Alon Ben Joseph's Blog

I received a ‘letter’ by email, titled “A Holocaust Survivor’s View on Islam” and found it very interesting. The email claims that the author  is Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a Holocaust survivor and respected psychiatrist. When one does an online search about this article it can be doubted that this is a recent article, that it is the original title or even that it has been written by Tanay. Nonetheless, I do think it is an interesting view and therefore share the message as I received it:

“A Holocaust Survivor’s View on Islam

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. ‘Very few people were true Nazis,’ he said, ‘but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.’

We are told again and again by ‘experts’ and ‘talking heads’ that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march… It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the ‘silent majority,’ is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were ‘peace loving’?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:

Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts — the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world-wide, read this and think about it, and send it on – before it’s too late.

Emanuel Tanay, M.D. 2980 Provincial St. Ann Arbor , MI 48104

Dr. Emanuel Tanay MD; is a well-known forensic psychiatrist who has been an expert witness in many famous cases. He has served as an officer or committee member on the Michigan Psychiatric Society, the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and others. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and of the American Board of Forensic Psychiatry and a distinguished fellow of the APA and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFC).

A Holocaust survivor himself, Dr Tanay coauthored a book about the survivors of the Holocaust and was asked by the German governmen t to consult on just compensation for the Holocaust survivors. Dr. Tanay has served on several journal editorial boards, authored many publications, and presented countless times on forensic medicine. His efforts have also produced many awards and commendations from groups such as the Michigan State Medical Society, APA, the Detroit Institute of Technology, and AAFC, among others.

I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across the USA, Canada and the rest of the civilised world.”

Do you also find this an interesting view?

On May 11th, 2012 I already published a post about the launch of a new book we were working on at Ace Jewelers. I am proud to announce that we presented the physical book at the beginning of this month: “The Ace List – Volume I” with an unique ISBN number: 9789081922807.

This is the press release we sent out today:

Amsterdam, September 12th, 2012 – Amsterdam based Ace Jewelers Group has presented a completely new concept in customer information. It consists of an impressive book, The Ace List, plus a dedicated website, www.TheAceList.com. Together, both media represent a new standard in communication about watches and jewels. The coffee table book is offering a kaleidoscopic view on the world of watches, jewelry and luxury living; the website – among others – offers clients the possibility to create their own lists of favorites.

It’s not the first time Ace Jewelers Group introduces new ways of information and marketing. The company is a pioneer of cross-channel retailing and operates classic jewelry boutiques next to digital e-boutiques. Ace was the first jeweler being authorized by the best brands to sell products online. Ace combines an innovative spirit with a dedication to quality. For this reason the group co-operated with MotoMax Media (a pioneer of combining traditional printed media with a strong online presence) to create a stunning book and accompanying website. All content was created specifically for this project.

The Ace List (Volume 1) is a hard cover publication of 100 large size pages. It presents important watches and jewels in a selection of Top Five Lists, but adds playful articles about the five best vintage watches, Hollywood brands, milestones in watch history, places to long for, marriage proposals, honeymoon destinations, planes and more! This combination of product oriented and lifestyle based subjects turns The Ace List into a most inspiring read.

The Ace List (ISBN 9789081922807) is for sale for € 20,- (USD 25, GBP 15) via www.amazon.com, www.AceJewelers.com, www.bol.com, and www.0024.nl.

I have been asked to speak for the second time at the leading eCommerce event in The Netherlands: Thuiswinkel Update. This time I am one of the CEO’s participating as a panel member during the so-called: CEO Debat. The event will take place in DeFabrique in Utrecht (The Netherlands) on September 27th, 2012.

Please come and join the discussion on September 27th, 2012 in DeFabrique in Utrecht. Get your tickets via: http://www.thuiswinkelupdate.nl and join the buzz via: @T_W_update and #TWU12.

I hope to see you all there

As you know I created this blog to share things that interest me and fascinate me… Today I want to share the exhibit of my dear friend and (art) mentor Rob Wagschal:

DIALOGUE
Works by Tim Donoghue and Rob Wagschal

Galerie Passère
8, rue Passère
04300 Forcalquier
France

July 4-25, 2012
(Vernissage: July 6 at 5:00 p.m.)

