Ed Miliband: "We oppose the Israeli incursion into Gaza"

David here,

If there is any doubt as to whether or not I would ever vote for Labour or its leader Miliband,at the next general election, it has been removed following Miliband's decision to oppose Israel's military intervention in Gaza . At least Prime Minister Cameron has been as supportive, very supportive as he can be given the notorious pro-Arab Foreign Office Britain has always had . Why Miliband does this is unclear : what is the point about boasting (albeit incorrectly) that he would be 'the fist Jewish Prime Minister', when he decides to sock Israel in the balls during this most testing of times, that is war?  What is the point of him praising Israel and gushing about it when he comes up with statements like this, which are clearly pandering to the Islamic vote in the UK? 

So OK Miliband, before  you go criticising Israel,  answer these questions.

Explosive warheads are raining down on Birmingham.

Do you :

A. Get the British army to shoot back at the enemy positions

B.Seek out and destroy all the launch sites and the factories and warehouses where these rockets are being made and stored.

C.  Mobilise the full force of the British defence forces against this terrorism

Or  :

D. Show up at Birmingham with a white shirt that you're waving around like a white flag ( the favourite colour of the left) and demand everyone to stop it, because you might get to be a Prime Minister

E. Have a group hug with your supporters and pray for peace.

F. Roll over and go back to sleep & join the UN in calling Britain, which is defending itself against terrorism as being guilty of war crimes.

New Tory women ?

All, 

Esther here.

One of the matters which none of us commented upon last week was the Prime Minister's Cabinet reshuffle; out went Hauge (worst foreign sec since the last one) and others, including Gove 'demoted',much to teaching union's delight  ( hasn't Cameron ever watched or read 'the house of cards'? and regardless didn't someone tell him about the 'black magic' of the Chief Whip?). But the real big news was the promotion of women. Of course this being Cameron, the decision has nothing to do with the merit or not of the women being promoted, but all to do with Cameron wanting to look modern and trendy by having women in high office. Which is great .Except, with all due respect, I don't want to think that women have got to where  they are because of being women. That is a constant smear that hangs over many a successful woman and Cameron is helping that along. 

Of course I shouldn't moan, because at least women are now in top jobs. Although whether this will do Cameron any good remains to be seen. This is no disrespect to the women being promoted, but I've noticed recently (from my forays into debating this with people) that there is a  new breed of Tory women who are thirty something, very confident, confrontational and super self confident, married into money or from money, which contrasts with those of us who have had to build everything from nothing, who are more down to earth, no less intelligent, who are folksy and know how to speak to people; modern Tory woman by contrast cannot understand that just because you have a triple first from Oxbridge doesn't mean to say you can treat lesser mortals with utter contempt.

New Tory woman doesn't get this and doesn't get that & has no experience of life outside of the rich upper middle class metropolitan way of doing things along with the attitude that comes with, i.e. rich or married in wealth, pushy, willing to trample on everyone to get what they want,  plum in the mouth, ignorant of life outside of London, but doubtless representing an area like ours in rural England, who are disparagingly called 'the turnip taliban' for holding traditional views (hyperbolic I know and perhaps hypocritical given that I went to public schools and Oxbridge, but hey I was a Sephardi working class Jew of  a third world immigrant family, who'd had to rebuild their businesses from scratch) . No wonder the Tory right is leaning toward UKIP. If you don't even care about your own constituency, why should the rest thing that you care about them? 

Half the population of this country are men and men require special handling; treating them with contempt or derision because they hold doors open for you is the stupidest idea that you can do; it is childish, rude and gets their backs up unnecessarily. Nor does a willingness to  tear your ideas apart if they are crap  make them sexist and we do need to make allowances for them in other areas . My own husband, for example, is utterly incapable of running a household, which is why it is part of my lot in life to do so, but he is at least good at handywork  around the house and with my (behind the scenes help) good at running businesses. So we all have our skill set. 

I just hope that the women promoted last week not only have the ability, but also the understanding of how to communicate to people (they are politicians afterall).  I also hope that they are not like the New Tory women I've mentioned above. 

Well, we'll see. Time will tell. It always does. 

Hypocrisy of the left

Dudes,

It's Sam here.

