Some sporting thoughts for a Spectacular Sunday (weatherwise)

1) Where do I start? How about with a little Baseball history? Today, the Philadelphia Phillies completed one of the most improbable comebacks in the long history of the American pastime while the New York Mets fulfilled their part of the bargain by engaging in the biggest collapse the last three weeks of a season have ever seen. With 17 gamess left in the season, the Mets led the Phillies by seven games. They then proceeded to go 5-12 down the stretch while the Phillies went 13-4, and as a result, the Phillies finished the year 89-73, the Mets 88-74. I have to say, it was a LOT of fun to watch, not because I hate New York (well, I do dislike Billy Wagner and Carlos Delgado, but not intensely), but because Philadelphia showed so much heart and overcame one of the more abysmal pitching staffs a division winner has ever had in order to get to this point. I do feel badly for the Mets' fans, who are not the obnoxious, arrogant know-it-alls that Yankees fans are. They have to be wondering what in the world happened to their team. What I think ultimately doomed this team was, to be blunt, a lack of heart. Talentwise, New York is every bit as good as Philadelphia, and most likely better. Yet, the Mets were never able to salt the division away. Manager Willie Randolph will take the heat for the collapse, and I would be shocked if he were not fired, but he wasn't out there blowing saves or striking out with men in scoring position. Still, like the cliche goes, it's much easier to fire one guy than 25, so he is likely going to be looking for a new job relatively soon.

2) I don't recall a weekend in college football like the past one. Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, Texas and West Virginia all went down to defeat, and all were favourites. So, at this point, we have two clear cut favourites to play in the BCS title game, LSU and USC. Everyone else is a pretender.

3) I'm a pretty good fantasy baseball GM. My teams, regardless of whether they are in freebie or money leagues, are almost always in the top half of the league, and are usually a threat to win it all. Fantasy football.............well............that's a different story. Last year, I actually won one of my two money leagues, which can be explained by nine words: LaDainian Tomlinson, Carson Palmer, Baltimore Ravense defense/special teams. Other than that, I am generally non-competitive, as (sigh) will be the case again this season, where I am once again in two moeny leagues, and will be 1-3 in each of them after this week's debacle. The bottom line to me: This will likely be the last season I participate in fantasy football.

4) I am one of the few people I know who paid attention to the Women's World Cup, if only because the games were often on at 6 a.m. and being shown by ESPN or ESPN2 when I am at the gym. I developed a rooting interest in three teams; the U.S., Canada and Australia, with the full knowledge that only the American team had a real chance to win the title. However, the U.S., which was the #1 ranked team in the world, did a colossal bellyflop in the semifinals, getting crushed 4-0 by a Brazilian team that had only beaten it twice in their 20+ previous meetings. This has to rank as a major disappointment for the American side.

5) Hockey season started yesterday, when the Los Angeles Kings beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks (it still feels WRONG writing that) in London, England. I'd love to know what "genius" (helloooooooo, Gary Bettman!) decided that it would be a good idea for the NHL to open with two team that have no drawing power outside their region on a weekend with a ton of NFL and NCAA football games, and on which the final games of the baseball regular season are being played. If that game drew more than a couple of dozen viewers, I'd be shocked beyond belief.

6) I don't know what it will take for NFL teams to learn that Norv Turner is a lousy head coach. He's failed in two previous stops, and now he's busy wrecking the season of a pre-season Super Bowl favourite, the San Diego Chargers. Last year, the Chargers went 14-2, but because they lost to the New England Patriots in the playoffs, head coach Marty Schottenheimer was unceremoniously shown the door. Enter Norv Turner, and a team that had dominant defense and an exceptionally dangerous offense is now 1-3, with a suddenly sieve-like "D" and and "O" that generally sputters. Since these are essentially the exact same players as last year, this is one of those occasions where maybe the coach DOES deserve the blame.

Yeah, like THIS is a shock

Iran's leaders are (I hope that you're sitting down as you read this) complicit in terror: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010671. Yeah, I know, you could have knocked me over with a feather with that little tidbit of information, too.

The fact of the matter is that the Mullahs who run Iran are as nasty a bunch of Islamofascists as this planet has ever changed. That has been the case since 1979, and it won't change anytime soon.

From the "They hate us because.........." Department

It seems as though everyone and their grandmother now feels a compulsion to offer opinions on the United States and "why they hate us". And, they do it in the most bizarre of places..............such as restaurant/food reviews: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2007-09-19/dining/domino-s-pizza-new-oreo-dessert-pizza/.

Can't these angry lefties control themselves at all?

The lobby that should REALLY scare us

I've blogged a lot, perhaps too much, on the Walt & Mearsheimer book. I wonder, maybe their next book should be on a lobby that really does present a danger to the United States, and which does seem to exert power well beyond its numbers.

I speak, of course, of the Saudi Lobby, which is the subject of an excellent Op-Ed in today's New York Sun: http://www.nysun.com/article/63353. Of course, that book will be written about the same time as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enrolls at Hebrew University............

Yet ANOTHER take on the Israeli raid on Syria

I have to be honest, this was not the first focus for me, but here is one writer's opinion that the main achievement of the Israeli raid on Syria was to expose the brand new Russian-built radar/air defense systems as being useless: http://www.ivanyi-consultants.com/articles/silence.html.

While I'm not sure that I agree with the writer, it is an interesting position that he is taking. Essentially, it is his point that the raid sent a message to Iran, which has the same air defense system (or so we're told) that the U.S. (or Israel) can come after it anytime, and there isn't anything that it can do to stop it.

Dare to DREAM

This neverending Presidential Primary season (is it just me, or does it seem as though this thing has already gone on MUCH too long? And, we still have over 13 months until the elecction!) has geneated any number of stories, but the one that just grabbed my attention, thanks to the sleuthlike abilities of the Bookworm (on my blogroll. Her thoughtful comments are always worth a look-see) is Senator Barack Obama's supporting the DREAM Bill. The long and the short of this bill is that it would give in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants, but it would NOT do so for poor Americans who are already citizens. This has one Obama supporter a little bit perturbed, shall we say: http://www.fogcityjournal.com/news_in_brief/jc_barack_dream_act_070927.shtml.

I actually think that she's right. This bill is utterly ridiculous and completely unfair. How can anyone argue seriously that those who come here illegally should have an advantage over those who are either born here and are poor, or who emigrated legally and are poor? Where is the logic in that? Where is the FAIRNESS in that? Isn't "fairness" one of those things that seems to concern immigration advocates so much?

Something I'd never seen............

.................until I actually read it. Here we have a Reuters reporter, who is supposedly objective (yeah, right), reporting on the case of an American serviceman in Afghanistan who is being accused of firing on civilians. Who does he quote in his story? Uh..............himself. No, I'm not making this up: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL21059120070927?.

Are you going to tell me that this putz couldn't find ONE single person to quote? Unbelievable.................

The Angry Left's "Hate America Express" rolls on

Apparently, they're not satisfied with declaring defeat in Iraq, so now they've turned their attention back to Afghanistan. You remember Afghanistan, don't you? That's the place where, days into the U.S.-led invasion, talking heads were screeching about quagmires, being bogged down, etc., etc.

Anyway..................Meredith Vieira apparently learned a lot from her fellow yentehs on The View, such as how to be a defeatist, left wing kook. Get a load of this little exchange between Vieira and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, where she tries to convince him that the U.S. has already lost in Afghanistan: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2007/cyb20070925.asp#5.

Kind of makes you sick, doesn't it?

Bird Flu in Canada?

So far, no one's talking, but the CBC is reporting that a chicken farm north of Regina, Saskatchewan, has been completely sealed off, and that officials are going so far as to wash the tires of vehicles coming from the farm: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2007/09/27/chicken-farm.html.

I've been watching the Bird Flu talk over the last few years, and have wondered when the virus, which had not been detected in North America, would finally get here. This may be it, and let's face facts. Our society is nowhere near ready to handle the panic and economic dislocation that would come with a flu pandemic, and the Bird Flu so far has proven (in those cases where humans have come down with the disease) to a fatal illness more than half the time.

I'd really like to know what plans our local, state and federal governments have in place to deal with the next pandemic. All I know is that every year, there seems to be a shortage of flu vaccines. If that's the case now, what will it be like in the event of a major epidemic?

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me

That has to be what the Iranians are thinking, and they would be right. All we have done in the West is threaten, posture and blow smoke at Iran as it chases after nuclear weapons and actively kills U.S. troops in Iraq: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010655.

At what point, if any, will Iran begin to pay a price for its instransigence? When it announces that it does have a nuclear bomb? When it drops the nuke on Tel Aviv? When it actively invades Iraq? None of the above?

Quebecers (well, some of them, anyway) whine and complain about "those Jews"

And what are "those Jews" doing? Well, apparently they are driving up prices for other Quebecers who want cheaper meat, etc.: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/09/25/qc-bouchardtaylor0925.html.

I honestly don't know what to say about this. Does this putz really think the way he think? I guess that the obvious answer is "Yes, he does". Undoubtedly, he is just a garden variety anti-Semite, and this is the way he has chosen to vocalize his views..........

