Photos

Dear family and friends,

We've been a bit negligent in sharing recent photos. But better late than never...

See our Picasa albums, and specifically this album, which features a smiling Shahar :-)

Cheers,

Anat & Giora

Could Social Networks Foster Social Activism?

These days, with the hype around "The Social Network" movie, and when Social Media in general is celebrate as a revolutionary enabling factor for social activism, I found Malcolm Gladwell's recent piece in the New Yorker - http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all - particularly illuminating.

Insightful as always, Gladwell explains (convincingly, in my opinion), that while the Internet and Social Media have numerous benefits, fostering true real-life activism isn't one of them.

The article isn't short (again, as always...), but I think it's certainly worth the time.

Cheers,

Giora

Chauvinism

I consider myself a Feminist, and I'm proud of it. I do my best to act accordingly in everything I do, especially when it comes to raising and educating my kids.

Turns out that having a son after three daughters prompts quite a few people around us to offer comments with a blatant chauvinistic flavor. It was truly saddening to see how ingrained chauvinism is in so many people. The precise wording doesn't really matter (an example would be "At last! Now you've finally got a diamond in the family!"), but more importantly - there's no mistaking the intention expressed, that having a boy is better than having a girl.

Needless to say - I don't subscribe to this point of view. I can't imagine I'd ever love my child more (or less) due to their gender. In the beginning, I used to murmur something about a 4th daughter having been equally welcomed. Lately, I've decided to simply ignore such remarks, wishing that I would have been spared hearing them altogether.

Giora

Israel - State of the Nation Report

Disclaimer: if you don't deeply care about Israel, you might want to skip this posting.

I recently became aware of a fascinating report, titled "State of the Nation Report – Society, Economy and Policy 2009" (see full pointers, also to the report in English, at the bottom of this posting), published a few months ago by the Taub Center.

It's not uncommon to read and hear discussions in the media, which are practically based on intuitions, assumptions or even prejudice.

This report is based on hard economic data, examining high-level and long-term trends. I think it makes it an unusually important and educating read.

Not many of you are likely to read the full (very long) document.

Hence, I particularly recommend the first chapter ("A Macro Perspective on Israel's Society and Economy"), and the third chapter ("Israel's Education System - An International Perspective and Recommendations for Reform").

Enjoy,

Giora

English version: http://taubcenter.org.il/index.php/featured-publication/state-of-the-nation-report-society-economy-and-policy-2009/lang/en/

Hebrew version: http://taubcenter.org.il/index.php/featured-publication/state-of-the-nation-report-society-economy-and-policy-2009/lang/he/