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Our Atlanta friends having dinner in Savannah at Cotton and Rye. On left Me, Don Heroman, Susan Hamilton on right Bob Hamilton, Lynn and Ann Heroman.
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Israel's success comes at a price. (See 1 and 1a below.)
And:
Three op eds:
Main Street by Salena Zito: Dr. Laura's Lasting Truths
Victor Davis Hanson: Are thought crimes impeachable?Oberlin College Student Erect Monument to Fallen Palestinian Terrorists - Read More
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Several years ago Democrats captured The House and those who voted for them did so because they were convinced Democrats were best suited to address the nation's pressing problems.
In the last two years they have become obsessed with and focused on impeaching Trump and have ignored legislation that would improve trade, resolve immigration issues, pass a budget that would begin the move toward a balanced one, do something about high drug costs and the opiod epidemic among other issues.
Trump has reminded Pelosi and her slaves of they need to press forward and earn their salaries. You would think the mass media would be writing a few lines about this circumstance but if they did it would be embarrassing so they remain silent.
What we are witnessing are political lunatics in pursuit of a president they hate who is different than most and accomplishing a great deal that has needed correcting for decades.
I submit, in 2020 the nation can only move forward if Trump has a Congress he can work with because China and Russia continue to inch forward. Time is not on America's side and Democrats are frittering it away in senseless pursuits driven by hatred, misplaced jealousy and an inability to accept their defeat at the polls in 2016.
To re-elect Trump and leave him with an albatross named Pelosi on his back is ridiculous.
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DORIS
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1)
Led by high tech, Israeli exports to hit record of $114B in 2019
Exports comprise 30% of Israel’s economic activity. Economy Ministry: Growth led by the high tech sector such as software, computing, and research and development services.
Israel’s exports, a key economic growth driver, are expected to grow to a record $114 billion in 2019 from $109 billion last year, government data showed on Sunday.
According to the Central Bureau and Statistics and Economy Ministry, Israeli goods and services exports stood at $84 billion over the first nine months of the year, up 4.6% from January-September 2018.
The Economy Ministry said the increase this year stems mostly from a nearly 12% rise in services exports, with growth led by the high tech sector such as software, computing, and research and development services.
The gain in services has more than offset weakness in goods exports, which have been hurt this year by slowing global trade, a weak diamond market, and a strong shekel currency ILS.
Exports comprise around 30% of Israel’s economic activity.
Overall, exports to the European Union – Israel’s largest trading partner – rose 4.8% this year, led by the UK, Spain, Poland, and Belgium. Exports to the United States – the largest export market by country – rose 2% while exports to India grew 9%. Exports to Asian markets including China and Japan fell this year.
The gain in services has more than offset a drop in goods exports, which have been hurt this year by slowing global trade, a weak diamond market, and a strong shekel currency.
1a) Why European opposition to Israel should not be dismissed
The re-establishment of the Jewish state and its astonishing success seems to have provided a new outlet for European anti-Semitism.
A symbolic coincidence occurred earlier this month. In the same morning that Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists pounded Israeli towns with rockets, the European Court of Justice affirmed a European Commission special labeling requirement for Jewish-owned businesses in the West Bank.
While these two events are unrelated, the juxtaposition of two assaults on Jewish sovereignty is indicative of the current state of Judaism, and the threats it faces: The jihadi one is a tactical threat that puts the lives of individual Jews in great danger, but it poses a strategic threat to neither Judaism nor the Jewish State. The European action, on the other hand, does not put any Jewish lives in direct danger, but it represents a strategic threat that is part of a string of European anti-Israel measures.
The history of Europe and Jewry has often been fraught. The acrimonious relationship dates back to the ancient Greek and Roman invasions of Judea, which were followed by European Jews’ centuries-long general refusal to assimilate out of existence. Tensions have since evolved. When Europe was more religious, it often deployed religion as the currency of its opposition to Jews. When Europe turned more secular, many came to oppose Jews through a more national and ethnic opposition to Judaism. Toward the end of the 19th century, this new form of Jew-hatred got a name: Anti-Semitism.
Today, while many European countries are strong allies of Israel, the re-establishment of the Jewish state and its astonishing success seems to have provided a new outlet for European anti-Semitism. Indeed, it is hard to explain the European product-labeling directive on its merits, as it inflicts more damage to Palestinians than it does to Jewish-owned businesses in the West Bank. Those businesses employ Palestinians and some of them mentor Palestinians. European efforts to sabotage Palestinian employment in Jewish-owned businesses do not end with the product-labeling decree and stand in sharp contrast to the U.S. policy of encouraging coexistence and business cooperation. For example, Europeans spent ample funds and political resources to pressure SodaStream to close its West Bank factory. Europe was successful, and hundreds of Palestinians lost their jobs as a result.
Europeans claim that such actions are meant to help Palestinians. The notion that a European would know what is better for an individual Palestinian is regrettably a recurring theme in Europe’s disruptive intervention in Israeli-Palestinian affairs. Many European countries support NGOs and U.N. agencies, such as UNWRA, that promote Palestinian victimhood and rob Palestinians of opportunities to reap the benefits of the Start-up Nation next door. Perhaps even worse, many European countries supported or abstained from ludicrous UNESCO resolutions implying that Jews and Christians have no historical connections to Jerusalem.
The repeated rounds of attacks from Palestinian terrorists, such as the current one, will be contained. The repeated rounds of political hostility from Europe, on the other hand, requires more attention than is currently given.
Indeed, it is time for Europe to end its intervention in Israeli-Palestinian affairs and focus its energy and capital on its own problems. There are no shortage of those: Europe’s conflict with radical Islam, the debate about the essence of Europeanism, the potential secession of EU member-states, Europe’s battle with home-grown terrorism, as well as the long list of unresolved intra-European conflicts that were temporarily shoved under the rug.
Projecting or blaming Israel will not make European problems go away. In fact, it might awaken them: If the EU insists that Psagot winery needs to remove from its labels “made in Israel,” then some might argue that the EU should also prohibit wine produced in Italian-controlled South Tyrol from being labeled “made in Italy.” Similarly, the EU might preclude wine made in Corsica from being labeled “made in France,” and in Catalonia from being labeled “made in Spain.”
No matter what the EU says, the reality remains that Psagot, as well as the dozens of other West Bank wineries, continue to produce superb Israeli wine that reap award after award in international tasting competitions. Perhaps instead of escalating the feud with the Jewish state, EU politicians and bureaucrats should change course and benefit from the great blessings that are coming out of Israel.
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2)Attorney General: PM Doesn't Have to Step Down Now Despite Indictments
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