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Rabbi Yehuda Lave

Respond To Disrespect With Dignity

Anger frequently comes from feeling that someone did not treat you with the proper respect. People tend to feel angry with someone who fails to show them the honor they think they deserve.

The solution is to contemplate how valueless honor really is.

When you react to slights to your honor with a sense of personal dignity, you gain much more than when you lose your temper. The greater your own realization that you have intrinsic worth since you are created in the image of the Almighty, the less the slights of mortals will affect you.

Love Yehuda Lave

US paid Iran $1.3 billion, two days after $400m cash delivery Obama administration says 13 payments of $99,999,999.99 and final payment of about $10 million part of resolution of military sale By Bradley Klapper August 25, 2016, 4:51 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Wednesday it paid $1.3 billion in interest to Iran in January to resolve a decades-old dispute over an undelivered military sale, two days after allowing $400 million in cash to fly to Tehran.

State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau says the US couldn't say more about the Jan. 19 payments because of diplomatic sensitivities. They involved 13 separate payments of $99,999,999.99 and final payment of about $10 million. There was no explanation for the Treasury Department keeping the individual transactions under $100 million.

The money settles a dispute over a $400 million payment made in the 1970s by the US-backed shah's government for military equipment. The equipment was never delivered because of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the shah and ended diplomatic relations between the US and Iran.

On Jan. 17, the administration paid Iran the account's $400 million principal in pallets of euros, Swiss francs and other foreign currency, raising questions about the unusual payment. The $1.3 billion covers what Iran and the US agreed would be the interest on the $400 million over the decades.

The deal has faced increased scrutiny since the administration's acknowledgment this month that it used the money as leverage to ensure the release of four American prisoners.

Republican critics accuse the administration of paying a "ransom."

President Barack Obama and other officials deny such claims, though they've struggled to explain why the US paid in cash. Obama said it was because the United States and Iran didn't have a banking relationship after years of nuclear-related sanctions, but that wouldn't rule out using intermediary banks that maintain relationship with both.

Briefing reporters last week, a senior US official involved in the negotiations said the interest payments were made to Iran in a "fairly above-board way," using a foreign central bank. But the official, who wasn't authorized to be quoted by name and demanded anonymity, wouldn't say if the interest was delivered to Iran in physical cash, as with the $400 million principal, or via a more regular banking mechanism.

The money came from a little-known fund administered by the Treasury Department for settling litigation claims. The so-called Judgment Fund is taxpayer money Congress has permanently approved in the event it's needed, allowing the president to bypass direct congressional approval to make a settlement. The US previously paid out $278 million in Iran-related claims by using the fund in 1991.

White House Silent After Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Charged With Treason

Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl has been charged with treason, his lawyer says, but the White House is not commenting on the news yet.

A request for comment about the news was referred by the White House to the Department of Defense, which is in charge of the investigation.

President Obama was instrumental in organizing Bergdahl's release, which included the president's decision to release five Taliban operatives from Guantanamo Bay to Qatar in order to bring Bergdahl back to the United States. He was held captive by militants in Afghanistan for five years after disappearing from his base.

During the daily press briefing, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that he was "not aware of any plans" of the Army's intentions to release their report on the matter today, also referring White House reporters to the Department of Defense.

Officials from the Army are expected to provide an update on the case later this afternoon.

The Obama administration maintained that Berghdal was a hero when he was first brought back to American soil as a result of the Guantanamo deal.

On June 1, White House National Security Advisor called Berghdal's release a "joyous day" because he had "served the United States with honor and distinction."

At the time, Obama recognized Berghdal's release as a victory for the American people.

"On behalf of the American people, I was honored to call his parents to express our joy that they can expect his safe return, mindful of their courage and sacrifice throughout this ordeal," he said, after receiving news that the mission to retrieve him was successful.

texting and driving --the pain that it causes

From my friend Dolly Tiger-Chinitz

I LOVE IT AND ITS ALL

Beautiful reminder…

I like many of you, grew up with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen before they had a name for it. A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away.

I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there's always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return.. So... While we have it..... it's best we love it.... And care for it... And fix it when it's broken......... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true. For marriage....... And old cars..... And children with bad report cards..... And dogs with bad hips.... And aging parents...... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.
Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special........ And so, we keep them close!