“Two friends who first met in Forcalquier and whose work has been richly influenced by Provence will exhibit together for three weeks in July at the Galerie Passère in Forcalquier. In a sense, both have found a second career as artists thanks to their experiences in the region. Formally as well as thematically, Rob Wagschal’s assemblages and Tim Donoghue’s collages can be seen as an aesthetic dialogue that evokes some of the central issues of modernism.

The Irish-American actor Tim Donoghue bought a vacation home in Dauphin in 1990 and settled permanently in Forcalquier in 2005. “It’s been very inspiring to live in a community with so many artists, to get to know them and their ateliers and to find my own way here.” Donoghue had studied to be a ceramicist before embarking on a career as an actor, so in a sense he has simply returned to his own aesthetic roots. “After 35 years in the theater,” he says, “I found myself moving from words to pictures.”

The Dutch businessman Rob Wagschal discovered the “Pays de Forcalquier” with his American wife in 1997. “We immediately knew that this gorgeous part of Provence was our destiny. The gentle drama and the richness of nature, the smells and colors and tastes have all become an integral part of my life.” As an undergraduate at Brandeis University, Wagschal had studied both art history and studio arts, and he began to produce work again some twenty years ago. But it was the life in Provence that strengthened his resolve to terminate his business career seven years ago in order to devote himself entirely to the arts.

Wagschal’s assemblages often incorporate objets trouvés or flea-market discoveries that reflect his Provencal experiences. Not only objects like discarded windowframes but also old letters and waybills in the flowing script of another era find their way into his works. Though abstract elements may play a role here, the Dutch artist is essentially a realist who celebrates the poetry of the commonplace. Often the juxtaposition of elements suggests fragments of narration, even a certain theatricality.

Donoghue, on the other hand, creates abstract compositions rooted in the Provencal landscape through their use of color. He also recalls the impact of an earlier visit to “Vallis clausa,” the reconstructed 15^th century paper mill at Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. Fascinated by the various tints and textures of the material itself, he later began to color his own paper, which is torn into strips and assembled into collages or even formed into translucent papier-mâché objects. While early works were often rendered in intense primary colors, today natural shades of ochre, vegetation, soil and stone lend the compositions their harmonious palette.

Though collage and assemblage both have ancient histories, their first use in the fine arts is usually identified with Pablo Picasso’s Nature morte à la chaise cannée¾a painting in which he incorporated a piece of printed oilcloth and a length of rope. He thereby proclaimed a revolution against painterly conventions, propagating instead an art of inclusion in which the everyday and the commonplace could also play a role. Picasso’s work, which exerted profound influence on the Dadaists and Surrealists, is dated 1912. With “Dialogue,” Rob Wagschal and Tim Donoghue make their own homage to the centenary of that milestone of modernism.

David Galloway”

It has been a long while since I took the time and sit down to write some posts about my passions. I haven’t taken the time as I put almost all my energy in my passions: Ace Jewelers & eBusiness. We are soon launching 3 (three) new eBoutiques… I will post more about it when we go live. On top of that we are publishing a book this summer: “The ACE List – Volume I” and today we received our ISBN number: 978-90-819228-0-7.

For this book we did a photo shoot on the Museumplein in Amsterdam and this picture will be next to the introduction I wrote for the book:

Do you like it? I liked it so much, I decided to use it as my new profile picture on all my pages on the social networks. Please connect with me on these networks, just check the ones I am on in the side menu of this blog

Have a wonderful weekend.

I have been asked to speak at the first Dutch business event about Mobile Commerce, named: mCommerce Event 2012 in Amsterdam.

The text in the image, says:

“Praktijkcase Ace Jewelers: “Waarom een horloge kopen via een SmartPhone als die al de tijd aangeeft?”

De eerste juwelier met een eBoutique en sinds 2011 ook een seperate mBoutique.
Alon Ben Joseph zal tijdens het M-commerce congres zijn visie presenteren op luxe retail. Zijn presentatie gaat over het verleden van luxe retail, de huidige staat en zijn toekomstvisie.”

