The following article is now available in PDF:
R.P. Martin, "An Early Christian Hymn (Colossians 1:5-20)," The Evangelical Quarterly 36 (1964): 195-205.
The "Christological hymns" of the NT are always favourites to come up in exams, so I am grateful to Professor for his permission to reproduce here another of his excellent articles on the subject.
More material by Ralph P. Martin:
Ralph P.Martin, An Early Christian Confession. Philippians II. 5-11 in Recent Interpretation. London: The Tyndale Press, 1960. pp.69.
Ralph P. Martin, "The Composition of I Peter in Recent Study," Vox Evangelica 1 (1962): 29-42.
R.P. Martin, "A Footnote to Pliny's Account of Christian Worship," Vox Evangelica 3 (1964): 51-57.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Congressman Al Wynn Passes Energy Amendment
The Energy and Commerce Committee adopted an amendment offered by Congressman Albert Wynn, right, Chairman of the House Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, to a comprehensive, energy efficiency package. The Energy and Environmental Block Grant (EEBG) amendment (H.R. 2447) creates a $10 billion energy efficiency block grant program, modeled after the hugely successful HUD Community Development Block Grant Program. The EEBG program would provide formula-based grants to cities, counties, and States to help address the problem of global warming at the local and neighborhood level. The EEBG legislation, will now be included as part of the energy efficiency package reported out of the full Energy and Commerce Committee for later consideration by the House.
The underlying energy legislation, once passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law, will improve the nation's energy efficiency; increase reliability and economy in electricity supply, transmission, and distribution; provide loan guarantees for projects that avoid, reduce or sequester air pollutants or greenhouse gases, and that employ new or significantly improved technologies; increase the availability of renewable fuels through promotion of renewable fuels infrastructure; and encourage the domestic development and production of plug-in hybrids.
The program distributes one-time planning grants to local and State governments to support development of an Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection Strategy, with annual grants available upon Federal approval of activities set forth under the Strategy. While no match is required, any recipient of funds must submit a report to the Secretary within two years of receiving initial funding and annually thereafter, describing the energy efficiency gains and greenhouse gas reductions.
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips Leave Venezuela
Chevron stays.
"Chevron Corp. is the last U.S. oil major standing in Venezuela's resource-rich Orinoco River basin after Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips this week refused to capitulate to new working terms imposed by Venezuela's government-controlled oil company."
Houston Chronicle
"Under Chavez, Venezuela first raised royalty and tax rates, then later assumed majority control of all oil projects as part of a larger nationalization drive of "strategic" economic sectors. Chavez says those policies are ensuring that oil benefits Venezuelans instead of foreign corporations and governments."
AP via Forbes
When certain companies can't own the resources of a foreign nation, they pack up and leave. Rather than play by the rules of the host nation, Exxon prefers the empire model. Perish the though that local people get a fair share of the benefit (profits) from the extraction of THEIR nation's natural resources.
Whatever. Nice to see Britain's BP and France's Total SA are thrilled with this new business opportunity.
House Ways & Means Passes Energy Tax Package
Update: On 8/4/2007, pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 615, the text of H.R. 2776, as passed by the House, was appended at the end of the text of H.R. 3221 as new matter.
The House Committee on Ways and Means, led by Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), left, voted 24 to 16 in favor of H.R. 2776 the “Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act of 2007. The bill will now head to the House floor for final passage.
The bill 1) extends the placed-in-service date for four years (through December 31, 2012) for qualifying facilities: wind; closed-loop biomass; open-loop biomass; geothermal; small irrigation hydropower; landfill gas; and trash combustion facilities. 2) extends the 30% investment tax credit for solar energy property and qualified fuel cell property for eight years (through the end of 2016, 3) authorizes $2 billion of new clean renewable energy bonds for public power providers and electric cooperatives, 4) The bill removes the caps on the credit for residential solar property (currently capped at $2,000) and residential fuel cell property (currently capped at $500 per half kilowatt of capacity, 5) bill establishes a new credit for each qualified plug-in vehicle. The base amount of the credit is $4,000, 6) creates a new production tax credit of 50 cents per gallon for cellulosic alcohol, 7) extends for two years (through December 31, 2010) the $1.00 and 50 cent per gallon production tax credits for biodiesel and the small biodiesel producer credit of 10 cents per gallon, 8) increases the 30% alternative refueling property credit (capped at $30,000) to 50% (capped at $50,000, among others.
Presidential Debate Missed Environment & Energy
The presidential debate at Howard University, moderated by Tavis Smiley, did not have any questions on environment and energy at a time when these issues are being debated in Congress. There were no questions on environmental justice either. There was not one question on global warming and the potentially devastating effects on the African American community. Moreover, one of the candidates, Bill Richardson, is a former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Republican candidates will address issues of importance to African Americans in September. That should be interesting. Maybe they will address energy and environmental issues. We do not see how these candidates can address environmental justice. They ignore the issue. AAEA has approached Senator John McCain to sponsor our Environmental Justice Act of 2007. We have yet to receive a response.
Tavis, if you need some questions, AAEA would be happy to provide you with some.
EPA Proposes Tougher SMOG Rules
EPA recommended tougher standards on ozone, the principle component of smog, on June 21. It is EPA's first new recommendation since 1997 for ground-level ozone and would reduce current smog standards by 11 - 17 percent. EPA measures smog by calculating the concentration of ozone molecules in the atmosphere over an eight-hour period. The current standard is 84 parts per billion. EPA is proposing reducing that to between 70 and 75 parts per billion.
EPA is taking public comment for 90 days and settle on a final number by March 12, 2008. EPA is also requesting comments on alternate standards, including keeping the current one or reducing it further to .060 parts per million. EPA monitors 639 counties nationwide, and if the standard went to 75 parts per billion, 398 counties would be out of compliance, and if it went to 70 parts per billion, 533 counties would be out of compliance.
States with noncompliance areas could lose federal highway funds. EPA is required by the Clean Air Act to review standards on ozone and other pollutants every five years. It did not happen five years ago and the American Lung Association filed a lawsuit taht led to a settlement with EPA to propose revised levels for smog.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Antisemitism or anti-Israelism?
On Tuesday night, Meretz USA screened the excellent PBS documentary, "Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence." I spoke afterwards, leading into a discussion by making reference to my op-ed article in The Forward, “Reconsidering Antisemitism,” which critiqued a conference at YIVO, four years ago.
As the film depicts, the violent European events of late 2000 and on, with the 2nd intifada, clearly have an antisemitic element. Still, the trigger is not the existence of Jews but rather painful images of Palestinian Arab suffering at the hands of Jews and televised into people’s homes. To be sure, more fair-minded media would show the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians and provide proper context, but European Jews were targeted as surrogates for Israel, not simply because they are Jews.
In making this point, historian Tony Judt (among others) makes good sense, but he can't resist making one anti-Zionist swipe, that not only do antisemitic attackers identify random Jews with Israel but the problem is worsened by Israel claiming to represent all Jews. I doubt that the latter abstract ideological point figures into attackers' thinking. The most impressive talking heads were two young thoughtful Muslim writers: Reza Aslan and a woman whose name escaped me; she made the unoriginal but important observation that corrupt and authoritarian Muslim leaders have used Israel and antisemitism to deflect opposition to their rule.
As Bernard Lewis indicates, Jewish life under Islam was not idyllic and occasionally bad, but not usually as bad as under Christianity. The film also contends (with justice, I think) that hardcore ideological antisemitism is a Christian import into the Islamic world -- brought by 19th century missionaries and Nazi penetration in the 1930s and '40s.
The following are snippets in quotes from my article, with some current observations: Leon “Wieseltier [the YIVO conference keynoter] restated the common conclusion that antisemitism is more about Jew-haters than Jews, that there is no ‘Jewish problem’ as such but the moral problem of non-Jews who buy into age-old prejudices and the illogic of scapegoating and demonization. Hence, there is nothing that Jews can do to modify the opinions of antisemites. ...
“This is a hard truth when related to hard-core antisemites, but not in relation to masses of people who react to news events and visual images, or the manipulation of same. ...
But antisemitism was “on the wane until reignited by scenes of the intifada[.] We have forgotten — or never really knew — how much of the Arab world established a level of relations with Israel during Oslo’s halcyon days. How many of us recall Saudi expressions of compassion for the Israeli victims of a wave of suicide bombings in early 1996?”
I suggest “that we envision the Oslo peace process as a near success instead of merely a bloody failure. It would be useful to engage in what-ifs: What if Baruch Goldstein had not begun the on-again, off-again cycles of terrorism and counter-violence that marred the Oslo years? [It’s instructive that Yihya Ayyash, the innovator of the suicide belt, the Hamas master terrorist known as the engineer, was motivated by the Goldstein massacre to become a terrorist.]
“What if Yitzhak Rabin had survived to maintain his experienced grip on the tiller of government? [I think Rabin, although far from perfect, was a steadier and more prudent leader than his successor Peres.] What if Benjamin Netanyahu had lost the fateful prime ministerial election of 1996, instead of winning by a tiny margin? [When elected he didn’t end but he slowed down the peace process, delaying the final settlement and raising pressures of impatience among Palestinians that eventually fed their return to violence. And we should remember that it was Peres’s decision to okay a Shin Bet hit on Ayyash, the engineer, that triggered the wave of suicide attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, killing 60 people, and raising Netanyahu 20 points in the polls.]”
I include more ‘what ifs’ in my article, but my point is that Oslo was a near miss:
“If Oslo had succeeded, the odious convulsions seizing Europe and the Islamic world would not be happening. Racist and especially theological antisemitism would endure, but increasingly on the margins. Since most of the anti-Jewish or anti-Israel occurrences we deplore are reactions to a changed political landscape, is it really best understood as antisemitism?”
Looking at these words four years later, my point is not really to say that it’s not antisemitism, but that the old adage that antisemitism is a disease that has nothing to do with Jewish behavior and can’t be affected by anything that Jews do is too rigid, dogmatic and self-defeating. Yitzhak Rabin himself knew this. His inaugural address to the Knesset as prime minister in 1992 was to reject the premise that “the whole world is against us.” He knew, very wisely, that if Israel’s statecraft is steeped in the view that most of the world, and the Arabs in particular, are unalterably and inevitably antisemites with whom we can never reconcile, this leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy — state policy that never seriously even tries to reach peace.
