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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review Jan 13, 2012/ 18 Teves, 5772

Not exactly a biblical plague, but certainly an annoyance

By Dale McFeatters


Printer Friendly Version



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | G0d expressed his displeasure through the 10 plagues of Egypt, and it always pays to be alert to signs of G0d's wrath.

In my neighborhood, there is much to arouse suspicion. There are gnats, mosquitoes and flies, but then we live next to two streams, near the stagnant waters of the C&O Canal and not far from the Potomac River. Frogs, not so much anymore.

Washington seems to be visited by seven-year locusts annually, and they are deafening, but you get used to them. And in any case, the deer are more of a threat to the capital shrubbery than the locusts. (I know. Technically, cicadas are not locusts, but when it's your story you can tell it your way.)

There's thunder and occasional hail, but our weather's been increasingly quirky the last couple of years whether because of G0d, global warming or sunspots, who knows. There's darkness, but then it is the dead of winter. And our first-born is remarkably robust thanks to the U.S. military.

But I still think G0d is messing with us, whether out of mild pique or maybe just a sense of humor that passeth human understanding. We, and 36 other states, have been visited by a plague of stinkbugs.

When they are crushed they emit an odor described by one observer as "cilantro mixed with burned rubber and dirty socks." (Actually, that kind of resembles a wine writer's description of a particularly exceptional vintage, although with strong tannins thrown in.)

They are real pests, accounting for $37 million in damage to the 2010 apple crop, according to one trade group. They are also a real nuisance, especially if they migrate into your house by the thousands to spend the winter.

Like so many unpleasant additions to our wildlife and plant life -- snakeheads, zebra mussels, kudzu, Asian carp, Burmese pythons -- they arrived here from the Far East and found the New World very much to their liking.

In my own neighborhood, we have Asian tiger mosquitoes, small, fast and very light on their little legs, not at all like the old-fashioned slow and heavy American mosquitoes that were so satisfying to smash on your forearm or leg.

The stinkbug is believed to have arrived by freighter about 15 years ago, and only lately really started to proliferate.

Stinkbugs are described as speckled brown and 1/2 to 1 inch long with no natural predators. Ours don't seem quite that big and are more of a mottled battleship gray and they have one implacable enemy in Mrs. McFeatters, who is relentless in tracking them down and crushing them with a paper towel. Perhaps because of that or perhaps because of the cold weather, they seem to have become infrequent visitors.

The USDA is said to be spending $5.7 million to find a natural predator for the stinkbug and is re-creating its mating scent to lure the amorous bugs to their death.

One hopeful predator is described as a tiny parasitic wasp from Asia that eats stinkbug eggs. But you have to ask where, after eating all the stinkbugs, the parasitic wasps will turn next?

Maybe the little wasps will become a plague of their own and we'll have to import an equally nasty predator to control them. If we listen carefully, we may hear somewhere deep in the heavens someone trying to stifle a divine laugh.

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Previously:


