BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

NOT. GONNA. HAPPEN. I have one child who believes sincerely that one day they will own a pet unicorn and it will come to the house and take them away. There are many things I would like but I know rationally, they aren't going to happen based on genetics and financial feasibility. Now Omar, do you really think anyone's going to take you seriously without you denouncing your father? Bin Laden son wants to be peace activist By PAUL SCHEMM Omar Osama bin Laden bears a striking resemblance to his notorious father — except for the dreadlocks that dangle halfway down his back. Then there's the black leather biker jacket. The 26-year-old does not renounce his father, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, but in an interview with The Associated Press, he said there is better way to defend Islam than militancy: Omar wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between Muslims and the West. Omar — one of bin Laden's 19 children — raised a tabloid storm last year when he married a ...

SHELACH How Do Activists Remain Active? By Nina Wouk "Failure is impossible," wrote Susan B. Anthony, certain that righteousness must eventually triumph. The road to that triumph, however, may be pitted with failures, the goal postponed longer than a lifetime. How, then, do activists stay active? Parashat Shelach suggests an answer. The Israelites send spies over the border of the Promised land; they return to give their wandering people an incoherent report of a good but deadly land full of giants. Only two spies maintain hope of crossing into the land and fighting to stay. The people, understandably confused and terrified, retreat from the challenge, and live out 38 hazardous years in the wilderness before trying again. Moshe's instructive response contains an antidote to such debilitating panic. The Israelites and their descendants are to wear fringes on the corners of their garments, where unhemmed cloth begins to unravel, as a reminder to stay on course and not ...