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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 April 21, 2006 / 23 Nissan, 5766

PETA's Circus Is in Town

By Bob Tyrrell


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The legal concept of the Public Nuisance has for long been recognized throughout all the civilized countries of the world. Basically, and unadorned by the tortured language of the legal profession, a public nuisance is one who uses property to annoy or damage an individual or the general public. Occasionally the annoyance or damage is sufficiently grievous for the public nuisance to suffer some sort of penalty.


Starting at some point in the last century the public nuisance acquired a halo by claiming that his obnoxious behavior was induced by high purpose and noble values. In the 1930s pacifists tested the outer limits of public-nuisance law to oppose American entry into World War II. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini favored their labors — to a point. In the 1930s there were also food fanatics and nudists numbered among the public nuisances. Through the years Americans have become inured to these misfits and malcontents, sympathetic as we are to the protesters' claims to higher virtue and noble purpose.


By the later decades of the 20th century many public nuisances' misbehavior moved from mere mischief to mayhem, but ordinary Americans have remained good natured, generally, so long as the nuisances are not trampling the ordinary Americans' petunias or hauling them into court. Nudists are too polite to commit such excesses, and even militant bicycle riders shun such tactics. Yet there are public nuisances who frequently engage in rough stuff. Probably the roughest of the public nuisances are the animal-rights fanatics. Some actually undertake acts of terror, blowing up laboratories and — for some reason — ski resorts. Just a few months back 11 were indicted on federal warrants for such crimes.


Other animal-rights groups aim at intimidation through noisy demonstrations and court action. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) engage in this sort of thing. Yet they have recently been targeting entities that enjoy the sympathy of ordinary Americans, for instance, family entertainment groups such as the circus and laboratories where scientists endeavor to discover medications for greater health and less human suffering. Demonstrating against a circus or a laboratory might sucker the weak witted but not sensible Americans, and recently when the animal-rights nuisances have dragged their victims into court they have lost. The burden of proof that exists in an American courtroom is much higher than at one of the media events the animal-rights nuisances stage.


On March 15 in the Ohio Supreme Court an animal-rights group's effort to force Ohio State University to release animal-testing records failed thumpingly. A couple of weeks earlier a federal court in New Jersey convicted animal-rights thugs for inciting violence in their effort to shut a medical research facility. Science triumphed over these reactionaries. Also in March a Northern-Virginia jury exonerated the owner of Ringling Brothers' Circus from charges that he and company executives wiretapped PETA headquarters and stole PETA documents.


The Ringling Brothers case is significant because PETA has used the courts to harass the circus for years. In this case the circus owner, Kenneth Feld, was willing to face PETA's charges in court. Had PETA merely complained to the press people might have believed that Feld maintained a vast spy ring against his harassers. In court their evidence was dismissed as nonsense.


Actually their whole case is nonsense. Circus animals are as highly prized by animal trainers as domestic pets are by their owners — perhaps more so. After all, the trainers' livelihood depends on these animals. Cruelty towards animals exists to be sure, but it is unlikely that trainers who spend their entire lives around animals would be cruel to them. More likely such trainers have affection and even admiration for their animals much as a hunter has affection and admiration for his hunting dog. Then too it is unlikely a cruel trainer would be successful with his animals, and it is even unlikelier that a cruel trainer's cruelty would go unnoticed in such a high-profile position.


Every year for decades ordinary Americans have taken their families to the circus. One wonders what PETA's nuisances would suggest as a humane alternative for the children who thrill to the mighty elephants and the gigantic cats. How about suggesting that Ringling Brothers use artificial animals? Surely in this high-tech world someone can come up with a robotic elephant. Or maybe just use stuffed animals. Kids love their stuffed teddy bears. Yet I doubt such alternatives would soothe the folks at PETA. They are public nuisances, but the law is catching up with them.

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 Bob Tyrrell is editor in chief of The American Spectator. Comment by clicking here.

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