By Laurie Baron
SAN DIEGO―Archeologists have discovered a network of prehistoric limestone dwellings under Miami Beach. While some of them speculate that the 2,000 year old structures were inhabited by the Tequesta Indians; others believe that they were originally built by one of the lost tribes of Israel because an inscription found in one of the dining areas has been deciphered as an advertisement for early bird dinner specials.
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Commentators on Fox News charge that the advertisements on the Super Bowl subliminally conveyed a progressive agenda. For example, the Coca Cola tacitly improved of immigration reform by having people of various ethnicities sing “America the Beautiful” in seven different languages. Christopher Columbus who spoke Italian, his sailors who spoke Spanish, the Puritans who spoke English, the Dutch who founded New Amsterdam, the Ladino-speaking Sephardim who migrated there from Brazil, the French who claimed Louisiana, the Germans who settled in colonial Pennsylvania, the Native Americans who communicated in their tribal languages, and the slaves who spoke various African tongues, would have been appalled!
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The one trillion dollar Farm Bill finally passed the Senate with bipartisan support. It grants enormous subsidies to American agribusinesses and cuts food stamps for approximately 1.7 million poor people. Now the United States is assured of having enough of a grain surplus to make ethanol enabling Americans to power their cars but not to nourish their bodies.
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Breaking from the staid image of his Vatican predecessors, Pope Francis graced the cover of Rolling Stone to promote his new singing group Peter’s Rock and the Fallibles.
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Russia tapped the phones of two American diplomats and posted their conversations on the Internet. When asked how such a thing could happen, Putin’s press secretary replied, “Now that Edward Snowden is running our intelligence operations, anything is possible.”
Baron is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com