Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

I’ve found rather a lot to criticize in recent New York Times journalism. Not since John Burns wrote a wonderful piece on the Israeli security fence (a few weeks ago) have I felt glowing praise was in order. But today is the day to give the Times its due. New Tries for Mideast Peace (who thought of that lame title by the way?) lauds Ayalon and Nusseibeh, who:

produced an admirable…statement of principles for a two-state solution, which they say has been signed by 100,000 Israelis and 70,000 Palestinians. It deals with the most sensitive issues: Israel would be recognized as the “state of the Jewish people,” sovereignty in Jerusalem would be divided and shared, and the Palestinian “right of return” would not include returning to Israel.

But the editorial quickly raises the deepest sticking point to any potential peace agreement:

…A majority of Israelis and Palestinians favor such a solution, but the leadership needed to produce it is missing in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Washington.

For the time being, the will of the people is weaker than the lassitude of the political leadership. One desperately hopes that this will not always (and not long) be the case.

The following appears in today’s New York Times, Rice Faults Past Administrations on Terror:

Bush’s national security adviser said on Thursday that the Clinton and other past administrations had ignored evidence of growing terrorist threats and that despite repeated attacks on American interests, “until Sept. 11, the terrorists faced no sustained, systematic and global response” from the United States.

“They became emboldened,” the adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said of Al Qaeda, “and the result was more terror and more victims.”

The Bush Administration and its terrorism policy have been given terrible black eyes of late as highlighted by the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. So Ms. Rice and other top minions have decided when you have no defense go to the offense. The governement’s terrorism policy is a shambles. But in order to divert attention from its failures, the guiding principle seems to be: “Blame the guys who came before us.” The hope appears to be that such an offensive approach (which is also ‘offensive’ in the objectionable sense of the word) will buy time until the Administration can get back ‘on message.’ The only problem with this perspective is that Bush policy will never get back on message. Hussein and his loyalists only get stronger and more lethal. Al Qaeda is not gone or even seriously weakened though we have killed many of its followers. Things are likely to get worse before they (if ever) get better. This situation is not likely to change for a long, long time if ever.

Here is a hilarious and ingenious parody/spoof at Microsoft’s expense which basically takes apart the new Microsoft Office 2003 version: Microsoft Office 2003: Compare Previous Editions..

I just bought Outlook 2003 (part of the Office suite) because the New York Times lauded its spam filtering capabilities. Personally (and I may not use Outlook like you), I don’t see that many changes for me from the way I operated before. Not much better, not much worse. The spam filtering system does seem to pick up more spam than previous MS filters. But it still doesn’t get nearly everything (the Times reviewer claimed it intercepted 95% of his spam!).

In addition, opening Outlook 2003 is a much slower process. I’m guessing the new version is a memory hog and perhaps that the improved spam filter is delaying the initialization when you open the software.

If you liked the old Outlook Bar (which contained icons representing individual OTL folders like Contacts, Calendar, etc. and which provided you one-click access to them) in pre-2003 versions, you’ll miss it here. Instead, those brilliant programmers came up with a Navigation Pane, which ties (actually I should say ‘chains’) together what the new version calls the Folder List with a set of graphic icons which functions something like the former Outlook Bar.

Those programmers must’ve been pretty excited by their Navigation Pane because slipstick.com mentions this neat little nugget of MS lore:

‘WunderBar’ was the working name for the Outlook navigation pane during the Office 2003 beta.

Surely they jest??! It ain’t no wunder to me, that’s for sure!

In Outlook 2002, these two features were separate and could be displayed or not depending on the user’s preference. Not anymore! Leave it to those whacky Microsoft programmers to take two separate good things and turn them into one really bad thing. What were they thinking when they locked these two features together?

Now, in Outlook 2003 either you display the Outlook Bar AND Folder List together as the Navigation Pane or you don’t display them at all. There’s no way to display the Outlook Bar alone (as I would like). Go get ‘em MS! You rock (not)!

Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s Chief of Staff (equivalent to chairman of the Joint Chiefs here), today severely criticized the current repressive policies of the Sharon government against the Palestinians in Israel’s Chief of Staff Denounces Policies Against Palestinians. In effect, Yaalon was criticizing not only Sharon, he was also calling into question the very policies which his own forces are implementing. I’ve been following Israeli politics since 1967 and cannot remember a time when a Chief of Staff criticized government policies so strongly and clearly. For Mideast doves, today was a very good day. Let us hope that momentum is sustained.

Imagine how that will go over with the rank and file soldier! Hopefully, it will make them question what they are doing even more strongly than at present. Here is the gist of Yaalon’s statement as quoted from the Israeli press:

Nahum Barnea, a leading Israeli columnist with the daily Yediot Ahronot, quoted “a military official” as saying comprehensive travel restrictions and curfews imposed on Palestinians were actually harming Israel’s overall security.

“It increases hatred for Israel and strengthens the terror organizations,” Mr. Barnea wrote, quoting the official.

General Yaalon also said that Israel should have eased punitive measures to bolster the fortunes of the former Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned on Sept. 6 after only four months on the job.

“There is no hope, no expectations for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, nor in Bethlehem and Jericho,” Mr. Barnea quoted the “military official” as saying. “In our tactical decisions, we are operating contrary to our strategic interest.”

