14 May—Israel celebrates its 78^th birthday today, having declared its independence on this day in 1948, thus ending the British Palestine Mandate. It’s utterly amazing that the little “Jewish and democratic state,” as Israel defines itself—a secular parliamentary democracy rather than a theocracy of any sort—has been able to survive, let alone thrive, immediately surrounded as it is by sworn enemies intent on destroying it for trumped up religious reasons. And of course in a decidedly antisemitic world.

Since Israel is first and foremost a refuge and homeland for all Jews, quasi-theocratic concessions to ultra-orthodox Jews have been inevitable from the get-go and have been grudgingly tolerated by the non-orthodox. But that’s politics rather than religion.

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Updating Litchfield’s annual budget meeting tonight, thanks to a half-million dollars the state has thrown the town’s way at the last minute, the mill-rate increase to be voted on will now be about two percent rather than five percent. The whores of Hartford may consider the half-million-dollar state aid a sort of gift, but it’s actually compensation for some—just some, mind you—of the excessive onerous mandates they’ve inflicted on towns and cities in the name of big-brotherhood.

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Corollary to yesterday’s condolences for Erin Stewart’s moribund political career, let’s assume for the sake of argument that the poor girl hadn’t in fact known what was going on about tax favors and carelessly—mistakenly, rather than intentionally—used a New Britain city credit card instead of her personal one for $200,000 worth of undeniably personal purchases.

Does Connecticut need another governor like that?

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And wouldn’t it be nice if Donald Trump never made it back from visiting his BFF Xi Jinping in Beijing? No no no, don’t get us wrong. We don’t wish any harm to our most benevolent philistine-in-chief, of course. Perish the thought. But maybe he’ll fall in love with the beautiful People’s Republic of China and do a deal with Xi to desecrate it as he’s done in and with Washington and so many other locations that have fallen prey to his execrable, tasteless, self-indulgent instability.

And don’t forget that Beijing is only about 500 miles from Pyongyang as the 747 flies, so Trump could spend lots of quality time with his true love, young North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un . . .