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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

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: 'Noodles,' Asian style is a carb sub, sure. But they are also amazingly delicious and colorful

April 19, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When violence seems the only answer

Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama's visit to Israel had no impact on public opinion or government policy

Morgan Housel: Gold collapse: The start of something big?
Harvard Health Letters: Can you die of a broken heart?

Pete Spotts: Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds

Nora Schultz: Oxytocin helps beat booze cravings

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: Middle Eastern cuisine meets Italian delicious with this lentil and eggplant pastitsio

April 17, 2013

Shira Rubin: Too much of a good thing? 'Palestinians' realize downside of foreign aid boom

Geoffrey Mohan: Can computers decode dreams? Researchers take a first step

Morgan Housel: BAD NEWS: EVERYONE IS RIGHT!
Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 heart-healthy eating tips help cut saturated fat but not taste

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Told your child has sensory processing disorder? Seek a second opinion

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Corn and Curry Add Zing to Chilled Soup

April 15, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Death of Education?

Kristen Chick: Egyptian Christians respond with harsh words to attack -- rocks, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire -- against main cathedral

Marcy Darnovsky and Karuna Jaggar: High Court to decide if you should own your DNA
Howard LaFranchi: US bracing for more Russian blowback after taking action against 18 more human rights violators

Kristin Ohlson : The loneliest fight

The Kosher Gourmet by Dana Velden: A tasty, rich dish that hints at spring's arrival while still anchored in a favorite winter staple


Jewish World Review August 27, 2009 / 7 Elul 5769

The clouds of August

By Cokie and Steve Roberts



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | This is the summer of Barack Obama's discontent. As the president vacations with his family on Martha's Vineyard, angry storm clouds are darkening the sky, inundating him with intractable issues that he cannot escape, even on his island retreat.


The leaping optimism that greeted his election is dwindling steadily as harsh reality settles in. Yes We Can has been replaced by a more modest set of maxims: Have Patience. Governing Requires Compromise. We Inherited a Lot of Problems. We're Doing Our Best.


The latest Washington Post/ABC survey reflects this changing mood. Obama's personal approval still stands at a hefty 57 percent, but that's down 12 points from April. Only 49 percent have confidence that he'll make the right decisions for the country, and 55 percent think events are headed down the "wrong track."


Some of this decline was inevitable, but this week brought an unusual flurry of rising indexes that signaled bad news — from casualties in Afghanistan and deficits in Washington to temperatures in the world's oceans. And while the president is right to say many of these problems started years ago, he has to take responsibility for solving them. The buck stops at Martha's Vineyard.


The largest shadow over Obama's vacation is cast by Afghanistan. The New York Times recently ran a chilling headline: "Could Afghanistan Become Obama's Vietnam?" And The Economist was even more declarative: "Afghanistan. The Growing Threat of Failure."


Casualty figures for foreign troops are approaching 300 this year — the largest annual toll since the war began in 2001. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, called the situation on the ground "serious and deteriorating." A presidential election has produced no clear winner, and furious charges of fraud are injecting a new note of instability.


Obama has called Afghanistan a "war of necessity" that "is fundamental to the defense of our people." But those people are not listening: 51 percent of Americans say the war is no longer worth fighting, while in Great Britain, two of three want their soldiers out. If the president's military advisers ask for even more troops, as now seems likely, discontent could continue to escalate, particularly among Obama's core supporters. Fewer than one-in-five Democrats favors augmenting that force.


In Iraq, a series of devastating bomb attacks punctured a period of relative calm. Iraqi officials who had optimistically removed blast walls guarding key government offices reluctantly replaced them, and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari admitted: "We have to face the truth. There has been an obvious deterioration in the security situation."


The president has to face more unpleasant truths at home. Despite his arduous attempts to sell his health-care plans, support is dropping there as well. For the first time, 50 percent disapprove of how he's handling the issue, up from a 29 percent negative rating in April.


That's one reason why Obama, when he returns to the capital, will be greeted by growing demands to scale back his ambitions and accept a more modest bill, focused on insurance reforms. Another reason is the federal deficit, which is strengthening critics who argue the country cannot afford the president's trillion-dollar price tag.


White House economists estimated the budget shortfall would hit $1.6 trillion this year, while the 10-year period from 2010 to 2019 would add another $9 trillion to the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office, in the understatement of the week, called these numbers "unsustainable." The CBO also predicted that unemployment would keep rising and top 10 percent, which means lower tax revenues and higher jobless payments.


The same day Obama received these gloomy projections, Attorney General Eric Holder announced an investigation into possible criminal conduct by intelligence officers who had interrogated terrorist suspects during the Bush administration. The president had warned repeatedly that such investigations could sidetrack his agenda and irritate his enemies. But Holder went ahead anyway. And that's not all. The National Climactic Data Center reported that July was the hottest month for the world's oceans in almost 130 years of record keeping. That could mean smaller Arctic ice fields and larger tropical storms. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology warned that swine flu could infect half of the American population and cause 90,000 deaths. And the loss of Sen. Ted Kennedy deprives Obama of a mentor, a dealmaker and, for a few months at least, a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.


So enjoy your summer vacation, Mr. President. The fall won't be any fun.

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.

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