Alan Cheuse is probably best known for his savvy and engaging book reviews on National Public Radio, but he is also an accomplished novelist and essayist. His latest book, “Song of Slaves in the Desert” (Sourcebooks, $25.99), is a Great American Novel in the most profound and important sense — a novel about the human experience of slavery in the American South.
Last week, Rhode Island announced that it will release Michael Woodmansee from prison this August, 12 years early, because of “good conduct.” He will have served 28 years of his 40-year sentence. His crime? In 1975, Woodmansee tortured a neighbor’s 5-year-old son to death.
The best reasons that I read The Jewish Journal are because of great Americans like Dennis Prager and David Suissa. It is nauseating to see columns by leftist slimebags like Marty Kaplan and Rachel Roberts (the doctoral student — OMG) (“Muslim Criminals, Jewish Activists,” Feb. 18). Maybe the two of them can get together and hate Israel and America together!
You\’ve got to hand it to Bibi Netanyahu, who somehow managed to turn international outrage over the brutal massacre of a young Jewish family on the Shabbat as they slept in their beds into widespread criticism of his aggressive settlement policy. The most frequent question I get in speaking to Jewish groups around the country is \”Why doesn\’t Israel get better PR advice?\” The answer is simple: the problem isn\’t PR, it\’s policy and the way it\’s announced to the world.
A third explosion in four days rocked the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan early Tuesday, the country\’s nuclear safety agency said. The blast at Dai-ichi Unit 2 followed two hydrogen explosions at the plant – the latest on Monday – as authorities struggle to prevent the catastrophic release of radiation in the area devastated by a tsunami.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.