Translation in English:

“Case Study Ace Jewelers: “Why buy a wrist watch if you can read the time from your SmartPhone?”

The first jeweller with an eBoutique and since 2011 also a seperate mBoutique.
During the M-commerce congres Mr. Alon Ben Joseph will share his vision on luxury retail. His presentation will be about his vision of the past, current state and future of  luxury retail.”

Please come and join the discussion on January 19th, 2012 in Pakhuis De Zwijger in Amsterdam. Get your tickets via: http://www.mcommerce-event.nl and join the buzz via: @Mcommerce_Event.

I hope to see you all there

Have you also noticed how your attention span has went down the last ten years? You can’t focus on reading a book or write an article? How your multitasking skills improved in the last decade?

Well, I certainly did and when I read a shot book review about Nicholas Carr‘s new book: “The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we read, think and remember”, I knew I had to read it.

So I did and hereby I want to share a short summary with you.

The book is a great mirror to show us how the internet has been integrated in to our daily lives and is changing they way we use our brain and therefore think. Carr draws from historical and cutting edge scientific research to show us that Internet is rewiring our brains and actually creating more superficial understanding. The back cover summerizes is nicely:

“By moving from the depths of thought to the shallows of distraction, the web, it seems, is actually fostering ignorance.”

Personally I totally I can relay to this, as I noticed that my short-term memory is really suffering. Because I am using GPS tools to navigate roads, search engines to find things and my Blackberry for all my phone numbers & appointments. I love to write posts for the several blogs I manage, but I notice that I often can’t find my self in a concentrated mood to produce a quality post. I am trying to study new languages and find my settle shifting on my chair unable to concentrate. On top of that I noticed I love the days where I totally switch off: no usage of any electrical device whatsoever.

As I don’t want to spoil too much of The Shallows, I will just conclude this brief post with a 3 parts of texts:

From page 217 (of the red paperback edition): “Automating cognitive processes in this way has become the modern programmers’ stock-in-trade. And for good reason: people naturally seek out those software tools and Web sites that offer the most help and the most guidance – and shun those that are difficult to master. We want friendly, helpful software. Why wouldn’t we? Yet as we cede to software more of the toil of thinking, we are likely diminishing our own brain power in subtle but meaningful way. When a ditchdigger trades his shovel for a backhoe, his arm muscles weaken even as his efficiency increases. A similar trade-off may well take place as we automate the work of the mind.”

From page 219: “A series of psychological studies over the past twenty years has revealed that after spending time in a quiet rural setting, close to nature, people exhibit greater attentiveness, stronger memory, and generally improved cognition. Their brains become both calmer and sharper. The reason, according to attention restoration theory, or ART, is that when people aren’t being bombarded by external stimuli, their brains can, in effect, relax.”

From pages 221-222 I want to conclude this post about a must-read book: “We may lose our capacity “to concentrate on a complex task from beginning to end,” but in recompense we’ll gain new skills, such as the ability to “conduct 34 conversations simultaneously across six different media.” A prominent economist writes, cheerily, that “the web allows us to borrow cognitive strengths from autism and to be better infovores.” An Atlantic author suggests that our “technology-induced ADD” may be “a short-term problem,” stemming from our reliance on “cognitive habits evolved and perfected in an era of limited information flow.” Developing new cognitive habits is “the only viable approach to navigating the age of constant connectivity,” Carr concludes chapter ten.”

If you are interested in more articles by Nicholas Carr, check his blog: Rough Type.

Usually I send out a ping/tweet about books that I read, liked and think my friends should read to. I just finished a book that I like so much, that I am posting a short review about it. I liked it so much, as it really opened up a new world to me and created a ‘wow-effect’, maybe even an enlightenment moment.

For the over a decade everyone is speculation that China is going to rule the world, but as China is slowly growing and becoming its own self fulfilling prophecy, nobody really quantified why and/or if China is going to rule the world. When I heard about Mr. Martin Jacques, and his newest book: “When China Rules The World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World“, I knew I needed to read it immediately. (By the way, I first heard of him via TED.com, where I learn many mind gobbling things ).

