America's Real War by Rabbi Daniel Lapin

Although written in the late 1990s, I only recently stumbled onto this incredible book by the ultra orthodox rabbi, Daniel Lapin. In America In Decline, I argue that America's problems, and our countries recent fall from greatness, are a result of the fact that we have morphed from republic wherein the central government plays a limited well defined role to a pure democracy wherein the federal and state governments control every aspect of our lives. The adverse effects of this transition include the fact that our national debt now exceeds 17.5 trillion; one third of our population are on welfare; 72 of black births are illegitimate; and over 70 percent of young black males are either in prison or on probation. Rabbi Lapin (560 AM radio from San Francisco every Sunday morning from 5 AM to 9 AM) believes that America's decline is a direct result of the fact that, over the past 30 to 40 years, we have become a "Godless amoral nation." If one accepts, as fact, that there is a God, which is a difficult pill for many of us to swallow, it is difficult or impossible refute any of the arguments this brilliant rabbi makes in America's Real War. I originally asked Rabbi Lapin this question. Why are American Jews so politically stupid (liberal). The answer, to be found in America's Real War, is that, American Jews have become progressively more materialistic, secular and, most importantly, "Godless" with the passage of time. I expect that the same can be said of the majority of present-day Americans who believe that gay marriage, late-term abortion and the redistribution of the nation's wealth from the productive members of society to those who refuse to work are "OK" public policies. Rabbi Lapin deals, at great length, with most of our social problems in his book and makes an excellent case for returning to the Judeo-Christian principles on which this country was founded. From a personal standpoint, I have always thought that I was a reasonably "good" person and that, during my tortuous journey through life had just chosen to be more good than evil. After reading Rabbi Lapin's America's Real War, I have been forced to rethink this supposition. It is quite possible that I am who I am today, seventy some years later, because I was lucky enough to be raised by a group of elderly religious men and women in the Eel Rock Seventh Day Adventist Colony in remote Northern California. Maybe I was not born good after all, maybe I was made good by the saintly people who raised me. Thank you rabbi Lapin for that bit of insight. In any case, as usual, I stray from the point. Whether you are religious or not, Rabbi Lapin's America's Real War is a must read for any American who loves their country and, more importantly, wants to prevent us from becoming another third world socialist nation like Greece. It is especially important that young people read this book because, at the very least, it will give them a accurate understanding of the importance of the Judeo-Christian principles on which our country was founded, something that is not taught in public schools today. If your children or grand children are lucky enough to attend a parochial school bring this book to the attention of their history teachers, I know they will thank you for doing so.

The liberal Media Strikes Again.

From the first moment the news on the Ferguson riots hit every television screen and newspaper front page in America, it should have been clear to anyone with an IQ over 80 that the liberal press was, once again, spinning the news to fit their liberal, blacks can do no wrong, agenda. The black hoodlum who was shot by the police was referred to as a youngster, a child, a nice boy and a model teenager, among other things, by the press and TV commentators. Never once did they mention that the "perp" was a young man who was around six feet tall and weighed over 200 pounds. Nor did they mention that he had just robbed and beat up the owner of a local convenience store, although they knew this from the beginning. A family spokesman ultimately admitted that "he was not a perfect teenager" but certainly was no hoodlum. The drive-by media seems incapable of knowing the difference between a teenager who misses a day of school occasionally and a thug who steals cigars from a local store and batters the store owner in the process. When it became increasingly clear that the Ferguson police had been dealing with a drugged-up black criminal the media switched gears and insisted though the young black man may not have been "as pure as the driven snow" but he did not deserve to be shot six times by a racist white cop! After all "he had his hands up and was trying to surrender when he was shot" the drive-byes tell us. Apparently, there are a dozen or so wittiness's to the event that will testify to the fact that the black robber was shot while charging the police officer, only a lucky shot to the head prevented the officer from being badly beaten or beaten to death! Sooner, rather than later, the truth will come out and the police officer will be exonerated. At this point the liberals in the media will move on to their next fabricated news event, having learned absolutely nothing!