State-funded anti-Semitism

Worse yet, guess which state is funding the anti-Semitism? That's right, it's the good ole U.S. of A.: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123791.

You see, the State Department set up a plan to provide business training to residents of the Middle East. Guess the ONLY group which was barred from participating? You got it, Israeli Jews, until the State Department was shamed into changing the requirements. Unbelievable.....................

Don't you just love the Far Left?

I'm sorry.............I mean.......................THE PROGRESSIVE COMMUNITY. There aren't many people more "out there" than Juan Cole, and he is in fine form in this piece singing the praises of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/24/4057/.

I know that the Angry Left in this country has lost its mind, but this seems a little bit excessive, even for these bozos.

Ahmadinejad again promises a world without Israel, this time at the U.N. World yawns................

Well, I have to give him credit. He certainly knows how to stay "on message": http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411489739&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull. I have little doubt that most of those listening to him were probably in agreement with what he had to say...............

I suppose that I'm preaching to the choir (someone is reading this, right), but I really do wish that something would be done about this evil little man...............

The Iranian take on Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia University

Just as I thought, the Iranian spin on his appearance at Columbia on Monday is that it was an unqualified success: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/26/world/middleeast/26iran.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.

Too many people miss the bigger picture in looking at this situation. They get caught up in the reaction of the Columbia faculty and students who attended the event. This was never about the reactions of the people in the room, or those protesting outside. Instead, this was (and still is) all about how the Iranians can use this visit to bolster the image of their government at home and in the Muslim world at large. In that regard, the Iranians are right. This WAS a victory for them.

Iran continues its undeclared war against the United States

We, of course, do nothing. We don't even criticize them anymore, despite the fact that there are now reports which show that the Iranian-funded Hezbollah is now actively training Iraqi Shiites to combat U.S. troops: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20920367/site/newsweek/?from=rss.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating (again and again, if necessary, until it gets through some of those incredibly thick skulls in Washington, D.C.): You can't properly combat your enemy until you acknowledge that your enemy is in fact an enemy. I speak both of Iran specifically and of Islamofascism generally in making this comment.

Concordia University in the news again

As usual, it's because of the rabidly anti-Israel sentiment of its student population. The latest comes out of Concordia's student newspaper, The Link, which published an Op-Ed which levels a list of charges at Israel that can only be described as astonishing: http://honestreportingcanada.net/Concordia/Link_Geisweiller_Sep2007.htm. Among other accusations, Israel is charged with causing suicide bombing and being a terrorist state.

At what point do those who support Israel say "ENOUGH!"? At what point will the neverending torrent of hate directed at Israel become too much?

Canada at work in Afghanistan

I don't know whether the U.S. Government is doing something like this, but if not, it certainly should. The Canadian government has a website devoted to ways that Canada has aided Afghan civilians, and it can be found here: http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-731125839-MWQ#start.

We need more emphasis on what it is that the NATO troops are doing in Afghanistan, and the extremely positive contributions that the representatives of the NATO nations are making to a country that was literally in the Dark Ages before 2001.

Hofstra University School of Law acts foolishly

The school is going to hold a conference on legal ethics. Sounds good so far............until you read the fine print:

http://www.hofstra.edu/Home/News/PressReleases/091807_ethicsconference.html

As it turns out, one of the panelists will be the extremely unethical terrorist shill Lynne Stewart, who served jail time for passing messages to terrorists:

http://law.hofstra.edu/NewsAndEvents/Conferences/EthicsConference/coneth_participants.html
That, by the way, is something for which the good Ms. Stewart is completely unrepentant:

http://www.lynnestewart.org/

Such is life in our "institutions of higher education".

New Jersey makes the news

But, it's not in a way that one would hope. A state trooper on a regular maintenance flight discovered a swastika cut into a field: http://www.nbc10.com/news/14193066/detail.html.

If you look at the photo, this thing is cut fairly precisely. I have to wonder who would do something like this, and why. What motivates a person to cut an unquestioned symbol of hate (at least since WWII) into a field? I just don't get it.

Ahmadinejad at Columbia, post-script

His "visit" has come and gone, and I am left with a really bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing. I made the mistake of watching MSNBC's Hardball tonight. Surprisingly, it was not host Chris Matthews who irritated me. Instead, it was one of his guests. I hate to go after a person who is a supposed conservative, but does that label really accurately describe Pitchfork Pat Buchanan?

As soon as I saw who the guests were (Buchanan and some non-entity lawyer whose name was completely unfamiliar to me), I knew right away which perpsective Pitchfork Pat would take. He defended Columbia, and then essentially pussyfooted around the question of the propriety of what the Iranian whack job had to say. I suspect that it's probably because Buchanan agreed with half of what Ahdmadinejad had to say.

Ahmadinejad makes me sick, but so do his enablers in this country. We can all agree to disagree on politics. That's fine, and a good thing sometimes, in my view. However, there should be some things on which there should be universal agreement by all rational, honest people. It should be without question that Ahmadinejad is a really, really bad person, and that no matter what you may think of President Bush (believe me, he's not my favourite now either), he's not even in the same zip code as the Iranian President. This is why, when someone holds a sign outside the Columbia fiasco saying that "Ahmadinejad is bad, Bush is worse", it is abhorent to me. How can any sane person think otherwise? Does Bush Derangement Syndrome really warp its victims that much?

Well, find me a feather and knock me over with it!

This absolutely stunned me. It may be the most shocking story I read all day, and I hope that you are sitting down as you read this: One of the terrorists that Ehud "Tweedledee" Olmert insisted on pardoning as a "good faith" gesture to Mahmoud "Holocaust? WHAT Holocaust" Abbas, was arrested because (gasp!) he has apparently resumed his terrorist activities! No, really! http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/906463.html.

Just like a leopard, a terrorist does not change his spots...................

More on the 9/6/07 Israeli raid on Syria

We are now over 2 1/2 weeks after the event, and amazingly, no one from Israel has come forth with any indication as to what Israel did in its raid, of why. By Israeli standards, this is absolutely stunning.

Former U.S. Mideast Envoy Dennis Ross recently commented that Israel wanted to send several messages with this raid, most of them to Syria, and the most important of which was that the Syrians better think again if they are considering tangling with the IDF: http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w070924&s=ross092407.

We are all shooting in the dark when it comes to this raid, but I think that Ross' explanation is probably the most correct one. That said, and assuming that this is indeed the correct analsis, I question whether it will have the desired effect. To assume that the Syrians will analyze what happened in a logical fashion, and the react rationally, is expecting too much from an autocratic regime whose closest ally and mentor is Iran, the quintissential irrational state actor.

Ahmadinejad at Columbia

Two students at Columbia University have penned a very thoughtful Op-Ed on why Columbia should not have asked Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at their school: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDM5ZmU0ZThlYTJhYmNhMDcxOGQ1ZmU5YTQ0ODRlMzA.

I urge you all to read it.

UPDATE (5:22 p.m.): If Lee Bollinger really wanted to know what this whack job is thinking, he should just check out this compendium of the man's "thoughts": http://www.realite-eu.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=9dJBLLNkGiF&b=2315291&ct=4058419.

Update (5:28 p.m.): It sure sounds like Mr. Ahmadinejad did NOT have very much fun during his visit to Columbia: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070924/ap_on_re_us/iran_us. His most fascinating statement, in my mind, was that Iran did not have any homosexuals. Of course it doesn't. They all get executed if they dare come out of the closet...........

Germany and Iran

I have often been puzzled by how Germany seems to have turned into "France of the East", except that this is not a fair comment about the current French leadership. It is almost as if Jacques Chirac has somehow taken possession of Angela Maerkel's mind. Germany has steadfastly refused to consider any type of military action against the burgeoning Iranian threat, no matter what evidence is presented to it as to the hostile intentions of the Iranians: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010644.

I hate to be trite, but I guess that the prospect of dead Israelis and/or dead Americans just doesn't bother the German leadership all that much.

Ahmadinejad and Ground Zero

Here is an extremely erudite Op-Ed on why terrorists and their ilk should not be permitted to hijack monuments or locations for Photo Ops: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092101859.html.

If anyone--and I mean ANYONE-- seriously believes that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted anything out of Ground Zero other than to make a political statement, they're delusional.

More on the Israeli raid into Syria

As reported in the Times of London, Israel had to provide proof to the United States that the raided facility was nuclear, so it sent in elite commandos who did just that: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2512380.ece. The bombing run was then greenlighted by Washington.

On one hand, how can anyone be unahppy with the outcome of the raid? On the other, why is Israel being put in the position of a little child who has to get permission from a parent?

Let the mudslinging begin!

Senator Hillary Clinton is already planning to take the low road if she and Mayor Rudy Giuliani are their parties' respective nominees in the next presidential election: http://www.nypost.com/seven/09202007/news/nationalnews/team_hill_readies_rudy_mud.htm. She apparently plans to make it a point of going after his personal life.

Hmm. First of all, to take this tack is pathetic. To advertise it is just plain stupid. Still, if Senator Clinton goes down this road, don't you think that there are a few (thousand) skeletons in her closet which could be highlighted by the Giuliani campaign, or those supporting it? Does she really want to go down this road?

