You can't trust the Obama Administration on Israel

The American betrayal of Israel is continuing apace. Now, we have the announcement (done quietly, of course) that the U.S. will not insist that the Palestinians recognize that Israel as a Jewish state. So, what exactly have the Palestinians been asked to give up thus far? Near as I can tell, the answer is "absolutely nothing." Israel , on the other hand, is being asked to give up everything or face international isolation, sanctions and world opprobrium. I expect this of the feckless and inherently anti-Semitic Europeans, but am disappointed that even the Americans are seemingly now failing to have Israel's back.  Sadly, it appears as though no one has Israel's back, anymore................

Tuesdays Stink (and other miscellaneous thoughts)

Really, they do.  You don't have the "glow" of the just-completed weekend anymore, and the next weekend is still far off in the future (or so it feels, anyway).  I have always hated them and I still do.  I remember that as a kid, I used to routinely "get sick" and end up in the nurse's office on Tuesdays, to the point where it was a running joke at my elementary school, and my late mother threatened me that unless I was near death, I was NOT going to be allowed to come home early from school, and even then, she wanted to speak to a doctor first.

I'm still a sports fan, but as I've gotten older, my interest in it has really dropped off.  Growing up, and even into my twenties and early thirties, I would often plan my life around sporting events (when my favourite teams were on tv, etc.).  Now, I often don't even bother to watch when those teams are on tv.  Is that typical?  Don't get me wrong, I still have teams for which I cheer, and those against whom I cheer just as strongly, but the outcomes don't really affect me the way they did in the past.  I remember in 1988, when I was still in my early twenties, the Montreal Canadiens lost a playoff series to the Boston Bruins, and it was the first time in 45 years that that had happened.  I was devastated for weeks, and it was just as bad the next year when Montreal lost to Calgary in the Stanley Cup Finals.  Now, when the Habs lose, it bothers me, but my attitude is more of a "Oh, well", a shrug of the shoulders, and life goes on.

One of the "joys" of getting older is seeing the people with whom you have interacted vanish from your life. In the past few weeks, four people (one judge, three lawyers) with whom I had dealt regularly all passed away.  It really is depressing.  Three of them were older, so their passing wasn't entirely unexpected, but one of them wasn't much older than me.  It really makes you think.  Good Lord, I'm turning into Billy Crystal's character at the beginning of the first City Slickers movie...................

I get that people aren't happy with the way President Obama has responded to the Ukraine crisis, and one thing that hasn't changed in the four years that passed during my blogging hiatus is that I continue to be a critic of his foreign policy.  However, what exactly SHOULD he be doing?  Do people want us to intervene militarily in the Ukraine, and if that's what they want, are they prepared for the consequences of such an intervention?  We would almost certainly lose, given that Russia is right next door and we have no large numbers of military forces nearby.  The world economy would tank.  Oil prices would double (or worse). The Europeans will not help us, given that they are completely dependent on Russian gas to heat their houses. And, then there's that little matter of all of those Russian nukes, which a despot like Vladimir Putin might be willing to use.  So, again I ask, what exactly should President Obama do?  Don't give me talking points; I want specifics.

