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Whether in the mess hall or on a battleship, Jewish soldiers stationed all over the world still sang the Four Questions and ate matzo.Seder on the U.S.S. Astoria in the Pacific, 1945. “Lettuce au charoses.” “Kneidlach or borscht a la Sgt. Weinstein.” “Consommè [sic—the accent points the wrong way!] avec Knadlach.” “Palestine wine.” “Roast Beef Ala Yomtov.” “Iced Coca-Cola.” These were some of the dishes enjoyed by Jewish members of the military at their Seders in both European and Pacific theaters of war 70 years ago. The American Jewish Historical Society at the Center for Jewish History has a file...

By now you’ve already heard about the “backlash” being directed toward the entire state of Indiana over the recent passage of their new religious freedom law. The NCAA is hinting about moving their basketball tournament away. They might even lose their comic book convention. (How much of a “loss” that would be is subjective.) But one of the more interesting threats being made comes from the CEO of online review site Yelp. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman isn’t happy. He penned an open letter on Thursday bashing Indiana’s new religious freedom bill, railing against “laws that would allow for business to...

God has called all of you to share His Glory; He favours the humble and the innocent; above all, be pure to be able to face the Lord in good conscience; the Spirit of Grace is upon you, and each one of you has received a special grace;

Four years ago, my reporting on Obamacare brought me to the city of Terre Haute, Ind. Located near the Illinois’ border, about an hour’s drive from Indianapolis, the city of 60,000 residents reminded me of the area where I grew up near Utica, N.Y. It was a brisk March morning, nearly a year after President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, and I had trekked to the Midwest with a camera crew to meet Scott Womack, owner of about a dozen IHOP restaurants in Indiana and Ohio. Womack’s testimony before Congress earlier in 2011 caught my attention and I wanted...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)ROSWELL, GA (CBS46) - A Taco Bell cashier was caught robbing customers right in front of their eyes, according to police. Authorities said when customers would pull up to the drive-through window and hand over their credit card, Rosetta Brinson would pretend the card reader didn't work, telling customers she had to manually enter their number. Her crimes were caught on surveillance video. Brinson snapped screen shots of customers' information and would later ring up charges on their accounts. Heather Tinsley, a customer, couldn't believe it. "It's disturbing actually,” Tinsley said. “That's something you really shouldn't do." Jose Vega, a...

"It's also interesting because I'm actually black, but you assumed otherwise," Jay Smooth told Nancy Giles. Starbucks' campaign to get people talking about race has already birthed a very public, very cringeworthy conversation about race. Jay Smooth, a radio DJ and video blogger, was on MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes Tuesday night, discussing the coffee company's "Race Together" campaign with fellow guest Nancy Giles, a contributor to CBS Sunday Morning. As they discussed the efficacy of a campaign like Race Together — with Giles defending it and Smooth pushing back — Hayes played one of Smooth's most popular videos,...

Starbucks' campaign aimed at encouraging people to talk about race relations in the U.S. is the latest example of a big company trying to tie its brands to big social issues. But the move, which has sparked backlash on social media, also illustrates how those efforts can fall flat if customers don't see a clear correlation between the cause and the company's products. U.S. workers for the coffee chain that is best known for its Frappuccinos have been told to write "Race Together" on cups. The company also plans to start publishing "conversation guides" on the topic, with questions like...

With the aid of a $148,000 federal grant, engineers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed what they call a “diet choker.” The device is a necklace that detects what and when a person is eating. This information is then communicated by phone. Lead researcher Majid Sarrafzadeh called the device “a breakthrough for healthy eating. If it detects excessive quantities are consumed or poor food choices are made it can be programmed to call the person’s cell phone to remind them that their choice is an unhealthy one.” “If individuals prove insufficiently motivated to alter their behavior...

