tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post7098488799792363498..comments2024-03-27T15:07:31.495-04:00Comments on <b><center>Unorthodox-Jew </center></b> <br><small>A Critical View of Orthodox Judaism</small>: WE DON'T TRUST CHINA!Paul Mendlowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05887774341136059873noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-32522149727739730322008-02-20T17:52:00.001-05:002008-02-20T17:52:00.001-05:00to mr anonymous regarding an axe to grind with sch...to mr anonymous regarding an axe to grind with schachter: you damn right that i have an axe to grind,and so do many others that i know. just in case you havnt realized,the uoj blogsite was made to expose rabbinic corruption and shlechter is part of it.do you recall in jewish history a man by the name of KORACH? well he too was an odom godol until klal yisroel saw thru his rishus! so dont let the "eloquent and intelligent" schlechter make you think he's any better!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-91860990260554179462008-02-19T22:38:00.000-05:002008-02-19T22:38:00.000-05:00sounds like their is a man on this blog who has an...sounds like their is a man on this blog who has an axe to grind with Rav Schachter- Shlita.<BR/><BR/>Time to grow up. Be a big boy. No need to curse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-88037908651663148552008-02-17T20:00:00.000-05:002008-02-17T20:00:00.000-05:00By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 4...By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer <BR/>1 hour, 48 minutes ago<BR/> <BR/>LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs. <BR/><BR/>Officials said it was the largest beef recall in the United States, surpassing a 1999 ban of 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats. No illnesses have been linked to the newly recalled meat, and officials said the health threat was likely small.<BR/><BR/>The recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006, that came from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the federal agency said.<BR/><BR/>Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.<BR/><BR/>"Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall," Schafer said in a statement.<BR/><BR/>A phone message left for Westland president Steve Mendell was not immediately returned.<BR/><BR/>Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover Humane Society video surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.<BR/><BR/>Two former employees were charged Friday. Five felony counts of animal cruelty and three misdemeanors were filed against a pen manager. Three misdemeanor counts — illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal — were filed against an employee who worked under that manager. Both were fired.<BR/><BR/>Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing "downer" animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, San Bernardino County prosecutor Michael Ramos said.<BR/><BR/>No charges have been filed against Westland, but an investigation by federal authorities continues.<BR/><BR/>Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.<BR/><BR/>"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take this action," said Dr. Dick Raymond, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety.<BR/><BR/>Most of the beef was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages. The USDA said it will work with distributors to determine how much meat remains.<BR/><BR/>Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak.<BR/><BR/>About 150 school districts around the nation have stopped using ground beef from Hallmark Meat Packing Co., which is associated with Westland. Two fast-food chains, Jack-In-the-Box and In-N-Out, said they would not use beef from Westland/Hallmark.<BR/><BR/>Jack in the Box, a San Diego-based company with restaurants in 18 states, told its meat suppliers not to use Hallmark until further notice, but it was unclear whether it had used any Hallmark meat. In-N-Out, an Irvine-based chain, also halted use of the Westland/Hallmark beef. Other chains such as McDonald's and Burger King said they do not buy beef from Westland.<BR/><BR/>Raymond countered a claim leveled by Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle, who said a USDA inspector was at the Westland plant for about two hours each day. USDA inspectors are there at slaughterhouses "continuously," Raymond said.<BR/><BR/>Federal lawmakers on Thursday had called for the Government Accountability Office to investigate the safety of meat in the National School Lunch Program. <BR/><BR/>Upon learning about the recall, some legislators criticized the USDA, saying the federal agency should conduct more thorough inspections to ensure tainted beef doesn't get to the public. <BR/><BR/>"Today marks the largest beef recall in U.S. history, and it involves the national school lunch program and other federal food and nutrition programs," said U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. "This begs the question: how much longer will we continue to test our luck with weak enforcement of federal food safety regulations?" <BR/><BR/>Advocacy groups also weighed in, noting the problems at Westland wouldn't have been revealed had it not been for animal right activists. <BR/><BR/>"On the one hand, I'm glad that the recall is taking place. On the other, it's somewhat disturbing, given that obviously much of this food has already been eaten," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union. "It's really closing the barn door after the cows left." <BR/><BR/>___ <BR/><BR/>Associated Press writer Jacob Adelman contributed to this report.