Reuters goes after President Bush (AGAIN)

It's a given that the MSM hates President Bush and goes out of its way to make him look bad. Well, we've now hit the point of it inventing stories. A story crossed the wires yesterday from Reuters which said that President Bush had supposedly commented that Nelson Mandela was dead.

Well, turns out that that's NOT what the President said. What he did was use a metaphor for Iraq on how they do not have a Mandela there. Don't believe me? Here is a link to the actual White House press release. Judge for yourself.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070920-2.html

This is who Columbia and the National Press Cluba are allowing speak

Nah, this man has no hate in his body. I ask you again: Would Columbia today give a podium to Osama Bin Laden? Actually, I am sure that the answer is probably yes..................

http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1558.htm

August 28, 2007
Clip No. 1558
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Zionists Cause Turmoil in the World to Prevent Europeans from Eradicating Them

Following are excerpts from a press conference by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which aired on the Iranian News Channel on August 28, 2007:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: We declare that since our [nuclear] project is for peaceful purposes, we are prepared to provide – under IAEA supervision – technical and engineering services to the other IAEA members. We can guide them, so that other too can use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
[...]
Journalist: What would you say to people who are concerned that a possible attack [against Iran] would be very bad? Thank you.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: In my opinion, the premise of this analysis is wrong. In Iran, there are hardly any such people. Even if there are any such people, they are so few that they drown in the sea of Iranian people. If you want to see how happy the Iranians are, take a look at Iran's streets, places of entertainment, and centers of tourism. The Iranian people is not worried about such things at all. The reason is clear: The Iranian people relies upon its faith, its unity, its national capabilities, and its culture, and therefore, it is invincible.
[...]
I state categorically that there is no chance that America will make such a decision, and that even if it does, it will be incapable of carrying it out. The reasons are so clear that they don't need to be mentioned.
[...]
Journalist: You said that Iran does not anticipate a military attack, but Mr. Sarkozy, the president of France, indicated yesterday that if Iran continues its nuclear project, there is a possibility of a military attack. What do you think about this?
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: According to our assessment, because he is new, he is trying to position himself in the world, but he hasn't yet tested the waters. In other words, he may not be aware of the significance of what he said. Besides, in our opinion, he said this for domestic consumption. Politically, this is too trivial for us to even think about.
[....]
A government functions like a football team. It is team work. The president is the coach of the team. No player who enters the field can say he must remain there the entire 90 minutes. The coach examines the game, and changes the formation. This is because the team has to win. Pay attention. The group has to achieve several targets. The coach sees this, and at that moment, he can change the formation and even the tactics, but the goal and the path remain the same. He may change the tactics and the formation, and may take out some of the players from the field, and bring on new ones instead.
[...]
In principle, the Zionists lack any religion. They are lying when they say that they are Jews. They have no religion. They are against religion, because religion means friendship, brotherhood, peace, and justice. Religion means to respect the divine prophets. Note this. Religion means to respect others. It means friendship between peoples. Note that wherever the Zionists are, there is war, and wherever there is war, they are the ones behind it. As a matter of fact, if you examine American society, you will see that they oppress the Americans. They oppress the Europeans, even though they are a minority. They infiltrated in an organized manner... No more than 10,000 of them are part of the organization, and the rest just follow them. But they have become a powerful underground political party, which has the money and the media at its disposal. They do not want friendship and peace between peoples. They do not want there to be friendship between the Swedish government and other countries. This way they get rid of their complexes about the Prophet of Islam and all other prophets. As you know, an affront to the Prophet of Islam means an affront to all the divine prophets, because the Prophet of Islam is the Seal of the Prophets.
[...]
Therefore, because the Zionists have no religion, I strongly suspect that they are behind [the Swedish cartoon], and that they want to embarrass the Europeans, and make the European governments face a challenge. They want to instigate a war, because war is the essence of their existence. If the world is calm, the people of Europe the Germans... If the world is calm, they will eradicate the Zionists. I'm convinced of this. Do you know how many messages I get from Germans every day? They have an aversion to the Zionists. The Zionists humiliated the German people very much. But the Zionists are in control. The moment the world is calm and people can express their views, you will see that they will drive them out of Europe. The people of Europe themselves will drive them out. The [Zionists] do not want such a thing to happen, and that's why they instigate new turmoil every day.
[...]
When Mr. Putin met me in Bishkek, he told me that they would complete the reactor in Bushehr as planned. In opinion, Mr. Putin and the Russian government are standing by these statements, and they will complete the reactor. We are not worried about this.

Yom Kippur

No blogging on Yom Kippur (even I have my limits and lines which will not be crossed). I have made a promise that the computer will not be touched from the minute I leave for Kol Nidre services tonight until at some point after I break the fast tomorrow night. So, for those of you who also interact with me on this blog or on Facebook, you will somehow have to make do without me for 25 hours or so. It will be difficult, I know, but I am confident that you will all survive, difficult though it may be. ;-)

To all of my Jewish readers, I wish you an easy and contemplative fast!

BHG

More linguistic idiocy out of Quebec

Let's see. Quebec has a law which provides that professionals, such as dentists, doctors, lawyers, etc., if not educated in the province, must pass oral and written tests showing that they are fluent in French. There are no exceptions. Well, Mohammed Raizi, who speaks FOUR languages fluently (including both French and English), passed the oral test easily, but flunked the written test four times: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/09/20/ot-dentist-070920.html. As a result, the Quebec government, which had been letting him practice dentistry under a temporary license, has revoked that license, which in turn has prompted Raizi to say that he may very well move.

Only in the bizarro world that is Quebec could something like this take place. By all accounts, Raizi is an excellent dentist (having 2000+ clients would seem to be ample evidence of that fact). His patients have confirmed that he speaks fluent French to them. Yet, the province would rather see him leave than practice dentistry because of this asinine, discriminatory rule. Keep in mind as well, Quebec already has problems with shortages of medical professionals, including in the area where Raizi was practicing.

We continue to fund those who hate us

Let me ask this question. In 1942, would we have bought cars from Japan? I doubt it, yet we continue to throw billions at the Arab world, which in turn is steadily buying our country: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/business/worldbusiness/21carlyle.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin.

We are setting ourselves up for a horrific economic collapse that will make the Great Depression look like a minor recession. Our politicians spend money like drunker sailors (no offense meant to sailors), the dollar is collapsing against virtually all worldwide currencies, we don't manufacture anything anymore, and now we're selling off pieces of our economy to those who want us all dead. I'm not an economist, but this does not sound like a plan for long term success.

Permanent Indictment of Israel

I don't know why anyone would have had faith in the U.N. anyway, but for those who thought that the "reformed" Human Rights Commission would be any better than its predecessor, they should now be completely disabused of that notion. Israel is about to placed under "permanent indictment" by the HRC, just as the old Council did.

Hillel Neuer, the erudite head of UN Watch, spoke to the feckless members of the U.N. about this disgraceful conduct, and and his speech can be found here: http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1314451&ct=4456117.

President Peanut Farmer's ongoing vendetta against Israel

His "Peace, not Apartheid" book was the rave of liberal talk circles, and along with Walt & Mearsheimer's book on the supposedly omnipotent Israel Lobby, it has become a source of ammunition for those who hate Israel. David Horowitz has put together a short film which outlines the perfidy of this man, and how he slants certain facts and completely ignores others so as to make the case that Israel is the source of all that is wrong in the Middle East. It can be found here: http://www.terrorismawareness.org/jimmy-carters-war/

The plummeting U.S. Dollar

Five years ago, when my family and I went to Canada to visit the extended BHG family, we could count on a great exchange rate (for us), with the Canadian dollar trading at about 62 cents U.S. Today, the two currencies reached parity, with a likelihood that the Greenback will continue its collapse, allowing the Loonie (Canadian dollar) to be worth as much as $1.20 U.S.: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/09/20/canadiandollar.html.

This is one of the major unreported stories right now. The collapse of the U.S. dollar is emblematic of our profligate government spending, national debt and a trade balance that is so unfavorable that it borders on the absurd.

You know what this says to me? Either we get our government debt and spending in control, which will cause a lot of financial pain to a lot of people, or we head for economic collapse, which will cause a lot more people a lot more financial pain. Pick your poison............

Want to know where Senator Barak Obama stands on Israel?

The fact that he's publishing on his website this fawning piece on the Walt & Mearsheimer book, from leftist anti-Israel Rabbi Michael Lerner, ought to give you a pretty good idea: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/tonywicher/CWZd.

So, if you are a supporter of Israel, and you vote for this guy, I can only conclude that you are either delusional or a moron.

ROTC can't speak on Columbia's Campus, but Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can

This is one of those "only in America" stories. Columbia University has banned ROTC for years, ostensibly because the military discriminates against homosexuals, but on September 24, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be allowed to speak there, and he will be introduced by Lee Bollinger, Columbia's obviously amoral President: http://theweeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=14131&R=115081BB28.

Bollinger spouts off all this high-minded rhetoric about freedom of speech in defending Columbia's actions (his statement can be found here: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/07/09/ahmadinejad.html) , but his words ring hollow given the university's blatant hypocrisy on the ROTC issue.

As an aside, maybe someone should tell Bollinger that it's not like Iran is SO wonderful for homosexuals: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/11/21/iran12072.htm.

