Ehud (part 1), Brad, and dusting off the ol' ten speed

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave an impassioned address to a Joint meeting of Congress yesterday. I caught some audio clips from the speech on the radio this morning, and read the majority of it when I got to work (you can find the speech in its entirety at http://www.israelemb.org/). Olmert outlined several points of importance to Israel and the peace process in the Middle East, including a continued hard stance towards the Hamas led P.A. government. Olmert believes that peace is a real possibility but there has to be a lot of work done, and there are things that Israel is just not willing to bend on. "With a genuine Palestinian partner for peace, I believe that we can reach an agreement on all the issues that divide us." Olmert stated that peace treaties had been reached in the past with Egypt and Jordan but not without "painful and difficult compromises," which required Israel to "take real risks." As much extension of the Olive branch as there was, Olmert made it clear that "peace without security, will bring neither peace nor security." The right direction may be were the process is headed, but it seems that there is a lot more work to do.
Olmert also spoke on religion, the Jewish state, Iran, and other things. The one thing that I really appreciated was his appreciation that he showed for America and the American people. (look for more analysis on this tomorrow). He started out his speech thanking congress, President Bush and the American people for the continued support. He went on to talk about the American sacrifices for the good of humanity. I will dive into this and his Memorial Day tribute as part of my weekend long three part Memorial Day salute starting tomorrow.

On a lighter note, the Twins stink.

Ok so that is how I wanted to end that last one but I will divulge a little bit. My favorite Major League team lost 11-0 yesterday. Direct line to the Twins: "I (as well as millions of others in Hennepin County) am paying for your new stadium way to make it look like a sound investment." There were rumblings on the talk radio stations this morning about brining up more new pitchers from the minors to give them their shot. Are you kidding me? It's freakin May, and already some are throwing in the towel. How pathetic is that? Another direct line to the Twins: "the young pitchers we have are doing fine (replace Radke if you must... Although I like Brad and he would be a really expensive minor league player), how about bringing up some of that minor league hitting... Oh wait all we have in the minors are stud starting pitching, great defensive utility players, and a lot of speed. Whatever happened to building championships around solid pitching and defense? Awesome Steroids.

Finally, I finally purchased my new bike yesterday. After over a year of looking and researching, and deliberating I bit the bullet and made the purchase (which wasn't easy as I am slightly tight with money). Look for me flying down area paths and streets with my red road bike and matching red helmet sometime real soon. I also had red and white shorts on this morning when I was out riding. I was showing my support for the new state fruit.