and extremism is unbecoming of a Congressional Representative like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and they should be resolutely rejected– it hurts an important environmental cause and needs to be rejected for the cows and for us. 😉

(Source Photo: Pixabay)

Democrats and Democracy

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Democrats and Democracy–Could It Be Again?“

The polarization, opposition, racism, and hatred is despicable and seems to only be getting worse. Two more people came to me today after synagogue to tell me they are “resigning” from the democratic party. We all used to love the Democratic Party and what it stood for, especially as Jews, who know the endless and murderous barbs of discrimination and anti-Semitism. What has happened? What once stood for freedom, respect, and dignity for all has turned upside down and inside out. All I hear now is hate, hate, and more hate.

Whichever political party and leadership can do what’s right for the nation and adhere to civil rights, human rights, and doing what’s right–that’s the one for me. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The DIVIDED States of America

Our nation is increasingly polarized with little to no tolerance of others wants, thinking, or actions. 

– First under Obama.

– Then with the election between Hillary and Trump.

– And now over Judge Kavanaugh.

The result has been some of the worst behaviors seen since the Civil War–with not only disrespect, restrictions on freedom of expression, but even threats and actual violence!

This nation is no longer the UNITED States, but much more like the DIVIDED States. 

And that just plays into our enemies hands and could lead us to eventually lose our very democracy to totalitarianism, dictatorship, and tyranny.  

So now may be a good time to review for yourself how many biases are driving your thought processes and behaviors and creating dangerous fundamentalists and extremists all around us instead of thoughtful dialogue, negotiation, and compromise. 

Here are 20 biases that may be affecting you more than you realize:

– Do you overestimate the importance of the information you have or feel good about (Anchoring,  Availability, and Choice-Supportive Biases)?

– Do you seek out and perceive information that simply validates your preconceptions (Information,

Confirmation, and Selective Perception Bias)? 

– Do you overemphasize information that is more recent or recognizable (Recency and Salience Biases)?

– Are you ignoring information that doesn’t “fit your script” (Ostrich Effect/Omission and Conservatism Bias)?

– Are you tied up in the groupthink of your peers (Bandwagon Effect)?

– Do you see patterns in random events or conspiracies that don’t exist (Clustering Illusion)?

– Are you overconfident in your thought process and conclusions (Overconfidence Bias)?

– Do you tend to overvalue the usefulness or success of something, but not recognize its limitations or failures (Pro-Innovation and Survivorship Bias)?

– Do you fail to take risks because you prefer certainty (Zero-Risk Bias)? 

– Does your thinking something will happen actually cause it to happen (Placebo Effect)? 

– Do you use the ends to justify the means (Outcome Bias)?

– Do you judge people by their race, class, gender, religion, sexual preferences, or national origin (Stereotyping)?

– Do you fail to recognize your own biases (Blind-Spot Bias)?

Perhaps if more people would open their minds to information and engage in genuine thinking and critical thinking, rather than a lot of fake news and hype, we would be a far better and stronger nation. 😉

(Source Graphic: Business Insider)

We Have Become Our Own Worst Enemies

The politics have gotten worse than ever again.

Since 2008 and Obama’s left-wing tilt followed by Hillary’s election debacle and Donald Trump’s upset win, what have we seen:

– Resistance

– Violent Marches

– Extremism From Nazis And ANTIFA

– Photos Of Decapitation

– Threats To Blow Up The White House

– Chasing Politicians From Restaurants

– Stealing Questions From Debates

– Secret Dossiers

– Smear Campaigns

– Special Counsels

– Sanctuary Cities

– Lies and Obfuscation

– Endless Challenges and Lawsuits

– Pay Freezes

– Government Shutdowns

– Stalled Legislation For Healthcare, Immigration, And more

– Screams for Impeachment

– Possible Planning of a Coup

– Talk of states seceding or even of another Civil War

Folks, what are we doing?

You’re gonna justify the means with the ends?

However, what are the ends so far and in the foreseeable future.