As another aside, the New York Sun has an interesting proposal as to what should happen to good Mr. Ahmadinejad once he lands in New York. Arrest him: http://www.nysun.com/article/63059. Hear, hear.........

Ban Ki-Moon morphs into Kofi Anan

I guess that I shouldn't be surprised. Hamas either directly launches rockets against Israel from the Gaza Strip or encourages it. In the past few weeks a school has been hit as has a military base which caused almost 70 injuries. So, Tweedledee, I mean, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, decides that Israel will impose limited economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip.

What does the U.N. Secretary General do? He immediately leaps into action and proclaims that Israel's actions would violate "international law": http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtVty.jhtml?sw=ban+ki-moon&itemNo=905229. Now, what law is supposedly being violated is never specified by Moon, though I guess it's the law against defending yourself from neverending military attacks.

Reason #81,247,129,847,182 why I HATE the United Nations..............

This should be in The Onion

But..................no...................it's real. Not only does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad apparently plan to visit Ground Zero, he will be given A POLICE ESCORT: http://www.nysun.com/article/63004.

This absolutely defies belief. Would we let Osama Bin Laden visit Ground Zero? Is there no longer any sense of honour whatsoever among our politicians? I have never been so nauseated in my life. This man is the head of a government which is ACTIVELY killing American soldiers in Iraq, and yet we are going to escort him to the place where thousands of Americans died? I'll say this: If Rudy Giuliani were still the mayor of New York City, this would never be allowed. Michael Bloomberg, who was a Democrat, then a nominal Republican, before becoming an "Independent", has no such spine. He is a craven, politically correct weasel, and that's the nicest thing that I will say about him.

Who's your Presidential Candidate?

I took this test, and HAD thought that I was a Rudy Giuliani supporter. Turns out that I am actually a Romney guy (?!?!?!).

You can find the test here: http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html.

Thanks to the Bookworm for posting this. It's fascinating..............

Olmert acknowledges the obvious, declares Gaza an "Enemy Entity"

Gee, ya think? They've been raining rockets on southern Israel non-stop for two years now, and you just figured this out?

Take a look at this article on the declaration: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/09/19/israel-gaza.html. Note how it contains an actual quotation from a Hamas representative, but of course, none from any Israeli official. Note how it portrays Israel in much the same way as an abusive and tyrannical landlord would be portayed. Note how the Palestinians are portayed as poor, defenseless and (do I even need to say this?) as VICTIMS.

Nah, the CBC isn't biased. Not at all..................

Yet another reason why we can't take anything the U.N. does seriously

Apparently, having Libya and Sudan on the Human Rights Commission wasn't enough. Now, we have Syria as one of the heads of the IAEA: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411432622&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.

It would be funny if it weren't so sad. This is like asking the head of RJR/Nabisco to head an inquiry into tobacco use.

Is it 1994 again?

Somebody pinch me. I feel like I have dropped into a time warp and emerged in 1994, because all I see on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN is O.J. Simpson. Can anyone explain to me why this is such a huge story? I suppose that it follows the Anna Nicole Smith story, or the ongoing obsession with Britney Spears, etc., etc.

Why do we care what these celebrities do? Does it really matter in any of our lives? We have Iran pursuing nuclear weapons, ongoing Islamofascist terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, a genocide in Darfur (history will judge us very, very harshly for our willful ignorance of what is happening in the Sudan), terror threats from Islamofascists around the world, and yet O.J. Simpson's actions are the lead story on all three cable news networks.

It's absolutely pathetic, if you ask me.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals gets it right???

Yes, it did! The three judge panel refused to reinstate a lawsuit against Caterpillar which had been filed by the parents of Israel-hater Rachel Corrie: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003888806_webcorrie17m.html. It's not often that I will have anything nice to say about the most left wing, interventionist Appellate Court in the country, but at least it got this one right.

Lest you think that the case is now over, Corrie's parents still have the option of pursuing an "en banc" hearing, which would be a hearing by all of the Appellate justices in the ninth circuit, or they could petition for certification by the United States Supreme Court. While it is unlikely that the highest court in the land would consider this case, nothing is impossible. Further, given the political views of the Corrie family, it wouldn't be shocking at all to see them exhaust every last legal option in an effort to vindicate their daughter's support for the Palestinian Islamofascists.

Psst! Wanna buy Belgium?

It's available at quite a discount: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/18/ap/strange/main3271883.shtml.

I imagine that the presence of the E.U. headquarters there presents quite a drag on the price.

From the wonderful folks who brought you 9/11

The Saudis just can't help themselves. Apparently, it is just TOO tempting for men to even be on the same sidewalk as women, so the religious police in what (unlike Israel) actually IS a fascist state think that it would be a fine idea for there to be separate sidewalks for men and women: http://en.rian.ru/society/20070831/75912532.html.

This story sounds like it should have been in The Onion, but sadly, it is all too real.

We fund those who hate us

It's the type of situation that no one with a brain could ever properly explain. We pour millions and millions of dollars into the Palestinian Authority, they use those funds to put out a newspaper which celebrates the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: http://pmw.org.il/Bulletins_sep2007.htm#b170907. And we will still give them even more money.

Atlas Shrugs and other bloggers have already been all over this story, but I'm putting it out there in the event that any of you missed this. To call these cartoons offensive and puerile would be a major understatement. Strangely, I don't see Americans (or Jews) rioting in the streets, or calling for anyone to be killed..............

Canadian Byelections

There were three byelections in the Province/Planet of Quebec yesterday, with devastating results for the Liberal Party. The Liberals lost all three byelections handily, and in the riding of Outremont, their star candidate, Jocelyn Coulon, was thrashed by the leftist NDP's candidate, Thomas Mulcair. The other ridings were captured by the governing Conservative Party and the separatist Bloc Quebecois, respectively, though the Bloc was hard-pressed to hold onto its seat: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/09/17/qc-byelections0917.html.

The most interesting element to me is the NDP victory. While I agree with virtually nothing for which the party stands, it has always been a mystery to me that the NDP has never done better in Quebec. It is generally soft on Quebec nationalism, and its socialist policies seem to dovetail nicely with the general "weltenschauung" of Quebecers. Yet, every election, the NDP would get shut out (or close to it) in Quebec. Maybe this is the start of something bigger for the party (and let's hope not, given that the NDP's dream scenario is a situation akin to that which exists in France or Sweden.

Jihad and Anti-Semitism

It's no secret that that Islamofascists aren't too fond of Jews (well, no secret to anyone outside of Christiane Amanpour and CNN). What is little discussed, however, is how far back this fusion of ideas goes. There is a fascinating piece in the Weekly Standard which outlines how Hitler himself came up with the idea of flying planes into Manhattan skyscrapers back in the waning days of the Second World War: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/080ruyhg.asp. It's also been established that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a longtime admirer of Hitler and his plan to erase Jews from the face of the earth. Yet, as the Weekly Standard piece points out, the 9/11 Commission Report essentially ignores this whole aspect of Jihad. You can't help but wonder why.................

What DID Israel do in Syria on September 6?

There is much speculation about what Israel was doing when it conducted an air raid in Syria 12 days ago. Some suspect that it was to bomb shipments of arms to Hezbollah, but if that was the case, why wouldn't Israel have loudly advertised that fact? Others suspect that it was a dry run for an attack on Iran, but if so, why would the Syrians have been so quiet about it? If anything, the Syrian reaction to the raid has been muted, an atypical response for a generally aggressive regime.

Bret Stephens has a fascinating piece in today's Wall Street Journal speculating that the most likely scenario was that the IDF was raiding Syrian nuclear facilities: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010619. I suppose that over time, the truth will come out. It will be interesting to find out what Israel was really doing.

UPDATE (9:25 a.m.): For a thorough analysis which sounds likes it comes from someone in the intelligence community, go here: http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-details.html.

The Associated Press worships Senator Ted Kennedy

Get a load of this fawning article on how the Senior Senator from Massachussets is contemplating writing his memoirs: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/09/15/aide_kennedy_pondering_book_about_his_career_views_on_history/.

Amazingly--or maybe not so amazingly--there is absolutely no mention in the article of how he killed Mary Jo Kopechne. I am sure that her family feels wonderful about the fact that she doesn't even merit a mention by the increasingly irrelevant and biased Associated Press.

Israeli deterrence restored?

That, apparently, is the view of the Israeli head of military intelligence: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1189411412112&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.

What I'd like to know is, on what is he basing this? On the continued rearmament of Hezbollah? On Hamas' takeover of Gaza? On the neverending barrage of Qassam missiles which is falling on Sderot? On the recent rocket attack on an IDF base?

In my view, he is at best wrong and at worst completely clueless as to what is going on in the region.

Veiled Voting WILL be allowed in Canada

I blogged about this previously, but the update on the story is that the head of Elections Canada essentially told a House of Commons Committee before which he testified that it didn't really matter what they said, he was going to allow women to vote while wearing a veil: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/09/13/mayrand-veil.html.

I guess that the possibility of voter fraud really doesn't concern him all that much. Because, you know, there apparently is no such thing in Canada, nor apparently is creeping subservience to Islam worth mentioning.............