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-56801791826178587412008-02-17T19:20:00.000-05:002008-02-17T19:20:00.000-05:00RE: R' Svei.Who can ever forget his Agudah Convent...RE: R' Svei.<BR/><BR/>Who can ever forget his Agudah Convention Motzei Shabbos vitriolic diatribes against R' Meir Kahane Z'L.<BR/><BR/>Dass Toiyreh, indeed. No one protested, no one objected, no one said boo. Sherer sat complacent. Chaskel Besser, a Holocaust Survivor, said nothing. Yosel Friedenson, didn't have even one Yiddeshe Vort in protest at Svei's vile character assassination.<BR/><BR/>These are the torch bearers of and for Mike Tress? <BR/><BR/>Everything Kahane predicted, is unfortunately, occurring before our very eyes: Sderot, Ashkelon, the betrayel of Gush Katif, the slow and steady strangulation of Chevron, and now the ultimate capitulation of Yerushalayim to our kissin' kousins. <BR/><BR/>It's really incredible that in a short 40 years we, the "Ahm Kishei Oref", have succeeded in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The liberation of Yerushalayim and the opening of the Kotel at the culmination of the Six-Day War heralded a new vista and opportunity that was and has been pitifully squandered. <BR/><BR/>And today, now, the beat goes on: It is $has $adly all about the Gelt.<BR/><BR/>Hasem Yiracheim.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-90122513206650362462008-02-17T18:57:00.000-05:002008-02-17T18:57:00.000-05:00"R' Elya may have overreacted..."Delete the words ..."R' Elya may have overreacted..."<BR/><BR/>Delete the words ..."May have..."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-42851155865037329702008-02-17T17:46:00.000-05:002008-02-17T17:46:00.000-05:00B"H one of the few benefits of peak oil will be th...B"H one of the few benefits of peak oil will be that centralized factory farming will no longer be a viable option. When diesel is $10 or $15 or more per gallon, it costs far more to transport the end products 100 miles than it does to raise and process the animals - and most people will not be able to pay the increased costs of long-distance transportation. <BR/><BR/>Relocalization will return cows and chickens to smaller organic and sustainable family farms. It means there may be less meat available overall (especially during the transition phase from giant agribusiness factory farms to relocalization and victory gardens), but the end result will be higher quality and the animals will be treated more humanely. Production of eggs and dairy products will likewise be more humane and ultimately more healthy for us. <BR/><BR/>These types of things just didn't happen back even as recently as the mid 20th century - it is the immoral and unethical giant agribusiness model of centralized farming that has caused it. The sooner that paradigm dies, the better. <BR/><BR/>My grandfather and great-grandfather would be horrified to see how dairies are run today - and what happens to the boy calves as well, not to mention the chickens. They just never treated their animals that way - nobody did. These Robber Baron CEOs worship money (which they call "efficiency" and "economies of scale") and nothing else matters to them - apparently nobody ever taught them about "diminishing returns" or Torah.Ahavahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12795309173195607578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-61520739048627629882008-02-17T14:42:00.000-05:002008-02-17T14:42:00.000-05:00Maybe Belsky will be a better candidate: Iran - Ac...Maybe Belsky will be a better candidate:<BR/><BR/><BR/> Iran - According to Rabbi Meir Bruk, Azerbaijan’s Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi, the need has recently arisen for a new Rabbi in Tehran, as the current officeholder received a letter of dismissal from the Iranian Government because he had reached retirement age.<BR/><BR/>Rabbi Bruk says, Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, proposed to appoint Moshe Friedman, the infamous person who participated in the Holocaust denial conference in Iran.