Each week find a round-up of selected news and resources related to global ethical issues and positive solutions that you can use in your solutionary teaching/work.
Here’s some recent news worth knowing:
Small steps toward positive solutions …
- In an effort to reduce deforestation worldwide, France has announced plans to curtail importation of several products, including beef, soy, palm oil, cocoa, rubber, and wood. The government has proposed 17 measures “aimed at ending deforestation caused by the import of unsustainable products by 2030.”
- After pressure from Greenpeace, Mondelēz International, one of the largest snack food brands, and thus one of the largest buyers of palm oil, has announced that it will no longer do business with 12 of its former palm oil suppliers. The company says this action is part of its “commitment to 100% sustainability.”
In the courts …
- A US District Court judge has ordered that the Trump administration must resume accepting asylum claims from people seeking asylum in the US, regardless of whether they entered the US at a legal checkpoint or not.
- Costa Rica’s constitutional court has ruled that, starting mid-2020, same-sex couples will have the right to marry.
We must do better …
- A new US FBI report reveals that hate crimes rose 17% from 2016 to 2017, and that their numbers have increased for three consecutive years. Of the thousands of hate crimes reported (many are not), “nearly three out of five were motivated by race and ethnicity.”
- A new report notes that, since 2010, there have been 137 times that US interstate pipelines have exploded or caught fire, and in 90% of those cases, no fines were levied.
- The US Education Department has released new proposed guidelines for addressing sexual assault on campus. The new guidelines would require colleges to allow those accused of sexual assault to cross examine their alleged victims.
- Undercover footage at sheep farms in England and Scotland has revealed workers engaged in egregious cruelty and violence against the sheep. Undercover footage at a chicken farm in Maryland (US) has shown “heartbreaking cruelty” to chickens on the slaughter line.
- According to an investigation by several journalism organizations, “dozens of law enforcement agencies” in the US “are making it appear as thought they have solved a significant share of their rape cases when they have simply closed them.”
- A five-year investigation uncovered an organized ring of “Czech and Vietnamese criminals illegally killing and processing big cats for the traditional Chinese medicine market.” The investigation has revealed a growing problem of illegal tiger farms operating throughout the EU, as well as in Southeast Asia.
Did you know? …
- A new study confirms the benefits of altruistic kindness and notes that the intent behind our kindness matters.
- Some news outlets are bringing attention to the fact that, despite deadly fires in California creating unhealthy air, many farm workers are still required to work, often without protection.
- India has launched its first hospital to help care for injured, sick, and old captive elephants, many of whom have been abused and neglected.
- A new study that involved interviewing journalists who cover environmental issues has noted that these environmental journalists are “are at heightened risk of murder, arrest assault, threats, self-exile, lawsuits, and harassment because environmental controversies often involve influential business and economic interests, political power battles, criminal activities, and corruption, plus politically, culturally, and economically sensitive issues concerning indigenous rights to land and natural resources.”
- The US FBI has finally classified the Proud Boys as “an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.”
- Beyond Meat, the plant-based protein company, has filed for a $100 million initial public offering, as interest in plant-based foods continues to grow.
The post What’s New Wednesday 11-21-18: News & Resources for Educators & Solutionaries appeared first on Institute for Humane Education.