I recognize your picture and I remember that you are the former Israeli counsel in Texas. My best wishes to you and to your family on Yom Haatzmaut. We miss your songs and your guitar!

This is true that Israel is the largest aircraft carrier for the Americans .. but you don't carry it free ... you are coasting the americans much more than if they build hundreds of Aircraft carriers ... you are coasting America money and lifes .... all the hate which many peole in the world has for the american is because of Israel ... each terror attack on the American is because of supporting Israel .... all the wars which America had and still have in the middle east is because of Israel .... and what's Israel gives to the Americans ? ... nothing any more ... in the old time Israel was the only friend for the Americans in the middle east but now not any more .... they can make many basics in the middle east without Israel ... without the Jweish loby in America this friendship would finish since a long time .... what sure is that one day the American people will be fedup and they will refuse such high price friendship and they would like to live in peace and to move around the world without beeing afraid from terror attacks .... and if Israel want to keep this relationship with America ... it should changy it's policy and to start to repare all the dameges it caused in the last 60 years .... I hope i live to see this day

We need to absolutely remember that this is in fact a two-way relationship - all said and done, a rather win-win. We should not be apologetic for the financial and political support that Israel gets from the US - we certainly return in kind.

"all the hate which many peole in the world has for the american is because of Israel " Yes all this hate must be because of Israel, because the US supports Israel. Its not like the US gives billions in aid to Egypt, esspecially military aid. Where the Egyptian army has around 700 abrams, 200 F-16's, dozens of Apachi's... O'wait yes the US does that It's not like it built the armies of Saudi arabia, Kuwait and other gulf states in it's image... O'wait yes the US did that. It's not like the US gives billions in aid to the palestinians... O'wait yet the US does that. Of course this hatred must be because of supporting Israel considering that what the US does for Israel it also does for arab countries. "each terror attack on the American is because of supporting Israel .... all the wars which America had and still have in the middle east is because of Israel" Really? I could also say it's because the people doing the terror are madmen looking for world domination. And are trying to take down the greatest superpower on earth, because as long it stands they cannot take over. "and what's Israel gives to the Americans ?" Besides all the things mentioned above, which you unsuccessfully shrug off. Here is more things Israel gives. http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enPage=ArticlePage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=Zone&enZone=technology& "in the old time Israel was the only friend for the Americans in the middle east but now not any more .... they can make many basics in the middle east without Israel ..." Not surprisingly things haven't changed. The US gives and gives to other countries in the middle east and it all gets back is hatred. Israel reciprocates these things. I guess to you someone instigating agaisnt you is your friend. "without the Jweish loby in America this friendship would finish since a long time ...." Ahh the conspiracy "what sure is that one day the American people will be fedup " Hopefully one day they will be fed up dolling money to ungrateful countries who incite agaisnt them. "they would like to live in peace and to move around the world without beeing afraid from terror attacks .... " Only when those countries give up their hate and admit that their problems are not because of Israel or the US. "and if Israel want to keep this relationship with America ..." It should continue to be a loyal ally "it should changy it's policy and to start to repare all the dameges it caused in the last 60 years" So when will the arabs start to repair the damage they've been doing? All the wars, terrorism, and persecution they've done? Why don't they start, they got oil? Why don't they admit that non of their problems are because of Israel?

but at least we don't blackmail America and many other countries to get money like you do .... before each step Israel makes you ask about the price and how much you will get to do this step .... each time one of your government visits america ... he does not come back with empty hands .... plus the blackmailing in EU . ... Switzerland , porugal , Germany , France and and .... Saudi Arabia paied much more than the price oh the things they got .... Egypt does not ask for any thing but the american pay this because of it's interest not because our prety eyes .... look at the nomber of the people in Egypt and in Israel ... and look how much you get and how much the Egyptian gets .... and about terrorism i think if you study well your history you find that many of the people who ruled Israel they were member in some terrorsts groups in the past ... and if you want call the people who fight for their right terrorists ... it means the french risistence in the ww2 were terrorists too ... and you want say that the moslems fondamentalists are terrorist ... then the right wing in Israel are terrorists too .... your problem that you are trying hard to found reasons to what you are doing ... forget it you bacame like an open book ... the whole world knows you now well and you international forign affair account is going more and more down .... forget to convince anybody with your ideas .... this ideas in only internal for inside Israel but worldwide you can forget it .... again i tell if you will not change and facing the truth that you have no rights for where you live now and to try to repare this with your naibors .... no body will have peace .... which war war the arab started with Israel ? 1973 war ? ... it was just to get Sinai back or this too you bought it ? .... 1948 , 1952 , 1967 wars ... who started ? do you know or i send an international history book to tell you ? and about my Jewish part in my family which you asked about it before and you didn't belive it ... they live in Beer Jacob and I have an uncle and tow cousins lives their and we love them very much .... one word i will tell it to you ..... forget it .... and by the way i will not read your answer and i will not write you back ..... keep smiling

