Travel and Food

U-T endorsements elude most Jewish candidates

Jewish candidates haven’t done very well so far in their bids for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s political endorsements.  In most cases, on San Diego County ballots, the daily newspaper has selected non-Jewish candidates over Jewish ones.   There is one exception.   Here is a review by level of government: [Donald H. Harrison]

U-T endorsements elude most Jewish candidates Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Tired brains make default decisions

We are bombarded with constant decision-making, and our brains get tired. This explains why ordinarily sensible people buy junk food, splurge on unnecessary items, or procrastinate. Our brains begin to look for short cuts either by acting impulsively, not thinking through consequences, or by saving energy by doing nothing—avoiding making any decision—which could also lead to unintended consequences. Becoming aware that our brains are beginning to function by default, we can postpone whatever decision we were about to make. If your need is to decide now, give your brain some glucose and you’re good for another hour or so. [Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D]

Tired brains make default decisions Read More »

Lifestyles, Natasha Josefowitz, Travel and Food

Hadassah Magazine article prompted OH! San Diego

The March 6-8 Open House San Diego in which 93 venues will open their doors to visitors can trace its origin to an article in the Winter 2012 edition of Hadassah Magazine, which featured an article about the Open House programs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Susanne Friestedt said the article so resonated with her that she traveled to London, headquarters for the Open House architectural movement, to learn what she would need to do to add San Diego (and environs) to the list of cities in the Open House program. [Donald H. Harrison]

Hadassah Magazine article prompted OH! San Diego Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Ohr Shalom, other Jewish venues, rated as architectural gems

Approximately 50 cities worldwide, including San Diego and three others in the United States, offer free Open Houses at venues considered to be architecturally significant.  This year, March 6-8, San Diego will put on display 93 different locations, including Ohr Shalom Synagogue at 3rd and Laurel Streets in Bankers Hill as well as a few other places with ties to prominent members of the Jewish community. Those include the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, founded by Jonas Salk and designed by architect Louis Kahn;  the IGPP Munk Laboratory designed by the late oceanographer Walter Munk and his wife Judith Horton Munk in association with architect Lloyd Ruocco; the San Diego Central Library at the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Common, named for the co-founder of Qualcomm and his wife;  and the Hotel del Coronado, which underwent considerable expansion during the period it was owned by M. Larry Lawrence. [Donald H. Harrison]

Ohr Shalom, other Jewish venues, rated as architectural gems Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Parshas Bo – The Rules of the Road

It is now forty years since I began driving an automobile. I took driver’s education and it was through them I got my license, but it was my mother, of blessed memory, who taught me how to drive. Over the years I’ve heard that I have a reputation of being a New York driver. Some passengers in my car requested double seat belts and a parachute with an optional eject button just in case they needed access to an early departure. New York drivers are known to be aggressive; it is a direct correlation to the aggressiveness of daily life in New York city. In contrast, living in Charleston, South Carolina, cars can be sold with a horn because no one ever beeps such a rude, noisy device. [Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky]

Parshas Bo – The Rules of the Road Read More »

Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food

Clearing up confusion between JNF-USA and KKL

Dr. Sol Lizerbram, the Rancho Sante Fe resident who serves as the national president of Jewish National Fund-USA, says that many people are unaware that Keren Kayemet LeIsrael (KKL) and JNF-USA are totally separate organizations, even though in the past, they were one and the same.
[Donald H. Harrison]

Clearing up confusion between JNF-USA and KKL Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Can carob save a nation?

The carob tree has been appreciated for its various features throughout the ages. Nowadays, people are starting to rediscover this amazing plant. It is both a wild growing forest tree, and an easy to cultivate fruit tree. Because of this combination, the carob tree lends itself to a wide range of uses, thus making it the perfect tree to solve many of Morocco’s pressing economic and environmental issues. [By Nora Martetschläger]

Can carob save a nation? Read More »

International, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Travel and Food

Behind the byline: Jerry Klinger

Though he lives in Boynton Beach, Florida, Jerry Klinger writes stories for this publication from all over the United States and the globe.
Klinger is president of the Jewish American Society of Historic Preservation, an organization which he largely funds. It has erected more than 100 historic markers honoring Jewish-American contributions in this country, Europe, and Israel. [Donald H. Harrison]

Behind the byline: Jerry Klinger Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Jerry Klinger, Jewish History, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

Israel’s severe weather eclipses political news

Our recent headlines have featured the weather. Despite a prediction in the Fall that this would be a relatively dry winter, the last couple of weeks have set a record of rainfall that surpasses anything in the most recent 50 years. Coastal cities of Naharyia, Tel Aviv, Ashdod and Ashkelon have been hit by flooded streets that have washed away cars, and required pedestrians to be carried across flooded streets in the buckets of tractors and in the trucks of the IDF. [Ira Sharkansky, PhD]

Israel’s severe weather eclipses political news Read More »

Travel and Food

Santee-trained firefighter volunteers in Israel

A couple of days after we started working, rocket fire from Gaza began pouring into Israel. The Station Commander conducted a walkthrough of the in-house bomb shelter. These are not only present in every Fire Station, but in all new residential occupancies. Around 450 rockets were fired toward Israel in the course of about 36 hours. I finally had to silence my “Red Alert – Israel” app if I wanted to try to get some sleep. Two other EVP members (both from Texas) were deployed not far from where I was, and they got a photo of an Iron Dome interception over their Station. Yet the Israeli Firefighters seemed quite calm. They would even change the TV channel to watch soccer, whereas we American Firefighters were staring at the TV watching surveillance camera video of the interceptions, and any rockets which may have passed their missile defenses. Watching the public’s reaction during the missile warning sirens, I couldn’t help but wonder what people in San Diego would say and do if we had continuous barrages of rockets coming across our border. [Dana Ben Kaplan]

Santee-trained firefighter volunteers in Israel Read More »

Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food

Office of Civil Rights to investigate bias at UCLA

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) has notified StandWithUs and Zachor Legal Institute on January 3rd that it has accepted each of their respective complaints alleging that UCLA violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) and has opened the matters for full investigation on the merits. StandWithUs and Zachor Legal Institute both alleged that the UCLA administration repeatedly failed to prevent a hostile campus environment for its Jewish campus community in direct violation of the school’s Title VI obligations. [Press Release from StandWithUs]

Office of Civil Rights to investigate bias at UCLA Read More »

Travel and Food