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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 Feb. 4, 2013/ 24 Shevat, 5773

Push for gun control misplaces blame

By Star Parker


Printer Friendly Version



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Difficulty in getting change in our country is an ongoing source of frustration. Particularly when we have huge problems facing us as we do today.

But the founders knew what they were doing setting up the checks and balances of our constitutional republic. The delicate arrangement we call freedom should never submit with ease to a charismatic demagogue or to an emotion-filled crisis.

The current push for gun control is case in point. It is at a time like this that we should be grateful that changing our laws is hard to do.

Every normal and decent American wants to live in a country where we will never again see life lost as result of a weapon held and fired by some deranged individual. If we knew how to prevent it from ever happening again, we all would sign off in a minute.

But we don't know. And that is the point.

Ironically, President Barack Obama acknowledges that we don't know what causes the irrational violent incidents we have witnessed. It is the reason one part of the proposal he has put forth is to provide funding to the Centers for Disease Control to study the problem.

Yet, despite acknowledging a lack of understanding about what drives gun violence, the president and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California do not hesitate to offer what they claim is a solution. They propose further controls on gun ownership that are deeply problematic in their intrusion on our freedoms, and on our right to bear arms, guaranteed under the Second Amendment of our Constitution.

Why are the president and Feinstein so ready to compromise basic American freedoms with gun control measures, which already have a dubious record of success, to solve a problem that Obama acknowledges we don't understand?

To the president's credit, in his remarks introducing his gun control initiative, he acknowledges that there may be cultural reasons that contribute to this sick, violent behavior.

But he defines the cultural parameters of what he chooses to look at in such narrow terms that you have to question his seriousness or sincerity.

The president said, "Congress should fund research into the effects that violent video games have on young minds."

But why limit this discussion to video games? Has the president walked by a local movie theater complex recently to see what is playing? How about the local fare on television? Or what about the content of rap music?

Can it possibly be that the disproportionate support that the Democratic Party gets from the entertainment industry -- major sources of gratuitous violent media -- gets them a pass from today's discussion?

Obama outraised Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney by a 5-1 ratio from the movie/TV/music industry.

This industry was among the top 10 sources of business funding for Feinstein's re-election in 2012, with election funding sources showing these entertainment businesses didn't provide a dime to her Republican opponent.

What about other major themes in American culture today that contribute to a sense of meaningless and lack of respect for the sacredness of life?

Of course, I am talking about our indifference to the lives of unborn children, who are murdered in our country with impunity. Somehow, those who want to intrude on gun ownership can live with the violence perpetrated on the unborn and have little interest in seeing its implications on violence in other areas of our society.

Another part of this discussion is about the mentally ill. Can Obama or Feinstein give us a good definition of mental illness and seriously tell us how this can be used to control gun ownership?

We have a serious problem on our hands, which demands serious discussion.

This discussion is not taking place and the gun control initiatives that have been put forward do not begin to justify the compromise of our basic freedoms, which they would require.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

Comment by clicking here.

Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Center for Urban Renewal and Education.



Previously:


01/28/13 How the GOP can help destroy America
01/21/13 Are MLK's Christian values welcome today?
01/14/13 Roe v. Wade, 40 years later
01/07/13 D.C. is de-tached . . . from reality
12/31/12 Blacks are NRA's natural constituency
12/24/12The lesson of Newtown isn't guns. It's that there are social truths as well as individual truths
12/17/12 We must fight to restore America
12/07/12 Wonderful, innovative, compassionate --- and irresponsibly wrong
12/03/12 The Republican Hispanic challenge
11/26/12 A society in decline: Our definition of marriage should follow process, not principle?
11/19/12 Leadership is about identifying the truth, believing it and telling it in a way that people can grasp
11/11/12 How conservatives can win over blacks and Latinos
11/05/12 Racial divide has worsened under Obama
10/29/12 How trillions are poured down a black hole
10/21/12 Missouri Senate race model for the nation
10/15/12 On the road to 'death panels'
10/08/12 Why the Obama bubble still hasn't burst
10/01/12 To promote freedom abroad, practice it here
09/24/12 A time for truth, not word games
08/20/12 America ready for Paul Ryan's adult conversation
08/13/12 Our economic crisis is a values crisis
08/06/12 Black pastors press Democrats on gay marriage
07/30/12 Is Christianity now un-American?
07/23/12 Entrepreneurs, not politicians, build the nation's prosperity
07/16/12 The new American food stamp plantation
07/09/12 In search of conservative leadership
07/02/12 Light v. darkness in racial politics
06/25/12 Republicans missing chance on education
06/11/12: Raise levels of personal responsibility, not the minimum wage
06/11/12: Free societies soon won't be free if its citizens see freedom as something that should be of responsibility
06/04/12: Americans have become decidedly more pro-life
05/28/12: Booker's comments about Bain, capitalism should not surprise
05/21/12: Obama forcing blacks to make hard choices
05/14/12: Fairness? The struggle in our public spaces is about competing worldviews, not neutrality
05/07/12: Morality and economy are separate universes?
04/30/12: How to keep the poor poor
04/23/12: Obama's real 'stay-at-home mom' problem
04/16/12: Obama makes foul call for economic 'fairness'
04/09/12: GOP's black, Hispanic problem
04/02/12: A wakeup call to a nation still sleeping through a crisis
03/26/12: Supremes to confront new, energetic efforts to undermine the principles upon which this nation stands
03/19/12: Republican race is just getting started
03/12/12: Contraception flap 'defines deviancy down'
03/05/12: Breitbart's final message to the Left
02/27/12: Support for Santorum will grow despite attacks
02/20/12: Libs' recent victories fuel Santorum surge
02/06/12: Memo to Mitt: Whole nation is on government plantation
01/30/12: Obama's vision puts America last
01/23/12: Court ruling on ultrasound law worth celebrating
01/16/12: Capitalism on trial
01/09/12: NAACP plantation masters play race card again
01/02/12: Youths' support for Ron Paul is misplaced
12/26/11: In search of an ambiguous conservative leader
12/19/11: Thank U.S. troops, notably wounded warriors
12/12/11: Land of the envious and home of the victim
12/05/11: Payroll tax ‘cut’ is another welfare scam
11/28/11: Pray every day that America does not lose its way
11/21/11: We're ignoring the Constitution
11/14/11: The central issue of our time will define the 2012 presidential election
11/07/11: Separation of . . . morality and economy?
10/31/11: Every American should listen to Paul Ryan
10/24/11: Disrespect for life and disrespect for property go hand in hand
10/17/11:The right argument for Cain
10/10/11: Occupy Wall Street: More from the culture of narcissism
10/03/11: Why so many blacks continue to fail
09/26/11: So many GOP debates, so few candidate revelations
09/19/11: The the last vestige of the triumph of hope over experience is throwing itself a party. They'll be passing out palms-up portions of pity, but few solutions
09/12/11: I'll defend Perry on Social Security Ponzi scheme
09/05/11: Marco Rubio's Courageous speech
08/28/11: The Steve Jobs/Martin Luther King Jr. Connection
08/19/11: Blacks' dilemma with Obama





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