Bread Recipe.

It has been suggested that I should try to “lighten up my blog a little”. Well, this is not quite as easy as it might sound since I am, by nature, not a very light hearted or humorous person, unless I have a few too many under my belt. Anyway, consider this to be a rather lame attempt to lighten up a little. For now let’s deal with a problem that I have been struggling with for most of my adult life, how to make a decent loaf of bread. My mother could do this in her sleep, not that she ever got much sleep. Unfortunately, she took all of her recipes, which were in her head, to the grave with her, so she was of no help to me in this endeavor. To make a long story a little shorter, let me say that I have tried almost everything to make a decent loaf of bread. I even built a humongous outdoor wood fired bread oven at our summer place on the Klamath. This thing took three summers to build and, for all I know, might be the largest free standing bread oven in the world. In any case, it turned out to be a great pizza oven but not a single loaf of edible bread has ever come out of it, no not a single loaf! Everything changed, for once for the better, one morning about three years ago when my wife Tina brought to my attention a bread recipe that was published in our local liberal rag the Contra Costa Times (you’re right, I can’t keep politics out of it no matter how hard I try). In any case, this bread recipe was so simple that I almost dismissed it out of hand; however, a drowning man will grasp at any straw available to him, so I ultimately tried it. The results were nothing short of miraculous. I have dubbed this my “any fool can do it bread recipe”. I assure you this works the first time and every time, just like tax cuts stimulate the economy every time they are tried! This bread will be gobbled up almost as fast as you can make it, so I am giving you a double recipe that will make two medium sized loaves of bread. To make this wonderful bread you will need two cast iron kettles or enamel coated iron kettles with lids in which to bake the bread. Here are the ingredients for the bread. 6 cups of bread or all purpose flour ½ teaspoon of yeast (this is not a typing error, this is all the yeast you need) 3 teaspoons of salt 3 and ¼ cups of water Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir in the water. This will produce very, very wet bread dough. Spray the dough with Pam or olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 18 hours. Do not manipulate the dough in any way (you couldn’t anyway because it is so wet) Line two medium sized bowls with parchment paper. Divide the dough and place each half over the parchment paper in the bowls, punching it down as you do so. Spray with Pam or olive oil, cover with a dish towel and let it sit for another 2 to 3 hours. Preheat the oven, kettles and lids to 500 degrees F. After the kettles and lids are at 500 degrees F remove them from the oven and remove the lids. Lift the parchment paper by its corners and place the bread dough and parchment paper in the preheated kettles. The original recipe did not employ parchment paper in the transfer process but the bread dough invariably falls when it is manipulated, if you do not use the paper. Replace the lids and bake at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the lids and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes at 450 degrees F or until each loaf is golden brown. Remove the loaves and let them cool on a rack. That’s all there is to it, as I said any fool, even liberals, can do this! Now to jazz up your bread a little try this. Add ½ cup of coarsely chopped sun dried tomatoes to the dry mix and proceed as you would with the plain recipe. Or to make the best bread you have ever had in your life, add roasted ground wheat to the recipe. Obtain a pound or so of whole wheat. Spread it out on a cookie sheet and roast at 450 degrees F until dark brown. Grind up the roasted wheat in a grain mill until it is the consistence of coffee grounds. Add ½ cup of the roasted ground wheat to the dry ingredients and proceed as before. I usually make my bread with both sun dried tomatoes and roasted wheat. If you add these additional ingredients you will have to add a little more water, just enough so you can mix the dry ingredients together easily. You can add olives, raisins or anything else that meets your fancy to the basic recipe if you feel creative. Everything I have tried seams to work. Please try this simple fool proof bread recipe. I know you will be delighted with the results. By the way this bread makes the best toast ever! One cautionary note, this bread recipe is not for weight watchers.