Semi Daily Discussion News Wrap up

Here we go for Tuesday, December 20th:

First off we have this tidbit from Haaretz: Barak: U.S. committed to Israel's security more than ever before

Despite attempts from those with "ODS" (Obama Derangement Syndrome) to try to convince American Jews not to vote for President Obama because supposedly he is bad for Israel at least the Israelis are not falling for that one. Here is Defense Minister Ehud Barak talking about America and Israel:


photo courtesy of Haaretz

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday that "the U.S. stands besides Israel in terms of its security more than ever before," and that "both countries agree that everything should be done to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon." \

Speaking with reporters at a Hanukkah ceremony in the Efraim IDF Base that was attacked by right-wing settlers a week ago, Barak said that "it is still time for diplomacy, but we will see what will happen as time goes on."
Panetta said Israel's concern for a nuclear Iran is a "common concern" of the U.S., and that Washington would not rule out a military attack.

"The United States does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us and that's a red line, obviously, for the Israelis," he told CBS.

Meanwhile, the U.S.¬ and other nations meeting Tuesday in Rome to discuss sanctions against Iran for its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons have resolved to boost pressure on Tehran to restart negotiations, Italian foreign ministry officials said.

Oh well so much for those right wing memes

Our second story comes courtesy of Jeremy's Knesset Blog (a great resource for info. on what is actually being discussed in the Knesset.

First of all - the Government today threw back three no-confidence measures:

* Kadima’s no-confidence motion titled ‘The Netanyahu government undermines the middle class and the disadvantaged groups’ was defeated 32-48 with 40 MKs not present.
* Hadash, Ra’am-Ta’al and Balad’s joint no-confidence motion titled ‘The government is trying to bury the demands of social justice’ was defeated 30-49 with 41 MKs not present.
* Labor and Meretz’s joint no-confidence motion titled ‘The IDF’s decision to bury the Segev Committee report requiring equality between men and women’ was defeated 30-49 with 41 MKs not present.

Second of all one can see here that there were some important bills to vote on and one was a Tax Bill. Unlike in the U.S. where Republican politicians are holding the economy country hostage to their claims of cutting taxes on the Rich, the Israelis (even the right to a small degree is getting somethings partially right). Though this does not in my opinion go far enough - it's a good start:

Funds Committee Chairman Gafni (U.T.J.) explained the amendment would raise the corporate tax by 1% to 25%. It would also lower income tax in the NIS 8,000 – 14,000 per month bracket by 2%, raise the negative income tax on women by 50%, raise men’s bonus points by two for children under the age of 3, and raise the senior citizens’ interest tax exemption from NIS 9,000 to NIS 13,000 per month for an individual and up to NIS 16,000 for a couple. In addition, the amendment would grant the authorization and transfer of property of secondhand homes to the buyer after the tax authority receives a portion of the purchase tax- NIS 7,500 for apartments built after 2001 and NIS 15,000 for apartments built before.  The amendment would also lower interest rates on mortgages of under NIS 220,000 by 1% only for 2012. He stated the bill will help the middle class at the expense of the rich elite and the bill will assist families in buying their homes.

Our third note comes also from Jeremy's Knesset blog. Please note the comments of the N.U. and Hadash representatives. These are the extremes that are gaining footholds within their respective (Palestinian and Israeli) polities. Of course it should be noted that these folks still do represent the extremes and that in next eleceions right now they do not poll particularly highly (with the exception of Yisrael Betainu). Here it is in full:

Amendment to the Museums Bill

MK Ariel (N.U.) explained the amendment would apply the museum bill to Judea and Samaria. He noted four museums that would now be able to receive government funding like other Israeli museums. He asked why 400,000 Judea and Samaria residents have taxation without representation as unequal citizens under Israeli law. He expressed hope that this will be the first step in righting that wrong.

MK Molla  (Kadima) announced that Kadima had decided to allow every MK to vote according to their belief on this bill. He expressed his view that Israel should end the occupation and that he will support this bill until the residents of Judea and Samaria return to Israel’s pre-1967 borders.