<BR/><BR/>The Jewish community had to find a diplomatic way of persuading Ahmadinejad why such an appointment would not be worthwhile. They apparently succeeded in wriggling out of a tight spot by explaining that Friedman would not be suitable mainly because he is Ashkenazic, while most Persian Jews are Sephardic. [Mishpacha Weekly]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-6730834455869735672008-02-17T14:41:00.000-05:002008-02-17T14:41:00.000-05:00Otisville, NY - A Hasidic rabbi serving time at a ...Otisville, NY - A Hasidic rabbi serving time at a federal penitentiary is suing the Bureau of Prisons to change its policy on where inmates can pray. <BR/><BR/>In a lawsuit Rabbi Mordechai Samet, who was convicted of fraudulently obtaining more than $4 million, asserts that his ability to pray according to his beliefs has been violated by the Bureau of Prisons' insistence that he pray in his cell. The cell contains a toilet, making it an unclean place to pray for Jews, his suit says, as well as for Muslims and Buddhists. <BR/>Supervisory Chaplain of Otisville Rabbi Nochum Laskin, confirms that observant Jews cannot pray in a bathroom. <BR/><BR/>"Our goal is for the Bureau of Prisons to change its national policy on prayer," said Shima Baradaran, a lawyer with Kirkland & Ellis in Manhattan, who is representing Rabbi Samet pro bono. <BR/><BR/>Rabbi Samet, 47, has moved for summary judgment, asking the judge to rule in his favor based on the evidence gathered, without the case going to trial. The Bureau of Prisons has said it will file for summary judgment, too, but asked the court for an extension. <BR/><BR/>Rabbi Samet was ordained in 1979. In 2003, he began serving a 27-year sentence in the Otisville Correctional Facility, after a jury convicted him of financial fraud, which included soliciting money for a fake lottery, submitting false death claims to insurance companies, and defrauding banks with counterfeit checks. Rabbi Samet is appealing his conviction. <BR/><BR/>The brief says that Rabbi Samet's faith forbids him from praying in his cell, where there is a toilet. But when he has prayed elsewhere in the prison, he has been disciplined, the suit says. He has also been punished for covering his toilet while praying in his cell, the suit says. [NY Times]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-74792058876790606072008-02-17T10:26:00.000-05:002008-02-17T10:26:00.000-05:00Hey, UOJ -did you catch page 116of the YATED last ...Hey, UOJ -did you catch page 116<BR/>of the YATED last week featuring<BR/>pictures from the SHUVU dinner?<BR/><BR/>Some great gangsters were there<BR/>check it out! <BR/><BR/>Just goes to prove that YATED<BR/>and the Agudah are still protecting<BR/>evil in their midst! <BR/><BR/>IT is hopeless with these corrupt<BR/>FRESSER LIARS!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-55511186511307662922008-02-17T10:09:00.000-05:002008-02-17T10:09:00.000-05:00to UOJ: why do you not allow name calling to a ros...to UOJ: why do you not allow name calling to a rosho like schachter but you go all out against belski?is one sinner's blood redder than the next? they should all be exposed!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-7423615363135531132008-02-17T10:04:00.000-05:002008-02-17T10:04:00.000-05:00http://israel613.com/books/Agri_Weissmandl_PDF.pdf...http://israel613.com/books/Agri_Weissmandl_PDF.pdf<BR/><BR/>Oh brother! The only thing worse than Yudel Shain posting all this shmutz about me is if UOJ were to mail it to gantz Brooklyn. Belsky warned me theres a good chance because Yudel even excerpts from the "I accuse" drosho from R' Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-72288389189833041682008-02-17T09:56:00.000-05:002008-02-17T09:56:00.000-05:00http://www.slate.com/id/2184488/After a bubble pop...http://www.slate.com/id/2184488/<BR/><BR/>After a bubble pops, markets go through a painful process in which they try to agree on prices for formerly inflated assets. This is called "price discovery." When the bubble is in stocks, price discovery happens very quickly. A stock can go from $60 to $0 in a matter of days, if not hours, and sometimes did when the Internet bubble popped in 2000. From a macroeconomic perspective, such stock price discovery is painful but not necessarily devastating. The people who own bubbly stocks lose money. People who bought the stock on margin—i.e. they borrowed to buy it—lose a lot money. Banks who lent to high-flying firms frequently must write off loans. And companies that supply, or service, or depend on the afflicted firms may suffer as well. But, as when the tech bubble popped, stock price discovery usually doesn't lead to systemic failures.<BR/><BR/>By contrast, the process of price discovery in housing, and housing-related credit, has been much slower—and it has much more dire systemic implications. The housing market peaked in 2006, and it has been slowly slumping. But nationwide, according to the Case-Schiller index, housing prices have fallen only 8.4 percent in the past year. Home prices in some areas of the country may need to fall 30 percent in order to find bottom. That process is likely to take years rather than months.<BR/><BR/>The slope of the housing decline has been gentle because houses can't be flipped like stocks. People live in their homes, and there are big transaction costs associated with selling them. The market isn't very liquid. There's another reason housing prices have been slow to fall. There are all kinds of incentives for everyone involved in the housing market to push off the day of reckoning, to delay the process of price discovery.