No one over the age of 50 (and certainly a lot that are younger) can hear the name “Vietnam” and not react in some way. The war consumed our national psyche for so many years. When people found out a visit to the country was part of our vacation, some communicated they could not or would not go. The feeling is akin the Jews not wanting to visit Germany. Nevertheless, we forged on to confront our past.

Landing in Hanoi alone brought back memories. Hanoi was formerly the capital of North Vietnam — now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. We did not get far before we saw the first conical hat, which is called a “leaf hat” by the locals. That struck home, conjuring up thoughts of the Viet Cong that we fought for all those years.

Once we drove 40 minutes on the new highway from the recently expanded airport, we began to get a sense of the city. We drove through the commercial area to our new home for three days in Hanoi – the Metropole Hotel where Trump and Kim met. We asked around upon arrival, but no one had seen Trump because of the heavy security.

When you start to move around the city, you see why the meeting was here as this is a country… Read More

I was sitting in our family room one recent morning when my wife says she just saw something horrible on social media. Apparently, my colleague’s daughter had died. I was hearing the most dreaded words in the English language: someone’s child had died, and his life would be changed forever. Just thinking about it brought me to tears.

She had died of an overdose. She was about to be admitted for a year to a wonderful non–profit program that would hopefully rid her of the cycle of relapse/rehab. She had taken heroin one last time. As her father characterized it: “one for the road.” It had been delivered to her by a “friend.” That is a bastardization of the word, to say the least.

I am thankful every day that my two children have never involved themselves in drugs. Most of us did drugs back in the day. Many of my friends still use marijuana. They love it. Life keeps me too busy to even ponder that. Barely drink wine – only at a dinner with friends.

Drugs were kids’ games compared to what people are doing now. No one we know would ever touch heroin. That was way too far. Now it is commonplace throughout all economic classes and educational… Read More

President Trump has done a laundry list of public acts that benefit the Jewish people. These acts have an emphasis on attacking anti-Semitism and supporting Israel. Despite that, many in the organized Jewish community let their other religion (Liberalism/Leftism) ignore his good deeds because he doesn’t support their other policies. Those are mainline Left-wing politics.

A recent example is his executive order (EO) to restrict a college’s federal funding due to anti-Semitism on college campuses. Every involved Jew knows that colleges have become a hotbed of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic rhetoric and acts. Not shocking since many professors’ favor Palestinians despite the rampant anti-gay, anti-woman mindset in the Arab world. It is as if many Jewish organizations were mimicking Jackie Mason saying Trump is “Too Jewish.”

The New York Times jumped on Trump and said his EO establishes Jews as a race or nationality. The Left followed suit by attacking on Twitter and Jewish organizations fell in line. Then VOX, a left-of-center publication, called a halt to the groundswell, saying the claim is false – the EO does no such thing. The material aspects of the… Read More

More often than we care to admit, business leaders of major American corporations think that playing footsie with political leaders will lead to positive results. Hopefully, the Tech industry has woken up to the fact that being “woke’ isn’t everything it is cracked up to be. Recently, the leaders of a major business organization stepped into it.

The Business Roundtable is a group formed so that Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s) of major corporations could interact with each other and help formulate public policy regarding matters that concern them. It was formed in 1972.

A group of 181 CEO’s recently signed a statement announcing that they were changing the definition of “the purpose of a corporation.” Milton Friedman coined the commonly accepted definition of the modern corporation in an article published in the New York Times Magazine on September 13, 1970. The Nobel Laureate — and certainly one of the most renowned economists of the 20th century — stated the purpose of a corporation and its chief executive is to conduct business for the benefit of the owners (shareholders). “That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance… Read More

Below is a WONDERFUL example of media bias in a “news” story. It’s a NEW YORK TIMES article decrying a modest proposed “Trump” food stamp (SNAP) eligibility reform.

https://enewspaper.sandiegouniontribune.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=c406122f-65d3-4672-ab55-57572f10eca8

Given that it’s a NY TIMES article, arguably it is BY DEFINITION biased. But more important for me, it’s printed in my local SAN DIEGO U-T. And doubtless printed in hundreds of other papers across the nation — plus it serves as the basis for scores of bleating TV stories. It’s defined as news — the NY TIMES doesn’t even bother to name the author/reporter.

Start with the U-T headline — “Nearly 700,000 set to lose Access to Food Stamps.” That a big number — until you realize that 36,400,000 people now receive the SNAP food subsidy. That’s a tepid reform that AT MOST affects only 1.9% of current… Read More

On November 3, 2019, I turned to my wife and said I cannot believe we have another year of this. “This” is our presidential election. I am your definition of a political junkie. I have been involved in national political activity for forty years. I have written a weekly column on public policy for over twelve years. If I am thoroughly exhausted, what do you think the average (non-political junkie) American is thinking? It is a dysfunctional system.

Just think about it, the out-of-office party held their first presidential debate on June 26, 2019. That is over sixteen months before the general election. That is more than seven months before the first primary. That primary is exactly nine months before the general election. If you think this enhances the process of selecting our president, raise your hand. You in the back, did you take your medication today?

We started this process with let’s say 25 Democrats running for the office. No one had an exact count. Can anyone point to how this has made them look better? Possibly I am not an impartial judge, but I cannot think of one candidate it has made look better. They have spent their time escalating their… Read More

Senator Warren’s star has faded from a sure thing nominee (that is why I don’t do predictions) to being back in the pack. Whether she gets the nomination or not some of her legion of plans will be adopted by her fellow Democrats. As you may know, Senator Warren as it has been said has a plan for everything. Her website lists more than 50 plans for various public policy issues. Let’s take a look at a couple of plans to get an idea where she is trying to lead us.

One plan you would not necessarily think I would look at with great interest is for universal childcare. It popped up on my computer so I took a look. It was eye opening and probably indicative of what she wants to do with the rest of her plans.

Her writing is in a very folksy manner to make people feel like she is one of them. In this case it tells of the struggles she had while raising two children and teaching law at the University of Houston. It is nice to know she has faced some of the same challenges as the rest of us.

She then outlines the problem. Childcare costs are high. They can be particularly challenging for single parents. Not only are costs high, but finding quality, safe… Read More

This week Charles Schwab and Co. announced that it was buying (“merging” with) TD Ameritrade — a firm I do business with. But it’s also quietly moving the Schwab HQ from San Francisco to Texas.

The company seeks to remain competitive, as brokerage fees are disappearing. Texas offers at least 15%-20% lower business costs than San Francisco — or even Nebraska, which is the current HQ of TD Ameritrade.

Along with far lower rents, Schwab will no longer be paying the SF 0.38% payroll tax and the 0.6% tax on financial service companies. The SF Schwab employees who move with the company to Texas will no longer be paying the San Francisco CITY income tax of 1.5% (not to mention the sky-high CA state income tax). I doubt many will be missing those levies on their paychecks. Doubtless the San Francisco progressives are either unconcerned or delighted with Schwab’s departure. The clueless “woke” crowd wants nothing to do with filthy lucre. After all, it grows on trees. Along with cell phones.… Read More