Dream-world

He who fails to learn the lessons of history, is bound to repeat all the errors and mistakes of the past.

If you examine the negotiating positions of Palestinian leaders,you find that they have never changed their stated goals. from Madrid, Camp David and Oslo to today.

Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine
The right of return
the end of all settlement activity and a return to pre'67 or '48 depending upon which group or Arab country is speaking.
The eventual end of Israel as a Jewish State.

The Jews,however keep compromising and giving concessions-unilaterally.The expected gains from these moves last from one minute to a few days.
However with all the summits,withdrawals and settlement cessation,the flow of rockets and terrorist activity never ceases.
Now to strengthen Abbas, Olmert allows Egypt to ship arms to the PA.Without a question,they will wind up being used to kill Jews.This only supplements the arms smuggling into Gaza,and the indigenous arms and rocket production in Gaza and Judea-Samaria.
Without obtaining the release of Israeli soldiers,he orders the release of terror prisoners.
Without a cessation of Kassams into Sderot and Ashkelon,he frees up millions of dollars to the PA,to lessen the pressure on them.Yet he allows a "cease-fire" and only after the injury to a few Israelis, does Olmert allow the IDF to target the rocket teams.As long as it was only property involved,lets make believe that the rockets are part of a "friendly cease-fire between neighbors'.
Without any change in the security situation,to please Abdullah and Rice,he removes 20+ roadblocks.
Despite it all,the U.S. objects when a settlement is enlarged,as not being in accord with the road-map.What road map? Name one step the PA has taken to honor the road map!
Has anyone looked at the words in the roadmap document lately,to realize that there can never be such a concept unless and until all terror groups are disarmed and terrorist activitity ceases.
The State Dept should concentrate on the preamble and pre-conditions that the Arabs seem to have forgotten,before criticizing Israel which in its side questions and comments to the road-map never agreed to halt activity in settlements already constructed.

President Gerald Ford

When I returned from Vietnam,I spent a year at the Ferguson Clinic in Grand Rapids Michigan, doing a colo-rectal residency.Our Congressman was Gerry Ford.He was a decent human being, who by his common sense and leadership did bring our national nightmare to an end after Watergate.
I was reflectiong today how the pardon of President Nixon had potentially far reaching results other than the above.Probably Ford lost the election because of the pardon ,and the gaffe he committed during the Presidential debate with Carter over the Soviet role in Eastern Europe.
Had Ford been elected would the Iranians have taken over our Embassy for one year?The weakness and ineptness of Carter taught the Iranians that they could run roughshod over the Americans,a lesson they have not forgotten.
Within hours of Reagan's inauguration , the hostages were released.
Michael Oren wrote a beautiful historical perspective in yesterday's WSJ on the American attachment to the historic rights of the Jewish people in Israel (Palestine) from our very inception as a country.This support by most Presidents,and Christian groups is what Carter is trying to undermine in his new book(according to Oren).
Had Ford won of course, no one would be interested in a peanut farmers ideas on the Middle East.
But even as a former President,Carter's outrageous use of the word APARTHEID in his title, is not only incindiary and meant to shock and sell books, but it removes him from the role of unbiased author. His one sidedness, and stubborness in the face of facts excludes him from from those who consider themselves " friends of Israel."
In fact the enemies of the Jewish State have a new hero.
When the historians evaluate and compare the feelings of our citizens to our Presidents,Carter will never rate the warmth,respect and affection that Americans feel on the loss of President Ford.

MATZA BALLS / THE ADL et al

The Associated Press is running a story today that" thousands of Jews celebrate the nite before x-mas" by having "Matzo balls "PARTIES in six cities. The originator is quoted as saying that it is an important nite for jewish people to get together,party and "be proud they are Jewish"
X-mas is strictly a christian religious holiday.period!
Jews should respect their fellow Americans and not try to emulate or delegitimize their celebrations.It is a perfect time for Jewish co-workers to cover for their CHRISTIAN colleagues who wish to take off and celebrate.
Last nite ,we concluded eight days of Chanukah, which always falls out in the last month of the secular calender.There are enough reasons and opportunities for Jews to be proud of our history and traditions without selling ourselves out to crass assimilation and commercialism.
Much Jewish blood has been spilled over the ages as they tried to force us to observe non-Jewish holidays;let us not throw these memories out the window and voluntarily join the masses.
Both X-mas and New Years are religious holidays.This year Dec 31 is a fast day(the tenth of Teveth) .Anyone who knows even a small amount of history ,knows that New Years day- the eighth day after the X-mas holiday represents the brith (circumcision) of Jesus .Religious christians go to church for the holiday.We Jews should understand a holidays meaning, before we decide to celebrate.
In a similar vein, Halloween (all-Saints day) and Saint Valentines Day are religious in origin.