<BR/><BR/>Start with the homeowner. Homes are highly leveraged purchases, whether it's 20 percent, 10 percent, or 0 percent down. Owners of existing homes are reluctant to mark down the value of their homes 20 percent overnight because, in many instances, it will wipe out their equity. Homebuilders and condo developers don't like to lower prices quickly because it makes those who bought in their development five months earlier feel like chumps. The banks don't want to concede that the houses they lent against are suddenly worth a great deal less than they were a few months ago. Investors who bought the bonds created by slicing and dicing mortgages—and then leveraged up their positions by borrowing money—get massacred when prices fall. The same holds true for bond insurers like Ambac and MBIA, which insured structured finance products created by lashing groups of mortgage-related securities together. <BR/><BR/>And so, since the bubble popped and home prices ceased to rise, desperate players in the market have taken a series of actions intended to delay price discovery in housing. Rather than cut prices, sellers began to throw in free cars or other inducements to buyers who paid the asking price. Brokers reduced their commissions. Builders started including all sorts of extras (fancy kitchens, pools, etc.) for no additional price. Every link in the chain sacrificed margins and profits rather than cut prices. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that homebuilders were funneling large cash payments to buyers through third-party marketers, in effect reducing the price buyers had to pay while publicly reporting that sales prices remained buoyant.<BR/><BR/>Such measures were like throwing sandbags at a rising river. And it hasn't worked. The carnage in subprime loans has led to a spate of foreclosures. When banks or investors take over properties, they recoup whatever they can by placing it on the market quickly and accepting any reasonable offer. When foreclosed properties are dumped onto the market and sold at fire-sale prices, they establish new comparable sales on a given street or neighborhood. It might take a solvent home-seller 18 months to mark down the price of his house by 20 percent. A bank will do it in 18 days.<BR/><BR/>Foreclosure also has the effect of hastening price discovery on the mortgages on those homes, and on the bonds backing them. Here, again, the impact can be devastating to those who bought the assets with a great deal of leverage. Hedge funds and other institutions sitting on the depreciating debt either had to put up more collateral to maintain their leveraged positions, or dump the assets to raise cash. Bond insurers must increase reserves to prepare for defaults of the bonds they insured. And if the bond insurers fail, the financial firms that purchased insurance from them will have to take their own write-downs. The potential for massive systemic problems is the reason there's been so much discussion between financial institutions and government regulators about trying to orchestrate some sort of bailout for the bond insurers.<BR/><BR/>In general, cleaning up quickly after popped bubbles is good for the economy, because it enables everybody to move on. Over the years, the American economic system has proved to be quite adept at doing so. And as Japan's experience in recent years shows, refusing to deal with the overhang of bad debt can condemn an economy to a lengthy period of slow growth. But I doubt there's the political will to allow the fast price discovery allowed by foreclosures to continue. While it would certainly bring long-term economic benefits, the short-term social, financial, and political consequences of a rapid clearing of the housing mess are too much to bear. As the year goes on, expect presidential candidates and government officials to keep throwing lifelines and buckets full of hope at the housing market.<BR/><BR/>Daniel Gross is the Moneybox columnist for Slate and the business columnist for Newsweek. You can e-mail him at moneybox@slate.com. He is the author of Pop! Why Bubbles Are Great for the Economy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-58544107355288003172008-02-17T03:30:00.000-05:002008-02-17T03:30:00.000-05:00can anyone get these men to give their wifes a get...can anyone get these men to give their wifes a get already! I need a pilegesh right away and hershel shlechter will only allow me one after she gets a GET but I cant wait anymore! any suggestions?