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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

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


Jewish World Review August 17, 2006 / 23 Menachem-Av, 5766

‘Don't you know there's a war on?’

By Suzanne Fields


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | We woke up with scary good news. Our British cousins had thwarted a band of home-grown terrorists who were going to use liquid explosives, carried in hand luggage, to blow up airliners bound for America. The bad news was that security would be tightened on our flight from Washington to New York City.


The atmosphere was recognizably tense as soon as we walked into the bright expanse of the terminal at Ronald Reagan National Airport. The airline clerks were snappish, the inspectors at the X-ray machines were impatient, the baggage handlers grim. The counters were posted with lists of things you couldn't carry aboard, and we salvaged the bottle of vodka we were taking to our host by quickly stuffing it into a checked suitcase.


But that left my pocketbook. Soon I was pulled out of line by a uniformed woman with plastic gloves who started rummaging recklessly through my handbag. My Lancome tinted moisturizer, purchased especially for the trip ($41), was thrown into a trash bag with bottles of perfume, sparkling water, colorful smoothies, Cokes, Scotch, gin and paper cups half full of $5 grande lattes. There went a tube of cream prescribed for a summer rash. The box with my name and my doctor's name on it, which might have saved it, had been discarded at home. Tossed. Lip gloss, liquid eyeliner and other "weapons of mass deception" passed unnoticed. An expensively dressed woman from Texas next to me pleaded unsuccessfully to keep the ointment she intended for an in-flight neck and shoulder massage. "Well," she said, shrugging, "I guess I can consider it my contribution to the war effort."


Her remark gave me a sudden flash of remembrance of things past. Once upon a time, in a war long ago, this was the all-purpose answer to complainers about scarce shoes and sugar, meat and gasoline: "Don't you know there's a war on?" It was the retort that instantly shut up the most selfish complainer.


We've been at "war" for almost five years since September 11, but the "war" against terror hasn't required us to give up anything. The only sacrifice on the home front has been the sacrifice of a few minutes' time in security lines, or the requirement to take off our shoes before getting on a plane. The only men and women asked to make real sacrifices are the men and women risking their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq.


No civilians in this war roll bandages, plant Victory Gardens or observe "meatless Tuesdays." Nobody has been asked to buy a war bond. There's a disconnect between what we're told and what we see. "A state of war can be justified for several reasons," writes James Fallows in Atlantic magazine. "It might be the only way to concentrate the nation's resources where they are needed. It might explain why people are being inconvenienced or asked to sacrifice. It might symbolize that the entire nation's effort is directed toward one goal."


We're asked to endure none of the above. After the Twin Towers fell, the president encouraged us to go shopping. The government, like the rest of us, continues to spend money as if nobody had ever heard of a war. Budgetary discipline is an oxymoron. Belt-tightening is only about losing weight, and since we're a nation increasingly obese, becoming the fat of the land, it's a rare belt that needs tightening.


The word "war" has been reduced to something meaning effort, sort of, or a distant goal in an undefined future. We're at "war" against a vague enemy of criminals that the commander in chief only reluctantly identifies as "Islamic fascists." We're told we must win the "war" of ideas by persuading peaceful Muslims to adopt the Judeo-Christian values alien to most of them.


Calling it "the war of ideas" cheapens the meaning of the word, too. In the war of words, few peaceful Muslims speak up against the Islamic fascists, no doubt because many are intimidated if not terrified. They know that the fascists among them won't be moved by "diplomacy," or "carrots" instead of sticks, because the jihadists demand unconditional surrender. They're determined that America and the American way of life be dead and buried. You only have to listen to what they say, which they punctuate with bullets, bombs and beheadings.


A real war requires the single-minded pursuit of victory, the unapologetic gathering of intelligence through the surveillance of the enemy through e-mails, telephone records and bank transactions. This will require even the sacrifice of certain rights to privacy, harder to give up than a Lancome moisturizer, but we're in a struggle where the sacrifice must be more than merely cosmetic.

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