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February 13, 2012
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Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
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February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
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Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
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Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
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Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
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Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
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Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 13, 2005
/ 9 Elul, 5765
Intellectualizing and meeting up with stupidity
By
Marianne M. Jennings
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The MBA programs at the University of Chicago, Stanford, Penn's Wharton, and Harvard prohibit disclosure of their students' grades to recruiters. This restraint, they profess, creates "a more collegial environment with less competition" among their students. This peace-out will serve the grads well in the business world, if Barney, Lamb Chop, and the Rev. Bill Graham are running Wall Street.
On far too many occasions I find myself, with green Sharpie pen drawn, circling madly these types of stories and yawping, "What on earth are they thinking?" Clint Eastwood said recently that if you go far enough in either direction politically you end up sharing company with fringe kooks on the other side. The far left meets the radical right and discovers comrades there. Sean Penn, Howard Dean, et al. embrace Pat Buchanan and his bud, Michael Moore, on the war in Iraq. William F. Buckley's National Review staff with its nutty campaign to legalize drugs ends up breaking bread and hash with Country Joe and the Fish and other fear and loathing Woodstockians. The same circularity consumes intellectuals. Intellectualism runs smack dab into stupidity.
Group Health of Seattle has a notice on its Website warning its patients that when their medical records go into online mode (per federal requirements) access to their teenage children's medical records will disappear. The site now clicks away on a count-down for the parental access cut-off date. Parents have a chance to withhold the car keys or Halo game controllers from their teens in exchange for privacy waivers. Whatever!
Misguided intellectualized regulatory morasses intersect here as stymied bureaucrats stand by wondering what natural law they can overturn to accommodate mammon's folly. Boy howdy, they got themselves cornered on this one. Some state laws require privacy for teens who seek abortions, mental health services, or abuse counseling. So, parents cannot have access to their teens' records in these treatment areas. However, other state laws prohibit minors from gaining access to their medical records without parental consent. Now no one will have access to those medical records, thus thwarting the federal mandate for online medical records. To say that we have traveled in a circle in this thicket of intellectualized regulation is charitable. This is a reverse u-turn off a cliff. Here's the anti-intellectual rule: teens report to parents. Parents are in charge of teens. Parents can have access to teens' DNA, medical records, and ear wax, if they so desire. He who pays for medical care is entitled to know what he paid for.
No one morphs into stupidity better than academics. Professor Rebekah Nathan turned herself into the Margaret Mead of the party animal college students (may their parents never see their campus health center records) with her new book, "My Freshman Year," documenting her a year as a frosh. Herewith her commentary on cheating amongst her youthful subjects, "I saw (cheating) as part of a larger system rather than as an ethical barometer of our times or of particular students." The simple-minded person wonders: If cheating is not an ethical barometer, what is? Why are they cheating anyway? No one sees their grades!
Illegal immigration brings the pseudo-intellectuals out of the woodwork. Amnesty for all, they tell us, would reduce the problem. Right-O! While we're at it, why not give them free medical care? Oops, already intellectualized into existence. Our beloved governor of Arizona, Ms. Janet Napolitano, tromped down to our border to declare a state of emergency. This same law-and-order wunderkind then proceeded to require that we charge in-state tuition to illegal immigrants attending our state universities. Intellectuals in Tucson installed water stations in the desert areas most frequently used for illegal entry. These policies oughta keep them out. The late Sonny Bono, the consummate anti-intellectual, when asked what he thought about illegal immigration, responded with great befuddlement, "It's illegal, isn't it?"
Environmentalists bombard us with greenhouse gas science and other hot air theories. They oppose most things man-made, from cars to levees. Just a quick Westlaw data run shows that the Army Corps of Engineers would have had trouble finding the time to strengthen the New Orleans levees because of the time spent in court battling environmental groups such as, "Save Our Wetlands." The environmental groups pulled out all the stops, as it were, to preserve the Lake Pontchartrain swamp. Between battling over EIS requirements and definitions of tributary vs. wetland, the Corps had not a spare moment nor authorization. Now a compost of toxic waste adorns Bourbon Street. Dead bodies are a nice wetlands touch.
Then there are the lawyers who reasoned that legal services in this country should be dispensed pro bono to the proletarian masses. The best way to assist the needy may not be to sic a pack of lawyers on them. Nonetheless, mandatory pro bono service was born. This week I received an e-mail from the grieving State Bar of Arizona. Horror of horrors, there are 550 evacuees, refugees, flood victims, or whatever we are calling them now, sitting in our Memorial Coliseum sans legal assistance. Not to worry, the beneficent State Bar held triage sessions with the needy and determined their primo legal concerns. Our legal leaders beckon us to assist the evacuees with: Consumer bankruptcy, Social Security, Criminal, Interstate child custody, Protection orders, and Immigration.
What, no medical records issues? Dearest reader, we have come full circle. We now provide free legal advice for hurricane victims who were in the country illegally so that lawyers can do pro bono work for victims of a levee break (courtesy of environmentalists' blockades) who have gotten crosswise with the law. But judge them not, devoted observers of intellectuals, for criminal activity is not an ethical barometer.
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.
JWR contributor Marianne M. Jennings is a professor of legal and ethical studies at Arizona State
University. Send your comments by clicking here.
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© 2005, Marianne M. Jennings
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