One thing that pisses me off in the recent demos against the conflict in Gaza by the extreme left is the blatant hypocrisy which comes with the territory. e.g. whilst the UN, the protesters and informed opinion were criticising Israel's policy, in Iraq, Christians were being told to convert to Islam or die. No outrage there and no outrage against the massacres of Syrian and Iraq civilians which number in hundreds of thousands, but actors who have no care whatsoever in killing civilians or not. That is what gets me most about how this conflict is perceived or argued over. The hypocrisy of singling out Israel and unjustifiably demonising her. 

Especially when Israel was founded as a left wing ideal, is EXACTLY the find of regime a left winger should approve of, in terms of free elections, free speech, equality of all citizens, gay rights etc etc; especially when compared to the rest of the regions governments. But it seems the far left would rather throw its lot in with ISIS, HAMAS, Saudi (where women can't drive) and Iran (run as a theocracy). If any one tried any of these in the west they'd be squealing about it; when the assisted suicide bill was being debated the lefties were highly critical of religions getting involved.

Yet when it comes to foreign policy.... 

Hello Conservative America

Well Dudes (using the term in the same sense women Vicars are called Priests and not Priestesses) , 

Via the Daily Mail, this is a Lady called Holly Fisher, from Florida,  who has been causing a bit of cyber storm over various  tweets made on various controversial subjects, that are part of the US culture wars. This has naturally provoked a reaction by liberals who, by default, detest such conservative views. One of her more controversial pictures was the one below (hello!). As I am reasonably familiar with the US and indeed have American ex-pat friends, I am not surprised by any of this as unlike Europe where patriotism, let alone nationalism, is frowned upon, in America this simply isn't the case. Politicians of both left and right  do wrap themselves up in the flag,  have guns & do Jesus-y. Oh yes and then there is the Bible, to wit the 'God bless America' that politicians over there say; in this country you are considered to be fringe or far right if you do so,but over there even Barrack "communist" Obama does so. 

There were unfortunate comparisons between her and a Taliban fighter. This is outrageous and a pretty crap response by liberals for this obviously incorrect comparison. True, this was doubtless done as a form of humour and it is true that  she has conservative views which are not my own and yes she is right wing Christian, but the comparison is ridiculous and makes sensible thoughtful liberals look idiotic in doing so. Besides which, I'll admit, she is hot & babe who knows her own mind, two things that automatically make me warm to her on a personal level. Of course I'd prefer to see her wrapped in the British flag, with a star of David in the background, holding a Torah scroll, rather than a US flag and a Christian Bible, but hey, you can't have everything in life.  One quibble; better tell her about the modesty laws of the Bible, as I'd have thought wearing a low cut top would be slightly risque?  Not that I am bothered, but if you are going to stick to a belief  & let everyone know about it... I could be wrong I guess as perhaps conservative Evangelicals have a different take on modesty viz our own Haredi guys.

In conclusion, I'd support this lady's freedom of speech any day, as I would with any liberal, because this is the civic society that democracy is built upon. 

Liberal, Moi?

Q: Why are you so liberal, if you are an  Orthodox Jew?

A : 

If commentators want a 'party line' blog, a media marketing shop window ,a propaganda site, or an echo chamber on the faith or any other subject, then I can recommend some places, but this won't be the place for you. I do not consider myself to be a liberal politically, but centre-right conservative in the classical sense of western literature, especially British (not American) political tradition. When it comes to Israel I am a Zionist, but  not a militant. When it comes to religion I am Orthodox. I wouldn't ever consider myself to be anything other. My ethics, religious outlook, observance & Hashkafa are all steeped in traditional Orthodox Judaism, The Torah & The Hebrew Bible generally, especially that of the ethos of the Sephardim. This does not mean I am not capable of self-criticism or taking a stand on a issue which goes against majority opinion. To wit, I think this quote from Benjamin Disraeli springs to mind  :

“I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.”  

which you can adapt accordingly :

"I am Orthodox to preserve all that is good in our tradition. A radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to uphold Torah  and to respect tradition and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few" 

What to do with Iraq?

I've been asked to provide a post or commentary on what is happening in Iraq [one snarky arsehole complained that I cared more about 3 Jews, than I do about half a million Christians & the rest of the Iraqi population -utter bollocks!- because I have been praying & fasting  earnestly for both situations, since Saturday, going through the Psalms ]. Whilst I want to steer this blog toward matters more spiritual, than political, I agree it an important event which needs an airing.