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-24737467692267948032008-02-17T03:19:00.000-05:002008-02-17T03:19:00.000-05:00herschel Schachter better known as hershel shlecht...herschel Schachter better known as hershel shlechter is counted with belski and the other reshoim.Any man who behaves so beligerently in supporting a treif and rosho organization as ORA, deserves this title.he does not care to do his homework on men or women to ascertain the truth and is an accomplice in the motzi shem ra against the choshuv Rabbi Blumenkrantz. therefore he is branded as a rosho for publicly humiliating a talmid chochom and for destroying human lives thru lies and deceit. included in the rosho/moser categories are Naomi Mauer from the jewish press,josh ross from ora,zev lewinson from ora,and all the feminist bitches who advertise their husbands' names in the jewish press,ora website,or other periodicals to EXTORT a GET without giving him his halachic due process.You bitches out there, be aware that us men have gathered into a large group and will fight your corruption and the corrupt rabbis too!!! also warning to any man looking to marry a divorced woman who utilized ORA ,the jewish press,the RCA,THE RCC,Rabbi belski,aryeh ralbag,etc...............you are taking a big chance! since if she one day doesnt like you;you might endup being blacklisted falsely by any or all of the above. so everyone study carefully the names listed in the j.p as GET witholders or at getora.com and stay clear of their spouses!!!!!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-50414545855284509722008-02-17T01:16:00.000-05:002008-02-17T01:16:00.000-05:00LATEST REPORT JUST OFF THE PRESS"BEIRUT, Lebanon -...LATEST REPORT JUST OFF THE PRESS<BR/><BR/>"BEIRUT, Lebanon - An earthquake shook parts of Lebanon and neighboring countries Friday, causing minor damage and slightly injuring five people, police said. <BR/>Residents of Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel also reported feeling the tremor."<BR/><BR/>According to Professor Bobby Kamma of the Iran's Babylon Geological Department the quake occurred after a basket sent by the Yeshiva Torah Vodaath to Hezbola in Beirut was being lowered down an old stone wall and accidentally opened up and at which time the rasha Yisroel Belsky who had been stuffed inside, stuck out his two chazzir paws and gripped the wall. <BR/><BR/>The Hezbola leadership sent a message to UOJ insisting they have no need for that farshtunkena duvar acher with the name Yisroel Belsky .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-86759559483071141762008-02-17T00:30:00.000-05:002008-02-17T00:30:00.000-05:00After one year in egg production, the birds are cl...After one year in egg production, the birds are classified as 'spent hens' and are sent off to slaughter. Their brittle, calcium-depleted bones often shatter during handling or at the slaughterhouse. They usually end up in soups, pot pies, or similar low-grade chicken meat products in which their bodies can be shredded to hide the bruises from consumers.<BR/><BR/>http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/eggs/<BR/><BR/>There are approximately 300 million egg laying hens in the U.S. confined in battery cages — small wire cages stacked in tiers and lined up in rows inside huge warehouses. In accordance with the USDA's recommendation to give each hen four inches of 'feeder space,' hens are commonly packed four to a cage measuring just 16 inches wide. In this tiny space, the birds cannot stretch their wings or legs, and they cannot fulfill normal behavioral patterns or social needs. Constantly rubbing against the wire cages, they suffer from severe feather loss, and their bodies are covered with bruises and abrasions. <BR/><BR/>In order to reduce injuries resulting from excessive pecking — an aberrant behavior that occurs when the confined hens are bored and frustrated — practically all laying hens have part of their beaks cut off. Debeaking is a painful procedure that involves cutting through bone, cartilage, and soft tissue.<BR/><BR/>Laying more than 250 eggs per year each, laying hens' bodies are severely taxed. They suffer from "fatty liver syndrome" when their liver cells, which work overtime to produce the fat and protein for egg yolks, accumulate extra fat. They also suffer from what the industry calls 'cage layer fatigue,' and many become 'egg bound' and die when their bodies are too weak to pass another egg.<BR/><BR/>Osteoporosis is another common ailment afflicting egg laying hens, whose bodies lose more calcium to form egg shells than they can assimilate from their diets. One industry journal, Feedstuffs, explains, "...the laying hen at peak eggshell cannot absorb enough calcium from her diet..." while another (Lancaster Farming) states, "... a hen will use a quantity of calcium for yearly egg production that is greater than her entire skeleton by 30-fold or more." Inadequate calcium contributes to broken bones, paralysis, and death.<BR/><BR/>After one year in egg production, the birds are classified as 'spent hens' and are sent off to slaughter. Their brittle, calcium-depleted bones often shatter during handling or at the slaughterhouse. They usually end up in soups, pot pies, or similar low-grade chicken meat products in which their bodies can be shredded to hide the bruises from consumers. <BR/><BR/>With a growing supply of broiler chickens keeping slaughterhouses busy, egg producers have had to find new ways to dispose of spent hens. One entrepreneur has developed the 'Jet-Pro' system to turn spent hens into animal feed. As described in Feedstuffs, "Company trucks would enter layer operations, pick up the birds, and grind them up, on site, in a portable grinder... it (the ground up hens) would go to Jet-Pro's new extruder-texturizer, the 'Pellet Pro.'"