US imposes new Iran sanctions ahead of Biden presidency

President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a major Iranian foundation and the country’s intelligence minister, further stepping up pressure before Joe Biden is sworn in.The Treasury Department said it was freezing any US interests of the Foundation of the Oppressed, officially a charitable organization for the poor that has sweeping interests across […]

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Middle East, USA

Pa. Supreme Court intervenes in Trump effort to disqualify mail ballots filed incorrectly by legal voters

PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court moved Wednesday to intervene in an ongoing court fight over challenges filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign to more than 8,300 mail bail ballots in Philadelphia.At the urging of city elections officials, the court’s Democratic majority voted to exercise “King’s Bench” authority over the case, which permits the justices

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USA

San Diego Dems Endorse Montgomery Steppe for City Council President

By a 4-1 margin, members of the San Diego Democratic Central Committee endorsed City Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe to serve as the next president of the San Diego City Council, rejecting the candidacy of  her fellow Democrat, Dr. Jennifer Campbell.  Montgomery Steppe represents the 4th Council District, and Campbell represents the 2nd District.

The vote Tuesday night came after Montgomery Steppe was endorsed by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, and outgoing Council President Georgette Gomez, The Voice of San Diego reported. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, San Diego County, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

Jesse Gabriel new chair of Legislative Jewish Caucus

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus announced today that Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) has been elected by members of the caucus to serve as Chair for the 2021-2022 legislative session. Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has been elected Vice Chair. In recent years, the Jewish Caucus has grown into an influential voice in the State Legislature, and will expand to at least 17 legislators following the election of Senators-Elect Josh Newman (D-Diamond Bar) and Josh Becker (D-San Mateo). [California Legislative Jewish Caucus]

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USA

GOP Has Become a Danger to U.S. Democracy

While I cheer Biden’s victory in the presidential election, I lament the state of the union Trump is leaving behind. Sadly, Biden’s victory has not been a repudiation of Trump, as he received more votes than any Republican candidate before him, which shocked millions of Americans. Why? Trump is a creature of our own making. He may be seen as an aberration, but he is not. Unless we pay more attention to the tens of millions who voted for him, among many other despairing Americans, and address their grievances and frustration, a hypocrite just like Trump will rise and feed on the public discontent—another rebel in Trump’s image who appeals to the masses sickened by being ignored, another demagogue who personifies Trump and thrives on hatred, division, and contempt. [Alon Ben-Meir, Ph.D]

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Alon Ben-Meir, USA

‘The Occupation Made Me Beat My Wife’

That medieval blood libel, largely abandoned in the contemporary West, does, however, still appear as part of Arab world’s vilification of Jews—now transmogrified into a slander against Israel, the Jew of nations. But in the regular chorus of defamation against Israel by a world infected with Palestinianism, a new, more odious trend has begun to show itself: the blood libel has been revivified; however, to position Israel (and by extension Jews) as demonic agents in the community of nations, the primitive fantasies of the blood libel are now masked with a veneer of academic scholarship and published as politicized scientific study. [Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D]

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

Biden speaks to Trump allies Netanyahu, Modi

US President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday held his first talks since his victory with the prime ministers of Israel and India, allies of Donald Trump, who has not conceded defeat.Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had a notoriously rocky relationship with the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, that he was determined “to ensure

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International, Middle East, USA

Trump fires US election security official who rejected fraud claims

Washington (AFP) – Donald Trump on Tuesday fired the government’s top election security official, who had rejected the president’s unsubstantiated claims of “massive” fraud in the vote he lost to Joe Biden. Trump announced on Twitter the termination “effective immediately” of Chris Krebs, who leads the agency that jointly declared “the November 3rd election was the

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USA

Victory for the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant

With sewage increasingly able to be recycled into potable water that can be integrated with the city’s water supply, less treated water will need to undergo secondary treatment before it is returned via the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant (PLWTP) to the Pacific Ocean, according to U.S. Reps. Scott Peters and Susan Davis, both San Diego Democrats. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Obituaries & memorials, San Diego County, The World We Share, USA

With Senate on the line, Georgia leaders tell out-of-state supporters to stay home

ATLANTA — Democrats and Republicans feuding over the integrity of the state’s vote have found common cause this week over another prickly issue: uniting to urge out-of-state residents not to move into Georgia for the sole purpose of voting in the Jan. 5 runoffs.With party control of the U.S. Senate hanging in the balance, some

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USA

Palestinians say restoring cooperation with Israel

The Palestinian Authority of president Mahmoud Abbas will restore coordination with Israel after severing it in May, a PA minister said Tuesday evening.”In the light of Mahmud Abbas’s international contacts… and given the written and verbal commitments we have received from the Israelis, we will resume relations where they were before May 19, 2020″, Hussein

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Middle East, USA