Rain, Politics, and Business

Well, we got our rain here, and plenty of it so far.  2 weeks the streets in my town, sloped as they are, were like rivers.  [Tel Aviv, being mostly flat, was not quite so affected, though the Yarkon and Ayalon Rivers have swelled up.].

This is good news.  The water supply, in the aquifer and elsewhere (including and especially Lake Kineret (known to some as the Sea of Galilee, which is now below the level we all want it to be), could use the boost.

Meanwhile, the Trump election is the word on the street.  There is much enthusiasm in my town; in Tel Aviv, which has a higher leftist population, not so much.  My attitude is one of wait and see; no politician has EVER kept ALL of his/her promises, and while I have much cause for optimism over Donald Trump, I am not going full tilt over his new administration unless and until he delivers.

Meanwhile, I am working with various people on various back-story projects to news items you likely will (or have already) read in the news media.  On one hand, it is getting interesting; on the other hand the work is very routine and uneventful.  Not as much domestic traveling as I did 2 months ago, but the possibility of a jaunt to a European city looms for the future.  I will, of course, keep this Blog updated in that regard.

The Cloud on the Agudath Israel has a Filthy Silver Lining

Recall that the posting of 30 June 2011 discoursed about the chickens coming home to roost at the poultry farms of the Agudath Israel of America (and also passingly mentions the Catholic Church, the particulars of which are deferred to those having greater expertise than my own on the organization).  The thesis was that those two organizations were getting payback for abandoning the high ground of morality, even as they asserted the morality arguments for their positions (which happened to be with respect to the New York same-gender marriage legislation).  The posting specifically mentions the Agudath Israel's political entanglement with the now soon-to-be-ex New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Well, today, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York has announced the arrest of Shelly Silver on various corruption-related charges. The announcement gives links to the Criminal Complaint and the Seizure Affidavit.

Shelly is, of course, presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.  It does seem, however, that there are multiple money trails that the prosecutors are prepared to reveal at trial; the case against Mr. Silver seems quite strong.

I reassert my contentions that any organization that purports itself to be the guardian and defender of the moral high ground cannot long maintain its credibility by insinuating itself under the bedsheets of the corrupt and immoral politicians.

It does not take much clairvoyance to predict that there will be repercussions in various and sundry places.  It may prove very interesting to see who else Shelly takes with him in his descending trajectory.  Keep this one on your radar screens.

Ebola and Moses's Rod

This Ebola thing is a very serious matter.  As far as the practice of quarantining goes, I am most concerned over just what constitutes the proper balance between individual civil rights and liberties on one hand, and protecting the public on the other hand.  I will disclose that when my son was away at summer camp some years ago, there was an infectious disease incident that necessitated the quarantine of my son and his bunkmates for the better part of a week, and necessitating the scrubbing of Visiting Day (and disrupting the campers' families' plans big time).  But there was regular medical monitoring, and, after all indications showed negative, the quarantine was lifted.  Inconvenient as it was, proper balance was, in my opinion, achieved.

Though I am not without empathy for Kaci Hickox, the nurse who was placed in quarantine after returning from treating Ebola patients in West Africa, neither am I ready to hail her as a heroine. 

Kaci has lawyered up and got the worst of the quarantine restrictions lifted.  One of her lawyers is Norman Siegel, a hard-core ACLUnatic who attracts cases and clients from the leftward portion of the political spectrum. 

Kaci is now acting up and making a big kabuki production over her intentions to violate the quarantine imposed upon her.

But the Kaci Hickox Show is a natural and expectable outcome of the Obama administration's undiluted handling of the Ebola epidemic as a political issue and not as a public health issue.  Obama is playing politics.  Politics are trumping the scientific and public health concerns.  The various state governors are playing politics.  The CDC is playing politics.  Why wouldn't Kaci also play her political cards?

But the dynamic of Moses's Rod is now at work.  The Obama Administration has fashioned a rod with which to beat the public.  The rod is turning into a serpent, and may well bite the Administration apparatchiks in the toochas.

Politics and Archaeology, and Hygiene

Archaeology has always had lots of political baggage.  Now, it seems, New York City politics may have some archaeological baggage.

Some urban archaeologists have uncovered a two-century old buried mass of trash on the grounds of City Hall.

"The centuries-old trash, in a pile found three feet underground and extending to a depth of about six feet was also filled with liquor bottles and various items associated with food waste, suggesting it may have all came from one celebratory event."

Found amongst the detritus was a feminine hygiene device.

There are endless possibilities for historical political repercussions in the highly unlikely event that the item's former owner is ever identified.

Lis Smith: Pro and Con

Lis Smith is a public relations wonkess who was the media mouthpiece for Eliot Spitzer's flop of a comeback campaign for New York City Comptroller, and the communications director for Bill de Blasio's successful bid for New York City Commissar Mayor.  Lis is part of de Blasio's transition team, and is (as of very recently, at least) on the short list for his media mouthpiece when he takes the reins from Mike Bloomberg.

But Lis now has involved herself romantically with Spitzer, and that is generating some controversy.  Alexis Grenell of the New York Daily News is saying that Lis's personal poor choices are her personal business, while Andrea Peyser of the New York Post opines that de Blasio should not lose one minute in booting her out the door.

I am no fan of de Blasio, nor of Spitzer, nor of Bloomberg (though I fear that I might long for him after a few months of de Blasio in Gracie Mansion).  I truly am neutral regarding Lis Smith, if only because I have not been following her career and know next to nothing about her above and beyond her reported use of her own body to cover Eliot Spitzer's mattress (or, rather, her own mattress to accommodate Mr. Spitzer).  As much as I disapprove of her choice of dance partners, that is not a matter into which I care to insinuate myself.

Alexis Grenell's editorial piece in the NY Daily News is playing the gender card, with the usual observations of a gender-based double standard.  This, to be sure, is a valid observation.  Nevertheless, it is all a red herring because there is a key difference besides gender (and age and wealth) between Lis Smith and Eliot Spitzer.

Back when Spitzer was the Attorney General of New York, he made a big deal about prosecuting prostitution.  How ironic (and hypocritical) that he himself got caught with his pants down in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington with a call girl whom he brought in from New York (a logistical feat which necessitated the crossing of 5 state boundary lines).

But Lis Smith, to the best of my knowledge, has not been given to delivering morality lectures to the public.  So, while I do begrudge Eliot Spitzer's indulgence in immoral behavior, I have no such issues with Lis Smith.

It is quite interesting, if only in the timing, that Eliot & Silda Spitzer have just today announced what has long been a foregone conclusion — that their marriage has come to an end.

Whether or not de Blasio jettisons Lis Smith remains to be seen.  But, given de Blasio's oft stated social and economic agenda, Lis Smith should be the least of the public's concerns about him.

Christmas is not my holiday, but if it is yours, then I hope that you have a merry one.