<BR/><BR/>In one notorious case of extraordinary cruelty at Ward Egg Ranch in February 2003 in San Diego County, California, more than 15,000 spent laying hens were tossed alive into a wood-chipping machine to dispose of them. Despite tremendous outcry from a horrified public, the district attorney declined to prosecute the owners of the egg farm, calling the use of a wood-chipper to kill hens a "common industry practice." <BR/><BR/>In some cases, especially if the cost of replacement hens is high, laying hens may be 'force molted' to extend their laying capacity. This process involves starving the hens for up to 18 days, keeping them in the dark, and denying them water to shock their bodies into another egg-laying cycle. Commonly, between 5 and 10% of birds die during the molt, and those who live may lose more than 25% of their body weight. <BR/><BR/>For every egg-laying hen confined in a battery cage, there is a male chick who was killed at the hatchery. Because egg-laying chicken breeds have been genetically selected exclusively for maximum egg production, they don't grow fast or large enough to be raised profitably for meat. Therefore, male chicks of egg-laying breeds are of no economic value, and they are literally discarded on the day they hatch — usually by the cheapest, most convenient means available. Thrown into trash cans by the thousands, male chicks suffocate or are crushed under the weight of others.<BR/><BR/>Another common method of disposing of unwanted male chicks is grinding them up alive. This can result in unspeakable horrors, as described by one research scientist who observed that "even after twenty seconds, there were only partly damaged animals with whole skulls". In other words, fully conscious chicks were partially ground up and left to slowly and agonizingly die. Eyewitness accounts at commercial hatcheries indicate similar horrors of chicks being slowly dismembered by machinery blades en route to trash bins or manure spreaders.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-57728038524997969812008-02-17T00:21:00.000-05:002008-02-17T00:21:00.000-05:00http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming...http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/poultry/<BR/><BR/>Record numbers of chickens and turkeys are being raised and killed for meat in the U.S. every year. Nearly ten billion chickens and half a billion turkeys are hatched in the U.S. annually. These birds are typically crowded by the thousands into huge, factory-like warehouses where they can barely move. Each chicken is given less than half a square foot of space, while turkeys are each given less than three square feet. Shortly after hatching, both chickens and turkeys have the ends of their beaks cut off, and turkeys also have the ends of their toes clipped off. These mutilations are performed without anesthesia, ostensibly to reduce injuries that result when stressed birds are driven to fighting.<BR/><BR/>Today's "broiler" (meat) chickens have been genetically altered to grow twice as fast and twice as large as their ancestors. Pushed beyond their biological limits, hundreds of millions of chickens die every year before reaching slaughter weight at 6 weeks of age. An industry journal explains that "broilers [chickens] now grow so rapidly that the heart and lungs are not developed well enough to support the remainder of the body, resulting in congestive heart failure and tremendous death losses." Modern broiler chickens also experience crippling leg disorders, as their legs are not capable of supporting their abnormally heavy bodies. Confined in unsanitary, disease-ridden factory farms, the birds also frequently succumb to heat prostration, infectious diseases, and cancer.<BR/><BR/>Like meat-type chickens, commercial turkeys also suffer from serious physical malformations wrought by genetic manipulation. In addition to having been altered to grow quickly and unnaturally large, commercial turkeys have been genetically manipulated to have extremely large breasts, in order to meet consumer demand for breast meat. As a result, turkeys cannot mount and reproduce naturally, so their sole means of reproduction is artificial insemination. And similar to broiler chickens, factory-farmed turkeys are prone to heart disease and leg injuries as a consequence of their grossly-overweight bodies. An industry journal laments that: <BR/><BR/>Turkeys have been bred to grow faster and heavier but their skeletons haven't kept pace, which causes 'cowboy legs'. Commonly, the turkeys have problems standing and fall and are trampled on or seek refuge under feeders, leading to bruises and downgradings as well as culled or killed birds.