Meatballs and spaghetti, with a simple marinara sauce, is one of life's greatest comfort foods. I consider myself a serious cook, and I've been making the dish for years, with a few tweaks along the way. Everyone loves it...never had a complaint. But for such a simple dish, there seems to be a near infinite number of variations and possibilities. Lots of FReepers are into food, so I thought I'd throw it open for discussion (and a brief respite from all things Hillary all the time)

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas told the Iowa Ag Conference that it was time to “push back” on “anti-science zealotry” concerning GMOs or genetically modified organisms, according to a Saturday story in the Washington Times. GMOs are crops that have been modified to have desirable traits, such as resistance to pests or to contain certain helpful vitamins and nutrients that they otherwise would not have. Oddly enough, Bill Nye, the former “science guy” and former GMO opponent has come around to Cruz’s point of view. Nye, who is not a scientist but played one once on Children’s television, has joined in...

Associated Wholesale Grocers plans to convert five of seven Dahl’s Foods stores in Iowa to the Price Chopper banner in early April and two others, in the Des Moines market, to a new, unspecified format, according to published reports. Kansas City, Kansas-based AWG acquired the stores in January following Dahl’s bankruptcy filing in November. Price Chopper is an AWG-licensed name used by 51 members in Kansas.

When people discuss business uses for drones, they tend to jump to the novelty end of the consumer market—from the drone hobbyist with a GoPro camera to a complete overhaul of delivery services. “In the press, you always hear that Amazon will deliver a book, or pizzas will come to your house,” says Amar Hanspal, senior vice president at Autodesk, during a recent discussion on drones at Gigaom Structure Connect. “That is a cute thing to talk about, but the real action is in B2B industrial applications. That is where we’re watching the democratization of a broad use of drones...

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) issued a 571 page report outlining its recommendations for transforming Americans' health. Citing persistent high levels of overweight and obesity, the report proposed "strategies across multiple settings, including health care, communities, schools, work sites, and families." First Lady Michelle Obama hailed the report as "the guiding light toward a healthier and happier America. The notion that individuals can be left on their own to choose what they eat and how much to exercise has proven to be a failure. DGAC's call for 'trained interventionists' to take charge is the right message at the right...

If you were to build a city from scratch, using current technology, what would it cost to live there? I think it would be nearly free if you did it right. This is a big deal because people aren’t saving enough for retirement, and many folks are underemployed. If the economy can’t generate enough money for everyone to pay for a quality lifestyle today, perhaps we can approach it from the other direction and lower the cost of living. Consider energy costs. We already know how to build homes that use zero net energy. So that budget line goes to...

At about $50 a barrel, crude oil prices are down by more than half from their June 2014 peak of $107. They may fall more, perhaps even as low as $10 to $20. Here’s why.

Planning a 4 day trip to New Orleans. Tourism Suggestions please?

<p>Ever since Ted Cruz and the Koch Brothers invented racism, it’s been a well-known fact that conservative middle-class Americans are the biggest racists to ever be racist. Disgustingly, ridiculously racist. Oh my God, the racism practiced by everyday citizens who want lower taxes and go to Church on Sundays is just appalling. Racists, racists, racists.</p>

Here is a post by a Colorado teacher who vividly explains the difference in the lives of fortunate students and the less fortunate students whom she teaches. Her last post on this blog was a nuanced look into the psyche of some students of color who live in poverty, which you can read here. This public school teacher often blogs anonymously under the name Shakespeare’s Sister at Daily Kos. She teaches 11th grade AP Language and Composition in the Denver area. Here is Shakespeare’s Sister newest post for this blog: Recently, events in Ferguson and New York have reminded us...

Last spring, for the first time in 20 years, Indiana farmer Jim Benham planted his fields entirely with soybean seeds that hadn’t been genetically modified to withstand herbicides. It wasn’t because the 63-year-old suddenly had embraced the anti-GMO movement. Instead, he was drawn to a nearly 14% per-bushel premium for non-GMO soybeans offered by a local grain terminal, which sells them to Asian feed processors. Mr. Benham is among a small but growing number of Midwestern farmers moving away from biotech seeds developed by Monsanto Co. , DuPont Co. and other companies in response to lower crop prices over the...