did you ever notice that the Jews who contribute to talkback say different kinds of things, but all the Arabs or Muslims always say the same thing?--Israel is always horrible, horrible, horrible, Palestinians and Arabs are always right and are never responsible for creating their own problems. Geez, it gets boring. Folks, join the world of thought.

Absolutely-ISrael is costing the USA FAR too much in: security-international respect ,MONEY and AID, dead Americans , soldiers and dead Iraqis. I cant wait for the day our foreign policy changes,especially in regard to Israel.THEN USA can be its good old self again. BLESS the USA.

God bless all the good fair people around the world without looking which relegion , black or white , rich or poor ... thanks

"but at least we don't blackmail America and many other countries to get money like you do ...." Yes, it's not like they've ever used something, lets just say... oil to change and shape US foreign policy. "before each step Israel makes you ask about the price and how much you will get to do this step .... " Well first off it is very large process, and Israel is asking for help. Also considering that the US is saying that this is such a wonderful idea, they should put their money where their mouth is. Also in many cases these are LOANs. "each time one of your government visits america ... he does not come back with empty hands .... " Of course, they (the representative) just come to visit to say hi, and how are you... do you even read what you write? Most visits usually have to do with strengthening agreements. These usually come in the form of business or other agreements which go BOTH ways. "plus the blackmailing in EU . ... Switzerland , porugal , Germany , France and and .... " Considering the amount they took during the holocaust it would be fair for them to return it. "Saudi Arabia paied much more than the price oh the things they got .... " Ya it's not like they are part of a cartel, I'll just call it.... OPEC that artificially keeps oil prices high and makes super profits. "Egypt does not ask for any thing but the american pay this because of it's interest not because our prety eyes" LOL, you really should study the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. The aid promised by the US was one of the things that chided the egyptians into agreeing to the deal. Many say this is one of the things stopping Egypt from trying to attack Israel again. "look at the nomber of the people in Egypt and in Israel ... " Two words: Birth control "and look how much you get and how much the Egyptian gets .... " Well considering all that Israel does for the US it would make sense. Also considering that the Egyptians are only second when it comes to anti-american incitement it's actually quite suprising the US continues to hand it out. "and about terrorism i think if you study well your history you find that many of the people who ruled Israel they were member in some terrorsts groups in the past ..." Yes it is true that in pre-Israel time their were bad groups. But atleast Israel got rid of them. I reccommend that you search "Altalena" and "The season". "and if you want call the people who fight for their right terrorists ... " Please explain how blowing up a bus full of children is fighting for your rights? "the whole world knows you now well and you international forign affair account is going more and more down .... forget to convince anybody with your ideas .... this ideas in only internal for inside Israel but worldwide you can forget it ...." Yes I am part of the vast conspiracy BWHAHAHAHA "again i tell if you will not change and facing the truth that you have no rights for where you live now and to try to repare this with your naibors .... no body will have peace ...." Lets see, the Jews bought the land, they cultivated, and accepted every deal regardless of the fact that they were highly unfair to them and then were attacked and were tried to be pushed out to the sea. You should look back at your own history and see how the arabs ALWAYS targeted civilian centers FIRST. How you subjegated the minorities in your country and then threw out all the Jews. Until you admit to your past and accept Israel's place in the middle east then their will never be peace. For I and others will always be ready to defende ourselves from any aggresion.