Iran trumps Syria in Lebanon

There is an interesting piece in the Middle East Quarterly which analyzes the decline (yes, decline) of Syrian power in Lebanon. Syria has long been the patron of Hezbollah, but it appears as though the student is now surpassing the master, thanks in large part to the growing influence of Iran and the decline (or perceived decline) of American power in the region: http://www.meforum.org/article/1755.

Lest you think that this is a good thing, we should keep in mind that the Syrians, while ruthless and violent under Hafez Assad, were somewhat pragmatic. They are now much more unpredictable and confrontational under Basher Assad, a/k/a the Chinless Wonder. That makes them more likely to do something stupid, and their lack of control over Hezbollah may have played at least a part in last summer's war with Israel.

Europe capitulates to Islam

Thanks to Jeremayakovka and Atlas Shrugs for this fine video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImdNLRqZ8SU.

On 9/11/07, there was supposed to be a protest in Brussels, Belgium, in oberservance of the six-year anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks and as a protest against the rapidly increasing Islamicization of Europe. Remember, Brussels is the capital of the E.U.

So, what do you think happened? Right, the protesters were violently arrested.

Europe is lost..............

Moving against Iran............

...........while our "allies" sit on their hands (AGAIN): http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296450,00.html.

I guess that I shouldn't be suprised. Germany isn't exactly stepping up in Afghanistan either, despite its commitment to NATO. I guess that the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran doesn't bother the Germans too much. What the hell, it would probably only result in a few million dead Americans (after the Iranians disseminate the technology, of course), or maybe several million dead Israelis. Then again, the prospect of dead Jews has never really bothered Germans all that much, has it?

Okay, I will admit that that last comment is a cheap shot. But, I do have to wonder what it will take to get supposedly "civilized" Europe to stand up for Western Civilization?

ANOTHER great new blog!

I found this one through LGF: http://monkeytenniscentre.blogspot.com/. Of course, he is now on my blogroll.

Be sure to check out his post on how the nutty lefties are celebrating the death of a Sunni tribal chief in Iraq who was allied to the United States (because, after all, these whack jobs are of the view that if it's bad for President Bush, it's good for them, even if it's bad for the country).

Iran wants the United States placed on trial

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/14/iran.us/index.html

I say sure, why not? We can do that right after the Iranians are placed on trial for the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in 1979, detaining the staff of the Embassy for 444 days, and the countless terrorist attacks their country has either committed directly or sponsored since 1979, etc., etc.

Talk to al Qaeda????

Amazingly, some people are seriously proposing that we do just that: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070913/ts_nm/alqaeda_dialogue_dc.

Let me see, their demands are that we all convert to Islam, abandon Israel completely, pull each and every single troop out of all Arab/Muslim countries and give them back Andalusia (Spain). So, how would we go about this? SOME of us would convert to Islam? Give in to them on everything else? Do those who favour talking to al Qaeda realize that we are dealing with fanatics, people who view the very process of negotiation as a sign of weakness? Do they realize that only complete, 100% acquiescence to each and every one of al Qaeda's demands would be acceptable (for now, until more demands are made)? Do they realize that even with the dhimmi Olmert in charge, Israel is not about to let itself get Munich-ed out of existence, as Czechoslovakia was in 1938? And, I highly doubt that even given the European love of Islam, Spain and Portugal will willingly rejoin the new Caliphate.

A tough decision

An Orthodox Jewish hockey player from Quebec has "reached a compromise" with the junior hockey team for which he played, and this will see him play on Saturdays from now on: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/09/12/ot-rubin-070912.html.

I'm of mixed feelings on this. On one hand, if he wants to be a professional hockey player, compromises are going to be necessary. On the other, to threaten to cut him, as the team apparently did, seems more than a little extreme, especially given that he would have only missed eight games out of the 70-game season.

Shana Tovah to all!

No blogging today or tomorrow. Shana Tovah to one and all! Here's hoping for a safe, peaceful, healthy and prosperous year for all!

UPDATE (2:33 p.m.): Turns out that I am going to post a little bit after all. Sigh. I really AM addicted to blogging.............

Five Blogs which make me THINK

I was "tagged" by George Roper on his blog (a fine one at that, and I commend it to you), as being one of the blogs which makes him think (a definite compliment). Here are five which, in addition to George's, make ME think (as much as I can, anyway!). All are on my blogroll:

1) Solomonia: Consistently among the best at coverage the Middle East and any issues involving the Religion of Peace emanating out of the Boston area.

2) Woman Honor Thyself: Well-thought out, reasoned commentary from a female perspective.

3) Oleh Michael: An American/Israeli perspective on all that is going on in the world. It is fascinating to read.

4) The American Israel Patriot: Another American/Israeli blog. If you want a sense of what is going on in Israel, check it out.

5) Big Pharaoh/The Sandmonkey: Sorry, I'm copping out here and rating this one as a tie. I've blogged about them previously, but they are Egyptian bloggers who are proof that there is at least SOME reason for hope about the Arab world.

An unusual critic of Walt & Mearsheimer

Timothy Rutten of the Los Angeles Times is a diehard critic of the Bush Administration, and was (and still is) strongly opposed to the Iraq War. He recently reviewed the Walt & Mearsheimer book, and to say that he disagrees with what he sees as their central thesis (that the malevolent and manipulative "Israel Lobby" led the U.S. into the Iraq War) would be a major understatement: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-rutten12sep12,1,634860.story.

You may have to sign up to be a registered user of the L.A. Times to read this piece. If so, sign up. It's free, and the read is worthwhile.

UPDATE (8:30 a.m., 9/13/07): Victor Davis Hanson, in typically erudite fashion, responds to the Walt & Mearsheimer crowd: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/09/the_world_again_turns_to_jews.html.

My 9/11 Story

Someone e-mailed me and asked what my personal memory of 9/11 is. It's long-winded, but here it goes:

I was in court in Burlington County, NJ, and when I walked into the courtroom, it was a mob scene. Strangely, though, no one was talking. It was about five minutes to nine. I saw an attorney I knew and asked him why it was so quiet, and he said that he had no idea. Just as he finished talking, the Judge came out onto the bench and asked if there were any attorneys who were either from New York City or who had family living or working there. A small group of people responded affirmatively, and he asked them to come back to his chambers immediately. They went back, and I never saw them again.

By this point, there was a buzz in the courtroom--everyone was wondering why the Judge had called back the New York City attorneys. My case was the next one called back, and when I walked into the Judge's chambers, I saw immediately that the TV was on, something I had never seen before in this or any other judge's chambers. I could see clearly that one of the Twin Towers was on fire, and as I watched, the second plane hit. This Judge, who was and is one of the classiest men I have ever encountered on the bench, just looked at my opposing counsel and I and said "Holy S--t".

My first thought was "Jets just don't hit buildings." I knew then that we were under attack. I had no idea at the time that a friend of mine from 15 years earlier was going to die when the South Tower came down.

At that point, the Judge told my opposing counsel and I that he was going to dismiss Court for the day. He told us that he would call our case in again in a few weeks, and then went back out to the courtroom and told everyone that the Twin Towers in New York had been hit by airplanes and were on fire. He added that he was dismissing Court for the day, and then added "Counsellors, the world has changed today. Don't go back to your offices. Go to wherever your family is, and be with them." He then walked slowly back into his chambers.

I called my wife as I left the courthouse to tell her what was going on. She already knew, of course, but her employer (who was located in central New Jersey, about an hour from New York City), had banned employees from watching the television, telling her and everyone else "That's New York, not here. Get back to work". I told her that I was going to go back to work and drop my file off and from there I was going home to watch the news out of New York.

On the drive back, word came out of D.C. that the Pentagon had been hit as well, and as I walked back into my office, the fourth plane went down in Shanksville, PA. You have to understand something about my firm--it is run by and filled with workaholics. Yet, when I stepped off the stairs, I looked down the hallway at our main conference room and EVERYONE was in there, staring at the tv, including the main equity partners who you normally could not get out of their offices unless they were being threatened with death (and even then, I would say that it was only 50/50 that they would leave).

We all just sat or stood in the conference room, watching what was happening in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville. Occasionally, someone would cry. No one talked. Then, one Tower came down, followed by the other, each followed by gasps of horror. We SAW the people jumping out of the Towers. Imagine that, having to make a choice of dying in a fire or throwing yourself to your death from 100 stories up.

Around 11 a.m., the managing partners of our office walked up to the tv and turned it off. They announced that the firm was closing for the day, the only time we have ever done that except for a weather emergency. True to form, my wife's employer stayed open until 5 p.m., just like any other day.

I got home around 11:30 a.m. I spent the rest of the day watching tv, getting angrier, and making a promise that I would never forget how I felt that day, nor would I forget who had committed the terrorist atrocities. I still haven't...........

9/11, In Memoriam

This will be my only post today. Remember the victims, and never forget how you felt on September 11, 2001.

http://www.september11victims.com/september11victims/victims_list.htm.

UPDATE (10:41 a.m.)

Here is the text of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's address to the Australian Parliament, in which he touches on 9/11 (I have bold-faced the relevant portion of his speech).