I've been asked fairly often over the years why I am such a strong supporter of Israel.  Well, there are "macro" and "micro" reasons.  Dealing with the "micro" reasons first, I have friends and (distant) family there. The "macro" reasons are a bit more complex.  There is a total of around 14,000,000 Jews on the planet, at least as of 2012, the last year for which I could find a statistic.  Over 82% of them live in Israel or the United States.  Especially after the Holocaust, I view it is one of my responsibilities as a Jew to ensure that my fellow Jews will always have somewhere to go in the event of war, discrimination or intolerance. Fortunately, here in the U.S., it seems as though "our place in society" has largely been accepted.  In Israel, the only Jewish-majority country on the planet, that "place in society" is under attack, both militarily and socially. No, there are no large-scale military invasions of Israel under way, nor do any appear to be imminent (the fantasies of Iran's mad mullahs notwithstanding), because the Arab world has come to realize that more insidious forms of non-military warfare such as attacking Israel in international organizations (such as the odious United Nations) and the "BDS" (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) movement, which has successfully turned the image of Israel into that of a modern-day South Africa--even though that is simply a lie--are far more effective. Hatred of Israel is at an all-time high, and hatred of Jews in general is following suit.  What does it say that the sole country in the world which is the target of such a movement is the world's only Jewish-majority state?  Not China, which has oppressed Tibet and the Uighurs for closing in on 70 years. Not Russia, which has already violently taken over part of Georgia and is now occupying part of the Ukraine.  Not Morocco, which has engaged in a virtual war of extermination against the native inhabitants of the Western Sahara, to the point where the natives of that region are now a minority in their own land.  Not Saudi Arabia or Iran, which practice gender apartheid and still stone people to death for adultery or "religious blasphemy", and which ban other religions (in the case of Saudi Arabia).  I could go on and on. Nope, only Israel is worthy of world opprobrium--and then people wonder why I am convinced that the BDS movement is by and large anti-Semitic?

This is NOT good

Russian troops are apparently moving into the Crimea, though thus far, I've only seen this on Fox News.  I don't see anything on CNN, MSNBC, CBC or the BBC, at least not yet.  If it is true, it is ominous and shows that the Russians are indeed intent on reviving their empire, and note how they waited until after the Olympics to make their move.  Unfortunately, I don't think that there's a damned thing that the West in general and the United States can do to stop them............and the Russians are fully aware of that fact.  Russia will take whatever it wants of the Ukraine, if not the entire country.  Certainly, the EU won't do anything, given that it is dependent on Russian gas to heat the continent in the winter.  Hope that the Ukrainians enjoyed their brief 20 years of independence, because I have a hunch that those are about to come to an end................

Are we really 2/3 of the way through October?

We must be, because the calendar wouldn't lie to me, would it? So, on with this week's entry.

1) A hybrid sports/politics post. Rush Limbaugh was part of a group that was bidding to buy the St. Louis Rams franchise. Once word of this got out, it went "viral". The NFLPA organized a campaign against him. Several players openly commented that they wouldn't play for the Rams, and would advise friends against doing so.............all because of a series of comments that Limbaugh allegedly made, but which in reality were never said. Full disclosure here: I'm NOT a Limbaugh fan, and I don't listen to his show. That said, Limbaugh was effectively blackballed without doing anything. Ultimately, Dave Checketts, the front man for the group of which Limbaugh was a member, ultimately turfed out the radio show host. What struck me most about the whole situation was the blatant double-standard that was applied to Limbaugh. Is he occasionally controversial? Sure, but that's never stopped anyone from buying a professional sports franchise in the past. If the investors were, instead of Limbaugh, the race-baiting Reverend Al Sharpton or the the Reverend Jesse "Hymietown" Jackson, would the MSM have said a single negative word about them? Or, would it have piously opined how this was a positive step for the league. Methinks it would have been the latter, not the former.

2) It's an outdated story, but since I was in my "blogging hiatus", I never talked about the death of Michael Jackson. For anyone of my generation (mid-40s), Michael Jackson was THE seminal music figure of our youth, regardless of whether you liked his music or not. Particularly from 1983 to 1985, he was as dominant as a pop culture could be. Girls swooned over him. Yet, despite all that, I can't get out of my mind what we saw out of him in the 1990s--the accused pedophile who had to pay off one of his accusers, the wacko who (allegedly) slept in a hyperbaric chamber and who had all sorts of animals roaming his palatial estate, etc. In the end, I think that he was a pathetic, sad character. He may have made millions of dollars and had the world at his feet, but you couldn't have paid me enough money to get me to trade places with him.

