Daniel Lubetzky

There is nothing like a dream to create the future. Utopia to-day, flesh and blood tomorrow.

Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885), Les Miserables, 1862

Read this heartbreaking article to see the story of Dean Tofteland and how he has carried out his father’s legacy despite hazards and obstacles.  But the MF Global scandal, “a financial tsunami,”  really “hurt so much,” and poses unprecedented hardships that must be addressed.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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This speech is a must-read. It obviously was given to a constituency solely concerned with strengthening Israeli-American bonds and alignment and is clear the President had to counteract opponents who seek to distort his record. It doesn’t do enough (or anything) to share with the Israeli people, and the American Jewish community, the necessary sacrifices and compromises that Israel will need to make to achieve comprehensive and permanent security and peace. But in an election year a speech before AIPAC need not do so.

What the speech does in a principled and lucid way is highlight that President Obama is a solid ally of Israel and all the myths and distortions in the world cannot deny his record.

Most important, President Obama convincingly demonstrates that his engagement offer to Iran at the beginning of his Administration, as much as many of us were skeptical about, was a prerequisite to give him and the US the credibility to align the entire international community behind sanctions against the Iranian regime when it refused to deal constructively and concretely to cure its nuclear proliferation violations. 

I personally do not believe the present Iranian regime will abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability under any circumstance, no matter the pressure exerted, no matter whether overtly or covertly (the assessment would be the same both for a fanatical AND a rational actor in this case). But I agree that President Obama has to exhaust diplomatic options as part of the process, even as time runs out because a military confrontation once Iran has crossed the rubicon will be more dangerous to America, to Israel, to Iran’s Arab neighbors and all its neighbors, and to civilization.

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I enjoyed reading Howard Schultz’s book, Onward, and wanted to share this paragraph that summarized not just the formula that Starbucks followed to reinvigorate its journey, but also a formula that can be applicable to any entrepreneur’s journey:

Grow with discipline.  Balance intuition with rigor.  Innovate around the core.  Don’t embrace the status quo.  Find new ways to see.  Never expect a silver bullet.  Get your hands dirty.  Listen with empathy and overcommunicate with transparency.  Tell your story, refusing to let others define you.  Use authentic experiences to inspire.  Stick to your values, they are your foundation.  Hold people accountable but give them the tools to success.  Make the tough choices; it’s how you execute that counts.  Be decisive in times of crisis.  Be nimble.  Find truth in trials and lessons in mistakes.  Be responsible for what you see, hear, and do.  Believe. 

- Onward by Howard Schultz, page 309

While whole wheat bread is traditionally thought to be very healthy, there are opinions that show whole wheat bread spikes blood glucose even more than sugar.  Additionally, wheat-intense diets have been linked to obesity, diabetes and other diseases. 

Check out this article to learn the various health dangers that wheat based diets can potentially conjure.  KIND Healthy Grains are the perfect solution for anyone who may take heed to these anti-wheat claims; because KIND Healthy Grains wheat free, it is the perfect way to obtain the nutritional benefits from whole grains, while skipping the dangers of wheat that these experts claim.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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Ginia Bellafante wrote about the absurd politicization of food coop purchases, where the extremist “BDS” boycott Movement (which, incidentally, even Norman Finkelstein recently exposed as being a “cult” that seeks to destroy and replace Israel with a Palestinian State, rather than a realistic solution of two states for two people) is seeking to ban Israeli grocery products from the shelves of the Park Slope Food Coop, and pro-Israeli groups are countering it, turning the whole experience of buying kale into an extraordinarily uncomfortable one.

In her story, Bellafante mentions PeaceWorks’ products, made through cooperative ventures among neighbors striving to coexist, including Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, Palestinians, Turks, and until recently, Egyptians.  As the founder of PeaceWorks and the OneVoice Movement, I have noticed not just the silliness of those extremist efforts by BDS, but more so, the negative impact these fights have on the very Palestinian farmers these people purport to support.  Never mind that Palestinian farmers have never heard of these BDS people, who out of the comfort of their armchairs in Berkeley, can afford to advocate extremist positions.  What has happened over the last few years is that anti-Israel activists have begotten anti-Palestinian activists and both of these negative groups, rather than thinking how to strengthen moderates seeking peace on both sides and join forces to achieve a solution, have instead attacked one another publicly and sought to boycott each other’s products at grocery stores across the USA.  Consequently, many friends of mine in the grocery industry are uncomfortable importing Palestinian products or promoting Palestinian or Israeli products, hurting the very people that need this trade most.  Retailers just don’t want to be dealing with these extremists and the headaches they bring.

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This quote was shared by Daniel’s friend, Gregorio, and is a beautiful way to think about how kindness can benefit the world on so many different levels:

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates
profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love."
— Lao Tzu

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

Food Business News came out with a staggering statistic that sugar makes up 16% of American kids’ calorie intake.  Research has shown that added sugars are most commonly found in soda which of course provides no nutritional benefit.  While food items like nuts and fruit contain sugar, this type of sugar is naturally occurring and carries nutritional benefits.  The remainder of this article depicts that kids are consuming too much added sugars, a problem that will only exacerbate the obesity and diabetes epidemics.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel

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PostSecret is a very cool ongoing community art project where people can share their more intimate thoughts by anonymously writing them down on a postcard and mailing them in.   Check out this site that the Chris Anderson, the founder of TED, spoke about to see a stunning collection of people’s deepest thoughts, desires and dreams.

Spotted by Daniel Lubetzky, by Adeena Schlussel