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

Steve Jobs lost a State Superior Court ruling last year which prevented him from demolishing the historic Jackling House in Woodside, CA. In the interim, the preservationists opposing Jobs have presented to him a serious proposal from Gordon Smythe, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, that would involve moving the house to a new location and preserving it. Uphold Our Heritage has been generally supportive of Smythe’s proposal. After the group ironed out most of its issues with the potential buyer, Jobs refused to conclude a deal with him.

Jobs prefers appealing the ruling to State Court of Appeals in a desperate hope that what he didn’t win in Superior Court, he might win in a higher court. The hearing was held on December 20th. While no one knows which way the three judges will rule, UOH’s attorney was heartened by the fact that the one justice who asked questions framed them in much the same terms (Superior Court) Judge Weiner did in her original ruling.

Other factors have encouraged those battling to save Jackling House. Preservationists have discovered other offers to Jobs in the past year which he and his representatives never acknowledged to them. In addition, the Town of Woodside commissioned a study of the relocation options for the house and their independent expert found there were many viable options. All of which weakens Jobs’ contention in his claim that there are no ‘feasible’ preservation options for the home. Since none of these offers had been made before the Superior Court decision nor had the Town study been conducted, we believe Jobs’ case has further eroded in the interim.

What I find passing strange is that given the hot water which both he and Apple find themselves in regarding backdating of stock options, you’d think he’d want to negotiate his way out of peripheral matters such as this one in order not to have any legal distractions facing him. But apparently Steve Jobs is one of those Bill Gates-Steve Ballmer types who brook no opposition or compromise when it comes to realizing their perceived personal or business interests. It’s one thing to be so pig-headed when you’re a master of the universe. But after so many other CEOs have been felled by similar backdating imbroglios, Jobs is no longer a king. And if the SEC decides to launch a full investigation, Jobs and Apple will come under a microscope. I can’t imagine that having the Jackling House hanging over his head will be conducive to presenting him before the public as a fully sympathetic individual nor as one fully willing to respect the law as it pertains to him.

The Amazon link above to Spanish Revival Architecture features Jackling House prominently as a sterling example of this vintage architectural style.

tags historic-preservation, jobs-backdating-stock-options, spanish-revival-architecture, steve-jobs-jackling-house-court-of-appeals-hearing, uphold-our-heritage

Jonah’s ‘Shark in the Ocean’

tags childrens-art, drawing

Jonah’s ‘Beautiful Day’

tags childrens-art, drawing

Some weeks ago, while writing about the drubbing Israel suffered in the National Brands Index, I got into an argument with one of my ‘Israel is peachy keen’ readers. He tried to sell me the bill of goods that it didn’t matter what the rest of the world thought of Israel since the country was an economic engine chugging along under full power. All was for the best in this best of all possible worlds.

The NY Times published a similar article today expounding on the continuing success of Israeli economic growth. But it’s important to note that tucked away in the second half of the story is the bad news. The economic miracle affects only the highly educated and skilled, the professionals, engineers and technical class who can benefit from the expanding industries like technology. But that leaves 20% of the population who have no such skills high and dry.

Israel’s 20% poverty rate may be compared to the U.S. rate of under 13%, Ireland’s 10% and France’s 6.5%. It ain’t a pretty picture.

I quote this section of the story so my readers will take home a more rounded, balanced portrait of the real Israeli economy:

The economic tide is not lifting every Israeli boat, however. Despite the economic growth, the number of Israelis living below the poverty level has been edging up, from 18 percent in 2002 to more than 20 percent last year, according to the government’s National Insurance Institute.

Critics say this is because Israelis who are struggling economically have seen their benefits fall sharply, while they remain unemployed. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level in a decade, but still relatively high at 8.4 percent.

Benjamin Netanyahu, who as finance minister pushed aggressive open-market policies from 2003 to 2005, was also widely criticized for cutting social programs in a country where couples often have many children and depend heavily on such subsidies.