Although it is a thick (441 pages) and rather academic, it does read rather smooth. This book is not just a in-depth analysis of the current situation of China and where it is moving, but gives an deep, full historical understanding of the 3000 years old Chinese culture. It gives an inside view, seen from the Asian perspective AND Western perspective. Very well done.

As I declared this book as a ‘must-read’, I don’t want to spoil too much… The books concludes in “The Eight Differences that Define China”:

1. China is not really a nation-state in the traditional sense of the term but a civilization-state.

2. China is increasingly likely to conceive of its relationship with East Asia in terms of a tributary-state, rather than nation-state, system.

3. There is the distictively Chinese attitude towards race and ethnicity. The Han Chinese conceive of themselves as a single race, even though this is clearly not the case.

4. China operates, and will continue to operate, on a quite different continental-size canvas as continental in scale.

5. The nature of the Chinese polity if highly specific. Unlike the Western experience, in particular that of Europe, the imperial dynasty was neither obliged, nor required, nor indeed desired to share power with other competing institutions or interest groups, such as the Church or the merchant class. The Confusian ethos that informed and shaped it for some two millennia did not require the state to be accountable to the people, but instead insisted on its loyalty to the moral precepts of Confucianism.

6. Chinese modernity, like other East Asian modernities, is distinguished by the speed of the country’s transformation. The Asian tigers are time-compression societies. They embrace the new in the same way that a child approaches a computer or a Nintendo game console.

7. Since 1949 China has been ruled by a Communist regime. Paradoxically, perhaps the two most significant dates of the last half-century embody what are seemingly entirely contradictory events: 1989, marking the collapse of European Communism and the demise of the Soviet bloc; and 1978, signalling not only the beginning of the most remarkable economic transformation in history but also one presided over by a Communist Party.

8. China will, for several decades to come, combine the characteristics of both a developed and a developing country. This will be a unique condition for one of the major global powers and tems from the fact that China’s modernization will be a protracted process because of the country’s size: in conventional terms, China’s transformation is that of a continent, with continental-style disparities, rather than that of a country.

As quoted in the final chapter of the book. It also contains a great Guide to Further Reading on pages 438-441.

If you have read the book already, please share your thoughts. If you are interested in China, world politics and/or economics, please do read this book.

I really enjoyed it and learned a great deal from it.

看到您的到来 (Kàn dào nín de dàolái) = See You Soon

The title sounds a bit weird, but now you can get physical gold bars from an ATM machine instead of cash money. The first gold vending machine that actually spits out gold was presented in (where else) Dubai. But this week I ran in to one in Europe. Now where else than in London, United Kingdom. This is a picture I took of the machine at Westfield London White City Shopping Mall:

This surprised me a bit and made me curious if there is a serious business (plan) behind this, or it’s just a good marketing stunt?!

The company that created these gold vending machines is: Gold to Go. And, they seem very professional and serious…

This is what they write on their homepage:

“A simple and brilliant principle: put your money in and pick your gold!

The GOLD to go™ vending machine is an unmanned point of sale. It offers an extraordinary opportunity to purchase gold bars and coins of assured quality, backed by the security of a Swabian Fort Knox® and with the ease-of-use of a vending machine. Prices are updated in real-time. The GOLD to go™ gold vending machine is largely burglar-proof and tamper-resistant. It has an excellent user guidance, which makes it very easy to handle.

geschenkbox-krugerrandIn the standard version, our GOLD to go™ ATM’s are equipped with the following products (alternative product portfolio is possible, depending on the requirements of the respective location):

Gold Bars 1 gram, 5 gram, 10 gram and 1 ounce

Krugerrand 1/10 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1 ounce

Kangaroo 1/10 ounce ($15) and 1 ounce ($100)

Maple Leaf 1/10 ounce ($5)

All these come in a precious gift box.”

Today, there are already 27 ATM machines installed: 15 in Germany, 8 in The UAE, 2 in Italy and one each in The USA and The UK.