Institutional Investor (July 28)
“CSR reporting is on the rise, and so is its impact. More companies are publishing corporate social and sustainability reports on their operations amid fresh evidence that transparency enhances valuations.”
Tags: CSR, Evidence, Impact, Operations, Reporting, Sustainability, Transparency, Valuations
New York Times (January 4, 2014)
“Five months into the latest American effort to nudge Israelis and Palestinians toward a peace agreement, the one party clearly committed to a deal is the United States.” Over 20 talks have been held, with the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry logging ten trips to the region. Despite these efforts to reach an agreement by the end of April, “there is no evidence of concrete progress, but there are increasing signs that both sides may be positioning themselves to blame the other if negotiations collapse.”
Tags: Agreement, Blame, Collapse, Evidence, Israel, John Kerry, Negotiations, Palestine, Positioning, Progress, U.S.
The Economist (December 7, 2013)
Despite frequent assertions, there is no evidence that genetically modified (GM) crops are bad for people. On the other hand, copious evidence demonstrates how GM crops “benefit the health of the planet. One of the biggest challenges facing mankind is to feed the 9 billion-10 billion people who will be alive and (hopefully) richer in 2050. This will require doubling food production on roughly the same area of land, using less water and fewer chemicals.” GM crops provide the hope that we will be able to meet this challenge.
USA Today (September 4)
“As evidence mounts that permanent brain damage and dementia are legacies of some still-unknown number of NFL careers, the league faces a dilemma: Bone-jarring hits are an unavoidable part of football, but if the game gets too brutal, fans and the parents of prospective players could abandon it…. Making an inherently violent game less dangerous won’t be easy.”
Tags: Brain damage, Career, Dangerous, Dementia, Evidence, Fans, Football, Game, Hits, NFL, Parents, Players, Violent
Los Angeles Times (January 18)
Though the Rape of Nanking took place 75 years ago, it remains a major irritant troubling the relationship between China and Japan. “What is alarming is that the leaders of Japan…have an understanding of their country’s wartime history that is grounded primarily in fiction.” There can be no question that the notorious event took place given the abundant evidence including eyewitness testimony and film footage. “Japanese denial in the face of all this ensures that a historical event will continue to fan the flames of anger and distrust. The sooner the facts are recognized and Japanese leaders renounce paying tribute to mass killers and rapists, the sooner true healing can begin.”