Below the Fold - U.S. guns are killing beyond borders

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Diverse leadership has continued to be a struggle at many companies. A new rule from the SEC may now force progress, requiring all companies listed on the NASDAQ to meet specific diversity quotas. For most U.S. companies, this includes at least one woman director and one director who self-identifies as either a racial minority or LGBTQ. Companies such as Goldman Sachs and Microsoft have already come out in support, though some conservative groups are hoping to overturn the rule.

GUN LAWS

Mexico's latest attempt to cut the supply of smuggled U.S. weapons
Wed Aug 4

Mexico just became the first foreign country to ever sue the U.S. gun industry. Mexico has long struggled with armed gang violence, and while past presidents have focused on killing and arresting drug lords directly, current President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is instead addressing the root causes of the problem — such as the estimated 500,000 guns illegally trafficked from the U.S. to Mexico each year.

The lawsuit names the six U.S. gun giants responsible for 68% of smuggled guns, which have allowed drug cartels and gangs to become more powerful than the police with high caliber guns and military-grade weapons like rocket-propelled grenades. Specifically, it alleges negligence over how the guns are distributed as well as the ease with which they can be transferred to the criminal market and modified to be more deadly. Mexico is seeking up to $10 billion in damages, better safety features on guns, and tighter controls on sales — especially given how restrictive their native gun ownership laws are.

While it’s not the first time this year that Mexico has stood up to the U.S., it is a long road ahead. American gunmakers have extensive protections, including a federal statute that states gunmakers are not liable when their products are used to commit crimes. While there have been a number of attempts to overturn this statute — most recently from the Biden administration — none have been successful. Meanwhile, skeptics of Mexico’s lawsuit claim that even if successful, supply chains would simply evolve to find another way into cartel hands.

Our Sources:

→ Extensive coverage: Wall Street Journal
→ Additional context, including skepticism of the lawsuit: The Guardian
→ History of U.S. guns flowing into Mexico: PBS
→ More on Obrador’s nontraditional leadership: Fox News

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FOOD LABELS

USDA announces honest labeling on U.S. beef
Wed Aug 4

Last November, we learned of the deception in meat labeling in the U.S.. Previous rules allowed meat to be labeled as a “Product of the U.S.A.” as long as it was processed and packaged domestically — even when all they did on American soil was move the imported beef from delivery box to retail boxes. This became particularly troublesome when Nicaragua stepped up to fill U.S. demand amidst pandemic-driven beef shortages.

Nicaragua’s cattle ranchers attacked Indigenous communities to seize jungle land and clear it for pasture. This land makes up a third of the country and had been legally owned by the Indigenous people for nearly 20 years. Attempts to make them flee escalated to deadly attacks on villages and led to a rapid increase in homicide rates for the first half of 2020. One village was attacked to seize lands for slaughterhouses, resulting in 16 homes burned down. The conflict meat from these operations ended up American groceries, labeled as grass-fed, sustainable beef made in the U.S.

Nine months later, we’re happy to report U.S. food labels will soon be more transparent through a number of changes to restrict the formerly loose guidelines.

First, a new rule from the Federal Trade Commission cracks down on marketers who make false, unqualified claims about where their products are made, driven largely thanks to 838 public submissions, mainly by cattle ranchers.
Soon after, the USDA announced that animals raised in other countries but processed in the U.S. can no longer be labeled as domestic products.
And just this month, a pair of bills were introduced in the House and Senate that would require any meat labeled “Product of the U.S.A” to be born, raised, and slaughtered in the U.S.A.

Do you remember reading this story in Below the Fold last year?

Our Sources:

→ Initial coverage: B elow the Fold
→ FTC collects comments: Food Safety Network
→ USDA's new rules: USDA & Associated Press
→ Bills introduced in House & Senate: Michigan Farm News

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ASCII-ING ABOUT THE NEWS

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Nice to meat you - where are you from again?



Art Credit: Below the Fold

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Below the Fold - U.S. guns are killing beyond borders

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Older messages

planting a steak in the ground

if airport efficiency were an Olympic sport

too many holes to plug

even faster fast fashion

where’s the beef… profits going?

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