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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
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
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
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?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
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
February 1, 2012
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
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
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
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
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. 2, 2005
/ 28 Av, 5765
Of labor and leisure
By
Diana West
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
DUCK, North Carolina Everybody takes a break, practically. The
concept of the "day off," the week off, the two weeks off (the six
weeks off for heyday Euro-socialists), could well be one of the
astonishing markers of our civilization, if we ever bothered to stop
and be astonished by it. For the great mass of humanity, from the
time of slavery to serfdom which takes in, what, the first 10,000
years a day without toil wasn't even a dream, let alone an
expectation... let alone an employee "benefit." A holiday was a holy
day, certainly not a "personal day." From the 19th century, when
Dickens exposed workhouse conditions in "Oliver Twist," to the 20th,
when P.L. Travers revealed in passing that Mary Poppins absolutely
insisted on something like every second Thursday off, the
development of vacation time as a social ideal was incremental. By
now, of course, the arrangements and provisions of "time off" drive
the engine of a mighty, if oxymoronically named, Leisure Industry.
Vacation is practically a universal right; it is certainly an annual
rite. Everybody takes a vacation break, practically.
Which is astonishing. I can't help thinking this, writing from
accommodations at one of countless pressure-treated-wood resorts at
"the beach" maybe the primary destination for modern-day leisure
fulfillment. This beach happens to be on the Outer Banks of North
Carolina, one of the Barrier Islands that were once known and not
all that long ago for their inaccessible isolation. After a Civil
War battle was fought in the region, Northern businessmen returned
to develop the island chain's extensive fishing and hunting
resources. Still, the Barrier Islands remained, figuratively, off
the charts for nearly another century, even after Wilbur and Orville
Wright flew, in 1903, the first airplane over the shifting sand
dunes (now stabilized and grass-covered) at Kill Devil Hills, near
Kitty Hawk. If the Outer Banks were known to the outer world at all,
they were known for the kind of work, the kind of duty, that allowed
no real conception of a vacation break: lighthouse-keeping and
shipwreck rescue.
The handful of men and their families who, from the second half of
the 19th century to the first half of the 20th, labored in
lighthouses to ward off disaster from the edge of this "Graveyard of
the Atlantic" couldn't just turn off their lifesaving beacons and
head for the mainland. Nor could the small crews of the U.S.
Life-Saving Service, who would brave any storm to reach any wreck,
simply dry-dock their launches and knock off. New technologies and
the U.S. Coast Guard would render such vital toil obsolete; but that
old life of service remains hard to forget.
Particularly after a visit to a lighthouse. When the Currituck Beach
Lighthouse, rising 158 feet, opened in 1875, it was the final beacon
in the Barrier Island chain. Until its operation was mechanized in
1939, the lighthouse required a crew comprised from three families.
These lighthouse keepers performed the manual labor of cleaning
lenses, fueling lamps, trimming wicks and rotating lenses to guide
ships anywhere within 18 nautical miles away from danger. They and
their families made their lives inside a neat, grassy compound where
a solidly attractive Victorian duplex rose across from the
lighthouse. In 1900, a one-room schoolhouse opened nearby, its
structure built from the timbers of wrecked ships. An additional,
smaller lighthouse keeper's house was moved to the site in 1920. In
their starched Victorian collars, the lighthouse families'
black-and-white portraits offer a thought-provoking contrast to the
knots of comfort-clad tourists who now pose on the same site for
their own digital posterity. We were here, both sets of pictures
prove; but to what avail?
There is a world of difference between a clockwork routine devised
to save lives at a distance, and a holiday schedule that seeks
diversion up close, but the intervening decades have brought these
family portraits into unexpected juxtaposition. We tourists are
amazed by evidence of the lighthouse families' lives in isolation;
they, surely, would be shocked to find so many of us tromping
through their front yard (not to mention buying made-in-China
lighthouse knickknacks in the gift shop). The lighthouse itself
rises in splendid obsolescence, a reminder of what no longer needs
to be done. But does that mean it's time to relax? From point to
pointlessness; from isolation to congestion; from natural wonder to
developer's paradise; from urgent utility to frenzied leisure. It's
enough to make you want to get back to work.
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 Diana West is a columnist and editorial writer for the Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
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© 2005, Diana West
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