Hello world

This is my first blog so I figure its proper to introduce myself. My name is Peter, I'm a Russian-American Jew. Meaning people have 3 separate and distinct reasons to hate me.

I've never really thought about blogging until my friend suggested that I have some views and insights that can be interesting for others. World affairs, politics, history, sports (hockey and soccer especially) are my passions, and I will try to bring my view of these topics to your attention.

Today I bring you the news of Tzipi Livni stepping one step closer to the Prime Minister's post of Israel. Although I respect this woman in the male dominated world (she's a former Mossad agent), she is the last thing Israel needs. It is very likely that she will continue on the path of negotiations with a Palestinian regime that is as fragile as ever. Any negotiations with the so-called "Palestinians"(a term applied exclusively to Arabs only in the 20th century) can take place when there is a general will for good faith negotiations on both sides.

As it stands now Israel can negotiate, make concessions, and etc., only to find a new regime in Palestine that revokes any prior concessions made by the Palestinians. This isn't such a hard to conceive notion given the wide spread support for Hamas and other terrorist groups within the Gaza and West Bank. At this point the Palestinians cannot negotiate amongst themselves without killing each other as evidenced by the recent developments in Gaza, how can they negotiate with Israel? Israel needs to stop any negotiations with Palestinians, it must develop a clear cause and effect relationship that rewards desirable behavior and punishes deviance from a desired course.

On a Separte note: Today at work I received one of those emails with a signature "Please consider the environment and trees before printing this message." I've received these messages before but I never really bothered saying anything to the sender, but this was too easy since this person sits very close to me. I asked what is the point of this message and received a response that it is meant to "chop down fewer trees and for paper companies to make less money". But where is the logic in that? Do these people understand that if the demand for paper declines, the paper companies or their supplier's will plant fewer trees? I would argue that printing less would do more harm to the environment, since fewer trees would need to be planted.

Quote of the day: "Vladimir Lenin did not destroy as much capital as this SEC."