an ode to ariel

Been in the car a lot today and listened to a lot of news. A few interesting items caught my ear.

First, there is the million dollar homepage that a teenager dreamt up to fund his college education. He is really making a million dollars! This has to be the best get rich quick scheme ever.

And nerve growth factor gives new meaning to the question "Do you love me?"

But most of all, the news seems to be full of Ariel Sharon. As one commentor put it, he is Israeli politics. I hope someone writes his biography soon because I would definitely read it. He is one of the most fascinating military and political characters of the modern age.

About 5 years ago, when he was still quite fresh in office, I distinctly remember coming across his name while reading a book on Israeli military history. In the years after the 6 Day War, when Israeli forces were having tremendous difficulty coping with guerilla incursion, young Ariel Sharon dropped out of college and led his own team of special forces on precision strike missions that turned the tide of the terrorist war. He went on to become a general, and then Prime Minister. I would really like to know what happened in between.

Because he is clearly a person of high intelligence and a mind of his own. He bucks trends, walks the edge and does things his own way. The unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and leaving Likud are two cases in point - is he going crazy or is this merely a continuation of a lifelong trend? I'd like to know.

It is a pity that he is unlikely to continue his life less ordinary.