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Oct. 13, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Happiness Quotient

Jonathan Rosenblum: Ignore the Grandchildren

Oct. 10, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The limitations of scientific miracles

Caroline B. Glick: Lebanon on the brink --- and why it matters

Oct. 8, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: The day when the sane talk to themselves

Ana Veciana-Suarez: Many nonobservant Jews are finding religion

Oct. 7, 2008

Gary Rosenblatt: Of politics and prayer

Caroline B. Glick: The ironies of the West's collusion with the Arabs and Iran

Oct. 6, 2008

Rabbi Yitzchok R. Rubin: Mamma to the masses

Jonathan Tobin: Ahmadinejad Isn't Too Impressed

Oct. 3, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The 'living dead' are all around us

Caroline B. Glick: Olmert's parting blows

Oct. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: Often customers looking for our competitor accidentally enter our store. Can we just serve them without comment?

Jonathan Tobin: Jewish pundit quiz on next year's news

Sept. 29, 2008

Rabbi Eli Gewirtz: Lehman Brothers and the Day of Judgment

Rabbi Leiby Burnham: Apples, Honey and You

Sept. 26, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The shofar and the Echo of Sinai

Caroline B. Glick: A road paved on reality

Sept. 24, 2008

Greg Crosby: Home for the Holy Days

Ethel G. Hofman: Rosh Hashanah Favorites: Old-fashioned taste, reduced calories

Sept. 23, 2008

Caroline Glick: Liberalism or lives!?

Michael Ledeen: Dear President Ahmadinejad

Sept. 22, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I gave a check to a local merchant, but it hasn't been cashed in months. Probably they lost it. Do I have to tell them?

Diana West: We are losing Europe to Islam

Sept. 19, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: On harvesting success

Caroline B. Glick: It is time to act

Sept. 18, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Is camping the panacea to save Jewry from self-destruction?

Craig Gordon: Was SNL hilarity too much for Hillary?

Sept. 17, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: The Whole World Is Watching

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: East meets Southwest in this quick meal: MEXICAN-ASIAN TOSTADOS

Sept. 16, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. : Into the fire

Everything's Relative : Your Official Jewish Guide to the 2008 USA Presidential Election

Sept. 15, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Enabling risky behavior

Diana West: A day that will live in ... accommodating Islam

Sept. 11, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The skeleton in my closet

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein: Persecution and systematic destruction of Christians in the Middle East must be stopped

Sept. 10, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: There's Something About Sarah

The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: Who needs Chili's when you have these? Recipes for Mexican that taste great and are dietetic! Our commitment to freedom

Sept. 9, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Must counterinsurgency wars fail?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.:

Sept. 8, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: How far must one go to help somebody out of a contract?

Barry Rubin: Waiting For Something

Sept. 8, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : How far must one go to help somebody out of a contract?

Barry Rubin: Waiting For Something

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review May 3,0 2008 / 25 Iyar 5768

Oil Woes Left and Right

By Mona Charen


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | So much for the idea that Bush went to war for cheap oil. Yes, I know, they're now imagining that high gas prices are actually lining the pockets of the president's cronies at Exxon and Sunoco. But this is not an argument advanced by grownups.


I cannot pretend to plumb the intricacies of oil prices. I gather that the current high prices are attributable to a number of factors including, in no particular order: the decline of the dollar, high demand, and OPEC. But it does appear to me that wherever you look along the political spectrum, a lack of sobr


iety on this subject reigns. Rising oil prices delight the left. They serve to make the current occupant of the White House even less popular than he already was. But more importantly, they encourage the most authoritarian impulses among those who yearn to punish Americans for their wasteful ways. And let's not forget the Congressional Democrats, who invite oil company executives to Capitol Hill for target practice.


Some conservatives, in response, adopt an unbecoming, sometimes juvenile truculence. A group called Grassfire.org is urging Americans to "waste as much energy as possible" on June 12 and recommends "going for a drive" and "leaving a few lights on."


Can we not have a degree of moderation on this subject? We are heading into the summer months, a time when millions of American offices, homes, restaurants, and stores will be air-conditioned to suit the tastes of polar bears and penguins. Is it not a little crazy to have to don a sweater to go indoors when the outside temperature is 95? If everyone chose to be cool instead of freezing indoors this summer, we might more than compensate for the higher price of gasoline.


Since when did conservatives decide that they love waste? There are thousands of energy-saving ideas in circulation that conservatives as well as liberals can embrace. Smaller cars and more trains are just one answer. The Department of Energy has a whole page of suggestions (though for some reason they neglected to include "Eliminate Department of Energy," which would probably save a bundle). Lots of tips are simple and commonsensical. For example: lower the thermostat on your hot water heater (and wrap it in insulation), set your computer to "sleep" when not in use, turn off lights and televisions in rooms you are not using, install weatherstripping under doors, and wash clothes in warm instead of hot water.


I was recently in the Frankfurt airport and noticed that the escalators have motion sensors, i.e., they run only when necessary. Eureka! Lights in stairwells and bathrooms in many other countries are set on timers. Apparently, keeping your car serviced and your tires properly inflated can save 3 to 6 percent on gas mileage. And driving at or under the speed limit while refraining from aggressive acceleration and braking saves even more.


Conservatives are right to stress the virtues of non-carbon-emitting nuclear power, and liberals have strenuously opposed it for reasons that are 90 percent emotional and 10 percent rational. But why should we scorn solar? It cannot replace oil and gas, that's clear. But particularly for the South and Southwest regions of the U.S. that are drenched in sunshine most of the year, solar makes excellent sense as a supplement to fossil fuels. Why not at least use it to heat water as many other countries do? All of these energy-saving measures make sense even if you are unconvinced (as I am) that the world trembles on the brink of a human-caused climate catastrophe. Just to deprive OPEC of a few of our dollars would justify any number of conservation efforts — to say nothing of drilling in the 1 percent of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that contains oil (perhaps, say some estimates, more than Prudhoe Bay). Those pictures we've all seen of moose and caribou against a backdrop of verdant mountains are a fraud. The coastal plain, where drilling is proposed, is flat, barren, and characterized by unforgiving permafrost.


Finally, Al Gore and Barbra Streisand could give up their private airplanes and fly first class, but one doesn't wish to overreach.

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