Kurds Abandoned - Again

President Trump announced his decision to move American forces out of former ISIS territory in North East Syria, currently occupied by Kurdish and American forces. Turkey moved military columns to the border with the intention of expelling the Kurds from the area.

We in Israel have no government able to take decisions or to react. The Washington Post writes that this is a betrayal of the Kurds and their delivery to the Turks. Some Israeli papers comment that America's betrayal of its allies in the Middle East (like the absence of a reaction to the attack on Saudi refinery) is a bad omen for Israel.

Anybody who was expecting else is a fool. America's political system does not allow the use of armed land forces (police) in its troubled inner cities or in foreign hot points. America under all its presidents acted as a restraining factor regarding Israel, it was always against Israeli actions. Remember Colin Powell's ORDER to stop Israeli advance into Gaza, which made an humiliated Ariel Sharon to order an immediate retreat of our tank column already deep in Gaza. Never forget nor forgive President Obama's order to stop construction in Shomron. America is our friend, but it will smack us on the head should we are try stand up. It will always keep us down and in attention to its orders. Sit! Fetch! Good dog!

The Celestial Empire rides again

Qiushi, the organ of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party announces: "New China turns 70, witnessing a golden age" .

In a few months,  the International Space Station will be retired, while China's space station will be mankind's only foothold in space.  A cargo ship named "Tianzhou" (Heavenly Vessel) is planned to ferry cargo back and forth to the station. It will be delivered into space by the new Long March-7 carrier rocket and dock with Tiangong-2 automatically.

Stalin would envy Xi's cult of the personality. In every page the main figure is the smiling Xi (pic). China radiates unity, harmony, planning - contrasting with the chaotic democracies of the West. Sparta and Athens, just as Victor Davis Hanson defines them. Yet, while the Soviet Union publications were full of authentic ideological debates, these are totally absent in their Chinese re-incarnation. It is the Celestial Empire once again. Sparta won the Peloponnesian War, yet Hanson loves the chaos and the dynamism of Athens.  

Israeli Rebellion Against the Climate

The climate rebels surrounded Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and painted the asphalt in vivid scarlet. The management of TASE surrendered and agreed to all the demands. From tomorrow, Earth will start to cool down and all the animals and trees in danger of extinction will be entitled to bodyguards for protection and monthly Social Security food stamps.

A UN committee was set up to discuss the details. It was leaked that Brazil is to be declared United Nation protectorate, the Amazonas will be fenced and the entrance for humans, forbidden. Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe are to be re-organized as one Eco-Zoological Garden, the natives to be re-settled in Stockholm, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv.  

Optimism in the Bourse

El Al jumped 14% with no reason in sight. The banks lifted 3-4%. I can't explain.

Praying to my Made-Up God

I am not ashamed to confess that I am going to pray on Yom Kippur and fast and beg absolution for my sins. You can say: J., with your astronomic IQ, you... you! praying to a God you don't believe in? Yes! Yes! Anna Frank wrote her diary as letters to Kitty, an imaginary friend she never had. No one laughed on her. My financial mentor, Napoleon Hill, advised to imagine a Council of Sages that I should consult before taking decisions. I should ask long dead guru Benjamin Graham about investments and so. Millions follow his advice.

I am convinced that humans need god/gods, so I made up one for my personal use. In fact, being a Jew there was no need to invent it because he was already fully made up by hundreds of generations of Jews before me. Next Thursday, the Day of Atonement, he will be there hearing my prayer and accepting my fast and letting me start anew free of the weight of a year of inexistent transgressions. It is almost as good as he really does exist and care. May be, better.

Gmar Hatima Tova! Should You Be Inscribed in the Book of Life, and not in the Book of  Mot (Mavet, in Hebrew, Death)! 

2,000 year old man

Shirley

C REINER: (As Interviewer) Sir, could you give us the secret of your longevity?

MEL BROOKS: (As 2,000 Year Old Man) Well, the major thing - the major thing is that I never, ever touch fried food.

She Jumped to Her Death and No One Knew

A girl jumped from the high building in front of my window last week. I did not see it and when investigating, I saw no blood stains on the pavement and there was no mention of it in the local papers. The ambulance service just registers the death and cleans up fast and no siren sounds. It is kept as a secret because suicide is contagious. Why people kill themselves? It is something that evolution should have eliminated long time ago. Logically, it should not exist.

Suicide ranks among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15–44 years. Attempted suicides are up to 20 times more frequent than completed ones. 800,000 suicides per year the world over. Sunny Middle East is the region with lowest suicide rates, Israel too being down on the list. The highest rates are the dark countries of Korea, Japan and Russia. 200 thousand people kill themselves each year in China alone. To me it is a paradox, as Orientals possess a stable brain that never goes mad.

A credible theory says that humans have developed religion as a defense against suicide. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans have no religion, they have no prophets and God never talked to them, they believe in no afterlife and know of no tabu foods, and everybody knows that way madness lies.

Apparently, a strong religion is a mental protection against suicide. One tricks himself to stay alive.  Thursday is Yom Kippur, a fast day, and I am on my way to the synagogue.