The French Are Good For Something, After All

I'm glad voters in France rejected the European constitution, though not necessarily for the same reasons as the voters themselves. For one thing, the EU constitution is not an inspiring framework like the American and other historical constitutions. It's more of a "bureaucrat's Handbook", and two-hand book at that - it's huge! 450 pages long. I actually have it at home (a European politics professor distributed it to us), and I've sifted through it, in no thorough way (that would take ages, and I still wouldn't have understood most of the legal mumbo jumbo). I also think the EU should deepen its economic ties, but not its political ties. European countries are too old and too diverse to become a United States of Europe.

Benedict XVI

Damn! Why didn't I place a bet on that Irish site! German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was my first guess. I was wrong about the name he'd pick for himself, though Benedict was one of the three "saving face" options. In all, I got a 51 by the silly point system I devised in my previous post.

Ratzinger is a nice guy, I hear. Great. George Bush is a nicer guy than Kerry and I still picked Kerry. Clinton is a very nice guy - and still conservatives didn't want him as president. So Benedict XVI is a nice person. Nice to know. If only he weren't the ultraconservative outgoing head of the Inquisition (under the nicer, softer title "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith")...

Papal Punditry

Pope John Paul II was a good man, though flawed (sorry, infallibility-believing Catholics). He way too conservative on many issues, such as condoms to prevent AIDS in Africa, but he was also progressive on many other things, such as relations with Jews.

One interesting thing to see in today's newspaper was seeing news headlines from around the world and seeing how John Paul was called in different places. This isn't because of the pope himself, but because of the fact that the church is international, but it's still worth mentioning. Ioannes Paulus (Latin), Johannes Paul (German), Jean-Paul (French) and the list goes on. In Hebrew, by the way he was called Yochanan Paulus.

Now for the punditry section. Everyone is trying to guess who the next pope is going to be. I have no idea who'll be elected, but I'll just guess. I'll list my top five guesses (plus 3 more) - Number one will grant me 50 points if elected. Number five - 10 points. Then I'll make wild guesses about the name he'll pick - again top five+3. In two weeks I'll see if the Holy Spirit guided me in my baseless guesses - I may get anywhere between all 100 points or nil.

And the nominees are:

1. German Cardinal Ratzinger (%50)
2. Nigerian Cardinal Arinze (40)
3. Italian Cardinal Dionigi Tattamanzi (30)
4. Brazillian Cardinal Hummes (20)
5. Belgian Cardinal Danneels (10)
Three runners-up that will give me one point if elected (at least to save face): Frenchman Lustiger, Hundurian Maradiaga or Italian Battista Re.

Names (if I'm wrong about the numbering, only the name itself counts):

1. Gregory XVII (%50)
2. Innocent XIV (40)
3. Leo XIV (30)
4. John Paul III (20)
5. Gelasius III (10) - in case an African is elected, he may name himself after the last African pope.
Runners-up (one point each): Clement XV, Benedict XVI or Adrian VII.

Lose-Lose Situation

The disengagement plan has now reached a catch 22 situation. If it goes through unilaterally, without getting anything from the Palestinians, Palestinian extremists will see it as their victory. If it doesn't go through, Israeli extremists will see that as their own victory. Now the big question is which is worse.

The sane voices who are against disengagement for practical reasons are not being heard. The fanatics who, mostly for religious reasons more than nationalistic reasons, oppose ever giving any land to the Palestinians have completely hijacked the whole anti-unilateral pullout discourse. People like me, who believe that we should give up lands for the future State of Palestine but only through negotiation, are silent. We don't want to align ourselves with the "Complete Land of Israel" folks in any way. We're cowards.

It was great!

What is "it"? Can't say. Very few people have "it" on their resume, so if you know "it", you can somehow find out who I really am. Maybe I'm overly cautious. Whatever...

We had a "talk non-stop" guest the last few days. Chewed our ears off. Thank the Lord Almighty that he's gone. Yes, it was that bad that I'm thanking someone I don't believe in!

Big News!

Last Tuesday I got a surprise offer. I have good news and bad news. The good news - I'm one of a select few. The bad news - because of this, I can't tell you what the big news is. It would be too easy to identify me if I said exactly what this is. All I'm willing to say is that this just might be the beginning of a future career.

