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May 24, 2012
Jeff Jacoby: The peace process battered Israel's reputation
Michael Muskal: 'Pro-choice' position hits record low, according to poll
Chris Farrell: Are We in a Tech Bubble?
The Kosher Gourmet by Penelope Wall: PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS --- hold the steak!
May 23, 2012
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Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
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
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Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
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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
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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
Sept. 25, 2006
/ 3 Tishrei, 5767
The bedeviling truth of an open nation
By
Mitch Albom
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
They get to land at our airports without being destroyed. They get to enter our country without being arrested. They get to drive on our streets without their limos exploding. They get to sleep in our hotels protected by our Secret Service knowing no one will barge in and behead them.
And while they are here, they call our president "the devil" and call the Holocaust a myth, then return to the airport and fly home safely.
If last week's United Nations badmouthing appearances of Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tested anything besides our patience it tested our sense of fairness. As a country founded on "liberty and justice for all," we expect balance. If we are good, you should be good. Even as children, we scream "that's not fair!" as if it is a precept of nature.
By the way, it is not. In many countries "fair" doesn't exist. You are born into a certain class, you stay there. You're on the wrong side of the dictator, you lose your rights.
We don't do things that way. So when our approach to life clashes with another, we often feel shortchanged. We look at men like Chavez, the hothead Venezuelan president, and Ahmadinejad, the deviously hypocritical president of Iran, spouting their junk on our shores, and we say, "Why are we letting these people talk?"
It's a fair question (there's that word again). After all, very few of our enemies would allow President George W. Bush to enter their turf, say their leader smells like the devil's sulfur, and expect to go home alive.
But we follow rules in this country, and one of those rules is freedom of speech. It's the reason the United Nations can exist on our ground. And it's the reason we have to tolerate the hate, vitriol and bald-faced lies we heard last week.
It doesn't mean we have to like it.
If you're like me, it sticks in your craw that a creep like Ahmadinejad can stand before the UN and suggest that everyone is entitled to "tranquility, peace and a dignified life" when we know last year he was telling a different audience that Israel "must be wiped off the map."
Or that Chavez, one of the world's great power-lusters, calls Bush a dictator and ends his news conference by saying to reporters: "I have a meeting with the axis of evil somewhere around here, so I have to go."
But this is who we are. This is the test we face. If we believe principles are precious like free speech we are bound to live by them. Even when it hurts.
This is also why we squirm so much on the detainee issue. We wring our hands over whether we can keep suspected terrorists in a cold room or blast rock music at them yet we know if the roles were reversed, they'd just shoot us. Cut our heads off. No trials. No national media to expose them. Who do they answer to?
The answer is they don't. The answer is it isn't fair. The answer is terrorists don't have formal governments, they don't sign treaties. We could slit a detainee's throat and say, "That's for Daniel Pearl," or we could hold Ahmadinejad in a basement and say, "That's for the Iranian hostage crisis."
The fact that we don't is what makes us special. The fact that we don't is what sets us apart. If we shut the microphones on every disliked foreigner, if we killed first and asked questions later, we might feel better, momentarily, in this terrible fight. But we'd lose the one thing we need the most.
We'd lose the feeling that we are the good guys. And if you lose that, a battle is truly pointless.
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© 2006, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
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