Dec. 11, 2013 Mordechai Schiller Applied Righteousness: The Rescue Heard 'Round the World Michael Freund Misrepresenting Mandela Ken Dilanian: CIA's anti-terrorism NOC effort called 'colossal flop' Anjelica Tan: Best European Stocks to Buy Now Sandra Block: Where to Find Money to Pay for Your Parents' Care John Wilkinson, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Mild leg swelling could be signaling other medical issues Jeremy Roebuck: Family sues US over dead Marine son's missing heart The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble -- so simple and scrumptious -- is a mouthwatering, crust-topped dessert Dec. 9, 2013 'Palestinians' join prayers for supporter Nelson Mandela Netanyahu missing Mandela memorial Once promised no nukes for Iran, Obama now calling Israel's demands 'unrealistic' Obama& Kerry to Israel: We can be trusted to guarantee your security Kimberly Lankford: Be sure you know the rules for IRA to HSA rollovers Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Take steps now to prevent losing height later Mitch Smith: In Windy City, religion confronts a gust of cold air The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Odegard: Curried Squash Soup With Spiced Pumpkin Seeds is hearty, tangy --- delicious Dec. 6, 2013 Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: The Road to Faith is Paved with Uncertainty Caroline B. Glick: The Politics of Subversion Jonathan Tobin: Mandela, patron saint of Israel haters? Kimberly Lankford: How to Navigate Medicare on Your Parents' Behalf Lisa Gerstner: 6 Things to Know About Going Paperless The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: A symphony of the always flavorful and tender mixed with the nutty, delicately sweet Dec. 4, 2013 Mordechai Schiller: The Mystery of Teddy Roosevelt's Menorahs George Friedman of Stratfor: Israel's New Strategic Position Christi Parsons: The chalice that helped make possible the Iran nuclear deal Geoffrey Mohan: OOPS! You mean men and women really are different? Kimberly Lankford: How to Navigate Medicare on Your Parents' Behalf Everything's Relative by Jordan B. "Gorf" Gorfinkel : A teaching/torture moment The Kosher Gourmet by Kathleen Purvis: The secrets to preparing perfect mashed potatoes (3 mmm-outhwatering recipes!) Dec. 2, 2013 Rabbi Moshe Grylak: Attack on Chanukah's scholar-warriors an affront to all people of faith Mark Steyn: U.S. boxes in Israel, not Iran: Surrender in Geneva Kimberly Lankford: The Lowdown on the Obamacare Health Insurance Penalty Kathy Kristof: 5 Stocks to Sell Now Karen Ansel, M.S., R.D.: How you can eat more and weigh less Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Vanessa Bayer & Jacob, the Bar Mitzvah Boy; Adam Levine, nickname "the Bear Jew," is People's Sexiest; Eastwoods Need to Say "Kinehora!" The Kosher Gourmet by Kim Ode: Fried and gone to heaven: Dense, fried Slovenian doughnut-like rolls, krofi, on Chanukah is a treat you'll want to eat all year long Nov. 27, 2013 Caroline B. Glick: The goal of Obama's foreign policy David G. Savage: 1993 religious freedom act is at heart of contraception case Jonathan Tobin: SCOTUS Gives Religious Freedom a Hearing Cameron Huddleston: Best Doorbuster Deals for Thanksgiving and Black Friday Anjelica Tan and Cameron Huddleston: 12 Things Not to Buy During the Holidays Amina Khan: Jellyfish inspire flying-robot design The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Thanksgiving leftovers from boring to brilliant: TURKEY-BUTTERNUT TORTILLA SOUP WITH ZESTY LIME SOUR CREAM Nov. 25, 2013 Jonathan Tobin: Ayatollahs, 1; West . . . Damned Melanie Phillips: It's 1938 all over again Cameron Huddleston: The Black Friday Deals that Aren't Harvard Health Letters: Some health-related apps should be avoided Kimberly Lankford: Time Is Running Out on Energy-Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credits Karen Kaplan: Tracking babies' eyes, scientists find signs of autism in 2-month-olds The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Secrets to perfect roasting of vegetables, including clever cook additions Nov. 22, 2013 Rabbi Benjamin Hecht: Especially wrong: How not to de-pamper a self-absorbed society Caroline B. Glick: A vastly changed Middle East Karen Kaplan: Bored? You won't be after reading this! Morgan Housel: What drives me absolutely crazy about finance Schuyler Velasco: Is one-click shopping just too darn easy? Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Hunger Games: Jewish Connections; A 'Minyan'of Jewish Celebs Recite the Gettysburg Address On-line; Walter Matthau's Reaction to JFK's Death L'CHAIM! by Joshua E. London and Lou Marmon: This year, give the gift of booze Nov. 20, 2013 Christa Case Bryant: Israel becomes a 'Promised Land' for non-Jewish geeks Steve Weizman: Rebuffed by Washington Netanyahu heads to Moscow 'Love Thy Enemy's Grandchild' Yale S. Samole, M.D. : Doctor, do I have to take this medication forever? Sharon Palmer, R.D. : Which foods are best? Busting nutrition myths Eleanor Laise: Medical credit cards can cause heartburn The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: Cranberry Curd Bars with Walnut Shortbread Crust is an excellent last-minute treat for Thanksgiving or any other special dinner this fall Nov. 18, 2013 There Is More Than One Way To Save a Life: As told to Rabbi Nachman Seltzer Nancy A. Youssef : Christians too afraid to complain as treatment in new 'democracy' worsens Stacy Teicher Khadaroo: How to get high school dropouts into 'recovery'? Soumya Karlamangla: Family sues NJ over gay-conversion therapy ban Susannah Snider: When to replace your financial adviser Jordan B. "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative: FINALLY! The solution to the global campaign to ostracize Israel The Kosher Gourmet by Rick Nelson: Celebrating vegetables, Italian-style ( 4 tantalizing recipes!>) Nov. 15, 2013 Rabbi Avraham Edelstein: The Quintessential soul food Caroline B. Glick: The demise of Pax Americana Steven Emerson: 'Muslim exception to the First Amendment'? Sandra Block: Watch out for the sales pitch Morgan Housel: Now is not the time to do anything stupid Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jewish MLB managers; Past and Present; Movie News and Dancing W/the Stars Shocker; Paula Abdul's Israeli bat mitzvah and bio facts rarely reported The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Lamb Stew with Dates and Zinfandel is a slightly sweet, aromatic feast and the perfect cold-weather entree

Jewish World Review Jan. 12, 2007 / 22 Teves, 5767 Happiness may be closer than you think By Betsy Hart http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Is happiness all in your head? No. But we may be able to influence our own happiness more than we, well, think. I first came across the academic study of "happiness research" when reading "The Progress Paradox," a book by Gregg Easterbrook. The paradox, he writes, is that in the West we have ease of life, health, prosperity and leisure time unimaginable to previous generations. Yet our depression rate had gone up by 10 times since the 1950s. Yes, a good deal of this is due to better reporting, better recognition and less social stigma surrounding depression. But most experts believe there also has been a significant increase in actual cases of depression during the last 50 years. What's going on? Easterbrook looked at the work of Martin Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who has pioneered the new interest in happiness research, in his 2003 book. He says Seligman believes that reasons for our rising depression rates include our country's rampant individualism (if our setbacks become all about us, they take on huge significance), an overemphasis on self-esteem (there must be something wrong with me if I'm not happy at this moment), the teaching of "victimology and helplessness," and runaway consumerism. Well, Seligman and his colleagues were back in The New York Times magazine this week in a spread entitled "Happiness 101," by D.T. Max, who is writing about the increased interest in positive psychology — particularly on college campuses. Max describes research into the "hedonic treadmill," the situation in which feeling good only creates a hunger for more pleasure, whereas doing good, presumably then being "other" focused, is what can lead to lasting satisfaction. He recounts a class on positive psychology taught at George Mason University in Virginia. The students were first asked to do something they themselves found pleasurable. Then they were asked to do "good." They gave blood, collected clothes for a battered woman's shelter and so on, and generally reported more long-term satisfaction with the latter course of action. The professor then went on to focus on gratitude and forgiveness, close relationships and love. Such courses are being replicated around the country. "Positive psychology