By Oliver B. Pollak RICHMOND, California — I owned a Kodak Brownie, 16 mm Minox, Petri, Minolta, film in a box, Cannon and a Polaroid. Karen had an Olympus and a Fuji. Between us we have owned three Cannons. Fabled German Leica, Hasselblad and Rolleiflex were beyond financial reach and skill set. I’ve known several […]
Downsizing generations of family photos Read More »
Lifestyles, Oliver Pollak
By Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — When hosting a radio show 32 years ago, Mike Pence dubbed himself “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.” Maybe he is now “Donald Trump on decaf.” Our vice president, who debates Sen. Kamala Harris Wednesday night, could become an unlikely savior sometime between now and Jan. 20. After being diagnosed
What if Trump proves too sick to carry on? Read More »
Bruce Ticker, USA
By Arkady Mamaysky TARRYTOWN, New York — Starting from very ancient times, world history presents many examples of dictators who desired world domination, or at least domination of as big a part of the world as possible. The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Roman empires are some ancient examples of this. More recent examples are the Spanish,
Two Unspoken Causes of Anti-Semitism Read More »
Arkady Mamaysky, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USA
By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — The Museum of Modern Art is currently exhibiting Material Ecology, a tantalizing sample of the truly astounding and path-breaking work of Neri Oxman and her team, Mediated Matter group, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Oxman is an American-Israeli architect and designer – yet these designations conspicuously fail to
Material Ecology: Neri Oxman at MMA Read More »
Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USA
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – I remember many years ago when I was a student at UCLA (1962-66), we occasionally would debate which is a better metaphor for the United States: Is our country a “melting pot” or a “chef’s salad?” The difference is that the former metaphor envisions melting all the individual
Campa-Najjar for Congress; Nader for Judge Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County, USA
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A major source of the coronavirus spreading is the ultra-Orthodox or Haredi communities. We don’t know exactly the extent of infections, due perhaps to the reluctance of politicians, health personnel, and the media to publicize it. We do know that it is extensive, a third or more of the total,
The Haredim and coronavirus Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish Religion, Middle East
By Sheryl Rowling and Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — The news of the tax fraud scheme perpetrated by Chabad of Poway’s Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein has shocked the country. Ancillary questions beyond the income tax fraud have arisen related to: Why was Goldstein permitted to meet with the U.S. president even though the FBI was
Does disgraced rabbi owe $2m in property taxes? Read More »
Business & Finance, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Sheryl Rowling
By Ira Spector SAN DIEGO — In 1972, at age thirty-nine, I was filled with feelings of youth and immortality. This was changed forever by a 23-year-old nymph who was in a discussion group I was involved in. She defined me, for the first time within earshot, as an “older man,” thus creating an unclimbable
The genius architect of Allentown, PA Read More »
Lifestyles, USA
By Michael Laitman, Ph.D PETACH TIKVAH, Israel — For months, I have been watching with growing trepidation the cavalier nonchalance of Israelis toward Covid-19. Now, I am afraid, it’s too late to undo the damage. In the past week, the average death toll was 31 people, and the rate is quickly rising since many hospitals
Per capita, Israel is a major COVID victim Read More »
Lifestyles, Middle East
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — I take it as a maxim that no political party should take Jewish voters for granted, nor should any political party write Jewish voters off. Overwhelmingly, Jewish voters have preferred Democratic candidates because they more closely align with Judaism’s teaching of tikkun olam — repair of the world — than many
Two Republicans for the S.D. City Council Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, San Diego County
Other items in this column include: Political bytes By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Hillel Newman, the South African-born, Israeli consul general in Los Angeles, has practiced highly confidential private diplomacy as the former Israeli ambassador to the Muslim countries of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Now, notwithstanding coronavirus restrictions, he is engaged in highly public
Israel’s Consul-General aids in Covid fight Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Middle East, San Diego County, USABy Oliver B. Pollak. Ph.D RICHMOND, California — The 1918-1919 “flu” epidemic took between 2,800 and 7,500 Nebraska lives, 974 of them in Omaha. On July 4, 1919, the weekly Omaha Jewish Bulletin published “Breaking Lives and Homes for Profit.” It read: Fanny Skulke came with her husband to the United States from Lomas, “a
Following up a 101-year-old tragedy Read More »
Jewish History, Oliver Pollak, USABy Ira Spector SAN DIEGO — I planned a vacation in Costa Rica. As usual I searched every airline, travel agency, garage sale and the entire catalogue of the Library of Congress for the cheapest airfare. My efforts were rewarded with a very inexpensive airline to transport us to this Central American paradise. It’s a
Fiction: A Too Thrifty Costa Rica Trip Read More »
International, Jewish Fiction, Travel and Food
By Laurie Baron We don’t know how he caught it? Was it flying through the air? Now he’s got the covid, it didn’t just disappear. He’s got the covid ‘cause he dissed it. Covid not wearing a mask. Covid, from big rallies. Safety is not much to ask. Fauci gave us warnings How
Satire: Covid (to the tune of ‘Fever’) Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & Satire