To sum up: These events depicted in the film had more to do with Israel than Jews as such. The Arab world was beginning to change in its attitudes toward Jews through Oslo, but this trend was stopped and reversed when Oslo crashed and burned.
As the film depicts, the violent European events of late 2000 and on, with the 2nd intifada, clearly have an antisemitic element. Still, the trigger is not the existence of Jews but rather painful images of Palestinian Arab suffering at the hands of Jews and televised into people’s homes. To be sure, more fair-minded media would show the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians and provide proper context, but European Jews were targeted as surrogates for Israel, not simply because they are Jews.
In making this point, historian Tony Judt (among others) makes good sense, but he can't resist making one anti-Zionist swipe, that not only do antisemitic attackers identify random Jews with Israel but the problem is worsened by Israel claiming to represent all Jews. I doubt that the latter abstract ideological point figures into attackers' thinking. The most impressive talking heads were two young thoughtful Muslim writers: Reza Aslan and a woman whose name escaped me; she made the unoriginal but important observation that corrupt and authoritarian Muslim leaders have used Israel and antisemitism to deflect opposition to their rule.
As Bernard Lewis indicates, Jewish life under Islam was not idyllic and occasionally bad, but not usually as bad as under Christianity. The film also contends (with justice, I think) that hardcore ideological antisemitism is a Christian import into the Islamic world -- brought by 19th century missionaries and Nazi penetration in the 1930s and '40s.
The following are snippets in quotes from my article, with some current observations: Leon “Wieseltier [the YIVO conference keynoter] restated the common conclusion that antisemitism is more about Jew-haters than Jews, that there is no ‘Jewish problem’ as such but the moral problem of non-Jews who buy into age-old prejudices and the illogic of scapegoating and demonization. Hence, there is nothing that Jews can do to modify the opinions of antisemites. ...
“This is a hard truth when related to hard-core antisemites, but not in relation to masses of people who react to news events and visual images, or the manipulation of same. ...
But antisemitism was “on the wane until reignited by scenes of the intifada[.] We have forgotten — or never really knew — how much of the Arab world established a level of relations with Israel during Oslo’s halcyon days. How many of us recall Saudi expressions of compassion for the Israeli victims of a wave of suicide bombings in early 1996?”
I suggest “that we envision the Oslo peace process as a near success instead of merely a bloody failure. It would be useful to engage in what-ifs: What if Baruch Goldstein had not begun the on-again, off-again cycles of terrorism and counter-violence that marred the Oslo years? [It’s instructive that Yihya Ayyash, the innovator of the suicide belt, the Hamas master terrorist known as the engineer, was motivated by the Goldstein massacre to become a terrorist.]
“What if Yitzhak Rabin had survived to maintain his experienced grip on the tiller of government? [I think Rabin, although far from perfect, was a steadier and more prudent leader than his successor Peres.] What if Benjamin Netanyahu had lost the fateful prime ministerial election of 1996, instead of winning by a tiny margin? [When elected he didn’t end but he slowed down the peace process, delaying the final settlement and raising pressures of impatience among Palestinians that eventually fed their return to violence. And we should remember that it was Peres’s decision to okay a Shin Bet hit on Ayyash, the engineer, that triggered the wave of suicide attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, killing 60 people, and raising Netanyahu 20 points in the polls.]”
I include more ‘what ifs’ in my article, but my point is that Oslo was a near miss:
“If Oslo had succeeded, the odious convulsions seizing Europe and the Islamic world would not be happening. Racist and especially theological antisemitism would endure, but increasingly on the margins. Since most of the anti-Jewish or anti-Israel occurrences we deplore are reactions to a changed political landscape, is it really best understood as antisemitism?”
Looking at these words four years later, my point is not really to say that it’s not antisemitism, but that the old adage that antisemitism is a disease that has nothing to do with Jewish behavior and can’t be affected by anything that Jews do is too rigid, dogmatic and self-defeating. Yitzhak Rabin himself knew this. His inaugural address to the Knesset as prime minister in 1992 was to reject the premise that “the whole world is against us.” He knew, very wisely, that if Israel’s statecraft is steeped in the view that most of the world, and the Arabs in particular, are unalterably and inevitably antisemites with whom we can never reconcile, this leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy — state policy that never seriously even tries to reach peace.
To sum up: These events depicted in the film had more to do with Israel than Jews as such. The Arab world was beginning to change in its attitudes toward Jews through Oslo, but this trend was stopped and reversed when Oslo crashed and burned.
David Byrne on 30 Years as a NYC Cyclist
"But we knew some pleasures of which other New Yorkers seemed completely ignorant. Pleasures available to all. An exhilarating feeling as the air rushes past and we dodge taxis and New York pedestrians, who still insist on playing in the traffic. A feeling of flying through and around the inevitably stalled traffic. One has to stay alert — if your attention wavers, you’re done for. Who needs coffee? Or a morning at the gym? A ride across town gets the adrenalin going as one heads to work or to the studio in the morning. By the time one arrives for a meeting one is fully awake — blood pumping, on alert — having often just had 3 near-death experiences."