Prime Minister Harper addresses Australian parliament in Canberra, Australia
11 September 2007

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA

The Honourable David Hawker, Speaker of the House; The Honourable Alan Ferguson, President of the Senate; The Honourable John Howard, Prime Minister; The Honourable Kevin Rudd, Leader of the Opposition; Distinguished Representatives and Senators of the Parliament of Australia; Ladies and gentlemen:

Mr. Speaker:

It is an honour and a privilege for me to be the first Prime Minister to address your Parliament on behalf of the people of Canada. Laureen and I have been utterly and completely charmed by the warm Australian hospitality we have encountered every step of the way on this, our first visit together to your wonderful country. Thank you for all your kindness. I’d like to begin by congratulating the Government and people of Australia on hosting such a successful APEC Summit. In particular, the progress made toward forging a new international consensus on energy and environmental policy is a credit to the unity and good will of all APEC members and, especially, to the chairmanship and leadership of Australia.

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to reciprocate Prime Minister Howard’s visit to Canada last year. His address to a joint session of our Parliament was a warm and eloquent tribute to the deep friendship between our nations. I believe that the warmth and closeness of our relationship today is a remarkable thing. For it was not born of proximity or necessity.We started at opposite ends of the earth. Our dreams guided by the North Star, yours by the Southern Cross. Australia was born in English, Canada in French – at Quebec City four hundred years ago next year – reflected to this day by the presence of Francophones and the “Quebecois nation” within our united country.

But even after Canada came under the British Crown, for centuries our countries doggedly pursued their own destinies. Ultimately, it was through our shared values that we discovered our true kinship. The epic struggles of the twentieth century – against imperialism, fascism and communism – pitted us against the common enemies that threatened our greater civilization. Though our troops rarely fought on the same battlefield, Canadians and Australians fought for the same ideals. And, of course, in the First World War, the spark of our national identities was lit: Ours at Vimy Ridge, yours at Gallipoli. In these great national tests and those ever since, our familial bonds have been renewed and strengthened. We have become like cousins – “strategic cousins” in the words of your military historian John Blaxland.

Today, despite the vast distance between us, Canada and Australia follow remarkably similar paths. We have built on the enduring strengths which we inherited from our European ancestors, added the common experience of multicultural, immigrant nations,And sought to achieve reconciliation with our first peoples.

Of course, Canada and Australia have also both borrowed and adapted the traditions and institutions of British government and American federalism.I can’t help but notice, however, that you have done a much better job than us with at least one of our Westminster institutions, the Upper House. As one Canadian political scientist I know likes to say, when we look at Australia, we suffer from “Senate envy.”Because in Canada, Senators remain appointed, not elected.They don’t have to retire until age 75, and may warm their seats for as long as 45 years. By the nature of the system, they’re not accountable to voters. So it’s a rare pleasure for me to be among Senators who are actually elected by the people they represent.

The mandate to govern, when it is given to you directly by the people, is a great honour and a great responsibility. It’s the very essence of responsible government, and it is the minimum condition of 21st century democracy. Australia’s Senate shows how a reformed Upper House can function in our parliamentary system. And Canadians understand that our Senate, as it stands today, must either change or, like the old Upper Houses of our provinces, vanish. But Canada and Australia can not only learn from one another, we have much to offer others. We are stable, prosperous, peaceful democracies. We are free, open, pluralistic societies.

At home, we share an overriding belief in giving all of our citizens “a fair go”. That’s why we have a large and growing middle class to which hundreds of millions of people in the developing world aspire to belong. Abroad, we are committed to free and fair trade, helping those in need and defending global security.We have fought and sacrificed for just causes, but we have neither the capacity nor the will to conquer or to dominate.We are fast friends of, but fiercely proud of our differences with, our other strategic cousin -- the United States.

In sum, our two countries genuinely aspire to the highest ideals of civilization, however imperfectly we achieve them. For all these reasons, Canada and Australia are uniquely able to serve as a force for positive change in the world. And we should commit ourselves to the service of that cause. Together.

I do not suggest or embrace this duty lightly. It is guided, in part, by the sombre anniversary we’re marking today. September 11, 2001, was truly a day that shook the world. Six years on, the horrific images from that morning still evoke anger, sorrow and – as intended – terror. The buildings may have been American, but the targets were every one of us: every country and every person who chooses tolerance over hatred, pluralism over extremism, democracy over tyranny. We have been struck again and again in London, Madrid, India and many other places, including, of course, Bali.

Canadians mourned your losses, and we redoubled our resolve to stand with you, because two dozen of our citizens died in New York on 9-11. And seventy Canadian soldiers and one of our diplomats have fallen in Afghanistan – as well as a Canadian carpenter, murdered by the Taliban after he built a school for the children of a remote Afghan village. So both our countries have been bloodied by terror. And both of us are doing our part to confront and defeat it. In Afghanistan and elsewhere, both our countries are committed to working together, as Prime Minister Howard said in his address to our Parliament last year “not only for the betterment of Australia and Canada, but for the betterment of all the peoples of the world.”

This cause is noble and necessary. Because, as 9-11 showed, if we abandon our fellow human beings to lives of poverty, brutality and ignorance, in today’s global village their misery will eventually and inevitably become our own. And, friends, we should not underestimate either our capacity to influence events or to influence others. At enormous human and financial cost, we have built solid reputations as defenders of freedom, democracy and human rights. We’ve worked closely to build multilateral institutions and establish international law. Our peacekeepers and peacemakers have saved countless millions from war and devastation. Our aid programs and relief workers have helped poor countries across the globe improve the lives of their citizens.

And our histories have set an inspiring example. That is symbolized by this great institution. This Parliament, like our own, enjoys a continuous democratic tradition rarely equalled in the history of the world. Unbroken by tyranny or conquest. Unbroken by civil war or social disorder. What an extraordinary achievement that is. We were buffeted by the same forces of economic depression, social unrest and political tension that drove other countries over the brink into political authoritarianism, economic collapse and much worse. So, why not us? I leave it to historians to debate the details.

For me, two strengths shine clearly above all the rest: Our democratic spirit and our devotion to equality of opportunity. Democracy is more than free elections, as essential as they are; it is a conviction, a habit of mind, an instinctive sense of fairness, self-restraint and compromise. Our democratic spirit gives us the confidence to meet new challenges and strike out in new directions.

Equality of opportunity springs from the same principles. It’s about removing the roadblocks that prevent others from getting ahead in life. Creating the economic conditions that reward hard work. Providing a safety net and access to social services. And keeping taxes low and fair for everybody. In recent years, both our economies have enjoyed strong growth. Australia has been on a prosperous roll for a decade. Never think that this happened by accident. It had everything to do with prudent policy choices. Far-sighted leadership, and careful fiscal management.

I believe that one of the great dangers facing both our countries today is complacency about the economy – complacency because many of our citizens have long forgotten, or have never experienced, economic recession. But we cannot take our continued prosperity for granted. We face unprecedented new competition from rising economic giants like China and India. It’s more important than ever to make the right, sometimes difficult, policy choices, because the wrong choices could unravel our progress and prosperity far more quickly than many would like to believe. And the world needs us to continue to serve as powerful models of prosperous and compassionate societies, independent yet open to the world. That is the Canadian and the Australian way.

It’s evident in our collaboration within the World Trade Organization – our work for a successful and ambitious outcome that will lead to freer and fairer trade for developed and developing countries alike. It’s evident in our shared efforts, demonstrated at APEC, towards effective international action on climate change – action that seeks to balance economic and environmental imperatives and thus to realistically engage all the world’s major emitters. And it’s evident in our leading roles in the security and development in the provinces of southern Afghanistan.

It’s a great comfort to our troops in Kandahar to know that there will soon be a thousand Aussie soldiers next door in the province of Uruzgan. And I know that our soldiers greatly admire the solidarity that all parties in this Parliament have shown in support of this United Nations mission.

As technology, trade and, yes, the threat of terrorism, make our world smaller and smaller, Canada and Australia are growing closer and closer. Two-way investment between our countries hit 12 billion dollars last year. 200,000 Australians visit Canada every year. 100,000 Canadians come here, the vast majority are young people. As often as not, when you get on a ski lift at one of our mountain resorts, a cheerful attendant will welcome you in that distinctive Aussie accent. This annual pilgrimage of young people between Down Under and the True North augurs well for even closer relations between our countries in the future.

That’s why I’m so pleased to report that our governments have just concluded an agreement to renew and expand our student working vacation program. This will give more young Canadians and Australians opportunities to visit each other’s countries, and to widen the personal relations that increasingly bind our nations as family. In my experience, our people feel equally at home in both our countries. We both appreciate the God-given beauty of our vast natural landscapes. We understand, unlike few other nations, that real football isn’t a game played with only the feet. With familiarity, we learn to appreciate each other’s versions of the game.

And, Prime Minister, I promise you that, if I can get you to a top-level ice hockey game, you will see why you should never again propose that I watch cricket. Ladies and gentlemen, in the course of our week-long visit to Australia, I heard a suggestion for a new metaphor to describe the relationship between our two countries. Bookends. Spaced well apart, but holding together a vast store of knowledge and experience – not just for ourselves, but for all those who aspire to share it.

