Louis Rose Society Newsletter No. 16
April 14, 2007

Louis Rose Society
for the preservation of Jewish history

Newsletter No. 16

San Diego, Saturday, April 14, 2007


Ready Reference Jewish Community Calendar San Diego Jewish Directory	Local and Regional UCSD's International Festival Holocaust lesson at a traffic light *Jews in the News	Advertisements Gert Thaler Tribute Dinner Renny's Story (2 for 1 coupon)
UCSD celebrates international cultures with a virtual journey around the world By Sandi Masori SAN DIEGO—UCSD's Thurgood Marshall College staged its 29th Annual ultural celebration today bringing together an international assemblage of music, dancing, crafts, food, llama rides, face painting, cotton candy, and booths where you could add your head to a painting of an international costume. Along with my Israeli-born husband Shahar, I was there to provide some balloons for the children. But my father, who is the editor of this website and whose slogan is "There is a Jewish Story Everywhere" instructed us to bring him home some Jewish-angled information. That turned out to be an easy assignment. Among those who found our Balloon Utopia set up were Ari and Ziv Weizman, two young Israelis who were kind enough to model for us. During a short break, I found a clever booth run by students. You could tell Stacy your name in English, and after writing it, she would pass it on to Lana, who wrote it in Hebrew. Next it would go to Andrew who wrote in Korean, then to Deepti who wrote in Hindi, and on down the line. My 5-year-old son's name is Shor, and we were able to collect transliterations of his name in those languages plus Thai, Chinese, and Japanese. Pretty neat! These are the kinds of events that are fun for everyone who attends, while serving the important purpose of building international understanding among peoples. Shahar and I were delighted to have been included. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .Advertisement:.J ___________________ ________________________________________________________________ The Jewish Citizen by Donald H. Harrison __________________________________________________ Holocaust lesson at a traffic light I am a fan of personalized license plates, bumper stickers, appliqué emblems and other automobile decorations by which people communicate with unknown drivers and passengers behind them at a traffic light or on a crowded freeway. I appreciate the people ahead of me for their thoughtfulness in entertaining me. Recently, I saw one of those variants in the appliqué debate between evolution and Christianity. I'm sure you know what I mean. On the Christian side of the debate, there is the outline of a fish with a little cross for its eye. Another version contains the legend IXOYE, which I'm told is a Greek abbreviation for "Jesus Christ, God's son, Savior." On the other side of the debate are other fish, but instead of Christian symbols, they bear the name "Darwin." Ever since the 19th century when Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of Species. in which he outlined evolution as an alternative to the creation narrative found in Genesis, his theory has been quite controversial. Many people, including many Jews, believe the Bible is God's divine word and therefore must be error-free. If so, they conclude, then evolution must be wrong. People like me who think of the Bible as a sacred but metaphorical tradition written by humans have no difficulty accepting the logic of evolution. Nor are we particularly troubled by the many inconsistencies between this theory and the Biblical narrative. What if God didn't actually create fish and winged creatures on the first Thursday and land animals and humans on the first Friday? Are the moral obligations that human beings bear toward each other in any way lessened? Not in my opinion. Even if it could be proven that God did not exist, as some people so firmly believe, humans, in my view, still would bear responsibility for each other. One of those responsibilities, I believe, is to refrain from gratuitously insulting someone else's belief system. That is why I do not like seeing the Darwin fish eating the Christian fish. Why is it necessary to hurt someone's feelings as he or she pulls up behind you at a traffic light? To a lesser degree, I get the same feeling when I see a fish emblem with the word "gefilte" written inside of it. To me, it's like putting a cross inside the emblem of a Magen David. It invades the integrity of another person's belief system. On that recent drive, I saw yet another Darwin fish consuming a Christian fish on the rear of a car. What caused me to ponder was the license plate on the same car: it bore the symbol for a Disabled Person. The concept of a Disabled Person/ Darwinist was for me a matter of what educators like to call "cognitive dissonance." During the late 19th century, America had its share of Social Darwinists who took Darwin's biological observations from the Galapagos Islands and applied to them the concept of "survival of the fittest" coined by the British economist Herbert Spencer. Only those who thrive should survive, some people believed. Such Social Darwinism led to some people in the United States advocating eugenics—that is, "purifying" the human race by eliminating people