The airwaves have been bombarded with TV ads as to how anti-semitism is on the rise,Iran wants to destroy us,etc,and therefore save our people by joining ADL (anti-defamation league).
While it is true that Iran wishes to nuke us,and there has always been and will always be anti-semitism, in my opinion it is not the ADL that will save us,but Jewish education.
If all the money spent for TV ads,direct mail solicitations and dinners for the ADL,American Jewish Committee.American Jewish Congress,World Jewish Congress ,Bnai Brith and the Weisenthal Center were combined into one organization think of what might transpire.
Tens perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate,salaries and protection for high official,together with the above savings could be directed toward Day Schools and Yeshivoth.Thousands of scholarships could be given.Teachers pay and pensions could reach proper levels.Countless new schools could be built.
MOST IMPORTANTLY,ASSILITATION AND INTER-MARRIAGE WOULD DROP PRECIPITOUSLY.
Anti-semitism is not killing us,it is inter-marriage and assimilation.
In the Orthodox world the National Council of Young Israel and Religious Zionists should merge with The OU ,and Amit with Emunah .Similarly in the Conservative and Reform movements, their main bodies and their Zionists bodies should merge.

THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE,COLLECTING TOO MANY SALARIES IN PERSUIT OF THE SAME GOALS.The Real winners from such mergers would be the AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY.
Anti-semitism would be fought by the religious streams,AIPAC and this combined new entity,with the same vigor and results as we now witness.

Tim Johnson / John Edwards

Another few days without the mention of Sen. Tim Johnson.Many people who I discuss this with point out,that they too were suprised by the lack of a medical progress report.
I wonder whether there will be any interest by the media on the first day of the new Congress?

Quite unbelievable-11 rockets per day into the South, and the PM still talks about a cease-fire. I cannot think of any respectable country that would tolerate that on a daily basis.

It is wild to hear the pundits talk about the strength of John Edwards as the main challenger to Hillary.He was a one term Senator,without a strong legislative record.Edwards, decided not to run for a second term, because the polls showed he could not win.Then Kerry chose him as his veep candidate.What he brings to the table is no clearer than Obama whose theme is hope and not fear.Didn't FDR talk about there is nothing to fear but fear itself?
Anyway,hope is what make us a great people and country, and we don't need Obama to give us "hope"-let's stick to the issues.

A conspiracy of silence?

As a political junkie,and as a physician i have tried to follow the progress of Sen. Tim Johnson.One week ago, the reporters were camped outside the hospital awaiting a medical bulletin-which never came.
We awaited a summary of findings from the attending neuro-surgeon and that never came.
We have awaited a daily progress report on his medical-neurological status,and that too never comes.
We did get a 2 reports from Dr Harry Reid,who assures us that he(the patient) is doing just great.
It seems to me that if this was a Republican Senator in such circumstances, the media would be screaming .
Generally, I am not a conspiracy fan, but it doesn't smell right!

Senator Tim Johnson

First of all ,I would like to join the thousands of well wishers who pray for Sen. Tim Johnsons full recovery.
I have known him for many years as a gentle sincere and compassionate public servant ,well liked by members of both parties.We have had him here in Rockland County for a pro-Israel rally sponsored by Huvpac.

Based upon my own medical experience,and my in-house neurosurgical consultant,who spent shabbat with our family(my son-in-law,Dr Paul Ratzker)there are some serious potential problems that have not fully been addressed.
The fact that the operating neurosurgeon,has not appeard before the press is unusual.While it could be due to the fact that the family so requested,it might be because Senators Reid and Daschle who have spent time in the hospital,do not want to upset the troops with status reports that would be upsetting.
We do not know a great deal!
How long after admission was he taken to surgery-and what were his symptoms? What did the angiogram or MRI etc show?How long was the surgery? How much brain tissue was compressed by the bleeding? Why were they unable to clip the "feeding arteries"?Was it because that they had so much bleeding and tissue damage that the whole operation was centered on stopping the hemmorhage? (the failure to clip the vessels,makes further bleeds more likely)
How much brain edema (swelling ) does he have ,and has it increased ,decreased or remained the same since surgery?What modalities have been used to measure the edema.?Is he on any medication like steroids for this condition?
Is he on a respirator, and what is his respiratory status?
What are his vital signs(including temp), and does he require medication for low or high blood pressure?
Where exactly in the brain was the pathology? What about his general medical condition(heart,kidneys etc)?
The fact that it is reported that he is responding to voice and touch is a wonderful note of progress.Are these positive findings improving or static?
However,my impression is that when VIP's undergo surgery,the public is often not really given the true facts.This particular case is different because of the potential fallout for control of the Senate.
Sen Reid is not a physician,nor is the Capital physician an expert in this condition.
It is time for the attending surgeon to brief the press on a regular basis.

