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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
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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
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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
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
August 26, 2011
/ 26 Menachem-Av, 5771
When a quake really was a quake
By
Wesley Pruden
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
We're all orangutans now.
Iris the orangutan at the National Zoo in Washington -- which The Washington Post's man on the scene, citing her "straight, elegant red-orange hair," calls the prettiest orangutan at the zoo -- showed the nation's capital just how to behave in a minor-league earthquake.
Seconds before humans felt anything, Iris gave the loud guttural cry the zookeepers call a "belch vocal" and ran frantically for cover. And not just Iris. The zoo was alive with panic immediately before the temblor was felt under human foot -- gorillas, flamingos, field mice, beavers, vipers, cotton-mouth moccasins, Komodo dragons and everything else breathed, burped, slithered and stalked. So, too, did nearly everyone else on Capitol Hill, in the White House and among the various offices where making trouble for ordinary taxpayers is the work of the day.
Terror and earthquake struck the supper dish and you might have thought it was the most horrific quake to rattle the tectonic plates since San Francisco was leveled in 1906. Dishes tinkled in china cabinets, a picture fell from the wall in a house beside a country lane in Northern Virginia, the earth moved in Bethesda(thrilling a new bride) and somewhere inGeorgetown, a garbage bin tipped over, spilling out three tin cans, a handful of coffee grounds and a dented pizza box. This was serious stuff, as serious stuff is measured by the minions of press and tube.
Streets were jammed as government buildings emptied, sending guvvies racing to pick their way through sidewalks littered with millions of fresh corpses. Soon the government decreed work dismissed for the day and everyone hurried home to avoid the killer tsunami everyone expected to race up Rock Creek to drench the rush hour. Dread and dismay descended swiftly over a mortally wounded city.
Or maybe it just seemed that way. It's difficult to measure disasters that strike us now. We've become the Infantile Society, eager only to be coddled, burped and entertained, with noise masquerading as music, and nicks and bruises as deep cuts and real wounds. Fright and alarm lie all around. President Obama, who finally had a credible excuse for missing a putt when the temblor shook the green on the ninth hole at a golf course on Martha's Vineyard, must now include in his new stimulus an appropriation for thousands of new therapists and counselors. The land (or at least the District of Columbia) is still in shock, and who knows how many fragile psyches were left unattended on thePotomac. "There's more going on in the Earth than we understand," a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey tells a reporter. Indeed.
We can only trust and pray thatWashington is unique in the face of fright. The auguries are not always reassuring. With a Category 3 (or more, or less) hurricane approaching in the wake of the quake, the capital could expect the usual run on milk, bread and, naturally, toilet paper. The supermarkets were crowded by late Thursday and by nightfall Friday there wouldn't be a loose roll of toilet paper anywhere east of the Mississippi River.
The Mississippi, in fact, is the site of the king of the American earthquakes. The first temblors along what would be called the New Madrid Fault in southern Missouristruck in December 1811 and continued through January 1812. One quake so shocked the earth that the Mississippi ran backward, created the vast Reelfoot Lake in western Tennessee, stirred residents awake in Pittsburgh and Norfolk, rang church bells in Boston, toppled chimneys in Maine, and cracked open sidewalks in Washington. Worst of all, quilted toilet paper had not yet been invented.
Mocking the fright of others, even presiding guvvies, is not nice, and William Clark, the governor of the newly purchased Louisiana Territory, in his request to the government in Washington for federal relief noted that in "the Catalogue of miseries and afflictions, with which it has pleased the Supreme Being of the Universe to visit the inhabitants of the earth, there are none more truly awful and destructive than Earthquakes . . . provisions ought to be made by law for, or cashiered to, the said inhabitants' relief, either out of the public fund or in some other way as . . . can meet the cost demand availability of the General Government."
Clark, famous for his expedition with Meriwether Lewis to investigate theLouisiana real estate Jefferson purchased from France, thus made one of the first requests for federal disaster aid. That was a real earthquake, with real aftershocks.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.
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