Public Space, Public Health

Governor Schwarzenegger (after five years, it still gives me the jibblies to write that) has proposed a 9% tax on veterinary services. Here’s some info from the fact sheet I received when we took Petey in for an eye infection:
In this weak economy, animal owners are already making tough choices. Adding sales tax [...]

Eco-Kashrut and Quentin Tarantino

From the New York Times Magazine (thanks to Tomemos for the tip):
The allegations against Agriprocessors galvanized a small but thriving Jewish environmental movement and took its concerns to a much wider audience. In some American Jewish households, the raid on Agriprocessors started a deep conversation about the very meaning of kosher: is it simply about [...]

Great Postville Essay at Zeek

Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center says:

Even in the dark, there is usually some prophetic voice warning of oncoming damage. In this case, prophetic calls to apply “eco-kosher” and “ethical kosher” standards not only to food but also to such consumables as coal, oil, plastics went back to the work of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi [...]