MK Barakeh (Hadash) called this bill a win to the land grabbers, hilltop youth and price taggers. He called on the government to fund a Palestinian museum on the occupation and settler violence. He said that the settlers are not citizens and therefore do not deserve rights. He stated his belief that the settlements are temporary.

MK Swaid (Hadash) said that this bill is meant to annex Judea and Samaria into Israel. He said the land is occupied and can’t be annexed. He said this bill is parallel to the construction of a museum of tolerance over a Muslim cemetery. He asked if Israel wants to annex the King Solomon borders and rule over the whole Middle East.

MK Khenin (Hadash) said this bill teaches us that Israel is still trying to play the Zionist game of the 1940s. He said that the world will never accept the occupation and that Israel will eventually give up on ruling over the Palestinians.

MK El-Sana (R.T.) accused Netanyahu for supporting a two state solution of Israel and a second country for the settlers of Judea and Samaria, leaving nothing for the occupied Palestinians. He said that the Jews have no historical or geographic claim to Israel. He said as the decedents of Abraham the Palestinians deserve at least 50% of historic Palestine.

MK Zahalka (Balad) stated there is a normalization of the occupation and that is the reason this bill doesn’t receive press coverage. He called the bill a violation of international law. He called Israel a criminal nation.

MK Eichler (U.T.J.) supported the bill and praised it. He slammed the Muslims for denying the Jewish state of Israel and the Supreme Court for accepting many of these ridiculous Muslim claims.

MK Ben Ari (N.U.) rejected the Palestinian claims that they are Jebozites, noting that they were idol worshipers, not Arabs or Abrahamites. He praised the bill.

MK Rotem (Y.B.) noted that there was never any Palestinian state and that Israel conquered Judea and Samaria from Jordan. He said that the U.N. partition plan called for a Jewish land and an Arab land, and both were created- Israel and Jordan. He stated that the Palestinian people are a new invention, their land is not occupied and the bill is not a violation of international law. He praised the bill.

The bill passed its first reading 19-3 and was sent to the Culture Committee.

Our next story comes from Maan News where despite claims of progress to a "unity government" Eight of the smaller Palestinian factions walked out when told they could not participate because they were not part of the PLO. Apparently, the so-called "democratic movement" representing the Palestinians is not very democratic at all.

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- A member of the Hamas political bureau said Tuesday that attendees at a meeting to discuss reconciliation postponed the decisive issue of PLO membership until later in the week.

Izzat al-Risheq said “elections dates were discussed and agreed on forming a central elections committee. The committee is formed from one delegate from each party and they will meet tonight”.

Risheq's comments came after eight factions walked out of a meeting meant to represent all parties after being told they could not participate because they were not part of the PLO.....

The Popular Resistance Movement, the Popular Resistance Committees, the al-Ahrar Movement, Fatah al-Intifada, as-Saiqa and the Popular Struggle Front were excluded, sources at the talks said.

“The insistence by Fatah to exclude eight Palestinian factions from reconciliation dialogue ... casts doubt upon Fatah’s attitude to reconciliation," a statement from the PRM said.

"Such an attitude only maintains a state of disagreement."

Now it also should be mentioned that in Lebanon yesterday some of the smaller factions traded gunfire with Fateh affiliated people in a Palestinian refugee camp. It will be interesting to see how the autocratic nature of the PLO deals with political challenges from outside of it's ranks. Even more interesting to see how those moves will affect any potential peace with Israel.

For our next story we have some news coming from Israel and the Prime Ministers office regarding recent Price Tag attacks where PM Netanyahu just called Price tag attacks a "stain on the State":

"If you take the whitest shirt and slap it with a single stain, then the whole shirt is stained. This incident stains the State of Israel as a law abiding nation," he said. "We must join forces against this extremist phenomenon and erase this stain.

Netanyahu denounced "price tag" acts, saying "we cannot accept vandalism of mosques or harming police officers, soldiers or innocent people. This can happen, but if it does, we must act with full authority against the perpetrators."

