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May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

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 Oct. 2, 2009 / 14 Tishrei 5770

Obama takes a holiday

By Wesley Pruden




http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Maybe it's the little things in life that count at the White House. Bill Clinton spent part of his presidency worrying about school uniforms. Jimmy Carter fretted over who got to use the White House tennis courts. George W. Bush tried to get to bed before the chickens. ("It's only 9 o'clock, and we know where our president is.")


Barack Obama is merely following precedent by fleeing Washington and big headaches - the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the deteriorating prospects for health care reform, legislation to cool the globe (or should we worry now about warming the globe?), and various "czars" gone wild. He's in Copenhagen with the missus not on the nation's business, but the business of his cronies in Chicago.


The International Olympic Committee will decide Friday where to hold the Olympiad of 2016, and the four cities in the running - Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro - have sent the top of the batting order to make the final effort. Tokyo and Rio sent heads of state. Spain raised with a king, and Chicago called, with a messiah.


The Republicans naturally pretend to be aghast, or at least appalled. You don't get many opportunities, even in Washington, to be aghast, so time-consuming are mere outrages, affronts and abuses. "The very idea," says Rep. John Boehner, the House minority leader, "of [the president] going to go off to Copenhagen when we've got serious issues here at home that need to be debated."


The White House thought so, too, last week, when the president's men said it was unlikely that the president would go to Denmark when there was so much rotten here, mostly the health care system, the world's weather and those darn czars who won't behave themselves. The generals in Afghanistan want more troops. Illegal immigrants are trying to get in. The thugs at Guantanamo want out. He would stay here to continue trying to fix things. But then the president decided that the health care debate was "far enough along" that he could spare a day or two to join the first missus in Copenhagen, where he should buy her a funnel cake and treat her to a ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl at Tivoli Gardens. He sounded a lot like saying that health care reform was in the tank, so he might as well take a respite from Dodge.


Chicago was the odds-on favorite to get the 2016 games a week ago, but the Brazilian bid began to look better this week. London's bookies, legal and eager to quote odds on everything, said on the eve of the decision that Chicago vs. Rio looked like an even bet.


The president, no doubt figuring that a nice speech in Copenhagen would tip the odds in Chicago's favor, isn't getting much help from his hometown. Suddenly certain streets of Chicago are awash in blood, with two horrific beatings of teenage boys damaging the city's hopes. One group of schoolyard thugs attacked with planks, another with lead pipes. Not a gun in sight this time, but neither the planks nor the pipes were registered with the law.


The beatings were only two isolated incidents, one on the South Side of town and one on the prosperous north side, but isolated as they were they fit the Al Capone image the Europeans and the rest of the world have of Chicago. Rio is among the most violent cities in the world, but that probably doesn't count.


Not everybody in the president's hometown is eager for the games, which always cost more than the promoters and boosters say they will. The vast sums of money expended to promote the games are swag for corrupt politicians - assuming such persons exist in Chicago. Mayor Richard Daley said for months that the city wouldn't assume responsibility for losses incurred by sponsorship of the games, but when Rio started closing in he changed his mind. One group of dissenters from the boosterism, called "No Games Chicago," dispatched a group to Copenhagen to argue against the city's bid, with the message that the city is broke, corrupt and undeserving.


"We are taking materials to back up our claim that Chicago is not fit to host the games," says Tom Tresser, an organizer of the group. A poll by the Chicago Tribune shows the city to be almost evenly divided.


Nevertheless, President Obama is staking his prestige on bringing the games home. The Brazilians scoff that a nice speech is nice, but Rio offers a gorgeous city set between the majesty of mountains and the bikinis of Copacabana Beach, a mild climate and Brazilians eager to welcome visitors, without either planks or pipes.


Today is decision day.

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JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.

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