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May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review Feb. 11, 2013/ 1 Adar, 5773

'Trust me' is not enough on drone warfare

By Dana Milbank




http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Is the position of G0D subject to the confirmation process?

Does the Lord Almighty require the advice and consent of the Senate?

These are no longer abstract questions.

John Brennan may not be divine, but he plays G0D often as President Obama’s counterterrorism chief — and he will do so even more frequently once he moves to Langley as CIA director when (not if) senators confirm him.

Brennan is the architect of the drone warfare program, an extraordinary assertion of the executive’s powers. In this new, hidden warfare, unelected officials, without the blessing of a court, or anything else, order killings of suspected terrorists — even American citizens, perhaps on U.S. soil.

It’s an expansion of presidential authority crying out for congressional oversight, and this week was the Senate’s big chance to explore in public the policy of targeted killing using unmanned aircraft. But the only drones in evidence Thursday afternoon at Brennan’s confirmation hearing were the lawmakers on the dais. With few exceptions, they weren’t prying, and Brennan wasn’t volunteering.

Would Brennan provide the Senate intelligence committee with a list of countries in which the CIA has performed targeted killings? “If I were to be confirmed as director of CIA, I would get back to you,” was all Brennan would commit to, “and it would be my intention to do everything possible to meet this committee’s legitimate interests and requests.”

Would Brennan talk about the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the most prominent targets of drone warfare?

“I’m not going to talk about any particular operation or responsibility on the part of the U.S. government for anything whatever,” Brennan replied.

“See, that’s the problem,” the committee chairman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), responded; she noted that she has asked the administration “for increased transparency on the use of targeted force for over a year.” Feinstein complained that she can’t even discuss the civilian casualties associated with drone strikes, saying she has been told: “It’s a covert program. For the public, it doesn’t exist.”

Brennan’s response: Trust me. He assured the committee that, although administration lawyers have granted him and his colleagues enormous latitude to kill, “we only use these authorities and these capabilities as a last resort.”

With his stocky build, silver crew cut and 9/11 commemorative wristband, Brennan came across more as a plain-spoken cop than as the federal government’s top killer.  Twirling a pen in his fingers and resting his elbows on the witness table, he handled the lawmakers’ questions with unwavering confidence. He won plaudits from the committee for his “terrific” leadership (Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) ) and his candor (“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone more forthright,” said Feinstein).

The senators, with few exceptions, exempted Brennan from tough questioning about the drone program, quizzing him instead on interrogation techniques; leaks; the attack on diplomats in Benghazi, Libya, in September; events in Tunisia; even the effects of looming spending cuts.

The only people truly eager to press Brennan on the drone program were Code Pink demonstrators, whose heckling forced Feinstein, after multiple interruptions, to suspend the hearing and order all public spectators removed from the room. That overreaction left 140 seats empty and a created undesirable irony: A hearing that should have been about transparency instead ended in the exclusion of the public.

Some of the lawmakers’ reticence to press Brennan had to do with the classified nature of the program. But politics played a role. Republicans didn’t pry because they favor the targeted-killing program, and Democrats didn’t raise civil-liberties objections because Brennan is the nominee of a Democratic president.

That’s a dangerous mind-set. The Iraq war was initially popular — before it took a disastrous turn. And though a large majority of Americans supports the drone-warfare program, it is far more skeptical of killings that target U.S. citizens.

To the minority of senators who dared to challenge him on the drone program, Brennan offered vague reassurance. “I never believe it’s better to kill a terrorist than to detain him,” he told Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). Brennan assured Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that people in areas affected by the drone strikes “have welcomed the work that the U.S. government has done.”

After Capitol Police cleared the public from the room, Brennan spoke about the demonstrators. “I think they really have a misunderstanding of what we do as a government,” he said, “and the care that we take and the agony that we go through to make sure that we do not have any collateral injuries or deaths.”

That may well be true. But on a matter of such weight, “trust me” isn’t good enough.