So here goes....

OK, so after thinking this through overnight,as I see things -

1. The Sunni and Shia hate each others guts and are going through a bloody civil war across the middle east, worse possibly than anything Europe ever saw during the height of the Reformation wars.

2. One camp is being led by Iran, the other Saudi Arabia.

3. The Christians of the region are caught between these two fires and are suffering terribly as a result.

4.Both sides are united in loathing for Israel and wanting to wipe her off the map.

5. No-one knows what to do about any of this.

So what does the west do? Is doing what Obama/Kerry & some GOP Senators are now saying- Carl can correct here, but I believe Lindsay Graham has said this as well- that there is a need to cooperate with Iran over the situation in Iraq. Isn't the danger there that the country will either fall under Iranian control or that the country will be divided along ethnic lines... which would upset NATO partner Turkey (re Kurds)...

What a bloody shambolic mess. What to do?

Having thought some more, we have several options -

1. Retake Iraq by force, occupy it and govern it as in the old mandate days, because we are responsible for this mess, after overthrowing Saddam.

2. Do nothing and possibly let Iran control Iraq as a puppet state.

3. Do nothing, watch the region go up in flames and quote Kissinger 'It is a pity they can't both loose' & deal with whoever comes up on top.

3. Co-operate with Iran and formally split Iraq into various states along ethnic and tribal lines

4. Do the same with Syria.

5. As part of 3 and 4, create a new Christian state for the regions Christians

6. Send in a gunboat   Nimitz Class Super Carrier battle group, with the Brits in toe and bomb and few tents to make it look like we are doing something.


None of these are good options or satisfactory, depending on where you are sitting. I haven't come to a conclusion about any of these options. It is clear some of them simply won't be considered by western policy makers, but that doesn't in itself make them invalid. Are there any others? What do readers think?

Also- we must NOT forget to submit this situation to G-d in our prayers.

Sorry Stan, but the Falklands are British

Via the Daily Mail, it seems that Yet another example of NOT using Twitter or facebook and certainly a reason why anyone remotely famous shouldn't use the medium to communicate their beliefs, lest they put themselves into controversy. 

But I felt a need to comment on this one .

The people of the Falkland Islands -all 1,672 of them-  voted  last year in an overwhelming referendum to stay British. This should be the end of the matter, expect that the Argentinians cannot face reality and therefore refuse to do anything other than cause trouble on this issue, despite loosing a war, in which they tried to decide the issue by force. Yes that's right, British soldiers fought for the right of these Islands to self determination and continue to be British [don't ask me why the far left isn't calling for boycotts of Argentine products, given the way the Falklander's are being treated with utter contempt, but then they aren't Palestinians being ground down by the imperialist Israelis and therefore  not worthy of international attention].

The Falkland Islands are as much British territory as the Isle of Wight and therefore no-one's to give away. Furthermore the Argentinians reject the Islander's right to self-determination, despite the fact that  the British descended islander's are are culturally and politically aligned to Britain; even the stunning scenery is reminiscent of the British Isles (see below, except we don't have wild penguins).  If only the Argentinians would respect that, although I doubt it, as that country is run by a populist politician who would rather whip up nationalism and problems with the British, than deal with the problems of her own country. Which is a pity, because before the rise of nationalistic fascistic Peronism in Argentina, Ango-Argentine relations were excellent, with a thriving trade  between the two countries. They even had a Harrods in Buenos Aires....

In defence of Ed Miliband

I disagree with almost every single socialist policy that Ed Miliband comes out with and his politics. But I think it wrong for the press and blogsphere to make fun or make remarks regarding his attempts to eat a bacon butty during the recent European elections.  Yes Mr Miliband may be disastrously wrong in his socialism, he may come up with gaffs about being the first Jewish Prime Minister,  be a secular to atheist  Jew, but he is, according to Halakha [Jewish law], as Jewish as our teacher Moses. I am not really surprised therefore that he would have an issue with eating pork, however secular a Jew he may be .

I Daven every day, that our secular/atheist Jewish brothers and sisters will come to know Hashem more and embrace our Holy Torah once again.

But what idiot put him up to eating a bacon butty on an election campaign, with predictable results and why do people feel the need to take the piss ? I won't vote for Ed, but he has every right to not want to do stunts like this with the inevitable happening-

UKIP are acting like fucking clowns

UKIP are  acting like  fucking clowns— they are bestrode by constant gaffs, idiocies and what is terrifying is that they are going to win an election- despite not knowing what their policies actually are .

As my friends & family will know, your humble Dude has been  trying to steering clear of politics.  But  like a moth to a flame and with an election on Thursday, it would be remiss of me not to comment on the idiocies of this group; especially as they are going to win . But don't worry. I'm not turning to Labour. One would have thought that after bankrupting the bloody country—again—the Labour Party might have learnt some humility. Apparently not. The current Labour Party is determined to bring socialism back to the country. Because that's always  worked so well, eh?But that is a story for another day.

I've said on more than one occasion I was going to vote UKIP- as a protest against the current government,not as an endorsement of them- but quite frankly, the more I look at it the less and less likely I want to vote for them. In fact the possibility is now approaching zero. I got called for saying I'd vote UKIP by a good friend of mine . So I decided to do some research, look into things. These are my conclusions.

Getting old

OK, I know I'm getting old when my 19 year old daughter tells me she is going 'clubbing' at her university Student Union. [Yes CLUBBING! I know, I know,  but we are all young once & I have every faith in my daughter that she can enjoy herself, without getting into any kind of trouble, beside which I was a bit of a rocker in my time] . I know I'm getting even more old, when she tells me it is a 'retro '80's night', which is called "Reagan's ", named after the POTUS in the 1980's. 

Now my formative years where the 1980s, so to me they are still quite contemporary & full of nostalgia. A time of certainties, challenge and change. I had confidence back then in both Mrs Thatcher and Mr Reagan. I agreed with their policies and - in the case of Mrs Thatcher- voted for their way. Both were extremely dedicated to their country, knew they had to combat the Soviet Union, brought about its demise & fought wars to protect national interests. At home, at the cost of great convulsions, they brought about much needed reform and change in the domestic political and economic landscape. Except now I look at the state of both Conservative parties in American and Britain.

I am full of disillusionment and disappointment. Where is the vision thing? Where is the leadership? Thatcher might have been Reagan's political soul mate, but as recently released records show, she was NO pushover when it came to dealing with Britain's interests and America. It seems that Reagan admired her for that and as a consequence was prepared to listen to her more. Today we have Cameron, who gets all but ignored by the White House, except when they want us to join with them in lobbing a few missiles etc at Syria. Domestically Cameron has no vision, except for hurting the poor and being unable to understand that cutting welfare without any other support, policy or help to work, is going to lead to a poverty crisis and food banks.In the meantime, his voter base is being depleted  with the gap is being filled by UKIP; I am somewhat unsure about them. They'll have my vote on Thursday, but it is conditional. I don't know if I could bring myself to vote for them in 2015.

The current Conservative Party  is not  a conservative vision. 

Meanwhile the GOP in America has gone from Conservatism to anarchy, having been more or less taken over by the 'tea party'. Hence a budget shutdown of the government over Obamacare. True one can critique Obamacare on merit. But the tactics were stupid, the tea party is nothing other than a noisy, bullying fraction, who threatens to deselect loyal Conservative candidates over such issues as Obama care, gay marriage, budget cuts & anything else this pseudo cult doesn't like;  it does this via claims to be 'libertarian' and  therefore supports practical unlimited gun ownership, wants to repeal 'socialist' Obamacare, but wants to dictate what goes on in people's personal lives.  Contradictory or what? 

The current GOP is not a conservative vision.

Can we  please have a new  Reagan or a Thatcher on both sides of the Atlantic, along with a new vision, policies & ideas for the 21st Century conservative ?

Reichstag Elections -latest

Via UK Polling Report, on this Thursday's Reichstag European Parliament election -

ComRes Final Euro poll (% of vote)– CON 20, LAB 27, LD 7, UKIP 33, GRN 6

As this is done on a PR basis (unlike the nationals), this will translate into a hefty win for the Kippers, a thorough thrashing for the Cons & the Lib Dems face meltdown (good). As an added bonus the BNP will be hurled in welcome electoral oblivion(yes!, yes! yes!). Plus the fact the Labour Party will do well enough for them to keep Miliband on as leader, so he can help them loose the 2015 general election. Alas the Greens & the SNP, look like they will be in strong position, but you can't have everything you want in life. 