Interestingly enough apparently though some Right Wing critics don't call the acts of physical attacks with stones (unless Palestinians do it), or defacing Holy Sites and other "price tag" attacks terror. The Israeli Government and Military does. Who knew they were not as strong defenders of Israel as the keyboard commando's here in the states (just kidding - I knew that). Here is Defense Minister Barak speaking to that:

"Some 99.9% of settlers are law abiding people. We must protect them and the Palestinians that are under our control," he said.


Answering to reporters' questions, Barak said he considered the incident an act of terror. "This transgression in my opinion is self-made terrorism and our duty is to do everything we can to stop it, including emergency regulations and punishments."

Now when the government actually does something about stopping settlers from burning down Olive fields and throwing stones at Palestinians in the same manner that they crack down on Palestinian Stone throwers then I will give more creedence to their words. However, this is a start. Perhaps the government is seeing the hydra that it is releasing when it refuses to deal with the settlers when they attack the Palestinians. Even IDF soldiers in the Territories comment on this.

In a related story our final piece is regarding Quartet condemnation of Israeli housing in the West Bank and East J'slem. Haaretz is reporting that European members of Security Council condemn Israeli settlements, settler violence. Yep, pissing off the UNSC particularly when the P.A. is moving in the U.N. is really not helpful to the Israeli cause.

"We call on the Israeli government to reverse these steps," the statement said. "The viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel's long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements."

The statement, issued following the 15-country Security Council's closed-door discussion on the situation in the Middle East, condemned Israeli settlers' violence against the Palestinians, including the burning of the Nebi Akasha mosque in West Jerusalem and the Burqa mosque in the West Bank.

It called on Israeli leaders to boldly demonstrate political will and leadership to break the impasse in negotiations with the Palestinians. It called on both Israelis and Palestinians to agree on a package of proposals to settle security and border issues in order to advance negotiations toward ending the conflict.

The four countries reiterated support for the creation of a "sovereign, independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian state living in peace and security side by side with Israel."

Ron Prosser, the Israeli Ambassador responded to the statement by the UNSC. by saying: "HEY... LOOK OVER THERE!" (/snark - I couldn't help it)... Prosser did make some comments that did make sense in that the UN does turn a blind eye to many of the injustices in the world and does hold Israel to a higher standard than anyone else. At the same time... simply put. The UNSC is not wrong here. Settler violence is a problem. No amount of saying "SQUIRREL" (reference to the movie "Up") is really going to make a difference. As to the settlements, they do stand in the way of a peace deal. If Israel won't put out a "map" then how can anyone tell what they are doing. Either they want to annex the West Bank or not. If not, why continue building?

Anyway please discuss.

Shalom and Happy Chanukah!

President Obama... Good for Jews - Good for Israel

As the election season heats up, there is an attempt by the Republican Party to peel off Jewish voters from the Democratic Party and crack the Presidents second most loyal voting group. Jewish Americans voted for President Obama in droves in 2008 with 78% of our vote going to help the President's election.

Since then, Republicans have used all manner of slander as well as outright lies to make the President seem like an enemy of the Jewish people and an enemy of Israel. They rely on outright racism, pretty catch phrases and worn out cliches to try to scare American Jews into voting against the best interests of our community.

However, these distortions still can't hide a record of President Obama that speaks volumes indicating his friendship and support for the American Jewish community.

Let's take a quick look at some of things:

First of all there is the tired Republican cliche that President Obama has "radical friends" and associations with those who would be anti-Jewish or anti-Israeli. One of these is that President Obama is friends with and takes advice from noted anti-Zionist Rashid Khalidi. Relying on "some professor that knew President Obama at the University of Chicago" they state that he was friends with the President on a personal level, implying that Khalidi was an advisor to Obama. Of course the President denied this saying:

"You mentioned Rashid Khalidi, who's a professor at Columbia," Obama said. "I do know him because I taught at the University of Chicago. And he is Palestinian. And I do know him and I have had conversations. He is not one of my advisors; he's not one of my foreign policy people. His kids went to the Lab school where my kids go as well. He is a respected scholar, although he vehemently disagrees with a lot of Israel's policy."