<BR/><BR/>Chickens and turkeys are taken to the slaughterhouse in crates stacked on the backs of open trucks. During transport, the birds are not protected from weather conditions, and a percentage of the birds are expected to die en route. Birds freeze to death in winter, or die from heat stress and suffocation in warm weather. It is “cheaper” for the industry to transport the birds in open crates without adequate protection, despite high mortality rates. Upon arrival at the slaughterhouse, the birds are either pulled individually from their crates, or the crates are lifted off the truck, often with a crane or forklift, and the birds are dumped onto a conveyor belt. As the birds are unloaded, some miss the conveyor belt and fall onto the ground. Slaughterhouse workers intent upon 'processing' thousands of birds every hour have neither the time nor the inclination to pick up individuals who fall through the cracks, and these birds suffer grim deaths. Some die after being crushed by machinery or vehicles operating near the unloading area, while others may die of starvation or exposure days, or even weeks, later.<BR/><BR/>Birds inside the slaughterhouse suffer an equally gruesome fate. Upon entering the facility, fully conscious birds are hung by their feet from metal shackles on a moving rail. Although poultry are specifically excluded from the federal Humane Slaughter Act (which requires that animals be stunned before they are slaughtered), many slaughterplants first stun the birds in an electrified water bath in order to immobilize them and expedite assembly line killing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-12844065046880529172008-02-16T22:22:00.000-05:002008-02-16T22:22:00.000-05:00http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming...http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/beef/<BR/><BR/>Many beef cattle are born and live on the range, foraging and fending for themselves for months or even years. They are not adequately protected against inclement weather, and they may die of dehydration or freeze to death. Injured, ill, or otherwise ailing animals do not receive necessary veterinary attention. One common malady afflicting beef cattle is called "cancer eye." Left untreated, the cancer eats away at the animal's eye and face, eventually producing a crater in the side of the animal's head.<BR/><BR/>Accustomed to roaming unimpeded and unconstrained, range cattle are frightened and confused when humans come to round them up. Terrified animals are often injured, some so severely that they become "downed" (unable to walk or even stand). These downed animals commonly suffer for days without receiving food, water or veterinary care, and many die of neglect. Others are dragged, beaten, and pushed with tractors on their way to slaughter.<BR/><BR/>Many cattle will experience additional transportation and handling stress at stockyards and auctions, where they are goaded through a series of walkways and holding pens and sold to the highest bidder. From the auction, older cattle may be taken directly to slaughter, or they may be taken to a feedlot. Younger animals and breeding-age cows may go back to the range.<BR/><BR/>Ranchers still identify cattle the same way they have since pioneer days — with hot iron brands. Needless to say, this practice is extremely traumatic and painful, and the animals bellow loudly as ranchers' brands are burned into their skin. Beef cattle are also subjected to 'waddling,' another type of identification marking. This painful procedure entails cutting chunks out of the hide that hangs under the animals' necks. Waddling marks are supposed to be large enough so that ranchers can identify their cattle from a distance.<BR/><BR/>Most beef cattle spend the last few months of their lives at feedlots, crowded by the thousands into dusty, manure-laden holding pens. The air is thick with harmful bacteria and particulate matter, and the animals are at a constant risk for respiratory disease. Feedlot cattle are routinely implanted with growth-promoting hormones, and they are fed unnaturally rich diets designed to fatten them quickly and profitably. Because cattle are biologically suited to eat a grass-based, high fiber diet, their concentrated feedlot rations contribute to metabolic disorders.<BR/><BR/>Cattle may be transported several times during their lifetimes, and they may travel hundreds or even thousands of miles during a single trip. Long journeys are very stressful and contribute to disease and even death. The Drover's Journal reports, "Shipping fever costs livestock producers as much as $1 billion a year."<BR/><BR/>Young cattle are commonly taken to areas with cheap grazing land, to take advantage of this inexpensive feed source. Upon reaching maturity, they are trucked to a feedlot to be fattened and readied for slaughter. Eventually, all of them will end up at the slaughterhouse.<BR/><BR/>A standard beef slaughterhouse kills 250 cattle every hour. The high speed of the assembly line makes it increasingly difficult to treat animals with any semblance of humaneness. A Meat & Poultry article states, "Good handling is extremely difficult if equipment is 'maxed out' all the time. It is impossible to have a good attitude toward cattle if employees have to constantly overexert themselves, and thus transfer all that stress right down to the animals, just to keep up with the line."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-40631710456113211372008-02-16T22:11:00.000-05:002008-02-16T22:11:00.000-05:00http://www.nodowners.org/newyork_DA_kruger.htmI ne...http://www.nodowners.org/newyork_DA_kruger.htm<BR/><BR/>I never heard of this practice before that farmers conserve milk by keeping calves away from their mothers & feeding them waste blood instead.<BR/><BR/>I wonder if these calves then grow up to be harnassed for the OU-D supply. I'm sure Rabbi Belsky has some lomdus why this is mutter lechatchila despite the threat of mad cow disease from the blood.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-78561356299352390552008-02-16T21:20:00.000-05:002008-02-16T21:20:00.000-05:00http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/business/17swap....http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/business/17swap.html?ei=5087&em=&en=c476f877d7f09441&ex=1203310800&pagewanted=print<BR/><BR/>What a mess.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-1698329087744606752008-02-16T20:33:00.000-05:002008-02-16T20:33:00.000-05:00http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/business/15econ....http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/business/15econ.html?ei=5087&em=&en=31951c248b9f95f0&ex=1203310800&pagewanted=print<BR/><BR/>February 15, 2008<BR/>Top Officials See Bleaker Outlook for the Economy <BR/><BR/>By EDMUND L. ANDREWS<BR/><BR/>Anxiety is escalating among institutional lenders and major borrowers, as the panic over soaring default rates on subprime mortgages that began last summer continues to spread, freezing up credit for municipalities, hospitals, student loans and even investment funds holding the most conservative bonds. <BR/><BR/>On Capitol Hill, the economic policy makers found themselves in the line of fire. Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, accused both Mr. Bernanke and Mr. Paulson of having “hit the snooze button.”<BR/><BR/>Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of the Banking Committee, told reporters after the hearing that “it just seems as if they aren’t as concerned about the magnitude of the problem.”<BR/><BR/>Nationwide, housing prices have declined and show no signs of having hit bottom, while the stock markets have fallen sharply from their highs late last year. <BR/><BR/>Mr. Dodd has proposed legislation to create an agency to bail out many homeowners by buying up and restructuring troubled mortgages. He painted a particularly bleak picture.<BR/><BR/>“The current economic situation is more than merely a ‘slowdown’ or a ’downturn,’ ” he said. “It is a crisis of confidence among consumers and investors.”<BR/><BR/>Mr. Paulson and other administration officials staunchly oppose a government buyout program, arguing that the tax rebates and business tax cuts in the new stimulus package should keep the nation out of a recession.<BR/><BR/>But Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, predicted the bill’s tax rebates and temporary tax cuts for business would have a negligible impact.<BR/><BR/>“I have equated it to pouring a glass of water in the ocean and expecting it to make a difference,” Mr. Shelby said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-41916440328093752622008-02-16T20:18:00.000-05:002008-02-16T20:18:00.000-05:00http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/02/1...http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/02/16/2008-02-16_odds_are_stacked_against_hillary_clinton.html<BR/><BR/>Odds are stacked against Hillary Clinton, say expertsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-68318734134266979102008-02-16T19:36:00.000-05:002008-02-16T19:36:00.000-05:00http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/would...http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/would-you-like-sick-cow-with-those-fries/<BR/><BR/>Congress is looking at the issue of sick and downed cows, but very slowly. Companies like McDonalds are pushing their distributors to make certain their products come from healthy animals. A few states, including California, Florida, Kansas and Illinois, have attempted to fill the gap in federal regulation by passing stronger laws against mistreating animals and slaughtering the sick or downed ones.<BR/><BR/>New York is still in the majority of states that must count on the abbatoires and the USDA to ensure that only healthy meat is sold. State Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan, has introduced a downed animal bill that would help. Any legislator whose constituents eat hamburgers should support it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-60770556163852255222008-02-15T17:01:00.000-05:002008-02-15T17:01:00.000-05:00There were many times that are rabbinic leaders ch...There were many times that are rabbinic leaders chose to learn torah in caves for safety and security. Now they want to keep their heads in the sand and not protect vicims of child abuse as opposed to doing the right thing. This is a negative use of caves for hiding secrets.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21519732.post-34179364131233643292008-02-15T14:25:00.000-05:002008-02-15T14:25:00.000-05:00What's Schwartzie talking about?What's Schwartzie talking about?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com