NLTD in Celebrity Gift Bags?

I got a call today from Nancee Borgnine from an event and PR company called "Connected" asking us to bring No Limit Texas Dreidel to the American Music Award's "Celebrity Gift Suite". It's not free of course, not to mention the cost of flying out to LA and staying at the Sofitel Hotel in Beverly Hills. But it sounds terribly exciting and oh, for the chance to get No Limit Texas Dreidel in a big Jewish star's hands: Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, Ben Stiller, Madonna... That'd be amazing...

Invited Celebrities Include:
Justin Timberlake- Beyoncé - Linkin Park - Daughtry - Rihanna - Jimmy Kimmel - Fergie - Avril Lavigne - Carrie Underwood - Rascal Flatts - Maroon 5 - Toby Keith - Robin Thicke - Norah Jones - Tim McGraw - The White Stripes - John Mayer - Akon

I'm so out of the pop music scene, I don't know who half these people are. Maybe Jimmy Kimmel will bring Sarah Silverman. OOooo, I'd love to get a NLTD tattoo on her!

What do you think? Should I stay or should I go?

What's a Jew to do?

If I was a Jew in San Francisco I'd be at Progressive Jewish Alliance gathering this Thursday in Berkeley. PJA will be screening Hineini, a documentary film entitled "Here I am" in Hebrew, about a student coming out as a lesbian and establishing a gay-straight alliance at a Jewish high school in Boston. You can preview the film here, on the Keshet website.

The screening is part of PJA's marriage equality campaign, "Bringing the Orange Under the Huppah." PJA is asking that straight couples include an orange under their wedding canopy as a show of support for marriage equality. Read more about PJA's campaign.



The orange under the huppah is an extension of the new tradition of putting an orange on the Passover seder plate. The orange has become a symbol of Jewish inclusion of gays and lesbians and, in the words of the inventor of the Passover tradition Susanna Heschel, anyone who is "marginalized within the Jewish community."

Jewish opinion about homosexuality and gay marriage is heated, complex, complicated and way beyond the scope of this blog. But basically, Orthodox opposes, Conservative opinion is mixed, Reform is accepting, and Reconstructionist and Humanistic Judaism support marriage equality. A nice primer is Wikipedia's article on Homosexuality and Judaism.

No matter how you feel about homosexuality Hineini is sure to give you much to think, discuss and argue about and all Jewish denominations support that.

Bringing the Orange under the Huppah
Thursday, October 25, 7:30 pm
JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St, Berkeley
Click here for more information about the event.

Do you look Jewish?

In this month's PresenTense Magazine (which I absolutely adore) the cover article is, "You Don't Look Jewish" which profiles converts who, because of their black or Hispanic or [insert non-Caucasian ethnicity] heritages don't have the stereotypical European/Semitic appearance. Sure converts may not "look Jewish" but many Jews (maybe most -- who knows --) don't "look Jewish." One of my favorite groups on Flickr (the online photography community) is Jewish Faces M&Ms. The organizer of the group writes, "we are all colors ..like my favorite candy." There are 1,120 photos and you can watch the slideshow to see how many different faces and "looks" there are.

Skinny Jeans for Not-Skinny Genes

"...if the look you are searching for is that of a fat midget – go put on a pair of skinny jeans."
-Mike, a designer and the owner of the Shandan jeans shop, on 38 Sheinkin St., Tel Aviv, explains why he is opposed to the skinny jeans

Leave it to the Israelis to tell it like it is. Although the girls above sport them fine, some in the Israeli fashion world are lamenting the skinny-jean comeback as much as I am:

"they are ugly, and I believe this fad will soon die out, the main reason being that unless you are a model who is 5'9" tall, this type of jeans will make your ass look big. And unfortunately, most Israeli girls sport a large behind, and are not very tall."

It's not only a Diasporic phenomenon; shouldn't bootcamp unload some of that junk in the trunk? Read the original article by Hohit Ori Day with good pictures of Israeli booty by Arnon Maoz and Elad Hizki on Sheinkin.com, an e-magazine about Sheinkin Street, one of Tel-Aviv's hippest (hippyest?) fashion shopping streets.

Celebrate Fair Trade Month with Kosher Kippot!

In California, Progressive Jewish Alliance is the address for Jewish anti-Sweatshop work. PJA works in collaboration with non-Jewish groups on getting major purchasers of clothing (The City of Los Angels, San Francisco and Berkley; the University of California system, etc.) to purchase only sweatfree garments, while working in the Jewish community to get Jewish summer camps, day schools, synagogues and other organization to do the same. Progressive Jewish Alliance is now offering sweatfree yarmulkes (skullcaps) through their "Kosher Kippot" program. They will work with you or your organization to coordinate sweatfree kippot purchases with educational workshops about labor rights and Jewish values. The program is particularly popular with Bar and Bat Mitzvah kids. PJA has more information on their website: pjalliance.org and in the Bay Area at their office: bayare@pjalliance.org or call them at 510.527.8640.

It's Not Easy to be Sweatshop Free

While contacting Jewish non-profits for ModernTribe's affiliate program, we communicated with a woman who said her organization only affiliates with shops that sell products manufactured under "fair working conditions," like those advocated by Sweat Free Communities and Global Exchange. She asked if we knew anything about the working conditions at our products' manufacturing facilities. Because 95% of our products are made in the United States or Israel, and many of them are handcrafted housewares, we didn't think child labor, poverty wages, forced (slave) labor, and unsafe working conditions were likely problems. According to our affiliate contact, handcrafted by the artist/designer him or herself likely meets the standard of fair labor. But Made-In-The-USA or Israel does not ensure fairness: There are sweatshops in both countries.

Thankfully, child labor, poverty pay, and dangerous working conditions aren't called "unfair" in the United States and Israel: they are called illegal. Sweatshops should be less prevalent in the US, Israel, and other countries which have comprehensive labor laws.

Israeli labor laws are extensive. You can read them here at the Israeli Ministry of Trade and Labor's Web site. However, I don't know how well these laws are enforced. Please share, readers, if you know.

So which countries are the worst offenders of fair working conditions? On the US Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs website, you can read and research their reports on abuses. An excerpt on child labor:

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), there were an estimated 211 million children, ages 5 to 14, working around the world in 2000. The majority of the world's working children, according to the ILO, are found in Asia (127.3 million), followed by Africa (48.0 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (17.4 million), and the Middle East and North Africa (13.4 million). While Asia has the highest number of child workers, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion of working children.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find research or records on particular factory/manufacturing plant violators. How does a retailer research whether any individual manufacturer meets fair labor standards other than to ask the manufacturer directly about their policies regarding employing children, wages, work schedules, and work conditions?
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added on 10/03/2007
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Here are the "Fair Trade Criteria" from the Fair Trade Federation

• Paying fair wages in local context;
• Supporting participatory workplaces;
• Ensuring environmental sustainability;
• Supplying financial and technical support;
• Respecting cultural identity;
• Offering public accountability; and,
• Educating consumers.