Product Placement Shorts

Amazon.com has launched a new project called Amazon Theater. These are short films with such stars as Minnie Driver, Blair Underwood and Chris Noth. Of the four I've seen so far, three are horrible and pointless. Only one, "Tooth Fairy" is kind of cute, but like a good commercial, not like a good short film. But then again - all of these are just commercials. They are all about product placement, and Amazon isn't shy about that fact. The same page that shows the films also has a list of products shown in the short, and the credits list the products alongside the actors.

Amazon has every right to have these commercials on their site, but don't give me that "new venue for young artists" crap.

The Long Goodbye

It's taking Arafat forever to die. I have come to the conclusion that this situation is not bad at all. It's so absurd that it's immensely entertaining. Arafat is just about dead, but the Palestinians won't say so, despite the fact that they're already preparing for his burial. The Palestinian leadership is bickering with Suah Arafat. The French made a gesture of friendship by accepting the Ugliest Leader Ever as their patient, and got stuck knee deep in Palestinian politics and power struggles.

I know it isn't nice to gloat. But I am. So sue me.

Return of the Flash

While Barak Obama was busy winning a Senate seat in IL, another Barak from another place with the postal code IL was busy making a comeback. Ehud Barak, who disappeared like a flash of lightening (which, by the way, is what Barak means in Hebrew) when he lost to Ariel Sharon in 2001, is now going to run for chairman of the Labor Party and its candidate for Prime Minister in the next elections (which are scheduled for two years from now, but will probably be held earlier).

I voted for Barak in 2001. Had he stayed in the Knesset opposition after his failure, I would have probably supported him again. But he left and, much like Benjamin Netanyahu had done when Barak defeated him, spent most of his time abroad as a lecturer and consultant. He made some serious mistakes as PM, but when he temporarily abandoned politics he gave up a chance to rectify his mistakes.

It seems the contenders for the chairmanship of Labor will be:

• Shimon Peres - the 81 year old eternal chairman. Time for him to go.
• Ehud Barak
• Amir Peretz - the closest thing to a Bolshevik the Labor Party has seen lately. He's the head of Israel's strongest workers' union, with a far-left social and economic stance. He'd be a horrible PM, and I believe most Israelis know this. Labor would crash even harder with him at the helm.
• Benjamin Ben-Eliezer - the former Minister of Defense. He's a moderate, but I don't think he'd be a good chief executive.
• Matan Vilnai - my favorite. Though I don't like retired generals going into politics, I think this retired Maj. Gen. will be the best chance for Labor to get stronger and possibly win the prime ministry. He's a centrist. That's what Israel needs.

Hillary VS Giuliani 2008

Okay. Kerry lost. It isn't the end of the world. No reason to leave the States (wait, I live in Israel anyway. But if I were living in the States, I wouldn't leave it because of the election results). I'm not too thrilled about what I think Bush will do now, but I'm not worried. The country will be okay. Let's face it. Kerry wouldn't have been such a great president anyway. I'm sure he'd be better than Bush, but he wouldn't be nearly as good as Clinton was.

Now I hope 2008 will see Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee and Rudy Giuliani as the Republican nominee. Then I'd have some serious thinking to do. That would be a great race. Unlike 2004, where it was "not good" vs "pretty bad", a race between the Mayor and Senator from New York would be a race between two very worthy candidates. If either one of them would run against some one else, I'd pick them (HRC or Rudy). But with the two of them head to head I'd have to think long and hard. Who knows. With such a matchup, maybe even NY would become a swing state.

But then again, too many people loathe Hillary Clinton, so maybe she wouldn't be such a good candidate. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson might be a good choice. Edwards wouldn't be, since he is inexperienced. Oh hell, it's much too early for such punditry.

America's Day to Make a Choice

It's Election Day. I already sent in my absentee ballot a few weeks ago. I voted for John Kerry. Hopefully, so will a majority of Americans, especially in the swing states.

In my last post, I wished to wake up the next morning and hear of Arafat's death. That didn't happen (the Palestinians even claim he's recovering, though I take that with a grain of salt). Now I have a new wish for tomorrow morning, or at least tomorrow afternoon because of the time difference between Israel and the States. I hope to discover tomorrow that John Kerry won both the popular vote AND the electoral vote. My Arafat wish did not come true - maybe my Kerry wish will.

My Wish for Tomorrow Morning

Yasser Arafat's health condition is reportedly very bad. Some reports have even said Arafat is unconscious, though the Palestinians deny this. This horrible man, who I once mistakenly believed had changed his stripes, has been one of the worst leaders the world has ever seen. The damage he has inflicted upon Israel, the world and his own people, is huge.

