Ethical and green living

Shoppers around the world overwhelmingly support high animal welfare standards for pigs, and most would also be prepared to change their supermarket habits in response, an international survey on pork consumption has found. Seven out of 10 people questioned said they found the manner in which pigs are reared for slaughter on some factory farms “upsetting”, “wrong” or “shocking”, after being shown photographs of some pig-keeping conditions in the online poll. The survey highlighted practices such as sows kept in small cages, antibiotic use, as well as tail-docking, teeth-grinding and castration, sometimes without pain relief. Eight out of 10 shoppers surveyed in more than ten countries agreed that high welfare for pigs was important, and nearly nine of out of 10 in three key countries said they could be persuaded to shop at a supermarket committed to improving the lives of pigs. However, fewer than one in three shoppers in most countries polled said … [Read more...] about The way some pigs are reared is ‘upsetting and wrong’, say shoppers

News about Muslims in the British press is rarely positive, but it is never scarce. Consider these stories, published across a typical month towards the end of 2016. In the Times on 9 November 2016, an article announced: “Islamist School Can Segregate Boys and Girls.” On the Daily Express website, nine days later: “Anger as less than A THIRD of Muslim nations sign up to coalition against Isis.” In the Sun online, on 1 December: “SECRET IS SAFE: Half of British Muslims would not go to cops if they knew someone with Isis links.” On the Daily Express site the day after: “New £5 notes could be BANNED by religious groups as Bank CAN’T promise they’re Halal.” On ITV News, the same day: “Half of UK Muslims would not report extremism.” Two days later, in the Sunday Times: “Enclaves of Islam see UK as 75% Muslim.” The Mail on Sunday, that same day: “Isolated British Muslims are so cut off from the … [Read more...] about One man’s (very polite) fight against media Islamophobia

        Wildlife and conservation photojournalist Steve Winter on Friday said Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon needs to be declared a forest and contiguous to Sanjay Gandhi National Park owing to the presence of large leopard numbers making it the “world’s most unique big cat habitat”. Perhaps best known for his photographs of leopards on the outskirts of the city, the photojournalist raised concerns over how politicians were “giving away pieces of the city’s green lung for their 30 pieces of silver”. In an interview with HT, Winter, 63, currently in Mumbai, spoke about the development at Aarey. Famous for his photos of big cats in particular, Winter became a photojournalist with National Geographic in 1991. His photographs of leopards in SGNP and Aarey in 2015-16 were an eye-opener and highlighted the proximity of big cats within a human-dominated city-scape.What were some of the most striking things you witnessed about … [Read more...] about ‘Aarey is world’s most unique big cat habitat’

Photo: Marvel Comics A reboot is a delicate thing. When a once-profitable franchise of characters becomes stale, outdated, or overly complex, there will always be voices calling for the slate to be wiped clean: to take the characters back to their basics, retell their origin stories, make them contemporary. But all too often, those rebooting efforts are laughable, pandering failures. Ultimate Marvel was the rare exception. It was a compendium of stories that saved the company that launched it, revolutionized the comics medium, and became the foundation of the multi-billion-dollar Marvel cinematic empire. It began as a Hail Mary maneuver. Ultimate Marvel was a publishing experiment launched by Marvel Comics — the superhero-comics company that had invented the Avengers, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and countless other icons — during its darkest hour. The idea was simple: Launch various comics series where all the famous Marvel characters are young again and just starting … [Read more...] about The Secret History of Ultimate Marvel, the Experiment That Changed Superheroes Forever