they considered to be biologically inferior beings. In the 20th century, the concept of eugenics found its most enthusiastic supporters among the German Nazis, who figured anyone who wasn't a member of the "Aryan" race should be made into a slave laborer or gassed. It wasn't only us Jews whom Adolf Hitler and his followers wanted to eliminate; they also wanted to murder people who were born or who had become mentally or physically disabled. Such were my thoughts as I sat behind the car with the ironic combination of appliqué and license plate. Although the records of all religious groups were spotty when it came to intervening in behalf of Jews and other target peoples, it also occurred to me that those who took the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Murder" literally were more likely than others to protest or attempt to intervene against such genocide. As the car in front of me changed lanes and made a right-hand turn, I took one last sidelong look at the license plate and appliqué. It occurred to me that the very same people whose religious beliefs that driver scorns in another time might have been his only protectors. As we commemorate the Shoah, let us recall that intolerance for other people's beliefs is as nasty a practice as religious bigotry and racial prejudice. ___________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jews in the News ----------------------------------------------------------------- News spotters: Dan Brin in Los Angeles, Donald H. Harrison in San Diego, Marsha Sutton in North San Diego County. To see a source story click on the link within the respective paragraph. _______________________________________________________________________ *Paul Cohen, director of research for Pacific American Securities and a Qualcomm investor, believes a new suit by Broadcom against the wireless technology leader was spurred by a federal court ruling in San Diego. Kathryn Balint reports in The San Diego Union-Tribune. *U.S. Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego) says he is mulling legislation to prevent defense contractor Blackwater from building a training center near Potrero. Meanwhile, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), ranking minority member of the House Armed Services Committee, says he favors construction of the facility. Anne Krueger reports in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. Gail Goldberg, former ranking official in San Diego's planning department, has been making an impact as Los Angeles' chief planner. Steve Hymon reports in the Los Angeles Times.* Israeli soldiers in Nablus are being accused of using two Palestinian youths as human shields, according to an Associated Press story carried in The San Diego Union-Tribune.* Here is a link to the Yediot Ahronot video of the incident. *Mel Katz, chairman of the City of San Diego Library Commission, says a proposed 3 percent reduction in library spending, will have some impact on the system, but says overall he is "pleased" Mayor Jerry Sanders' cuts did not go deeper. Matthew T. Hall and Jennifer Vigil have an overview story on the budget cuts in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. *Dan Levin, formerly a senior Justice Department official, was mentioned by D. Kyle Sampson, then chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in a letter to White House Legal Counsel Harriet Miers even before the firing of Kevin Ryan as U.S. Attorney in San Francisco. Richard A. Serrano has the story in the Los Angeles Times. KABC Talk Show Host Mark Levin* of Los Angeles has been blasting the Rev. Al Sharpton for his role in CBS's firing of syndicated talk show host Don Imus. Martin Miller and John Horn shared the story in the Los Angeles Times. U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey T. Miller's ruling in a bribery case involving former Councilmembers Michael Zucchet and Ralph Inzunza is being challenged by Zucchet's lawyers. They say the judge made a mistake in his summary of Zucchet's past statements. Kelly Thornton reports in The San Diego Union-Tribune.* * In a controversial decision, federal prosecutors say they intend to continue prosecuting Ed Rosenthal, the San Francisco area's self-proclaimed guru of ganja, notwithstanding an appeals court decision. Paul Elias of the Associated Press has the story in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. *Mel Shapiro expresses alarm about the lack of oversight with which Centre City Development Corporation is able to pass out consulting projects for up to $25,000. Don Bauder reports the story in the San Diego Weekly Reader. * Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (R-Orange), chairman of the Assembly's Select Committee on Prison Construction and Operation, says reports are wrong that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was attempting to hide news of the construction of a new chamber where the death penalty can be administered by lethal injection. The story by Aaron C. Davis of the Associated Press is in The San Diego Union-Tribune. Sports Agent Leigh Steinberg, after whom the Tom Cruse movie Jerry Maguire* was modeled, was arrested for drunken driving after hitting three parked cars in Newport Beach. Garrett Therolf has the story in the Los Angeles Times.