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Previously:



02/07/13 Chip off the Paul block: How will Rand separate from his father?
02/06/13 Empty talk, happy talk
02/05/13 John Kerry, finally where he belongs
02/04/13 With a friend like Jim Inhofe ...
01/29/13 Rubio's immigration 'reality' show
01/27/13 Ryan And Pence Represent Polar Opposites Of GOP
01/24/13 Congress's daffy duck saga
01/22/13 So much for unity: Obama's speech failed to rise to the moment
01/21/13 Less an inauguration than a tepid rerun
01/03/13 The GOP's savior
01/03/13 Boehner defined by a Sandy sidestep
12/21/12 Obama in focus, yet all over the map
12/20/12 A deal or a mutiny
12/13/12 Joe Lieberman's sad send-off
12/10/12 Post-thought think tank: Why DeMint and Heritage are a perfect pair
12/06/12 Republicans wave the white flag
12/05/12 Romney's last duty
12/04/12 Obama's poor efforts at transparency
12/03/12 The urge to purge: Rational Republicans defy purists at their own peril
11/30/12 The naked 'fiscal' truth: Lawmakers can't hide the lack of progress
11/28/12 Santorum's new cause: opposing the disabled
11/20/12 Norquist in defeat
11/19/12 Susan Rice's tarnished resume
11/15/12 Let those poor states secede
11/12/12 Whole lot of blaming going on
11/08/12 At Romney headquarters, the defeat of the 1 percent
11/07/12 Why I voted Republican
11/06/12 Romney's new tune
11/01/12 The Supreme Court's dog-day afternoon
10/31/12 A perfect political storm
10/29/12 Behind the Clinton 'bromance,' a stealth campaign
10/25/12 A Trumped-up bomb
10/24/12 Groupthink Live: How conventional wisdom congeals in 2012
10/23/12 The sound of worldviews not colliding
10/22/12 The tea party is helping Dems
10/18/12 Moderate Mitt wins conservatives' blessings
10/16/12 Reid's latest salvos are beneath the dignity of his office
10/08/12 Obama pays price for ducking the questions
10/05/12 Mitt Romney holds his own -- and then some -- in first debate
10/03//12 The Zinger candidacy --- all sugary platitudes, no protein
09/25/12 Obama makes room for 'The View'
08/17/12 Hateful speech on 'hate' groups: The Family Research Council is no KKK
08/16/12 Now Dems are employing harsh tactics
08/14/12 Paul Ryan on soapbox at Iowa State Fair
08/13/12 Romney's welfare gambit
08/07/12 Harry Reid's latest broadside
07/26/12 Romney can't have it both ways on defense spending, tax cuts
07/19/12 Ron Paul, fed up
07/17/12 The rotten results of one-party rule
07/11/12 The missing giants of the Senate
07/09/12 Representative Gaffe
07/02/12 The umpire strikes back
06/25/12 Norquist delivers the GOP's marching orders
06/19/12 The left, feeling left out
06/18/12 Skip the falsehoods, Mr. President, and give us a plan
06/15/12 The Wall Street Senate
06/13/12 Jeb Bush's heresy
06/12/12 Pileup at the White House
06/11/12 Obama's fate could be in Europe's hands
06/04/12 Welcome to Camp Competitive
05/31/12 Digging a racial grave
05/30/12 A new conspiracy theory: Is Romney a unicorn?
05/29/12 Do Republicans really want to clone one for the Gipper?
05/24/12 Obama's protectors are under the microscope
05/22/12 Obama's Old World mess: Allies are coming up short at a key moment
05/16/12 Where have all the candidates gone?
05/15/12 Barack Obama, the first female president
05/14/12 Irrationality wins: Voter cure for Congress's failures will likely backfire
05/08/12 Obama's marriage mess: His advisers scramble to clean up his 'evolution'
05/07/12 Taking out Dick Lugar
05/03/12 Gingrich may have ended campaign, but he will remain out of this world
05/02/12 Our do-almost-nothing Congress