David Byrne's Blog
Byrne's bike tips for NYC (Greenmap)
"Enterprise" Google Gadgets
I continue to be amazed at the pace of innovation and interest around gadgets in general, and Google Gadgets in particular. With thousands of Google Gadgets in the directory and the top gadgets getting tens of millions of pageviews per week, something is clearly working :)
So much so that yesterday we announced Google Gadget Ventures, a new pilot program designed to fund 3rd party gadget developers. This is a great way to help developers pursue the growing opportunities around gadgets.
Speaking of opportunity, to date, the majority of gadget development has focused on consumer or individual productivity use cases. We're seeing increasing interest in gadgets that access password protected information, often pulled from line of business applications behind a firewall.
Interest here is particularly strong amongst Google Apps users, since the Google Apps Start Page effectively gives organizations iGoogle on their own password protected domain.
For example, we're showcasing some of these "enterprise" gadgets in the Start Page category of the Enterprise Solutions Gallery. Entries include Appirio's gadgets for Salesforce.com and LimitNone's gadgets for corporate directories or internal RSS feeds.
If you're interested in developing gadgets, check out the gadget developer pages.
If you'd prefer to have someone create an enterprise gadget for you, there's a growing list of 3rd parties specializing in this type of development in the professional services category of the Enterprise Solutions Gallery.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Petanque in public parks
It is amazing how - the same day - the same game can be hailed as a welcome addition in one city:Petanque Brings International Excitement To Brooks Park
(that's Harwich, CT)
while facing (temporary?) opposition in another one ...
Let petanque be played at Oak Hill
(that's Petaluma, Ca)
All I can say is that, wherever I know there's a public petanque play area, it has turned into a quiet, friendly spot for folks to meet, compete, and enjoy each others' company - as in the above typical picture of Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.
For petanque groups who are talking to Parks Departments and who'd like a simple presentation of the game, feel free to use this document - with many pictures - for starters:
Petanque in Public Parks.pdf (2.2Mb PDF file)
Petanque in public parks
It is amazing how - the same day - the same game can be hailed as a welcome addition in one city:Petanque Brings International Excitement To Brooks Park
(that's Harwich, CT)
while facing (temporary?) opposition in another one ...
Let petanque be played at Oak Hill
(that's Petaluma, Ca)
All I can say is that, wherever I know there's a public petanque play area, it has turned into a quiet, friendly spot for folks to meet, compete, and enjoy each others' company - as in the above typical picture of Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.
For petanque groups who are talking to Parks Departments and who'd like a simple presentation of the game, feel free to use this document - with many pictures - for starters:
Petanque in Public Parks.pdf (2.2Mb PDF file)
$0.38 Gas Causes Riots in Iran
A new rationing system meant to keep costs down has sparked riots. Under the new rules, prices have soared to 38 cents a gallon!
That prompted hundreds of thousands of car owners to line up for miles at gas stations late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Others took to the street in protest, burning at least 12 gas stations in Tehran and looting other businesses, according to Fars News Agency.
Iran has about seven million mostly aging, fuel-inefficient cars, more than a million of them clogging the roads in Tehran where an official once described the level of pollution as "collective suicide."
BBC has a video account of the mess.
AAEA Opens Midwest Office
James Moseley has agreed to be the Director of the AAEA Midwestern Office. Mr. Moseley is an energy expert and we have known him for many years. His expertise will bring an important new presence to our 'Small But Powerful' organization. Now AAEA can directly address the nuclear, coal and ethanol issues facing the Midwest, the USA and the rest of the world.
The timing could not be better for this addition to the AAEA family. There is a presidential election going on. A national energy bill is being debated. Global warming could have significant effects on our nation's food crops. There is also the issue of ethanol possibly driving up the price of food and its addition to our energy mix for transportation independence. Welcome James. And thank you for helping us.
Henri Blocher on the Apocrypha
The following article is now available in PDF:
Henri Blocher, "Helpful or Harmful? The 'Apocrypha' and Evangelical Theology," European Journal of Theology 13.2 (2004): 81-90.
Abstract:
Henri Blocher, "Helpful or Harmful? The 'Apocrypha' and Evangelical Theology," European Journal of Theology 13.2 (2004): 81-90.
Abstract:
The argument is that the issue of the OT Apocrypha is not an insignificant one. The author lists historical reasons for seeing the canon as fixed in Judaism by the time of Jesus, whatever the state of various and conflicting collections of Greek Old Testament writings. Theological reasons for acknowledging the Hebrew canon include the Church’s need to acknowledge what Israel has passed on to her as canonical under God’s providence. The content of much of the Apocrypha leaves much to be desired. For all there is continuity of God’s providence between the times of the testaments there was also a pause in revelation. The New Testament comes as something new indeed, even if works such as the apocrypha illustrate the context into which God’s word was spoken, and can be seen as witness to God’s uninterrupted providence.
Needed: Negotiations, not Machinations
I was asked to write an op-ed piece for the New York Resident magazine, talking about "the latest" on "the situation." The article, as submitted, is below. It also appears online, in slightly amended form.
"The situation", of course, is vastly more complicated than what can be fit into 700 words. Due to space constraints, I was unable, for example, to mention the need for the Israeli government to take some immediate concrete actions, such as: Handing over "frozen" Palestinian tax monies; releasing some of the Palestinian prisoners (which Olmert has recently promised to do); and removing many of the checkpoints and obstacles that severely restrict internal Palestinian movement within the West Bank.
