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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 Feb. 12, 2007 / 24 Shevat, 5767

The no longer mysterious Supreme Court

By Nat Hentoff


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Fred Friendly, Edward R. Murrow's longtime producer, used to remind me that television, at its beginning, was intended to educate as well as entertain. In the historic, unprecedented four-part PBS series "The Supreme Court," the tumultuous history and the most influential, clashing personalities of our "court of last resort" have been made available to the many Americans for whom the High Court seems very distant, though its rulings have affected millions of us for generations.


This illuminating, often dramatic series recently aired on PBS stations around the country, but you can still see it, because a DVD of the series can be purchased on www.pbs.org/supremecourt. And there is a companion book — written in clear, narrative, nonacademic prose by constitutional expert Jeffrey Rosen, who's in the series — "The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America".



BUY THE BOOK …


at a discount by clicking HERE.


At the end of the series, Chief Justice John Roberts, a participant in this landmark TV achievement, says: "The legitimacy and the acceptance of what the Court does depend upon how people view the institution. The Court is always vulnerable and has been throughout its history... (because it) has the ability to reach unpopular decisions that will nonetheless be followed."


But too few Americans — school children and adults — know of how the Supreme Court has continually been at the core of protecting our essential liberties and rights against fear-ridden majorities of citizens and Congress in times of national danger, as well as presidents who sweepingly ignore the separation of powers. The Supreme Court itself — as this series demonstrates vividly — has also rolled over the Constitution in times of crisis, as in its approval of the internment camps of Japanese-Americans during World War II. But this republic resiliently comes back to its roots of liberty, in part because of the Supreme Court redeeming its mistakes.


But as many surveys have shown — as well as Jay Leno's impromptu quizzes of college students on the "Tonight Show" — many Americans are educationally disadvantaged in their knowledge of this history of who we are — and who those black-robed justices are who have the power to make decisions not only on national security, but also concerning, at times, intimate details of our personal lives.


How many of us know what in the life and temperament of Chief Justice John Marshall gave him the daring to find in a Congressional act setting up the federal court system the power of the Supreme Court, and other federal courts, to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional? The 1803 decision Marbury v. Madison changed the course of this country.


How many of us know anything about former slave owner Justice John Marshall Harlan, whose lonely dissents tried to awaken the Court that for years stopped the "equal protection of the laws" guarantee in the Fourteenth Amendment from applying to black Americans?


These and other "personalities and rivalries that defined America" are brought back to life in this invaluable TV series — a true reality show that both entertains and educates.


This series also has a long-range component — a national educational outreach campaign to reach community groups, libraries and of special importance, schools. Because of the No Child Left Behind Law, so much time is being spent on preparing students to pass reading and math tests that hardly any time is left for the already diminishing classes in what used to be called civics. We are not educating a new generation to become citizens actively informed in keeping us both safe and free.


Among the companions to this TV series is a wide-ranging Web site that will be live online for four years (www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt) that contains all the resources for educators.


The press reviews for the four-part "Supreme Court" TV series have been very favorable — except for one. I feel sorry for New York Times readers who were put off from watching by a stunningly supercilious and ignorant review (Jan. 21) by Virginia Heffernan, who found it "boring." The New York Times has superbly knowledgeable Supreme Court reporters — Linda Greenhouse and Adam Liptak — but chose to assign the review to a writer who is very badly educationally disadvantaged.


But none of the rest of us need be in that sad state thanks to Thirteen/WNET and PBS. There's more to television than Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell.

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.


Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights and author of several books, including his current work, "The War on the Bill of Rights and the Gathering Resistance". Comment by clicking here.

Nat Hentoff Archives

© 2006, NEA

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