Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com The Marketplace of Ideas Sat, 25 May 2013 21:40:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Out of the frying pan. . . http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/out-of-the-frying-pan/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/out-of-the-frying-pan/#comments Sun, 19 May 2013 10:07:37 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=127330 Despite being named the eighth most redneck city in the U.S. as reported by that prestigious journal, ransackedmedia.com, I love my hometown of Sacramento.  It is a pleasant tree-lined city with blue rivers and greenery and good people, even if their self-worth occasionally appears to depend a bit too much on keeping the NBA’s Kings in town. Despite my fondness for Sacramento, after three months [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/out-of-the-frying-pan/feed/ 0 Skiing, sushi, and the vote http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/skiing-sushi-and-the-vote/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/skiing-sushi-and-the-vote/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:34:26 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=99738 Last week was an interesting and eventful week for Israel  but, then, they all seem to fit that description. It was also a fun and satisfying week for me. I was walking back from the post office last Monday. One tends to go to the post office a lot more frequently in Israel because it [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/skiing-sushi-and-the-vote/feed/ 0 The great pepper caper and other stories http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-great-pepper-caper-and-other-stories/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-great-pepper-caper-and-other-stories/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:56:20 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=95666 In what could be the greatest Middle East debacle since I reported on the Saudi Arabian pencils and panties scandal at this time last year, it has now been disclosed by Challah Hu Akbar, writing in the Elder of Ziyon blog, that three kinds of Israeli peppers were discovered on the shelves of Spinneys, one [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-great-pepper-caper-and-other-stories/feed/ 0 Miracles http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/miracles/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/miracles/#comments Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:20:56 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=91702 Having just finished the season of miracles, I thought I would report on a few miracles I experienced about a week or so ago. I had lost my car registration, so I went to one of the Israeli Ministry of Transportation offices here in Jerusalem to see if I could get a replacement. The Ministry [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/miracles/feed/ 0 Tragic Comedy, Palestinian Style http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/tragic-comedy-palestinian-style/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/tragic-comedy-palestinian-style/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:03:40 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=82910 The situation would be comic if it wasn’t all so hopeless and tragic. You’ve got a statehood bid by an entity that has two sub-entities. One is controlled by a terrorist group, Hamas, sworn to the destruction of Israel and the elimination of Jews. (Read its charter if you want a nightmare.) Hamas claims it [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/tragic-comedy-palestinian-style/feed/ 2 My first war: part II: Tel Aviv bus bombing http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-first-war-part-ii-tel-aviv-bus-bombing/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-first-war-part-ii-tel-aviv-bus-bombing/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:51:33 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=80914   A friend of one of our sons just posted:  “The ground war has begun–in central Tel Aviv.” A bomb went off on a bus in a crowded Tel Aviv area about an hour and 45 minutes ago.  First reports are 15 injured, four seriously.  Hamas said it would start suicide bombers again. Not sure [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-first-war-part-ii-tel-aviv-bus-bombing/feed/ 0 Jeremy Ben-Ami: The hubris of an oracle http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jeremy-ben-ami-the-hubris-of-an-oracle/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jeremy-ben-ami-the-hubris-of-an-oracle/#comments Tue, 20 Nov 2012 19:52:45 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=80378 I am often amazed at the contradictions and the hubris demonstrated by self-described lovers of Israel who criticize it and lobby the American administration to pressure it for its ostensible good. The two of the most prominent such loving critics are Jeremy Ben-Ami ofJ Street and the writer Peter Beinart. Ben-Ami and Beinart mourn the [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jeremy-ben-ami-the-hubris-of-an-oracle/feed/ 3 My first war: regrets and observations http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-first-war-regrets-and-observations/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-first-war-regrets-and-observations/#comments Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:11:21 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=80374 The outpouring of concern and support we have received since I posted on Facebook and e-mailed my brief message about our first (and hopefully only) experience with a red alert and taking cover has been heartwarming. Thanks to everyone. It does mean a lot. The experience was disconcerting but we are doing fine. Things are [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-first-war-regrets-and-observations/feed/ 0 Is The Ship Really Sinking? http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-the-ship-really-sinking/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-the-ship-really-sinking/#comments Fri, 16 Nov 2012 10:50:36 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=79096 As the old saying goes, “two Jews, three opinions.”  The University of California at Davis is no exception. At the small, pleasant Reform Congregation Beit Haverim in Davis, there are two Israel-oriented groups.  One is the more traditional Israel Matters Committee.  And then there is there is the Israel Peace Alternatives group which, as its [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/is-the-ship-really-sinking/feed/ 0 Bocce ball, Richard Rodriguez, and the nation-state http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/bocce-ball-richard-rodriguez-and-the-nation-state/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/bocce-ball-richard-rodriguez-and-the-nation-state/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:40:13 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=74890 My wife and I just returned to Israel  from a wonderful eight days in Italy.  Tuscany, to be exact.  Three nights in Florence,  three in Sienna, and two in Lucca.  Beautiful.  Great food and wine and olive oil,  tremendous scenery, terrific history and architecture, nice people, and charm, charm, charm. Even the driving was hassle-free, [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/bocce-ball-richard-rodriguez-and-the-nation-state/feed/ 0 MY UPSIDE DOWN WORLD, OR SAY IT AIN’T SO http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-upside-down-world-or-say-it-aint-so/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-upside-down-world-or-say-it-aint-so/#comments Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:34:52 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=68924 I’ve been back home in California since the second week in August, and am now getting ready to head back home to Israel in about 10 days. Being back in Sacramento is always fun. Family, friends, the Sierras, the San Francisco Bay Area, calm suburban living, baseball, easy parking. Hard to argue with.  But as [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-upside-down-world-or-say-it-aint-so/feed/ 1 Sister act http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/sister-act/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/sister-act/#comments Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:17:26 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=51978 On August 14 the Sacramento City Council will consider a proposal to form a Sister City relationship with Ashkelon, a city along the southern coast of Israel.  Predictably, members of the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement and others that hate Israel are opposing the proposal, which would hopefully result in greater understanding and warmer [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/sister-act/feed/ 0 Boycott British Bangers http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/boycott-british-bangers/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/boycott-british-bangers/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 15:03:33 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=28472 I’ve decided to boycott the British. It is fairly difficult to actually think of anything useful or attractive that the British make, but I am going to give it my best shot. Why the boycott? I’ve just had enough of the British. They have become annoying and irritating. And they’ve got chutzpa. They are a [...]

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]]> http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/boycott-british-bangers/feed/ 8 Priorities http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/priorities/ http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/priorities/#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:36:17 +0000 Alan Edelstein http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/?p=20424 It would be funny if it weren’t so pathetically predictable. In the last few weeks Palestinian Authority President Abbas has again refused to negotiate unless Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu makes huge concessions regarding borders in advance of negotiations. Rockets specifically intended to kill and maim civilians continue to be fired from Gaza into Israel’s south. [...]

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