Zelensky’s Plea
Tanks for our infantry.
And missiles that shoot drones, before they hit our homes.
The weapons you can loan; why not the Iron Dome?
We need jets right now… [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
Lawrence Baron
Lawrence (Laurie) Baron, now retired, served as the Nasatir Professor of Modern Jewish History at San Diego State University. He served from 1988 to 2006 as director of SDSU’s Lipinsky Institute for Judaic Studies. He was the founder in 1995 of the Western Jewish Studies Association.
He writes two satire columns for San Diego Jewish World: “Humoring the Headlines” under his byline, and “Hounding the Headlines,” under the byline of his dog Elona.
Books to his credit, available on Amazon, include:
Projecting the Holocaust into the Present: The Changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust Cinema
The Modern Jewish Experience in World Cinema
The eclectic anarchism of Erich Muhsam (Men & movements in the history & philosophy of anarchism)
His most recent articles are:
“Making Room for the Jews: The House I Live In (1945),” AJS Perspectives, Summer 2023, 86-88.
“The Revolt of Job: Salvaging the Lost World of Rural Hungarian Hasidim,” Journal of Jewish Identities, 16:1-2 (January/July 2023), 181-198.
“Persistent Parallels, Resistant Particularities: Holocaust Analogies and Avoidance in Armenian Genocide Centennial Cinema, in Armenian and Jewish Experience between Expulsion and Destruction, ed. Sarah M. Ross and Regina Randhofer (Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2021), 267-296.
“The Pioneering American Jewish Women Directors from Elaine May to Claudia Weill,” Jews and Gender (Studies in Jewish Civilization), ed. Leonard Greenspoon (W. Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2021), 217-243.
Satire: Still Covid After All These Years
By Laurie Baron (Melody: “Still Crazy After All These Years,” by Paul Simon. Listen to Baron’s recording here.) I got the latest booster several months ago. I wear a mask when I visit crowded rooms. I was hoping that by this time vaccines would ease my fears. Still Covid after all these years. Oh, still
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: The Blue Kevin
By Laurie Baron (Melody: My Blue Heaven) The GOP votes multiple times. ‘Cause the crazies reject blue Kevin. Turn to the right, the extreme MAGA right Will make him the blue, blue Kevin. He bargained away, whatever sway, the Speaker has had. When they vacate, and agitate, he’ll end up sad. Too bad! Just Matt
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: A House Misguided
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — On January 3 Kevin McCarthy hopes to become the next Speaker of the House. He needs 218 votes to get elected Speaker and Republicans hold 222 seats. The problem is that 5 radical right-wing Republicans have announced they are opposed to him. McCarthy is making all sorts of deals
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah Update
Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah,
Are things getting better?
Last year our party
Was a super spreader.
Celebrating this year
Covid is still here.
But we have the flu and RSV to fear. .. [Laurie Baron]
Satire: Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah Update Read More »
Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: Cut the Cards Donald
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Donald Trump publicized it as a “major announcement,” but should have called it a fundraising grift. Here’s what’s really behind his promotional video for Trump digital trading cards. First, he introduces himself as our favorite president, better than Lincoln or Washington. After all, he freed American bigots to openly
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: Who Needs a Constitution?
By Laurie Baron (Melody: Revolution) We must suspend the constitution Well, you know There’s no way I could have lost. It’s just a form of restitution Well, you know I’m gonna rule at any cost. But when I talk about our greatness You know only I can drain the swamp. Don’t you know it’s gonna
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: Deflating Democracy
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Most polls indicate that inflation is the most important issue to voters. Many voters say they will vote for Republican election deniers because they blame inflation on President Biden and the Democrats. I thought I’d take a closer look at the reasoning behind why high prices “Trump” the preservation
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: Harmless Herschel
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — Since I have been dumbfounded by the shift in the Georgia Senate race polls from Raphael Warnock to Herschel Walker, I decided to interview some Georgians who support Walker to find out what they like about him. Georgia Football Fan: He’s a great football player. If there’s an Antifa
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireHallowmas: Homogenizing the Holidays
By Laurie Baron SAN DIEGO — We increasingly are entering perpetual holiday mode from Halloween through New Year’s Day. Now it appears the holidays are becoming homogenized. As evidence of this phenomenon, look at the photo below of a decoration atop the chimney of a house in my neighborhood. It shows a skeletal Santa next
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: Feline Fabrications
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado recently claimed that teachers “are putting litter boxes in schools for students who identify as cats.” This new conspiracy theory espoused by other ultra-conservative Republicans is an extrapolation of their campaign against adjustments schools have made for transgender pupils. [Laurie Baron, Ph.D]
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatireSatire: Donald Trump’s Yom Kippur
By Laurie Baron Worried about all the legal problems his father-in-law is facing, Jared Kushner persuaded him to attend Yom Kippur services to atone for his sins. Donald agreed only on the condition that he didn’t have to fast and could call DoorDash to deliver him a Big Mac, fries, and diet Coke at lunch
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Lawrence Baron, Trivia, Humor & SatirePros and Cons of Ken Burns’ Holocaust Documentary
Many readers of San Diego Jewish World know Baron via his political satire columns, but I asked my colleague to put his hat back on as a Holocaust scholar to assess how well Burns’ documentary had covered the subject.[Donald H. Harrison]
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California, Donald H. Harrison, Holocaust, Jewish History, Lawrence Baron, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USAMar-a-Lago
By Laurie Baron (Melody: Oklahoma) Mar-a-Lago, where the lackies come to kiss Trump’s ring Where secrets are stored since he likes to hoard Believing that he owns everything. Mar-a-Lago, where agents confiscated files. And he felt maligned since in his mind They’re declassified, no grounds for a trial. We know they belong to the land,