Controversy

Another photo today, of an inspirational wall decoration from an outhouse at an Amish school (thanks again to Karen Johnson-Weiner). If there is any place that could use a little livening up, I guess it is the outhouse.  And why not include an uplifting message?  Actually I guess this is more of a lesson in [...]

Continue reading Inside an Amish…Outhouse

I don’t know if the video I just watched-entitled “Amish Smugglers’ Shady Milk Run”–was intended to be funny, but I couldn’t help but chuckle. Technically, I guess you do call someone who brings in product to sell in an area where it is illegal a “smuggler”.  But the term is such a loaded one. The [...]

Continue reading “Shadowy” Amish raw milk smugglers

The failure of A&M investments tests the Holmes County community A financial controversy has been playing out in the Holmes County, Ohio Amish settlement over the past few months.  Amishman Monroe Beachy operated A&M Investments, a fund in which hundreds of locals, mainly Amish, invested money. One day early last summer, a sign appeared on [...]

Continue reading Amish investment fund bankruptcy

Commercial dog breeders (also frequently described as ‘puppy mills’) have been in the news a lot lately.  Recent changes in Pennsylvania law has made it difficult for breeders to operate, thus forcing many to begin to get out of the business.  Opponents, most visibly in the form of activists such as Bill Smith of Main [...]

Continue reading An opinion on ‘puppy mills’ from a Lancaster local

People often wonder about the Amish and photography.  Documentarian and film & media professor Dirk Eitzen has an interesting chapter on filming the Amish in the exceptional Amish and the Media. Eitzen describes three methods used by those wishing to visually document the Amish:  pushiness, poaching, and focusing on children and young adults. I suppose [...]

Continue reading Filming the Amish

Here’s a link to the BBC ‘Trouble in Amish Paradise’ documentary, now hosted on an Australian site (since removed).  I don’t know how long it will be up, but if you’d like to view it, I’d go ahead and do it in case it is taken down.  It’s not quite a full hour long. As [...]

Continue reading ‘Trouble in Amish Paradise’ documentary

I recently came across a transcript from George Bush senior’s 1989 meeting with Mennonite and Amish leaders in Lancaster County.  It’s interesting to read not only for those seeking late 80s era nostalgia but for the interesting dynamic between the President and the typically spotlight-shunning Amish and Mennonites as they take the stage in a [...]

Continue reading Bush 41, Amish, Mennonites, and drugs

Just read an interesting article in the Mount Vernon News about the relationship between law enforcement and Amish in a few Ohio communities. One of the two sheriffs interviewed–hailing from Knox County, an area with a relatively small Amish population–says that law enforcement tries to be sensitive to Amish customs and in particular the Amish [...]

Continue reading Amish and the law

‘Amish puppy mills’ are back in the news with a recent report on ABC.  I’m not going to rehash the issue too much here as it has been discussed at length elsewhere on the blog, but simply put up a couple of links to the posts I feel are most relevant.  Pups are an emotionally [...]

Continue reading ‘Amish puppy mills’, back again

Popped open a copy of USA Today in-between flights yesterday, and what should I find but another full-page ad for the ‘Amish miracle heater’. I was hoping to avoid the heater issue as it’s been covered enough elsewhere, but looks like there is a lot of fresh reporting just out.  Good Amish heater analysis at [...]

Continue reading ‘Miracle’ marketing