Nothing productive can get done politically or otherwise this way.

One side wins and the other throws a temper tantrum and stonewalls and then in reverse.

There is world instability from Russia to China, North Korea, and Iran, as well as violence and refugees from Syria to Sudan, Somalia, Myanmar, Iraq, and Afghanistan

The economic boom may very well end up an economic bust when it comes time to pay the humongous national deficit bill.

We are eating each other alive instead of creating a better world order.

Extremism begets extremism.

Hate begets hate.

You can tell yourself that you are fighting for what is right — both sides do — but perhaps you are destroying much more than you are building.

Things have gone too far and this country is self-destructing with or without Russian intervention.

We have become our own worst enemies. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Three-Party System

Yeah, these signs say a lot about our two-party system of government. 

“Republican: Because everyone can’t be on welfare.”

“Democrat: Because everyone can’t be greedy.”

Sort of the age old story of competing interests. 

Certainly also a good dose of Fear vs. Greed. 

And where the rich get richer and the poor get welfare.

It’s good to have the 2 extremes of the political thinking spectrum, because it shows us perhaps where the middle is. 

Neither extreme is good, but rather it’s a balancing act. 

We can’t have more than 50% of the wealth owned by the top 1% of the people. 

And we can’t have everyone on entitlements where no one is working, innovating, and producing. 

Yes of course, some people will have more than others and some people will need help. 

There needs to be motivation to “get ahead” and there must be a social safety net for when bad things happen. 

This is life.

But the to extent that we can have the most people in respectable jobs earning a reasonable (true living) wage and that there is equitable prosperity to go around for everyone–this is ideal.

Really 2-parties is not enough, because extremes tend to get more extreme–this is the momentum of polarization and politicization until the extremes tear us apart. 

Instead we need a strong centrist party (or parties)–that can not only play to, but also execute the middle of the road approach. 

It’s not all or nothing, but rather compromise to a logical and reasonable solution on every issue. 

No, we don’t want to get rid of ICE, and we don’t want open borders. 

No we don’t want entitlements that bankrupt the nation, and we don’t want people down on their luck going needy. 

No, we don’t want women who have been raped or incested or otherwise can’t raise their children being forced to have them, and we don’t want babies being murdered in the late stages of pregnancy. 

No we don’t want to blow up the planet, and we don’t want our enemies besting us. 

We don’t want pollution in our air, water, and streets, and we don’t want to strangle the economy with endless and mindless regulation. 

And on and on. 

It’s high time to move to the center where common sense reigns.

It overdue to have a legitimate 3+ party system that talks real solutions to the people. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Iran–and Obama–Lied

The Iranian Nuclear Deal has been definitively proven to be based on lies and deception. 

G-d has once again helped Israel achieve a miraculous intelligence coup against Axis of Evil, Iran!

Iran has a clear path to nukes, and they have been working feverishly towards this maniacal end for decades!

This has put Western Civilization at grave risk at the hands of the fanatical Mullahs who endessly call for death to America, Israel, and even Sunni civilization. 

The only thing the Iranian deal was good for was as a deceptive political ploy by Obama to gain a fake win and to support dangerous Iranian global terrorism, extremism, human rights violations, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. 

Now we know the real reason certain people couldn’t say the words “Islamic Terrorism.”

Iran lied, but so did Obama. 

I can hear our bombers revving their engines and see the smart bombs being loaded into their bays.

It’s well past time to make things right and conduct the necessary preemptive strike to foil their evil plans and destroy their wicked weapons of mass destruction before they can use them on you know who. 😉

Between A Liberal Rock and A Conservative Hard Place

On the alt-liberal left–a “radical Islamist” leaning and violent Antifa. 

On the ultra-conservative right–Neo-Nazi and White Supremacists.

And in the middle (regardless of political beliefs)–good people of faith and integrity with seemingly nowhere to turn.

________

{And I don’t know what this is, but this is what I am hearing…}

Behold and fear a great fear.

Evil and violence will soon be upon you.

