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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
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
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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
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The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
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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
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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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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
October 19, 2009
/ 1 Mar-Cheshvan 5770
Not so sweet charity
By
Kathryn Lopez
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
On a conference call with liberal religious leaders and activists this summer, President Obama said, "I know there's been a lot of misinformation in this debate, and there are some folks out there who are, frankly, bearing false witness, but I want everyone to know what health insurance reform is all about." He uses words like "ludicrous" and "fabrications" to dismiss criticisms of his health care plan which is still, in fact, a work in progress, making a lot of people's legitimate worries about the uncertainty of it all very relevant. But here he wasn't just getting into a political dust-up with Sarah Palin a prominent, critic of the reform nor was he dismissing Republicans in the House and Senate. He was dismissing concerned citizens who, at the time, were showing up to town hall meetings in their congressional districts. He was dismissing bishops of the Catholic Church who have been raising concerns about abortion, first and foremost, but about the whole approach as well.
At a campaign rally in Newton, Iowa, in October 2004, John Edwards, then a senator and Democratic nominee for vice president, said: "If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get up out of that wheelchair and walk again." It was snake-oil salesmanship, plain and simple. Stem cells or Nobel aspirations, it was shameful.
In 1979, in an interview with the novelist Martin Amis in the British Tatler magazine, Roman Polanski said: "If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But… (having sex), you see, and the young girls. Judges want to (have sex with) young girls. Juries want to (have sex with) young girls. Everyone wants to (have sex with) young girls!" And this is the man that titans of Hollywood rushed to align themselves with?
What all of these instances have in common is that political and cultural differences had me disposed to disagree with these men. And yet, to each statement, I reacted with a reflexive disbelief. Initially, I couldn't believe that they said the things that they were reported to have uttered. I wanted to think the best of these men whom I disagreed with.
I don't think it was an extraordinary attitude on my part. It's only natural to anyone reared on Biblical messages about charity and compassion. This reflex is the fruit of the kind of moral grounding that's always been in the American bloodstream.
So why is it that when comments like: "Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back; I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark," are erroneously attributed to Rush Limbaugh, the instinct, not just from the fringes of society but from the very mainstream of our political and cultural and sports worlds, is to believe? And not just to believe, but to be driven mad by falsehood? Chris Matthews, on MSNBC, fulminated: "Rush Limbaugh is looking more and more like (James Bond villain) Mr. Big, and at some point somebody's going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and he's going to explode like a giant blimp."
It's not a wild assumption that Limbaugh was eliminated as a potential partial owner of the St. Louis Rams because Al Sharpton insisted it be so. The self-appointed representative of moral victories declared another triumph when Limbaugh was shut out of the NFL. The major leagues shouldn't have owners who are "divisive and incendiary," he said.
This would be the same Sharpton who never apologized for the Tawana Brawley hoax that ended a police officer's career; the same divisive and incendiary Sharpton who incited murder at Freddie's Fashion Mart in New York City.
We seem to have a high degree of moral cluelessness when it comes to charity and, to use what has now become a popular word in Supreme Court circles, empathy. We extend it when prudence would direct us to be on guard. And we have no room for it when it comes to a man whom certain top-of-the-world types tell us is no good. Outside of the 20 million or so people who listen to Limbaugh three hours a day, five days a week, maybe we're too busy to listen to all of it ourselves, so we listen to what they tell us about him without any healthy skepticism. We're too busy for charity.
Sounding like a head-over-heels congressional page, Republican-turned-Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter wrote on his Twitter feed shortly after President Obama campaigned for his reelection on Sept. 16: "I predict he will accomplish the toughest job of all to bring civility to Washington." I suppose the Nobel announcement for the "new climate" Obama's created in the world is supposed to be the exclamation point on that Tweet. But the actual climatological outlook is morally cloudy, with a chance of hyper-political poor discernment. And so we buy lies and let facts fall by the wayside. That's not charity, that's willful ignorance, and it pollutes our politics, as well as our very souls.
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