We all know that Congress uses our tax laws to effect policy. It’s why we can deduct our mortgage interest (up to $ 1KK in mortgage principal), because Congress believes that it’s good for America when folks own their houses. (Or, maybe Congress thinks it’s great that bankers can own our houses and make us pay at least 2X what we think we bought them to finally call that house our own.)
Continue reading Alms for the Poor….
Open Season is almost over. I know that many of you just can’t decide what’s the best plan- which one will work for you. It’s hard to predict what drugs you’ll need, if you’ll contract a bug, or just be fine.
Continue reading Tomorrow??????
Gatekeepers.
We all know what that means if we are trying to reach a corporate executive, or trying to enter that wonderful nightclub.
Continue reading All Tangled Up?
Sure, epigenetics (as a word) was coined some 400 years ago. But, it really wasn’t until the 1990s that we had a good handle on what it really is- and we’re still learning about what it really means.
Continue reading Exercise for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Yes, that’s a strong headline. But, it’s an understatement of the actions the party has been perpetrating on the American populace for a while.
Continue reading GOP<> Democracy
I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to attend a Salon series. No, not a séance (Random House, the publisher, called the event a ‘Big idea’s Night’.) This (A Conversation with the Authors of, “IMPEACHMENT: An American History”) was an “intimate conversation with writers”- in particular, two of the four authors of Impeachment: An American History. The authors were Jon Meacham, Jeffrey Engel, Peter Baker, and Timothy Naftali. Except only the latter two were present for the discussion.
Continue reading High Crimes and Misdemeanors?
I have often said that the Tora explains not only how Man acknowledges the existence of the Supreme Being- but of the Supreme Being accommodating itself to living with the frailty of Man. (I just mentioned this yesterday!)
Continue reading Can you hear me now?
So, it’s Chanuka. Moreover, tomorrow night (Shabat) and the next day (from Friday night through Sunday at dusk) are also another holiday, the new moon (Rosh Chodesh) of Tevet.
Continue reading The first Chanuka?
Most of you know I am a technocrat. The official definition is that a technocracy is a government where experts and professionals are appointed to administer governmental functions. If we really ever expected to “drain the swamp”, that’s what we’d really need.
Continue reading The limits of morality?
A few weeks ago, my buddy asked me to pick him up a (treyf) turkey. (No, not a politician, silly!) Shoppers was selling turkey for 39 cents a pound, if you spent a fair amount of money in their shop. Since Shoppers is one of the very few grocery stores to sell a full line of kosher food, it is where I do spend the bulk of my grocery budget.
Continue reading Gafrit v’Aish (Brimstone and Fire)
