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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
Erika Bolstad: Temple cancels Wasserman Schultz speech
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman: The former president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, whose members included the likes of Julia Child, is back with contemporary Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Sweet Noodle Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread
May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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Jewish World Review
Feb. 11, 2011
7 Adar I, 5771
Not a faux democracy
By
Suzanne Fields
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Democracy is more than a word. The protesting Egyptians and the watching world are learning that between the Egyptian army and the Muslim Brotherhood there's a lot to overcome. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton got one thing right: "It needs to be an orderly, peaceful transition to real democracy, not faux democracy."
Hope and change are not the same thing. Big talk and big deeds are not the same thing, either, as our own experience taught. Not everyone believed the great Philadelphia experiment of 1776 would succeed, an experiment born of hope rather than experience. Not everyone believes now that what was wrought then will endure. Despite all the high hopes that brought President Obama to the White House, a lot of people here and elsewhere think he's presiding over a weakened and dispirited America. Ronald Reagan's "morning in America" has become, for those doubters, late afternoon.
To take advantage of Mr. Obama's invoking a cliched Sputnik moment, certain hard choices lie ahead. Federal spending must be cut - slashed may be a better word - and the private sector must be unleashed to get things moving again. This goes athwart Mr. Obama's instincts, but government must be put on a crash diet (something not included in first lady Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign).
The president observed, accurately, in his State of the Union address that American competitiveness depends on better-educated workers and a stronger incentive to succeed. This can only happen when bad teachers with the seniority that makes them fireproof are dispatched to wherever bad teachers go. The president's new emphasis on the decline of learning comes with a new study that reveals that two-thirds of fourth-graders fail to show proficiency in science; six of 10 eighth- and twelfth-graders perform poorly in science. They're not doing well in history, either.
How to change this for the better requires a debate, and whether it's civil or passionate isn't as important as getting the debate started. The question is whether we have the stuff and imagination to transcend what divides us, and that depends on how we assess who we are.
Claude S. Fischer, for 40 years a liberal sociology professor at the University of California at Berkeley, takes note in his new book that the American character has been forged by the pride Americans take in themselves and their accomplishments. "There is an American cultural center; its assimilative pull is powerful; and it is distinctive or 'exceptional,' " he writes in "Made in America: A Social History of American Culture and Character."
He meticulously documents 3 1/2 centuries of the American experience - from Colonial days to the present - and tells how the nation's natural abundance has been the engine of growth, forming the national character reflecting a belief in expanded opportunity. We have far more than our ancestors could have dreamed, more material goods, better health, greater access to information and a greater ability to use it.
He observes that the earlier belief that America is the exceptional society, as Lincoln expressed it at Gettysburg, has been badly ruptured by recent historians who focus only on the nation's flaws, poisoning an entire generation of students. Over the past four decades, historians have cataloged the details of our devils, attempting to exile the better angels of our nature to the trash bin. Teachers have recast a "shining city on the hill" into a befouled environment where Indians were murdered, Africans enslaved, workers repressed and immigrants exploited. The unique American enthusiasm to right wrongs is overlooked or ignored as unimportant. Mr. Fischer is something of a "fellow traveler" with Alexis de Tocqueville, finding the 19th-century Frenchman's insights into American "volunteerism," - an ability to sustain individualism in social groups - as the key to progress: "Equality in the American context is not equality of outcome, but equality of opportunity, treatment and freedom."
The Founding Fathers were educated men smart enough to draw on the sentiments and innate sense of justice of the common (and uneducated) man for support. Americans have had the willingness to mingle comfortably in neighborhood, regional and ethnic groups, charitable and political institutions that cut across economic lines. What enables cohesion is the "can-do" attitude of self-reliance.
The most recent phenomenon that illustrates this thesis is the explosion of the Tea Parties. Their rugged, ragged organizing principles have forged alliances similar to those of the early American colonists who worked toward the common goal of limited government organized to guarantee maximum individual liberty. The Tea Parties are moving the debate today, reminding us of the vitality of our own democracy. There's nothing faux about that.
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Suzanne Fields Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate, Suzanne Fields
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