My kinda town

Back again after a week spent on my third trip in a month-and-a-half.

This time it was the big one, the one I’ve been waiting for since returning to graduate school in the late spring: the summer seminars at Spertus College in Chicago. And despite missing the family and a torturous stomach upset—thank you Imodium—I had the best time. Some highlights:

• I found a new academic home in the Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies. Its building is a stunning work of abstract art in concrete, steel, and glass; its location on Michigan Avenue, opposite Grant Park, is perfectly central to everything; and its physical, technological, and human resources are amazing, including my teachers and fellow doctoral students. I learned more than I’d imagined possible, which is, of course, a double edged sword—now I have a million new paths to follow.
• I spent hours shooting the shit with old friends. It was great hanging with you and catching up. Those of you I didn’t get to see, I’ll hook up with next spring. I promise.
• I learned that beyond being the home of meat, Chicago’s also a foodie heaven for those with a vegetarian bent. With Daliah, I threw down a mind blowing seitan Radical Rueben at the deservedly famous Chicago Diner; with Brad, I enjoyed (slightly modified) tapas at Emilio’s; and with Geoff, I tasted two spectacular Asian dishes (and a delightful bottle of Rioja) from the vegan menu(!) at Opera.
• I remembered why Chicago has always been my favorite American city. (Well, for the 25 years since I first visited.) It’s not simply because of the stunning skyline and world-class museums. Rather, and away from the skyscrapers, bright lights, and beautifully tended gardens that line the Magnificent Mile, it remains an honest and tolerant Midwestern city of human-scaled neighborhoods filled with good people and the camaraderie born of years spent laughing in the face of brutal winters. And when, like last week, her days are mild, clear, and sunny, Chicago is as great a place as any on earth.

All that and and a Jewish community of almost 300,000. What's not to love?

So now it’s back to whatever reality is.

Shavuah tov. Have a great week.

Really? You've got to be kidding me!

I've never planned on blogging American politics, but this is more about posing questions than proposing answers: Is it just me, or are the Republicans losing their embittered minds? (How do these people walk? Eat? Breathe? Face themselves in the mirror?)

In just the past 24 hours, I've learned from senior Republicans that:

• Socio-politically, the United States is where Germany was at the dawn of World War II
• Recent evidence suggests the globe is not warming, but even if it is, the warming is unlikely caused by human activity
• Judge Sotomayor's past pro bono service on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF) disqualifies her from the Supreme Court—for rightists, the PRLDEF is another NAACP, an "un-American" and "Communist-inspired" organization that forces civil rights "down the throats of people."

And in the unlikely case that these and myriad other faux pas aren't enough, USA Today reports that, even in the wake of her most recent attempt at political suicide, "71% of Republicans say they'd be likely to vote for Palin if she ran for president in 2012."

Yes, I realize I'm posing a rhetorical question. And yes, I realize the Democrat caucus is mediocre and disorganized at best—actually, it reminds me most of a circular firing squad—but here's another question: If one (or more) of my friends is a vocal Republican, how do I treat him or her seriously? (How do I respect him? How, indeed, do I remain friends with her?)

Sad, but inevitable

In a well researched article in today's Washington Post, Purity of Federal "Organic" Label Is Questioned, Kimberly Kindy and Lyndsey Layton confirm long circulating rumors that the USDA's 2002 organic certification program's "shortcomings mean that consumers, who at times must pay twice as much for organic products, are not always getting what they expect."

In support of their argument, Kindy and Layton offer a barn-full of evidence, including:

• USDA provides exceptions for "organic" foods to contain "245 non-organic substances"
• USDA never implemented its mandate for annual pesticide testing
• Dairy farms sell "organic" milk from cows that spend little or no time grazing outside
• Farmers feed "organic" livestock "non-organic fish meal, which can contain mercury and PCBs"

This simply must change. Now! And I don't want to hear fellow liberals blaming the Bush administration—even though it did eviscerate the USDA, the FDA, and the EPA. Shrub and his cronies are discredited and gone. Our Democrat Executive and Congress should act immediately to protect our food supply, our health, and the environment from the excesses of agro-conglomerates.

But this isn't only about the government. We must take responsibility for ourselves and our children. You can play a major role by:

• Visiting local farmer's markets
• Getting to know the people who grow our food
• Asking them about their practices
• Supporting their work

Learn more from Farmer's Market Online, read its blog, and heed its byline: "Shop Smart. Buy Responsibly. Buy Direct from the Producer."

Read the full article in the Washington Post. Or read it at msnbc.com.

Shabbat shalom. Good shabbos.

The evidence mounts: yet more reasons to eat a varied vegetarian diet

Today, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) updated and significantly expanded its position on vegetarian diets. The ADA argues that well-planned veggie diets are salubrious for people of all ages; that they can help prevent and treat heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes.

Read the ADA press release.

Also today, Cancer Research UK announced a British Journal of Cancer (BJC) study declaring vegetarians 12 percent less likely than meat eaters (on average) to contract some form of cancer. According to the study, the most striking gaps concerned "cancers of the blood including leukaemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The risk of these diseases was 45 per cent lower in vegetarians than in meat eaters."

Read the Cancer Research UK press release.

Read the BJC study.

Eat local. Eat organic. Eat vegan.

Falafel Bistro

We’re just back from five days in Florida, some spent delightfully on Marco Island's expansive white beaches, others frittered away in Coral Springs, an inland boomtown gone bust sandwiched between Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale.

We did, however, make a major find in Coral Springs: Falafel Bistro, a tiny-but-superb Israeli restaurant hidden in a dowdy strip mall on the southeast corner of Coral Ridge and Wiles. Falafel Bistro's menu is broad, deep, and intentionally vegetarian friendly; the hummus there is the best I've tasted in years; the falafel b'pita the best I've eaten outside Israel; and owner/chef Ilan Cohen is warm and engaging (and opinionated) in a prototypically Israeli way.

If you're ever on Florida's Jewish coast, Falafel Bistro is a must visit. Now if only they'd deliver to Austin, Texas.