3) So, President Obama vowed to "hit the reset button" on this country's relations with other countries around the world. I'll give him credit, he's done just that. Despite advocating a "freedom and human rights" agenda when he was running for office, he's shunned the Dalai Lama (wouldn't want to antagonize the despotic Chinese government, would we?), embarrassed the Czech and Polish governments by abruptly cancelling the missile shield plans (so that he could extricate concessions that never came from a dismissive Russian government), alienated Israel (by demanding that it make concessions to the Palestinians while literally asking for nothing from the Palestinians in return), aggravated the French with his dithering over Iran (it's a sad day when the French have a more muscular foreign policy than we do), ignored India (the only possible regional counterweight to China), allowed North Korea to launch missiles without even saying a word, joined the United Nations Human Rights Commission (which has as it's "raison d'etre" the vilification of Israel), ignored the ongoing genocide in Sudan, stayed largely silent when the protesters in Iran were protesting the fraudulent election results there, and most recently, blown off the celebrations commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (thereby insulting the Germans and giving lie to his claim that he supports human rights, given that the fall of the Berlin Wall was arguably one of the greatest symbols of the advancement of human rights in the 20th Century). All in all, his foreign policy--to the extent that he has one--has been a complete joke.

3) One of the latest news stories that's NOT really a news story is the "Balloon Boy" case. Last week, a boy named Falcone Heene allegedly was carried away in a balloon, causing a frantic police search and even the temporary closure of the Denver International Airport. Well, it turns out that parents Arthur and Mayumi Heene cooked up the whole story. Now, they are being investigated by the police and are likely facing criminal charges. To me, the bigger story is who these people are. The Heenes were "reality tv stars" from the show "Wife Swap", and apparently thought that this little plan of theirs would get them another reality show. Readers of this blog know of my loathing of "reality shows", and this story is the ultimate example of how these shows can on occasion become dangerous. They are at best mindless and at worst corrupting. It's frightening to me that they have such high viewership.

4) The Philadelphia Phillies are one game away from going back to the World Series for a second straight season after last night's thrilling 5-4, bottom of the ninth comeback win against the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fireballing closer, Jonathan Broxton. In a way, the Phillies are the "anti-Eagles"; in other words, they're a team filled with heart and determination. They're never out of any game. And as an aside, the play-by-play of last night' game showed me why Vin Scully is still the best announcer in Baseball. After he called Jimmy Rollins' game-winning hit, he didn't say anything. He just let the crowd, which was absolutely roaring, take it away. Sometimes, the art of being a great baseball announcer is knowing when not to say anything. Vin Scully proved last night that he still knows his job. In the American League, the Angels had a walkoff win of their own over the Evil Empire, a/k/a the New York Yankees. Still, I think that that's just a minor speed bump for the Yankees on their way to World Series title #27, much as it appalls me to write that. Los Angeles just doesn't have the lineup that New York does (no team does, for that matter), and even its normally stellar defense has deserted it in this series. It won't be a sweep, but I still expect New York to advance to the World Series in five or six games.

5) My first "Top 5s" (and "Bottom 5s, for the pros) of the year.

College Football:
1) Alabama (7-0): This is the best team I have seen so far this year. Balanced offensively, and they just pound teams on defense.
2) Texas (6-0): The Longhorns weren't necessarily impressive against the Oklahoma Sooners this past weekend, but they got the job done and should cruise to the Big Twelve title game.
3) Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0): The Bearcats impressed in their win over a very tough South Florida team.
4) Florida Gators (6-0): That's right, I have the Gators ranked fourth! Based on performance, they don't deserve to be ranked any higher. They have one impressive win, and that's it.
5) Iowa Hawkeyes (7-0): They won't run the table, but the Hawkeyes look like the class of the Big Ten.

