In one of the most inane/insane op-ed’s I have ever read, Ynet’s Tani Goldstein sets out to prove why expensive fuel is good. In his first killer point he says, “Making fuel more expensive will prompt some of us to use our cars a little less, and cars (including mine) are, simply put, humanity’s enemy. Cars are an enemy because they kill people: Since World War II, road accidents are the leading cause of unnatural death in the world.”

Last time I looked out at the parking lot behind my office I saw no cars attacking anyone. Alert: People who drive cars kill people! I also wonder how many people have been saved or born because of cars? Millions of pregnant women in labor were brought to hospitals in cars, and delivered babies. A lot more than were killed by unnatural deaths since WWII. I can see it now, some woman with contractions 5 minutes apart, and her husband sticks her in a wagon ties to his 10-speed and starts peddling to the hospital. Oh, I forgot, I am sure that the author only allows home-births.

In another truly compelling argument, Goldstein says, “By the way, there is no certainty that a car truly improves the quality of life of all motorists.” Uh Huh. So we need a 100% satisfaction guarantee in order to have any convenience?

After all, without vehicles, how are we to get all of Goldstein’s organic fruits and vegetables to market?

Finally for the finale, “Yet life is not a communist utopia, and the pleasures of life will never be divided fairly. Residents of peripheral towns will be inconvenienced to a greater extent.” No need to even respond to that gem.

Regarding peripheral towns, I think that without cars, they will be a thing of the past. How are these residents going to be able to get anywhere without a car? If Goldstein had his way, everyone would need to move to a big city. That does not sound so ‘environmental”, does it?

The fact is that automobiles are one of the greatest sources of freedom for individuals, and source of commerce the economy. By wanting to limit their use, he is trying to create a ‘Communist utopia”.

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Things apparnetly are boring for El Al airlines so they decided to spice things up a bit. It appears that El Al is openly marketing to European Gays and Lesbians, and hoping to sell them on coming to Israel in June for Gay pride week.

According to Ynet: “According to tourism branch sources, this is the first time El Al takes such a direct and upfront approach to gay tourism, that is courted around the world by travel agencies and airlines due to the great profit potential found among this population.

On average, gay tourists spend more time vacationing than non-gay tourists and are known to be bigger spenders.

The special packages will be marketed in a no less unique way: Thousands of gay Israelis surfing the Atraf dating website were urged to invite their homosexual friends from Europe to vacation in Israel and enjoy an array of events taking place during Gay and Lesbian Pride Month this June.

The events will peak in Tel Aviv’s pride parade, that will be bigger and better than ever this year as part of the city’s centennial celebrations.

If the campaign is successful, hundreds, if not thousands of gay tourists from Europe are expected to flood the city for the first time since the pride parades started.

Tel Aviv’s gay community welcomed the joint initiative with El Al. Travel agent Russell Lord, who specializes in bringing gay tourists to Israel, said on Tuesday, “Since the campaign was launched yesterday, I’ve received many positive responses from gay tourists from Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Greece, and I didn’t believe there would be such quick responses.”

How long do you think it will take for the Israeli Hareidim, or ultra-orthodox, to announce a boycott of El Al? This should be an interesting fight. Stay tuned.

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The richest women in Israel, Shari Arison came out swinging today, blasting the Bank of Israel and accusing them of trying to nationalize her bank. Fresh off news that she is in divorce proceedings from her felon-husband Ofer Glazer, Arison is taking out her frustration at the BOI and she may be justified.

After all, the government doesn’t own the bank so why should they have a say in who she hires and fires as CEO of Bank Hapoalim?

According to Globes: “Arison said, “This isn’t control. This is a raid. It is creeping nationalization, and rapid creep. I won’t lie to myself, and I won’t do something that I don’t believe in just to placate a demand that I consider utterly unjustifiable. I feel very hurt. An arrow was fired and the target was drawn around it. There’s a feeling of McCarthyism - no law, no justice. This is simply a frame-up just because someone doesn’t like somebody else.”

Maybe the Bank of Israel should stick to payinmg attention to the economy, and worry less about non-government companies. Go get ‘em Shari!

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Not wanting to let the Iranians play the UN,US, and Europe buy paying lip service to dialogue while continuing to build their nuclear program, Israeli FM Avigdor Lieberman, said that no more than 3 months should be allowed for diplomacy.

According to ynet:“It is important that the dialogue with Iran be limited, and if after three months it will become clear that the Iranians stalling and are not shelving their nuclear program, the international community will be required to take practical measures against them,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during their meeting in Rome Tuesday.

During the meeting, which ran over an hour, Lieberman asked that Berlusconi convince Russia to sever its ties with Hamas and Hizbullah, “who are terror organizations that act against the West’s allies in the Middle East, including Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.”

Once again it seems that Lieberman is making sense.

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