Obama: This is what you get when you elect a Moran President.

In my humble opinion, the entire conflict between President Obama and Israel is a political diversion to distract the media from the fact that every leg of Obama’s foreign policy is falling apart:

Yemen: A country that Obama hailed 6 months ago as “a template for U.S. efforts to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria”, has fallen to Iranian backed rebels. Our troops and embassy staff have fled the country.

Libya: Our embassy was attacked, our Ambassador and others killed. U.S. troops and embassy staffs evacuated.

Egypt (once a major U.S. ally) – Obama threw President Mubarak under the bus and aligned the USA with the Muslim Brotherhood. Iranian backed militias now threaten Egypt on its eastern border with Yemen, as well as its northern border by Iranian backed Hamas and Al-Quadi militias.

Afghanistan: 90% of the country has fallen to Al-Quaid.

Iran: Obama handed Iraq over the Iran’s revolutionary guards. Our remaining troops in Iraq are holed up in our last military base protected by Iran.

ISIS: Once called the “varsity team of terrorists” by Obama, now controls large swaths of the Middle East.

Israel, under the guidance of PM Netanyahu has no plans to be on this list of Obama failures. Netanyahu was just elected with the largest percentage of votes of any PM in the history of the state of Israel. The vote was seen in Israel as a repudiation of Obama’s overt political threats and tactics towards Israel and Netanyahu. Obama prefers to see Netanyahu’s election as a disenfranchisement of the Israeli Arab’s rights because of a legitimate statement made by Netanyahu the night before the election.

Israel is a strong, democratic, dedicated ally that is fighting for it’s existence, and providing political cover for Obama is not in the cards while he ignores the reality that Iran is a major State sponsor of terrorism around the world.  Iran poses a real and immediate threat to Israel’s existence.  If Obama is allowed to give Iran a path to nuclear weapons, there is little doubt that Iran has plans to become a much greater threat to the world.

Obama’s strategy to divert attention away from Iran’s behavior by politicizing criticism of Israeli PM Netanyahu and the nuclear deal without Congressional oversight is reprehensible, fairly obvious,  and probably illegal. His threats to vote against Israel in the U.N. and leaked accusations that Israel spied on the USA are just plain immoral.

Obama/Netanyahu conflict: Silver Lining or Wishful Thinking?

As bad as the conflict between POTUS Obama and Israeli PM Netanyahu may be – and IT IS REALLY BAD, it has the potential for unintended consequences – both good and bad. The “bad consequences” for Israel have already been articulated over and over in the press. A remote ‘silver lining” is that the deterioration of America’s relationship with both Israel and the Sunni Arab Countries, who share a common goal in halting both ISIS and Iran, may step up to the plate and try to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict based on the realities of the Mideast VS the “hopes and dreams” of an inexperienced Barak Obama.

Simply put, there is a remote possibility that Egypt, under president Al-Sisi, would step up and replace the USA (John Kerry) in negotiating a lasting durable peace process that would culminate in a Palestinian State comprising of Gaza and part of Northern Sinai. Funding to establish the housing, industry and infrastructure of this area would be mostly Muslim/Israel funded, with possible Western aid after the fact. Israeli technology and agricultural expertise would assist in bringing this state into fruition. Egypt would provide security for the new demilitarized country. The Arab parts of the West Bank would become a single, demilitarized “satellite state” of the new Palestine. Israeli Arabs, who are by far more educated and Western oriented, would be given the option of taking Palestinian citizenship and staying in Israel, moving to the new Palestinian state with a basket of financial incentives, or staying in Israel as Israeli citizens. Based on this formula, the Israelis would be much more inclined to allow a small section of the old city of Jerusalem to act as the Palestinian capital, much like the Vatican is isolated in Rome.

