TRUMP SCAMS, ISRAEL

Sunday 2 August 2026

Saturday afternoon, 8/1/26

TRUMP: SCAMS

Trump’s fascination with Arctic Icebreakers, which he views as crucial in dominating the Atlantic (or so we are told), led him to make a deal for 11 icebreakers worth almost $7 billion. The contract was to be awarded without competitive bidding (just like the Reflecting Pool and we see how that turned out).

1) The first four ships are to be built in Finland, which would require waving a law that prohibits the constructure o national security vessels overseas. (Note: It is easy to see why this law exists and it has just cost us an enormous amount of money refitting and refitting again the Quatar Air Force One plane “given” to Trump). There is also a recent $1.3 billion deal to build a migrant detention center.)

2) This is twice the number of icebreakers the Coast Guard says we need.

3) There is evidently no plan to pay for the infrastructure required to support the new ships or the crews to sail them.

4) Much of it is thought to be set to come from “money set aside for border security in the Republicans’’ spending las passed last year, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which gave the administration wide latitude to pour billions into its priorities with little oversight.” (Note: Quote from article).

Article: Flavelle, Christopher, et. al., (8/1/26) “Trump’s fixation on Arctic ships led to billions in no-bid contracts.” New York Times.

LIFE NOTES

The afternoon gradually darkened and now, the live oaks and the Spanish Moss are dancing in the wind. I think that was the cushion for the upstairs patio sofa that just took off on a jolly ride across the yard. But, the brave little squirrel is still hunkered down just outside the bedroom window, calculating his chances of eating more seeds before he takes off.

I suppose the boy cats, the mob of six, is still out on the downstairs catio, keeping an eye on the weather to see if they should move in. Jake da Mouth, former cat mob boss and accountant, used to get really spooked when it stormed, especially when there was thunder. He would retreat immediately to the upstairs walk-through closet, one of the only rooms in the house with no windows. But, seven years later, he’s not so worried that he is going to be swept away by the rain or electrocuted by the lightning. He watches, mildly interested and moves into a chair in the library, but he doesn’t get scared. That’s a victory for us.

There comes the rain, ah, and the thunder. I had better go downstairs and check on them.

Everybody is alright. The males ganged up on me in the kitchen – five of them, and then Myra came wandering in, so I gave up. It’s a rainy dark Saturday so why not eat supper early and find a place to sleep out the rest of the afternoon. They get treats and kibble at 8 PManyway. They certainly will not starve to death.

Trump is going to ruin the economy before we get him out of there, if we ever get him out of there.

Podcast: The Times of Israel Daily Briefing (8/1/26) “Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz: Nothing is black and white in Israel’s religious societies.”

Different religious and cultural groups in Israel. Two of them are crucial in October’s election.

LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM AN OVER-EDUCATED, CHILDLESS OLD CAT LADY (PER J. F…ING D. VANCE) BEAVERING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUBBASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK

· National religious or Modern orthodox is a group that comprises about 13,14 percent of Israel. These are people who are religious, but orthodox religious, they are part of Israeli life.

· They work. They serve in the army, or they do volunteer jobs in the gap between high school and college. Most of this group are right-wing. For a long time they were a swing group, could go with the right or left. But this ended a few years ago and now they are consistently on the right side of the political map.

· Some of the schools teach boys and girls together and others do not. More and more high schools (not so much elementary) are separating gender. They are not just doing religious study, they are also studying sciences and English and modern topics. Many will go on to be lawyers, doctors.

· Politically and culturally, they have to make decisions about when they are part of the modern Democratic world and when they are religious Jews, or Orthodox Jews.

· Take the settler movement. There is the Mitzvah, the commandment to settle the land. About half of the settlers are ultra-Orthodox, most of the others are religious. And there are also secular and traditional groups that are part of the settlements.

· Some people go to the settlements because it is more convenient, bigger houses, gardens and so on. For others it is an ideological move in order to declare Jews as living and holding parts of Israel. Some of the land was bought, and some of it was taken after the Six-Day War. This is a way of holding the land and making sure it stays Jewish and not Arab.

· Difficult moral questions arise, for example, when you have an Arab family that has left land they inhabited for generations and now wants it back. The question must be what is moral, not just what is legal. “we see a lot of immoral behavior in these areas. And it’s problematic to democracy, but it’s also problematic to Judaism.” You must be a moral person. It is a conflict with liberal values, “but also with the Jewish values.”

· For the people who moved for ideological reasons, they believe that it is a commandment to move for ideological reasons and they would give priority to the mitzvot. Have they become a new kind of national theological movement? Can they be still considered as part of the national religious movement?

· There is a triangle – the land if Israel, the people of Israel and the Israeli and the Jewish Torah. There are people declaring themselves religious but doing things which contradict the Torah.

· There are three parties which reflect the national religious ethos – Religious Zionist Party led by Bezalel Smotrich; Otzma Yudit led by Itamar Ben Gvir; Noam Party, Avi Maoz (the very homophobic single man leading that party which is irrelevant).

· These parties are making alliances with ultra-Orthodox parties and letting them go without participating in the military just to stay in power. What kind of morality is that?

· There are different types of settlements, and the Israeli people see different settlements for what they are. There can be a lot of left-wing voters and central voters in those settlements.\

· This is an interview with Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz.

· Haredi (referred to as Hasidic in the U.S.) composes about 12-14% of the Israeli population. Around a third are Sephardic Haredim, another third is Hasidic and another third is Lithuanian.

· And there is a small Haredi modern faction.

· These are people committed to living according to the Torah. Most of them are not trying to be part of modern life. They do not see Zionism and the “foundation of the Israeli state as something important…” “It is like being in exile just in the Holy Land in their ways.” This group is becoming larger and larger.

· There are on average six children per family and the mothers are the providers. They are the ones working and providing for the house. The men are mainly just learning Jewish studies.

· They learn in private schools funded by the state. They are not studying the state curriculum, however. Only half the men are part of the workforce. They, however, earn very low salaries because they have no skills. And, they learn a very strict gender separation. So when they’re 18, they have had no regular schooling and know nothing about the army.

· If they go into the army they will be considered as leaving their community. They live in poverty by choice.

· So, half of this ultra-Orthodox community is under the age of 19 and increasingly exponentially with no skills. So, Israel has a big problem with sustaining this model.

· The Haredi people are saying we are willing to live in poverty to live our way of life.

· But it’s the secular and the religious and the traditional Jews that are funding this way of life. Once this was a very small group. It is no longer. Many point out that if the Haredi were willing to go on their own like the Amish, it might be alright. But even Arabs in Israel are paying for their lifestyle.

· There are three main points 1) the country needs the contribution of all the people, 2) It’s unfair, a matter of equality, and 3) It’s an unfair interpretation of the Torah.

· The Haredim argue that they are shouldering the burden of security because God will provide for a country where there are people learning the Torah.

· For many years, the Haredim thought that the secular Jews would become, after coming to Israel, Haredi. The secular Jews thought the Haredim would join the modern life and become secular. They both now realize that this is not going to happen.