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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

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


Jewish World Review Feb. 11, 2008 5 Adar I 5768

Voter, Know Thyself: A Stereotype Can Cripple a Candidate

By Suzanne Fields


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | They're the best of stereotypes; they're the worst of stereotypes. The three candidates still standing tall are: the white lady who could be the first female president, the black man who could crash through the racial barrier and the hotheaded war hero with feet of nonpartisan clay.


The stereotypes cut two ways. When Ted Kennedy, the liberal lion beloved of feminists, threw his support to Barack Obama, the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women called him a traitor to the cause, as if all Hillary has to offer is her sex (or gender, as we're supposed to call it now).


When male candidates sharply disagreed with Hillary in the debates, the feminists, not manly men, rode to the rescue of the damsel in distress. The bullies were piling on, as though the little lady wasn't armed to fight back. There were the tears. When Hillary cries women rally to her, identifying with feminine vulnerability. That leaves us with lots of inconsistencies in Hillary's campaign to become the first female commander in chief. Fortunately for her, voters rarely hold consistency to be the highest virtue.


Barack Obama is a horse of a different color, literally and figuratively. He campaigns forcefully as a unifier without making a big thing of the color of his skin. Bill Clinton nevertheless drew attention to it with a comparison to Jesse Jackson, who plays the race card without shame. Most of the rest of us want to think of Sen. Obama as the poster child of a new face for America to show the world, relegating racism to a dark and tortured past. But this insinuates another problem. The Obama rhetoric, devoid of intellectual substance, is revealed as little more than an eloquent voice for "change," whatever that is meant to be.


He has effectively separated himself from the denigration that comes from victimhood. No one doubts his smarts, but white approval is often little more than feeling good about liking him, and this smacks of attitudes of white paternalism. Shelby Steele, author of "The Content of Our Character," observes such complexity in his new book, "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win." He was in Washington last week to talk about his book and conceded ruefully that his subtitle may have been premature. He nevertheless goes directly to a dilemma confronting anyone who holds the senator's innocence as power, avoiding the tougher questions about the content of his character.


Sen. Obama could become a Rorschach test for white voters who seek to project their collective guilt onto him without looking beneath the surface of an attraction that might be only skin deep. "There is a tendency to see Obama as a kind of 'new man,' someone spared the intractable fates of being simply black or white in America," writes Steele, who knows about being a black man in America. "Out of an understandable race fatigue, many Americans want to believe that there are people on whom race sits very lightly, people whose very hybridism suggests the possibility of transcending race." Barack Obama, he insists, is not that man.


His book is less valuable for what it says about Sen. Obama than for what it says about us. In our eagerness to be seen as holding the correct views on race, we can't separate who he is from our expectations of who we want him to be. We give him the benefit of the doubts about ourselves.


We want to love him as we love Louis Armstrong, although we've never heard him play anything real on his trumpet. We admire him as we admire Martin Luther King, although he has not yet lived the example of King. Sen. Obama is, in the words of Shelby Steele, an "iconic Negro," who shares our values, our worldview and our democratic goals.


John McCain remains the familiar codger we confront with the same old tough questions. His divided constituency honors him for his bravery as a prisoner of war, but when he doesn't agree with all of us on everything, some of us focus on his flaws, his temper and his lack of complete fealty to every conservative view. He's the warrior we trust most to defend our security, but he'll have to fight hard against the stereotypes of gender and race that give momentum to the Democratic candidates. He can say, like Popeye the Sailor Man that "I Yam What I Yam," but he's another white man in a long line of white men who have wanted to be president, and white men are not fashionable this season. Nobody's perfect, but fine distinctions are important. Voter, know thyself.

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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