Of course, the dual power structure that is the PA and Hamas would oppose – and defeat an idea that effectively could removes either (or both) of them from power. Egypt, Israel and Jordan share the goal of resolving the conflict and establishing a Palestinian state that is peaceful and provides security to the immediate borders that they all share. This “outside the box” thinking removes the legion of professional diplomats who don’t understand the region, and whose failed attempts have only made matters worse by raising unrealistic expectations – resulting in anger on all sides.

The best part of this possibility is that POTUS Obama would be able to take credit for changing the calculus, even though it was never his intention.

Managing the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict: Netanyahu’s Opportunity to “Reset” Expectations

I hope Netanyahu sticks to his guns and stands firm that the current environment is not conducive for peace talks. The mere act of trying to force a negotiation that everyone knows is futile only leads to unmet expectations, anger, recriminations and more damage to the relationships between all parties involved.

It's a matter of being realistic, which is not Obama's inclination. He is negotiating a nuclear path with Iran - while ignoring their sponsorship of terrorism towards Israel and other countries. Obama would like to ignore the existence of Hamas, the PA denial of Israel as a Jewish State, the fact that Abbas is not elected and does not speak for the Palestinians in the West Bank - much less Gaza and the diaspora. Or that the physical separation between Gaza and the West Bank is an obstacle that has to be dealt with (Gaza/Sinai = Palestinian State).

Netanyahu is taking a lot of lumps at the moment, and he must make sure they are worth it by redefining - or "resetting" the expectations of those international players who make a living in promoting futile non-productive "peace plans".

Managing the level of conflict between the parties and improving conditions on the ground is the best that one can expect.

Apple watch vs. Pebble watch

I have been using a Pebble smart watch for over 6 months now, and it has become my watch of choice. I will explain why and then give you my thoughts on the new apple watch.

First and foremost, the Pebble watch isn’t an attractive piece of jewelry like a Rolex. It looks like a black sports watch, with a rubber/plastic band, but it is attractive enough to use in court or in a client meeting.

The Pebble links to my iPhone via Bluetooth and it vibrates when my phone rings. This allows me to not only turn off the annoying ring tone, but I never miss a call. When it vibrates, I look at the watch face screen and if it is someone I want to talk to, I pull out my phone and talk to them. If not, I just push a button on the side of the watch that sends them to voicemail. The screen is a type of monochrome, and it is not as easy to read, as I would like, especially since I wear glasses to read. The newest Pebble does have color and addresses this issue.

I also have the Pebble programmed to alert me to text messages with a vibration. I simply glance at the message and either “X” it out (delete), or pull out my phone and respond. I could have it programmed to show me emails, but I get too many and they are too long to read on the tiny screen, so I leave that function on my phone.

Another everyday function is that I can program it to act as a silent alarm clock. I have it programmed to wake me up at different times during the week, to alert me that it is time to get in bed, and well as other alarms to leave for the airport or do this or do that.

I have a Starbucks app that allows me to just show my watch face to the scanner in order to pay, and I have Tripit (my travel app) on the Pebble to alert me about flight changes that the airlines may send me. This is real important because a gate change alert that isn’t seen for 10 minutes can cost you big time.

Another favorite app for my Pebble is to use it as a range finder. I own a $350 range finder that is now a paperweight in my golf bag. I simply choose the course I am playing and the GPS gives me accurate distances within 10 feet. This is incredibly handy because not only do I no longer have to pull the range finder out for my friends, and myself but also I don’t have to worry about losing it or breaking it.

I have been using an UP24 Jawbone activity/sleep monitor for over a year and I have found it to be incredible in helping me improve my sleep, the sleep quality, as well as make me aware of how much I do/don’t walk during a busy day.  I love the data! I was hoping that the activity monitor apps available on the Pebble would replace my UP24, after all – who wants to be wearing multiple black plastic bands on both wrists? Unfortunately, the activity/sleep monitors on the Pebble just are no where near as accurate as the Jawbone UP24.

The beauty of the Pebble is that it keeps a charge for 7 days and recharges in less than 20 minutes, and that is the greatest weakness of the Apple watch.

