Adir Shiffman’s Post

This incredibly eloquent editorial from Michael Stutchbury and The Australian Financial Review strikes the perfect tone for Anzac Day. We must call out those who live among us but vocally oppose the fundamental civilisational values that so many have died to protect, and that form the basis of our wonderful life. Western Civilisation is the greatest form of society so far. Its commitment to human rights is unmatched in human history. We should proudly cheer it. There is no better time to have been alive, and no better place to have lived. It is certainly not perfect. But it is precisely this commitment to openly acknowledging flaws and demanding continuous improvement that is our unique strength. Finally, I find it very sad when radicals degrade the sanctity of Anzac Day for their own selfish gain. They each need to spend some time with the “Gold Star” families of those who paid the ultimate price on our behalf. I’d like to mention just one of those we have lost, Private (Pte) Gregory (Greg) Michael Sher, who served with the Special Operations Task Group and was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. May his memory be a blessing. If you’re an AFR subscriber, be sure to read today’s editorial. If you’re not, this piece alone is well worth the cover price. Lest we forget. ❤️🇦🇺💔

Protestors in the US are co-opting the student songs of the 1960s calling for peace, to demand the destruction of an allied democracy and the oppression of Jewish citizens at home. Leadership across the Western world has lost the moral imperative to confont those whose views do not belong in our society. This is as true in Australia as it is in North America and most of Europe. It must be said clearly: hate speech is not protected speech in a democracy. This generation of radical protesters is driving the West not towards peace but towards the very real risk of conflict, one in which their own peer group - our children! - will be forced to fight and die. From the vantage point of our enemies, the West looks increasingly weak and “decadent” today, to use an old Soviet slur. When the vigilance required of a free society is forgotten by its youth, the enemies of liberty will deliver a brutal reminder. These enemies can equally emerge from within, which is far more terrifying. The unfolding catastrophe is a tragedy as we approach ANZAC Day and remember all those young souls who gave their lives for our freedom. Australia is a wonderful country. Those who oppose our core values should not be enjoying our privileges. 🇦🇺❤️🇦🇺

What will be the United Nations’ next finding, that Hamas suffers from “political bias”?

It is the eve of the Jewish festival of Passover (Pesach / פסח), a festival that celebrates freedom from slavery. Each Jewish person is commanded to feel the Exodus from Egyptian slavery as if it happened to them personally. Jews also sing (!) that in every generation there will be one who rises up to destroy us, but that with Divine help we will ultimately prevail. These words have been chanted for thousands of years, including during the Spanish Inquisition and in the Nazi death camps. Sadly, this year we again find these emotions all too raw. There are still dozens of innocent Israeli hostages being tortured in Gaza by the genocidal terror group Hamas. And the message of the genocidal Iranian Mullahs is finding succour in the cold hearts of freedom-hating radicals across the West, who march, chant and bay for Jewish blood in New York, London, Paris, and here in Sydney and Melbourne. But there is also good news. Egypt, where ancient Jews were enslaved, is today at peace with Israel. And in the Arab and Muslim world, outside of those places controlled by Iran, peace and friendship have emerged as powerful, resilient forces. So there is certainly hope for a better world. Tonight, my greatest thanks is reserved for two groups. The first are the soldiers - including Jews, Muslims, Christians - fighting valiantly to keep Israeli families safe. The second message of gratitude is for those in the West, including in Israel, who are not Jewish yet continue to bravely stand up for the right of Jews to live in peace. And in freedom. Chag Sameach. פםח כשר ושמח And free the hostages!

Here is something to add to the hybrid work debate. From an article in The Wall Street Journal… Nike executives were quoted with very firm views on how work from home has contributed to their current problems. Obviously the pandemic was not exactly hybrid work in most places. But it is another strong voice arguing that time spent around coworkers creates serendipitous magic.

Is there a worse experience than coming into a store, ordering lunch, and then waiting 20 minutes as they prioritise the Uber Eats orders? It’s a perverse situation because they are keeping 100% of the money I pay. But they know I have no mechanism to rate them poorly, so they have no incentive to please the in-person customer.

