After some quality time on the beaches of Long Island Sound, I am ready for the sights and sounds of NYC, my former home. Is there any place like it?

With the "war" being "over" the IDF is gearing up for a bigger conflict to come. Congratulations Olmert and your group of special friends. You sucked up to the French and their sleazy partners ("partners" indeed) and you have gained nothing diplomatically or security-wise for Israel. You did allow Netanyahu to get some quality appearances and to start to rebuild the strength and confidence of the Right. For that, all Israelis should be thankful. Now, demented socialist policies are even less likely to be implemented and not even those on the fence will allow Avoda (Israel's main left-wing party) to wreck the economy. However, you did mismanage the war, you tied the hands of the IDF at every turn, and you sacrificed 120 soldiers for a meaningless ceasefire. But there's more afoot than that.

There is serious upheaval in the IDF, as the reservists cite the unpreparedness, the confusion about how to use the reserve units in battle, and the mismanagement of the refresher courses. Everything is being dealt with as a result of the scuffle with Hizbollah. Meanwhile, the politicians are trying to stay low, hoping the people don't notice who the real criminals are. The Israeli voter may have been swayed in the past by the left-wing media and by illogical populist rhetoric, but a war reminds those with common sense that they should use reason and logic when they vote. And not the kind of crypto-Marxist, internationalist hogwash propogated by the looney leftist elites. Rather, voters will choose the view points of the nationalist and religious-nationalist leaders, for whom Zionism and basic Jewish patriotism are core values. Of course, Likud, Israel Beiteinu, and Mafdal-National Union have to unite and stop splitting up the solid right-wing majority with ther incessant bickering.

The chattering classes scorn the very ideas that built Israel, that are continuing to build it and that work day and night to keep Israel secure and strong. The post-modern, nihilistic, pleasure-oriented emotional ride that characterizes the trendy fools of today's empty secularism has completely missed the essence of what is actually going on in Israel and the world at large.

There's a struggle between Judeo-Christian values and Islamic values. Secularists and atheists, as well-meaning as they are, can only disrupt the West's efforts. There are still plenty of Westerners who know that our way is right, and Ahmadinejad and company are wrong. If only we can push the the weakening forces aside, the West will contain and diminish the enemy, and we will continue to lead the world. But due to our inner desire for personal pleasure and total denial of that which is meaningful, there is, sadly, a chance that we will fold and Islamofascists will gradually deplete our resources until we fall to our knees. In that eventuality, I will flee to a remote log cabin in the Canadian Rockies and hope that it all blows over.