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May 25, 2012
Mark Clayton: Is Hillary's State Dept. hacking Al Qaeda? Not quite
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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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May 22, 2012
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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
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Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
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The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
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Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
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The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
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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
Sept. 29, 2008
/ 29 Elul 5768
Fasten your seat belts
By
Paul Greenberg
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
What a wild ride it's been on the world's financial markets. It's as if the hurricane that had just blown away Galveston, Texas, reversed course, rushed back out to sea, and on the way took care to deposit every house, building, street and road it had washed away back in the same place and in much the same shape.
But if you looked closely, you'd see crews of workmen trying to shore up one structure after another, and the city planners proposing to build a whole new system of breakwaters to save the whole island.
You can measure the high and low tides of the markets last week by looking at the gyrations of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The market may have ended almost where it started, but in the meantime it had swung a thousand points as investors reacted to every sign of panic on Wall Street and every whisper of hope from Washington.
The team of Henry Paulson at Treasury and Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve have been rushing around plugging holes in the dikes as they've developed, trying different strategies for different breaches. They'd rescued both those oversized public-private disasters, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but it wasn't enough to calm the crisis in the housing market. They'd taken the assets of Bear Stearns and sold them off. They decided to let Lehman Brothers go under. But the waters kept rising. AIG was next to be threatened and if it went under, much of the world's economy would go with it. So they lent it enough money to keep it afloat and kept on bailing.
Toward the end of the week, the ad hoc firm of Paulson and Bernanke unveiled the biggest rescue operation since the New Deal, proposing to buy hundreds of billions in securities that couldn't be traded now because the entire market was seizing up. It was the biggest, most daring decision of all to use the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, that is, We the People, to get credit flowing again.
One could question the wisdom of each decision these two made along the way. Are they dedicated and innovative public servants, or just the financial version of Laurel and Hardy?
But there's little question their action may give markets hope if Congress will only cooperate or even improve on their proposal. Imagine the fall-out if they hadn't acted. They bought some time and confidence, and what else does credit consist of?
The one thing Paulson and Bernanke have not done is dawdle. Or make small plans. Ben Bernanke, who made his academic reputation studying the causes of the Great Depression, was not about to repeat the mistakes of the Fed in the 1920s, and Henry Paulson wasn't going to follow the lead of the Hoover Administration and make only small, tardy reforms. Both have responded to a major crisis with major moves.
The dynamic duo may be faulted on the result of each individual remedy they adopted to stem the panic, but not on the energy with which they've moved. Whatever criticisms can be made of their management, this is scarcely proving a do-nothing administration. Now if it can just get this do-nothing Congress off its earmarks.
Remember Paul Volcker? He was the head of the Federal Reserve during the Reagan administration who defied conventional wisdom, rode out a recession, and began the long-lasting economic comeback of the 1980s. For some time he's been urging a new version of the Resolution Trust Corporation, the outfit that stepped in to stem the savings-and-loan collapse of the 1980s.
The RTC took over the assets of failing savings-and-loans, and held them till they could be sold at a more realistic price. Lest we forget, there are real assets houses and buildings under all that now over-valued paper the market won't touch now.
There is a much earlier precedent: the Home Owners Loan Corporation of the 1930s, one of the first of the New Deal agencies. It wasn't clear that the experiment would work (it did), but Franklin Roosevelt was determined to try one new tack after another to get a stalled economy moving again. He was not going to just drift, complacent in the face of mounting disaster.
In the meantime, the New Deal would keep hope (and therefore credit) alive. FDR realized that he was presiding over a country rich in capital, both human and material, despite all those who proposed to ride out the storm, even at the cost of letting everything go under.
FDR was not afraid to change course from day to day. Till something worked. He tried bold experimentation in the face of emergency. So should we. Each generation, it seems, has a rendezvous with destiny.
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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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