… the problem isn’t that the United States doesn’t invest in health. It’s that we spend far less effectively than anyone else — indirectly through insurance companies instead of directly to people and reactively when disaster strikes instead of proactively when people are still healthy.

Except for maybe pasta and work-life balance, no topic makes liberal Americans wish they were European more than health care… If Americans can’t handle European health care at its most rigid and invasive, apparently, we can’t have it at its most helpful and expedient, either.

The cost of regularly sending all Americans at-home tests could quickly skyrocket and become unsustainable, officials said, pointing to the nearly $50 billion “test and trace” program that the U.K. put in place for a country that’s one-fifth the size.

According to government figures, there have been 135 stone-throwing incidents targeting Palestinians this year, up from 90 in 2019, and 250 other violent incidents, up from 100 in 2019. Violence against the Israeli security services also rose, from 50 incidents in 2019 to 60 this year.

…the very phrase “settler violence” is a slogan. It’s a campaign that left-wing groups have been working to promote for six months or more, as a moral counterassault to the wave of terrorism and rioting that erupted during Operation Guardian of the Walls.

The incidents flicker past in news reports and police blotters. The same towns are mentioned again and again: Burin, Burqa, Kafr Malik, Huwarra, al-Tuwani. Few arrests are made, and the tension never seems to lower.

By the end of next year, the Covid pandemic could be over. But that doesn’t mean the coronavirus will disappear. In a blog post on Tuesday, Bill Gates laid out one seemingly likely scenario: “At some point next year, Covid-19 will become an endemic disease in most places.”

… that answer is not up to luck — it is, at least in large part, within our hands. Pandemics fade out of view as a result of human efforts like vaccine development, contact tracing, genomic analysis, containment measures and international cooperation. In short, the world has a toolkit to bring an end to the pandemic as quickly as possible.

Having lived through the past two years on Earth, one should be allowed to wonder if our present circumstances might persist endlessly. Perhaps as superstition, to ward off its arrival through voodoo. Perhaps as hostility toward the too-early-to-tell recklessness of bureaucratic scientism.

While conservatives generally don’t support forgiving all student loan debt like progressives do, student debt and the high cost of college are problems nonetheless. The government and businesses could make this less of an issue for future generations, however, if they combat the problem of credentialism.

The obvious answer to the problem would be to forgive student loan interest but not the principal. In addition, allow underwater borrowers the option to settle the debt for a reasonable cost, like virtually every other debt known to man.

This gives the government two choices: extend the pause, which would seriously undermine its credibility, or let the repayments resume and face the consequences of millions of borrowers in financial distress with a significant portion defaulting.

… as we desperately seek ways to join together after so long apart — schools could find ways to make sure their students and their families all felt included in communal gatherings. After all we’ve been through, is it really so hard to make space for a 6 foot inflatable menorah?

… the Supreme Court has weighed in on holiday displays in public spaces, ruling that a menorah is not a religious symbol when it appears alongside a Christmas tree…

I’m actually familiar with the case law cited here, and while this ruling may sound bizarre, it’s not an unreasonable reading of the precedent! It’s just an illustration of how utterly messed up American case law is on the subject of religious displays in public spaces.

Move over quinoa. There’s a new grain in the kitchen. 

Freekeh is still common in the cuisines of the Middle East and Mediterranean. In Egypt it is used to stuff pigeons and in Syria and Jordan it is prepared with lamb. In Turkey, it is served as a pilaf with chickpeas, herbs and spices. In Tunisia and Algeria, it is the main ingredient in a popular tomato-based soup called “shorbat frik.”

Nourafchan snuck Mexican-influenced dishes — inspired by the area’s culinary scene — onto his kosher menu. These included lamb shawarma tacos, which he said were incredibly popular. The restaurant shut down at the beginning of the pandemic, but by May 2020, Nourafchan was testing a new kosher Mexicali concept out of his former meat supplier’s kitchen. Lenny’s Casita, a kosher Mexican restaurant, officially launched in July 2021.

Posner converted to Judaism six years ago after she married her Ashkenazi (an ethnic distinction referring to Jews of European, particularly Eastern European, descent) Jewish husband. Posner says converting to Judaism brought her closer to her Japanese heritage, which she had long felt connected to through food. She’s since created Jewish-Japanese staples that honor both her and her husband’s food traditions, like mochi sufganiyot and mochi latkes.