In previous public statements, General Yaalon has supported strong military action.

While this might look like a strike out of the blue for the military commander to directly contradict his civilian commander (and it could never happen here [I hope]), there may be ample reason for this. Though I know nothing of the background for Yaalon’s statement, it could be possible that his military career is nearing an end (most Chiefs of Staff retire from the service after performing this role for a few years and then return to private life; MANY chiefs turn to politics after they retire) and he plans to run for office. If he’s intending to run as a Labor Party member, then this statement makes perfect sense. Or if he wishes Sharon to fire him so that he can do the same thing…it’s possible that he will get his wish and become a hero to Labor Party members throughout the country as the man who stood up to Sharon. Whatever the reasons, this man deserves a lot of credit and has a lot of guts. May there be more where he came from.

Most everyone I know who loves food has what I’d call a “hate/like” relationship with Zagat: either they hate it with a passion or they might grudgingly admit its utility.

I’d like to point out an alternative. Not in the sense of a guide that replicates Zagat; but a guide that represents for Canada what a good nationally focussed food guide could be here in the States. It is called Where to Eat in Canada and has, for the past 32 years been produced by Anne Hardy.

I first discovered the book while staying at Sooke Harbor House in Sooke, BC. The way I judge whether a food guide is any good is by reading a review of a restaurant I know well. If the review is on the money, then I have a sense of the judgment of the particular guide. Just for the hell of it, I decided to look up the review of Sooke Harbor House in Where to Eat in Canada. Not only was it right on the money, it was quite literate and made for a most enjoyable read. Now, that’s my kind of food writing. I remember thinking: ‘If only there was something like this in the U.S.!’

For some sample reviews, check out : ‘Where to Eat’ Sample Reviews.

Now, I understand that the goals and methods of Zagat and Where to Eat are different. Zagat aims to be the people’s guide and Where to Eat is a more traditional reviewer driven guide. But what I like about Where to Eat and hate about Zagat is that the former focuses on food and the dining experience, while Zagat sexes up its reviews. Zagat aims to tell you what’s hot and what’s not in the world of food. That’s why it loves those pithy, sexy oneliners that its reviewers throw in to describe the restaurant. All that stuff I can do without.

Of course, in the U.S. you could never write a single guide that could encompass every major restaurant in the country (as Where to Eat attempts to do). But you could write guides for the major cities (as Zagat has done). I quite like the New York Times Restaurant Guide. But I’d like to see something of that quality for all the major U.S. cities. Any of you food writer/entrepreneur types out there listening?

My 2 1/2 year old son loves the swings at Madison Park playground. One day, while pushing Jonah on the swings, I noticed some small boys driving a battery-powered Gaucho Jeep replica. These are not little toy trucks like kids have played with since time immemorial (well, maybe not time immemorial!). These behemoths are larger than the boys themselves. They drive like the real thing including forward and reverse gears. And I've seen some of the children driving these machines on the public sidewalk as if they were driving the real thing. I'm just waiting for some kid to drive ...

Obituary published in The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, on 10/2/2003:Gertrude M. Jones, 81, passed away on August 25, 2003, under the loving care of the nursing aides of Heritage Manor of Mandeville, Louisiana. She was a native of Lebanon, KY. She was a retired Vice President of Georgia International Life Insurance Company of Atlanta, GA. Her husband, Warren K. Jones predeceased her. Two daughters survive her: Dawn Hunt and her live-in boyfriend, Roland, of Mandeville, LA; and Melba Kovalak and her husband, Drew Kovalak, of Woodbury, MN. Three sisters, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren, also survive her. Funeral services were held in Louisville, KY. Memorial gifts may be made to any organization that seeks the removal of President George Bush from ...

The New York Times Sunday Style section featured a repulsive story, Underdressed and Hot: Dolls Moms Don't Love. Among the most disgusting portions of this objectionable article is the following:At 8, Macie Rosenthal is done with Barbies. "I have a whole collection," she said, "that I would like to get rid of someday." Instead, pride of place on Macie's toy shelf belongs to Jade, a 10-inch avatar of urban chic, from her exploded hair, inflated lips and tiny wifebeater shirt to her platform boots. 'Wifebeater shirt?' Since when has 'wife beating' become a fashion statement? [Update: a reader below corrects ...

Perseus Development released a blogging survey which the New York Times covered in Blog Bog? The results were both saddening and promising at the same time. Of 4 million blogs currently, fully two thirds were inactive (not updated for two months) and one million contained only one entry and were abandoned. But, 50,000 blogs were updated every day and there were over 1.5 million active blogs last year. Next year, that number will more than double to 3.3 million; and in 2004 the number will nearly double again to nearly 6 million. The article notes that the survey only covers blogs on hosted sites (like TP & Blogger.com). ...

Sari Nusseibeh and Ami Ayalon spoke this week at the University of Washington campus. Nusseibeh is President of Al Quds University in Abu Dis (East Jerusalem) and a leading Palestinian voice against violence and in favor of a negotiated settlement with Israel. Ami Ayalon is the former head of the Israeli Shin Bet (Israel's FBI) who also favors an immediate negotiated settlement between Israel and Palestine. I was immensely pleased that their lecture audience filled the largest lecture hall in Kane Hall and spilled over into an overflow room next door. One thousand people or more heard their wise words of moderation. ...