>>>>>>BTW, that's Central European. We were neither east nor west. The water in my city is a bit yellowish because of all the iron - it was washing down from that curtain that was bobbing above our heads.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Central -- noted. My mistake.
>>>>>
>>>>>Also a matter of physical POV. We call Near East what you call Middle East; but we call the same thing Far East (anything between Malaysia, Mongolia and Bering straits) even though it's farthest edges are in your immediate neighborhood... on the west.
>>>>>
>>>>>But what do you call our Middle East - which would be India, Sri Lanka and middle Russia. Is that Far East too?
>>>>
>>>>It stops me every time when I see your tag line saying Natalie Portman is an Asian American. I think to most Americans Israel is in the Middle East, even though it's not a continent.
>>>
>>>Of course Israel is in the Middle East. It just happens that the Middle East is in Asia.
>>
>>Yes, it is, but I maintain that the Middle East is considered a geographic entity of its own, without regard to continents.
>
>Hmmm... Personally, I've always considered it to be part of Asia. To whom are you referring when you say it's considered to be a geographic entity of its own? Considered by whom (I'm hoping here for a longer answer than "me"). ;)
>
>>
>>What continent is Greenland in? Huh? Huh? Huh? ;-)
>
>My guess would be that, being a Danish province, it is in Europe. Is every unattached piece of land to be considered as its own species? Is Newfoundland now no longer part of North America? How about Hawaii?

We can disagree about this. I just know I have seen the phrase Middle East used to a lot to refer to Israel and its Arab neighbors. Until Dragan started using the tag line it had never occurred to me that they are in Asia.

It's OK, there are more important things than this.