San Diego’s Poet Laureate to Conduct LFJCC Workshop

Thanks to the friendship between Jewish Poets—Jewish Voices Committee member, Michael Mark and San Diego’s Poet Laureate, Ron Salisbury — Salisbury has agreed to lead a workshop for ten poets on January 31, under the auspices of the committee, a program of the Astor Judaica Library of the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center.
The first ten poets to sign up will fill the ten slots. There will be a nominal charge of $15  per participant. [Eileen Wingard]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Eileen Wingard, San Diego County

Jen Campbell solidifies her City Council control

City Council President Dr. Jennifer Campbell solidified her control over City Council business by appointing herself and the four councilmembers who supported her for president against Councilwoman Monica Montgomery Steppe to key committee positions. The five councilmembers who voted for her now are the exact same membership of the Rules Committee, which according to the City of San Diego’s website, has responsibility for the “charter, permanent rules of council, open government, elections and ballot measures, annexations, boards and commissions, council initiated matters, communications, customer service and public outreach.” Besides Campbell, who will chair the committee, other members include Raul Campillo, Stephen Whitburn, Marni von Wilpert, and Chris Cate. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Trivia, Humor & Satire, USA

Michigan lawmakers issue subpoenas to Detroit, Livonia clerks

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan House and Senate oversight committees voted Tuesday to issue subpoenas to clerks in Livonia and Detroit as Republican lawmakers bolstered their push to investigate the Nov. 3 election. Under the subpoenas, Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey and Livonia City Clerk Susan Nash will have to produce a trove of documents

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USA

Biden selects former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to be his energy secretary

DETROIT — President-elect Joe Biden has selected former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to be his energy secretary. The Washington-based news website Politico was among the first to report the story, which then appeared to be confirmed in a news release from U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who is a close friend of both

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USA

How Morocco-Israel normalisation could push Algeria closer to Russia

US President Donald Trump continues to lead transactionally in his final weeks in office. Perhaps nothing illustrated this point more than Trump’s announcement that Morocco would become the fourth Arab state in 2020 to formalise diplomatic relations with Israel as part of a deal in which the US would recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

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International, Middle East, USA

Column slamming Jill Biden’s ‘Dr’ title sparks anger in US

Washington (AFP) – A Wall Street Journal opinion piece criticizing incoming first lady Jill Biden’s use of the title “Dr” because she holds a doctorate in education sciences, rather than a medical degree, has caused widespread outrage in the US, including from predecessor Michelle Obama. The Journal article, published Saturday, has been panned for its

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Travel and Food

Israel picks new head of Mossad spy agency

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday picked the next director of the Mossad spy agency, identified only as “D”, to replace Yossi Cohen, a high-profile player in recent normalisation deals with Arab states. Netanyahu “decided to appoint Deputy Mossad Director ‘D’ as the next Mossad Director. ‘D’ is an accomplished Mossad veteran,” a statement

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Middle East

Jared Kushner to lead US delegation to Israel and Morocco

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor, will visit Israel and Morocco next week to discuss the normalisation of ties between the two countries, a US official told AFP on Tuesday. The American delegation, headed by Kushner, will take the first direct commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Rabat, the source said. Kushner

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Middle East, USA

Biden picks ex-2020 rival Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary

President-elect Joe Biden has set his mind on nominating Pete Buttigieg to serve as his transportation secretary, three sources told the New York Daily News on Tuesday, making him the first 2020 rival to get a Cabinet nod from the soon-to-be president. The former South Bend, Indian., mayor, who dropped out of the 2020 Democratic

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USA

Mitch McConnell Acknowledges Biden’s Victory As President-Elect For The First Time

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Joe Biden‘s win on Tuesday morning for the first time, referring to him as the President-elect six weeks after Election Day. “The electoral college has spoken,” McConnell said. “Today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.” McConnell also noted Vice President-elect Kamala Harris for the first time, stating “all

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USA

Biden presses Georgia Democrats to ensure runoffs aren’t ‘even close’

ATLANTA — President-elect Joe Biden urged Georgia Democrats to “turn out the vote so it’s not even close” on Tuesday to boost Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock ahead of Jan. 5 runoffs that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. “I know what we can do. I know what this country is

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USA

Jewish History in China Stretches Back More Than A Millennium

Some letters written in Hebrew dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) were found in the province of Shinjiang on the ancient Silk Road. This was the route that Jewish merchants from the Middle East traveled to China. According to records, a large group of Jewish people traveled on Persian merchant ships and arrived in China in the year 998 (Northern Song Dynasty 960-1127). They then traveled through the city of Quanzhou and then Yangzhou and finally settled in the capital of Henan called Kaifeng.  In the city of Quanzhou (Fujian province), there are tombstones showing the Hebrew names supporting this record. In KaiFeng, they stayed in a district called Heshuen (Peace and Harmony) and the people at that time called the Jewish people “Blue Cap Hui Hui.”   [Li-Rong Cheng, Ph.D]

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International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, USA