The first half of my week was spent in The Big Apple.  While Hannan sat in JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) board meetings as they expressed appreciation to outgoing president, Penny Blumenstein, I explored the city in 60 degree temps. And when in New York, you can’t help but think about Old Blue Eyes and pay tribute to (what would have been) Francis Albert “Frank” Sinatra‘s 100th birthday on Dec. 12th (though he was born in Hoboken, NJ). Though he had a storied history, his Good (overwhelmingly) outweighed his Bad.  He was a staunch supporter of racial equality and spoke up clearly and angrily when exposed to racist or anti-semitic language.  He was a loyal and generous friend and his talents were legendary.  Take a listen, “Strangers in the Night”

On the other side of the ocean, one week later during that same year, another powerhouse performer was born. The compact dynamo of Edith Piaf arrived in Paris and she too would have celebrated her 100th birthday this week.  Here are the vocal talents of her musical soul:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzeLynj1GYM

The above commemorations are celebrated but 3 years ago this week we continue to mourn the loss of 20 children and 6 educators from Sandy Hook.  And what sensible gun regulations have materialized since this tragedy…None! Legislative prayers and tributes do nothing to ease our senseless epidemic of gun violence.  555 children (under the age of 12) have lost their lives from a bullet in the past 3 years.  And our biggest problem with easy access to firearms is Suicide.  64% of all gunshot deaths are suicide.  This alone should snap us into action, as we could easily cut down that statistic with sensible regulations.http://tinyurl.com/RestrictGunsRestrictSuicide

We must crush the NRA’s stranglehold on our legislators by voting in politicians who won’t bow to their pressure. For example, it’s absurd that we have (NRA supported) laws forbidding doctors from having a gun related conversation with their patients. There are several organizations and people (like Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, The Bradys and many others) trying to make an impact on this issue.  Here is info on the Sandy Hook Promise:

Another GOP Circus, I mean, Debate, took place this week in (not so ironic) Sin City.  CNN (who should change their name to TrumpNN) hosted the affair with the hot topics of National Security and Foreign Policy dominating the conversation. Attacking Obama and Hillary were next on their agenda while low ranking candidates tried to vie for attention.  The current polls show Trump still leading and surging in the mid 30 range. Following Trump’s lead is Cruz, Rubio andCarson (who is tumbling) with poll numbers in the teens. Next comes Bush, Christie, Kasich, Fiorina, Paul and Huckabeein the single digits and bringing up the rear is Graham, Patakiand Santorum (who is dead last).  My belly rumbles whenever I hear Carly speak and some of the extreme views of the others are rather comical (as long as they don’t have a chance at a White House address).  But the best “candidate” message was from Will Ferrell‘s retro impersonation of W on last weekend’s SNL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKXGA-AU50w

It seems our neighbors to the North, led by their new (young and handsome) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are receiving praise for taking the righteous and humane path regarding refugees: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/refugees-canada-arab-media-response-1.3368223  and here is (the brave and brilliant) Malala’s response to Trump’s hate speech about Muslims, which she feels will create more terrorism http://tinyurl.com/MalalaResponds

Compromise is the best tool for effective government and this week, our legislators were able to come to an agreement on aBudget Plan that will take us through the next 2 years.  The vote is Friday (after I’ve sent this email) but most likely it will pass. Thankfully, Jon Stewart‘s efforts on behalf of the 9/11 First Responders paid off as their health care will be permanently reauthorized. This is Paul Ryan‘s big assignment and its success will set the tone for Ryan’s reign. And while we are on a positive track and the economy continues to gain strength, Federal Reserve head honcho, Janet Yellen has increased the interest rate for the first time since it was dropped to Zero, 7 years ago.  The NYT’s created an interesting Rube Goldberg Machine to help explain this interconnected process.

On our local Michigan political scene, voting reform has taken a step backward with the passage to eliminate straight partyvoting while also eliminating the compromise on that Bill to include No Excuse absentee ballots. Making our voting process more complicated and harder to do always helps the GOP which is exactly who controls our Michigan Congress.

