I appreciate your concern for my usage of sensationalized journalism -it was kind of an experiment with regard to the photo at the beginning of the article. I’d be interested to hear other’s comments on the success (or failure) of this tactic.

With regard to the photograph, it’s kind of a funny one and doesn’t represent anything particularly negative. I was not saying that this is actually what the living quarters of any workers in Postville actually look like, but based on reports of other labor conditions there (and among other employers utilizing undocumented workers) I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

To me, the fact that this guy was elected as a community leader despite public knowledge of all of these past and current wrong-doings is a problem, both for society and for the Jewish community.

I don’t think it’s an anti-orthodox rant at all- we should be holding our selves to a higher standard.
The entire issue represents a problem - a disconnect between halacha of mitzvot ben adam l’makom and ben adam l’chavero- business ethics. It’s not a critique of the men that are staying in that room, but the fact that this represents the celebration of a criminal, that all of these people are choosing to celebrate the chagim with him, despite all of these illegal and unethical business practices. Similar problems have been present with regard to Agriprocessors- and personally, as someone concerned about environmental and oocupational health, the Montex issues alone are significant, but also are connected with problems with our food system.

And for the record, I’ve never been a fan of Phish- I don’t even know any of their songs. Thanks for your thoughts.

BTW what is the relevance of the entire post other than an anti orthodox rave? what does the photo represent? so some bochrim stayed with rubashkin for the chagim? so?nu? they don’t mind the cramped accommodations - why should it bother any of you? If it were a Phish concert you’d sleep in the mud for weeks to get tix so why fault them for squeezing in to be where they want to be? and the intentional straw man segue to Agriprocessors - that’s essentially just a cheap shot - ms. tsimmes (or gersh for that matter)- how much time did you spend in Postville? I thought so.

I’m not optimistic.