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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 Sept. 15, 2006 / 22 Elul, 5766

It's not that I'm really that nervous (paranoid?)

By Betsy Hart


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | So there I was reading a front-page Wall Street Journal piece titled, "Snippy Things Folks Say About Your Home Are now Also Online," and I sorta panicked.


The article by James Hagerty and Kevin Delaney focused on the real estate market. New Web sites encourage potential buyers to go into a home and then review it (rip it to shreds?) for cyber-space. One property reviewer on the Web site ZipRealty wrote under a pen name after going through a home for sale, "the house was okay but your bathrooms could be cleaner." Ouch. Another wrote about a "swamp" in the back yard of a home; someone else described a bedroom the size of a "coffin."


Apparently, this is a huge business, and it's driving real estate agents nuts. Talk about a market leveler.


So then I got to thinking that if someone is going to complain about bathrooms in a house for sale, it's not going to be long before a snoopy visitor to a friend's home just can't resist blogging along the lines of "Do you know what so-and-so has in her medicine cabinet?"


Or what about the snooty dinner guest who just can't help but blab about some tacky element of a dinner party? Remember Mary Tyler Moore? She had a reputation for giving the most boring parties on the planet, and that was before the blogosphere.


I can soon see online reviews from uptight parents about a child's bratty play date. You hear about teenagers ripping each other to shreds with such cyber-gossip. Can the rest of us be far behind?


And then I thought — uh-oh — what about what goes on at my house? I mean, it seems anyone and everyone is fodder from potential bloggers these days.


It's not that I give boring parties, pretty much because I don't give parties. But there's other material.


My brother, who lives two doors down from me, has threatened that every time he walks into my kitchen and finds some container sitting on the counter without a lid he's going to pour it out, no questions asked. And he does. I always lose the lids, and I just don't really have a time limit for milk to sit on the counter, and this drives him nuts. Perhaps appropriately nuts. So every so often I lose a gallon or so. There — now you know.


Here's the fact of the matter: I am a notoriously lousy housekeeper. I read recently that women who work have messier homes than those who don't. Gee, do you think? Of course, that's just an excuse. I could clean the kitchen; I just don't want to. I'm not saying it never gets done; I just wouldn't want a secret video of it taken late on a typical morning to end up on YouTube.


The "audio" would be a problem, too. First, I have music constantly playing throughout my house, but it's essentially either a) the soundtrack from the hit musical "Wicked," or b) something from Rod Stewart. When you think about it, that's kinda weird.


Then there would be the audio that would feature me yelling at my kids. It's not all that often, really, and I'm a firm believer that sometimes it's absolutely necessary. (Sometimes it's not, and then I apologize.) I'm just saying I live in a neighborhood where the homes are really close together, and there are times I've agonized that the windows were open and who knows what the neighbors thought?


Of course, they probably thought it was necessary, too. But I wouldn't want the recording flying around cyber-space. Nor would I want much documentation out there about how my kids sometimes talk back to me!


I actually remember making a tape recording of my mother yelling at us kids when we were little. Fortunately, like with most things, she had a pretty good sense of humor when we played it back to her. But now that sequence could be all over the cyber-world, and I don't think she'd be laughing about that.


And I really don't want to see any critiques posted anywhere on the Web about my cooking.


It's not that I'm really that nervous (paranoid?), but with kids, and their parents, and friends, I do seem to have a lot of people coming and going from my home. Given today's world — and today's cyber-world — I just wonder if maybe it's best for any of us in that situation to casually start asking people to at least leave their camera phones at the door.

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.

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