Serenity
We strive for Peace and Serenity, but, Serenity, as Rabbi David Wolpe preaches, is not meant to be a Jewish state of mind. Our responsibilities are to fix the world with little time to bath in our successes. When we see the imperfect world, we should feel angry and then inspired to help Right the Wrongs and encourage others to join the mission. There is plenty of work to do and our deeds seems to grow as time goes on. Yet, even though serenity isn't our destiny, helping to repair injustice does feel good and bring joy to our lives.
Turkey
You might feel serene with Turkey tryptophan in your bloodstream but don't go blaming the turkey for your drowsiness.
Turkey is not the only culprit of tryptophan but
the combination of turkey, carbs and
alcohol
creates a somniferous cocktail that knocks you out.
https://www.wired.com/2016/11/heres-real-reason-thanksgiving-makes-sleepy/
A good nap after a Thanksgiving feast is appropriate. What's not appropriate is a
Black Friday
shopping spree on
Thanksgiving Thursday
. Corporations should respect their workers and allow them to enjoy holiday togetherness rather than clocking in for extra corporate revenues. But after you do your legitimate (after Turkey Day) Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday shopping, it will then be time for Giving Tuesday...a day dedicated to giving your time, money, things, energy and generosity. Choose your giving destination and Give till it feels Good.
Votes
Dec. 19th is the actual day our (outdated)
Electoral College meets to select our next president. Most Americans think POTUS is picked on election day, but in actuality, Electors select our President. But don't get your hopes up too high that the Electors will go rogue. These people are loyal Party patriots who will follow the population votes of their State. Even though Change.org gathered nearly 4.5 million signatures to encourage them to vote for Clinton (which they technically can do), most likely Trump will receive his alloted votes. Yet, many feel this election was "stolen". And there is some evidence that voter turnout was suppressed. In 2013 our Supreme Court gutted the
Voting Rights Act. Because of this, several states made it more difficult to vote. 300,000 people in Wisconsin were unqualified to cast their ballots since they didn't have photo IDs and Trump won that state by only 27,000 votes. North Carolina closed 158 voting locations mostly in African American communities. Other states with conservative governors instituted confusing and repressive voting laws that did have an effect on our outcome. As mentioned in the first paragraph, we should get angry and then inspired to correct this inequity. We need to work hard to elect fair minded leaders in our State Government positions. Right now, Michigan is controlled in all State jobs by conservatives and we used to be a firewall safe Blue State. We need to change our leaders and return to Blue.
Gerrymandering
There is some huge news this week regarding another unfair political ploy called
Gerrymandering which keeps congressional seats stagnant since voting districts are arranged with like minded voters. 3 Federal judges ruled that Wisconsin redistricting unfairly favors republicans. This is the first time (in 30 years) the ruling was based on a partisan reason rather than a racial one. The next step for this very significant decision will be the Supreme Court which if found unconstitutional could drastically change our future elections by requiring states to fairly redraw districts to encompass an equal swath of voters.
https://goo.gl/19Qphp
Hate
This contentious election seemed to have brought a megaphone to the fringe. Alt-right founder,
Richard Spencer held his conference this week with plenty of Hails to Trump with the Nazi Salute among his Hate speech against anyone who wasn't White. There is only 1 degree of separation between Richard Spencer, Breitbart and Stephen Bannon. Trump's appointment of Bannon needs to be closely watched.
Fires
Most likely arson is the cause of major fires in Hannan's hometown of
Haifa. Nearly 100 thousand people were evacuated. The area is a tinder box after the long dry summer and the current warm windy weather. Other areas of Israel (near Jerusalem and Tel Aviv) are also experiencing some fires, but the major concerns are in the higher elevations of Haifa. Investigators have determined that not all the fires were arson but several people are in custody. Gratitude goes to Greece, Turkey, Italy, Cyprus and Russia for sending help to fight the fires. Even the Palestinian Authority (PA) has offered to help with this disaster. Prayers and thoughts are with those in harm's way.
Death
Sadly this week, handgun violence ended the young life of Wayne State University police officer, Colin Rose at the age of 29. His life was cut short just as he was completing his masters degree and was to be married next year. Condolences to his family, friends and Detroit community. May his short life be a blessing unto those he touched.
Love
And while on the topic of "first come love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage", our United States Maternity leave benifits are abismal. If you don't believe me, take it from
Nev and Laura:
Bravo
Bravo to the
POTUS, the
Pope and the
Pistons. POTUS for pardoning Turkeys,
Tater and
Tot. The Pope for offering permanent
Sin Forgiveness for Abortions and for the Detroit Pistons for their decision to move back downtown after 4 decades in the suburbs.
Overcome
Public Domain might be the new home for the civil rights ballad
"We Shall Overcome" just as
"Happy Birthday" won its right to reside among the public back in June. Though the original song could date back to 1792, Pete Seeger took out a copyright on the song in 1960 when he changed the words from "We Will Overcome" to "We Shall Overcome". Hopefully, the lawsuit will overcome so all may use this civil rights song freely.