Arafat is an obstacle to any progress, as long as he is alive. If Israel would kill him, he would remain an obstacle even after death, perhaps even a greater one than he is now. But if he dies naturally, though it may bring a degree of instability in the short term, it will be a very positive turning point in the long run.

So, now I am about to go to sleep. Hopefully, when I wake up tomorrow morning I'll find out that during the night Arafat died, preferably in excruciating pain as a huge gallstone on its way out of the urinal tract brought on a massive heart attack. Just because I want him to die naturally doesn't mean I want him to die in peace...

Disengagement a Very Bad Plan

Last Monday Ariel Sharon lost a symbolic vote in the Knesset when his political statement, a sort of State of the Union Address delivered at the beginning of each session of Parliament (twice a year), was rejected. The main focus of his statement was the disengagement plan.

I'm glad he lost. This was an operatively unimportant vote, but very symbolic. The Labor Party voted against him. The Haaretz editorial from October 13 criticized them for this, saying that if they want to ever be considered for leadership again, they should support Sharon's plan. I totally disagree. To be taken seriously they can't be Sharon's yesmen. They have to be a serious opposition party. Labor says it supports disengagement but did not support Sharon's statement, which also included his social and economic plans, which it opposes. I don't think the party should support the disengagement plan at all. After thinking it over for months, I have come to the conclusion that it is a disastrous plan. Pulling out without an agreement just makes things worse, and it will convince the Palestinians that violence works, just like the withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 may have encouraged the Intifada that started a few months later.

The far-right settlers oppose the disengagement plan because they want Israel to keep control over Gaza and the West Bank. I oppose the disengagement plan for the exact opposite reason - because I want to leave the territories, but in a safe and secure manner. If we leave unilaterally, Hamas will take over. Nobody will be able to stop their terrorist activities and we'll end up having to send our military there. On the other hand, if we have a treaty with someone on the other side, there will be someone with responsibility to fight terror. They may not want to do that, but at least the world, and most of all the USA, will pressure them into doing so. This won't be peace, but it will be a cease fire.

My Take on the Veep Debate

I watched the vice presidential debate last night, despite the fact that it was 3 in the morning here (good thing we moved back our clocks already while the US is still in daylight savings time, so at least it saved me an hour). All the commentary that I've read and heard kept saying that it was a tie, and that each side will think its own candidate won. I disagree. It was very close, but I think Cheney was better than Edwards.

In the presidential debate, Kerry was on the offensive more than he had to defend himself. Here, I felt Edwards was being attacked more than Cheney, and that the vice president's line of attack on Edwards' inexperience was more effective and more prominent than the senator's line on Cheney's extremism. Both men were right, because each of them targeted their opponent's Achilles Heal: Edwards is indeed inexperienced and probably wouldn't make a good chief executive (which is why, even though I'm voting for Kerry and Edwards, I hope the second JFK will complete his term without dying or resigning); Cheney is indeed extremely right wing.

I almost felt sorry for Cheney when they talked about gay marriage. It was an awkward moment when Edwards praised the Cheney family about how they treat their lesbian daughter. Also, Cheney probably agreed with every word Edwards said about the gay marriage issue, but couldn't say so, so as to not contradict the president. That's why he just thanked Edwards for his personal remarks and forfeited about a minute and a half of the time he had to respond - I don't believe we'll see anyone give up so much time in a debate any time soon.

Regarding Cheney's comment about the terrorist attacks in Israel being reduced because of Saddam not being in power: I think that's a load of crap. Sure, Israel, like the US and the rest of the world, is a lot better off without Saddam. He did indeed send millions to the families of suicide bombers, and it's good that it stopped. But still millions are pouring in to the bank accounts of terrorist groups and terrorist families - from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Lebanon and Syria. The US has started getting tougher on Syria, but it is too soft on the others. The reduction in attacks is the result of the fence and Israeli forces stopping attacks before they occur, not because of the current situation in Iraq.

Two Israelis Win the Nobel!

I'm very happy. Today three people got the Nobel prize in chemistry - all of my own (dual) nationality. Two Israelis and one American. Since many Americans have won Nobel prizes and only five Israelis had won before today, I am more excited about the two Israeli scientists who won.

And the Nobel goes to...

A few days ago, the 2004 Ig Nobel prizes were announced. These are the awards given to researchers who have made discoveries nobody really needs. Today, the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was announced, and it seemed to me to be a direct continuation of the Ig Nobels. It was given to two American researchers who have extensively investigated the sense of smell and have discovered how we identify different smells. Don't misunderstand me. I think this is important research, but it doesn't seem Nobel-worthy to me. This prize is usually given to people who are researching diseases or ways to ease the pain of the ill. With all due respect to the sense of smell - knowing how it works isn't going to save anybody's life.