05/01/12 President Obama, campaigner in chief
04/25/12 Romney's immigration Etch a Sketch
04/23/12 A congressional deal on immigration? Dream on
04/19/12 Dems battle back against Republican 'war on women'
04/18/12 Debauchery: An American govermental specialty
04/17/12 Silent witness
04/12/12 Rebuffing Obama's gimmicky 'Buffett Rule'
04/11/12 Santorum's Gettysburg surrender
04/09/12 The facts vs. Mitt Romney
04/06/12 Mitt Romney, talking to the press, keeps the press at a distance
04/05/12 From tracking al-Qaeda to tracking the wayward spouse
04/04/12 Budget cuts as back-door deregulation
03/26/12 My pet Mitt
03/22/12 Mitt Romney's latest gaffe may be etched in history
03/20/12 Supreme Court conceives of life after death
03/15/12 Conservative for Obama: The British PM as campaign prop
03/14/12 In Section 60, a silent search for meaning
03/13/12 Super Friends, unite
03/12/12 It's time to believe: Romney's a winner
03/07/12 Settling in to Washington's ways
03/06/12 AIPAC beats the drums of war
03/05/12 Did Republicans forget the women's vote?
02/29/12 Mitt Romney's acceptance speech, in (mostly) his own words
02/28/12 Common ground becomes a great divide
02/27/12 An expert witness for the GOP gender gap
02/21/12 Where Romney shines
02/15/12 A Republican death wish?
02/14/12Obama's budget games
02/13/12 Are GOPers playing right into Obama's hands?
02/08/12 Obama pumps the compressor of Joe Hudy's Extreme Marshmallow Cannon
02/07/12 Abramoff's atonement
02/01/12 Why we in the media just love Newt
01/31/12 The end of the road for Newt Gingrich?
01/25/12 Gingrich is Obama's best surrogate
01/24/12 Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney's attack dog
01/16/12 Mitt Romney's Al Gore problem
01/12/12 Kamikaze Gingrich, on the loose in South Carolina
01/11/12 Journalists' campaign trail secrets revealed
01/10/12 Mitt Romney's money problem
01/09/12 Newtonian exceptionalism
01/05/12 Mitt Romney out of control
01/04/12 Indecision 2012: In Iowa and the GOP
01/03/12 Rick Santorum's curious closing argument
12/28/11 A few cracks in my crystal ball
12/23/11 A few cracks in my crystal ball
12/20/11 Strange brews and views?
12/19/11 Cellphone ban would be a distraction
12/15/11 Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell and the Malfunction Minuet
12/14/11 The presidential auction of 2012
12/12/11 Newt's tactics comes back to haunt him
12/06/11 Can an anthem save Occupy non-movement?
12/05/11 The winner of the GOP campaign: Washington
11/30/11 Barney the bully: Congressman Frank's other legacy
11/23/11 Jon Kyl's search-and-destroy mission
11/21/11 Pay to play, brought to you by Washington
11/17/11 Big enough to save the supercommittee?
11/16/11 Why Newt Gingrich won't last
11/08/11 The 2012 campaign gets seedier
11/06/11 A Machiavellian model for Obama
11/03/11 The Herman Cain crack-up
11/01/11 Cain can --- he will survive
10/27/11 Stuntmen of the supercommittee
10/26/11 Democrats on the sidelines
10/24/11 Rick Perry's birther Parade
10/24/11 The birthers eat their own
10/19/11 The GOP's middle man
10/17/11 The waiting for nothing Congress
10/12/11 Sparsely occupied D.C.: Why the movement hasn't caught on
10/10/11 Can Obama strike an alliance with Occupy Wall Street?
10/06/11 Chris Christie, such a presidential tease
10/05/11 Obama and his foot soldiers go toe to toe
09/28/11 Cain could deliver
09/26/11 Republicans? Mr. Nice Guys?
09/22/11 Why Ron Paul is winning the GOP primary
09/21/11 I am a job creator who creates no jobs
09/20/11 Obama launches a revolution
09/19/11 Dems for Romney?
