Jan. 8, 2009 Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Arab regimes secretly rooting for Israel? Larry Elder: Israelis and Palestinians: Who's David, Who's Goliath? Jeff Jacoby: Yes, it's anti-Semitism Jan. 7, 2009 Jonah Goldberg: Who are the real Nazis? Anne Applebaum: Pointless Peace Proposals Jan. 6, 2009 Caroline B. Glick: Iran's Gazan diversion? Dennis Prager: Dissecting Dershowitz Jan. 5, 2009 Mark Steyn: Gaza has its version of rocket scientists Mona Charen: The So-called International Community Jan. 2, 2009 Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Having a holy tongue Caroline B. Glick : Hamas' march to victory Dec. 31, 2008 Dore Gold: Is Israel Using 'Disproportionate Force'? Renee Enna:: Succulent 'stewp' is quick, easy fix Dec. 30, 2008 Jonathan Mark: Israel's Response Is Disproportionate Wesley Pruden: It's time once more to blame the Jews Dec. 29, 2008 Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Chanukah: 'Give me Judaism or give me death' Michael B. Oren: A crisis and an opportunity Dec. 26, 2008 Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When the past meets the future Caroline B. Glick: Iran and Hamas do Christmas Dec. 24, 2008 Rabbi Dovid Zauderer: Judaism's Santa problem The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman CHANUKAH FORK-FINGER FOOD FEAST Dec. 23, 2008 Caroline B. Glick: Repeating failure in Gaza Dec. 22, 2008 Rabbi Boruch Leff: Too many Jews today are missing the intended purpose of one of Judaism's most beloved holidays Barry Rubin: Liar, liar, pants on cease-fire Dec. 19, 2008 Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Final Battlefield Caroline B. Glick: Betting on a dead horse Dec. 18, 2008 The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Juicy Chef's hella top, hella bottom, hallelujah in the middle Craig Crossman : More gifts for geeks --- and those who love them Dec. 17, 2008 Dion Nissenbaum: Israel kicks out outrageously biased UN official Craig Crossman : Gifts for geeks --- and those who love them Dec. 16, 2008 Jonathan Rosenblum: The Gift of Joy Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Uncle Shariah Dec. 15, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Expert witnesses who put themselves first Barry Rubin: What they say isn't what you hear Dec. 12, 2008 Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Can the Bible be a secular language? Caroline B. Glick: What a PM Netanyahu faces from Washington Dec. 11, 2008 Rabbi Leiby Burnham: Our role in the Divine's global corporation, World Inc. The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: A retro-tasting pareve pot pie made with a light hand Dec. 10, 2008 Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn: Groom admits he was caught "red handed" Kara McGuire: No money for gifts? No problem Dec. 9, 2008 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Can I make my boss treat me fairly? Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence Report: Next Steps in the Indo-Pakistani Crisis Dec. 8, 2008 Rabbi Avi Shafran: 'Chanukah Bush' flap and graciousness Mark Steyn: Jews get killed, but Muslims feel vulnerable Dec. 5, 2008 Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Truth --- The Key to Gratitude Jeff Jacoby: UN's obsession is grotesque and Orwellian Oct. 29, 2003 Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 26, 2006 / 30 Sivan, 5766 Friendships need (summer)time to breathe By Mitch Albom http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | So I was sitting down to write this column about summer and how that season has changed, because the official "first day" of summer came last week, and for my generation, that meant a shift into slow motion, long, languid days nursing a Coca-Cola, or rolling cornmeal on fishing hooks, or seeing who had a sprinkler to run through, or taking another bicycle ride around the same five blocks. Nowadays it seems much different. Nowadays, the first day of summer is like a starter's pistol. Kids are off to their advanced placement summer courses, or their summer space camps, or their travel baseball and soccer teams, or their dance, drama or foreign language seminars. The emphasis seems to be "don't waste time," whereas, in our summers, time was in abundant supply, and nobody minded if you wasted a few days or even weeks of it, so long as you didn't get in trouble and bother your mom and dad. Anyhow, I was sitting down to write that column when a newspaper story caught my eye. It was page 1 of both the Detroit Free Press and USA Today. The headline in USA Today read: "Study: 25 percent of