International

Coast Guard Officer Candidate School in the Mid-1950s

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy sits high on a bluff overlooking the Thames River in New London, Connecticut. A group of colonial, brick, Georgian buildings, trimmed in white moldings and shutters, sit serenely among tall trees and a pampered lawn that goes on forever. Pyracantha bushes with bouquets of pouting red berries line the driveways and keep order. Midshipman in their crisply pressed black and white uniforms walk briskly from class to class for four years of nurtured perfection, until they graduate. The rewards are shiny gold ensign’s bars designating them as the next generation of leaders. [Ira Spector]

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Lifestyles, USA

Transition time for elected officials and staffs

The weeks immediately following an election are exciting ones for officeholders, their campaign staffs, and for the staffs of outgoing officeholders.  This is the time when legislators learn what committees they’ll serve on; when campaign workers learn whether they will be hired by the new officholders, and when the staff of retiring or defeated officeholders begin looking for other jobs, both inside and outside government. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Lifestyles, San Diego County, USA

Biden Declared Winner Of Arizona After Decades Of GOP Dominance

On Thursday night, President-elect Joe Biden was projected to win the battleground state of Arizona.Despite Arizona’s long tradition for voting for Republicans, the growth in the Latino population, which strongly favors Democrats, the increase in migrant residents from prominent blue states like California and the unpopularity of Trump with suburban voters were the major factors

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USA

Trump lawyers withdraw from key Pennsylvania case challenging vote count

PHILADELPHIA — The law firm leading President Donald Trump’s legal effort to challenge the results of Pennsylvania’s election abruptly withdrew from his campaign’s marquee case late Thursday.Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio-based Porter Wright Morris & Arthur offered no explanation for their departure from a federal lawsuit filed Monday in Williamsport that asked a judge to block

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USA

Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s ex-envoy who helped broker UAE-Israel deal, celebrates daughter’s engagement in Dubai

The former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt celebrated his daughter’s engagement in Dubai just weeks after the normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE.Greenblatt’s daughter, Anna Greenblatt, said yes to a surprise proposal from her boyfriend in Dubai where she was travelling with her father.Greenblatt, who played a key role in drafting

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Middle East, Travel and Food, USA

After 60 years, the Jews in Australia’s coal capital have a rabbi

The Australian coal mining city of Newcastle now has a rabbi for the first time in 60 years, with Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yossi Rodal taking up the post, the Australian Jewish News reported.Established in 1905, Newcastle’s Jewish community is one of the oldest in Australia, and while the city is now one of the country’s largest

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International, Jewish Religion

Sinai helicopter crash kills 7, including 5 Americans

A helicopter crash in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula involving a multi-national observer force killed seven people on Thursday — five Americans, a French national and a Czech citizen, the force said.”We are deeply saddened by the loss on November 12, 2020, of seven of our uniformed military colleagues from three countries who died in a helicopter crash during a routine mission. This included one Czech, one French, and five US MFO members,” the peacekeeping force said late Thursday. [Agence France Presse]

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Middle East, USA

Memoir: A Social Worker’s Life in Switzerland

There are two possible ways of behaving when coming into a new environment if one stands out for some reason—like being the only woman, the only foreigner, or someone with different skills. One can try to blend in and fit oneself into the prevailing culture, which may be difficult or not even possible. The other way is to accept the differences instead of hiding them, flaunt them by being even more of an outlier. [Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D]

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International, Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Travel and Food

Former mayoral candidate subject of dispute in race for City Council President

San Diego City Councilwoman Dr. Jen Campbell has taken exception to testimony by former mayoral candidate Tasha Williamson during a portion of the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov 10, when members of the public were invited to comment. Campbell said that Williamson interjected into her testimony on another matter the issue of the race for the presidency of the next City Council in which Campbell and Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe are competitors. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Satire: Shifty Ways to Stay in Power

[Tune: Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover]
The issue is simply that I don’t want to leave.     
I’m not a loser so I don’t know how to grieve.                                                                                                     
I’m sure I’ll find something up my sleeve.                                                                                                          
There must be shifty ways to stay in power. …                                                                            

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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

How SJP orchestrates Jew-Hatred

SJP [Students for Justice for Palestine] has a long history since its founding in 1993 of bringing vitriolic anti-Israel speakers to their respective campuses (now numbering over 200 with chapters), and for sponsoring the pernicious annual Israeli Apartheid Weeks, building mock “apartheid walls,” extolling terrorism and the psychopaths who commit it, inviting outrageously biased and Jew-hating guest speakers, disrupting and shutting down pro-Israel events, sending fake eviction notices to Jewish students in their dorms, and jamming resolutions through student government to promote the toxic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign— all these tactics having as their core purpose the demonization of Israel, Zionism, Jewish self-determination, and Jews who support Israel.  [Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D]

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Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA