Rabbis comments

Who cares what the Rabbi says? Everybody

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef comments the other day wishing death to Israel’s enemies have caused a furor and a minor international incident. His comments have been blown out of proportion certainly but interestingly enough have made news headlines the world over.
Rabbis are completely ignored by most on theological issues that seem to have relevance only to their parishioners. When an influential one seems to leave theology and enter the political fray everyone perks up and listens. It’s important to understand where this has come from. Rabbi Yosef the spiritual leader of a very influential political party in Israel . He wields considerable political clout and is often quoted for things he says. He previously openly supported territorial compromise in the event of a real peace treaty . He based this support on his interpretation of Jewish Law and was attacked for this stance by many in the Rabbinic world. It would be accurate to say that he went out on a limb to be as pragmatic and compromising as possible and is hoping mad at what cession of land has caused. His sermon was based on the upcoming Rosh Hashanah or Jewish New year where traditional blessing include the cursing Of Israel’s enemies.
Most Israeli’s see the Palestinian authority as Israel’s enemies. That’s a big shock.

My Kaddish Experience

Saying Kaddish for a parent is never an easy thing for anyone. When you need to travel overseas the difficulty just becomes that much greater. That difficulty becomes greater when you travel. It was easy enough on my flight to the United States from Israel. I left after midnight and arrived early in the morning in time for morning prayers in New Jersey. While there the internet helped me find a minyan in most places and I managed to say Kaddish if not actually getting to lead services which are my preference during the morning period. I booked a flight back to Israel that allowed the best chance to say kaddish for all prayers. The flight took off at 2:15 and the earliest mincha was at 1:31 officially, we started a few minutes early as many were stressed about getting on the plane on time. This mincha happened and I boarded the flight. One down and two to go. When it started getting dark I asked some religious looking passengers to go to the back of the plane for evening prayers which worked out quite well. My last challenge was Shacris or morning prayers which I was unsure where and how I would do. As it turned out I managed to find a minyan at the airport Shul that I arrived a bit late but said kaddish .
It’s good to be back in the Land of Israel where all things Jewish just have more meaning.

Things may be getting better

Incredibly enough despite the bleak outlook of many some companies have been doing incredible business. The chip giant Intel has reported its best quarter in history. That’s right in the midst of a global crisis a chip maker which should be experiencing a slowdown is making lots of money. What makes this extraordinary is that much of the sales have come from overseas that seem to be in the throngs of even a worse crisis. Microprocessors that intel produces and sells fuels new businesses worldwide and is a great indicator that things aren’t as bad as they seem. The lurking military showdown with Iran and continued military tensions with North Korea is not keeping companies away from buying hardware for its businesses. Things should be getting worse and they seem to be getting slightly better. What is going on?
Things are getting better because people sense that Obama is going to be a one term president and that the Republicans will win the next elections. This will send the markets up and give companies more money. When this happens jobs will be created and money made will be spent on goods and services. This will further fuel growth. If something bizarre happens and the Democrats fare well expect financial catastrophe. The markets will likely plunge and long expected inflation will ensue. Unemployment will rise and growth will slow. This will happen despite that latest signs of recovery.
Even more people will default on their credit card bills and debt settlement companies will abound.
If we are all lucky that won’t happen.

What is going to happen?

As the markets go up and go down and go up again nobody really knows where this is all headed.The Democrats are likely to lose the elections coming up and many think that will push the market forward. There may be a surge in the short term but long term things are looking bleak indeed. Inflation and devaluation of the greenback is what is being predicted. Obama seems to be spending and printing to much money. Some types of companies may stand to gain from all this like debt Negotiation Services company that seem to have sprung up in the thousands. They will extricate everyone from all the debt they will pile up as a result of the real crisis that seems to be looming and is just around the corner.Wise will be those that will try to take there money out of the market as cash will really be king soon.

Financial woes

Debt reduction

 

Everyone is trying to do it. Most European countries are desperately trying to reduce their debt by taking extreme measures. Greece for example has pushed up its VAT to 23 % trying to tax people who otherwise cheat on their taxes. Taxes on cigarettes have also gone sky high in so many places that it is common practice to smuggle cigarettes. Some countries have taxed cigarettes close to 300%. Israel a country where the economy has fared well in comparison to others has just recently raised its taxes on cigarettes. This may discourage the sale and usage somewhat but probably not very much. Some smokers will deny themselves food but continue to smoke so the regular microeconomic rules go mostly by the wayside. Many countries justify these measures on cigarettes at least on the massive money spent to deal with cigarette related illnesses. Medical costs for cigarette related problems are extreme and the taxes are supposed to mitigate those costs.  That is the debt of countries and governments. But it all really starts with the individual his fiscal planning and attempts to keep his head above water. The world crisis did start with unscrupulous financial institutions but there were irresponsible people who went way over their heads when trying to secure loans for homes. They should not have taken such huge mortgages and put themselves in a vulnerable position of credit despair. They did of course and the repercussions of their irresponsible actions are reverberating around the world.

The world is in debt crisis and doesn't seem to be pulling out of that crisis anytime soon. The emerging powerhouse of the world China is having some trouble in pulling itself out this mess. The Chinese stock market is at a 4 year low as deep concerns over the world economy continue. Europe is the grips of a crisis unprecedented since the end of the Second World War. In the backdrop of this is the looming showdown with a possible nuclear Iran and the repercussions that might have on the world economy.

In essence the Economies of the world work around the concept of going into debt and having borrowed money circulate freely. This allows for businesses to have access to funds they need for expansion. All this spurs growth. But sound economic principles have evolved into irresponsible fiscal planning. The little guy can shield himself from all this with proper spending practices.

Its people and not governments that have the solution.

What goes down should come up, maybe

Markets make a comeback

The seesaw on Wall street is continuing with the markets bouncing back big time yesterday. We all need to remember that borrowing money is still very cheap as interest rates are still very low. The fact that they are so low tells us the crisis is still very much with us. When getting money and saving money from the banks will go back to normal and the market will still go up then the crisis will be over. 

Many people are actually borrowing money trying to make a killing in the market. History has shown that short term quick fixes of this kind do not work. Instead of extricating themselves from debt they are borrowing 
more money to go deeper into debt. At some later point in time they will need debt settlement experts. They are high class gamblers. Gamblers usually lose.

What is the federal government doing about this?

Unemployment does not seem to be going away in the near future. The public sector is nervous to invest in new workers even if they are necessary. Investing in new workers necessitates confidence that new business is on the horizon. When that seems unclear no one gets hired. There is a lot of people who are working less hours as there companies take a attitude to reduce monthly payments for salaries. What that means is that many millions of people are underemployed and underpaid while their basic expenses have not changed. What is the federal government doing about this? They have tried almost everything imaginable under the Sun. Stimulus packages, tax rebates, millions of temp census jobs and much more.
Ronald Reagan once said that the worse thing the government could do was to try to help you. That was a kiss of death, big government. The small and midsize businesses are the heart of the economy. These mom and pop enterprises fuel the economy and growth. If Obama or anyone else wants to fuel things let him cut taxes to these businesses. Let him have less control over the money flow from different places. Let him and the Democrats spend less money that they have and somehow trim the almost unbelievable deficit that there is. Lowering taxes will increase the money available for the government in a complete paradox way. Raise taxes on cigarettes and gambling, clamp down online gambling sites and tax them. Let real businesses flourish so they will hire new people. When this happens people will have money in their pocket that they will spend on goods which will create even more jobs. Just leave it alone and it will come right.