Americans have no one to confide in" Hmm. According to the American Sociological Review, over the last two decades, the average American went from having three people to whom they could confide important matters to just two. And one in four Americans had no one to confide in at all. No one to confide in. Is there a lonelier sentence than that? I began thinking about this problem alongside what happened to our summers. As you might expect, the sociologists blamed these study results on the typical suspects: too many people living in the suburbs and working in the city. Too many people with headphones over their ears. Too many people imprisoned before a TV set or computer screen. But you can't blame machines for everything. We're the ones choosing to dive inside them. I think there's more to it. I think it starts earlier, like during the summer vacations we get as children. After all, very few adults make their "best" or "lifelong" friends when they are in their 30s. Our closest friends are usually people we've known much longer, often since we were kids. Stephen King, in one of his most memorable stories, "The Body" (which later became the movie "Stand By Me"), wrote what I always considered the best single sum-up of this. It was the last line of his tale: "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12." There's a reason for that. Think about it. When do you establish the strongest bonds of friendship? Not when you're moving a million miles per hour. You do it when you're hanging around, lying in the grass, kicking a can, sleeping over in a friend's basement. When you're going slow enough to listen to your friends' words, to look them in the eye, to share those uncontrollable fits of laughter. Friendships might be photographed at parties or celebrations, but they are forged in much quieter moments. The kids I rode bikes with when I was 12 are still guys I can talk to today. The guys I shared midnight pizza with in college are still men I can confide in if I need to. The point is, to have a trusting friendship — one that provides you with confidants — you have to give it time to breathe. Not to compete. Not to text-message. To breathe, to hang out, to smile, to share time, even boring time. So maybe when we're deciding what our kids should "accomplish" this summer, we should consider the value of slow, meandering friendships with kids who live nearby. True, such things don't give you diplomas or trophies when the summer ends. They give you a lot more. 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. MITCH'S LATEST "The Five People You Meet in Heaven"   A novel that explores the unexpected connections of our lives, and the idea that heaven is more than a place; it's an answer. Sales help fund JWR. Comment on Mitch's column by clicking here. Mitch's Archives © 2006, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS DISTRIBUTED BY TMS, INC.

Mitch Albom  Michael Barone   Dave Barry  Tony Blankley  Andy Borowitz  David Broder  Stratfor Briefing  Mona Charen  Linda Chavez  Ann Coulter  Greg Crosby  Rod Dreher  Larry Elder  Suzanne Fields  John Fund  Frank J. Gaffney  Lloyd Garver  Jonah Goldberg  Julia Gorin  Jonathan Gurwitz  Paul Greenberg  Victor Davis Hanson  Betsy Hart  Nat Hentoff  David Horowitz  Laura Ingraham  Jeff Jacoby  Paul Johnson  Jack Kelly  James Klurfeld  Ed Koch  Ch. Krauthammer  Jonathan Last  Michael Ledeen  John Leo  David Limbaugh  Kathryn Lopez  Rich Lowry  Michelle Malkin  Jackie Mason  The Medicine Men  Dick Morris  Bill O'Reilly  Jim Mullen  Clarence Page  Kathleen Parker  Dennis Prager  Wesley Pruden  Tom Purcell  Jonathan Rauch  Celia Rivenbark  Robert Robb  Cokie & Steve Roberts  Pat Sajak  Debra J. Saunders  Culture Shlock  Roger Simon  Michael Smerconish  Thomas Sowell  Mark Steyn  John Stossel  Cal Thomas  Jonathan Tobin  Bob Tyrrell  Diana West  Dave Weinbaum  George Will  Walter Williams  Mort Zuckerman  Robert Arial  Chuck Asay  Chip Bok  Dry Bones   Lisa Benson  John Branch  Gary Brookins  John Cole  J. D. Crowe  John Deering  Brian Duffy  Everything's Relative  Mallard Fillmore  Jake Fuller  Bob Gorrel  Joe Heller  David Hitch  Jerry Holber  Steve Kelley  Jeff Koterba  Dick Locher  Chan Lowe  Ranan R. Lurie  Jimmy Margulies  Rick McKee  Michael Ramirez  Jeff Stahler  Danna Summers  John Trever  Gary Varvel  Kirk Walters  How 2  Lori Borgman  The Savvy Consumer  Elder matters  Fixit  Dr. Peter Gott  Marybeth Hicks  GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko  Richard Lederer  Tech Maven  Every Monday Matters  Nutrition Myths  How To Do Things  Bruce Williams  How Stuff Works