Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Gil Reich

Is government best which governs least?

Gil Reich — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:06:46 +0000

“I hope this guy with a THAT GOVERNMENT IS BEST WHICH GOVERNS LEAST bumper sticker achieves his dream of moving to Somalia someday.” – Ken Jennings Minimalism as a management principle Most people seem to understand and agree with the idea that management is best that manages least. The people working for me certainly did. Where [...]

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From Aloni-Deri to Lapid-Bennett

Gil Reich — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:21:06 +0000

Twenty one years ago, Shulamit Aloni’s Meretz party and Aryeh Deri’s Shas party needed to sit together in a coalition. Aloni assured the public that there would be no problem. They would give Shas the (taxpayer) money Shas wanted and Shas would support the Labor government through its peace talks with the PLO. When asked [...]

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Gender politics vs. science

Gil Reich — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:11:04 +0000

The internet was abuzz last week with articles talking about the gender gap in science in the US, UK and Canada. The articles were wrong or misleading on almost every level. Fortunately, the New York Times included a helpful, color-coded graphic which demonstrated the basic facts: In 18 of 29 countries of Northern and Western Europe and [...]

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Freaky Friday: US and Israel swap political cultures

Gil Reich — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:31:09 +0000

“With malice towards none, with charity for all …” Abraham Lincoln, second inaugural address, 1865 “Ooh, aah, mah karah, HaLikud achal otah.” [Translation: What happened? The Likud ate it.] Typical Israeli victory party cheer, 1992 My biggest memory from the first election I watched in Israel was of the Labor party celebrating by singing [...]

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Flavor of the month? How Yair Lapid can make this time different

Gil Reich — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:41:43 +0000

Nearly every time there are elections in Israel, three things happen: A new party rises from nowhere to capture secular voters who are primarily interested in domestic issues, and who are rebelling from the major parties. Like a baby playing peek-a-boo, we’re pleasantly surprised every time this happens. The new party disappears as quickly [...]

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Center of what? Media’s self-centered bias

Gil Reich — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:11:54 +0000

You know the old “New Yorker’s view of the world” map where Manhattan is bigger than Asia and 3 stops on the N train is about the distance from Capetown to Cairo? I think of that map when I read journalists discuss the Israeli political spectrum. In Israel, the left and center are in the [...]

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J Street’s problems require more than one word

Gil Reich — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:28:48 +0000

“Israel’s diplomatic problem in one word: settlements.” So claims J Street’s VP of Communications Alan Elsner. It’s always tempting to believe that there’s a silver bullet, a single change that will make everybody start liking us. But it’s a dubious claim. The effect precedes the alleged cause Israel was always diplomatically isolated. Before the evil [...]

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Why the Imperfect God idea matters

Gil Reich — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:41:57 +0000

With his An Imperfect God essay in the New York Times, Yoram Hazony set off a new round of discussions surrounding the question of if God is perfect why is there so much pain and injustice. Some atheists’ responses: Hazony is further contributing to the same time-waste and mental gymnastics required to believe in a [...]

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5 Reasons for Jews to Vote Romney

Gil Reich — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:14:48 +0000

There are many reasons for Jews to vote for Governor Romney. Here are the top 5. 1. Romney supports non-violence and doesn’t demonize rich or successful President Obama said “rich people are all for nonviolence. Why wouldn’t they be? They’ve got what they want. They want to make sure folks don’t take their stuff.” “The [...]

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Aaron Sorkin’s Jewish & Christian problem

Gil Reich — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:40:56 +0000

The final episode of the first season of Aaron Sorkin’s Newsroom just aired. In the climactic final scene the protagonist called the Tea Party the American Taliban. The people of the newsroom respond proudly as though they had finally spoken truth to power, and called evil by its real name. It was the perfect climax [...]

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Germany and brit milah

Gil Reich — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 07:46:12 +0000

There were two interesting circumcision stories yesterday. A new Johns Hopkins study argued that fewer circumcisions meant reduced male health and an extra $2.5 billion burden on the health care system. The Global Post reports: Researchers at Johns Hopkins said that the 25 percent drop in circumcisions could cost the US health system upwards of [...]

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New York Times from Crown Heights to Sheldon Adelson

Gil Reich — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 20:56:09 +0000

Crown Heights Riots Twenty one years ago today a car accident in Crown Heights was quickly followed by anti-Jewish riots. Nobody was more surprised by the New York Times’ coverage of the event than New York Times reporter Ari Goldman. Last year he wrote: “When I picked up the paper, the article I read was [...]

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Romney goes on offense

Gil Reich — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 22:43:59 +0000

Yesterday Paul Ryan flew to Las Vegas to meet with Sheldon Adelson. Adelson is the son of a poor Jewish Lithuanian immigrant cab-driver. He sold newspapers and worked in a grocery store, butcher shop and laundromat as a child. He made his fortune launching Comdex, a computer trade show in Las Vegas. He’s a big [...]

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The fall of the House of Burg

Gil Reich — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:39:16 +0000

Yosef Burg spent his twenties in Nazi Germany, where he helped Jews escape, arranged clandestine religious services, earned his doctorate and received his Rabbinic ordination. He then got out just in time. His mother and grandmother didn’t. Dr. Burg served under every Israeli prime minister from 1951 to 1986, from Ben Gurion to Begin to [...]

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Political Hatred and Tisha B’Av

Gil Reich — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:54:12 +0000

REG: If you wanted to join the P.F.J., you’d have to really hate the Romans. BRIAN: I do! REG: How much? BRIAN: A lot! REG: Right. You’re in. Listen. The only people we hate more than the Romans are the Judean People’s Front. FRANCIS: And the Judean Popular People’s Front. LORETTA: And the People’s Front of Judea. REG: We’re the People’s Front [...]

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