Ready Reference Jewish Community Calendar San Diego Jewish Directory	Local and Regional UCSD's International Festival Holocaust lesson at a traffic light *Jews in the News	Advertisements Gert Thaler Tribute Dinner Renny's Story (2 for 1 coupon)
UCSD celebrates international cultures with a virtual journey around the world By Sandi Masori SAN DIEGO—UCSD's Thurgood Marshall College staged its 29th Annual ultural celebration today bringing together an international assemblage of music, dancing, crafts, food, llama rides, face painting, cotton candy, and booths where you could add your head to a painting of an international costume. Along with my Israeli-born husband Shahar, I was there to provide some balloons for the children. But my father, who is the editor of this website and whose slogan is "There is a Jewish Story Everywhere" instructed us to bring him home some Jewish-angled information. That turned out to be an easy assignment. Among those who found our Balloon Utopia set up were Ari and Ziv Weizman, two young Israelis who were kind enough to model for us. During a short break, I found a clever booth run by students. You could tell Stacy your name in English, and after writing it, she would pass it on to Lana, who wrote it in Hebrew. Next it would go to Andrew who wrote in Korean, then to Deepti who wrote in Hindi, and on down the line. My 5-year-old son's name is Shor, and we were able to collect transliterations of his name in those languages plus Thai, Chinese, and Japanese. Pretty neat! These are the kinds of events that are fun for everyone who attends, while serving the important purpose of building international understanding among peoples. Shahar and I were delighted to have been included. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .Advertisement:.J ___________________ ________________________________________________________________ The Jewish Citizen by Donald H. Harrison __________________________________________________ Holocaust lesson at a traffic light I am a fan of personalized license plates, bumper stickers, appliqué emblems and other automobile decorations by which people communicate with unknown drivers and passengers behind them at a traffic light or on a crowded freeway. I appreciate the people ahead of me for their thoughtfulness in entertaining me. Recently, I saw one of those variants in the appliqué debate between evolution and Christianity. I'm sure you know what I mean. On the Christian side of the debate, there is the outline of a fish with a little cross for its eye. Another version contains the legend IXOYE, which I'm told is a Greek abbreviation for "Jesus Christ, God's son, Savior." On the other side of the debate are other fish, but instead of Christian symbols, they bear the name "Darwin." Ever since the 19th century when Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of Species. in which he outlined evolution as an alternative to the creation narrative found in Genesis, his theory has been quite controversial. Many people, including many Jews, believe the Bible is God's divine word and therefore must be error-free. If so, they conclude, then evolution must be wrong. People like me who think of the Bible as a sacred but metaphorical tradition written by humans have no difficulty accepting the logic of evolution. Nor are we particularly troubled by the many inconsistencies between this theory and the Biblical narrative. What if God didn't actually create fish and winged creatures on the first Thursday and land animals and humans on the first Friday? Are the moral obligations that human beings bear toward each other in any way lessened? Not in my opinion. Even if it could be proven that God did not exist, as some people so firmly believe, humans, in my view, still would bear responsibility for each other. One of those responsibilities, I believe, is to refrain from gratuitously insulting someone else's belief system. That is why I do not like seeing the Darwin fish eating the Christian fish. Why is it necessary to hurt someone's feelings as he or she pulls up behind you at a traffic light? To a lesser degree, I get the same feeling when I see a fish emblem with the word "gefilte" written inside of it. To me, it's like putting a cross inside the emblem of a Magen David. It invades the integrity of another person's belief system. On that recent drive, I saw yet another Darwin fish consuming a Christian fish on the rear of a car. What caused me to ponder was the license plate on the same car: it bore the symbol for a Disabled Person. The concept of a Disabled Person/ Darwinist was for me a matter of what educators like to call "cognitive dissonance." During the late 19th century, America had its share of Social Darwinists who took Darwin's biological observations from the Galapagos Islands and applied to them the concept of "survival of the fittest" coined by the British economist Herbert Spencer. Only those who thrive should survive, some people believed. Such Social Darwinism led to some people in the United States advocating eugenics—that is, "purifying" the human race by eliminating people they considered to be biologically inferior beings. In the 20th century, the