I must admit, I loved the 1977 Star Wars but lost interest with the sequels…till now.  Though I haven’t seen the new version, I heard kudos goes to JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan for creating these new films with the integrity of the original Lucas magic.  And of course, Jimmy Fallon also created magic with this wonderful musical tribute featuring the cast including “Leah and Han” better known as Carrie and Harrison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTLAx3VDX7g

(chewy’s also in it). May the Force be with you!

22 hands and 11 pianos from all over the world create harmony to help instill unity among nations.  Idan Reichal of Israel orchestrated the event and drum virtuoso, Meytal Cohen, makes a rogue appearance among the ivory keys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgBFa-7OBW8 And while on the subject of music, Mazel Tov to Itzhak Perlman, 2016 Genesis Prize (Jewish Nobel) winner for his contributions to Humanity and the State of Israel.  The Genesis Prize was established in 2014 with Michael Bloomberg receiving the first award and Michael Douglas as last year’s winner.

For some of you on this list who will be celebrating Christmas next week, I wish you a Sweet and Peaceful gathering with family and friends and a Merry Christmas. Hope you enjoy this creative movement to accompany the California Philharmonic’s Nutcracker classic (the full show is 9 minutes but if you don’t have time, check out the 3 minute mark):

And for friends and family who eat Chinese food on Christmas, enjoy this animated film from 2005 by SNL’s Robert Smigelfeaturing Darlene Love.  Here is

These two Talmudic quotes describe the reaction to the absurd statement from the leading Republican Candidate:

Trump’s outrageous remarks continue to accelerate in offensiveness as he speaks to the Id of our nation.  If you remember from your Psychology 101 class, our Id is 1/3 of our personality.  It is our unrefined instinctual (irrational) segment that gets countered by our Super Ego to form our Ego. Most who agree with Trump seem to be thinking only with their Ids or their irrational minds. How else can you explain his followers. Everyone to the right (and in their right mind) of his followers, including many in the Republican Party, are rebuking his message.  The UK has proposed a Ban (signed by over 370,000 people) to keep Trump out of their country. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35052505  Trump was scheduled to visit Israel next month but postponed the trip knowing this reception might not be welcomed by Israel leaders. When we witness injustice, like his remarks about banning all Muslims from the US, we all must speak up against this discrimination, or as famously stated by Pastor Martin Niemöller during WWII…who will be next?

Because we are in this Era of Global Terrorism, we need to be vigilant and proactively protective to prevent future attacks by innovating security measures, choking terrorist funding sources, building international coalitions and, yes, instituting national sensible weaponry regulations. Bravo to the Supreme Court, this week, for refusing to weigh in on the Illinois (Highland Park) law banning the sale and possession of semi-assault weapons, though of course, Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas both disagreed with this action and wanted to hear the case. Also, kudos to the Doctors and Lawyers Associations for their collective applauds to the NYTimes (first front page editorial in nearly a century) about our Gun Epidemic.

But back to our terrorism problem, the core of Human Beings (even Thomas and Scalia) is Humanity so, optimistically, Good will win over Evil but how many generations will it take before we are victorious.

Another victory we must accelerate is our battle over our abusive behavior toward our only home. China this week has proven that their industrial actions have literally choked its citizens with pollutant smog so sickening it closed its society (schools, factories…) and told people to stay indoors. Their air quality index measured at 308 which equates to “Severely Polluted” (0-50 is healthy air).  Leaders in Paris are refining the global document that will decrease carbon emission and

find ways to pay for it. And speaking of the price tag, Bill Gateshas jumped into the game with his $1 billion dollar commitment to environmental Research and Development.

Speaking of environmental contaminants, many First Responders of 9/11 heroically performed their jobs after our horrific terrorist tragedy, only later to development serious medical issues due to pollutants at Ground Zero.  But instead of being rewarded for their heroism, with (the least we can do) medical care, they have been fighting with Congress for their lives.  Jon Stewart has been their stalwart supporters as he helped passed the first (5 year limited) Zadroga Act in 2010. With simple math, you can see it expires this year and Jon is back with (less) survivors (since many have died) to get a renewal of their much needed and much deserved medical care which is being juggled by Mitch McConnell purely for political reason.  Here is Jon Stewart, back on The Daily Show, venting his warranted frustrations.