NFL Top Five and Bottom Five
Top Five
1) New Orleans Saints (5-0): The Saints have a dynamic offense. If the defense can just be adequate, as it has been this season, this team will be awfully tough to beat.
2) Denver Broncos (6-0): Did ANYONE see this coming? The Broncos are giving up an average of 11 points a game, and even Kyle Orton has looked adequate.
3) Minnesota Vikings (6-0): Adrian Peterson is, well, Adrian Peterson, and the defense is always tough. If Brett Favre can keep doing his thing, the Vikes could be poised for a very deep playoff run.
4) New York Giants (5-1): Yeah, they got spanked by the Saints, but I still see the Giants as the team to beat in the NFC.
5) Indianapolis Colts (5-0): Honestly, I think that Peyton Manning is under appreciated. He will go down as the best quarterback of our generation, and maybe the best of all time.
Bottom Five
1) Tennessee Titans (0-6): 59-0! How does a professional football team lose a game 59-0, as the Titans did against the Patriots last Sunday?! That's disgraceful.
2) St. Louis Rams (0-6): Maybe the NFL did Rush Limbaugh a favour when it balked at him buying a piece of this collection of dreck.
3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-6): Next up for the Succaneers? The suddenly-clicking New England Patriots, this coming weekend in London. Can you say "BLOWOUT"? I sure can..........
4) Cleveland Browns (1-5): They'd have to improve just to be regressing.
5) TIE, Kansas City Chiefs (1-5), Washington Redskins (2-4), Detroit Lions (1-5), Oakland Raiders (2-4). I don't recall a year where there were this many truly awful teams.

NHL Top Five and Bottom Five
Top Five
1) Pittsburgh Penguins (7-1): The defending Stanley Cup champions are off to a great start.
2) San Jose Sharks (5-3-1): We all know that the Sharks are talented, but can they do it in the playoffs? And, as an aside, it nauseates me as a hockey fan see Dany Heatley succeed anywhere.
3) Colorado Avalanche (6-1-1): Like their NFL city-mates, the Avalanche have come out of nowhere with their hot start. Will it last? Probably not, but at least there is hope for the future in Denver.
4) New York Rangers (7-2): Until getting thrashed 7-3 by the Sharks last night, the Rangers were white hot.
5) Washington Capitals (4-2-2): The Caps have Alexander Ovechkin, the most dynamic player in the league. What else do they need?
Bottom Five
1) Toronto Maple Leafs (0-6-1): I know that Brian Burke is a great GM, seeing as he built a Cup-winner in Anaheim, but Maple Laughs fans cannot be happy with what he put together for them so far in Toronto.
2) Minnesota Wild (1-6): Even the Wild's hallmark of great defensive play hasn't been there so far this year.
3) New York Islanders (0-3-3): When you John Tavares on the ice for the team, you can see the future, and it isn't as dismal as the present.
4) Montreal Canadiens (2-5): Five straight losses, and their best defenseman, Andrei Markov, is out until at least February with a leg injury. It's going to be a LONG season in Montreal.........
5) Nashville Predators (2-4-1): They've scored 10 goals in 7 games. That's pathetic.

It's January

I hate January, which is by far my least favourite month of the year. The days are short and cold, it seems to go FOREVER, etc., etc. That said, at least it's one step closer to summer. With that complaint out of the way, here are some random thoughts for a cold Saturday morning:

1) Israel is continuing its military operations in Gaza, the U.N. Security Council's (UNSC) demand for an immediate halt to the attack notwithstanding. There are a couple of things worth mentioning here. First, the feckless behaviour of the United States in failing to veto the UNSC resolution was pathetic, but not entirely surprising. We have seen the State Department's Arabist influence over the Bush 43 Administration's foreign policy grow by the day, and now, as we approach the last 10 days of its life, President Bush appears to have finally capitulated entirely to the wishes of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to be more "balanced" (in other words, more pro-Arab). So, Israel is now truly alone. Second, Israel can't afford to stop right now. After the debacle in Lebanon in 2006, Israel MUST be seen in the Arab world as being the unquestioned winner of this conflict. The bigger question is, how does it achieve that? Obviously, zero missile/rocket/mortar launches out of Gaza would be the best case scenario, but I don't know if that's doable. The thing is, if it doesn't you will eventually see a situation where there are similar attacks out of the West Bank. That's not a question of "if", but "when". The bottom line? I don't know how Israel wins....................