While the Apple watch is not available as of this moment, I have read enough to know that they will execute better than Pebble in most areas – better screen, better integrated apps, more attractive band and case options, etc. But it will only hold a charge for 18 hours at best. If you are running apps in the background all day, you can probably figure it will last maybe 12-15 hours – at best. Conflicting sources on the Apple community site say the Apple watch can do a fast charge in about 2 hours (to 80% capacity), full charge in about 4 hours, others say if you charge from 30%, you have to wait about 2 hours and 37 minutes for a full charge. Either way, if you plan on sleeping with the Apple watch on in order to take advantage of the sleep/activity monitor when are you going to charge it? At your desk in your office? This is a major problem in my opinion.

I am going to probably get the Apple Watch 6 months after it is out and probably wear my UP24 also.  I will probably charge my Apple watch next to my Iphone and Ipad on my bedside table and keep the UP24on my wrist at night – it also has the silent vibration alarm feature.

                       

Anti -Zionism is Anti -Semitism

If Zionism is the modern political movement through which the Jews achieved national regeneration, then to be anti-Zionist is to begrudge Jews the basic right of self-determination. Could one have denied Italians the right to exercise sovereignty through the Risorgimento, or the Germans through unification, without being accused of national or ethnic bias? If not, then singling out the Jews as the only people not entitled to national integrity is indeed a form of bigotry, particularly considering that the only independent nation ever to have existed in the Land of Israel was Jewish, not Arab or Muslim……

Because the Jews persistently clung to their heritage throughout their exile, they were seen as strangers wherever they sojourned. As a consequence, they were subjected to relentless persecutions, including confinement in ghettos, systematic harassment, expulsions, pogroms, and genocide. They lived everywhere but belonged nowhere.

Through Zionism, however, they sought to reassert their national sovereignty and ameliorate their condition as a wandering, vulnerable minority. Therefore, rejecting their right to national sovereignty effectively constitutes a denial of their right to be free from persecution.

Anti-Zionists may disavow such intent, but the unfounded claim that Jews are alien to their homeland suggests otherwise. Those who deny Jews the right to live safely in the land of their ancestors are consigning them to perpetual harassment, persecution and, if past history is any indication, extermination. It is the refusal to assimilate that galls the most strident haters of the Jewish State.

Obama Foriegn policy "Reset" unraveling before our eyes

POTUS Obama’s foreign policy “reset” aligning U.S interest with Shiite Iran is having incalculable unintentional consequences on the ground that are will shake U.S. interests for the next hundred years. Iraq has now become a sub-state of Shiite Iran where the Sunni (30%) and Kurdish (10%) population are now at risk. Furthermore, 75% of the Muslim world is Sunni, so this “reset” has put U.S. foreign policy on the minority side of the Mid-East – alienating close to 15 different Arab countries and allowing Iran to spread their terror agenda across the region.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the U.S. military’s top officer warned Monday that “the international coalition fighting Islamic State extremists could be jeopardized if the Baghdad government fails to bridge Iraq’s sectarian divide”.

“Iraq’s political leaders have yet to deliver on promises to reach out to the Sunni population and have raised concerns in the region by forging closer ties to Shiite-led Iran”, Gen. Martin Dempsey said after spending several hours in Baghdad.

“For the longer term, the solidarity of the anti-IS coalition — which includes Sunni Arab states — could be put at risk”, Dempsey told reporters in Manama.

Flying over Baghdad by helicopter earlier, Dempsey noted Shiite militia banners flying over many buildings, describing “the plethora of flags, only one of which happens to be the Iraqi flag.” He said “Sunni Arab countries in the region, several of which are taking part in air strikes in Syria, were anxious over Iran’s influence in Iraq”.

What Obama is doing in the Mid-East is not about Israel. It is about handing the keys to the Mid-East over to a state sponsor of terror who has much greater ambitions to export and expand their influence.