Please note that the Action Alert Digest will not be published on August 24. We will resume publication on August 31.
Thank you!
|
|
ACTIVE NONVIOLENCE AND PEACEMAKING |
|
Pentagon Contractors in Afghanistan Pocketed $108 Billion Over 20 Years
Pentagon contractors operating in Afghanistan over the past two decades raked in nearly $108 billion—funds that "were distributed and spent with a significant lack of transparency," according to a new report. Military contracting obscures where and how taxpayer money flows, who profits, and how much is lost to waste, fraud, and abuse. It also makes it difficult to know how many people are employed, injured, and killed through military contracting. MORE
|
|
|
|
Nuclear War Would Cause a Global Famine and Kill Billions, Study Finds
Even a relatively small nuclear war would create a worldwide food crisis lasting at least a decade in which hundreds of millions would starve, according to new modeling published in Nature Food. In a nuclear war, bombs would start firestorms, injecting large amounts of soot into the upper atmosphere. This soot would spread globally and rapidly cool the planet. The impacts on Earth’s climate could persist for more than ten years. MORE
|
|
|
|
FBI's Seizure of Documents at Mar-A-Lago Highlights Vulnerabilities in Global Security
The FBI's seizure of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, which could contain nuclear information, highlights the vulnerability of global security. Experts are concerned that the presence of potentially sensitive material could be exposed. “It shows that we can't rely on anybody to control weapons that can destroy the world 10 times over," says Alicia Sanders-Zakre of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. MORE
|
|
|
|
How Native Lands Became a Target for Nuclear Waste
Since the development of nuclear energy in the mid-20th century, Native American reservations have been subjected to thousands of tons of toxic nuclear waste, with dangerous consequences for health, the environment, and tribal sovereignty. The disproportionate concentration of nuclear waste on Native lands reflects a targeted effort to saddle Indigenous communities with "the most hazardous material ever created by humanity or nature." MORE
|
|
|
|
TAKE ACTION: Urge Congress to Swiftly Pass the Bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act
The Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA) is legislation that would ensure Afghans who were brought to safety by the U.S. military can apply for lasting protection to stay in the U.S. long-term. The U.S. relied on our Afghan friends and allies to help keep us safe during the 20-year occupation of Afghanistan. Church World Service urges us to tell our members of Congress to swiftly pass this bipartisan legislation. TAKE ACTION
|
|
|
|
Beyond The Border, Reunification of Latin American Families Takes Years
After their parents migrate to the U.S. to provide for them amid desperate circumstances, children in Central America often experience extended periods of time away from their migrant parents — sometimes they never see them again. Now 31 years old, Jorge Alvarenga still breaks down when he speaks about the last time he saw his mother. Jorge has not seen his mother since he was 14 after she left El Salvador for the U.S. to prevent the family from starving. MORE
|
|
|
|
Smuggling Migrants at the Border Now a Billion-Dollar Business
Migrant smuggling on the U.S. southern border has evolved over the past 10 years from a scattered network of freelance “coyotes” into a multi-billion-dollar international business controlled by organized crime, including some of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels. The deaths of 53 migrants in San Antonio last month came as tightened U.S. border restrictions have encouraged more migrants to turn to smugglers. MORE
|
|
|
|
How Sustainable Are the Contents of Your Shopping Cart? A New Database Has Answers
A massive new study has estimated the environmental impact of 57,000 grocery store items. The researchers are among the first to assess the impact of products with multiple ingredients. Until now, most studies have focused on the environmental impact of wholesale commodities, like soy, beef, and wheat. But the items people buy at the supermarket tend to be more complex than a single ingredient. MORE
|
|
|
|
How Climate Change Spurs Megadroughts
As the world gets hotter, soils are getting drier; it takes more and more precipitation to water the same crops and fill the same reservoirs. Rising temperatures, therefore, are digging the American West and other arid regions into a deeper and deeper hole. The more the world warms, the more rain will be needed to compensate, and that will force people to rethink how — and where — they will live and eat when the water dries up. MORE
|
|
|
|
TAKE ACTION: Renew the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
The House of Representatives recently voted to pass the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victim Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2021 (TVPRA). It provides the legal framework for the U.S. to combat, monitor, and prosecute human trafficking crimes. Currently, in the Senate, the legislation has been divided up into three bills that would reauthorize the TVPRA. U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking urges us to tell our Senators to support this critical legislation. TAKE ACTION
|
|
|
|
FBI Locates 37 Missing Children, 141 Adults During Nationwide Sex Trafficking Operation
The FBI, working with state and local partners for two weeks in August, says they located 37 actively missing children and located or identified 84 minor victims of child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation offenses during a nationwide sex trafficking initiative. Law enforcement also located 141 adult victims of human trafficking. Investigators identified or arrested 85 suspects of child sexual exploitation or human trafficking offenses. MORE
|
|
|
|
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT |
|
Why Aren’t Men Involved in Sexual-Assault Prevention? A New Report Offers Insights
Colleges have spent decades trying to figure out how to involve male students in sexual-assault prevention, with limited success. But sexual misconduct remains a gendered experience, experts say, and reaching men is the only way to meaningfully reduce its prevalence. New research aims to highlight gaps in the training that colleges provide, and offers recommendations for improvement. MORE
|
|
|
|
In The Army, You’re More Likely to Be Detained for Drugs Than Sexual Assault
U.S. Army soldiers accused of sexual assault are less than half as likely to be detained ahead of trial than those accused of offenses like drug use and distribution, disobeying an officer, or burglary. On average, soldiers had to face at least eight counts of sexual offenses before they were placed in pretrial confinement as often as those who were charged with drug or burglary crimes. MORE
|
|
|
|
HUMAN RIGHTS AND INCOME INEQUALITY |
|
TAKE ACTION: Help Communities Overcome Hunger
Congress is in the process of reauthorizing the Global Food Security Act. This bill recommits the U.S. government to tackling food insecurity around the globe through the Feed the Future Initiative, which helps farmers increase their agricultural productivity, build sustainable livelihoods and improve their families’ nutrition. Catholic Relief Services invites us to tell our U.S. representative to co-sponsor the Global Food Security Act today. TAKE ACTION
|
|
|
|
Housing Discrimination and the Poverty Trap
Systemic housing discrimination leads to a cycle of poverty that families may be stuck in for decades or centuries. Black Americans especially, who are overall greatly disadvantaged in building housing wealth, face systemic barriers to getting out of previously redlined neighborhoods. Radical approaches and rethinking are needed to make an impact on families and the systems that created these problems in the first place. MORE
|
|
|
|
From LA To Tennessee, Unhoused Activists and Supporters Are Fighting a Wave of Anti-Homeless Legislation
As inflation reaches 40-year highs, pandemic-related eviction protections expire and longstanding housing shortages reach their breaking point, America’s homelessness crisis has become increasingly dire and difficult to ignore. The number of people living unsheltered is at its highest level in a decade. Advocates across the country are battling a slew of state and local measures that criminalize homelessness and imperil those living on the street. MORE
|
|
|
|
James Coddington is scheduled to be executed on August 25 by the state of Oklahoma for the murder of Albert Troy Hale. Please hold James, Albert, their families, and the people of Oklahoma in prayer. TAKE ACTION
Alan Miller is scheduled to be executed on September 22 by the state of Alabama for the murders of Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Scott Yancy, and Terry Jarvis. Please hold Alan, Lee, Christopher, Terry, their families, and the people of Alabama in prayer. TAKE ACTION
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