Well this was a fun time! Adam Schwab kindly invited me (at somewhat short notice!) to join him and interview Chris Judd at another great Digicit event. Unsurprisingly, Chris is a very interesting and smart guy with great stories. Some people also pointed out that he was ok at footy. And sadly we already know that Adam is the more insightful part of "The Contrarians with Adam and Adir" Podcast. He also claims to be the younger one, too. However, I am very proud of this photo (taken by Dion Appel) because I got both of them laughing! I can’t even remember what I said, but it really puts a smile on my face to see them so entertained. I laugh non-stop when recording the podcast with Adam each week, and we’ve now persuaded Boden Westover to get involved in our growing Contrarians universe which also includes producers Mike Liberale and Keehlan Ferrari-Brown. Bo creates a brilliant newsletter each week that summarises the best bits of our podcast, including hilarious GIFs. There’s a link below and you can also head over to thecontrarianspod.com for the full set of stuff. I never realised how much fun this whole endeavour would be, thank you Adam for making it all happen each week. This week’s newsletter her: https://lnkd.in/gpfxcemc

Once again, The Australian Greens are disgracing themselves. This time, their Senator Nick McKim is threatening Woolworths Supermarkets boss Brad Banducci with jail time for taking a question on notice because he doesn’t know the figure off hand. Maybe you can argue that Banducci should (or even has) committed the Return on Equity figure to memory. But he responded several times that the company focuses on Return on Investment, that he doesn’t know ROE off hand, and that he will take it on notice and provide the answer. Even if he thinks he knows it, he’s entitled to be sure and that is no insult to the Committee. McKimm was previously elected to the Tasmanian Parliament. Before that, his biography seems unclear and almost certainly doesn’t include running a business. I’m not even sure he ever worked in a business. I’d love to ask him to explain Return on Equity vs Investment and very much hope a journalist does that live! This is not to defend Woolies. They should answer questions about pricing, given the supermarket oligopoly, current hardships suffered by many, and the CEO’s $8m pay. But the combative, completely uncivilised way of speaking to a person compelled to appear is really disgraceful and continues to degrade the public’s view of politics. It is a severe misuse of the power they wield as Chairman of a Senate Committee, simply to grandstand and appear tougher than Albo. Voting for this party today, one is supporting a series of behaviours that have been at various times antisemitic, anti-business, and anti-worker. Sadly, the wave of business-hating politicians continues to grow, as if profit is a sin and not the basis on which regulated capitalism has brought much of the world’s population out of poverty. As a final insult, with The Greens you don’t even get an environmental party as a consolation prize anymore!

Do not believe the narrative that the Iranian regime planned to avoid major Israeli casualties. They telegraphed the attack not to provide warning, but to terrorise Israelis and to halt daily life and the economy. They fired the largest payload of drones and missiles in the history of warfare. It might have cost them half a billion dollars. They used the same approach as Russia has taken to hurt Ukraine: slow but overwhelming drones followed by missiles. It took all of Israel’s defence capability, plus the assistance of Western and Arab allies, to down the explosive projectiles. The firings passed over many parts of Israel, including the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. They could have easily malfunctioned - as many did - and hit that place. Ballistic missiles, in particular, have been particularly effective in Ukraine and Iran would have expected them to penetrate Israel. A few did. A young Israeli Bedouin (Arab) girl was very severely wounded in the attack. That is little mentioned. There is no reason to believe the Iranians were not trying to harm or kill more Israelis. As for the lack of damage, it: - is a huge morale boost for the startup nation after the events of 7 October - is great for the Israeli defence and tech industries - strengthens the Western alliance when it was looking frayed - takes the focus off Gaza (including at the UN) - brings the Arabs closer to Israel - exposes the severe limits of Iran’s offensive deterrence, and - emphasises the importance of preventing a nuclear breakout with such a regime. Plus, Israel will probably still bomb Iran in return. Which part of this sounds like anything other than a disaster for Iran? Last night was in fact a massive win for Western Civilisation. Sometimes, you just need to take the win and not minimise the achievement. Hopefully the Iranian regime will fall soon and the Persian people can return to their place in the community of democracies.

If you enjoy "The Contrarians with Adam and Adir" Podcast and want to see us record a live show at SXSW Sydney, just vote for it! We plan on doing our usual tech and business banter (including Adam’s typical ratings of everything as the best/worst ever). Plus, we will chat marketplaces with Tim Fung of Airtasker and Tim Rossanis of Turo and ask questions to make them wish you voted for something else! 😂😂 To vote, click on the link in the comments. It involves a 30 second sign up process to SXSW but after than you can vote for other sessions too. Thanks for taking the time to vote and I think it will be lots of fun. 🤩