Now whether Senator Obama liked Mr. Khalidi on personal level or not is one thing. But clearly, Mr. Khalidi was not an advisor nor to the President. Indeed, here is what Mr. Khalidi had to say regarding President Obama's record on Israel in an interview with the Israeli news paper Haaretz:

Q. Finally, on the issue of your relations with President Obama

A. I don’t talk about that.

Q. Are you disappointed with him?

A. I had low expectations and my low expectations were more than fulfilled. He’s done considerably worse than I would have expected. But I never assumed that this would be someone who would be able to break the whole mold of American politics. And he didn’t. Quite the contrary. This has been an Administration that on certain key issues has been almost as bad as and sometimes even worse than the Bush Administration.

Oh well, so much for those worried that President Obama was carrying water for the "radical" Rashid Khalidi.

Now, it would be very simple for me to pick apart Republican lies piece, by piece, by piece. BUT, instead I would like to focus on the positives and not give their lies the print they certainly don't deserve.

For instance, for the first time a U.S. President has declared month of the year Jewish History Month. That right, President Obama declared May, 2011 to be Jewish History Month. Here is the Presidential proclamation:

......This same spirit is found in the countless Jewish Americans who, through their every day actions, work to provide a better life for future generations by joining hands with all who seek equality and progress. This month, we remember that the history and unique identity of Jewish Americans is part of the grand narrative of our country, forged in the friendships and shared wisdom between people of different faiths.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2011 as Jewish American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to visit www.JewishHeritageMonth.gov to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies.

(See the whole proclamation at the link listed above)

What more, can our community ask. We have a President that actively promotes Jewish culture in America. Want more... the President started and still hosts Presidential Seders. YEP that's right. For the First time as a candidate in 2008 and forward the President brought Passover to the White House.

Top aides like David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett will attend, but so will assistants like 24-year-old Herbie Ziskend. White House chefs will prepare Jewish participants’ family recipes, even rendering chicken fat — better known as schmaltz — for just the right matzo ball flavor.

If last year is any guide, Malia and Sasha Obama will take on the duties of Jewish children, asking four questions about the night’s purpose — along with a few of their own — and scrambling to find matzo hidden in the gleaming antique furniture.

That event was the first presidential Seder, and also probably “the first time in history that gefilte fish had been placed on White House dishware,” said Eric Lesser, the former baggage handler, who organizes each year’s ritual.

Ok... so let's see.... so far, the President declares a month of the year Jewish Heritage Month, and hosts seders as well as beginning it as a White House tradition. That hardly sounds like an enemy of the Jewish people. In fact that sounds like a good friend.

Of course we also have the Chairman of the American Jewish Congress Jack Rosen saying this:

American Jewish Congress chairman Jack Rosen, who hosted Obama fundraiser at his private home, acknowledged the concerns generally in his introduction of the president. But Rosen praised the president’s record.

“America’s never been as supportive to the state of Israel” than since Obama took office, he said.

Now, let's look at the Presidents record with regards to Israel. Earlier in the article we saw that a leading anti-Zionist considers the Obama administration worse than the Bush administration with regards to their goals. That hardly fits with Republican lies regarding the President. But lets look at what the Israelis say regarding the President.

First we have noted anti-Zionist and Israel hater (just kidding) Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on the current administration.

Fareed Zakaria: You know that there are people in the United States who’ve criticized President Obama for not supporting Israel strongly enough. Do you believe that President Obama is a very strong supporter of Israel?

Ehud Barak: He is extremely strong supporter of Israel in regard to its security. Traditionally, the president will support Israel in keeping its collective military edge and taking care of its security needs. But this administration is excelling in this. And it could not have happened without the immediate direct support of the president. So I don’t think that anyone can raise any question mark about the devotion of this president to the security of Israel.

What is that not enough for one... well let's see what Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu had to say about the President after he supported Israel in it's quest to stop the Palestinians from unilaterally declaring Statehood at the U.N.:

"I would like to express my gratitude to the president of the United States, Barack Obama," Netanyahu said. "I asked for his help. This was a decisive and fateful moment. He said, 'I will do everything I can.' And so he did. He used every considerable means and influence of the United States to help us. We owe him a special measure of gratitude."

or this from the Prime Ministers office on April 16, 2011:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his deep appreciation to US President Barack Obama and the American Congress, and said: "Approving the transfer of $205 million for the Iron Dome will help protect Israeli citizens against rocket attacks from Gaza."  

