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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
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The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
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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
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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
March 16, 2011
/ 10 Adar II, 5771
The Thought We Hate
By
Paul Greenberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"... if there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought -- not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate."
--Oliver Wendell Holmes
The words Chief Justice John Roberts just used in Snyder v. Phelps will surely find their way into the law books. For he was defending the very essence of freedom of speech, which is freedom not for the ideas we approve of -- they're in no danger of being suppressed -- but freedom for the ideas we loathe. They're the ones people want to censor.
The chief justice was defending the right of a little group of fanatics out of Topeka, Kan., who tour the country picketing military funerals and collecting headlines. Funerals like the one for Lance Corp. Matthew Snyder, USMC, whose father sued the group/family/sect that calls itself Westboro Baptist Church for the emotional damages they'd inflicted.
The picketers showed up at the young marine's last rites with their usual, hateful signs: "God Hates Fags," "America is Doomed," that kind of thing. Their signs said much the same thing last time I'd spotted them here in Little Rock. Nice people.
"Speech is powerful," the chief justice acknowledged. "It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and -- as it did here -- inflict great pain." But under the First Amendment, he added, "we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker." For the American system protects "even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."
So long as the protesters acted peacefully and lawfully (they were required to keep a decent distance from the gravesite), the court would not prevent them from voicing their views, however loathsome.
The chief justice's opinion was shared by almost every other member of the high court. The 8-to-1 ruling (only Associate Justice Samuel Alito dissented) will doubtless go down in the books alongside Oliver Wendell Holmes' warning that "we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe." Or as another eloquent American jurist, Learned Hand, once put it: "Right conclusions are more likely to be gathered out of a multitude of tongues than through any kind of authoritative selection. To many this is, and always will be folly; but we have staked upon it our all."
Matthew Snyder, 20, would give his all in defense of our freedoms. The best response to those who picketed his funeral is not to gag them but to ignore them. For there are certain actions that fall beneath contempt. They don't deserve attention, let alone suppression.
Some ideas should be suffocated with silence rather than given the compliment of censorship. Attempts to outlaw them only give those who express them the notoriety they seek. And which these pests attracted as this sad case made its way to the highest court in the land.
Many years ago, I was privileged to know knew a forceful lady of mature years from Virginia. She was from a time when the word Lady was not used interchangeably with Woman. You could tell when she was about because of those distinctive Virginia vowels, which she never lost despite her years in Arkansas. And because her voice carried so. Having grown quite deaf, she had no idea how loud she sounded.
Once I was so bold as to bring up her handicap and express my admiration for how well -- even defiantly -- she had overcome it, for deafness can be the most socially isolating of handicaps. Yet she was the most sociable of ladies. How, I asked her, had she managed that? She just looked at me astounded, even indignant, that I should be so naive, so ignorant, of one of the most important lessons of life and manners. "Why," she replied, "you just rise above it."
Which is just the way a free and civilized society should react to hateful little publicity-seekers who go to and fro in the land trying to outrage us, and all too often succeed. Why give them the satisfaction? Why yield to their provocations? And wind up sacrificing a basic principle like freedom of speech in order to gag them, They're not worth it.
There are many ways to abuse freedom of speech -- and of the press, I hasten to add -- for there is no liberty without license. But in our rage to punish those who abuse their freedoms, we may destroy freedom itself. To cite Learned Hand again, the spirit of liberty is the spirit that is not too sure it is right.
It is not the flamboyant shouters, the rhetorical exhibitionists, who are the great threat to liberty; they can be seen through easily enough. It is the rest of us, who would compromise an essential freedom in order to punish just a few little pissant protesters. They're an irritation, not a danger. It is we, the great majority, the ones with the power to silence others by force of law, who are the dangerous ones.
Paul Greenberg Archives
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