But perhaps the comparison to family is still the best one. As proof, let me conclude with an amusing anecdote from one of my predecessors, Lester Pearson. In the 1940s, when he was a young diplomat in Ottawa, he one day found himself with your Prime Minister J.B. Chifley, the young Princess Elizabeth and her infant son Charles. At the time, Canada-Australia relations were, I gather, in somewhat strained condition, so when Pearson wrote of the encounter in his diary he said and I quote: “(I) hope that relations…were not further disturbed by the fact that I was able to make the baby laugh while Chifley was not.” That sounds like a family to me.

Thank you. God bless our great nations.

http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=2&id=1818

UPDATE (8:37 p.m.): George Roper has a fabulous 9/11 Post, which can be found on his blog: http://gmroper.mu.nu/

Walt & Mearsheimer make a new friend

First, a nice debunking of the myth that Israel controls our foreign policy: http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/4075.

Now, onto the bad news. The local conservative radio talk show host in my area is a man by the name of Michael A. Smerconish (www.mastalk.com). I had thought him to be a fairly reliable supporter of Israel, the frequent guest appearances on his show of anti-Israel advocate Michael Scheuer notwithstanding. However, a week or two ago Mr. Smerconish indicated that he would be addressing the Walt & Mearsheimer book, and raising the issue of the U.S.-Israel relationship. In so doing, he added that he was doing so simply in the interests of discussing all issues. In other words, nothing should be "off the table".

Today, he raised the topic formally, and predictably, among the callers he took was one who started blathering on about the 1967 U.S.S. Liberty incident. I have listened to him for years, and have no doubt that his goal (and giving them the benefit of the doubt, that of Walt & Mearsheimer) is not anti-Semitic. He should be cognizant, however, that like it or not, he IS giving voice to anti-Semites.

I have no problem with anyone questioning to which other countries this country should be allied. That's a completely fair question. The problem I have with Scheuer, Walt & Mearsheimer (and now, by extension, Mr. Smerconish) is that the close relationship with Israel is the ONLY one they question. I never see a similar debate about Saudi Arabia (a fair question, given tomorrow's anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and Saudi Arabia's production of 15 of the 19 terrorists). Similarly, no such questions are asked about Egypt, which receives nearly the same amount of military aid as Israel, and yet which contributes nothing to the U.S. in return. Those are but two examples.

The fact of the matter is that the anti-Israel crowd, in which I certainly place the "well-credentialied" (Smerconish's term. See my previous post on the academic credentials of those who attended the Wannsee Conference. Credentials don't--or shouldn't--mean everything.) individuals listed above, tends to belong to the so-called "Realist" line of thinking. That school of thought, the Dean of which is James "F--- the Jews" Baker, holds that if it is beneficial economically or politically to be an ally, then we should do so. If not, in short, "screw 'em".

This is their perspective, and it is a powerful, growing force.

Not everyone in Canada has lost his/her mind

Fresh off the heels of Elections Canada's decision to allow women to wear full burqas when they vote, the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has slammed the decision, calling it a "subversion of the will of Parliament": http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/09/09/harper-veil.html.

I'm with the Prime Minister on this one, but does anyone really think that the ultra politically correct court system in Canada won't back Elections Canada in this dispute?

2008 = 1994 in reverse?

In 1994, the Republicans enjoyed a watershed election, grabbing control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years and taking over the Senate as well. 2008 is shaping up to be the Democrats comeback (or as I like to call it, "Revenge of the Nerds"): http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/jonathan_last/20070909_One_Last_Thing___Alas__GOP_seems_set_to_take_hit_in_Senate.html.

If Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Jonathan Last is right--and he tends to be fairly astute--Republicans could be looking at their most dismal election showing since the 1970s. Get ready for higher taxes, a rollback of security measures, the legal enforcement of Political Correctness, a (fairly) rapid pullout from Iraq, and the further decimation of the armed forces. Did I mention the higher taxes?

Two great Egyptian Bloggers are BACK!

The Sandmonkey and Big Pharaoh, both of whom are on my blogroll, are back to work, blogging away. I highly commend them to you, and urge you to check out what they have to say. Whenever I am completely ready to give up hope on the Arab world, I read what they have to say and realize that there are at least a few voices of reason in it.

www.sandmonkey.org

www.bigpharaoh.com

Israeli Neo-Nazis?????

Apparently, they exist: http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/09/09/758985.html&cvqh=itn_neonazi.

The whole situation seems impossible and bizarre, but there it is, in black and white. I wonder if it wouldn't be better if, rather than punishing them criminally, they were just expelled from Israel and stripped of its citizenship.

Update on the Bees

I blogged a while ago about how honeybee colonies across North America (and into Europe as well) are collapsing, and in some cases, vanishing entirely. There is finally an update on this story. Researchers have discovered a virus which may be affecting the honeybee colonies, which are already under stress from overwork and other environmental factors: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/nature/bees.html. The virus is known as "Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus" (great, another reason for people to hate Israel.............).

Honeybees are one of the most vital parts of our society, responsible for pollenating many crops. We need to determine with certainty what is happening to them, and soon, and then figure out something to save them.

The Left and The Angry Left

There are left wing people in this country, and then there is The Angry Left. I have no problem with left wing people. I don't agree with them. I'll debate them. I don't want them running the country, but I have no problem with them personally.

The Angry Left, on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish. There is no discussing anything with its "members", because they start off with a few basic assumptions which will never change no matter what you say:

1) They know better than you do what is good for you.
2) They are smarter than you.
3) Conservatives/Republicans, by definition, don't care about anyone other than themselves.

There are other, more specific assumptions that they make (the U.N. is a force for good in the world, the U.S. is a force for evil; Arab autocracies are good, democratic Israel is bad, etc., etc.), but those are too numerous to mention.

I have blogged about him before, but to me, the ultimate example of an Angry Left "thinker" is Ted Rall. His latest piece is essentially an homage to socialism: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20070905/cm_ucru/killthepoor;_ylt=AgZzXtLJ7NF4w8UKWGeHBpwE1vAI.
If anyone can find me a country where socialism has done anything other than make everyone poorer, I'll listen to your argument. However, I don't think that North Koreans, Cubans and (soon) Venezuelans, Bolivians and Peruvians would necessarily agree.

Useful Idiots

Vladimir Lenin used that term to describe people in other countries who acted against their own countries' interests in an effort to help the Soviet Union, or to bolster the Communist parties in their own countries.

Well, the United States has a new and improved generation of Useful Idiots. One such individual is Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who supposedly is running for the Presidency on the Democratic side (though his policies sound an awful lot like Congressman Ron Paul's, don't you think?).

Mr. Kucinich's latest "words of wisdom" came out in an interview where he sang the praises of the chinless wonder, a/k/a Syrian President Basher Assad, and called for Syrian and Iranian troops to enter Iraq as peacekeeping forces (after the U.S. pulled out immediately and paid war reparations, of course): http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1550.htm, before he lapses into the "Bush lied, people died" canard. His policy--if you can even dignify it with that term--is wrong on so many levels that it barely merits a response. We can start off by saying that turning over the world's second largest oil reserves to two terrorist regimes is probably not a great idea. We can follow that up with the fact that there is pretty conclusive proof that Iranians are in Iraq, killing Americans.

This man is considered to be a serious politician, at least by some. Does he not realize just what kind of propaganda victory he is handing to the enemies of this country. Is the American Left so blinded by its hatred of President Bush in particular (and again, I will remind you that he isn't my favourite person in the world right now, either) and by Republicans in general that they will say and do anything to make this country look bad? What is wrong with these people?

A former U.S. Senator who HATES Israel

James Abourezk was at one time the U.S. Senator for South Dakota. Well, he recently gave an interview to a Syrian "journalist", and this was the end result: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1551.htm.

I challenge you to find a more vicious piece of anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli propaganda.

The veil and the vote

To me, it seems a matter of basic common sense that women should be required to show their faces prior to voting in elections. We WANT to avoid voter fraud, right?

Well, in Quebec they are about to allow women to vote while wearing full burqahs which will show only the slits of the eyes: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/09/06/qc-niqab0906.html.

Am I missing something here? We are in the process of committing cultural suicide, and as we do so, the Islamofascists laugh behind our backs and in our faces. How long does anyone think it will be before this happens here in the U.S.?

The forgotten hostages

Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev. Remember their names. It's been over a year since anyone heard any word from them, after their kidnappings by Palestinian and Hezbollah terrorists. And now, Hamas has denied a Red Cross request to see Shalit: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901645.html.

Is it just me, or does it strike anyone else as odd that their names never seem to cross the lips of either Ehud Olmert or Tzipi Livni. It's as if they don't exist. The Israeli government can NOT be allowed to just sweep them under the rug. Thank God for the blogosphere, or that's exactly what would happen.

Human Rights Watch biased against Israel?

No.................Really? You don't say! What a complete shocker this is: http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/ken_roth_and_human_rights_watch_faqs.

Almost all of these supposedly objective NGO's are biased against Israel. It's part of that wonderful convergence of the Far Left, Far Right and Islamofascism. They all hate Israel.