"The US' enduring commitment to Israel in decisive times is a testimony of our shared values and the longstanding ties between the two nations," said Netanyahu in a statement published by the Prime Minister's Office.

Still not good enough... how about the Israeli people themselves:

While in 2010, fewer than half of Israeli Jews polled expressed favorable views of Obama, 54 percent of Israelis expressed a favorable view of the American president. Thirty- nine percent expressed negative views, the same percentage that say that they are discouraged by the administration’s policy in the Middle East.

Finally, we have The Presidents actual record on Israel.

First of all in terms of sheer aid to Israel the President has pushed through legislation assuring Israel of American levels of aid through 2018. This does not include his extra funding of $ 205 million for Iron Dome. A system that is working to protect Israelis now from rockets from Gaza. This is up and above pledged aid in the regular U.S. arms package. Would someone who is NOT a true friend of Israel do that?

Further, the President has worked tirelessly to bring real peace to the Israeli people. He has stuck to and reiterated the American position for the last 44 years that there be Two-States and that Israel has a permanent home in the Middle East. He has backed up his words with deeds (see the above paragraphs). When his critics lie about his insistence on 1967 borders they are doing just that... lying. President Obama did not say that. He spoke of secure borders based on the 1967 but WITH MUTUALLY AGREED LAND SWAPS. He realizes that Israel has security and historical rights to some of the land gained in the Six Day War. He has repeated that. That has been an American (and Israeli position - witness Taba, Oslo, Annapolis, the Olmert Negotiations) for years. Our President merely stands by that.

In the end, there can only be one conclusion. That President Obama is good for the Jewish People and good for Israel. To say anything else simply is to not speak the truth.

Shalom.

FRY'DAZE - Progressive Zionist Style

Welcome to the return of Fry'd Daze. Fry'd Daze has been a long running series on Daily Kos dedicated to dialogue in the Middle East. For a while I pulled it, but recently was asked to bring it back and decided that I should. These articles are not intended to be a flame forum, but rather something where community members can meet and exchange ideas about I/P and/or issues that concern the Middle East.
Generally, these articles take the form of four to five news articles and short commentary selected by the diarist. These stories however, are just a platform to get discussion going.

Our lead this week is:

Abbas: Palestinians to seek full UN membership:
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that the Palestinians plan to approach the United Nations Security Council for full recognition, clarifying that they are seeking to delegitimize the occupation, not Israel, by taking the UN route for Palestinian statehood.

He stressed that Israel is a legitimate state, but that by continuing to build in the settlements and rejecting the internationally recognized borders of a future Palestinian state, they are engaging in illegitimate activity.

"What I will take to the UN will be the suffering and concerns of our people that have been taking place over 63 years living under the occupation," Abbas said, adding that the Palestinians, like every nation, deserve independence, adding that the Palestinians want a state based on 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

So, President Abbas is determined to take this to the U.N. Security Council where the U.S. has promised that it will veto the move.

Ynet further reports Abbas as saying the following:

I’m going to the UN in order to demand our legitimate rights and secure full membership for the state of Palestine," the Palestinian president said in Ramallah. "We hope to secure full membership."

We are not going to annul Israel's legitimacy," he said. "Nobody can annul Israel's legitimacy. It's a recognized state," he said. "We wish to isolate Israel's policy."

Israel's policy of occupation is the Palestinians' "catastrophe and nightmare," Abbas said, slamming Israeli arrests and attacks by settlers.
"We wish to isolate the legitimacy of the occupation, but not Israel's legitimacy," he said.

He also does go on to say that he does not advocate violence and he did urge that all marches and demonstrations be peaceful.  Rumors in the area talk of the P.A. buying crowd control devices/weapons (the P.A. denies)  from the Israelis so that they can better handle crowds and not allow for clashes between Israeli Settlers and Palestinians.

One thing about about Abbas' comments stands out to me. It is when he talks about 63 years of occupation. The 1967 war was 44 years ago so the 63 years he talks about is the founding of the State of Israel (1948). YET... he says that he doesn't want to delegitimize the State, he just wants to delegitimize the occupation. However, he considers the State of Israel as an occupation. So... What does this mean?