35 years ago this week (Dec. 8, 1080), John Lennon was gunned down in front of his NYC Dakota apartment as his wife, Yoko Ono, looked on in shock. His senseless murder will forever be blazoned in the minds of fans around the world yet his prolific music (of Peace) and spirit will continue to live on for generations (of fans) to come.

Tibor Rubin z”l died this week at the age of 86 after living (some would say) two heroics lives.  One during WWII as a concentration survivor and the other during the Korean war, while both were fraught with severe anti-semitism.  To read more about this amazing man, check out this NY Times article: http://tinyurl.com/TiborRubin

Issur Danielovitch, also known as Kirk Douglas, turned 99 years old this week on Dec. 8th.  His birthday gift to his Hollywood community was a $15 Million donation to the Healthcare and Social Services of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.  Ever think about the phrase “Motion Picture”…That’s just what they were in 1892 when Thomas Edison invented the first Motion Picture camera.

The Obamas honored a very worthy group of societal game-changers at Sunday’s Kennedy Center Awards including my favorites, Carole King, George Lucus, Cicely Tyson.

True humanity is demonstrated by Beth Israel Synagogue in Peterborough, Ontario when it opened its door to their Muslim neighbors after their Mosque had been destroyed by arson. May this action be a model onto the world.

Congrats to Angela Merkel for being named 2015 Time Person of the Year, though I don’t think she’d like to be in the same company as some of her runner ups, like, Trump, The Leader of Daesh (ISIS), Iran’s President Rouhani and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Congrats to our Detroit Zoo for being named Crain’s 2015Best Managed Nonprofit.  Kudos goes to Ron Kagan and his dedicated and passionate team who focus on animal and environmental conservation and sustainability in their daily routine. http://tinyurl.com/DetZooBestManaged

I eat Banana Chocolate Chip cake almost everyone morning and the bad news is that my sacred bananas are under threat. 60 years ago we ate Gros Michel Bananas, a smaller sweeter version of today’s Cavendish Banana.  But a disease wiped out the Gros Michels and now our Cavendish are threatened. Remember that old song “yes, we have no bananas”.  A new specie of Banana might be in our future but if the taste continues to evolve, we may need to change our banana expectations. http://grist.org/food/good-news-bananas-arent-going-extinct-bad-news-they-are-in-trouble/

As we round out our last few days of Hanukah, please enjoy this original holiday song from 2009 (complete with the Hebrew candle blessing embedded in the song) written by the talented Canadian, Steven Page (wish he would reunite withBarenaked Ladies). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqn1tZhESP8

Gun Control, Birth Control and Environmental Concerns are this week’s main topics so friends whose voices are to the right of mine are, now, forewarned… though as always, my intent is to remain respectful and if your read on, you’ll see there is other non-controversial topics to enjoy, like Coffee, Wine and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Sadly, mass murders in our country are now commonplace. How much more of this absurdity can we take?  We lead all other countries in mass murder (4 or more deaths) with an average of one per day.  14 innocent lives were snuffed out in this week’s attack (and 17 wounded) with easily accessible and massive amounts of firearm.  Why does ourRight to Guns outweighs our Right to Live…? Andy Borowitz wrote this “tongue-in-cheek” article last month which hit the nail on the head. We need this type of representation in Congress:

The NRA has hijacked our Congress and the 2nd Amendment: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Just a few hours before sending this email to you, the US Senate failed to pass two amendments to expand background checks and prevent those on the Terror Watch List to buy guns. How can Senators who are suppose to represent their constituency, vote No on these protective measures. Makes no sense at all!

