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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
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


Jewish World Review May 5, 2010 / 21 Iyar 5770

Just a Few Questions

By Paul Greenberg




http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Maybe only someone woefully ignorant of high finance — like me — would still be trying to understand the basis, if any, of the case filed against Goldman Sachs by our suddenly awake Securities and Exchange Commission.


Having slept through the stock market's great boom, the SEC is now leading the hunt for a scapegoat for the great bust. The agency seems to have gone from comatose to frenetic, as if it had no settings in between.


No doubt many questions, relevant and ir-, will be raised at trial. That is, if this lawsuit/vendetta against Goldman Sachs ever gets to trial rather than being settled in the usual, morally murky way with nobody accepting any real responsibility.


Among the many questions the SEC's case raises:


—If Goldman Sachs was out to commit fraud, how come it wound up investing — and losing — some $90 million on this deal? Did it conspire to defraud even itself? And if it's so cunning, how did it manage to lose an estimated $1.2 billion on bad mortgages in 2007 and '08?


No wonder it was looking for ways to balance its portfolio. Among the trove of e-mails released in this dispute, by both sides, there are some from execs at Goldman Sachs — sent even as the downturn turned into a meltdown — saying that now would be a grand time to invest in housing, what with prices falling. It seems Goldman Sachs wasn't infallible, either.


—When Goldman Sachs put this now controversial deal together — excuse me, assembled this product, or made this market — was it fraud, or just an attempt to offset risk? Isn't that why hedge funds are called hedge funds? They hedge bets on the market. Here's a metaphor even the densest politician will understand: When some businessmen make campaign contributions to both major political parties, are they being fraudulent or just hedging their bets?


—The SEC's five commissioners voted to file this lawsuit 3 to 2. Along party lines. As with the storied board of directors that wished its chairman a full and speedy recovery by a vote of 5 to 4, there is something less than whole-hearted about the SEC's decision to pursue this case. If the accusers can't agree that fraud was committed, why should the courts?

Letter from JWR publisher

—If fraud was committed, where are the criminal charges? This is only a civil case. Isn't fraud a crime, not just a tort? There are investigations aplenty but no indictments, verdicts but no trials.


—Is it now fraud to sell a security that could go down in value — whether stock or bond or, in this case, a "synthetic collateralized debt obligation"? If so, the country's prosecutors are going to stay awfully busy.


—Is this whole thing less about economics than politics? Is what we have here what used to be called, in the late and unlamented Soviet Union, an "economic crime"?


—If I decide to switch from blue chips to government bonds in my little 401(k) account because I think the market's going down and I want to run for cover, am I committing fraud? After all, for every stock sold there was a buyer. Did I defraud him?


—For that matter, every time I go to the grocery store and decide not to buy tomatoes — or kumquats or kiwis


— because they cost too much now but will surely get cheaper later in the season, am I being one of those evil speculators?


—Is the real offense here not fraud but the idea of speculation itself? It's an idea, and daily practice, on which so much of any economy depends. At least if it's gone beyond the barter stage. Without speculators to buy things like commodity futures, and no doubt hedge their bets, American agriculture would be set back a century or two. And that's only one sector of the economy that depends on speculators to moderate supply and demand.


Maybe this case should have been styled SEC v. The Modern Economy.

Paul Greenberg Archives

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JWR contributor Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Send your comments by clicking here.

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