To me it says that he refuses to consider Israel as the National State and Homeland of the Jewish People. He seems willing to accept that there is a State of Israel but he also seems to want to insist on Palestinian Right of Return to that State. Hence the comment about occupation. In effect it seems that Mr. Abbas is talking about recognizing Palestine now and negotiating for Palestine within Israel of 1967.

The second question I have is where are the Palestinians going to get their funding for their State? By going to the U.N. Security Council, they force the U.S. into a corner. This move is obviously going to succeed in the United Nations General Assembly. Despite a promise of ethnic cleansing from Ambassador Areikat and the P.L.O. this move will pass. So the U.S. now needs to do something completely against regional and world general opinion.  In doing this the U.S. puts its various alliances at risk and opens itself to losing regional influence to Turkey and Iran, two countries trying to force their own hegemonistic visions on the area.

Given that the U.S. is the largest single funder of the Palestinian Authority ($400 - $600 million per year), and is contemplating cutting off all funds to the P.A., exactly where do they think that money is going to come from? Their brother Arab States have been notoriously bad at keeping debt promises and the European Union simply doesn't have the kind of continual flow of money that the P.A. needs to sustain itself. Haaretz covers the myriad of congressional responses here:

Congress mulls closing PLO mission in light of UN bid -

Congress is considering taking punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority or closing the Palestinian Liberation Organization's mission in Washington should it go ahead with plans to seek full membership at the United Nations Security Council next Friday.

The Americans were frustrated that years of financial aid, currently comprising 600 million dollars annually, intended to promote peace negotiations and stability did not yield many material results.

At the discussions, which took place at the House of Committee on Foreign Affairs, some experts called to cut the aid, while others warned it might undermine the Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation, and would thereby undermine Israeli security.

Both President Abbas and PM Netanyahu will be addressing the U.N. next week AND President Obama will be meeting with both Israeli PM Netanyahu and Turkish Premier Erdogan in NY, so look for a great deal of movement on both sides in the coming seven days.

Our second story comes from Maan:  Israel calls in Egypt envoy, says peace deal vital -

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel's Foreign Ministry called in the Egyptian ambassador on Friday to stress the importance of the two countries' historic peace accord, an Israeli official said, after Egypt's prime minister said the treaty was not "sacred".

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf told Turkish television on Thursday that the 1979 peace accord with Israel could be changed for the benefit of the region.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Foreign Ministry Director General Rafi Barak told Egyptian envoy Yasser Reda that treaties must be honored to the letter.

and Haaretz delves into further depth here with:

The Foreign Ministry summoned Egypt's ambassador to Israel to a meeting on Friday morning, in order to clarify remarks made by Egypt's interim Prime Minister that the Israel-Egypt peace treaty should be revised.

A source in the Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Ministry Director General Rafi Barak requested clarifications over the remarks, especially considering previous contradictory remarks made by the Egypt's military council that the peace treaty should be preserved.

Earlier in the week Egypt's ruling cabinet had called for an emergency meeting to deal with the aftermath and diplomatic repercussions of the incident when protesters had stormed the Israeli embassy and Egyptians commandos had to rescue the besieged Israelis.

Finally,

Erdogan: Those in Syria who inflict repression will not survive 

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stepped up his rhetoric against Syrian President Bashar Assad on Friday, saying those in Syria who inflict repression on the people will not survive.

Erdogan, who is visiting Libya, told a cheering crowd in Tripoli's Martyrs' Square, formerly Green Square, that by ousting Muammar Gadhafi the Libyan people had set an example to others seeking to throw off oppression.....

....The Turkish prime minister added, "do not forget this: those in Syria who inflict repression on the people will not be able to stand on their feet because oppression and prosperity cannot exist together."

In yesterday's column called "Suggested Reading" there is an article about Erdogan as the rising star of Middle Eastern politics. It is well worth a read after this.

Please participate. The only thing we ask is that you keep comments respectful, reality based and please no use of Anti-Semetic or Anti-Arab memes. Enjoy!