The forces of crushing hate will collide and spread throughout the face of the earth.

And the people will suffer a very great suffering.

And they will call out to the L-rd, and they will repent from their misguided wayward ways.

And the L-rd will see their judgement and he will cause a great stirring in man.

Great weapons will be released and a very great cleansing of man’s hearts will occur.

I say to you redemption is upon you.

Redemption first by great pain and suffering, and then by great joy and exaltation.

And peace and morality will be restored on Earth.

Here this and hear it well, the time is short and good people must ready.

Gather yourselves together and prepare for the end of days and the beginning of days.

Those that are good and gathered will see peace and survive the onslaught before my mercy while many others will perish.

{Then the streaming tapers off…}

________

I don’t understand the call for a gathering–aren’t we safer perhaps spread out?  

Perhaps the gathering refers to G-d’s promise to gather His people from the four corners of the Earth.

– And they will walk the sacred middle ground through the Red Sea to the promised Holy Land. 

The liberal left and conservative right have been overtaken by violent nutty extremists and radicals.

They have “split” from normal thinking and doing the correct thing–they have gone over the top!

A new righteous center–driven by faith and a moral compass –desperately needs to emerge now.

Hopefully, this will bring us to a new peace and prosperity–because the current isn’t working. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Left and Right Unite

So I saw on Facebook, an image of an old, wise, Native American Indian.

And over the image, it reads:

“The left wing and the right wing belong to the same bird.”

That is pretty darn smart–and one of the best things I heard all week!

To many extremist people out there, they seem to have been forgetting this lately.

Also, the agitators don’t seem to let up–does it matter if it’s conspiracy theories or fake news–if it gets the bird in the net for clip-clip.

In an effort to “resist”–or perhaps utterly destroy the opposition–we have put politics above the National interest. 

Yes, politics matter–issues matter–people matter. 

But can the bird fly with only one wing?

Sure, we need to speak up when we see something wrong or that we don’t agree with.

But we also need to discuss, negotiate, and compromise–for Pete’s sake, work together to make the bird stronger and fly further and faster–rather than kill the bird itself. 

Our competitors and enemies have arrows pointed at and are shooting them at our American Eagle.

Will we give them the advantage as we self-destruct with loathing for one another? 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

I Doth Fear

Innocent Shakespeare in the Park or violent assassination incitement of the President of the United States? 

Kathy Griffin holding up a severed head of the President.

Stephen Colbert’s tirade and obscenities.

And the list goes on and on…

Is this resistance or are things perhaps going too far for political discourse? 

Whatever your views, does the rhetoric need to get any hotter or more violent in this country. 

Cooler heads and compromise need to prevail for anything positive to come from all this.

Is it not still possible to unite under the shared values of freedom, human rights, and democracy that we all presumably hold dear and use these to advance our common cause? 

At least twice now protesters have stormed the Shakespearean stage calling the incitement as an evil portrayal reminiscent of those like Nazi Propaganda Minister, Goebbels (may his name and memory be erased).

The other side pretends nothing is going on and says, but it’s only Shakespeare. 

Demonstrating against the actors’ nightly violent portraying (and perhaps undisguised wishing for) the killing of the President, the plays’ protesters are themselves summarily dragged off by security.

Nothing seems to stop the shrill words, calls for violence, and violence itself. 

Just last week, we had the unreal and gross shooting of Congressman Whip, Steve Scalise, at an early morning baseball practice with his colleagues. 

For those who care to glimpse down the road, what happens from here as we seem to forget who we are as people and as a nation, and we let extremists take over the agenda.

I doth fear (a little Shakespeare myself here) that the problem with extremism and violence is that it can too easily beget more extremism and violence.

Incessant name-calling, an avalanche of punches by the media, hostility on college campuses towards free speech, SNL just poking fun (is this really so funny anymore), an inciting Shakespearean play, plus marches, protests, and then taking things too far.

Like the closing in a classic Shakespearean tragedy…should we all not fear how this will end? 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)