"which war war the arab started with Israel ? 1973 war ? ... it was just to get Sinai back or this too you bought it ? .... 1948 , 1952 , 1967 wars ... who started ?" Lets see 1948: The Jews accepted a highly unfair partition plan of an entire area already promised to them. The arabs invaded and tried to kill and throw out every Jew. Arabs started it. 1956: Egypt blockades the strait of Tiran, Israel invades to re-open it's right to use international waters. 1967: Egypt blockades the way to Eilat AGAIN, and almost does an attack called operation dawn, that was stopped at the very last moment. Syria is sending terrorists and bombing Jewish villages in the north left and right. After the war starts Jordan invades in an act of aggresion. The arabs started it! 1973: Egypt refusing to stop supporting terrorists and demanding that Israel leave a buffer zone as a precursor for even any kinds of talks. Invades on Judaism HOLIEST DAY with Syria trying to bomb Israeli cities as their main targets. Imagine if Israel were to attack on Hajj the arabs would be screaming bloody murder. The arabs started it!!! "do you know or i send an international history book to tell you ? " I don't need you to send me a propaganda book. Read things such as "Six days of War" by Oren. That would be a good start, because honestly you really are revising history. "live in Beer Jacob and I have an uncle and tow cousins lives their" In the crazy house I see "and by the way i will not read your answer and i will not write you back " I see you swim in the river of denile To 7 Are agaisnt all foriegn aid or only aid to Israel?

namely against foreign aid to ungrateful countries that dont need it. and abuse it by making racist laws. I say, aid to africa,orphans etc. not to a country that kills children.

boy ,ignorance ,must be so very painfull.... it's easy to hate israel and the jews ,because that's what's been preached to you on riday's semons at the mosque. still ,the u.s gets areal bargain when it comes to aiding israel--- what does the u.s get when it's aiding saudi arabia and egypt??? 18 egyptians made the 22 terrorists of 9/11, the rest were saudis..... that's what.... but hey, take some advil ,maybe the pain of ignorance will subside....

Could name the racists laws? Could you explain how no Jews is not a racists attitude by the palestinians? While you might like to buy propaganda Israel does not target children Why is it ok for the palestinians to get aid when they target children?

It is Israel which is on the receiving end of the U.S aid and technology. The whole world is contributing in the technological advancement in the U.S. Israel is selling and transferring U.S technologies to the Chinese armed forces which is United States arch rival in the Pacific. Their are intelligent and brilliant people among all races. Same story is with the U.S technology success story. No one can claim that this or that race is more intelligent than the rest of the races. Israeli government is spiritually blind and is on a course of direct collision with the White House on its road map commitments. It is the U.S that gives Israel military hardward, military support, diplomatic support, financial guarantees and loans and Israel cannot survive without the U.S help financially economically even for a month. Seeing is believing. So it is the opposite and not what Mr. Ettinger is trying to portray. :)

The US gains alot more from Israel than the other way around. While the US approves billions!of dollars to Hosni Mubarak's dictatorial!regime, nary a whisper is heard from the international community. Between the real time intelligence information, the technological innovations, AND the missions performed by Israel that absolutely enhanced the US's dominance in the region, the US administration is the real winner in this relationship. This is especially true because in order to receive ANYTHING from the US, Israel has had to become subservient to many US dictates, and tragically, they are often detrimental to Israel's security. In effect, Israel is damned if it accepts the aid, and damned if it doesn't.

CL: Can you be more specific about how this discrimination works and what it means? PB: All Israeli citizens, including Palestinians, have the right to vote in elections for members of the Knesset (parliament) and for the prime minister. But not all rights are citizenship rights. Other rights are defined as nationality rights, and are reserved for Jews only. If you are a Jew, you have exclusive use of land, privileged access to private and public employment, special educational loans, home mortgages, preferences for admission to universities, and many other things. Many other special privileges are reserved for those who have served in the Israeli military. And military service is compulsory for all Jews (male and female), except for the ultra-Orthodox who get the same privileges as other Jews, but excludes Palestinians, who do not. Over 80 percent of the land within Israel that was once owned by Palestinians has been confiscated. All told, 93 percent of Israel's land can only be leased or owned by Jews or Jewish agencies. Moreover, despite Israel's booming economy, Palestinian unemployment is skyrocketing--Adalah says it is about 40 percent. In 1996 twice as many Arab citizens (28.3 percent) as Jewish citizens (14.4 percent) lived below the poverty line. Less than five percent of government employees are Arab. And eighty percent of all student drop-outs are Arab. There are also vast disparities between Arab towns and Jewish towns in government spending on schools, medical systems, roads and electricity, clean water, and social services. Unlike any other country in the world, Israel does not define itself as a state of its residents, or even a state of its citizens, but as a state of all the Jews in the world. Jews from anywhere in the world, like me, can travel to Israel, declare citizenship, and be granted all the privileges of being Jewish that are denied to Palestinians who have lived in the area for hundreds of years.