Even (the late) conservative Supreme Court Chief JusticeWarren Burger was offended by the NRA’s corrupt interpretation of the 2nd Amendment which is used to continue their profitable gun industry and President George H.W. Bushresigned in disgust from the NRA in 1995. If these men’s views don’t convince Congress to change their ways, how about the words of the 1934 NRA president:

Words have the power to heal…help…create…inspire, but sadly, words also have the power to destroy.  The twisted words, lies and rhetoric coming from several soapboxes have inspired the other mass shooting of the week at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic, wounding nine people and killing a pastor/police officer, an Iraq war vet and a mother of two. The weapon of choice was a semiautomatic rifle. Did the authors of the 2nd Amendment intend for all Americans to protect themselves with automatic weaponry…I think not. This is the 6th attack on a PP clinic since July when the heavily edited and completely deceptive anti-abortion videos began to circulate. Planned Parenthood provides vital healthcare to women and, yes legal abortions (though they are never funded with public money), yet repeatedly, our US and State legislators are constantly trying to defund the only access many Americans have to medical care. Lies and rhetoric are culprits to this witch hunt.  If legislators ever did a serious open minded investigation of Planned Parenthood’s efforts, they’d find a saviour for many in this country, but, in this day and age, lies fly through the internet and in the Media at lightning speed and create damage before they can be disputed or recanted.  It’s like the feathers of a pillow, once released, they can never be returned. Too bad a warning indicator light doesn’t activated when damaging lies come into public view. Here is an important message from Planned Parenthood:

As Cows, Cars, Industrial Plants… continue to pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land we live on,190 world’s leaders are in Paris (this week) at the COP21 (Conference of Parties 21st gathering) to help reverse these damaging trends. The first COP was held in Berlin in 1995 but what has been accomplished in the ensuing 21 years.  As the climate continues to change, the raising water levels are invading our shores and countries like the Marshall Islands are slowly disappearing.

http://tinyurl.com/ByeByeMarshall. And, if our consumption of beef isn’t curtailed, the continued effects on our planet from cattle production will lead to serious environmental deterioration not to mention our indiscriminate overfishing of our underwater habitats. These are just a few of our transgressions, but we can steer our planet in the right direction.  The tide of environmental concerns are turning and it’s great to see the efforts of Billionaires Gates, Zuckerberg and Benzos putting their billions into the game.  But world leaders in Paris need to put pen to paper to reach healthy goals for our only known home.

Since I’m on a roll, I might as well continue my progressive rant… Here goes: Election Day should be a National Holiday. Every American should have easy access to voting. Registration should be automatic when applying for a driver’s licence, photo ID should not be required to vote, voter fraud is a mythical problem, Straight Party voting is an option that should remain, there should be no “excuse” needed when applying for an absentee ballot and Election Day should be a National Holiday.  To read more about this petition to make Nov. 8, 2016 a National Holiday, check out this article:

And bravo to Kentucky for returning the voting rights to 170,000 ex-cons, who were nonviolent and completed their prison terms.  Florida and Iowa are the last two states who still prohibit ex-cons from voting.

I always try to bring you up-to-date health information and the benefits of coffee was one that I recently included.  So with this in mind and a shout-out to a young (and I mean school-aged) local inventor, check out this innovative (patented) cold-brew coffee process by Max Feber. Here is his Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feber/bruw-cold-brew-simplified

This is such good news for me since I like Red Wine and dislike exercise.  Turns out 1 glass of Red Wine is equivalent to a workout. Yes, the research was done on rats but that’s good enough for me.  http://idealist4ever.com/a-glass-of-red-wine-is-equivalent-to/

Not only is breastfeeding beneficial for your baby but it is also good for the mom’s body. It helps prevent breast and ovarian cancer as well as type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/breast-feeding-is-good-for-mothers-not-just-babies/?_r=1

And for new parents and grandparents, check out this video on how to calm a crying newborn.  This foolproof technique is amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2C8MkY7Co8&feature=youtu.be&t=16s

Happy 40th anniversary to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which back in 1975 was the most unique strange but rapturous song of its time. This article gives you all the details about“an Italian Renaissance astronomer (Galileo Galilei), a character from a nineteenth-century opera (Figaro), an Islamic prayer (bismillah) and an occult devil from “Paradise Lost” (Beelzebub).” http://tinyurl.com/QueensDetails

Hanukah starts Sunday evening, and what better way to begin our Festival of Lights than with Adam Sandler’s 4th rendition of “Who’s a Jew”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jGgZmOAoz0