brings the same attention to positive emotions (happiness, pleasure, well-being) that clinical psychology always has paid to negative ones (depression , anger, resentment)," wrote Max. Can such an emphasis lead to more personal happiness? Certainly common sense, as well as the early research, seems to say "yes." Neuroscientist Jeffrey Schwartz shows in his 2002 book, "The Mind and the Brain," that while it's long been known that what we do can physically affect our brains, new research is actually showing that what we choose to think about can affect the physical wiring of our brains, too. So, for instance, Schwartz found that people who only thought about carefully playing a piece of music on the piano over time had the exact same physical changes in their brains, as measured by CT scans, as people who physically practiced the same piano piece over time. Schwartz determined with similar studies that we can sometimes choose to think differently about things, change the physical wiring of our brain and, in doing so create, a kind of "upward spiral" for ourselves. None of this is to minimize the seriousness of depression, by the way, or to suggest that there aren't real physical causes of it that often need to be addressed. But it does seem our creative human fullness may be more at play in determining our own happiness than we thought. As the article in the Times suggested, the growing study of human happiness is suggests it is appropriate for us to deliberately focus our thoughts on what broadens us, elevates us and connects us to others. And the result may be that focus helps bring us the greatest satisfaction and happiness. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Betsy Hart, a frequent commentator on CNN and the Fox News Channel, can be reached by clicking here. BUY BETSY'S BOOK "It Takes a Parent : How the Culture of Pushover Parenting is Hurting Our Kids — and What to Do About It"   "Hart urges parents to focus...on instilling industry, frugality, sincerity and humility. She encourages parents to reclaim the word "no." Contrary to advice you may have received, you needn't give your child choices, or offer alternatives, or explain to little Suzie why she can't eat eight cookies right before bed-you're the parent, and sometimes you can just say no."   —   Kirkus Reports Sales help fund JWR. Betsy Hart Archives © 2007, Scripps Howard News Servic

Mitch Albom  Jay Ambrose  Bruce Bialosky  Lori Borgman  Stratfor Briefing  Mona Charen  Linda Chavez  Richard Z. Chesnoff  Ann Coulter  Greg Crosby  Larry Elder  Suzanne Fields  Christine Flowers  Peter Funt  Frank J. Gaffney  Michael Gerson  Bernie Goldberg  Jonah Goldberg  Julia Gorin  Jonathan Gurwitz  Paul Greenberg  Argus Hamilton  Victor Davis Hanson  Betsy Hart  Ron Hart  Nat Hentoff  A. Barton Hinkle  Jeff Jacoby  Paul Johnson  John Kass  Jack Kelly  Ch. Krauthammer  David Limbaugh  Rich Lowry  Michelle Malkin  Jackie Mason  Ann McFeatters  Dale McFeatters  Dana Milbank  Jeanne Moos  Dick Morris  Jim Mullen  Judge A. Napolitano  Bill O'Reilly  Kathleen Parker  Star Parker  Dennis Prager  Wesley Pruden  Tom Purcell  Sharon Randall  Michael Reagan  Robert Robb  Dave Ross  Heather Robinson  Debra J. Saunders  Martin Schram  Culture Shlock  David Shribman  Roger Simon  Lenore Skenazy  Michael Smerconish  Thomas Sowell  Mark Steyn  John Stossel  Cal Thomas  Dan Thomasson  Bob Tyrrell  Diana West  Dave Weinbaum  George Will  Walter Williams  Byron York  Cathy Young  Mort Zuckerman  Eric Allie  Robert Arial  Chuck Asay  Baloo  Pat Bagley  Nate Beeler  Lisa Benson  Chip Bok  Dry Bones  John Branch  Daryl Cagle  Patrick Chappatte  John Cole  Paul Combs  J. D. Crowe  John Darkow  Bill Day  John Deering  Bob Englehart  Brian Duffy  Everything's Relative  Randall Enos  Mallard Fillmore  David Fitzsimmons  Glenn Foden  Jake Fuller  Bob Gorrel  Walt Handelsman  Joe Heller  David Hitch  Jerry Holbert  David Horsey  Taylor Jones  Lee Judge  Steve Kelley  Mike Keefe  Jeff Koterba  Dick Locher  Chan Lowe  Jimmy Margulies  RJ Matson  Gary McCoy  Rick McKee  Paresh Nath  Jack Ohman  Jeff Parker  Milt Priggee  Michael Ramirez  Rob Rogers  Steve Sack  Bill Schorr  Drew Sheneman  Kevin Siers  David Ray Skinner  Jeff Stahler  Scott Stantis  Danna Summers  Gary Varvel  Kirk Walters  Christopher Weyant  Larry Wright  Dan Wasserman  Adam Zyglis  Tech Q&A  Mr. Know-It-All  Ask Doctor K  Richard Lederer  Frugal Living  Bookmark These  Bruce Williams