Author: Manny Kagan

The Wall Street Journal, (among other newspapers), recently published a story titled, “China’s Leadership Scrap One-Child Policy”. Now some families in China can have two children. China has the largest population in the world – 1.37 billion. In the past, families in China had many children (in 1950 there was an average of 6 children per family). In the Chinese society, where there is no social security, parents depend on the care of their children in their old age. But today, when economic opportunities allow people to work more to keep up with their neighbors, young Chinese people feel that they cannot afford to have more children. This problem is not unique to China. I recently read an article that young people in Cuba do not want to start families and have children, because it is not economically possible.

It is generally believed that in Arab countries families have more children, probably for the same reason it happened in China in the past. But in countries like Saudi Arabia, there are 1.2 children per family (similar to what China has now). The rest of the developed world is experiencing the same phenomenon – a drop of the childbirth. This becomes a huge problem in countries like Japan as well as in Western Europe.

I speculate that the reason Germany recently decided to accept such a large number of refugees was strictly driven by economic considerations. After all, they had relative success with the Turkish workers, who had been living in Germany since the 1960s (In recent municipal elections a man who was born to Turkish parents ran for the Mayor of Berlin). The question remains, “Why do we need children?” In the Torah, after the flood, “God blessed Noah and his sons, and He said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the land” (Genesis 9:1). At least there was a very specific purpose – to fill the land. But now when it seems that we have fulfilled this commandment, what’s next? In 1798 the reverend Thomas Robert Malthus wrote an “Essay on the Principle of Population”; his point was that if the population continues to grow, the earth would not be able to produce enough food to support the expansion. The history demonstrated that his theory was just a theory. In 1798 the world population was 800 million (which was the number of people in China in 1970). The world population is approaching seven billion. Who is going to produce and feed all of those people in the next generations? African countries’ economies are growing and their childbirth survivorship is increasing.

The new book, “A Mighty Purpose” by Adam Fifield is a biography of James P. Grant, the director of United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), who died in 1995. Thanks to his efforts, the mortality of children dropped from an average of 23% before they reached their fifth birthdays in 1960 in the low-and middle-income countries to an average 5% today. It might be that in the near future Chinese companies will set their production in Africa. Whatever the reason is, it is good to have children.

P.S. When we visited Cuba in 2013, I photographed many children.  One of the reasons that separates children from grown-ups is that they always play.  As you can see in my images.

Enjoy and share with a friend.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

At the end of the day on Friday, the 13th of November, I called a client to discuss her mortgage. Before I was able to tell her anything she blurted out, “Did you call your daughter in Paris?” That is how and when I first learned about the massacre. Our daughter Alona, who lives in Paris, was in New York on business on this day. Alona was naturally shaken by the devastating news, but is OK!

When events like this happen far from home, it is very difficult to completely relate to the scope of the tragedy. Every morning when I open the newspaper, there are articles upon articles about how many people are killed or injured in different parts of the world. Would it change anything if I did not look through the paper, as though I’m on vacation, when I do not typically read the news? Of course it would not. On Sunday, my wife Elfa and I went to see Steven Spielberg’s latest film, “Bridge of Spies”. When attorney James D. Donovan (played by Tom Hanks) asks Russian spy Rudolf Abel (played by Mark Rylance):”Don’t you worry?” He answers, “Does it help?”

Many people primarily worry about the unknown; things that are either real or imaginative. They often project the worst outcome just reading something in the paper. When Palestinian terrorists attacked and killed Israeli civilians with kitchen knives last month, the population started to carry guns, in self-defense. Israelis also attacked and killed an innocent person, whom they suspected to be a terrorist. Unfortunately, too often we read in the news about police killing innocent African Americans. Yes, Black Lives Matter. But can we stop the violence? Maybe it sounds naïve, but one thought of how not to attach ourselves to negativity is to rather do or read something that would bring a smile on our faces. Over the weekend, I was out on the streets photographing, when I encountered a young French woman, who came to San Francisco with her personal project. She travels the world asking strangers on the streets what makes them happy. Sometimes she just carries a big yellow sign that reads, “Smile”. She photographs people and posts their images and responses on her blog. We all have choices. If you can, choose to smile.

P.S. In spite of the tragedy in Paris and other parts of the world, for many in San Francisco life continues like nothing happened. People are overwhelmed with their own small and big issues. As long as we keep smiling to life, like people I’ve encountered on that day, most of the pains will heal.