You are most likely a hamas member. I know you have a hard time accepting the fact that Israel is technological power house. You cannot provide any proof for what you are saying. The that the only (or largest) R&D facilities outside the US for companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, and many more are in Israel speaks volumes and pretty much destroys your out right lies. But I guess I could be wrong, just look at all the amazing advancements the arab league has done... LOLOLOLOL

Can you actually give evidence of what you are saying?

Looking at intels site, there is a very interesting note Here are the facilities for arab countries http://www.intel.com/jobs/egypt/sites/ http://www.intel.com/jobs/saudiarabia/sites/ http://www.intel.com/jobs/uaemirates/sites/ Heres Israel's http://www.intel.com/jobs/israel/sites/ Feel free to compare and contrasts whats in Israel and whats in those three arab countries. And yes you have been PWNED

"If you are a Jew, you have exclusive use of land, privileged access to private and public employment, special educational loans, home mortgages, preferences for admission to universities, and many other things." This BS out and out, if this were the case it would be taken to the supreme court and demolished, you are now making things up. The Attorney general and Pines-Paz (as many before them) have quashed even any attempts to this. "Many other special privileges are reserved for those who have served in the Israeli military." Well guess what their are many jobs that require military experience. If you don't have it, then don't apply. "And military service is compulsory for all Jews" Yes how many countries have something like this where they require only one group to go to the army. Also note that anyone is free to volountarily serve if they choose to do so. (As long as they fit health requirements) "Over 80 percent of the land within Israel that was once owned by Palestinians has been confiscated. All told, 93 percent of Israel's land can only be leased or owned by Jews or Jewish agencies." Source? "Moreover, despite Israel's booming economy, " LOL " In 1996 twice as many Arab citizens (28.3 percent) as Jewish citizens (14.4 percent) lived below the poverty line. " And did they note that entire arab villages are on welfare? "Less than five percent of government employees are Arab. " You do realise they are a MINORITY. It's highly unlikely that they would represent the vast majority of employees. Also note that Pine-Paz has recently chosen an Israeli-Arab to a governmental post ( I forgot which one) "And eighty percent of all student drop-outs are Arab. " Source? "There are also vast disparities between Arab towns and Jewish towns in government spending on schools, medical systems, roads and electricity, clean water, and social services. " You mean like the millions already signed over by sharon? "Jews from anywhere in the world, like me, can travel to Israel, declare citizenship, and be granted all the privileges of being Jewish" Yet there are also special rules to Jews. They have to follow special orthodox rules that are unfair to secular Jews. They are required to serve in the army and so on. "to Palestinians who have lived in the area for hundreds of years. " If you read the Peel commision report (1937) it specifically states that the arab population only began to grew massively since 1920, hardly hundreds of years. Now please give the source, and if it's Chomsky, Finkelstein, the ISM, "ifamericakenw" BS, or anything like that you phail miserably then

#2 declares: "All the hate which many people in the world has for the American is because of Israel." Each terror attack on the American is because of supporting Israel" What did the Christian innocents of Sudan do to be so terribly hated? They don't follow Muhammed. 2.5 million Christians are dead from Sudan's jihad. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have been taken for slaves by Sudan's Muslims. What did these Christian innocents do to be so terribly hated and satanically abused? They don't follow Muhammed. True Christians believe what the Bible teaches - in Matthew 22, Jesus Christ was asked, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus answered from the Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy 6: "Hear O Israel! The L-RD is our G-D, the L-RD is One. You shall love the L-ORD your G-D with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (it is the very essence of Judaism). "This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the Prophets." The greatest commandment is all about total allegience to G-D and not man. It is unacceptable to many. It is the number one reason Jews have been hated and put to death for thousands of years.

