Daniel Lubetzky

I don’t agree with everythign Aluf Benn writes, and I feel Israelis overall are unusually suspicious of President Obama, but I believe Benn hit the nail on the head with his article in the New York Times advising Obama to speak to the Israeli people directly.  I voted for Obama believing he would push for concrete progress towards a two-state-solution, and I don’t believe pressing Israel to be realistic is bad but good and needed.  But Obama’s failure to speak directly to Israelis is a huge missed opportunity and is harming chances for peace.

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Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain, wrote a refreshing column in the Washington Post, telling Israelis and Arabs some truths they need to hear about the imperative of moving towards conflict resolution.  Unfortunately earnest non-partisan nuanced talk doesn’t get as much coverage as biased one-sided positions.  But it is worth reading.

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Interesting article on an effort to bridge the frontier between the real and virtual worlds of gaming and entertainment, an area that interests me a lot.

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I have been hearing many cliches about how the New York City Real Estate market at the end of the day will not adjust as much as the rest of the real estate market because of scarcity.  But the economist in me doesn’t buy it.  Yes, as supply is somewhat limited, real estate in NYC should reasonably appreciate more solidly than in the expanses of San Antonio, TX, where land is plenty.  But the crazy run-up in prices over the last decade+ cannot be reconciled solely by scarcity, and as bubbles burst in all other asset categories, so to they will (and have started to) in Manhattan real estate.

It is surprising that so few resources are available online to track historical trends in real estate – per square foot and/or per median and average home prices, for NYC and otherwise.

It almost seems as if real estate brokers want to focus prospects purely on 5-year timelines, and that is all they publish and share.

So here are the few sites I found useful, in case others find them handy:

• Free By 50 has some great posts and analysis:

• Explains why Average Home Appreciation across the US has averaged about 5.9% per annum nationally over the last 40 years (and 6% in NYS), but why this number may be inflated by recent exorbitant re appreciation, and why thus the more accurate/conservative annual estimate is 4%

Art is a lie. A lie that makes us realize the truth.

- Pablo Picasso

A few people are funnier and sweeter in real life than in their hilarious comedic personas. Danny DeVito is such a person.  Here is a new quirky project from Danny, our friend and Board member in the Foundation, courtesy of Rhea Perlman, the only person on earth who is even funnier than Danny.  Watch till the end…

PS: To anyone at OneVoice who saw how meticulous Danny’s team is when dealing with multimedia, even when a bunch of crazy Israelis and Palestinians are presenting their plans to the entertainment community, the above will carry extra humor.

Julian Brody wrote an interesting piece for IPF about US Govt’ envoy Fred Hoff’s innovative proposal on how to resolve the Golan Heights controversy between Israel and Syria.  What is insightful and creative about it is that it takes each party’s core priorities into consideration and not only addresses them but potentially even resolves the issue in a way that creates the foundations for a warmer peace, and a more vibrant & ecologically-sound economy.

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here is a cool story about a Ugandan coffee cooperative of Muslims, Christians and Jews working side by side to make quality coffee.  Very similar to the PeaceWorks model we introduced 15 years ago.  But so cool to see the initiative coming from the African community.

The company that imports and markets the product, Thanksgiving Coffee Company, seems very sincerely motivated and professional.  And an NGO named Kulanu apparently catalyzed this venture.  Nice job!

Listen to the first few minutes of this…all a cappella – you can close your eyes and feel the rain.  Toto should be proud!

Thx to Ileana for pointing me to this.

BarsAreFood.com just added KIND Almond Cranberry to its Hall of Fame.