Put the Champagne on ice, keep the faith true believers.

The fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine. 

PS- My brother is going to write a critical article on UKIP. Now when Sam gets a bee in his bonet, there's no stopping him. He'll rant and swear. So you have been warned. 

19 MAY 

Basic Income?

Politically, I'm neither right or left, but enjoy being a free thinker [OK, I admit I am a Conservative voter, am more on the conservative side of things &, said that I'd vote UKIP in the Euro elections, but this is as much a 'protest vote' than slavishly agreeing or defending everything UKIP stands for-  neither care enough about them to do so and I don't belong to any political party. Plus my own faith plays an important part of my overall world view & overrides 'secular' political philosophy anyways].

One thing which attracted my attention was the Swiss vote on paying their citizens a minimum income of 2,500 francs a month.

I don't think it passed in the vote, but the idea intrigues me. Could we do the same thing in the UK? So in exchange for abolishing all other welfare payments & abolishing the minimum wage,  we simply pay everyone in the country a basic living cost. If  there minimum wage is £6.30 an hour, for a 40 hour week that would be about £13,100 a year  or £1091 a month. 

Allocated for the UK electorate as a whole, that is 46,107,000 (according to the office of national statistics, here) and assuming this is gifted tax free ( i.e. you'd pay tax as usual on your other income/salary, as you would now, but this basic income wouldn't be taxed) the cost would be £604 billion a year or roughly the amount of cash that the bank of England has printed via Quantitative Easing, which has benefited  banks, hedge funds and insurance companies,  and the current welfare bill combined. And if everyone earned more, a healthy chunk would go on spending (thus increasing tax  revenue & GDP, via the multiplier effect) or paying down the colossal personal debt people have in the UK (itself a good thing).

I'm with this idea in principle. I am sure that the practicalities are more difficult, but where there is a will there is a way.

What do readers think?

An ex British Prime Minister can 'do' global peacemaking...

OK, so if I were a soon to be ex-Prime Minister of Britain (as David Cameron is likely to be after 2015), I would want a nice cushy, well paid job, which would give me an opportunity to use the many talents I used in the service of the British people, to the wider good of all humanity. Therefore I'd become a roving, UN mandated global peace ambassador. The first conflicts I'd magisterially end are two conflicts in which various countries have been locked in wars for over 70 years:  

The first would be a peace treaty between Costa Rica and Germany. That's right. Costa Rica declared war on Germany in 1918, but she was NEVER invited to the Paris peace conference  in 1919 and has never signed a treaty with Germany officially ending the war. I shall therefore exert my great influence and diplomatic skill in attempting to bring this bitter and  near century long conflict to an end.  That I will have to stay over for a while in Costa Rica, sipping mango juice and cocktails in some exclusive palm and sandy beach resort, with a fine Cuban, is a small price to pay for peace. And that I shall doubtless have to spend time in Germany, especially during their Octoker fest and get served  huge amounts of pints, by Lederhosen clad girls  is just I, doing my bit for world peace. 

The second peace initiative is between Italy and Japan. Now Italy declared war on the Empire of Japan on 14th July 1945. But Italy never attended (or was not invited) to the San Francisco peace treaty. So again and alas technically Italy and Japan are still at war with each other. So time for another jet set to Italy and Japan, with some Chianti  & Saki  needed in large amounts, to see if I can make people see common sense and make peace. 

So you see, there are all sorts of ways an ex-British Prime Minister could be useful on the world wide diplomatic stage.  Now I hear some of you saying, well do something serious, like the middle east, Dave. As for the middle east, well that position has already been taken. And you can see the productivity there, by the bucket load, can't you Mr Blair? 

Who I'll be voting for in the Euro Elections

Who knows if this will be a protest vote on my behalf or something more permanent. But as a lifelong conservative, I am stick to the back teeth of this current Conservative party -Liberal Democrat coalition.  So when we get to vote for the British representation in the Reichstag the European Parliament, the  'fig leave of democracy' in the Euro leviathan,  on the 22nd May , here's why (& then who) I shall be voting for - 

1. Duncan Smith. I cannot abide his extreme right wing views when it comes to poverty, welfare reform and the Daily Mail esque smearing of anyone in receipt of welfare as scroungers. The attitude on food banks (the very bloody fact that a FIRST WORLD country has sodding food banks in the first place is a utter disgrace upon the nation)  just made me sick. If you create a policy, which then has consequences you should be there in the House defending it , not scuttling off  or refusing to respond to criticism. 

