Friday, May 24, 2019
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Facing Facts
Where was the howling media when Maxine Waters proved her ignorance by grilling bank executives about student loans? She obviously was completely oblivious to the fact that the government had assumed control of the loans ten years ago, under President Obama. Despite the fact that Waters currently chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services and had made a complete fool of herself, the media couldn't move on fast enough from that news.
But Ben Carson, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, thought he heard "Oreo" instead of "REO" and he's the moron? I don't think so.
The blatantly left-wing mainstream media is "often wrong, but never in doubt." Talking points and favored narratives will be battered to death, despite the facts--which, as John Adams noted, are stubborn things. Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pronounced Carson "a disturbingly unqualified choice" to lead HUD, the fact is that Ben Carson grew up in poor and humble circumstances--a reality that earns him a rare qualification. Having spent part of his childhood in multi-family dwellings, Carson can understand the challenges that low-income residents face with an insider's perspective. He has walked the talk, an even more unusual qualification in Washington D.C.
Ben Carson has also surmounted his obstacles in life and achieved great success through his own intelligence and commitment to hard work. That fact may be the hardest of all for leftists to face.
But Ben Carson, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, thought he heard "Oreo" instead of "REO" and he's the moron? I don't think so.
The blatantly left-wing mainstream media is "often wrong, but never in doubt." Talking points and favored narratives will be battered to death, despite the facts--which, as John Adams noted, are stubborn things. Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pronounced Carson "a disturbingly unqualified choice" to lead HUD, the fact is that Ben Carson grew up in poor and humble circumstances--a reality that earns him a rare qualification. Having spent part of his childhood in multi-family dwellings, Carson can understand the challenges that low-income residents face with an insider's perspective. He has walked the talk, an even more unusual qualification in Washington D.C.
Ben Carson has also surmounted his obstacles in life and achieved great success through his own intelligence and commitment to hard work. That fact may be the hardest of all for leftists to face.
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Handling the Seasons
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
~ Fleetwood Mac
My mother celebrated her 68th Mother's Day today. She wasn't aware of it, but that doesn't change the fact.
How fortunate am I, a Medicare-eligible senior citizen, to have my mother still. She is now frail, no longer mobile or cognizant of current reality. But somehow, she is there. My siblings and I all see occasional flashes of her feisty personality and unique humor, and those moments remind us that Mom remains Mom--even at nearly one hundred years of age.
There are many life lessons to be learned in this final phase of our lives as her children. These are lessons of patience, of sacrifice, of continuously adjusting to the tiring length and challenging contours of a very long goodbye. There are lessons, too, of gratitude, of love, and of realization that a long life leads down a hard and demanding road that summons us to be stronger than we had imagined we were or ever could be. We find that we can do it, for our mother's sake. Only she, and God, know how many times she had to be strong for each one of us.
Her parents died in quick succession in their mid-seventies, when my mother was in her forties and raising a young family. I'm sure her grief was much harder for her to bear than we ever guessed, but she never wavered. She carried on and cared for us. My mother handled the seasons of her life with quiet, prayerful, steely purpose. She forged a road map through hardship for all of her children to follow.
Although the circumstances are very different for my siblings and I, it's our turn to do the same for her. We need to see her through her final season, knowing this is simply what Mom would do.
And for one more year, I get to whisper a "Happy Mother's Day" prayer across the miles to my Mom. Gratitude. It may be the very best lesson of all.
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
~ Fleetwood Mac
My mother celebrated her 68th Mother's Day today. She wasn't aware of it, but that doesn't change the fact.
How fortunate am I, a Medicare-eligible senior citizen, to have my mother still. She is now frail, no longer mobile or cognizant of current reality. But somehow, she is there. My siblings and I all see occasional flashes of her feisty personality and unique humor, and those moments remind us that Mom remains Mom--even at nearly one hundred years of age.There are many life lessons to be learned in this final phase of our lives as her children. These are lessons of patience, of sacrifice, of continuously adjusting to the tiring length and challenging contours of a very long goodbye. There are lessons, too, of gratitude, of love, and of realization that a long life leads down a hard and demanding road that summons us to be stronger than we had imagined we were or ever could be. We find that we can do it, for our mother's sake. Only she, and God, know how many times she had to be strong for each one of us.
Her parents died in quick succession in their mid-seventies, when my mother was in her forties and raising a young family. I'm sure her grief was much harder for her to bear than we ever guessed, but she never wavered. She carried on and cared for us. My mother handled the seasons of her life with quiet, prayerful, steely purpose. She forged a road map through hardship for all of her children to follow.
Although the circumstances are very different for my siblings and I, it's our turn to do the same for her. We need to see her through her final season, knowing this is simply what Mom would do.
And for one more year, I get to whisper a "Happy Mother's Day" prayer across the miles to my Mom. Gratitude. It may be the very best lesson of all.
Saturday, May 04, 2019
Even Closer
Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.
~ John Donne
Monday at work I learned that Lori Gilbert Kaye, the woman who was killed last Saturday at Chabad of Poway, was the wife of a physician at my organization. She had a close friend who is also one of our physicians, and one of the physicians I support at the office is in turn close friends with that grief-stricken doctor.
Thus the horrific ripple effects of this hateful violence have affected not only my home community, but my professional life as well. It’s a sad fact that there is no place to hide from the evil hatred that can corrode the human spirit. We can, thankfully, draw comfort from supporting one another.
In Monday's email at work, there was a company message to all employees that consisted of the following:
Aloaim iberch at akhila aihadit shlano
G-d bless our Jewish Community
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