Not only not ignorant, Jeffrey, but I don't hate much of anyone. I'm quite aware of all the things you mention plus a lot you almost certainly haven't taken the time to discover. I was responding to specific posts - you are so blinded by your own hate that you don't ever deal with context. You call everyone who criticizes Israel a hater, everyone - even Jews. I think it galls you that I have invested the time and energy to learn the actual history rather than the one fabricated by Israel and its knee-jerk supporters.

I criticize my own country in far harsher terms than I criticize Israel, but I don't hate my country. I simply want it to be the best that it can. I certainly have a lot more emotional investment in Israel than any Arab country, but wrong is wrong, Jeffrey, and lies are lies. It takes more than acknowledging that Israel has a few problems - flagrant anti-Arab racism (yes, more than matched by Arab anti-semitism), ethnic cleansing, massive torture and on and on and on. It takes standing up for what is right, and the current Israel is not right. Hence, I learn, and I criticize. My views are freely expressed in Israel, but those Jews are not called haters - haven't you ever read Ha'aretz, do you even know who Uri Avnery is?

SR-

What are you talking about? The mandate was one of the most racist things ever created. Jordan had virtually no Palestinians in 1917 - it was and is a Hashemite kingdom.

What the Palestinians - other Arabs were and are irrelevant when talking about the land between the Jordan and the sea - were actually offered was 45% of the land of Palestine even though it had 55% of the people. The original mandate was never offered or discussed with any Arabs. It was a pure racist creation by the Brits. Yes, it would have been nice if the Arabs just agreed to allow their land to be stolen by the rest of the world, but they didn't. I'm not sure any other people in the world would have responded differently. Israel should have been created out of a giant chunk of Germany with access to the sea, but the Europeans didn't want all us Jews in their midst, so they stole someone else's land.

But stop with the Balfour crap. That is about as legitimate as the Germans taking the Sudetenland.

You didn't read Jeffrey's post very well. He said that I was either a hater or ignorant but that "DZ ain't ignorant". So, what is the only possible conclusion? Not to mention that Jeffrey has accused me of hatred several times before in spite of my ethnic heritage.

I've seen your posts. You seem like a smart person - please read and then criticize, but the evidence re Jeffrey is clear.

I just read your last post. Thank you. A tiny piece of common ground. How can we exploit that or can we?

The Shebaa Farms area is recognized by the entire world as Syrian territory - it belongs neither to Lebanon nor to Israel.

I hope it never happens to him, but wait until the Rabbi's wife has advanced cancer. He will then truly understand what it means to see one's most valuable partner - heretofore strong and independent and sexy - reduced to drooling, vomiting total dependence. Now, that's a test - breast feeding is not. Please. I love my wife - totally and unconditionally. She is much better these days, but I will always be, no matter what, her most excellent and committed partner. She is and will always be complicated, complex, stubborn and spectacular - I could never think of here as a mere body part.

First, Lincoln Chafee is not a liberal - he is a 'moderate' Republican. He occasionally votes against his party, but he has been an enabler of the extreme right wing for a long time - just like Lieberman. There is no surprise here - the GOP cannot win if he is not the candidate and they need Lincoln just for the numbers.

If you like Cesar Millan, you must hate dogs. His training methods are 30 years out of date and, frankly, constitute animal abuse. We have learned a great deal about animal behavior in the last 30 years, but Cesar has ignored it all. I have a pack of 4 Siberian huskies, all trained using exclusively positive reinforcement methods, and they are quite clear on who the alpha dog is - my wife in fact - but we never hurt them, frightened them or did any other backward crap that Cesar engages in. If uyou want to know about dogs and how to train them, read Patricia McConnell.