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Top of Mind Thursday – October 9, 2025: Has the Day After Arrived?
Tuesday was October 7th, the two year anniversary of the horrific Hamas massacre in Israel, where 1200 innocent people were brutally murdered and more than 250 taken hostage (some alive, some as corpses).
In the aftermath, many people have tagged Israel with genocide, even though the population of Gaza is higher now than it was two years ago—the exact opposite of what defines genocide.
In fact, as early as October 8th, protests erupted in key cities and universities around the world, blaming Israel for the sin of getting their people killed—before a single Israeli defense force unit was mobilized to move on Gaza.
Israel has been blamed for causing starvation and famine—even though plenty of food was entering Gaza. The problem was that most of it was being hijacked by Hamas and sold to hungry Gazans at exorbitant prices.
Throughout the last two years, Israel has repeatedly said the war will stop when our hostages (living and dead) are returned. Hamas refused to do so. Now, it appears Hamas has agreed to a peace treaty developed by US President Donald Trump that has the support of many countries in the Arab world.
The current plan is for all of the hostages to be returned by next Monday—the two year anniversary of the massacre in the Hebrew calendar. A ceasefire will be in effect and a multinational force will take charge of what comes next for Gaza.
Israel has also been blamed for not having developed a “day after” plan for Gaza, which is somewhat absurd. Did the Allies have a “day after” plan for Germany before Hitler was defeated?
But there’s another reason why there’s been no “day after” plan. For Israelis and Jews around the world, it’s been October 7th over and over and over again—like the movie Groundhog Day. There could be no day after until the hostages were returned.
The Trump peace plan is not perfect—no plan is. There are many clauses that are problematic and will be hard to properly implement. But it’s a way to start the process of healing and moving forward.
Maybe now Jews around the world can actually consider that there may really be a day after October 7th. As my grandmother would have said, from our lips to God’s ears.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
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Top of Mind Thursday – October 2, 2025: Atonement
Today was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement—the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Jews around the world marked the day by fasting from sundown last night to sundown tonight, and attending prayer services in synagogues.
Today, a Syrian jidahist attacked a synagogue in Manchester, England, killing at least 2 people and injuring 4 others. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed shock and surprise about an attack killing Jews simply because they are Jews.
But for the Jewish people, these acts—which always shocking—are no surprise.
Yom Kippur has taken on a tragic significance since October 6, 1973, when Israel suffered a surprise attack from its Arab neighbors. Fifty years later, Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, in the massacre that resulted in the Gaza war that is still underway nearly two years later.
Starmer offered the usual “thoughts and prayers” for the victims, as other politicians have for victims of violence in the US and other countries. But today’s victims—like those in the Mormon church in Michigan last week and the recent attack on a Catholic church in Minnesota—were already praying when they were attacked.
Prayer is an important aspect of Judaism, but by itself, it is not sufficient for atonement. On Yom Kippur, in addition to prayer, we talk about the need for repentance for prior behavior and a commitment to do good deeds in the future. To be effective, we believe prayer must be coupled with action.
Today was another reminder that only when we take appropriate positive action will we be able to repair the world.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – September 25, 2025: Correlation vs. Causation
This week, President Trump and his head of Health and Human Services, Robert F Kennedy, Jr., announced they’ve determined that Tylenol taken during pregnancy may cause autism.
Rates of autism diagnoses have been rising dramatically over the last 70 years—about the same time period that acetaminophen (Tylenol) has been on the market.
The problem is that there does NOT seem to be conclusive scientific proof that intermittent Tylenol use during pregnancy definitively causes autism. In fact, there is no definitive evidence that ANY one specific factor causes autism. Worse yet, unmitigated fever in pregnant women can cause serious medical issues. Tylenol is one of the few medications pregnant women can take to treat fever that will be unlikely to harm the developing fetus. Aspirin and ibuprofen are not allowed.
Almost 30 years ago, a paper was published that asserted that the mumps-measles-rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism. This research has been debunked numerous times—yet there are some people who still avoid vaccinating their kids, even as measles infections (which can be deadly to young children) have surged recently.
Here’s what seems to be misunderstood: Two things can happen simultaneously. That doesn’t mean they are connected. And even if they are connected, it doesn’t necessarily mean one definitively causes the other.
It turns out autism is often diagnosed at about the same age that infants receive their first MMR shots. But that does not mean the shots are the cause. Millions of kids get MMR shots and don’t develop autism. Millions of pregnant women took Tylenol during pregnancy (I know I did!) and don’t have kids with autism.
Lots of other factors have grown significantly over the last 70 years—such as the use of technology in the home (TV, cell phones, internet, microwave ovens, electric cars, etc.). Should we blame one of these for the rise of autism too?
But there’s one factor we can’t easily dismiss: medical technology. That’s not to say modern medical technology causes autism (or vice versa!). But we now are able to diagnose many chronic diseases much earlier and to recognize and treat medical issues our grandparents didn’t know existed.
Therefore, there IS a correlation between medical advances and autism. Unfortunately, the fact that this is not understood by government officials is likely to be the cause of much distress for pregnant women, parents of young children, and anyone who cares for autistic family members.
That kind of correlation we’d be better off without.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – September 18, 2025: No Laughing Matter
Yesterday, at the behest of President Trump and the head of the Federal Communications Commission, ABC indefinitely suspended late night host Jimmy Kimmel.
Two days before, Kimmel had made a comment on air that implied the murderer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was a MAGA follower (which appears not to be true). This upset the president, who considered Kirk a close friend, as well as many of Kirk’s grieving admirers.
To be clear: I don’t find Kimmel to be particularly funny and I’ve very rarely watched his show. However, after watching the clip in question multiple times, I see it to be at worst in poor taste, but not nearly as egregious as some are claiming.
There are several issues at play here. First, the FCC chairman actually threatened ABC to either remove Kimmel or else. That sounds like coercion. One of ABC’s largest licensees has a merger agreement before the FCC. Supposedly, they pushed the network to can Kimmel so as not to endanger the government approval needed.
Second, inaccurate or offensive comments have been made by television personalities of all stripes in the not-too-distant past. If Kimmel deserves to be fired, are we going to go after all of these other offenders as well?
Third, do we really want to have a political climate where anyone who disagrees with the leader in charge can be silenced? This is a slippery slope. Several media companies have already settled lawsuits with the government that legal experts thought were quite winnable—because they don’t want to be in an adversarial position with the administration. Who will be next in the crosshairs?
Charlie Kirk’s assassination was a horrible thing. His killer should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But using any tragedy to go after people who disagree with your political views is no laughing matter.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com