2. I simply don't trust David Cameron and Nick Clegg went back on his biggest pledge- NOT raising tuition fees for university, which has fit our family financially .

3. I'm fed up generally with what is called the ' liberal urban metropolitan elite' (I might be urban and metropolitan myself, but I'm not liberal and I'm not an elite), condescending to any one who disagrees with their outlook as a Neanderthal bigot. Conservatives who have loyally served the party, never get listen to and it is time they responded to this and the broader feeling in the country.

4. Gay Marriage- No, no, no, no! I'm  fed up of people saying that anyone who has a traditional or religious outlook on marriage as being bigoted (see point 3). Even worse is the fact that a conservative government has done this , when it was never pledged before the election and the fact that it has clearly been done to 'detoxify' the apparently 'bigoted' Tory brand. (which is strange because conservatives accepted the established compromise of civil partnerships.  

5. Numerous bungling policies, not least has been Cameron's outmanoeuvre by the SNP, which could see the break up of our country 

6. George Osbourne - I've seen too much of his smugness 

7. Europe - the EU gets more dictatorial by the day. For our own sake, we need to leave this behemoth and leave it to the  French. 

8. The constant cutting of the defence forces has left us extremely vulnerable to attack

9. HS2- we don't need another railway that does bugger all, except to funnel state funding money to certain businesses.

10. The conservative party needs to listen to the people and undertake sensible, popular policies, which look after jobs, create wealth for all, not for a narrow few. 

So.... I shall be  protest voting UKIP : 

David Cameron, Christianity, secularists upset & sincerity

A few points on this issue (background here, here and here ) -

1. I don't have a problem with anyone, let alone the PM calling the UK a 'Christian Country', for the same reasons that Stephen Pollard,editor of the Jewish Chronicle, noted during  The World at One Radio 4 show yesterday [see here - 13 minutes in] . The letter was from the usual atheist and secular suspects [less Richard Dawkins- I believe the Telegraph blogs think his is a deep cover Christian?] so can be taken in that light as nothing particularly special.

2. I don't have a problem with Cameron being a Christian or saying Christians need to be bolder and Evangelise (providing they accept they'll get a critical response). Only 2 people know Cameron's true beliefs - himself and the Almighty. We'll leave it to the 2 of them to work this out together.

3. Given that Cameron spearheaded Same Sex Marriage and his government is at some controversy with his own Church over food banks, people will wonder how all of this stacks against his Christian beliefs. Sure people of faith on the political left will emphasise the 'social' aspect of faith, look after the poor etc and people of faith on the political right with emphasise the other 'social' -that is social conservatism, but Cameron seems to have emphasised neither and has therefore opened himself up to an enormous amount of criticism when people try and compare his actions with the belief people think he should hold, according to Christian belief. 

4. Whatever Cameron's beliefs, his people (i.e. advisers and cronies) are clearly inept and should be sacked. I mean for a former PR/spin doctor, man he isn't playing this very well.No sooner had Cameron started to talk about his faith, a story breaks about his constituency office calling the police and preventing the Bishop of Oxford and others from personally giving Cameron a petition on food banks (which the office apparently knew of in advance). I don't know about anyone else, but if the Rabbi comes to your house, then you don't call the police, in fact you welcome him as a guest. Cameron couldn't even play the game of polite politics. It would have taken nothing to receive the petition with good grace and politeness. This sort of thing does make him look insincere in his religion conviction & (unfairly or not) reinforces the attacks from the left.

The Investor

'On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for Northampton,
I met up with the investor; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

He said, "Son, I've made my life out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
So if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll  give you some advice."

So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.

You got to know when to buy 'em, know when to sell 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the due diligence is done

Now Ev'ry investor knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to sell away and knowing what to buy.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to have hard assets before
Russia invades the Ukraine’

So when he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette ate his Smaltz herring and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the investor, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

You got to know when to buy 'em, know when to sell 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.

You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the due diligence is done.'

Why I am a Conservative

“I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.”

Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative politician and first Jewish [Sephardi] born British Prime Minister 1867, 1874-1880.