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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
Feb. 12, 2009 / 18 Shevat 5769
It's all in the numbers
By
Jim Mullen
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
FIVE. To save a few billion a year, the Post Office is thinking of cutting mail service down from six days a week to five. A few billion? Let's just make it every other day, and save a few more billion. I'm trying to think of a single piece of mail I've gotten that was so important it couldn't have come a day later without changing my life. The phone bill came on Thursday instead of Wednesday? Heads will roll! The fifth L.L. Bean catalog of the month comes a day late? How should I vent my outrage? I needed that Canadian blanket coat yesterday! Oh, the humanities.
I don't know if the people at the Post Office have heard about it, but there's this new technology (if "new" meant 40 years old) called e-mail. It's like regular mail except it moves at the speed of light and you don't need a stamp, and it's faster, better and cheaper. And there's another thing that helps a lot when you positively, absolutely must get a message to someone right away. It's called a telephone. I've heard they're easy to use and it's almost as if the person you are talking to is in the room with you. I predict that, someday, almost everyone will have one.
EIGHT. I heard that a woman who had octuplets already had six small children at home. My mother had eight children. So did Sue's mother. But not all on the same day. They both managed to stretch it out over couple of decades. Then the older kids could help out with the younger ones; it was a system that worked, (except for all the fighting for attention, the hand-me-downs, the teasing, the cruel tricks we would play on one another, the years and years of intense psychological... but I digress...) in the era of big families and stay-at-home moms. One of our neighbors had 13 children. They named the last one Osmond Jr. We figured they had run out of names. It was also the long-gone era of names, too. Bob, Jim, Mike, Joe, Betty, Pat, Susie. Now if you name a kid Bob, you have to spell it funny, like Bhobb, or the kid will go through life traumatized because he's not unique. I can't prove it, but something tells me more Bhobbs end up in therapy than Bobs.
ONE TRILLION: When did you first hear that word? When Carl Sagan, the famous astronomer used to say "billions and billions" that seemed to be pretty much the highest you could go. Then came a gazillion, but that just meant "a lot." I think I was about 30 when I first heard "a trillion." But a trillion means something. What was the biggest lottery prize ever? $430 million. A lot of millions, right? A billion is 1,000 million, more than twice as much. You'd have to work very hard to spend a billion dollars. If you bought a new $100,000 luxury car every day, it would take you 27 years to spend $1 billion. It would get boring. Warren Buffet has something like $50 billion. He must be bored to death. Congress just debated a near trillion-dollar stimulus bill. I hope it works. What scares me, though, is that I might start hearing a new word. What's the word for 1,000 trillion?
20/20: Our library has a large children's section. And guess what children's books are printed in type THIS BIG! Publishers seem to have this exactly backward. It's old geezers like me that could use the large print. What do they think, I'm wearing tri-focals because they are so good looking? I'll bet you 95 percent of all book buyers wear some kind of reading glasses. I know they make large print books, but why don't they make them all large print? I don't want to open a best seller and feel like I'm reading the fine print on my credit card policy.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
Jim Mullen is the author of "It Takes a Village Idiot: Complicating the Simple Life" and "Baby's First Tattoo."
Previously:
You're damaging your brain with practical skills
The real rat pack
The unspeakable luxury of the Park-O-Matic
Gross-ery shopping
© 2009, NEA
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