The Common Good

Quick Read: Social. Justice. News.

Earth's Greenhouse Gas Levels Approach Milestone

by QR Blog Editor 05-01-2013

The ratio of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere is approaching with 400 parts per million. This amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has not been seen since about 2.5 million to 5 million year ago. Scientists are alarmed that CO2 levels are rising in places far from pollution sources. The Los Angeles Times reports:

"The 400-ppm threshold is a sobering milestone, and should serve as a wake-up call for all of us to support clean-energy technology and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, before it's too late for our children and grandchildren," said Tim Lueker, an oceanographer and carbon cycle researcher who is a longtime member of the Scripps CO2 Group.

Read more here.

+Leave a Comment | Creation Care

Workers Die in Building Collapse

by God's Politics Editor 05-01-2013

Last Tuesday, a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh that housed five garment factories collapsed, resulting in more than 400 deaths and 2,500 injuries. Estimates are that possibly hundreds more are still missing. Cracks had appeared in the buildings walls the day before and polices ordered it evacuated. Factory managers, however, ordered workers to return. The factories primarily produced cheap clothing for western markets.

Protest rallies have been held this week in Bangladesh. Today, May Day, a procession demanded safe working conditions and the death penalty for the building’s owner, currently under arrest.

The Associated Press reported that Pope Francis commented on the tragedy in his Mass for the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker:

“At the Vatican, Pope Francis said he was shocked by a headline about the building collapse that said some of the workers were living on 38 euros [$50] a month. "This was the payment of these people who have died ... and this is called `slave labor,'" he said. Vatican Radio said the pope made the remarks during a private Mass at the Vatican.”

Read the Associated Press report.

+Leave a Comment | Economic Justice

More Than 100 Million Women Lead Migrant Workers Worldwide

by QR Blog Editor 05-01-2013

If migrants and refugees worldwide were their own country, it would be the fifth most populous in the world today. Increasingly, it is women who are leaving their homes and families to seek work to support their families economically. They are the heads of households. They are the primary "breadwinners" for their extended families. They are also more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. The United Nations Population Fund recently hosted a week-long meeting to study the more than 100 million women who are migrant workers. IPS reports:

The face of migration is changing dramatically as women and girls now represent about half of the over 214 million migrants worldwide. And in some regions of the world, they outnumber their male counterparts, says Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). Addressing a week-long meeting of the 46th session of the U.N. Commission on Population and Development (CPD), which concluded Friday, he pointed out that many women migrate on their own as heads of households, to secure a livelihood.“Others leave their homes in search of more open societies, to get out of a bad marriage, or to escape all forms of discrimination and gender-based violence, political conflicts, and cultural constraints.”

Read more here.

+Leave a Comment | Economic Justice

Obama Administration Simplifies Health Care Form

by QR Blog Editor 04-30-2013

The first draft of form was confusing and complex so the Obama administration has created a simplified application for healthcare. The Associated Press reports:

Details to be released Tuesday include a three-page short form that single people can fill out, administration officials said. Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner, also overseeing the rollout of the health care law, called it "significantly shorter than industry standards."

Read more here.

+Leave a Comment | Economic Justice

Ocean Temperatures Highest in 150 Years Last Year

by QR Blog Editor 04-30-2013

The Sea-surface temperatures were the highest measured in 150 years in 2012. USA Today reports:

"The average temperature in that area hit a record high of 57.2 degrees last year. The previous record was set in 1951, according to NOAA."

The rise in temperature could influence fish and shellfish on the Northeast shell.

Read more here.

+Leave a Comment | Creation Care

USDA Expands SNAP Access at Farmers Markets

by QR Blog Editor 04-30-2013

Today a $4 million plan was announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The plan will increase the use of federal food credits at farmers markets by allowing retailers to use wireless technology to connect sellers with the SNAP program. The Washington Post reports:

“These grants increase the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables to SNAP customers and further encourage them to purchase and prepare healthy foods for their families using SNAP benefits,” said Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon.

Read more here.

+Leave a Comment | Economic Justice

The Secret Faith of Washington

by QR Blog Editor 04-29-2013

President Obama’s former religious adviser Joshua Dubois challenges the notion that Washington is a godless city. In a recent Newsweek article he writes:

Everyone knows about the politicians and interest groups—mainly conservative—who wear their faith on their sleeve. Yet across the ideological spectrum, Washington is filled with people at the height of political power who are practicing their faith seriously and profoundly, but largely out of public view.

Read more here.

+Leave a Comment | Faith & Politics

Supreme Court Won't Take Up Alabama Immigration Law

by QR Blog Editor 04-29-2013

Today the Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal of an Alabama immigration law that allowed law enforcement to arrest people who hid or helped transport illegal immigrants. USA Today reports:

By refusing to reconsider the case, the high court will let stand a federal appeals court's ruling last year that went against Alabama. That law garnered attention for another provision, thrown out by an appeals court, that targeted public school students in the country illegally.

Read more here.

+Leave a Comment | Immigration

Wealth Gap Among Races Widened Since Recession

by QR Blog Editor 04-29-2013

Annie Lowrey reporter for the New York Times, writes about a new study released by the Urban Institute. The study found:

"The racial wealth gap yawned during the recession, even as the income gap between white Americans and nonwhite Americans remained stable. As of 2010, white families, on average, earned about $2 for every $1 that black and Hispanic families earned, a ratio that has remained roughly constant for the last 30 years."

However the wealth gap continues to grow.

"Before the recession, non-Hispanic white families, on average, were about four times as wealthy as nonwhite families, according to the Urban Institute’s analysis of Federal Reserve data. By 2010, whites were about six times as wealthy"

Read more here.

+Leave a Comment | Economic Justice

DRONE WATCH: Protesting Drones

by Duane Shank 04-29-2013

This weekend saw protests on both sides of the Atlantic against drone killings.

In the U.S., more than 250 people marched on an Air National Guard Base at Hancock Field in Syracuse, N.Y. At the end of a funeral procession, 30 people were arrested at the gates of the base. According to the Syracuse Post-Standard:

“Protesters pounded drums, chanted and carried mock coffins. A baby doll smeared with fake blood was suspended from a tall poll carried by one protestor. A sheriff’s deputy speaking through a bullhorn warned protesters laying on the driveway in front of the gate to get up off the ground or face arrest for disorderly conduct. After they refused, the protesters were handcuffed and escorted to a Sheriff’s Department van.”

The protest was organized by the Upstate NY Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars.

In the U.K., 700 people participated in a demonstration outside a Royal Air Force base north of London to protest the U.K.'s use of armed drones in Afghanistan. The action came two days after the news that the Royal Air Force had begun flying drones from the Waddington Base. CNN reported:

"People are pretty upset about the idea that Britain will be developing this drone warfare," said John Hilary, executive director of War on Want. … The coalition also includes members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Drone Campaign Network and Stop the War Coalition.”

+Leave a Comment | Peace & Nonviolence