 

 Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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It is Tuesday morning, November 3rd, Election Day. I just came back from my rendezvous with the rising sun. Last week I wrote that due to the daytime savings time change I missed the opportunity. Since I did not want this to happen again, I went to bed last night at 9pm and got up at 5am. I had enough time for my morning routine and after leaving home while it was still dark; I was on the top of Mount Davidson by 6am. It was still twilight. On the horizon, I could see the hills on the other side of the Bay, darkness was changing into light, but I knew I had to wait. It was chilly. My body, which was warmed up from the fast walk uphill, started to get cold, but I came here for the purpose to greet his majesty, the Sun. The sky was clear with two bright stars above me (later on I heard on the radio that it was probably Venus or Jupiter). The half moon was shined on the other side, which looked like it was just walking distance from the stars. From time to time, airplanes lifted off from San Francisco and Oakland airports and flew in different directions. Even small robins that usually peak from the ground, seemed like they were still asleep. The only sounds I could hear was a constant roar from far away. I just stood and observed the changing light, and from time to time, I lifted my camera to capture a moment. When I looked down on the ground I noticed a small black square. I lifted it up and saw it was a pendant with a beautiful image of a small flower. Someone lost it or left it for me. Later on I noticed the open chain it fell from. The scene was very serene and meditative.

Recently, someone asked me how to meditate. I know of a few different ways. I often meditate in the morning. Whenever I wake up early enough. I sit for 15 minutes with my eyes closed eyes and listen to a guided meditation recording. I found out that being at the top of a mountain waiting for 40 minutes for the sun to rise, is the best form of meditation. Simply being in the moment, and knowing that regardless of what will happen in the world, or which proposition is going to pass on elections, the sun will come up and the light will replace the darkness. I like the words in a poem written by the Russian poet Vladimir Soloukhin, “Everything is happening in life first time: the first love and first departure”, and the poet lists other things which we experience for the first time, and then asks the question, “Then what is left?” and answers, “The joy of the anticipation”.

I’ve been to the top of Mount Davidson countless times, and have seen and photographed the sunrise. But every time I am here, or any place where I can observe the magic of the sun coming out, I experience the joy of the anticipation.

P.S. My photographs cannot convey the feeling. You have to come here to have your own experience of anticipation. As I offered in the past, you are welcome to join me, just be ready to get up early. Meanwhile enjoy and share.

 

 Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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The pessimist claims that “things cannot be worse”, the optimist responds, “of course, they can”. There are many stories about optimists and pessimists. One of them describes how much water is in the cup. The optimist says the cup is half full, while the pessimist claims that it is half empty. I think that even staunch optimists have their moments of doubt. But then there is another way of thinking and being. Some people just know without any doubts that everything is going to be alright. It is well demonstrated in the Talmud story describing Nahum Ish Gamzu. Regardless what was happening, his response was “gam zu le-tovah”, meaning “this too is for the best”.

Years ago, I heard the story about a man who had a similar attitude. He had a beautiful horse. One day, the horse ran away. All of the neighbors had pity on him, and his response was, “We shall see”. A few days later, the horse returned with a herd of wild horses. The neighbors expressed how lucky he was. The man responded, “We shall see”. His only son tried to mount the wild horse, fell down and broke his leg. The neighbors had pity on the man. But the man just said, “We shall see”. Soon after, war broke out and military recruiters came to the village and collected all abled young men leaving the boy with the broken leg behind. After the war ended, many were killed, but the boy was alive with a healed leg.

In our family, my wife Elfa is a realist – she analyzes all of the possibilities, and tries to protect us from negative outcomes.

When we drive somewhere and are looking for a parking space, she uses a special “parking” prayer. My attitude is different. I do not think or worry about finding a parking space. And frequently, when we get to our destination, someone pulls out and gives us the spot (perhaps Elfa’s prayers help?).

I do not think about the cup being full or empty. I just know when I am thirsty there is going to be water. Perhaps this is why to the question “How are you?” my answer is “Always good.”

We recently closed a loan for clients, who inherited their home. The wife does not work, and the husband was in between jobs when we met, with a bunch of late payments and collections and a credit score of 512. At the beginning, I had no idea how I could help them. But just believing that everything would be alright, I found a creative solution and saved them from losing their home to foreclosure and in a few months will arrange a reverse mortgage, which will help them to keep it.

When I started writing this story, I had no idea which images I would use to accompany it. It was 7 am, and it was dark outside. By the time I finished writing, I looked outside, and saw a blue sky. The meteorologist told us that it is going to be raining. Though we need rain, I was very happy to stay dry today. For me knowing that regardless of an expert’s prediction, every morning the sun will come out (even if we do not see it), makes me happy. This is probably why I like to photograph sunrises.

P.S. On Sunday morning I was planning to go up Mount Davidson, to photograph the sunrise. Because of the time change, I was half an hour late. The sun was already up and the fog was rolling in. This gave me an opportunity to photograph sunrise in a completely different light. Enjoy and share.