But I was motivated mainly by my first-hand memories of Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, in which a megalomaniacal Israeli Defense Minister believed that he could successfully restructure another nation's socio-politics through force of arms. I hope and pray that Prime Minister Olmert, who was a member of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the time and a member of Ariel Sharon's party, remembers the resounding failure that results when visions of grandeur take the place of sober reasoning and the path of moderation.
Israel and Palestine Need Negotiations, not Machinations By Ron Skolnik
Once again, confusion reigns supreme in the Middle East. Last week, in a military offensive in the Palestinian Gaza Strip that seemed to surprise everyone, but should have surprised no one, the forces of the fundamentalist Hamas party overpowered the troops of Fatah, Hamas’ long-time rival for power. This “Battle for Gaza” capped off months of on-again, off-again civil war between the two sides, which hold conflicting ideologies, maintain separate paramilitaries and control different, competing branches of the Palestinian government – Hamas its parliament, and the more moderate Fatah, its presidency, in the person of Mahmoud Abbas.
Characterized by Hamas spokespersons as a “liberation” of Gaza, but by Abbas as a “military coup”, the Hamas takeover has accelerated the centrifuge that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: With Hamas in control of Gaza, Fatah controlling the West Bank, and both sides claiming to constitute the legitimate Palestinian government, diplomats in the US, EU, Israel and the Arab world are scrambling to devise new policies adapted to the new reality.
The main thrust of the recent Western and Israeli approach has been to formulate steps that would bolster Palestinian support for Fatah at the expense of Hamas. In practical terms, this would mean more money, more weapons and more diplomatic backing for President Abbas. Within this context, one rather peculiar variant is suggesting that the West Bank and Gaza Strip be regarded as two distinct entities: Hamas-run Gaza would be treated as a pariah, while the Fatah-controlled West Bank would be showered with Western blessings.
Although an effort – even a sorely belated one – by the US and Israel to reach out to Palestinian moderates is welcome, one cannot help but be concerned about the more fundamental strategy underpinning these moves. While Abbas is certainly worthy of support due to his wholehearted embrace of a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine, and for his and clear and consistent renunciation of terrorism, such support cannot be predicated on the proposition that he and Fatah serve as an American or Israeli stalking horse in the war against Hamas or, by extension, Iran.
Both Washington and Jerusalem will be guilty of a terrible miscalculation if a warming of ties with Palestinian moderates is meant to add fuel to the internecine Palestinian struggle; if they are naively hoping that, with enough money, enough guns and enough diplomatic support, Fatah will be able to reverse its fortunes in one fell swoop, and swiftly recoup its losses of recent days.
Israel has already tried its hand at micromanaging the internal conflicts of its neighbors: Its invasion of Lebanon in 1982, (mis)conceived by then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, was designed to take advantage of that country’s chaotic civil war in order to establish a new, malleable regime in Beirut that could be coerced into a peace accord. The strategy failed miserably then, and – if this is indeed the current Israeli concept – would fail miserably again. Israel lacks the finesse to play puppeteer to the Palestinian political arena. Even more importantly, Israeli support for Abbas in an all-out civil war is certain to be a “kiss of death”, casting the Palestinian President in the unforgivable role of Israeli lackey, rather than loyal Palestinian nationalist.
For the US and Israel to truly bolster the standing of Abbas and Fatah, one needn’t reinvent the wheel. One merely needs to get back on track – the diplomatic track, that is. Israel must reach out to the entire Palestinian people – not Fatah alone – by engaging President Abbas in substantive negotiations over an Israeli-Palestinian final-status agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert must not only use the phrase “political horizon”, he must fill it with palpable content: His refusal to discuss core issues such as Jerusalem, borders and refugees only reinforces those Palestinians who maintain that diplomacy and non-violence will not bring results. Conversely, an Israel that signals a willingness to reach an agreement based on such hallmark documents as the Clinton plan, the Geneva Initiative and the Arab League proposal will show the Palestinian people that they can advance their cause not by reason of force, but by the force of reason.
In the weeks ahead, Israel will have an opportunity to take a bold initiative, aimed at depleting the one resource that Hamas relies on most: Palestinian despair. The United States must do its share by encouraging Israel to walk this path and by reassuring her that she will not walk this path alone.
"The situation", of course, is vastly more complicated than what can be fit into 700 words. Due to space constraints, I was unable, for example, to mention the need for the Israeli government to take some immediate concrete actions, such as: Handing over "frozen" Palestinian tax monies; releasing some of the Palestinian prisoners (which Olmert has recently promised to do); and removing many of the checkpoints and obstacles that severely restrict internal Palestinian movement within the West Bank.
But I was motivated mainly by my first-hand memories of Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, in which a megalomaniacal Israeli Defense Minister believed that he could successfully restructure another nation's socio-politics through force of arms. I hope and pray that Prime Minister Olmert, who was a member of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the time and a member of Ariel Sharon's party, remembers the resounding failure that results when visions of grandeur take the place of sober reasoning and the path of moderation.
