No On Prop 2
Your Cover Story "A Matter Of Life" is
misleading and biased (Oct. 9, page B9).
Not all Jews support embryonic stem cell
research as many consider the destruction
of a 5-7-day-old embryo as the destruc-
tion of life.
Adult stem cell therapy is currently being
used in other countries. Dr. Shimon Slavin at
the international center for Cell Therapy and
Cancer Immunotherapy (CTCI), Weitzmann
Institute in Tel Aviv, has pioneered the use of
adult stem cells. In addition, two U.S. compa-
nies, Cytori and Osiris therapeutics, are cur-
rently marketing as well as investigating the
use of adult stem cells for cardiovascular dis-
ease, reconstructive surgery, Crohn's disease,
diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease, orthopedics and autoimmune dis-
ease. Vet-stem is using adult stem cells for
the treatment of joint disease in animals.
Use of adult stem cells has an unlim-
ited opportunity. The only advantage of
embryonic stem cells is that an embryo
can produce a human life while adult stem
cells cannot, therefore avoiding the moral
dilemma. Use of embryos for experimen-
tation is analogous to the ethics of using
medical data from Nazi experimentation.
Vote no on Proposal 2.

pendent lifestyle if they do not drive.
I want to thank Mayor Lawrence for grac-
ing us with her presence, her wit (joking
that as a mayor, she is qualified to be vice
president in this unconventional election
season) and her ideas for Oakland County.

Elayne Moss

Southfield

Yes, Knollenberg

Thank you, U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg,
R-Bloomfield Hills. As a Jew committed
to Israel, I value your constant leadership
in Congress to assure Israel maintains
the ability to defend itself and protect
its citizens against the hostile countries
and terrorist groups who have vowed to
destroy it.
Thank you, Rep. Knollenberg. As a citi-
zen of Michigan, I appreciate your close
collaboration with Michigan companies to
prevent the passage of burdensome fed-
eral legislation and regulations that would
certainly cause the loss of thousands more
jobs in our state.
These are just two of the many reasons
why I am voting this November to keep
you as my congressman.

Kerry Greenhut

West Bloomfield

Dr. Steven Zinderman

Farmington Hills

Lawrence For Exec
I attended the Jewish Community
Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit
candidate forum last week for the can-
didates in the races for Oakland County
executive and the Ninth Congressional
District: They are two high-profile races,
but of the four candidates invited, only
one of them attended.
That was Southfield Mayor Brenda
Lawrence, who is the Democratic chal-
lenger for Oakland County executive. I
understand that candidates might have
many conflicts in their schedules, but
Mayor Lawrence's appearance made a big
impact on the attendees.
She talked about her experience as a
major contributor to Oakland County's
economy as mayor of Southfield, which is
the county's business backbone. She also
mentioned the importance of bringing
rapid transit to the region. This is long
overdue. She was dead-on when she said
it would help attract young people to the
region and help seniors maintain an inde-

Peters For Congress
As a survivor of strokes, central nervous
system vasculitis and paralysis, I was
recently invited to speak in Washington,
D.C. Along with 700 other survivors of
heart and stroke ailments, we lobbied
Congress to support the initiatives of
the American Heart Association, which
includes the Stop Stroke Act and heart
health for women.
In speaking with Ninth Congressional
District candidate Gary Peters upon my
return from Washington, he made it clear
that if faced with the same opportunity,
he would stand up for heart and stroke
health. This may be personal for me, but
it should be important to all of us. The
number-one killer in this country is heart
ailments and the third is stroke.
I want a congressman like Gary Peters,
a Democrat from Bloomfield Hills. He has
the intelligence, empathy, compassion and
educational background to put Oakland
County and Michigan back on top.

Shelly Newman

West Bloomfield

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A6 October 16 • 2008

Obama And Israel
Sen. Barak Obama, D-Ill., as with every
other modern-day political leader, has
declared his support for a two-state solu-
tion for Israel and the Palestinians. When
has a Democratic president or Congress
ever failed to support the integrity of the
State of Israel?
If you recall, during the Yom Kippur
War, White House Chief of Staff Alexander
Haig had to go behind the backs of
President Richard Nixon and Secretary
of State Henry Kissinger and stage
the armaments that would finally be
sent to a beleaguered Israel. There are
Jewish Americans that say Sen. John
McCain, R-Ariz., is better for Israel. The
Republican Party has sung the mantra of
deregulation for the past 30 years. Today,
America is at the brink of financial col-
lapse.
America's Jews have never been a sin-
gle-issue voting bloc. We have to vote for
our own future here in America. Most pro
foundly, the history of the Supreme Court
is in our hands. The right for a woman to
chose her own destiny, the right to privacy,
— and the separation of powers are now
all in peril through the egregious extra
legal actions of the present administra-
tion, with the overwhelming support of
his party.
Lastly, the history of the civil rights
movement in America has always included
Jewish Americans. It is again a time for us
to stand up against the silent social cancer
of racism. Electing Barak Obama will not
only make America stronger, but we will
have finally brought an end to our national
shame of slavery.

Harold Kaller

West Bloomfield

Who's Best To Lead?
I'm still undecided. I find most of the
political ads in this newspaper and oth-
ers not just uninformative but insulting
to my intelligence. Most ads presume that
past actions will define the future, but
as in a statistics class regarding flipping
coins, history does not predict the next
result. Frankly, I find both candidates too
extreme to either the left or right.
Is Sen. Barack Obama's allowing
William Ayers to host his campaign kick-
off worse than Sen. John McCain's defend-
ing Charles Keating? Did they learn from
their mistakes, or do we presume they

cannot change? It is time to show us the
brains in their heads instead of the skel-
etons in their opponent's closet.
Based on the assumption of a
Democratic victory in the Congress, I was
going to vote for McCain only in hope
of forcing a centrist compromise with a
balance between the two factions. Then
McCain picked for VP a frighteningly
uninformed ex-secessionist, which is the
ultimate betrayal of his "America First"
slogan.
For president, I prefer an atheist who
has only one chance to get it right in this
life.
McCain continues to demonstrate his
admitted lack of economic understanding.
He seems overly capricious to me. On the
other hand, Obama seems ponderous to
the point of inaction. Obama appears to
be moving away from the leftist extremes
of his youth, but I have not one shred of
proof of his sincerity. Is he becoming a
better person or just a better politician?
Do I vote for the devil know and hope
he wises up (unlikely with all of the Bush
administration staff around him)? Or, do
I roll the dice and hope Obama, like his
slogan, has first changed himself?

Dennis L. Green

Farmington Hills

Vote Peterman
You cannot turn television on or read a
newspaper without seeing Democrats and
Republicans sniping at one another and
blaming each other for everything that is
wrong in the world. The partnership has
gotten out of control; it is hurting our state
and country.
Now is the time for us to tone down the
rhetoric and pull together for the common
good.
That's why I like what I am hearting
from 39th State House District candidate
Amy Peterman, R-West Bloomfield. She
doesn't sound like a politician. She sounds
like a real person, someone who is con-
cerned about our economy and what it
means to our kids' futures. She has the
right focus and I hope that she has the
opportunity to serve as our state represen-
tative.
Amy Peterman has earned my vote.

Jan Michaelson

West Bloomfield

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