Thank you Israel for all your wonderful medical breakthroughs that have helped so many people in this world! Israel is a blessing fulfilling G-D 'S word in the Bible that through the Jewish people all the nations of the world would be blessed.

The contributions by Israel to the US are truly invaluable on so many levels. However quite under appreciated for sure. What most don't realize is much of this is kept out of public knowledge as not to offend 'others.' Lets just say that the US would be hard pressed without Israel yet Israel is treated as a black sheep. Check out Israel21 http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enPage=HomePage

The Israelians now bite the hand ( America ) which feed it them and protected them among 60 years , I hope the Amercans walk up now and to realise that enough is enough and to leave Israel alone facing it's problems and let's see how it will be .

My dear Linda ... it's true that we hate the Jews because they are not Moslem ... the Jews lived in tha past in the arab world and they hade the same rights like all the other moslems and the Christians (read in the CNN 12.05.05) about the Jews in Tunisia how they live there till now and even they refused to go to Israel , ask the old people how was the life in egypt , Marocco , Lebanon ... if they had bad treatment that time or not ..we hate blood shed , stealing lands , killing of inocent people whatever is the relegion of the one who do it ... and this creating automaticly hate , terrorism and wars ... hope you understand me ... anyhow i thank you if you did or not

"If you are a Jew.....special educational loans, home mortgages, preferences for admission to universities," More than 25% of students at Haifa University are Arabs. I'd call that positive discrimination as they only number about 20% in the pouplation. Moreover Israel has the highest literacy rate amongst its Arab population of any Arab population in the Middle East. As for preferential mortgages, this is Bullsh*t. " Many other special privileges are reserved for those who have served in the Israeli military." Druze (for whom military service is also compulsory like Jews), Muslim Bedouins, Christians and other non Jews who volunteer to serve in the Army get all the same privilages as Jews who serve. There are several non Jewish generals in our army and the head of the Border Police is a Druze. Ultra-orthodox Jews who choose not to serve in the army, but to study Torah instead, do NOT get the privilages of ex soldiers. Where is the racism??? "Unlike any other country in the world, Israel does not define itself as a state of its residents, or even a state of its citizens, but as a state of all the Jews in the world." Israel is the only country that has ever been formed with the majority of its potential citizens living abroad. Do you not think the Palestinians, if they ever get a State, will automatically give priority to potential immigrants of Palestinian descent? WIll you be writing letters to newspapers saying that is racist?

Israel One More Step Into Open Apartheid June 28, 2003 A law forbidding Israeli citizenship for Palestinians from the Occupied Territories who marry Israelis passed its first reading in the Knesset on June 18. This is another milestone on Israel's road to open, institutionalized apartheid. According to Ha'aretz, the bill forbids the granting of Israeli citizenship in cases of reunification between families split between Israel and the Occupied Territories and will strictly limit the ability of Palestinians to obtain Israeli residence or to legally remain within the country. Such laws targeted at a specific ethnic community are an odious violation of all international human rights norms. Jewish-Israeli Knesset member Zehava Gal-On called the bill "racist and discriminatory." Palestinian-Israeli Knesset member Wasil Taha compared it to Germany's 1930s Nuremberg laws which targeted Jews and limited their civil rights, including the right to marriage. The Israeli bill is also reminiscent of apartheid-era South African laws which banned interracial marriages. And, until the Supreme Court overturned them, the United States had a long tradition of laws, specifically restricting Africans, Chinese and Japanese from obtaining citizenship, owning land or marrying whites. Israel has also used zoning regulations, land seizures, and the quasi-official Jewish National Fund (which controls expropriated Palestinian land and leases it exclusively to Jews) to achieve essentially the same purposes as apartheid South Africa's Group Areas Act -- ensuring that the privileged and exploited populations live in separate and unequal communities. Marriages between Jews and non-Jews are not allowed in Israel, because like a number of other countries in the region, it does not recognize civil marriages. All such marriages must be conducted outside the country. The new marriage laws making their way through the Knesset mainly seem to be aimed at preventing marriages between Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship and Palestinians who live in the Occupied Territories. The new law would force Palestinian citizens of Israel who want to live with spouses or family members from the Occupied Territories to move to the Occupied Territories, or at least prevent them from bringing their new spouses into Israel. This is in line with the views of several Israeli ministers, that Palestinian citizens of Israel should be given 'incentives' to abandon their homeland. The proposed law will give the Israeli interior minister the authority to grant citizenship or residency to a Palestinian if the minister is convinced that the individual identifies with Israel and its goals. In other words, only Palestinians who convince Israel that they are committed Zionists need apply. A further amendment to Israel's citizenship law, proposed by Ariel Sharon himself, and endorsed by Israel's top legal officer, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein, would prevent the automatic granting of citizenship to children with one parent from the Occupied Territories. This measure will not only deprive Palestinian citizens of Israel of the right to pass on their civil and political rights to their children, but is aimed at limiting the growth in the number of Israel's Palestinian citizens. Taken together, these measures aim at a quiet population "transfer." But even if successful in Israeli terms, this law will only reduce the number of Palestinians in Israel's account and increase the number of disenfranchised Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories with no civil or political rights and no citizenship in any state. This can only hasten the arrival of the day when a Jewish minority is ruling over a Palestinian majority between the river and the sea

