| Dear Friends and Family,
The Nine
SCOTUS started another session this week with its traditional start date (and 1981 movie title) of The First Monday In October. How do you think the Supreme Court should vote on some of these tough topics on their current docket: Do you think the store Hobby Lobby (yes, same one that doesn’t sell Jewish decorations) should be allowed to deny Contraceptive Care to its employees based on their Christian beliefs? Do you think the race of African American students should be considered for University (of Michigan) acceptance? Do you think abortion protestors should be able to come closer than 35 feet from clinic patients?
3 women
6 men
1 African American
1 (first) Latina
3 Jews
6 Roman Catholics
Level the Field
But the case that is most concerning involves political campaign contributions and efforts to eliminate the individual limit. Over 6 Billion dollars was spent in 2012 on political campaign races. Most of that money was raised from the top 1% of our population and corporations, but some of it came from many of your pockets. Aside from Super Pacs and Citizens United which gave corporations (as individuals) nearly free rein in contribution opportunities, there is still a limit of $2,600 by one person to one candidate per one cycle. Removal of this limit is now in front of SCOTUS. We need a complete overhaul of this system. Buying influence, slinging mud via billions of dollars of Media Ads is NOT the way to elect our legislators. There should be a level playing field with Town Halls, Debates and Door Knocking, but it doesn’t look like this situation will improve anytime soon and if the SC rules in it’s conservative manner, this last limit will also be removed. Speaking of money…
Say Hello to our New 100 Dollar Bill.
Ben Franklin
They have been working on this new bill since 2003 and each one costs 12.5 cents to print. There are many new features to prevent counterfeiters. The 100 dollar bill is our largest denomination since we stopped producing 500, 1,000 and 10,000 dollar bills back in 1969. Did anyone really use a 10,000 bill? 100 dollar bills last around 15 years in circulation compared to 6 years for the 1 dollar bill.
First Female
Now for more money talk, the economic Glass Ceiling was shattered this week with the nomination of Janet Yellen as our (first female) Federal Reserve Chair. Ms. Yellen (proudly from our national Jewish Community) is brilliant and will serve our country well. Back in 2007, she astutely predicted/warned about the 08 Recession and hopefully she can help keep our economy strong during her rein.
Brave Soul
Another outstanding female role model is 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani student who was shot by the (evil-minded) Taliban just because she was defending educational accessibility for girls in her community and county. She is well deserving of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize and hopefully will win it. (The winner will be announced Friday, after I send this message). Here is Jon Steward’s interview with Malala. He was so genuinely enamored by her, he could barely contain his emotions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f506lCk6Tos
Positive PR
Our global Jewish population is 0.2% yet Jews represent 22% of all Nobel Laureates including several more this year and many with Israeli roots. Our global and national contributions should be celebrated yet Anti-Semitism continue to persist. We could truly benefit from a Global PR campaign to educate the masses of our positive impact on the world.
VIP
This week’s Guest Shabbat Shalom Greeter is from a very prominent national family who’s contributions have made a tremendous impact on our society. I met him at this week’s event sponsored by the Alzheimer Association and Jewish Senior Life. He was gracious, friendly and very handsome. The handsome part is a clue to his family. Enjoy and thanks, Nancy Heinrich and Carol Rosenberg for your efforts with his appearance: http://youtu.be/l8EtuC9EN9g
Punishment
Kwame Kilpatrick will serve 28 years in Federal Prison for the millions of dollars of damage and corruption he inflicted on our City of Detroit. May his punishment put an end to this despicable era as our city moves forward in a positive direction.
RIP
An estimated 700,000 people attended the (largest) funeral in Israel’s history for ultra-orthodox Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the revered and controversial leader of the Sephardic community.
Wishing you and your loved ones a Sweet and Peaceful Shabbat Shalom,
Lisa
Bonus video: I LOVE NYC and wished I was there yesterday asSir Paul popped into Times Square for a Pop-Up impromptu concert on his flat bed truck. He also performed a surprise 90 minute concert to a Performing Arts High School in Queens. I know it’s great PR but it’s also very cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h1aC45EGuQ |
Shabbat Shalom - שבת שלום 