The next Nobel prizes will be announced in the next few days. Maybe Amos Oz will finally win in literature (though I doubt it). I hope neither the head of the IAEA, Muhammad al-Baradai, nor the Pope (who yesterday beatified Karl I, the Austro-Hungarian emperor who authorized the use of gas in World War I) will win the peace prize. Neither do I want any Israelis or Palestinians to win. I don't think either side has anybody worthy of the prize right now.

Terror in my City

Last Tuesday, two buses were blown up by homicide-suicide terrorist bombers in my city. 16 people died, ages ranging from 3 to 70. It's absolutely horrible. Though I didn't know any of those killed, it is still very shocking. We never had this kind of terror attack here. The last attack took place about two years ago - but even then it was of much smaller magnitude.

Chechen terrorists took 150 hostages at a school yesterday is Russia. Right now they are still being held. The terrorists probably hope Russian forces will storm in, so they can kill them along with the hostages and themselves. I don't understand how anyone can sympathize with people carrying out these kinds of outrages.

Voting Absentee

About two weeks ago I sent an application for a federal absentee ballot. I haven't gotten anything from the board of elections yet. I hope it wasn't lost in the mail. I hope I'll get my state primary ballot on time - though in my district there's this congressman that has been in office for about 20 years and got around 75% of the vote in the last two elections (good thing the internet exists to check this out). Since no democrat is running against Chuck Schumer there won't be a senate primary. So my vote in the primaries will not be anywhere near being the tie-breaker. But then again, neither will it be in the general election, including the presidential election - my vote for Kerry will just be added to the vast majority of New Yorkers voting for him. But hey, if Kerry has just one more vote than Bush in the legally unimportant national popular vote, I'll know I'm that one vote, symbolically. Anyway, I'll seriously start checking out information about congressional candidates once I get a ballot, to make an informed decision.

This will be the first time I vote in US elections. I've never asked for an absentee ballot before. I wonder how they make sure it's really me voting. Maybe once I get the letter from the board of elections I'll know a little more.

Israeli Gold!

Mistral surfer Gal Fridman made history today with 3 Israeli firsts:

1) First Israeli gold medal in the Olympics (but don't forget - we already have a lot of paralympic gold medals), which means it was the first time the Israeli anthem, HaTikvah ("The Hope") was heard at the Olympics. I think it is the most "Olympian" and optimistic anthem ever heard at the Games. You may not agree with Israeli policy. You may think of Israel as a fascist state (it isn't, but some mistakenly see it that way). But the Israeli anthem is the most hopeful of all anthems I know of. The anthems of all other countries talk about war, about defending the homeland, the greatness of the country and its people. HaTikvah, like it's name, is about hope for a better, independent future. It doesn't say anything about that future being achieved by bloodshed (it turned out that it did involve bloodshed, but that wasn't the vision of HaTikvah).

2) First Israeli to win two Olympic medals. He was a bronze medalist in Atlanta eight years ago.

3) First Olympic games where Israel wins medals in two different fields. We won one medal in Atlanta (mistral surfing) and one in Sydney (Kayaking) - both bronze. The first Games in which we won medals, Madrid 1992, we won two of them, one silver and one bronze, but they were both in the same field - judo. This year Arik Zeevi, who I had been hoping would win a medal, won a bronze in judo.

I am Uncle Emmanuel!

My new niece was born this week! She's so cute and adorable. If we ever feared my sister might have another autistic child, now we are completely confident my niece is absolutely fine. The difference is amazing. When my nephew was born he'd never look at us, and whenever we touched him he'd stiffen up. We now understand what that was, but at the time we didn't really notice. My niece, on the other hand, is very soft and cuddly.

She's a beautiful baby. I'm objective, I really am. When my nephew was born I thought he was ugly (and he was - big ears and a long nose, good thing that as he grew, the proportions of his face changed, and now he's very good looking. The only big thing on his face now is his big beautiful eyes).

Yesterday I went to visit my sister, mainly to see the baby. But my nephew was there when I came in. I didn't want to insult him so I stayed with him most of the time, and saw the baby for about only a minute. I feel sorry for him. He's flapping his hands a lot lately. He's nervous because of the new situation. I hope he'll get used to it soon.