2) On a similar theme, the reverberations from the Israeli operations in Gaza have been felt all over the world, whether it's protesters in Fort Lauderdale screaming "Jews to the ovens" (isn't THAT a nice sentiment?) or an Italian trade union calling for the boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses to the desecration of cemeteries across the continent and attacks on Jews in Denmark, France, the U.K., Holland, etc. (nothing like a Middle East war to get the Europeans to show their true, anti-Semitic selves). We here in the U.S. and Canada are fortunate in that we have been largely insulated from the more violent elements of the anti-Israel movement, but it's only a matter of time before similar events occur here.

3) So the University of Florida Gators are the "undisputed" national champions in NCAA Division I football after their methodical 24-14 win over Oklahoma in the BCS title game. Can we just permanently ban Oklahoma and Ohio State from the national championship game (unless they play each other)? You KNOW that if one of these two teams shows up, the team they are playing is guaranteed to win. And here's another thought: I would not have voted UF number one. My vote, if I had one, would have gone to Utah, the only undefeated team in major college football. Utah soundly beat Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl, in a stadium that was about 70-75% pro-Alabama. In fact, it never trailed in the game. As you will all recall, Florida was losing to Alabama going into the fourth quarter of the SEC title game before coming back to win 31-20. And, I don't know if Florida would have beaten USC. After watching the Rose Bowl, I don't think that there is a more skilled, faster team out there than the Men of Troy.

4) Round One of the NFL playoffs is done, and here comes Round Two. Without further ado, here is how I see the games shaking out:
i) Arizona at Carolina: The Cardinals are trying to play the "we get no respect" card, but there's a reason why they get so little respect--they don't deserve any. The Panthers will punch them in the mouth, and while the Cardinals will score their points, it won't be anywhere near enough. Carolina 38, Arizona 21.
ii) Philadelphia at NY Giants: I think that the final score of this game will be 23-17. I'm just not sure who will have the 23 and who will have the 17. I'm leaning toward the G-men, who I think want to make a statement after Philadelphia beat them in Week 13.
iii) Baltimore at Tennessee: The will be an old-fashioned slugfest. I see the Ravens playing just a little bit better than the Titans and escaping with a 17-16 win.
iv) San Diego at Pittsburgh: Arguably the most intriguing game of the weekend. The Chargers barely scraped into the playoffs at 8-8 (but they were red hot down the stretch, winning their final four games of the regular season and then edging Indianapolis in Round One of the playoffs) while Pittsburgh comes into the playoffs a bit banged up, though it did have the bye week last week. The Chargers don't have a great history in cold weather games, and it will be very cold in Steeltown this weekend. Steelers 23, Chargers 13.

5) We are almost at the All-Star break in Hockey, and here are my thoughts on the season so far:

i) San Jose is the best team in the west, for now. I'm still not sold on the Sharks in the playoffs, and Detroit is just as good as it was last year. That would be one heck of a playoff series.
ii) The Winter Classic at Wrigley Field was great. Seeing the players skate around with the famous Wrigley Field scoreboard in the background was just amazing, and viewers agreed. The NHL actually got measurable ratings on NBC for the game.
iii) The Boston Bruins are for real. I read an article that compared them to the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes team that won the Stanley Cup, and it was a very good analogy. Everybody kept waiting for those Hurricanes to fall on their faces, and they didn't. Similar predictions are being made about this year's Boston team. I don't know if the Bruins will have enough to beat either Detroit or San Jose in the Stanley Cup Finals, but I do think that Boston will get there, barring injuries.
iv) Is it possible for a team as hyped as the Montreal Canadiens to fly under the radar? Montreal is in the midst of its 100th anniversary celebration (word of advice to all hockey fans: go out and buy the DVD collection of the 10 best games in Canadiens' history: It's well worth the investment), and it has amassed an impressive point total, but because of the stellar play by Boston, it has been largely ignored. If Boston does cool off, it could be in for a dogfight atop the division.
v) Sidney Crosby is incredibly talented, but I don't know of a bigger crybaby in the sport. It is very easy to cheer against him, given his petulance and whining every time a call is not made in his favour. I wish that Mario Lemieux would sit him down and tell him how to behave properly.