Racism Inside Israel An Interview with Phyllis Bennis by Max Elbaum This is a revised version of an article published here by ColorLines earlier in December. Unfortunately, the article contained a few factual errors as a consequence of our editing (not the author or the interviewee). We therefore issue this corrected version of the article. (12/15/2000) Phyllis Bennis, a longtime analyst and activist around Middle East issues, is now head of the Middle East Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. She is the author of From Stones to Statehood: The Palestinian Uprising, a book about the Palestinian intifada of the late 1980s, and Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's U.N. In this interview, Phyllis analyzes the racist character of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as well as its treatment of Palestinians who live within Israel's pre-1967 borders. ColorLines (CL): What do you see as the root cause of the current Palestinian uprising? Phyllis Bennis (PB): What's going on right now can be summed up in one word: occupation. Contrary to the U.S. media's portrayal, the Israeli occupation of Palestine is at the root of what the media at best identify only as a "disproportionate" use of violence by the Israelis on the West Bank and Gaza. Certainly the Israeli troops' use of helicopter gunships, of machine guns mounted on tanks, and so on is profoundly disproportionate when used against a Palestinian civilian population armed only with stones and some old Kalashnikov rifles. But the real issue is the Israeli military occupation of Palestine--not only that it is inherently violent and a violation of international law and contrary to United Nations resolutions. Even if Israel used only proportionate violence, it would still be absolutely illegal, because the occupation of Palestinian land is illegal. CL: And why is there an occupation? PB: From its origins in the 19th century, Zionism centered on the idea of creating a specifically Jewish state in which Jews would be protected and privileged over non-Jews. Zionist occupation of Palestine was at first meager, amounting to about 10 percent of the population by 1900. By 1947, Jews were still only about 30 percent of the population of Mandate Palestine and owned only six percent of the land, but the UN Partition Resolution that year still assigned 55 percent of the land to a new Jewish state. However, by means of the 1947-48 war, Israel took over even greater expanses of land and forcibly expelled about 750,000 Palestinians. This travesty was the basis for the official founding of the Israeli state in 1948. In this latest intifada, there have been numerous protests by Arabs living within the pre-1967 borders of Israel. What are their numbers and their conditions of life?

You should look at the Netherlands. They allowed unabated marriages from outside the country and instantly gave citizenship and now it's dealing with a demographic time bomb. It is completely legal for Israel to limit immigration and who it hands out citizenship to. It is simply stopping arabs from abusing a system with which they have admitted too. Such as when Arafat said he would use the palestinian womb to defeat Israel. "Marriages between Jews and non-Jews are not allowed in Israel, because like a number of other countries in the region, it does not recognize civil marriages." Considering that this has influenced secular Jewish couples I do not see the arguement. Many secular Jewish couples have gone to cypress or outside Israel to marry.

Hey coward - why not print your name instead of just your initials? Also, where the hell are you from, afraid to state that also? By the way, you state "you hope I live to see this day". Well bucko, I for one hope you don't !