“The basic problem is that economic growth has been very uneven,” said Shlomo Swirski, the academic director of Adva, a research institute that focuses on the poor.

Job growth, he said, has been concentrated in sectors that require a high level of education. Economic growth has been greatest in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas, the economic hub of the country, while the less developed Galilee in the north and Negev Desert in the south have seen much less progress, Mr. Swirski added.

“We’re looking at growth that is highly concentrated geographically, economically and socially,” he said.

Economists note that many of the poor come from two groups, Israeli Arabs and ultra-Orthodox Jews, that have large families and low participation rates in the work force. Among Israeli Arabs, few women have formal jobs. Among the ultra-Orthodox, many men do not work.

The Times article neglects to mention that one in three Israeli children lives in poverty. Another factor that reinforces the unevenness of the Israeli ‘economic miracle.’

tags 20%-of-israelis-live-in-poverty, greg-myre, israeli-economic-growth, new-york-times

My 5-year old son loves projects. He’s always drawing pictures or using copious amounts of scotch tape to create 3-dimensional boxes and what-not. Today, he said to me: “Daddy, wouldn’t it be great if we could hire a man to build a secret tunnel from the TV room (on the lower floor) up to the dining room (ground floor).” When I told him it wouldn’t be a great idea because a tunnel in the middle of the TV room would take up too much space in the open room, he replied: “No, daddy, we’d build the tunnel in the closet.” An eminently sensible proposal, I thought. I did distract him from the idea of renovating our house by suggesting that we join a few wooden tables and throw a blanket over them so that they made a secret tunnel. Jonah took to the idea like a house afire. Before we knew it there was a secret tunnel with an adjoining “living room” filled with toys for Jonah’s entertainment.

A few months ago I first got the notion that I should scan one of his pictures and publish it here. I don’t know why it took me so long to think of doing this nor do I know why it’s taken me so long after thinking of the idea before I actually did it. Call it inertia that comes from having three little children and not knowing what you should do next.

Anyway, Jonah did this drawing together with his nanny, Pearl. They were copying images of sea creatures displayed on his placemat. I think they did a great job.

tags childrens-art

Aipac is definitely NOT a lobbying group. Rather, it is an "educational" organization. Yup, if you believe what Aipac is peddling they have nothing whatsoever to do with the sleaze represented by the likes of Jack Abramoff. They're merely an educational outfit trying to enlighten the U.S. Congress about the goodness of the State of Israel. JTA is peddling this horse manure in Congressional Travel Limits Don't Faze Nonprofits. The new Democratic majority is considering legislation to ban Congressional junkets. And pro-Israel Jewish groups which lobby, er educate, Congressmembers about the "right" way to think and vote regarding issues related to Israel are tremendously nervous that they'll be swept up in the fervor to uproot ...

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I came across what appears to be a Greek blog, Dysdemona, which links to my Israel Palestine Blogs. A post title there, What would happen if the Virgin Mary came to Bethlehem today?, got me to thinking what it would be like for Mary & Joseph if she gave birth to Jesus in a West Bank village today. God forbid they should need to find a hospital. Imagine the checkpoints. Imagine the interminable, capricious waits. Imagine the poor baby Jesus freezing to death in the midnight cold while an Israeli soldier diddles with their lives. Poor Mary. Poor Joseph. Poor Palestine. Poor Israel.

(credit: NY Times) The New York Times, in a vain attempt to be trendy and oh so fashionably courant, has ramped up its "social" reporting. Both the news and lifestyle sections are replete with stories about the latest trends and styles--not just in clothing, but everything from blogs to language itself. Enter one Frank Bruni, the paper's erstwhile food editor, who last Sunday was moonlighting as a lexicographer of the impossibly trendy in A Buzz Saw of Buzzwords. His beat was the "hot" words of 2006. Like much of the "social" reporting I referred to above, such stories attempt to "make" a story out of material that is more a ...