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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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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
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
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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
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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
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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
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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
April 1, 2011
/ 26 Adar II, 5771
The kinetic warriors playing at war
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The revolutionaries in Libya are hitting their target, the empty sky, but Barack Obama, who wants to be a secret enabler, keeps firing blanks with his teleprompter. With no particular plan and nobody in particular in charge, it's an unusual way to run a railroad, a war or even a "kinetic military action."
Mr. Obama applies his famous formula of raising a cloud of dust and hoping for change, but hopey-changey continues to be a bust as a strategy for getting anything done.
There's growing sentiment within White House counsels to further arm the rebels, maybe even with heavy armor and tanks, a prospect not likely to frighten Muammar Gadaffi, whose fortunes have actually brightened over the past few days. Untrained and undisciplined "troops," such as they are, are rarely a match for an army, even a Muslim army. The only good news from Libya, such as it is, is that both sides are running low on ammunition. The rebels have spent a lot of bullets firing their guns at the sky, hardly making enough noise to frighten the occasional buzzard on the scout for breakfast.
"We need what Gadaffi has," a rebel commander tells the London Guardian. "We need rockets like Gadaffi has. We need tanks like Gadaffi has. We need weapons that can kill his rockets and tanks." Rebels armed with rockets could then punch bigger holes in the sky, perhaps even a few holes in low-hanging clouds, particularly the big puffy ones.
The rebels already have a few tanks, in fact, scavenged from the battlefield in the wake of air strikes that sent Gadaffi's terrified army fleeing helter-skelter from the town of Ajdabiya, south of Benghazi, like Lincoln's army decamping in panic from First Manassas. But the tanks haven't been used against Gadaffi's army because nobody knows how to get them started and keep them running in the right direction.
Back in Washington, the U.S. commander in chief is having trouble getting public opinion started. His "explanatory" speech about American arms and aims, laced with his usual bromides and pulpit flourishes ("if we had waited one more day Benghazi . . . could have suffered a massacre that would have . . . stained the conscience of the world") have moved no one but what's left of his choir. Platoons of pollsters were dispatched to plumb drowsy public sentiment. Rasmussen finds that 21 percent of Americans say they have no more idea than the commander in chief about what the West's coalition of the grudging hopes to accomplish in Libya. Quinnipiac University, whose polls are regarded highly by the pols, finds that the Obama approval rating and prospects for re-election have plunged to the lowest levels yet.
The reality on the Libyan desert explains, for anyone paying attention, the unlikely contrast in the ambitions and expectations of the Pentagon, charged with defending the nation's interests, and the diplomats in Foggy Bottom, highly trained to dribble those interests away. The diplomats want to fight (or persuade someone else to), and the warriors are wary, understanding that there's not much to fight with. The rebels have no one to train them or impose the discipline that is the difference between a mob and an army. The finance minister of the rebels of the "government" officially recognized only by France insists there are more than a thousand "trained fighters" in the rebel ranks but Western correspondents traveling with the rebels find no evidence of such fighters.
"The problem is not solely the rebels' lack of more powerful weapons," says Chris McGreal of the Guardian. "In the past [week] their disorganization has shown as they have been badly outmaneuvered by better-trained forces that have outflanked them with sweeps through the desert. The revolutionaries lack any defensive plan. Instead they fire wildly at the enemy and argue among themselves about what to do next and who should be giving orders before turning and fleeing." That sounds a lot like what's going on among the aimless "leaders" of the coalition of the grudging. Mr. Obama says he "hopes" Gadaffi is deposed but deposing him is not the "aim" of the coalition.
Stonewall Jackson, a man of few words and many exploits, offers a little advice for commanders on the eve of battle. Soldiers, he said, should make short speeches, "but when you draw the sword, throw away the scabbard." That's the only strategy that ever works in war, or even in a "kinetic military action."
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JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
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