09/14/11 ‘Supercommittee’? More than stupor committee
09/07/11 Mitt Romney finds his (corporate) voice
09/01/11 The infallible Dick Cheney
08/31/11 This liberal says Perry is the ultimate conservative candidate
08/29/11 Wanted: More bite from Obama the Great Nibbler
08/10/11 How Rep. Austin Scott betrayed his Tea Party roots
08/09/11 The most powerful man on Earth?
08/08/11 The FAA shutdown and the new rules of Washington
08/04/11 Lt. Col. Allen West fires a round at the Tea Party
08/03/11 Government on autopilot
08/02/11 Dems mourn debt deal like death
07/27/11 Life imitates sport
07/26/11 Obama and Boehner take on Washington
07/21/11 Why Americans are angry at Congress
07/20/11 The new party of Reagan
07/18/11 Rob Portman, the boring Midwesterner who could bring sanity to the debt debate
07/13/11 John Boehner's bind
07/04/11 Stephen Colbert, Karl Rove and the mockery of campaign finance
07/01/11 President Puts Up His Dukes, As He Ought To
06/28/11 Rod Blagojevich verdict: All shook up
06/27/11 Progressives voice their anger at Obama
06/24/11 ‘Mission accomplished,’ Obama style
06/22/11 Jon Huntsman's first step toward oblivion
06/21/11 Scott Walker finds making bumper stickers is easier than creating jobs
06/20/11 A day of awkwardness with Mitt Romney
06/06/11 Hubris and humility: Sarah Palin and Robert Gates on tour
06/02/11 The Weiner roast
06/01/11 Congress clocks in to clock out
05/30/11 Hermanator II: No More Mr. Gadfly
05/24/11 How Obama has empowered Netanyahu
05/24/11 Pawlenty bends his truth-telling
05/20/11 Default deniers say it's all a hoax
05/18/11: Gingrich gives voice to moderation
05/17/11: Donald Trump and the House of Horrors
05/16/11: The medical mystery of Mitt Romney
05/12/11: The body impolitic: Schock photos should tempt lawmakers to cover up
05/10/11: Muskets in hand, tea party blasts House Republicans
05/09/11: The GOP debate: America -- and the party -- needs the grown-ups
05/05/11: Mitch Daniels, an alternative to scary
05/03/11: Obama's victory lap
05/02/11: How the journalist prom got out of control
04/28/11: Obama's birther day: Why did he lower himself by appearing in the briefing room?
04/27/11: Obama, lost in thought
04/24/11: Andrew Breitbart and the rifts on the right
04/22/11: Ten Commandments for 2012
04/21/11: Obama likes Facebook. Facebook likes Obama.
04/18/11: Without Nancy Pelosi, Obama is adrift
04/15/11: If progressives ran the world
04/14/11: Faith in political apostasy
04/13/11: One man's revolution is another's political expediency
04/11/11: Shutdown theatrics
04/06/11: Paul Ryan's irresponsible budget
04/05/11: Robots in Congress? Yes, we replicant!
04/04/11: Robert Gibbs, Facebook and the White House corporate placement service
04/01/11: Haley Barbour, the fat cats' candidate
03/31/11: Republican freshmen in House shut down compromise, and possibly the government
03/30/11: Coburn and Durbin, the dynamic duo of the debt crisis
03/28/11: The Obama doctrine: A gray area the size of Libya
03/24/11: Dems as Weiners
03/23/11: Obama's quick trip from tyrant to weakling
03/17/11: Who's afraid of Elizabeth Warren?
03/15/11: The underwear flap over Bradley Manning
03/10/11: In Senate's debt debate, talk isn't cheap
03/09/11: With Obama's new Gitmo policy, Administration officials had some 'splainin to do
03/02/11: Issa press aide scandal is like bad reality TV
02/25/11: Jay Carney: Mouthpiece for an inscrutable White House
02/14/11: The Donald trumps the pols at CPAC
02/09/11: Arianna Huffington's ideological transformation


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