The terrorist attack by an American citizen turned ISIS ambassador in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, which killed 14 and left 35 seriously injured, was about as predictable as an unfulfilled New Year’s resolution. Problem is: New Year’s resolutions usually involve a nation without the self-discipline to lose weight. What happened in New Orleans […]
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A recent study led by the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Food and Resource Economics of high school and university students in seven European countries found that roughly half are worried about the use of plagiarism detection software in education. Researchers found these concerns can lead to counterproductive behaviors and ineffective learning. Examples of such […]
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Over the eight nights of Hanukkah, author and activist Noa Tishby may have just set a record for most-viewed menorah lightings of all time. On each night — Dec. 25, 2024 through Jan. 1, 2025 — Tishby posted a new video of her lighting a menorah with a different celebrity friend. As of January 3, […]
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Wikipedia editors decided to rename the “2024 Nuseirat rescue operation” article to “Nuseirat rescue and massacre” after enough editors insisted that the only way the article title could be neutral is if “massacre” is included. The operation, which occurred in June, involved Israeli forces rescuing four hostages in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas-run Gaza Health […]
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Israel Tech Startups and Innovations: Weekly Roundup December 28 – January 3, 2025New Startups / VC FundingUS-Israel BIRD Energy Fund Announces $16 Million Investment in Clean Energy Projects, Including $7.5 Million in Government GrantAt an Executive Committee meeting held on December 9, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure […]
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Our deepest beliefs, like paranoia, might have surprising roots in our most basic senses. A new Yale study suggests this connection, finding that individuals with stronger tendencies toward paranoid thinking (the belief that others intend them harm) and teleological thinking (ascribing excessive meaning and purpose to events) struggled with a simple visual task. When asked […]
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The Ghost of Rachel in the Nile Bar and Grill Thoughts on Torah Portion Va-Yigash (retold, 2025) ©Rabbi Mordecai Finley A swirling eddy of pain, love, loss, regret, resentment, hope, reconciliation – core experiences of human beings – forms into the vortex of this week’s Torah portion, Vayigash. Joseph was the uneasy […]
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On Thursday, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Human Resources Division released the casualty data for the IDF for the years 2023-2024. Since the beginning of the Iron Swords War against Hamas in Gaza, 891 IDF soldiers from the regular (mediatory) service, reserve service, and permanent/career reserve combined, and 5,569 have been wounded. These figures include […]
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2024 has been a year of unprecedented antisemitism on both sides of the Atlantic, manifesting on elite campuses, the halls of international justice, diplomacy, civil society and across social media. The list could have extended to 100 or more. Beyond #1 which is Iran’s genocidal axis of evil, the 2024 list highlights the growing normalizing […]
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Since its inception, the religious dictatorship in Iran has never been entangled in such numerous and complex crises. Widening social divides, absolute poverty affecting two-thirds of the population, unprecedented inflation, systemic corruption, and the collapse of its international standing are all indicative of the regime’s deep internal and external erosion. According to statistics, 596 executions […]
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