Yediot Aharonot discusses the phenomenon of information overload in the age of the Internet.
Summary of Editorials from the Hebrew Press
Yediot Aharonot discusses the phenomenon of information overload in the age of the Internet. The author suggests that „Today, in practice, at the click of a mouse, more information than we will ever need awaits us, to the point where the information that we busy ourselves in storing and preserving no longer has any real meaning for us. I do not mean the vital information for properly running one’s life, but that unnecessary information-noise that engulfs us until it runs out our ears.” The paper asserts: „It is the insufferable availability of information that causes us to erroneously believe that the very holding, filing and preservation of information in preferred lists or behind icons on flickering screens is the essence of using it. In practice, in managing databases, as in life, it is not important how much one has but, rather, what you do with it. Or, as Albert Einstein put it: ‘Any idiot can store information. The trick is to understand what to do with it.’ Do we understand?”
Ma’ariv discusses the results of yesterday’s elections in Turkey. The author says that „As he has accumulated power, [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan has begun to build a Russian-style, Putin-esque administration in which he does not hesitate to trample his opponents, arrest large numbers of officers and journalists, and stoke up paranoia and hatred.” The author notes that Erdogan’s party failed to secure a hoped-for two-thirds parliamentary majority (and actually lost a few seats) and believes that, „Now, he needs to recognize the limits of his power, rein in the campaign of terror against loyalists of the previous regime and learn to live within a democratic system.” „Otherwise,” the author warns, “Turkey will return to the bad times.”
Yisrael Hayom comments on Hamas’s announcement yesterday that it will not accept Salam Fayyad as the prime minister of a Palestinian unity government. The author notes that Fayyad „is the main element responsible for securing American and European support for the Palestinians’ demands and the one who created the economic and social infrastructure in Judea and Samaria that allows Abu Mazen to claim around the world that his people are ready to take responsibility for a sovereign state.” The paper says that „Fayyad is the man whom those who oppose Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, on both sides, find the most threatening,” because „He expresses the hope of striving for a compromise.”
The Jerusalem Post commemorates the life of Al Schwimmer, who passed away last Saturday at the age of 94. Born in the USA, the editor illustrates Schwimmer’s many and varied efforts for the State of Israel, including the establishment of an American-based arms network which enabled Israel to successfully rebuff the onslaught of Palestinian militias as well as the offensive launched by the combined armies of neighboring Arab nations during the 1948-49 War of Independence, and the establishment of Israeli Aircraft Industries. The editor feels, however, that “of his many exploits, many of which remain confidential, Schwimmer will be best remembered for his decision to ignore the strict letter of the law for a greater good. In so doing, he became perhaps the single most instrumental force behind the creation of Israel’s illustrious air force.”
Haaretz declares that the Kadima MK Israel Hasson’s new parliamentary initiative, under which human rights organizations would be denied the right to employ national service volunteers, is pure political persecution, and is worried by the lack of response from Kadima chairwoman and opposition leader Tzipi Livni. The editor states that “Her silence is particularly worrying because she has until now been viewed as a rock standing firm against the recent wave of anti-democratic legislation,” and adds: “If Livni truly sees herself and her party as an alternative to the present government, she can no longer remain silent in the face of this campaign of silencing and intimidation.”
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