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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 16, 2007 / 2 Elul, 5767

Uncool in a minivan and loving it

By Betsy Hart


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | So, 15 years of working to convince me that my minivan and I are cool, and now the car industry has turned on its heels and we minivan owners are supposed to suddenly decide that we are all washed up.


There it was in "The Minivan is Dead. Long Live the Minivan?" by Matt Vella in The Wall Street Journal this week. Vella writes: "Long stigmatized as terminally unhip suburban kid transporters, minivans have been facing a reckoning of sorts of the past year, with some manufacturers giving up on the segment altogether." Apparently, Ford is finished with them. General Motors will soon follow. Why? Because minivan sales are plummeting. "Crossovers," sort of large truck/car combos, are now all the rage.


One minute the car industry is courting me, now it is dissing me. What is that?


To add insult to injury, Wes Brown, head of the L.A. automotive marketing firm Iceology, told the Journal that, ultimately, the minivan "is a symbol of being stuck in the rut of having a family."


Uh, yeah. That's me. The "rut woman."


Now listen up, my automotive friends. Don't mess with me. Back in the mid-1990s, when I had only a couple of very young kids, I wrote that I'd rather endure a root canal than drive a minivan. Then shortly after baby No. 3 came along, everything changed. You helped it to change. I took a test drive in a minivan "for grins" — and I was hooked.


And in 2003, when it was time to change cars again and baby No. 4 was 2 years old, there was no going back. I wrote then about how I salivated over the arrival of my new Toyota Sienna minivan. I still have it and, together, the van, the four kids and I have been through a lot — and we are going strong.


Do you know what sold me, the rut woman, on the minivan? It was the sliding passenger doors. Yes, the sliding doors, which apparently define the minivan and the rut woman and make me so unhip. Brown told the Journal: "Frankly, sliding doors are what give minivans open access, but that's what makes them uncool."


Back up, pal. Here's the definition of "cool":


Running out the door, consistently 18 minutes late to everything, and yelling to the children, "Kids, get into the car!," and hitting the button so that the doors open by remote. There are no worries that my kids are going to slam the car next to them as they get in and out, no concerns that I'm going to be standing there, resting grocery bags on their heads while I try to open the doors.


You know what's cool? Dropping off a child somewhere, and easily popping the door closed behind him or her by the touch of a button. No slammed doors, just a gentle hum as it slides back into place. One less thing to worry about.


But apparently loving that feature is what makes me a rut woman. At least that's what Vella says. You know what? I'd like to get my uncool sliding car doors around Vella's presumably very hip neck and tell him what I think about his trying to redefine my entire life.


Look. It took me a while to get to a place of peace in my unhip life. But I'm here now. I get that I'm the opposite of so-hip writer Carrie Bradshaw in "Sex and the City." This writer and single mom of four is "No Sex and the Suburbs," and I'm OK with that! I'm over hip. Hip got me nowhere.


I'm sensible shoes, and sales at Target, and sliding doors on my minivan — and now Brown and his oh-so-hip pals, who helped to sell me on the whole deal to begin with, want to take it away and pronounce me so yesterday.


Well, Brown and friends, here's the thing: I'm not going anywhere. I'm finally at an age and stage in life when I am A-OK with uncool. It's manageable, definable, achievable and so very comfortable. It's even kinda fun. It works, it fits, and you'll have to pry the minivan you worked so hard to get me to buy in the first place out of my cold, dead grip. Get over it.


You know what? That felt really cool.

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