I wonder how many Christians believe that God’s “chosen people” no longer are the Israelites and the Jews but, exclusively, are the Church of Christian believers.  I do not believe this at all.  By no means will God ever permanently abandon Israel, and His everlasting promises to Israel will take place.  I have written a lengthy commentary to explain all of this and more:

I also wonder how many Christians know the following things about Jesus (Yeshua or Yahshua in Hebrew):

• He was a Jew who lived strictly by the Law of the Torah.
• He came to fulfill the Torah Law, not to abolish it.
• He observed all of the Hebraic/Jewish feasts, festivals, and holy days in both the Spring and the Fall.
• He died on Passover.
• He lay in a tomb during the first part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
• He rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits (which has been given the inappropriate name of “Easter”).
• His Holy Spirit came to Jews at Pentecost, which also was at the Feast of Weeks (or Shavuot).
• He will appear in the clouds to take believers to be with Him, at the Rapture, on the Feast of Trumpets (or Rosh HaShanah).
• His second advent back to earth will be on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
• He will require representatives from all the nations of the world to go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkot), each year, throughout the Millennium.
• His birthday most likely is during the Feast of Tabernacles (late September to mid October), not on the Christianized day of “Christmas” (December 25).

The Milwaukee Brewers are the World Series champions after beating the Tampa Bay Rays last night in game 5.  That game, played in Tampa Bay, lasted 9 innings.  It is the Brewers’ first World Series title in their 57-year history.  Congratulations Brewers!

The 5th game’s final score was Brewers 4, Rays 1.  Here are the scores for the final game Wednesday night and the runs, hits and errors for all of the innings:

In the series, the Brewers won 4 games and the Rays won 1 game.  Below are some stats and scores for the 5 games.  Click on the links to see the scoreboards for all of the games.

Today, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting took place.  It is the fourth meeting with Kevin Warsh as its new chairman.

Of the 12 Federal Reserve officials, 10 voted to keep interest rates unchanged in the 3.75% to 4.00% range.  They stated that a main reason for this decision was that elevated inflation continues to pose a problem for central bankers.  Two members, Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, voted for a 0.25% rate hike.

Although there were significant inflation increases last month (during September), the majority of Fed members continued assessing additional data.  Also, the proximity of this October meeting to the U.S. midterm elections in a few days (on November 3) might be a deterrent to bold monetary moves.  However, Chairman Warsh denied that the upcoming election played a part in the Fed’s decision.  A rate hike appears likely in December, though, according to the Fed’s dot plot and fed funds futures.

In the first five meetings this year, on Jan. 28, Mar. 18, Apr. 29, June 17 and July 29, rates remained unchanged.  In the last meeting, on Sep. 16, the federal funds rate was increased by 0.25%.  Back in the Fall of 2025, there were three 0.25% rate cuts in a row.  These cuts were on Dec. 10, Oct. 29 and Sep. 17.  The next Fed meeting is scheduled to begin on Dec. 8.

During this year (2026), the U.S. has been enduring its worst year for measles since 1991.  Since the beginning of 2025, large outbreaks have been reported in several states, including Texas, Utah, South Carolina, and now Pennsylvania.  Measles cases have been reported across the country.  Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Utah have seen the most.  So far, only five states (Nevada, Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia and New Hampshire) have not reported any cases.

Every Oct. 1, often referred to as “Shocktober 1st” in southern California, I’m always reminded of the 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987.  It happened at 7:42 a.m., just as I was finishing breakfast before going to work.

My house in Irvine was about 40 miles from the epicenter, and it rocked for several seconds but did no damage to my property.  The quake was felt throughout southern California and southern Nevada.

I was watching the morning news out of Los Angeles.  A few minutes after the main shock, there was a small aftershock, which I did not feel.

I remember watching two of the news guys, Kent Shocknek and Christopher Nance.  They got freaked out due to the shaking and the swaying lights, caused by the aftershock, and jumped under their desk.  You can watch a short David Letterman video where he talked about it and then showed a video of what happened.

I also felt a 5.3 aftershock three days later.  Then life went on as usual.  Here is a video, under 5 minutes, showing damage from the initial quake on Oct. 1 and from the aftershock on Oct. 4: SoCal Whittier Narrows Earthquakes (1987).

I have felt numerous earthquakes before then and since then.  Here is a page with a great deal of information about earthquakes, what to do to prepare for them, and what to do when they occur: