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Water Pollution in Bangladesh Threatens Human Health and Agriculture July 16th, 2013
Rivers and canals in Bangladesh are becoming increasingly polluted from industrial wastewater dumped by factories, many of them in the textile industry, The New York Times has reported. Leather tanneries are also a significant source of toxic pollutants to the air and water. The water pollution threatens food production and is raising both environmental and human health concerns.
Human Rights Watch issued a report late last year on the human health effects of unchecked pollution from the leather industry. The report, Toxic Tanneries, documents an occupational health and safety crisis among tannery workers, both men and women, including skin diseases and respiratory illnesses caused by exposure to tanning chemicals, and limb amputations caused by accidents in dangerous tannery machinery. Residents of the area where the tanneries are located are also seriously affected. The government has consistently failed to enforce labor and environmental laws in Hazaribagh, a suburb of Dhaka, and has ignored High Court orders to clean up or move the tanneries.
Stop Trafficking!! July 15th, 2013
The July issue of Stop Trafficking! contains compelling stories from the US State Department’s 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report. Stop Trafficking! is sponsored by the Sisters of the Divine Savior.
Oblates Join Anti-Nuclear Protest in Kansas City July 15th, 2013
Oblate Superior William Antone, OMI joined Carl Kabat, OMI last Saturday in at an anti-nuclear weapons protest in Kansas City. They were among two dozen protestors who were arrested at the PeaceWorks rally at the Honeywell Plant. The plant is managed and operated by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, which produces 85 percent of the nonnuclear material used in the United States nuclear bomb arsenal.
Those arrested had crossed onto Honeywell property. Roughly 60 people were present, with quite a few young people from Catholic Worker communities.
The Catholic Worker Community has posted photos of the protest on Flickr. View them here…
See pictures of the protest from KSHB, a local news station…
National Catholic Reporter has a good story on the action…
Make Wall Street Accountable to Main Street July 15th, 2013
Tell New York Senators Gillibrand and Schumer that derivatives regulation should not be delayed!!
Five years ago, unchecked derivatives trading in the U.S. threatened the entire global financial system. Countless citizens lost their jobs, homes and pensions, as risky lending fueled by unregulated derivatives fomented the mortgage crisis.
Join the Missionary Oblates and other members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in demanding derivatives reform now.
Sign on (as an individual) to the petition available at change.org: http://chn.ge/11GhghC
Please post to your Facebook site and Tweet to spread the word.
Investors Alarmed by Senate Interference with Dodd-Frank Rules on Derivatives July 11th, 2013
Thirty-eight faith-based and socially responsible institutional investors sent a letter to Senators who recently asked Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to delay the implementation of important Dodd-Frank derivatives regulations. The Rev. Seamus Finn, OMI (Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and Board Director, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility) organized the letter, which expressed dismay and disappointment at the Senators’ action.
Read the letter (download PDF)…
It is vital that the over-the-counter derivatives market be regulated, and soon. Derivatives are complex financial instruments used to hedge risk, and were largely responsible for the 2008 financial crisis.
In the lead up to 2008, large financial institutions bought and sold trillions of dollars worth of over-the-counter derivative instruments linked to subprime mortgage securities, which instruments would trigger a payout in the event of default. “This particular type of OTC derivative, known as a credit default swap (CDS), fomented the mortgage crisis and subsequent credit and economic crisis by offering purported “insurance” to people investing in subprime securities. This insurance fueled excessive risk-taking, demand, and expansion of the subprime market.” (Ref.: The Role of Derivatives in the Financial Crisis, Univ. of MD website)
