Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Karl Grossman

GMO Food — Banning or Labeling It. And Is It Kosher?

Karl Grossman — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

More than 60 countries have enacted laws banning or requiring the labeling of food produced with or containing what’s become known as GMO—genetically modified organisms. But in the United States, because of heavy pressure by the biotechnology industry, there are no such laws or regulations. There was an attempt in California in November to pass [...]

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Murray Barbash: Championing the Environment of Long Island — and Israel

Karl Grossman — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 21:07:08 +0000

A major figure championing the environment of Long Island—and Israel—has passed away. Maurice “Murray” Barbash was the long-time chairman of North American Friends of Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research. IOLR was established in 1967 with a mission to “generate knowledge for the sustainable use and protection of Israel’s marine, coastal and freshwater resources.” “We lost [...]

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Mayor Bloomberg’s push to ban Styrofoam

Karl Grossman — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:58:42 +0000

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week announced that he would push for a ban on polystyrene food packaging. “One product that is virtually impossible to recycle and never biodegrades is Styrofoam – something that we know is environmentally destructive and that may be hazardous to our health, that is costing taxpayers money and that [...]

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A Free Internet–Will It Last?

Karl Grossman — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 02:40:21 +0000

From seemingly out of nowhere has come the Internet—to be, suddenly, the greatest global platform for free expression the world has ever seen. But will this last? Last month, an international conference was held that pitted nations seeking greater governmental control over the Internet—led by Russia and China—against countries advocating a hands-off approach. These included [...]

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America’s dysfunctional Congress – and the ‘Fiscal Cliff’

Karl Grossman — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:57:41 +0000

Well, the United States this week barely avoided dropping off the “fiscal cliff”– although in the months ahead more fiscal crises are feared because of conflicts between President Barack Obama and Congress. Comedian Milton Berle once declared, “You can lead a man to Congress, but you can’t make him think.” The writer Mark Twain was even harsher [...]

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Changing America’s “Culture of Violence”

Karl Grossman — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:13:16 +0000

“We live in a culture of violence,” Rabbi Shaul Praver told his congregants at Temple Adath Israel in Newtown, Connecticut last week after the killing of six-year-old Noah Pozner, whose family is a member of the synagogue, and his 19 schoolmates at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. “All of our culture is based [...]

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From Borscht Belt to a Contaminated Gasland — It’s No Joke

Karl Grossman — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 14:03:21 +0000

There’s an uproar in the Catskills – long the iconic vacation getaway for Jews from New York City – over plans to do extensive hydraulic fracturing for gas, a process known as fracking. Fracking uses massive amounts of water and toxic chemicals to break apart shale formations deep below the ground and release the gas within them. This is [...]

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An End to “Organized Tobacco?”

Karl Grossman — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 20:18:10 +0000

“The days of organized tobacco around the world are numbered,” Amos Hausner, head of the Israel Council for the Prevention of Smoking, said earlier this year. He was speaking at the first Israel Conference on Tobacco and Health. “Today, we are in the midst of an irreversible process that will lead to the termination of [...]

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