In a televised spectacle that had the air of a game show, officials allocated numbers to the 225 parties and coalitions that registered for the ballot, starting from 501 -- in order to avoid repeating numbers used at the last election that voters might already associate with parties.

With so many parties running, memorable numbers are highly prized so certain numbers like 600 and 700 were not used.

The ruling United Alliance, which won nearly half the votes at January elections, struck lucky with the number 555.

A prayer for a speedy recovery. Her doctors ensure us that she, thank G-d, will survive.

He is a dangerously deranged as his college classmates immediately noticed. That does not mean we can ignore his ultimate target selection.

Memo notes Giffords’ Judaism in motives of alleged attacker

(JTA) -- A U.S. Department of Homeland Security memo reportedly notes that Gabriel Giffords is Jewish in describing the motives of the Arizona congresswoman's alleged assailant.

The memo, obtained by Fox News Channel, says that Jared Lee Loughner mentioned American Renaissance, an extremist anti-immigrant group, in some of his own postings.

"The group's ideology is anti-government, anti-immigration, anti-ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti-Semitic," says the memo sent to law enforcement, which also notes that Giffords, a Democrat, was the first Jewish congresswoman from Arizona.

Apparently, Antisemitism has been on the rise not only in Europe but also in the United States though MSM does its best to ignore it.

Division of Criminal Justice Services report says increase in attacks on Jews, Jewish institutions leads 14% rise in hate crimes

Ironically, the same day the report was released, a threatening letter was sent to an Upper West Side synagogue threatening to blow it up on New Year's Eve, according to the New York Post. The note was discovered in the late afternoon on December 30, at the Congregation Ohab Zedek synagogue on 95th Street near Columbus Avenue, said Rabbi Allen Schwartz.

"We have reasons to believe someone wants to spread fear," Schwartz told The Post. He speculated that a similar letter was sent to at least 10 other synagogues, however authorities declined to comment due to an investigation. Police evacuated the synagogue building, combing it for explosives, but found nothing suspicious.

Ah, yes, Antisemitism continues to go viral

Also see, Giffords’ account of her trip to Israel

In an interview the Giffords' Reform Rabbi downplays the problem of Antisemitism as liberal Reform rabbis tend to do:

In Tucson, the kinds of really overt signs of anti-Semitism have not been huge in our community at all."

"Of course," she explained,"there's been anti-Semitic graffiti, but it hasn't been something that's been on the front burner. It's always on the back burner in Jewish life. It feels like...I hope this isn't it, rearing it's ugly head. It's scary."

Asked about how the congregation has responded to the tragedy, Rabbi Aaron replied,"We've been devastated by what happened to Gabrielle Giffords and to the members of the Tuscon community who were murdered and the ones who were wounded."

To be honest, the man was clearly unstable and though he was an admirer of a book favored by many antisemites including Hitler, Friedrich Nietzsche's"The Will To Power," Antisemitism does not seem to been his primary motive.

In other words, as of this moment, Bill Barker seems right. I, for one, am glad even if I am not as sanguine about the rise of Antisemitism as Rabbi Aaron.

Sarah Palin:"America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.

Personally, I, if not MSM, found President Obama's references to Republican voters as "enemies" and to their representatives as "hostage takers" despicable. After all, he is supposed to be also the president of Republicans. The metaphors he used as a candidate were even worse. See, Obama: ‘If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun’

Hopefully, he will say nothing about civil speech when he leads the memorial service in Tuscan.

Americans benefits from Israeli high tech: With more clinical trials by Israeli biomed firms being held in Ohio than in any other state, it's clear that its priority to woo Israeli businesses is bearing fruit.

A Columbus native, Schottenstein moved to Israel in 1982 from the third-largest manufacturing state (after California and Texas). In 1995, he was tapped by the state to open an office intended mainly to peddle Ohio-made products in Israel. Its second objective was to attract Israeli companies to establish a presence in Ohio for manufacturing or sales and distribution.

Since then,"the nature of the office has changed dramatically," Schottenstein tells ISRAEL21c."At first we spent almost all our time on Ohio exports, but that has reversed over the last decade out of demand for Israeli companies to set up in Ohio."

Wooing Israeli business is now a high priority for the Ohio Department of Development. The greatest success has been the biomedical field, as more clinical trials take place in Ohio than in any other state."They get access to companies, decision-makers and academics to do their research and commercialize their products," Schottenstein says. . . .

The department has helped about 17 Israeli businesses to develop relations in Ohio. However, Scherer emphasizes that many additional deals are struck directly between Ohio municipalities and Israeli firms without the department's help, so the number of Israeli concerns in Ohio is actually much higher."Many of our communities place a priority on Israeli technology," she relates.

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