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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

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


Jewish World Review Oct. 31, 2006 / 9 Mar-Cheshvan, 5767

The Senate race and a Gothic twist

By Wesley Pruden


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | MEMPHIS — Logic suggests that Rep. Harold Ford should succeed Bill Frist as a senator from Tennessee. Mr. Ford is the scion of a Memphis family of undertakers, and Mr. Frist is properly Dr. Frist, a heart surgeon. The undertaker always follows the doctor.


But these aren't logical times, and nothing is inevitable. The election prospects of Mr. Ford and his Republican foe, Bob Corker, a former mayor of Chattanooga, will likely turn on such arcane issues as whether Mr. Ford, who is single and black, has a penchant for rowdy white girls, and whether Mr. Corker's 18-year-old daughter does, too. She had herself photographed playfully deep-kissing a rowdy white girl, and the result, not necessarily a masterwork of the photographic arts, was posted on the Internet, where everyone with a laptop is guaranteed fame (or infamy) for a minute or two.


Despite such evidence to the contrary, the Tennessee race to the bottom is crucial to Republican prospects of holding the U.S. Senate. Most analysts, some less partisan than others, say the race is a tossup.


Mr. Ford grew up in Washington — he's a graduate of exclusive, expensive and fashionable St. Albans — and learned politics from his father, the patriarch of a Memphis political dynasty who held the seat in the House before him. The Ford campaign posters, in fact, identify him as "Ford, Jr.," with the "Jr." in large, prominent italic type. Junior is running this year as more conservative than he really is; disguising a number of Democrats in Republican drag is a key element of the party's strategy for taking control of the Congress. The Republicans concede that the 36-year-old five-term congressman is smooth, smart and attractive, but they're attempting to define "smooth, smart and attractive" as "slick, clever and out of touch with Tennessee." When the Corker campaign accused Mr. Ford of having dallied with the Playmates at the Playboy mansion in Chicago, the congressman at first hedged, then admitted that yes, he was there. When a reporter pressed him for details, he snapped: "I like football, and I like girls, and I have no apology for that." Others accused him of dating a sophomore half his age at Georgetown University in Washington.


Ford-friendly Internet bloggers responded with the buzz, illustrated with the incriminating photograph, that Mr. Corker's success with conservative and family-friendly values hasn't always extended to his own household. Buzz was all it was until the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the state's largest newspaper, published the photograph and the story of the rowdy daughter became respectable (more or less) conversation for conservative black and white churchgoing Tennesseans.


Family, in fact, has become the mud of choice. The congressman reacted angrily when Mr. Corker began to talk about the colorful Ford family of politicians, not all of whom have always stayed within the law. The congressman's father, the first black to represent a Tennessee district since Reconstruction, was indicted on corruption charges but never convicted. The congressman's uncle, John Ford, a state senator, was one of seven Tennessee state legislators caught in a sting, and convicted of taking a $55,000 bribe in a joint federal-state investigation naturally called "the Tennessee Waltz."


When Mr. Corker suggested that the Ford family dynasty was a little too rich for Tennessee, the congressman retorted that he would never, ever criticize an opponent's family. But there's another family complication. The congressman's younger brother Jake, with an impressive police rap sheet of his own, came home to Memphis to run for Congress as an independent. The congressman hasn't exactly endorsed his brother, but he hasn't exactly endorsed the Democratic nominee, either. When brother Jake lost a debate the other night to Steve Cohen, the Democrat, he fell into a rowdy argument with the audience. "I'm the one who inherited my father's political sense," he once told a bystander. "My brother Isaac is the one who got the business sense, and all Harold got was the name." Politics in the South is always leavened with a touch of the Gothic.


But in Memphis the name is usually enough. Bob Corker is counting on turnout in the mountain counties of eastern Tennessee, the traditional Republican stronghold, which is a long, long way from the Delta counties in the west. Both parties have everything riding on the Gothic.

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JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor in chief of The Washington Times. Comment by clicking here.

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