Death of a friend of relative is jarring, dislocating and frightening. One week is not nearly enough time to assimilate such feelings. You shouldn't take precipitous action in the immediate aftermath of a death; you could easily regret it later.

Finding a satisfying career/job is not something that happens overnight. Furthermore, you don't have to quit your current job to begin thinking about your next one. You need to have a plan and you need to have some reasoning behind your plan. Interested in a different subject? Take a course. Interested in a helping profession? Volunteer. Think things through carefully, over time (months) and get some experience to guide you.

Be honest with yourself. Is your job the only source of discontent, or is it possible that there are other issues you could explore and deal with that would improve your life? It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that one change will make everything right. That's almost never the case.

It is juvenile to quit your job to seek your bliss. It is not juvenile to evaluate your life and job and to obtain new knowledge and skills in an effort to find what makes you happy. Then, you can arrange for a new job before you quit your old one. Quitting your current job is not the first step in the process, it is the last step.

<<Ok let's review. We run all the banks and yet need, what? Eleventy zillion dollars in handouts. We run the media yet the media is 95% against us. We're at the heart of a decades old quadruple supersecret conspiracy that everyone already knows about. Why can't you fuckwits just hang out with the other fools waiting for the mothership?>>

Bravo, Mr. Rifkin!

Criticism of Israel is just the up to date 21st century version of anti-Semitism. Each age has its own version of anti-Semitism, but it is always an attempt to discredit Jews by accusing them of the worst moral crime of the age. In the Middle Ages, Jews were Infidels when religious belief was the paramount moral value. In the 18th century, Jews were outsiders and stateless when nationalism reigned supreme. In capitalist countries Jews are accused of being Communists. In Communist countries Jews are accused of being capitalists.

What's the worst moral sin you can commit in the early 21st century? The worst moral sin is to be an imperialist and an occupier, so all of a sudden Jews are imperialists and occupiers. What an amazing co-incidence!

The bottom line is this: What is the principle by which Israel is judged and how does the world apply this principle to all other countries? No one seems to be able to identify that principle. The real "principle" is that it's okay to criticize Jews for the same things that every other people does every single day.

How could I have gotten that idea? How many historical examples can anyone point to (you've got the last 5000 years) that illustrate how Jews were criticized as a group, but it was not anti-Semitic. I suspect you'll find precisely zero.

Now we're supposed to believe that supporting a failed pseudo-state of racist, misogynist, homophobic, virulently anti-Semitic people who equate Jews with pigs and dogs and share no values in common with the West against a democratic, progressive State is the obviously desirable direction of US foreign policy? We're supposed to believe that we have been kept from fulfilling this wonderful policy that would be so good for America simply by the efforts of the "Jewish lobby"?

Where's the Brooklyn Bridge? I'll buy that before I buy the new, improved 21st century excuse for anti-Semitism.

What is truly amazing is that no one has provided even one example where the "Jewish lobby" has convinced the US to act in a way contrary to its interests. Israel gives the opportunity for the US project military power in the Middle East should it feel the need for an emergency military base in the area. Israel shares a massive amount of military intelligence with the US. Whereas the US has virtually no intelligence assets that can speak the native languages and blend into the local populations, Israel has these assests and shares them. Israel and the US are in accord on many fundamental international issues.

I cannot believe that anyone is so naive as to suggest that the mere fact that the Arabs hate the Israelis places America at some sort of disadvantage vis a vis Arab nations. Does anyone really think (or more to the point, can anyone show any evidence) that the US would have a better relationship with the Arab nations if Israel does not exist? We already provide the Arabs substantially more foreign aid than we give to the Israelis, but I don't see any acknowledgement of that.

Precisely what has the "Jewish lobby" accomplished? Has it forced the US to cut off aid to Arabs? Has it forced the US to withhold support for a Palestinian state? Did it allow the Israelis to assassinate Arafat? No, no and no. Furthermore, the Israelis did not want a war against Iraq, only George Bush did. The Israelis have been far more worried about Iran for decades. There was no upwelling of support for the Iraq war within Israel. There was just the support of a loyal ally for a policy that the Israelis considered dubious at best.

In every age, and in virtually every country, there have been anti-Semitic elements that claim that Jews are some sort of fifth column, engaged in a conspiracy to undermine the good people of Germany (Italy, France, take your pick). They couldn't find any actual examples, either, but that didn't stop them.

So, step up to the plate. Tell us exactly how the "Jewish lobby" has compromised the interests of the US.

Here's a wacky thought: how about releasing the soldiers and stopping the rocket attacks?

Nah, why do that? It's much more "heroic" to launch attacks from the midst of a civilian population and scurry away and let the women and children face the retaliation. After all, for Hamas and Hizbullah, what's a few dead babies compared to the "glory" of fighting the never ending fight and finding a way to lose every time.