01/12/12 Fewer young Americans interested in driving
01/05/12 Majoring in unemployment
01/04/12 Cutting the military by blunt force
01/02/12 Pragmatic look at top words
12/22/11 Basketball the way to Kim's heart and nuclear weapons
12/21/12 Speculation and wishful thinking can get scary
12/20/11 A third Kim has North Korea by the throat
12/19/11 Congress pats itself on back for budget bill
12/15/11 The U.S. government is cashing in its chips, literally
12/14/11 TSA might try trusting its own people
12/12/11 That $1.2 billion? It's around here some place
12/09/11 State Department Creates ‘Virtual Embassy’ For Iran
12/08/11 If you've ever tweeted, you're in the Library of Congress
12/07/11 Discoveries go to the core of what makes us humans
12/06/11 Stealing elections badly in Russia
12/05/11 Sometimes paranoia is common sense by another name
12/02/11 When the U.S. truly became one nation
12/01/11 Last chance to snap up a Maybach
11/30/11 Iran wants respect without earning it
11/29/11 Surprise! ‘Spider-Man’ may weave a profitable web
11/28/11 Italians entertain novel proposition: Paying their taxes
11/25/11 No time to let up on al-Qaida
11/24/11 Congress Quietly Abolishing Friday
11/23/11 Cleaning up after supercommittee implosion
11/22/11 Jailing minors with adults adds to problems
11/21/11 Brilliant strategy? Action by inaction
11/18/11They're going to eat horses, aren't they?
11/17/11 A pretend stick shift for pretend drivers
11/16/11 Clinton's ‘vast experiences’: Did NBC pick the wrong Chelsea?
11/15/11 Occupy protesters, you've made your point. Now, scat
11/10/11 Our vets are a national problem?
11/09/11 Requiem for a once-great sport
11/08/11 A toilet as smart as its occupant
11/07/11 Prerevolutionary gems in need of TLC
11/04/11 Feds must stop scam of stealing from dead children
11/03/11 Bank listens ‘very closely’ to customer lynch mob
11/01/11 TV that's leading the people away from ‘core socialist values’
10/31/11 NATO should not be a victim of its success
10/28/11 Iran mulls getting rid of president and presidency
10/27/11 Bienvenidos a Dayton and bring your businesses with you
10/26/11 Archivists long for Obama's teleprompter
10/25/11 United Nations to run the Internet?
10/24/11 Attention, world: You've got the cash. We've got the houses
10/19/11 Oil pipeline must be in America's future
10/18/11 U.S. plans ‘limited’ mission in an Africa with no limits
10/17/11 Social Security's grave mistakes
10/12/11 NASA's help-wanted sign for astronauts
10/10/11 Saving Thomas Jefferson''s chimneys
10/06/11 Uncle Sam's answer to deadbeats --- robo-calls
10/04/11 Christie should ignore jibes on his weight
10/03/11 Iran says its warships will head for Jersey shore
09/29/11 Europeans bristle at Obama's lectures
09/28/11 Jessica Rabbit for the defense
09/27/11 Russia learns outcome of next March's presidential election
09/26/11 Another try at leaving no child behind
09/23/11 This generation needs a job more than a name
09/22/11 In the lane next to you: A driverless car
09/20/11 Cloudy, cool, chance of falling satellite
09/14/11 Humanitarian extortion
09/13/11 Paging Dr. Watson; he's there in 3 seconds
09/09/11 Forecasting 100 percent chance of heavy metal
09/08/11 A jobs program at Obama's doorstep
09/07/11 Iran's government afraid of the water
09/06/11 Congress returns, tanned, rested and testy
09/05/11 Space nations must clean up after themselves
09/02/11 Osama bin Laden died a failure and he knew it
09/01/11 Time to retire political pie in the face
08/31/11 Labor Day celebrates what, exactly?
08/30/11 These arrestees really are framed
08/25/11 When in an earthquake, block traffic
08/23/11 A case for discretion in deportation arrests
08/22/11 Tough times or not, parents shell out for school
08/18/11 Being unpleasant for fun, profit, promotion
08/17/11 Time to prepare for the end game in Libya
08/16/11: ‘Super Committee’ starts facing reality
08/15/11: World's fastest plane disappears even faster
08/12/11: British cops track rioters through security cameras
08/11/11: Relax. There is no Death Star
08/10/11: House pages run final errands
08/09/11: U.S. treading water on job creation
08/08/11: Uncle Sam, the world's permanent guest
08/05/11: Most 9/11 victims not on federal death records
08/04/11: Russian PM calls U.S. a ‘parasite.’ He should be so lucky
08/03/11: Congress goes from one bind to another
08/02/11: D.B. Cooper may no longer be a mystery
08/01/11: Libya's latest weapon against NATO --- lawsuits
07/29/11: He'll always be known as Hot Wheels Handler
07/25/11: Recruiting children to save a dying town
07/22/11: Bachmann's admirable medical candor
07/12/11: Social Security's grave mistakes
07/08/11: Debt crisis need not be constitutional crisis
07/07/11: Startups entice new talent with kickball, treehouses
07/05/11: Stranded tourists get rare treat
06/30/11: The dollar Americans refuse to spend
06/27/11: The hangman doesn't cometh





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