Israel and Palestine Need Negotiations, not Machinations By Ron Skolnik
Once again, confusion reigns supreme in the Middle East. Last week, in a military offensive in the Palestinian Gaza Strip that seemed to surprise everyone, but should have surprised no one, the forces of the fundamentalist Hamas party overpowered the troops of Fatah, Hamas’ long-time rival for power. This “Battle for Gaza” capped off months of on-again, off-again civil war between the two sides, which hold conflicting ideologies, maintain separate paramilitaries and control different, competing branches of the Palestinian government – Hamas its parliament, and the more moderate Fatah, its presidency, in the person of Mahmoud Abbas.
Characterized by Hamas spokespersons as a “liberation” of Gaza, but by Abbas as a “military coup”, the Hamas takeover has accelerated the centrifuge that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: With Hamas in control of Gaza, Fatah controlling the West Bank, and both sides claiming to constitute the legitimate Palestinian government, diplomats in the US, EU, Israel and the Arab world are scrambling to devise new policies adapted to the new reality.
The main thrust of the recent Western and Israeli approach has been to formulate steps that would bolster Palestinian support for Fatah at the expense of Hamas. In practical terms, this would mean more money, more weapons and more diplomatic backing for President Abbas. Within this context, one rather peculiar variant is suggesting that the West Bank and Gaza Strip be regarded as two distinct entities: Hamas-run Gaza would be treated as a pariah, while the Fatah-controlled West Bank would be showered with Western blessings.
Although an effort – even a sorely belated one – by the US and Israel to reach out to Palestinian moderates is welcome, one cannot help but be concerned about the more fundamental strategy underpinning these moves. While Abbas is certainly worthy of support due to his wholehearted embrace of a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine, and for his and clear and consistent renunciation of terrorism, such support cannot be predicated on the proposition that he and Fatah serve as an American or Israeli stalking horse in the war against Hamas or, by extension, Iran.
Both Washington and Jerusalem will be guilty of a terrible miscalculation if a warming of ties with Palestinian moderates is meant to add fuel to the internecine Palestinian struggle; if they are naively hoping that, with enough money, enough guns and enough diplomatic support, Fatah will be able to reverse its fortunes in one fell swoop, and swiftly recoup its losses of recent days.
Israel has already tried its hand at micromanaging the internal conflicts of its neighbors: Its invasion of Lebanon in 1982, (mis)conceived by then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, was designed to take advantage of that country’s chaotic civil war in order to establish a new, malleable regime in Beirut that could be coerced into a peace accord. The strategy failed miserably then, and – if this is indeed the current Israeli concept – would fail miserably again. Israel lacks the finesse to play puppeteer to the Palestinian political arena. Even more importantly, Israeli support for Abbas in an all-out civil war is certain to be a “kiss of death”, casting the Palestinian President in the unforgivable role of Israeli lackey, rather than loyal Palestinian nationalist.
For the US and Israel to truly bolster the standing of Abbas and Fatah, one needn’t reinvent the wheel. One merely needs to get back on track – the diplomatic track, that is. Israel must reach out to the entire Palestinian people – not Fatah alone – by engaging President Abbas in substantive negotiations over an Israeli-Palestinian final-status agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert must not only use the phrase “political horizon”, he must fill it with palpable content: His refusal to discuss core issues such as Jerusalem, borders and refugees only reinforces those Palestinians who maintain that diplomacy and non-violence will not bring results. Conversely, an Israel that signals a willingness to reach an agreement based on such hallmark documents as the Clinton plan, the Geneva Initiative and the Arab League proposal will show the Palestinian people that they can advance their cause not by reason of force, but by the force of reason.
In the weeks ahead, Israel will have an opportunity to take a bold initiative, aimed at depleting the one resource that Hamas relies on most: Palestinian despair. The United States must do its share by encouraging Israel to walk this path and by reassuring her that she will not walk this path alone.
Christie Todd Whitman Is Fighting Back
She just waited too long to quit. She should have quit instead of parroting the conclusion of 'the scientists' that the air in Lower Manhattan was 'safe to breathe.' We know what New Source Review (NSR) is but not many members of the public do. She quit over the NSR issue. AAEA also opposed the NSR reg proposal but because of different reasons than Whitman's. We knew it would lead to more litigation instead of cleaner air. AAEA suported the Clear Skies Initiative because we believed (and still believe) that not only would it be superior to NSR, which only spawned litigation, but would lead to clearner air because it was modeled after the universally agreed upon success of the Acid Rain Program.Earlier this week, Gov Whitman testified before a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on the Post 911 air issue in Lower Manhattan. Whitman is a fighter. Again, she should have used common sense instead of 'the scientists.' No way was that ouside air safe in Lower Manhattan for at least months and probably longer indoors. However, we respect that she did not pursue Marsha Coleman Adebayo as her predecessor Carol Browner did in the EPA racial discrimation case. And that picture of her with Secretary Powell is better than the one of her frisking an alleged perp in New Jersey. (The Washington Post/photo edited)
Partnering with Ingram Micro
This month, we passed the 9,000 mark for enterprise buyers of the Google Search Appliance and the Google Mini. That's a great start, but we want to reach out even farther, which is why we're embarking on a partnership with Ingram Micro. One of the largest global distributors of technology products in the world, Ingram has extensive reseller relationships in Europe, Asia and Latin America that will help us deliver the power of search behind the firewall to businesses of all sizes, more efficiently and at a larger scale than we could on our own.