American "Peace Activists" protecting terrorists

Don't believe me? Watch this amazing (and not in a good way) video which I found on Solomonia's blog: http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-internationals-protect-terrorists.html.

It defies belief. Now, I will admit that I can't say for sure that the "peace activists" are American, but you can hear them talking, and given their accents, I think that it's a fairly safe bet that they are (some might be Canadian, but again, I can't tell for sure).

It's easy for me to say that the IDF should have just shot them, in light of their active aiding and abetting of the enemy in a war zone, but given the continued beatification of Rachel Corrie, another terrorist sympathizer, I can certainly understand its reluctance to do so.

MSNBC's Dan Abrams eviscerates CNN's "God's Warriors"

What a fabulous job by MSNBC's Dan Abrams in completely exposing Christiane Amanpour's puff piece on Islamofascism (while at the same time excoriating Christianity and especially Judaism): http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=9b387b2f-762d-445f-aba9-136c72cc0505&f=00&fg=email.

It's long, but please, watch it all. It's good to see someone--ANYONE--take CNN to task for this hideous farce masquerading as journalism.

Mohammed al Dura

You remember him; the Palestinian child who was "murdered" by Israeli troops back in 2002, leading to yet another blood libel against Israel. Of course, facts have since come forward which suggest strongly that ad Dura was actually killed by the terrorists who were hiding behind him, and France2 has video footage which may establish this. However, it refuses to release the footage (what a shock, the country that gave the world "L'Affaire Dreyfuss" engaging in still more anti-Semitic activity.).

Here is a link to an online petition requesting that France2 release the footage: http://www.petitiononline.com/france2/petition.html. It may not achieve much, but it's worth the effort nonetheless.

More insanity from our schools

No, they're banning lego: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/21_02/lego212.shtml.

Apparently, kids competing over toys is a bad thing, and it goes against the left wing, touchy-feely attitude of our teachers, who want to raise a bunch of socialist clones.

A common denominator

In the past couple of days, astute police work in Germany and Denmark has disrupted two terrorist attacks on Americans: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070905/ap_on_re_eu/germany_terror.

Now, let's see what these terrorist wannabes had in common--and yes, AP, Reuters, CNN (sorry, Christiane Amanpour), etc., they ARE terrorists. Not militants. TERRORISTS. Why, that would be the Religion of Peace, of course.

How many times do we need to be smacked in the face with the obvious before we admit that anti-American terrorism is an Islamic problem?

Goodbye to a Canadian Hero

Stories about soldiers who die in the line of duty never fail to choke me up. This story, about a Canadian soldier who died recently in Afghanistan, was no different: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/08/31/mercier-funeral.html.

Soldiers such as this hero deserved our complete and unequivocal support.

It won't matter, but............

There is an excellent piece which addresses head on the Walt/Mearsheimer resurrection of the old canard that those evil, manipulative Jews are controlling U.S. foreign policy (because, apparently, if you take this absurd argument to its logical extreme, Christians aren't smart enough to see through this Jewish perfidy): http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=35913.

Read it all, it's well worth your time. I'll repeat a point I made in an earlier post; just because these two are well-credentialed doesn't mean that their work is indicative of good scholarship.

The Democratic "base" eats its own

Much has been made of the recent comments by Washington State Congressman Brian Baird, an opponent of both the Iraq War and the Surge, to the effect that he felt that the Surge should be given a chance to work. He made these comments after going to Iraq and personally observing conditions there.

Well, it turns out that the (in)famous "netroots" (nutroots might be a better term) aren't too happy with Congressman Baird's comments, and Moveon.org (which is bankrolled at least in part by the odious George Soros) is now running ads against him: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010562.

To his credit, the Congressman isn't backing down. It's a shame that the so-called Democratic Base is so invested in failure that it will stop at nothing to silence anyone who deviates from its viewpoint.

Mandatory Health Care

Let me get this straight. The current Democratic Presidential Candidate, and ex-Senator (and pretty boy/media darling) John Edwards is, like so many other members of the loony left, raving about how government under the evil/nefarious/fascist Bush Administration has invaded our personal lives. That's bad, right? Well, maybe the former Senator needs to practice what he preaches, because if he were ever elected President, mandatory preventative health care would be the law: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070902/ap_on_el_pr/edwards_2.

So, when he and others in his parties screech hysterically about the erosion of civil liberties, I guess that they weren't thinking of stuff like this, which would obligate people to do certain things.

What a putz................

Israel is green!

The timing on this is just too good, given the comments by British politician Clare Short which blame global warming on Israel. For more on that, see my previous post.

Turns out, no country in the Middle East is more eco-friendly than Israel: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/899996.html.

Like that should be a shock to anyone with a brain...............

European Parliamentarians show their true selves

Great piece on the recent farce held by the European Parliament which was nothing more than an updated version of what happened in Durban six years ago. It was supposed to be for Wall Street Journal subscribers only, so don't aske me how I got it!

The Israel Bashing Club
By DANIEL SCHWAMMENTHAL
September 3, 2007

"Israel is an apartheid state," was the most often-heard charge, closely followed by calls for a boycott. The West should cut its economic ties with the Jewish state, the speakers urged, and engage the "democratically elected" Islamists now running Gaza.

No, this was not a Hamas rally somewhere in the Palestinian territories. This was Brussels, where the European Parliament last week played host to the "United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace."

If the conference title's inversion of the truth is reminiscent of Communist-style propaganda, this is no coincidence. The meeting was organized by the U.N. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a Soviet-era body founded around the time of the 1975 U.N. "Zionism is racism" resolution. That anti-Semitic resolution was revoked in 1991 but the committee continued its activities in the resolution's original spirit.

Speaker after speaker at the European Parliament on Thursday and Friday presented the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from an exclusively Palestinian perspective. Israel was accused of human rights violations while Palestinian terrorism and incitement went unmentioned. The delegates invoked the Israeli occupation as the underlying cause for the conflict without mentioning the Palestinian rejectionism and violence that prevent further Israeli withdrawals. The "right of return" of millions of Palestinians, which would lead to the demographic destruction of Israel as a Jewish state, was upheld despite the official claim to favor a two-state solution.

Amid this standard-Israel-bashing, a few delegates managed to come up with a few innovative charges against the Jewish state.

There was Clare Short, a member of the British Parliament and Secretary for International Development under Prime Minister Tony Blair until she resigned in 2003 over the Iraq war. Claiming that Israel is actually "much worse than the original apartheid state" and accusing it of "killing (Palestinian) political leaders," Ms. Short charged the Jewish state with the ultimate crime: Israel "undermines the international community's reaction to global warming." According to Ms. Short, the Middle East conflict distracts the world from the real problem: man-made climate change. If extreme weather will lead to the "end of the human race," as Ms. Short warned it could, add this to the list of the crimes of Israel.

The U.S. also came in for criticism. Pierre Galand, chairman of the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine, admonished Washington for increasing its military aid to Israel. What really worried Mr. Galand was that this aid would allow Israel to build a missile defense system. In Mr. Galand's view, Israel's ability to protect itself against possible nuclear-tipped Iranian missiles doesn't serve the "cause of peace."

Speaking at the conference's opening session, Edward McMillan-Scott, British vice president of the European Parliament, told the audience that, "It is also worth noting that I am related to Colonel T. E. Lawrence of Arabia." Having thus established his noble pedigree, he later told me that Hamas was "not a terrorist organization." Perhaps Mr. McMillan-Scott is aspiring to the title of Edward of Hamastan?

The only attempt among the dozens of speakers to present the other side came from an Arab-Israeli. Nadia Hilou, a member of the Israeli Parliament (so much for the "apartheid" charge) explained why her countrymen are pessimistic about the prospects for peace. "It's the disappointment that the withdrawals from Gaza and Lebanon, which were seen as gestures of good will, have worsened not improved Israel's security situation." Having failed to stick to her assigned role as witness for the prosecution, Ms. Hilou is unlikely to be invited back.

One is tempted to dismiss the conference as of little practical consequence. Another U.N. conference bashing Israel -- what else is new? Bronislaw Geremek, a former Polish foreign minister and current member of the European Parliament, disagrees. That his house has played host to this "revolting" meeting, he told me, will further diminish Europe's credibility as an even-handed peace broker in Israeli eyes. Mr. Geremek, together with a group of like-minded lawmakers, many also Polish, tried in vain to stop the conference from taking place.

The U.N. gathering in Brussels, though, did more than just sow distrust between Europe and Israel. It was a further step in the growing campaign to delegitimize and demonize Israel. The calls for a boycott, championed first by radical Palestinians, have already been adopted by some mainstream organizations, such as various British unions. Similarly, the idea of establishing contacts with Hamas has been echoed recently by high-profile politicians. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a former EU Commission President, suggested talking to Hamas last month to help it "develop." (He later backtracked.) The British Parliament's foreign affairs committee also recommended last month to engage with Hamas. The U.K. lawmakers even added Hezbollah and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to their wish list of dialogue partners -- all in the interest of peace, of course.

By hosting this conference, the European Parliament has lent its good name to propaganda and helped to make radical anti-Israeli claims more mainstream. It's a huge disservice to the search for Mideast peace, which must be based on compromise and dialogue.

Mr. Schwammenthal edits the State of the Union column.