Hmm, wonder who did this?

There has been yet another anti-Semitic attack in Paris, and though the article seems to go out of its way to avoid saying it, it is fairly obvious that the attackers were Muslim: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20080907-1018-france-anti-semitism.html. For the most part, this story has been ignored in North America (no surprise there, I know).

What I can't figure out is why any Jew would still want to live in Western Europe. Incidents like this are only increasing in frequency.

Preemptive surrender

A columnist in the London Times is more than a little peeved at the spinelessness of Western "elites" who fall all over themselves grovelling at the feet of Islamic supremacists who perceive any comment about their faith as being an attack on it: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/mick_hume/article4509698.ece. I completely agree with him, but unfortunately, I think that Europe is definitely too far gone in terms of its dhimmitude, and we aren't very far behind in this country. We seem to be incapable of learning from our mistakes--appeasing thugs and terrorists never accomplishes anything.

Europe/NATO caves

I'll give the U.S. credit--it actually wants to do something about the Russian rape of Georgia. Not so with Europe, which has unequivocally rejected a severing of the NATO/Russian ties: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/georgia/2585060/US-left-isolated-over-Nato-plans-to-maintain-relations-with-Russia.html.

I think that we have our definitive proof that NATO is now useless. Even the Brits are turnign their backs on us (and on the Georgians, and the Russians recognize that fact: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/georgia/2586051/Nato-offers-scant-comfort-for-Georgia-over-conflict-with-Russia.html.

An all-too-rare moment of sanity at an insane place

The Arab Bloc at the U.N. has "voluntarily" withdrawn the resolution it submitted seeking to condemn Israel for its "West Bank Settlements" after being told that the United States, France, Great Britain, Belgium and Croatia would all vote against any such resolution: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005285.html. It's not surprising that the U.S. would send out this signal, but it is pleasantly surprising that the European nations would do likewise. However, Europe being Europe, I have no doubt that it will soon return to form, and to its traditional anti-Israeli mindset.

Dancing around the issue

There is an interesting article in the New York Times (yes, even that left wing bastion still has some interesting points to make) on the "baby crisis" in Europe: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/magazine/29Birth-t.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=all. The article is on point in that it notes the existence of a very real problem--Europeans aren't having kids, or enough of them, anyway. However, the way that Europe is dealing with this crisis--importing Muslims who are changing the continent in ways that were unimaginable even 10-15 years ago--is what interests me most. All we have to do is look at the changing face of France, Holland, Germany, Great Britain, etc., to understand the impact of not only the immigration--immigration itself is a good thing--but who is being "imported". It's a fair question to ask if European political elites ever considered the true impact of the decisions they made 20+ years ago................

Soccer instead of life

I don't follow soccer all that closely, though I do pay pretty careful attention to the "big" tournaments, such as the World Cup, as well as the European and South American championships. I will come out of the closet and admit that I really get a charge out of the nationalist frenzies unleashed by the tournaments. It's fun to see people who are actually proud of their countries and who are cheering them on. It is particularly fascinating to watch this occur in Europe, where any trace of nationalism is deemed to be threatening. Yet, when it comes to the soccer pitch, that changes. Hence, we now have Euro 2008, where Spain and Germany will meet for the right to call themself the best national squad on the continent: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121451886854608749.html?mod=djemEditorialPage.

All of a sudden, Germans can be proud of being GERMAN, not just European. It's okay to "hate" your opponent. Spaniards can cluck about that "nation to the north".

