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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 June 1, 2006 / 5 Sivan, 5766

Morality play from the mob

By Debra J. Saunders

Debra J. Saunders
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | I don't go to the movies as much as I used to because I am sick of Hollywood preaching to me. I don't even want to see "Mission Impossible III" — which promises mindless but entertaining thrills — because I don't want to think about what crazy-preachy star Tom Cruise has to say about depression or Scientology, not to mention Katie Holmes' delivery of their child. Last year's Oscar nominees for Best Picture read, to me, like a nag fest, which is why I skipped seeing them all at the theater.


"Crash"? Preaching on race relations. "Munich"? Israel bad. "Good Night and Good Luck"? Anti-Communists bad, George Clooney good. "Capote"? Death penalty bad. "Brokeback Mountain"? I support gay rights, but the promotion of the movie smacked of a pious lecture. Besides, the story sounded so utterly depressing, why battle angry parking gods to watch it on the big screen?


That is why I am so hooked on "The Sopranos." The HBO TV series managed to show in a recent episode the most devastating portrait of many Catholics' take on homosexuality without the lecture, without perfect-looking characters and without the sappiness.


Vito Spatafore (played by Joe Gannascoli) is no dish in the Heath Ledger mold. He is a crude and treacherous mobster — possibly the most loathsome character to grace a screen since Joe Pesci starred in "Goodfellas" — who, having squeezed his oversized husk into a leather biker outfit, is outed when two wise guys spot him at a gay bar while they are picking up protection money.


Spatafore flees to the country, but you don't have much sympathy for him — at least, for long. He returns to New Jersey because he would rather be a lonely big shot than a lowly carpenter living with a hunky short-order cook. Drinking and driving his way home, Spatafore first plows into a parked car, then shoots the car's innocent and upstanding owner in the back rather than deal with authorities. Back in Joisey, with his long-suffering wife looking on, Vito tells his gullible children that he was in Afghanistan working for the CIA. Besides, he tells capo Tony Soprano, he isn't really gay, he just started acting gay as a side effect of his blood-pressure medication.


No one is shocked when Spatafore's brother-in-law, Phil Leotardo, shows up with some muscle, who beat Spatafore to death because he's gay — not for his real crimes.

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Leotardo's wife sees herself as a good Catholic. She is appalled at having a gay man in the family — she frets that homosexuality is a "sin." But she doesn't fret that her husband kills people, lots of people. Family members suggest that Spatafore died because homosexuals engage in self-destructive behavior — as if gangsters do not.


Without a lecture, "The Sopranos" bares the moral bankruptcy of people who consider themselves good Christians, yet forgive murder and serial adultery (when husbands cheat on wives, that is), and condone a system that allows powerful men to bully, intimidate and rob law-abiding citizens. Yet they can't forgive a man for having sex with another man (unless he's in prison).


While the series has spawned Soprano wannabes, mature viewers understand that the series does not glorify the crime family, but presents a nuanced morality play about the corrupting effects of the mob.


"Brokeback Mountain" was oppressive to watch because the characters — especially cowboy Ennis Del Mar, an orphan who completed one year of high school and skulks through life with no ambition and no dreams — have so few choices. Players in "The Sopranos" have many choices, but almost always make the wrong ones. Ultimately, gay or straight, that is their downfall.

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© 2006, Creators Syndicate

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