In an age of religious strife and division, it is truly heart-warming to how organized religions, regardless of their denomination, can share in the wonderful tradition of undermining science and education. As many know, the Christian religious right frequently rears its head to oppose teaching things like evolution, or the Age of Enlightenment, or how not to get pregnant, or how not to get an STI. But did you know Jews do it too? Well, now you do.

The Israeli Ministry of education, in an extremely pro-education move, has asked text book publishers to remove chapters on little not-so-importanty things like human reproduction, safe sex and contraception from science textbooks used in state religious junior high schools. Thank god, students will now be sheltered from inappropriate language like:

“Every month (during the woman’s period of fertility) one of her ova (the egg cells) ripens and is released from the ovary where it was created. This stage is called ovulation … Only if a sperm cell reaches the fallopian tube during those days will fertilization occur.”

Sadly,  students in non-religious schools will still be exposed to this garbage. Because for the first time ever, different textbooks will be used in religious and secular Israeli state schools! Now, that’s progress!

At first, the changes requested by the ministry were fairly minor. But eventually, the alterations became so drastic that publishers who had originally agreed to them are now infuriated and some are backing out of the deal: “The ministry capitulated to one of the most extremist factions of the religious public,” said one publishing executive. They’re not the only people upset that students at Israel’s religious junior high schools won’t be seeing scandalous things like illustrations of sperm or ova or learning about gross things like… I can barely write it out… hold on… OK, I’m back from throwing up… menstruation.

Zahava Gal-On, the Chairwoman of the Israeli left-wing Zionist political party said the ministry’s plan to “to censor ‘damaging’ topics from the curriculum in state-religious schools, such as the human reproductive system or references to the female body, is not only ridiculous, but also worrying. More than 200,000 children today are in the state-religious education system, which is 200,000 future citizens of the State of Israel who will grow up with ignorance and with the sense that the human body, or to be more specific, the body of the woman, is something dirty.”  Gal-On argues that human reproduction and women’s bodies are not shameful, “but that the education system is something very shameful.”

And those of you concerned about others disciplines aren’t being sufficiently stifled by religion, you’ll be happy to know that the Education Ministry has also altered the Hebrew language textbooks: all women represented now wear head coverings, and all the girls wear skirts.

Just one more infographic on Labor Day. Earlier I blogged about the people Labor Day matters to. But I realized, I didn’t explain the origins of the holiday. So, here you go. An actual text post is coming soon!

You may have noticed our (relative) absence yesterday. That’s because it was Labor Day, which we observed by not blogging (too much). But we want to wish everyone a Happy Belated Labor Day! These infographics represent some issues we should be thinking about not just on Labor Day, but all year round. Because labor and exploitation effects everyone. Like (and these are obviously intersecting groups)…

WOMEN

WOMEN OF COLOR

TRANS

IMMIGRANTS

IMMIGRANT WOMEN

CHILDREN

FAMILIES

FORCED WORKERS

CONSUMERS

This is by no means an exhaustive list. If you find any good infographics representing populations who aren’t represented here, please comment with a link and I will add.

Tens of thousands of people gathered at The National Mall to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on Saturday. Most people don’t know it was for “Jobs and Freedom.” Even fewer people know what the demands of the march were. Well, here are ten things the organizers, representing different organizations and ideologies, were able to agree on as demands.

1. Comprehensive and effective civil rights legislation from the present Congress — without compromise or filibuster — to guarantee all Americans:
   Access to all public accommodations
   Decent housing
   Adequate and integrated education
   The right to vote
2. Withholding of Federal funds from all programs in which discrimination exists.
3. Desegregation of all school districts in 1963.
4. Enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment — reducing Congressional representation of states where citizens are disfranchised.
5. A new Executive Order banning discrimination in all housing supported by federal funds.
6. Authority for the Attorney General to institute injunctive suits when any Constitutional right is violated.
7. A massive federal program to train and place all unemployed workers — Negro and white — on meaningful and dignified jobs at decent wages.
8. A national minimum wage act that will give all Americans a decent standard of living. (Government surveys show that anything less than $2.00 an hour fails to do this.)
   

   [The minimum wage at the time of the march was $1.15/hour. After adjusting for inflation, $1.15 in 1963 is equal to $8.78 in 2013. Today in 2013, the federal minimum wage is only $7.25, significantly lower than what it was 50 years ago. After adjusting for inflation, the $2.00/hour minimum wage called for in the March demands would be equal to a minimum wage of $15.27 today, more than twice what it actually is.]

9. A broadened Fair Labor Standards Act to include all areas of employment which are presently excluded.
10. A federal Fair Employment Practices Act barring discrimination by federal, state, and municipal governments, and by employers, contractors, employment agencies, and trade unions.

The list is both depressing and inspiring. Depressing because the nation has failed to achieve so many of them. Inspiring because they are so admirable and just. So let’s continue to fight for them!

An exhibit featuring the photography of 12 women from Iran and the Arab world will open this week at the prestigious Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Entitled “She Who Tells a Story,” the exhibit includes the work of Jananne Al-Ani, Boushra Almutawakel, Gohar Dashti, Rana El Nemr, Lalla Essaydi, Shadi Ghadirian, Tanya Habjouqa, Rula Halawani, Nermine Hammam, Rania Matar, Shirin Neshat, and Newsha Tavakolian. Though many of the women now live in the United States, they hail from Jordan, Yemen, Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and Iran, which, despite the description in the New York Times, is not part of the Arab world.

Rania Matar, from Lebanon appreciates the exhibit for not merely focusing on the violence and instability in Iran and the Arab world, “but the humanity behind it.” She says, “It’s refreshing to have this exhibit right now because I think all we’re seeing from the Middle East — it’s sadness, it’s death, it’s killing.”

The curator, Kristen Gresh, writes in the introduction to the exhibit:  “Though these photographers challenge stereotypes, the choice to unite them as a group has been seen by some, ironically, as confirming a stereotype.” So, what do you think? Does the exhibit confirm or challenge stereotypes? To answer that question, take a look at the photographs.

Much of the media spent Monday celebrating Women’s Equality Day. Sure, that’s important and all, but they failed to observe another holiday that truly represents the voiceless and powerless underdogs of society: National Dog Day. Luckily, one news channel had the decency and courage to prioritize the canine appreciation day over the celebration of women’s equality: Fox News.  The channel did not mention Women’s Equality Day, but “Fox & Friends” celebrated NDD by showing dog photos sent in by viewers and the host. Anna Kooiman then described co-host Brian Kilmeade’s dog as rude and recalled when he (the dog, not Kilmeade) urinated on the set of the show. Kilmeade denied the allegation. The “furry friends” segment was so serious, that to segue into the next one, Kilmeade said, “On a lighter note …” Let’s compare a few key facts about the two days, shall we?

Read more at Salon

A 14-year-old girl is raped by her 49-year-old high school teacher. As the criminal case drags on, the girl, now 16, kills herself. The teacher pleads guilty and is sentenced to 30 days in jail.

In 2008, prosecutors charged Stacey Dean Rambold of Billings, Mont., with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent with his student. While the case was pending, just weeks before she would have turned 17, the student committed suicide. This tragedy weakened the prosecution’s case — the victim and primary witness was now dead.  Prosecutors entered into an agreement with Rambold, which stipulated that the case would be placed on hold for three years. If Rambold underwent a treatment program, complied with certain conditions, and admitted to one of the rape charges, by the end of three years, the charges would be dismissed.

But this past December, the prosecution reportedly learned that Rambold had failed to comply with these conditions. He allegedly began missing treatment program meetings, had contact with minors (though they turned out to be his relatives), and entered into a sexual relationship without notifying the program, resulting in his expulsion.

On Monday, defense attorney Jay Lansing asked for sympathy for his client: Rambold, he told the court, will now be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Rambold had already lost his job, his wife and his home and had been branded with a “scarlet letter of the Internet.” “Consider how he’s been punished to this point,” Lansing implored the judge. Rambold would be undergoing another treatment program, and an evaluation had determined that he was at low risk to reoffend and deserved a suspended sentence.  Judge Todd Baugh was convinced. On Monday, the judge sentenced the former teacher to 15 years in jail, but with all but 31 days suspended. Then the judge gave the defendant credit for one day served, which means Rambold will be in jail for 30 days for the admitted rape of a 14-year-old child.

Read more at Salon

Check out all updates about my documentary at CommieCamp.Com! But here are some upcoming screenings!

The Boston Jewish Film Festival

Saturday, November 9th at 6:30

at The Coolidge Corner Theater at 290 Harvard Street, Brookline MA 02446

buy tickets

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The Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival

Tuesday, November 5^th at 7pm

@ The National Constitution Center @ 525 Arch St. Philadelphia

buy tickets

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Kinderland Benefit Screening

(scroll to the bottom of the page to buy tickets)

Sunday October 20th at 1pm

Sunday October 20th at 4pm

@ DCTV @ 87 Lafayette street

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The Gold Coast International Film Festival

Sunday, October 27 @ 2PM

@ Sound View Cinemas

@ 7 Soundview Market Place, Port Washington, NY 11050

Here is a great review of my documentary Commie Camp in San Francisco’s Beyond Chron. You can read the full thing but here is an excerpt.

It is a wonderful, hopeful film raising serious issues that, thankfully, doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a film that will make you laugh, possibly cry, and certainly have faith in at least one segment of the next generation.

Also, here is a conversation I had with Tikkun  Magazine founder and editor-in-chief Michael Lerner.