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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

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: 'Noodles,' Asian style is a carb sub, sure. But they are also amazingly delicious and colorful

April 19, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When violence seems the only answer

Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama's visit to Israel had no impact on public opinion or government policy

Morgan Housel: Gold collapse: The start of something big?
Harvard Health Letters: Can you die of a broken heart?

Pete Spotts: Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds

Nora Schultz: Oxytocin helps beat booze cravings

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: Middle Eastern cuisine meets Italian delicious with this lentil and eggplant pastitsio

April 17, 2013

Shira Rubin: Too much of a good thing? 'Palestinians' realize downside of foreign aid boom

Geoffrey Mohan: Can computers decode dreams? Researchers take a first step

Morgan Housel: BAD NEWS: EVERYONE IS RIGHT!
Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 heart-healthy eating tips help cut saturated fat but not taste

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Told your child has sensory processing disorder? Seek a second opinion

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Corn and Curry Add Zing to Chilled Soup

April 15, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Death of Education?

Kristen Chick: Egyptian Christians respond with harsh words to attack -- rocks, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire -- against main cathedral

Marcy Darnovsky and Karuna Jaggar: High Court to decide if you should own your DNA
Howard LaFranchi: US bracing for more Russian blowback after taking action against 18 more human rights violators

Kristin Ohlson : The loneliest fight

The Kosher Gourmet by Dana Velden: A tasty, rich dish that hints at spring's arrival while still anchored in a favorite winter staple


Jewish World Review Nov. 5, 2007 / 24 Mar-Cheshvan 5768

A damsel causing distress

By Clarence Page


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Remember when being a woman was considered to be a liability in a presidential candidate? In an impressive display of political jiu-jitsu, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has turned her gender into a gem of an asset.


First it helped to keep her all-male rivals at bay. Until last week's match-up in Philadelphia, the guys stayed mostly chivalrous toward front-runner Clinton to avoid the appearance of prep school bullies in neckties beating up on their team's only girl.


Besides, a lot of Democratic voters have complained that they don't like to see Democrats beating up on each other. Save that for the Republicans, they say. Party loyalty is good politics, even if for us scriveners in the working press it makes boring debates.


Philadelphia was not boring. After months of debates, Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton's closest rival, and former Sen. John Edwards, who's been trailing Obama, haven't made a dent in nationwide polls that show her leading by 20 points or more. Her two biggest rivals' last big chance to stay in the game may be the Iowa caucuses, where polls show the three in a virtual dead heat. Voters in Iowa, as in New Hampshire, seem to take a singular pride in ignoring national media as they wait patiently for each candidate to shake their hands in person.


With Iowa fast approaching, Clinton's opponents pounced, helped by some of her old quotes, which questioner Tim Russert of NBC revived. On several key issues, such as her votes in favor of President Bush's authority for dealing with Iraq and Iran and her dodging specifics on how she might keep Social Security solvent, she appeared at some points to be debating herself.


The most glaring example came near the end when she tried to explain why she once said that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to allow illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses "makes a lot of sense." After answering the question once, she raised her hand later to add that, "I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Gov. Spitzer is trying to do it." That prompted Edwards to pounce: "Sen. Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes." Obama, too, was "confused on Sen. Clinton's answer" and "can't tell whether she was for it or against it."


Democrats tend to favor licenses for illegals to encourage safer driving, among other worthwhile reasons. But, Clinton apparently has no desire to further rile up the right-wingers, for whom any convenience for illegals is seen as capitulation to lawbreakers, pure and simple.


Similarly, Obama and Edwards have suggested plans under which upper-income earners would pay more Social Security payroll taxes to keep the program solvent. At present, only the first $97,500 in yearly earnings is taxed. Clinton preferred to kick that touchy problem down the road by promising to set up a bipartisan commission, if she's elected president. Score one each for Edwards and Obama for political courage, which too often is hard to find in election years.


Clinton's campaign came fighting back the next day with a video on its Web site and on YouTube that featured a new post-debate spin: Her rivals were abandoning "the politics of hope" for the "politics of pile-on." The tightly edited video worthy of "The Daily Show" features Obama and Edwards and Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd at the debate uttering her name ("… Senator Clinton … Senator Clinton … Senator Clinton! … Hillary … Hillary … Hillary … Hillary!") in a rapid-fire staccato over the elegant strains of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" in the background. The video then cuts to a smiling Clinton, seemingly bemused by all of the attention as she says, "I seem to be the topic of great conversation and consternation, and that's for a reason…."


Yes, it is. Never mind that she actually was referring in that sound clip to the Republican candidates who can't seem to stop talking about her in their party's debates, either. The message is clear, as we enter the final weeks before the casting of actual votes, that Clinton is defining the campaigns in both parties.


For her Democratic rivals, she's the woman to beat. The polls show that she's got momentum on her side, especially with women, across lines of race and ethnicity. For Republicans, she's the woman whose name excites the party's base more than the party's presidential candidates do, if in a negative somebody-stop-her way.


With those strengths in mind, it is disappointing to see her play the "pile-on" card after one bad debate night. It may be smart politics, but it's not easy to complain about the roughness of a game after you've worked so hard to get into it. Besides, in this case, most of her wounds were self-inflicted.

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.

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