In addition to having access to a rich network of more than 165,000 retailers and resellers worldwide, Ingram possesses core strengths in sales, reseller credit, marketing, technical support and logistics. And it has strong penetration into the small-to-medium business (SMB) and Government and Education (Gov/Ed) channels that complement our goal to offer great search technology to even more enterprise users, no matter their size, segment or location.
Dave Girouard, our VP and General Manager for Google Enterprise, puts it this way: “This relationship with Ingram Micro marks an important milestone in the evolution of Google’s enterprise search business, giving customers around the world better access to our products and support. With the global reach and efficient distribution of Ingram Micro, many more customers will be able to gain the benefits of Google search to their business.”
Both the Google Mini and the Google Search Appliance are available immediately to qualified Ingram Micro solution providers in the U.S.; there are plans for a phased rollout in other regions through 2007. To find out how to obtain a Google Mini or Google Search Appliance, contact us here or here.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
National Mixed Doubles
Sprinkled with his usual witty comments, here's Alan Efron's report on Sundays' Mixed Doubles tournament at La Pétanque Marinière in San Rafael, CA.Cynthia & Andre came in from Maine, that's 3,333 miles!
And Phim, the lady on the winning team is barely 10 days away from giving birth.
National Mixed Doubles
Sprinkled with his usual witty comments, here's Alan Efron's report on Sundays' Mixed Doubles tournament at La Pétanque Marinière in San Rafael, CA.Cynthia & Andre came in from Maine, that's 3,333 miles!
And Phim, the lady on the winning team is barely 10 days away from giving birth.
River Terrace Community Questions Mayor Fenty on Air
The River Terrace Community Organization (RTCO) recently held a meeting at the River Terrace Elementary School, where Urban Protectors President George Gurley and energy consultant A. Bernard Jones (with Norris McDonald at left and Mayor Fenty at right) briefed them on clean air issues related to the PEPCO powe plant across the street. RTCO President Doris Bishop opened the meeting with a prayer from Rev. Cornelia Dickens and Sgt. Howard Ragin have a crime report. ANC Commissioner Warees Majeed also gave a report to the community.
The Benning Road PEPCO plant has been controversial for years to the River Terrace Community. The community believes the plant has caused significant health problems.
AAEA worked with George Gurley in 1990 to host the first national Earth Day event in Washington, DC to coincide with the National Earth Day event on the National Mall. Reveerend Jesse Jackson and Mayor Marion Barry addressed the gathering, which was held at the River Terrace Elementary Schoo.
Madagascar Open - a success
The open tournament in Bryant Park almost broke attendance records on Sunday, with 32 teams participating.Delegations from the new clubs in Westchester and Brooklyn joined in, and also a group of new Philadelphia players.
Details at LaBouleNY.com
And also on Westchester Petanque and Brooklyn Boule.
By the way, there are some awesome photos of the Westchester Petanque Club on Photoshelter, by New York Times photographer Rob Bennett, from when they did an article about them last month.Click on the image!
Madagascar Open - a success
The open tournament in Bryant Park almost broke attendance records on Sunday, with 32 teams participating.Delegations from the new clubs in Westchester and Brooklyn joined in, and also a group of new Philadelphia players.
Details at LaBouleNY.com
And also on Westchester Petanque and Brooklyn Boule.
By the way, there are some awesome photos of the Westchester Petanque Club on Photoshelter, by New York Times photographer Rob Bennett, from when they did an article about them last month.Click on the image!
Spinning in the age of access
This is follow-up to my post of yesterday, when I wrote about the ways transparency can impact the way court cases are handled.
An article this morning on the Forbes website, here, details how cereal manufacturers in the 1990s thought they could convince the public of anything -- including that sugary cereals like Corn Pops and Fruit Loops were healthy for children. Last week, they decided to stop marketing these same cereals to children.
What happened? The world has changed, that's what:
An article this morning on the Forbes website, here, details how cereal manufacturers in the 1990s thought they could convince the public of anything -- including that sugary cereals like Corn Pops and Fruit Loops were healthy for children. Last week, they decided to stop marketing these same cereals to children.
What happened? The world has changed, that's what:
Critics suspicious of the action were quick to point out that it only came 16 months after two small children's advocacy groups threatened them with a lawsuit. But why would a company with nearly infinite legal resources choose to voluntarily revamp their entire product line and marketing strategy and agree to kill off some of their most identifiable corporate brands (R.I.P. Toucan Sam) rather than using their legal muscle to fight off a nuisance suit?
Because Kellogg's seems now to realize an essential truth of 21st-century business: In a connected world, companies who value and create stronger connections with their customers will win. In today's cost-benefit analysis of fighting something in court vs. damaging your relationship with your consumers, relationships win.
Monday, June 25, 2007
How to talk about Israel (Con’t.)
The tone of Thursday night’s dialogue event was so polite that we had thought it marked the beginning of a constructive conversation. Meretz USA’s director, Charney Bromberg e-mailed his congratulations all around, remarking that "I hope everyone who attended felt, as I did afterwards, that they had sat around a grand family table where all were welcome and all could speak."
To Phil Weiss he wrote in part: “You are a brave and thoughtful person and I was very impressed at your spirit of openness. ... You and Dan [Fleshler] describe the boundaries and the core of an issue that is rarely well defined, much less well articulated. I hope we can take this further.”
