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 June 25, 2012/ 5 Tammuz, 5772 Norquist delivers the GOP's marching orders By Dana Milbank http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | All hail Grover Norquist! Bow down, Lindsey Graham. The Republican senator from South Carolina dared to say he might consider supporting a tax increase — but then Norquist paid him a visit on Wednesday. “Every once in a while you have somebody with an impure thought like Lindsey Graham,” Norquist told me. But after their talk, Norquist could report that “Graham will never vote for a tax increase.” Kneel before him, Tom Coburn. The Republican senator from Oklahoma had toyed with the idea of supporting a deficit-reduction deal that includes some tax increases, before Norquist conquered him. “He had a moment of weakness where he thought you had to raise taxes to get spending restraint,” Norquist said. “He now knows that’s not true.” Prostrate yourselves, House Republicans. On Thursday, a day after Republican senators hosted Norquist on their side of the Capitol, GOP House members opened up the Ways and Means Committee room so that he could counsel them on The Pledge, an anti-tax edict written by Norquist and signed by all but four House Republicans, most Republican senators and Mitt Romney. Lawmakers leaving their private audience with Norquist were agog at his majesty. “I agree with him tremendously,” reported Rep. John Fleming (R-La.). But Sander Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on Ways and Means, had a less favorable view of the spectacle as he stood in the hallway while Republicans in the committee room kissed Norquist’s ring. “They’re in this committee room to hold royal court for the person who has asked people to take a pledge . . . not their constituents,” Levin complained. “Essentially, Norquist is here to hold feet to the fire when we need open minds.” Norquist doesn’t dispute that. The tax-pledge effort he began a quarter-century ago is now the defining mantra of the party: no tax increases, no how, no way, no matter the consequences. With the possible exception of Newt Gingrich, Norquist has done more than anybody to bring about Washington’s political dysfunction. Since he began, the federal debt has increased roughly eightfold. But Norquist still believes that as soon as next year victory will be his — all because of his pledge. “Because almost all the Republicans took it, it became, actually, the branding of the party,” Norquist told me Thursday. Although I think Norquist’s approach has been disastrous for the country, I am awed by his success with the pledge. Now Senate Democrats are trying to turn him into the GOP bogeyman of this election cycle. “The leader of the Republican Party is up here today on the Hill. . . . You know who it is: It’s Grover Norquist,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said at a news conference Thursday, a couple of days after charging, with some validity, that Norquist “has the entire Republican Party in the palm of his hand.” Norquist didn’t quarrel with the charge, as Fox News’s Chad Pergram put it to him, that he’s giving Republicans “their marching orders.” “The modern Republican Party works with the taxpayer movement,” he replied, satisfied that “post-pledge, post-tea party, they’re not going to raise taxes.” That’s probably because Norquist has convinced them that the long-sought victory is just months away. He predicts that Republicans will keep control of the House, take over the Senate, elect Romney president and promptly enact the Ryan budget. “It would be nice if some Democrats join, but it’s not necessary,” he said, arguing that the plan crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) could clear the Senate with only 50 votes as part of the budget “reconciliation” process. This seems unlikely. Even if they could use the procedure Norquist favors (anti-deficit rules make this difficult) Republicans would have to make their plan temporary, like the George W. Bush tax cuts. And the backlash is likely to make the Obamacare rebellion look tame. We’d quickly be back in the stalemate. But Norquist’s loyalists in Congress are holding their ranks, dutifully coordinating talking points with him after their private tutorial Thursday on “how the pledge should be communicated.” “We have a spending problem, and the taxpayer pledge helps us focus on the problem,” House conservative leader Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told reporters as he departed. “The problem in Washington is spending,” echoed Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.). Finally, out came the 55-year-old Norquist, all of 5-foot-6 with a graying beard. He spoke expansively to reporters for more than half an hour, waving off the notion that he might be becoming a PR problem for the party. “There are significantly more Republicans in Congress since they started taking the pledge,” he said. “The advocates of spending more and taxing more are losing.” Losing? Or just locked in an unending blood feud? Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." 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Previously: • 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 © 2011, Washington Post Writers Group