Cleanliness and Godliness

Here is a great article from Slate which answers the question: "Are kosher and halal meats better for your health or for the planet than regular meat?" I have read many many articles on this subject (I speak on it a lot) and this is the first that doesn't really get anything wrong. It is a complex subject with a lot of baggage and assumptions, but author Nina Shen Rastogi has done her research. It is definitely worth the read.

Health Care Reform - What you can do

I know that this is a bit off topic, but it is so important that it deserves some blog space.


We have about a 50/50 chance of getting comprehensive national health reform, according to friends who are working this issue on the Hill.

Critically important right now is for Democratic Senators and representatives to hear from as many constituents as possible demanding major, comprehensive health reform that covers 30 million uninsured, along the lines already passed by the Senate and the House. Please call, and please pass on this message to as many people as possible. It doesn't matter where they fall on the political spectrum, from progressive to paleolithic. They need to hear from you.

Email is not the way to go right now. Phone calls are taken much more seriously. Here's what's at stake. If Congress passes the Senate bill, with or without modifications, the following will take place:

-30 million or more uninsured will obtain health coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Medicaid will see by far its largest expansion since its creation in 1965. And low-wage, uninsured workers who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford insurance will receive subsidies to help them buy coverage.

• Insurance companies will be barred from discriminating on the basis of health condition or gender. Preexisting conditions will no longer be excluded from coverage.
• The so-called "donut hole" in Medicare coverage of prescription drugs will be cut by slightly more than 50%. Many seniors will no longer be forced to choose between medicine and food. 
• If Congress does not pass some version of the Senate bill, they are likely to enact something small and symbolic. Tens of millions of low-income Americans without coverage would remain denied the basic access to health care that insurance provides. 

The Senate bill is far from perfect. The same is true of the House bill. Each of us could imagine a health reform proposal that we would strongly prefer to any option on the table right now. But what is balanced on the knife's edge in Congress is legislation that would have an enormous and positive impact on tens of millions of people. If it does not pass, it will be a long time before this opportunity comes again, and in the meantime, tremendous suffering will take place, suffering that we can now prevent by taking strong action.

This week will decide the issue. Please do whatever you can to reach out to your Senators and members of Congress and encourage everyone you know to do likewise.


Good luck to us all!