Then we were blind-sided by Weiss’s unkind, even hostile (as well as inaccurate), version (posted on his blog) of what had transpired. I suggest that readers go to Dan Fleshler’s recounting of this event and that they link to Dan's prepared text posted there. For further background on Mr. Weiss, you might checkout my posting of June 10 on his article in Pat Buchanan’s The American Conservative (of all places) on how “Zionists” made him (NOT!) end his blog at the New York Observer.
To Phil Weiss he wrote in part: “You are a brave and thoughtful person and I was very impressed at your spirit of openness. ... You and Dan [Fleshler] describe the boundaries and the core of an issue that is rarely well defined, much less well articulated. I hope we can take this further.”
Then we were blind-sided by Weiss’s unkind, even hostile (as well as inaccurate), version (posted on his blog) of what had transpired. I suggest that readers go to Dan Fleshler’s recounting of this event and that they link to Dan's prepared text posted there. For further background on Mr. Weiss, you might checkout my posting of June 10 on his article in Pat Buchanan’s The American Conservative (of all places) on how “Zionists” made him (NOT!) end his blog at the New York Observer.
Google Apps update: Email migration, shared address book, and a cool video
As Vikaram noted on the Official Google Blog, today was a big day for Google Apps. We introduced some great new features. Email migration makes it easy to import your email from your company's existing IMAP email servers, and the shared address book makes it simple to email and share documents with people on in your organization.
Also, if you're still trying to convince your coworkers of the benefits of Google Apps, or maybe just to explain Google Apps to your mom, share this video with them.
Fast Drivers = X-tra small condoms
Brilliant piece of social marketing from New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority (Australia).
Watch the video here.
The Celebrity Wire Service
I'm becoming increasingly fascinated with the effect of blogs and bloggers on the course and conduct of litigation. Consider the following, from a New York Times article today on the internet celebrity news site tmz.com:
"Even Hollywood criminal lawyers concede that dealing with TMZ has now become part of their legal strategy. Shawn Chapman Holley, who represents Nicole Richie, acknowledges that TMZ’s ability to get information has affected strategic decisions in Ms. Richie’s drunken-driving case.
“When we approach the bench, what we know and when TMZ will know it is a factor discussed with the judge,” said Ms. Holley. “Miss Richie’s case would be set for a particular day and to throw off TMZ.com, I would go in a day before. Unfortunately, TMZ.com figured out my strategy and were there when I arrived. So now I’m trying to figure out some other strategy.”
The full article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/business/media/25tmz.html?8dpc
To apply this kind of thinking to corporate disputes, just substitute the Wall Street Journal Law blog (or others) for TMZ. It's clear that the earlier and comprehensive posting of case-related material on the Internet is already having a huge impact on legal strategies, what lawyers say in court, and how in general, the legal system behaves (this is something I specualted on in 2003 in a column in USA Today on the RIAA lawsuits over the illegal downloading of music -- see http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-10-01-haggerty_x.htm).
"Even Hollywood criminal lawyers concede that dealing with TMZ has now become part of their legal strategy. Shawn Chapman Holley, who represents Nicole Richie, acknowledges that TMZ’s ability to get information has affected strategic decisions in Ms. Richie’s drunken-driving case.
“When we approach the bench, what we know and when TMZ will know it is a factor discussed with the judge,” said Ms. Holley. “Miss Richie’s case would be set for a particular day and to throw off TMZ.com, I would go in a day before. Unfortunately, TMZ.com figured out my strategy and were there when I arrived. So now I’m trying to figure out some other strategy.”
The full article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/business/media/25tmz.html?8dpc
To apply this kind of thinking to corporate disputes, just substitute the Wall Street Journal Law blog (or others) for TMZ. It's clear that the earlier and comprehensive posting of case-related material on the Internet is already having a huge impact on legal strategies, what lawyers say in court, and how in general, the legal system behaves (this is something I specualted on in 2003 in a column in USA Today on the RIAA lawsuits over the illegal downloading of music -- see http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-10-01-haggerty_x.htm).
Petanque 100 in the Triangle
With players all the way from Charlotte, Salisbury, Lexington, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and of course Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, we were close to 40 to celebrate Petanque 100 this Sunday, at the Inn at Bingham School, a dream location for a petanque party.We had a lot of fun, played, ate and drank very well!
And the kids had a blast playing croquet, badminton or plain hide & seek.
Two special surprises among the petanque crowd:
Christian, who seldom plays, but whose grandfather had a bar in Marseille, so the genes are there - and Andy, a 747 captain who had never played, but knows a thing or two about landing in the right spot.
Thanks a bunch to Francois for his generous hospitality!
Petanque 100 in the Triangle
With players all the way from Charlotte, Salisbury, Lexington, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and of course Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, we were close to 40 to celebrate Petanque 100 this Sunday, at the Inn at Bingham School, a dream location for a petanque party.We had a lot of fun, played, ate and drank very well!
And the kids had a blast playing croquet, badminton or plain hide & seek.
Two special surprises among the petanque crowd:
Christian, who seldom plays, but whose grandfather had a bar in Marseille, so the genes are there - and Andy, a 747 captain who had never played, but knows a thing or two about landing in the right spot.
Thanks a bunch to Francois for his generous hospitality!
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