concept of eugenics found its most enthusiastic supporters among the German Nazis, who figured anyone who wasn't a member of the "Aryan" race should be made into a slave laborer or gassed. It wasn't only us Jews whom Adolf Hitler and his followers wanted to eliminate; they also wanted to murder people who were born or who had become mentally or physically disabled. Such were my thoughts as I sat behind the car with the ironic combination of appliqué and license plate. Although the records of all religious groups were spotty when it came to intervening in behalf of Jews and other target peoples, it also occurred to me that those who took the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Murder" literally were more likely than others to protest or attempt to intervene against such genocide. As the car in front of me changed lanes and made a right-hand turn, I took one last sidelong look at the license plate and appliqué. It occurred to me that the very same people whose religious beliefs that driver scorns in another time might have been his only protectors. As we commemorate the Shoah, let us recall that intolerance for other people's beliefs is as nasty a practice as religious bigotry and racial prejudice. ___________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jews in the News ----------------------------------------------------------------- News spotters: Dan Brin in Los Angeles, Donald H. Harrison in San Diego, Marsha Sutton in North San Diego County. To see a source story click on the link within the respective paragraph. _______________________________________________________________________ *Paul Cohen, director of research for Pacific American Securities and a Qualcomm investor, believes a new suit by Broadcom against the wireless technology leader was spurred by a federal court ruling in San Diego. Kathryn Balint reports in The San Diego Union-Tribune. *U.S. Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego) says he is mulling legislation to prevent defense contractor Blackwater from building a training center near Potrero. Meanwhile, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), ranking minority member of the House Armed Services Committee, says he favors construction of the facility. Anne Krueger reports in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. Gail Goldberg, former ranking official in San Diego's planning department, has been making an impact as Los Angeles' chief planner. Steve Hymon reports in the Los Angeles Times.* Israeli soldiers in Nablus are being accused of using two Palestinian youths as human shields, according to an Associated Press story carried in The San Diego Union-Tribune.* Here is a link to the Yediot Ahronot video of the incident. *Mel Katz, chairman of the City of San Diego Library Commission, says a proposed 3 percent reduction in library spending, will have some impact on the system, but says overall he is "pleased" Mayor Jerry Sanders' cuts did not go deeper. Matthew T. Hall and Jennifer Vigil have an overview story on the budget cuts in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. *Dan Levin, formerly a senior Justice Department official, was mentioned by D. Kyle Sampson, then chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in a letter to White House Legal Counsel Harriet Miers even before the firing of Kevin Ryan as U.S. Attorney in San Francisco. Richard A. Serrano has the story in the Los Angeles Times. KABC Talk Show Host Mark Levin* of Los Angeles has been blasting the Rev. Al Sharpton for his role in CBS's firing of syndicated talk show host Don Imus. Martin Miller and John Horn shared the story in the Los Angeles Times. U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey T. Miller's ruling in a bribery case involving former Councilmembers Michael Zucchet and Ralph Inzunza is being challenged by Zucchet's lawyers. They say the judge made a mistake in his summary of Zucchet's past statements. Kelly Thornton reports in The San Diego Union-Tribune.* * In a controversial decision, federal prosecutors say they intend to continue prosecuting Ed Rosenthal, the San Francisco area's self-proclaimed guru of ganja, notwithstanding an appeals court decision. Paul Elias of the Associated Press has the story in today's San Diego Union-Tribune. *Mel Shapiro expresses alarm about the lack of oversight with which Centre City Development Corporation is able to pass out consulting projects for up to $25,000. Don Bauder reports the story in the San Diego Weekly Reader. * Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (R-Orange), chairman of the Assembly's Select Committee on Prison Construction and Operation, says reports are wrong that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was attempting to hide news of the construction of a new chamber where the death penalty can be administered by lethal injection. The story by Aaron C. Davis of the Associated Press is in The San Diego Union-Tribune. Sports Agent Leigh Steinberg, after whom the Tom Cruse movie Jerry Maguire* was modeled, was arrested for drunken driving after hitting three parked cars in Newport Beach. Garrett Therolf has the story in the Los Angeles Times.