 

 Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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For the title of this story I paraphrased Earl Nightingale’s quote, “We become what we think about most of the time.” Actually, we follow both statements related to food and thinking, in our lives. I decided to write about food after listening to and reading “An Edible History of Humanity”, by Tom Stange. As the title states, our world evolved according to the availability of the food and tastes that we humans have developed. According to the Torah, it seems that the early people did not consume meat. “God said: “Behold, I have given to you all herbage yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit: it shall be yours for food” (Genesis 1:29). Only after the flood, when Noah and his family were saved, God told them: “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; like the green herbage I have given you everything”. In “An Edible History of Humanity,” Mr. Stange points out that the first humans were hunter-gatherers; they could sustain themselves on food that grew from the ground and occasionally were able to kill prey to add to their diet. The life was similar to what Australian aborigines still have today: they spend about 20 hours a week working on gathering food and the rest of the time, they enjoy life. But after the flood “God blessed Noah and his sons: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the land” (Genesis 9:1). And since the only way to accomplish this command was to produce more food, humans developed agriculture.

In the book, Stange also writes about how later on in history, Europeans developed a taste for spices. To find cheaper sources, navigators started crossing the oceans to find India, which is where those spices were supposedly discovered. This was one of the purposes of the trip undertaken by Christopher Columbus. When he discovered America (which he thought to be India), he did not find a lot of gold or spices, but returned to Europe with maze (corn) and sugar cane. This in turn, brought the slave trade to work in the fields. According to the book, the food led to many world developments, wars were won and lost; tremendous growth of the population and the death of millions, when there was lack of it. Reading the book gave me a better understanding of the events, which not only happened in the past, but how food affects our lives and our well-being today. In 1825, the renowned French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Almost 200 years passed since, but today this statement is as important as ever. Most of us have a choice which food to consume. Choose wisely.

P.S. As I wrote before, I made my personal choice. My weight went down and my energy is up. As you can see in my photos, some people still have to make this decision.

 

 Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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It was a gloomy Sunday morning. Something in San Francisco we are accustomed to. When I went out to pick up the newspaper, the humidity in the air felt like it was raining. We receive “The San Francisco Chronicle” and “The Wall Street Journal”. I prefer to scan the headlines to know what’s going on, and do not usually read the articles about the killings and disasters in the world. But I like to read commentaries from smart people. One of them is Peggy Noonan’ and her column, “Declarations”. On Sunday October 11th, 2015 the title of her story was “Shows of Strength From Trump and Putin.” She did not compare them; but rather, commented on the results of their bullying actions. While the Russian economy is crumbling as a result of the sanctions (a friend of mine who was on a business trip to Moscow a year ago, told me that steak at the Ritz Carlton Hotel’s restaurant, where he was staying, was $360.00 US dollars), Putin decided to help his buddy Assad of Syria, and instead of fighting the ISIS forces, is bombing rebels supported by the U.S. (and taxpayers’ money). She comments about Donald Trump that “Mr. Trump would remind some women of a blustery first husband.” She continues, “His supporters don’t think he’s a sweet, sinless businessman. They love it that he’s not.” Then she points out, “But this year has reminded us to expect the unexpected”.

I thought about this phrase when I ventured out for my regular weekend walk around our neighborhood. I often go up to the Mount Davidson (which I have previously written about), but it was quite foggy, and I knew there would be no view of the city to photograph from the top. But for some reason, I chose to go up into our hilly neighborhood, for the sake of increasing the difficulty for the purpose of building physical endurance (I am very good at justifying my choices). On the way, I photographed bushes covered with a spider web and water drops caught in it. I noticed a hummingbird busily sucking nectar from the flowers, when it suddenly decided to rest on a branch, giving me the opportunity to capture its glory. There was a tree with some berries, which looked very beautiful against the grey sky. When, without thinking too much, I arrived at the foot of the mountain, I had to make a decision. In the back of my head, I heard my wife’s wise words: “It is muddy and wet there, and besides it is all grey anyway.” But I overcame my doubts (for the sake of exercise, of course), and kept on walking. But for some reason, I chose to follow the lower trail along the fence (I never went this way, before). And suddenly I saw it in the distance a large bird sitting on the electrical wire. As I got closer to it, I realized it was a hawk. The hawk did not fly away and patiently waited for me to come closer. I came as close as I could. I did not have the 400 mm lens I needed for this kind of shoot with me, but it did not matter. We just looked at each other and I photographed. After a while it was enough. After all, I was in the birds’ territory. I thanked the hawk, said good-bye and started my ascent, repeating to myself: “Always expect the unexpected”. But as I approached home, the fog melted away. The bright sun warmed my back, and the sky was blue.

P.S. My Photo book “42 Encounters in San Francisco” is almost ready. Despite the fact that you are familiar with my writing and my images, please expect the unexpected. Enjoy and share it with a friend.

 

 Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,