Danny Jensen
December 25, 2008 | 10:22 pm EST
So this is the time of the year when people start to get sick due to cold and crazy weather and also when people eat a lot of junk food.
I can’t think of a more fun reminder of how we can combat sickness and make sure we don’t rot our teeth or gain a ton of weight than the video below:
takepart to support Sesame Street and then make sure to abide by the commandments of health 
Alright, it’s the night of Christmas Day, so if you still haven’t gotten everyone’s presents, you’re probably in the dog house. But, there’s still four nights of Hannukah left, so show someone you care and protect an acre of endangered forest with Conservation International. Perhaps Harrison Ford will help convince you of the importance of this green gift:
takepart by protecting an acre of forest for someone else and send them a gift card to let them know.
Strawberry workers, Salinas Valley. Photo by base10, Creative Commons
As I already wrote, Christmas Day is an opportunity for Jews and other non-Christians to come together in creative ways. So, my friend Nadya and I braved gusty winds, dodged tumbleweeds, weathered snow flurries as we climbed over mountain passes and held our noses as we passed CAFOs. Why would two nice Jewish girls endure such challenges? To get to the Hazon conference in Pacific Grove, California. Hazon (vision in Hebrew) is an organization devoted to promoting sustainable agriculture and environmentalism within the framework of Judaism.
So, while Nadya and I were actually pretty shielded from nature’s elements in the comfort of my car, there were some ironic moments on the way to this food conference. For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to be within range of a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation), I recommend it because the stench and images are profound. It really gives you a moment to think about our disconnect from our food sources that has enabled us to live in a society that supports and allows for the industrialization of one of our most precious resources and significant daily ritual. What are the consequences of our industrialized system of bringing food to our tables every day?
The second hair-raising moment was passing Tanimura and Antel and other farms industrial giants in Steinbeck country (aka Salinas Valley, America’s salad bowl). These corporate farms entice you from your passing car with three-story high wooden cut outs of bent-over smiling white farm workers dressed in their make-shift sun protection garb. Unless these farm workers are members of the United Farm Workers, these wooden cut outs are more appropriate at a Tanimura and Antel puppet show.
I’m already incredibly inspired by the people I’ve met at Hazon and their efforts to change our food system. The landscapes I passed on my trip here provide inspiration for what we need to move from. Hazon is already helping to implement their visions for what we can and need to move towards.
takepart with the United Farm Workers and Hazon to learn about their efforts for a more just and sustainable food system.
In addition to the much needed rain, forecasters predict that residents of Southern California could see snow this Christmas. And while farmers surely welcome the first Christmas rain since 2003, threats of flash floods and erratic weather should be cause for concern. I’m no meteorologist, but increasingly fluctuating and extreme weather patterns are strong indicators that we are well into a climate crisis.
takepart by helping to solve the climate crisis.
Related: Inconvenient Truth of the Day
Photo: slworking2’s Flickr Photostream (Creative Commons)
A group of Santa’s Helpers gave Tempe, Arizona drivers a little gift this week by disabling traffic cameras along area roadways. The gang of Helpers, dressed in red and white Christmas merriment, are the subject of a newly popular YouTube video showing them taking out three separate speed and red light cameras in the Phoenix area suburb, by covering the surveillance devices up with nicely wrapped Christmas boxes and tying them on with ribbons. It’s a simple but effective solution, and one rife with holiday cheer as the big day fast approaches. You can check out the video below:
This year I didn’t ask Santa for much, just to pay off my credit card debt, give me a six figure development deal with HBO, and to end the war, world hungry and cure all deadly diseases. That’s not too much, right?
I hope he can fit the above gifts in his sleigh that NORAD is tracking. For more that 50 years, the American-Canadian air command responsible for safeguarding the continent against aerial attacks has utilized the NORAD tracking device to follow the journey of Santa Claus providing children (and youthful adult like myself) with real-time updates on his precise location. As I write this blog post, Santa is in Masvingo, Zambia! Neato!
Check out http://www.noradsanta.org for Santa updates and videos like the one below taken by Santa Cams:
Happy Holidays everyone!
Photo: MFinChina, Creative Commons
For those of you who aren’t Jewish, don’t live in New York or don’t have any Jewish relatives, you might be unaware of the common Jewish custom that for every two Jews you get three opinions (or synagogues). Have you ever read our Talmud? This foundational multi-volume work is filled with questions, discussions and arguments that sometimes end without a clear answer. Despite being an ancient text, this work continues to influence our different religious practices today and is still a source of arguments. The infighting amongst fellow members of the tribe has enabled the development of diverse customs amongst Jews throughout the Diaspora and within Israel, ranging from the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic sects (who certainly aren’t reading my secular blog) to the Jewish-Buddhist practitioners commonly found in Northern California and Massachussetts.
However, the one day of the year that unites Jews of all stripes is Christmas. Not only is it a holiday we don’t celebrate, there’s little we can do on that day since the majority of the country shuts down. But, thankfully our Chinese Buddhist friends keep their restaurants open and Hollywood (which has lots of members of the tribe) releases the pre-Oscar season blockbusters.
So, suddenly atheist and Orthodox Jews can be found breaking bread in Chinese restaurants together. And, those Jews who embrace the secular world can be found patronizing movie theaters (which, are often run by our Hindu and Muslim South Asian comrades). Amazingly, Christmas has become a day for Jews and other non-Christians to engage with one another and perhaps through this dialogue, move a bit closer towards respecting and understanding our similarities rather than differences.
It’s Chanukah/Hanukkah time again, which means it’s time to bring out the classic song by Adam Sandler, appropriately called “The Chanukah Song.” Join us as we celebrate! Oh, and watch out for the reference to something illegal around the 3:40 mark.
It’s still good today, after all these years. takepart with the Jewish Outreach Institute, and learn how all Jewish holidays are celebrated.
I absolutely adore stop motion. I also like holiday celebration videos. And as long as they’re not hopped on sugar or spoiled brats, I tend to love 4 year olds too!
With all of that in mind here is a super cute stop motion video featuring Chanukah stop motion projects made from 4 year olds in their preschool class!
Want to get in the holiday spirit yourself? takepart to learn how to light the Chanukah Menorah.
If you’re looking for some fun to celebrate Hannukah or if you just want to laugh, you should consider dropping by The Tank to see Ha-Ha-Hannukah - a night of transdenominational laughter on religion, politics and other things you’re not supposed to discuss. 8 comics (of different/ no faith) for each night of Hannukah.
The evening will feature the comic stylings of Katie Halper, Negin Farsad, Costaki Economopoulos, Elon James White, Scott Blakeman, Heather Gold and one more (as there need to be 8 )
It seems like a geat way to get in the holiday and Hannukah spirit - the show takes place on December 23rd @ 7:00pm and is in New York City at The Tank which is located at Chaschama at 217 East 42nd St. in Manhattan.
Also be sure to takepart to send someone you know a Hannukah card from delivr - a cool site that works with Flickr and Creative Commons to make cards from people’s licensed photos!
