Help Get A Blog Online

My father, Shlomo Shamir, (his pen name) has been the main NY correspondent for Ha'Aretz (the Israeli newspaper) for over thirty years. His articles, editorials and features can be read in almost every print edition of the newspaper (often on the front page). Some articles are also translated (by the paper) into English for their website. Here are three recent articles: 1, 2, 3.

I have finally been able to convince my technologically-backward father that he should start blogging. Although he reads, speaks and understands English, it is not his first language. In order for his blog to accurately convey his opinions and knowledge we need to find someone skilled enough, and kind-hearted enough, to translate from Hebrew to English what would be his daily thoughts. I envision his blog giving a run to established bloggers like Glenn Reynolds and Andrew Sullivan. If only we can get it online...

Those interested in older articles by Shlomo Shamir are in luck. Google uncovers many reprints of his writing over the years (as far back as 1969). Remember that everything you'll read is translated from Hebrew (and not always perfectly).

Any thoughts? Contacts? Offers? Email me.

Small pieces neatly tied up - final ponderings on David Weinberger's latest book
Genesis' Land of Confusion partially included for juxtapositional impact.



The real world is crumbling down around us. People are disconnected from each other more than ever. Killing has become commonplace, efficient and frequent. The Ozone Layer exists in history books as we still rely on dinosaurs to fuel our Brontosaurus-sized automated horses. "Optimism in this environment is made to feel like a refuge for dreamers and girly-men. Instead, the realist assumes, we need to 'face facts' because then we can manage our fate. In a peculiar way, realism buys is the illusion that we can master a world that is not of our making; we just have to be hardheaded enough. Realism is denial."





There's a hint of something special happening... on the Internet... on the Web... in the new world of our making... built by us... out of passion and with voice. "Rather than being constructed out of hard-edged atoms and things, the new world of the Web is built thoroughly and completely out of the interrelationship of things."

We feel comfortable on the Web. We take easily to the metaphors used without thinking too much about their deep shortcomings. We like the Web. Weinberger shows us why this is so true. "Web relationships go deeper than mere clickable links... nothing on the Web is independent of us and our meanings and our interest; for this reason, we can't make the mistake of thinking that what 'really' counts is the stuff that's apart from us. On the Web, there's only passion..."



We have created the Web. It exists because we want it to. No link, no word, no porn photo evolved or popped into existence. "...what holds the Web together isn't a carpet of rock but the world's collective passion." Truth, justice, the way, reality, information and other concepts are all very different on the Web. "Knowledge on the Web is a social activity."



The seminal paragraph of Small Pieces Loosely Joined comes at the end of the Perfection chapter, on page 94. I promise it will be my last quote. I hope the author does not mind my reliance on excerpts. "The Web celebrates our imperfection, ludicrous creatures that we are. Its juice comes from there being as many points of view as people and as many ways of talking as there are Web pages. The Web is where we can air our viewpoints, experiment, play, and fail, and then get right back on our feet and try again. It is not headed towards agreement. Ever. There isn't one way of thinking or talking or behaving on the Web, and if there were, who'd want to go? The Web would be just a large 'information resource,' a place where we find answers. But the Web is far more interesting. It will never be perfect - complete, final, total, true without exception, good without hesitation. It is, therefore, a genuine reflection of our imperfect human nature, and a welcome relief from the anal-perfectionism imposed on so much of our real-world lives."

So cherish what you can do online, what you can't do offline, what you won't do offline and what you fear to do offline. You are helping to define the Web. Go forth, my children, and spread the Word of Weinberger.

Fuck 'em All

Iraq is withholding its oil for 30 days or until Israel withdraws into the ocean and drowns under its own lack of a raison d'etre. This is nothing new.

GOOD.

Hopefully more fuckhead countries will withhold their opium from the US.

The next radical shift in the history of the world, or at least the US, is the shift to more efficient forms of energy that benefit both the environment and our ability to satiate our needs alone. This shift will not happen by people volunteering to give up their SUV's or paying more taxes to support the necessary R&D. The shift will only happen when we are kicked in our collective asses with a 9-11-sized kick in the ass.

Even those who don't give a shit about the environment must realize the returns from expediting this undeniable shift (drilling for fossil fuel is a zero sum game). While it won't be a silver bullet, it will allow the US to be much more even-handed and realistic in its dealings with the Middle East. Does anyone else find it insane that while we threaten a war with Iraq we continue to fulfill between 5 and 10 percent of our oil needs with Iraqi oil? Oh, and by the way, the export ban will not affect anyone in Iraq but the poor. This is because of the Oil for Food program. Another point is the fact that 15 out of 19 9-11 suicide bombers were from Saudi Arabia, a fact forgotten as we pile billions into their corrupt country.

Bring it on!

That's just my opinion, I may be naive.

Customer Service - Employee Annoyance

New Starbucks Card Good for Us, Bad for Employees

We often talk about marketing tactics which either benefit or annoy customers. Here's a different spin. Starbucks new "quick buy" cards are a huge success. Customers can now be in and out much quicker and wait much less time in lines - just swipe and go. However, the removal of "real world" cash from the equation means that Starbucks employees, who get a starting wage of $7.25/hour, no longer get any tips. So here's a case of extreme convenience for customers at the sake of the work force.

The solution is not easy. Any creative ideas?