The only thing that may be more compelling than the story itself is the way the author Susan Dominus captures the feelings of the 4 twins so poignantly and brings their emotions to life with so much clarity and passion.
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Newest addition to my bookshelf: The Power of Broke by Daymond John
Published under Interesting Random Stuff, Leadership, Marketing Feb 25, 2016A must read! In The Power of Broke, Daymond John takes an insightful look at individuals who’ve launched their own powerful brands and careers from a place of desperation, harnessing the “power of broke” to think creatively, alternatively, and aggressively in order to make a meaningful mark.
The New York Times opens its story of anti-Semitism in France last week with a terrifying paragraph:
“It was the heavy leather-bound volume of the Torah he was carrying that shielded Benjamin Amsellem from the machete blows.”
The barbarism and brutality of the attack by an ISIS inspired youth on a Jew brings a feeling of insecurity that public kippa wearing campaigns cannot erase. This is the latest incident of local Jewish communities being a prime target of terrorists attacking nations.
Whether organized attacks like Mumbai, Istanbul and Paris or seemingly the lone wolf attacks in Toulouse and now Marseille, Jews and their community institutions are always on the list for terrorists trying to make a point.
For your average citizen, terrorism has sadly become like any other impersonal disaster. The victim of a mass terrorist incident is not targeted for anything other then the misfortune at the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet this obsession of attacking Jews, and there definitely is a trend, makes these incidents against the community far more personal.
I have criticized Tariq Ramadan and others for air-brushing anti-Semitism out of some of these attacks. Ramadan and others have claimed that Jews have just become the symbols of the state, and are not attacked because they are Jews, but a good target of a critic of the state and its policies.
The dehumanizing nature of this analysis shows a remarkable turn around in the genesis of anti-Semitism. Where as in the 20th century Jews were mainly victims of the State, now they are victims because of it. An expression of aggression towards liberal democracy is apparently the cause for running towards the nearest Jewish school or kippa wearing teacher to express a murderous rage against the West. The Jews have moved from being the outsiders in society to being the ultimate protected insider, thus a great target for attack.
Social Media: Destroyer or Creator?
Published under Interesting Random Stuff, Introspection Feb 10, 2016This article highlights the challenge of social media to affirm rather than inform our beliefs, and to segment and divide rather than unite in shared understanding.
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
- Vince Lombardi
After a group of 5th grade boys noticed a classmate with a learning disability getting teased, they banded together and made him a part of their gang.