By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — The new president of Egypt has himself acknowledged that the military tyranny is still in charge, even as the good people of Egypt swallow the bitter truth of their brief, vanishing dream. Libya teeters; the Palestinians still smolder with the Hamas-Fatah blood conflict; Syria kills its own children […]
Don’t confuse Civil Rights Movement with Arab uprising Read More »
Middle East
I Shall Not Hate by Izzeldin Abuelaish; Walker & Company, New York, 2010. 238 pages. By David Strom SAN DIEGO — Izzeldin Abuelaish is an amazing person. Being born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza strip did not deter him from becoming a spokesperson for peace everywhere in the world and,
A man of peace from Gaza Read More »
Travel and Food
By Danny Bloom CHIAYI CITY, TAIWAN — Media mavens both East and West are locking horns in global discussions about the effects of Hollywood’s attempts to appeal to the ”Chollywood” market. Will China’s ”soft opening” (scare quotes mine) to the West create more opportunities for Hollywood studios to market their wares inside the communist behemoth,
Will Hollywood soft pedal messages to win China’s business? Read More »
InternationalBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Some years ago, my friend Malcolm Feeley published The Process is the Punishment. It deals with criminal charges against individuals at the lower end of America’s urban communities, widely viewed as guilty, but who manage to be judged not guilty or to have their cases thrown out of court. The
Olmert’s real punishment is the process Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Elan Ezrachi JERUSALEM — Cities most essentially belong to their residents. The residents shape the character of cities in which they dwell. The cities, in return, provide them shelter, employment, community and identity. Jerusalem defies this traditional model. While 800,000 individuals can be labeled “residents,” there are literally millions of additional far-flung stakeholders around
Yeru-Shalem Coalition seeks to harmonize Jerusalem and Diaspora Read More »
Middle East
By David Brin ENCINITAS, California– Nearly two thirds (65 percent) of Americans think that President Obama would be a better leader than Mitt Romney if an alien invasion were to happen. Hm, well, yes… and? So? A survey for National Geographic finds extraterrestrial visits not that crazy an idea to most Americans. Thirty-six percent of
Politics offer fertile grounds for science fiction Read More »
USABy Samara Greenberg WASHINGTON, D.C. — On June 20, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal were scheduled to meet in Cairo to choose cabinet members for the Palestinian interim government that would oversee elections. That meeting never came to fruition, however, and senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan later said that
Gaza watch: Palestinian reconciliation on hold Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansksy JERUSALEM– Israelis are fortunate to have a large and active diaspora of Jews. Israelis are also unfortunate in having a large and active diaspora of Jews. The benefits are well known: a bit of money to top off the much larger sums that we provide for ourselves, political support where
Diaspora Jews are a blessing and a curse for Israelis Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By David Amos SAN DIEGO — If you watch KUSI Television, cable 9 during the week-ends, day and night, you can not miss the informative weather reports of the weekend meteorologist, Dave Scott. His extensive knowledge of weather patterns and predictions combined with a relaxed delivery makes him a valuable asset to the station
Great Scott! Weatherman to perform two concerts! Read More »
Travel and Food
. By Carol Davis SAN DIEGO — About ten minutes into director Adrian Noble’s rendering of Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy, As You Like It, the strangest sight of all left me awe-struck. After the opening scenes were played and we got the gist of Shakespeare’s charming garden romp, (more on that later) a set of metal
Holocaust imagery has no place in Shakespeare comedy Read More »
Carol Davis, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen Glorious Meals Pure & Simple by Levana Kirschenbaum; Levana Cooks, December 2011; ISBN 978-1-46765-704-2; 398 pages, $39.95 By Shari Marks SAN DIEGO –Levana’s cookbook takes kosher cooking to a higher, loftier level in many of her recipes by adding natural, healthier ingredients than what one would expect. She encourages pure foods,
Kosher cookbook emphasizes natural ingredients Read More »
Travel and Food
By Cynthia Citron NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California– If a play’s success can be measured by the amount of meat it offers you to chew on, and the length of time it takes for you to digest it, then That Good Night can be considered a success. For the first act, at least. A totally dysfunctional family,
Play is as dysfunctional as the family it depicts Read More »
Cynthia CitronBy J.J. Surbeck SAN DIEGO –Quick! Don’t think (and don’t cheat with your calculator or your cell phone either)! How much is 3×7? 160/4? 6×7? 300+858?* If you belong to the generation that learned multiplication tables in school, you probably had no problem doing these elementary calculations. But if you belong to the younger
An Israeli calculator to reinvigorate mathematical thinking Read More »
Science, Medicine, & Education
By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — Yasir Arafat is still dead. True, he was once alive. I sat across from him in his Gaza office, for example. And he even had a copy of my history of the PLO on his bookshelf so he must have been of sound mind at the time. It’s not
Arafat allegations one more attempt to dehumanize Israel Read More »
Middle East