OLMERT ON THE A-BOMB/ BY-BY KOFI

It now appears that PM Ehud Olmert in an interview to German TV ,admitted that Israel"like America and France " have nuclear weapons.So our criticism of Gates applies to Olmert as well`.
"Loose lips sink ship"was the motto of WWII.
Was it deliberate or careless?
In either case taken together with his immature remark as to why he stopped the war in Lebanon,and his performance in Gaza and Lebanon acts as a a reinforcement ofthe impression of a mediocre leader.

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Goodbye and Good Riddance to Kofi!
The UN with much paper and theoretical potential is a BASKET CASE of corruption,incompetence and institutional anti-Israel bias.
Sadly the Senate did not allow John Boltin the opportunity to continue ,and represent this country.

Neturei Karta in Tehran/Gates on Israel/The Seatte x-mas fiascol

It is one level of Jewish self hatred to appear with and be on the payroll of the likes of Yasir Arafat, but there can be no words to describe the degenerate behavior when these black-bearded characters under the guise of religious jews sit in the front row ,to be seen by the entire world,at a holocaust denial conference in Tehran.At least in the former they can claim that their religion is anti-zionist.
But how can the Neturei Karta ,sit in a room with those,who clinically deny the slaughter of 6 million brethren in their generation.HOW CAN THEY RUB SHOULDERS WITH THOSE WHO WISH TO WIPE OUT ALL JEWS AND NON-BELIEVERS? (to Islam)
Their sin is so great,that no punishment that I can think of is adequate.Surely in the proper time the Almighty will settle the score.
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The incoming Sec of Defense Gates, in his testimony labelled Israel a nuclear power,as one reason Iran seeks nuclear weapons.This statement should have been given in executive session,and undermines the Israeli policy of refusing to admit such a capability.Moreover,the statement given without informing the Israelis ,violates the agreements and understandings of successive administrations.Not a good beginning!

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The clamor in Seattle regarding x-mas trees in the airport,represents a distortion by both the airport and the media of the request.The Rabbi,did not ask for the removal of the trees,but rather equal opportunity for the chanukah menorah.
I myself, have a different point of view.I believe very strongly in the importance of the separation of Church and State.I therefore oppose both the tree and the menorah as well as all other religious symbols in public areas.(owned by govt)
I have always been concerned about government money to religious education,even though I am acutely aware of the needs of the day school movement.
Government funding to religious groups as well as the public display of religious symbols is a slippery slope.
x-mas is a religious holiday,that has become secularized and commercialized.Religious Christians rightfully object to this trend.Yet, the beauty of America is that each individual is free to observe their traditions and religious ceremonies in their homes and places of worship.
Yes ,having a giant menorah in the public arena makes great pictures on tv,and even makes us proud.There is however a potential problem , as in this Seattle p-r fiasco that brings about an ill feeling toward jews.

Obama visits Soros /The Baker Report

The media push for Obama continues.It makes great political theater to speculate why the excitement.
Is it to hurt Hillary who up until now was the nominee "in-waiting" ? or the great left push for a black (African-American) candidate? or perhaps pushing for a Gore-Obama ticket? or, is it a Republican plot,because they know he can't win?
One small factoid is that Obama went to visit George Soros.If that is his true orientation,we should all beware.
It's very very early,and a lot of people make a lot of money to stir up the juices of the political junkies=like me.

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I have been listening to talk radio recently, and my fears are coming to pass.More and more callers have an anti-Israel bent.They blame American casualties,terrorism around the world,the mayhem in Lebanon and every political ill in the world on Israel.
The talk show hosts like Glen Beck and Schnitt(I do not know if I have their names correctly)Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh blast these people ,but they still keep coming.They are terrific!
After the report (Baker) one of them started yelling that we are heading toward a time when we will blame it all on the Jews.For only Israel,may have the will and committment to take out the Iranian nuclear program.Not a pleasant thought.
The call for an International Conference where on the one hand,pre-meeting, Israel has been blamed as the core problem, while not inviting Israel is the beginning of a process that could isolate Israel.
It is ridiculous to consider that Iran which has deep theological hatred for America,and promises to destroy it,if we do not convert to Islam,will respond to a sit-down meeting.
Similarly, Syria has the ability to join the real world,by throwing out terrorist organizations,preventing infiltration into both Lebanon and Iraq ,and recognizing the border between Syria and Lebanon.
The report is a defeatist document,that speaks to a new isolationism,that canniot strengthen the American position as a trusted ally of any country.
President Bush,is correct to go slow and realize that this war we are in ,is a throwback to the era of an attempted Islamic takeover of Europe (and the world).Either we will succeed or they will.
Sadly,the American people have little patience for far-reaching political intricacies-we want the quick fix or withdraw.However at the end of the day,we will have no choice.
We must enlarge our military,which is overstreched.We cannot confront N Korea and Iran ,if they know that not only are the American people divided, but we do not have the strategic forces to carry out any new missions.
The advice of the Iranians to Hamas,is to fight on.So much for Iran ,the supplier of Hezbollah and now Hamas to be a positive influence.
The Baker report,is an attempt to have political tranquility in the U.S. but not a document for the long range stability of our global interests.

JOHN BOLTON /NEWT GINGRICH

It was a sad moment not only for John Bolton, but for America when he tendered his resignation this morning.He did a splendid and even outstanding job as UN Ambassador in a very dificult period of history.That Democrats did not see his value is par for the course.That Sen Chaffee blocked the approval of the nomination,so the whole Senate could vote up or down confirms the wisdom of the people of R.I. who did not re-elect him.
Even though the RNC and the White House placed much political capital and funding into his campaign,he did not reciprocate .He will not be missed in the Senate,and the Republican party is better with him on the outside.
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I had the opportunity last nite to watch Newt Gingrich on PBS as he spoke in New England.By far ,in my opinion,he is the the most articulate of the potential candidates for President.His vision of America,15 anf 25 years hence ,reveals his intellectual strength, is well thought out,and deals with issues and not partisanship.
His analysis of the need for all citizens to speak English,and become part of the American tradition strikes a chord that is is basic an answer to the attempts by some to come to America in order to change her to their own religion and traditions. We are a melting pot and not multi-cultural and multi-lingual. society.
Newt,as a college professor,understands the needs for not only education,but of projecting the computer technology of our youth and parlaying it into real advancement.His words will be met by resistance from the educational unions and beaurocracy.
He speaks clearly about evil in the form of Iran. It is unlike the athiesim of the Soviet empire.This theologic movement, seeks to destroy the West including Israel.They mean what they say,and there is no room for dialogue with such a regime.When a woman is prepared to make her 6 month old child a suicide vehicle,as in the recent London plot,there is no rational way to deal with such an opponent-except defeat--ours or theirs.
He makes a plea for greater face to face real debates in campaigns in the style of Lincoln -Douglass,and not through 30 second bytes to a moderator.
Of course Newt is still a controversial figure,but I would hope that even Democrats would at least listen to his words.

Israel is sitting on a time bomb/ Obama /a cell phone for motorcycles

It must be extremely frustrating for members of the military and intelligence community in Israel to present facts on the ground to the Cabinet ,and have their advice totally ignored.Of course,as in the US ,there is civilian control of the military,however the civilian leadership is totally almost indifferent to the continuing buildup and rocket fire from Gaza -daily.Despite a so called cease-fire,the smuggling of weapons continues,as Hamas uses the interlude to prepare for the next round.To order the army to avoid arrests in a public fashion,can only embolden the enemy.
If you stop reading the news and reports from Israel for a few weeks,you realize that nothing changes.The Hamas-PA impasse,and the status of Shalit appear to be exactly as they were weeks and months ago.The threat to bring down the Siniora Govt. in Lebanon,represents a real threat to install a Muslim govt.How will Israel respond? I fear poorly is the answer. >========================================================================
The 2008 campaign is underway and should be great theater for political buffs.As you watch the media fawning over Obama,you cannot help but wonder why?The Fox headline=IF OBAMA RUNS, WILL HILLARY BACK OFF ? IS LUDICROUS.
So far,aside from some nice smiling,Obama gave a speech at an anti-abortion evangelical group.Sounds to me like real Profiles in Courage,and should stand him in good stead in his very thin political resume.
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I thought I saw it all,until I saw a motorcycle rider,going at full speed, talking on the phone.Perhaps he was calling the ER to have them mobilize their trauma team.
The large numbers of huge vans with their back and side windows blackened,makes it difficult to back out of parking spaces in shopping centers.To my mind,that and the extra bright headlights that blind you should not be allowed.