Plus Clinton criticizes flotilla, Netanyahu Facebook scandal, and more in the news Remains in English well are those of persecuted Jews Preet Bharara vs. Raj Rajaratnam in 'The New Yorker'  | |  A night spent in a Croatian art museum—a cultural-exchange project I'd repressed agreeing to—yielded clarifying reminders of the ethnic tensions in both the land I was visiting and the one I call home Here's an interesting fact about my screwed-up personality that I've learned over the years: When it comes to taking on a commitment, there's a direct, inverse correlation between the proximity of the request in terms of time and my willingness to commit to it. So, for example, I might politely refuse my wife's modest request to make her a cup of tea today, but I will generously agree to go grocery shopping tomorrow. I have no problem saying that I will volunteer, in a month's time, to help some distant relative move to a new apartment; and if we're talking about six months from now, I'd even offer to wrestle a polar bear naked. The only significant problem with this character trait is that time keeps moving forward and in the end, when you find yourself shaking with cold on some frozen Arctic tundra facing a white-furred bear with bared teeth, you can't help but ask yourself if it might not have been better to just say no half a year earlier. More  | The punk icon Ian MacKaye always wanted to create a tribe. Now an elder statesman of D.C. hardcore, the musician talks about organized religion, breaking toilets, and making peace with his mother's death. More |  | We are all—from Anthony Weiner to Chelsea Handler to the lazy guy who'd rather watch TV than read a book—afflicted by an epidemic of frivolity. But Moses, who faced it, too, has a cure. More |  | This Week in Israel: Civil Defense simulates a two-front war, the Netanya gas explosion goes under review, cost-of-living concerns reach the Knesset, a former army bodyguard pleads his case, Labor adds to its ranks, and more More | |
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