As I said, fascinating................

Hezbollah on the prowl?

There is increasing "chatter" in the terrorism world that Hezbollah, which until 9/11 had killed more Americans than any other terrorist group in the world in the world, is poised for a major attack, possibly in Africa, Canada, Europe, or Latin America: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5203570&page=1. Needless to say (I'll say it anyway), the target(s) would be Jewish.

If this is true, somewhere in this world, a lot of innocent people are going to pay with their lives for Israel's not finishing the job it started in 2006............

If a tree falls in the forest.............

Criticisms of the U.N. are just like those trees falling in the forest. No one hears them. For that matter, no one is even listening. That is why, the hopes of Mark Dubowitz notwithstanding, no country from Europe will boycott next year's "Durban II" anti-racism conference: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121382874218086413.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. Europe is completely subservient to its Islamic masters, a fact well-recognized by the OIC.

Good news about Israel???

I guess that it can happen occasionally. Despite intense lobbying by the Palestinians and Israel's supposed "friend" Egypt, the EU has pleasantly shocked me by agreeing to significantly upgrade its relationship with Israel: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1212659748504&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull.

The importance of this development cannot be understated. We all know how anti-Israel most European institutions are. However, this may be the start of what will hopefully be an improved relationship between Israel and Europe. Israel has long desired EU membership, and though that is not even a glimmer on the horizon, maybe this is the first sign that it's not just an impossible dream. And, how ironic is it that Israel's relationship with Europe appears to be improving just as its relationship with the United States seems to be ebbing?

Maybe it's not so bad after all

The Obama-ites and Democrats in general like to spout off about how horrible our relations with Europe have been since Bush 43 took office, and they talk in grandiose terms about how Obama will "heal" the transatlantic alliance. Well, turns out that he may not have all that much "healing" to do: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121305526251459171.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. Relations between the two sides of the pond aren't that bad after all.

Of course, those inconvenient facts interfere with the MSM's narrative, so you can be sure that you won't read much about them.

At least he's consistent

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in Rome for the U.N. Food Summit, and he's sticking to his script by blaming the world's problems on (who else?) those EEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLL Jews/Zionists: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/2069523/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-attacks-Jews-at-UN-food-summit-in-Rome.html.

And then people wonder why Israelis are so concerned about the man?

Again, this is supposedly from a FRIEND of Israel

I guess that I should be more specific. It's a country that has signed a peace treaty with Israel. Israel is attempting to upgrade its economic relations with the EU, a move that has been (surprisingly) meeting with positive reception on the part of the EU.............except for the fact that Egypt is sending out its ambassadors to try to sabotage the Israeli move: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/989457.html.

This is what is being made public. God only knows what the Saudis and Iranians are doing behind the scenes............

Plant rights; the latest European idiocy

I kid you not. This is what the Europeans are up to: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/065njdoe.asp.

I guess that I shouldn't be surprised, but yet, I still am.......

Look in the mirror, Europe

Europeans often wonder why Israelis do not trust them. I wonder........do you think that it could have anything to do with the fact that EU funds one anti-Israel group after another, and then refuses to provide any accounting for this support: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121003096750769111.html.

The EU tries to pass itself off as an "honest broker" between the Israelis and the Arabs, but it is anything but. The numbers don't lie.

Racism in the name of anti-racism

The preparation for the followup to the infamous 2001 "anti-racism" conference in Durban continues, and it looks like this one will be an even more venomous assault on Israel than was the 2001 conference: http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=YjVjYTQ0NmM5ZjM3ZWM5NDIyZjQ5ZDQ0NTU1ZTYzMDk. Israel has already said that it will not attend the Conference, as has Canada. The U.S. will also apparently not attend, though watch out if either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is elected President. However, the EU will be there, rubber-stamping the anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli proclamations of its Islamic masters.

And then Europeans wonder why Israelis don't trust them?