Nov. 19, 2009 Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes) Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics Nov. 18, 2009 Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes) Nov. 17, 2009 Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations? JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung Nov. 16, 2009 The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes) Nov. 13, 2009 JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes) Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity Nov. 12, 2009 The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes) Nov. 11, 2009 Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes) Nov. 10, 2009 Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes) Nov. 9, 2009 Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes) Nov. 6, 2009 Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes) Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man Nov. 5, 2009 The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes) Nov. 4, 2009 Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered? JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes) Nov. 3, 2009 Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes) Nov. 2, 2009 Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes) Oct. 29, 2003 Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review April 26, 2006 / 28 Nissan, 5766 Cents and sensibility: A thought for your pennies By Malcolm Fleschner http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Now that budget talks in Congress are heating up, it's no surprise that the rest of the nation is starting to pay more attention to fiscal matters as well. "I hate paying so much in #@&% taxes!" is just the kind of thoughtful insight into federal economic policy you're likely to hear from the citizenry at this time of year. And while I personally would never presume to impugn the work of the fine officials at the Internal Revenue Service — particularly those in charge of deciding which citizens' returns to audit — I do feel strongly about one aspect of the nation's monetary policy: the penny. Like most Americans, for many years I did not give much thought to this, the least valuable piece of US coinage. As the little plastic dishes on the convenience store counters so succinctly put it, with regard to the penny I could "take it or leave it." But my thinking changed dramatically one morning last week when I discovered that my car had been broken into. Now let me assure you that the object of the break-in was not to steal the car, which can only be charitably described as a rapidly rusting eyesore. No sane person would ever want to steal this heap, except perhaps my neighbors, who probably can't look at the thing without mentally calculating how much its presence drags down their property values. The target, as it turned out, was all the loose change I'd spent years painstakingly collecting under the floor mats, between the seats and in the deep recesses of the glove compartment. In total, the thief made off with about $10.00 in quarters, dimes and nickels, while conspicuously leaving behind at least 75 cents' worth of pennies. My first reaction was disappointment at the thief's lack of etiquette. I mean, there must be some sort of unwritten rule dictating that if you're going to steal someone's change, you should have to take the pennies too. After firing off a letter on the subject to Miss Manners, I began thinking about just how worthless the penny has become. For if pennies hold no value even to a desperate criminal (and believe me, only a truly desperate individual would risk exposure to the disgusting fungal experiment going on beneath my car's floor mats), why should the rest of us have to bother with them? I recognize that the penny remains popular with a substantial segment of the populace, although I can't imagine why. The only reason I can see for holding onto pennies is in case you're involved in some sort of financial dispute and need to send a not-so-subtle message to a creditor via the payment method: Dear Bloodsucking Credit Card Company, Concerning the $38 fee you charged me for being one day late in paying last month's bill, please find the full sum in loose pennies enclosed in this mailing, postage due, naturally. Spitefully, Malcolm Fleschner But if we're going to expend federal resources to mint a coin that we use just for spite, why not take it a step further and produce a coin worth 1/10 of a cent as well? What with rising oil prices, as an added benefit, this coin would also allow budget-conscious consumers to finally pay exact change for a gallon of gas. Some critics of the penny point to how much time would be collectively saved if cashiers could just round up or down to the nearest five cents when making change. Just as important, without any pennies in circulation to spark their memories, curmudgeonly old timers would be less likely to launch into those rambling stories about how cheap everything used to be. You know, the ones that go something like, "Why, in my day, for a penny you could buy a loaf of bread, two jars of pickles, a rhubarb phosphate and a tin of Dr. Hobson's Cathartic Ointment and still have enough left over for a grandstand ticket to watch Harry Houdini bareknuckle box a kangaroo." In doing a little research on the issue, I discovered that in 2002 Representative Jim Kolbe of Arizona introduced the Legal Tender Modernization Act into Congress to stop production of the penny. Sadly, the bill never got out of committee, most likely blocked by the extremely powerful coin collecting lobby acting in concert with the nation's gumball machine manufacturers. Nevertheless, my new hero Representative Kolbe remains committed to the cause. And that's why we citizens need to show him our support by engaging in some form of collective action to tell the federal government it's time to get rid of the penny once and for all. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Malcolm Fleschner is a humor columnist for The DC Examiner. Let him know what you think by clicking here. Previously: 03/16/06: The day the Muzak died 02/23/06: Checkbook diplomacy begins at home 02/15/06: Today's toys: Where learning means earning © 2006, Malcolm Fleschner

Arnold Ahlert  Mitch Albom  Michael Barone   Dave Barry  Tony Blankley  Andy Borowitz  David Broder  Stratfor Briefing  Mona Charen  Linda Chavez  Ann Coulter  Greg Crosby  Larry Elder  Suzanne Fields  John Fund  Frank J. Gaffney  Lloyd Garver  Jonah Goldberg  Julia Gorin  Jonathan Gurwitz  Paul Greenberg  Lewis Grossberger  Victor Davis Hanson  Betsy Hart  Nat Hentoff  David Horowitz  Laura Ingraham  Cheri Jacobus Jeff Jacoby  Paul Johnson  Jack Kelly  Ed Koch  Ch. Krauthammer  Michael Ledeen  John Leo  David Limbaugh  Kathryn Lopez  Rich Lowry  Michelle Malkin  Jackie Mason  Dick Morris  Bill O'Reilly  Jim Mullen  Clarence Page  Kathleen Parker  Dennis Prager  Wesley Pruden  Tom Purcell  Jonathan Rauch  Celia Rivenbark  Robert Robb  Cokie & Steve Roberts  Pat Sajak  Debra J. Saunders  Culture Shlock  Roger Simon  Michael Smerconish  Thomas Sowell  Mark Steyn  John Stossel  Cal Thomas  Bob Tyrrell  Diana West  Dave Weinbaum  George Will  Walter Williams  Byron York  Mort Zuckerman  Robert Arial  Chuck Asay  Baloo  Chip Bok  Dry Bones   Lisa Benson  John Branch  Gary Brookins  John Cole  J. D. Crowe  John Deering  Brian Duffy  Everything's Relative  Mallard Fillmore  Jake Fuller  Bob Gorrel  Joe Heller  David Hitch  Jerry Holber  Steve Kelley  Jeff Koterba  Dick Locher  Chan Lowe  Ranan R. Lurie  Jimmy Margulies  Rick McKee  Michael Ramirez  Kevin Siers  Jeff Stahler  Ed Stein  Danna Summers  John Trever  Gary Varvel  Kirk Walters  How 2  Lori Borgman  The Savvy Consumer  Elder matters  Fixit  Dr. Peter Gott  GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko  Richard Lederer  Tech Maven  Every Monday Matters  Nutrition Myths  Bookmark These  Bruce Williams  How Stuff Works