The Washington NFL team, known as the Washington Redskins, are being forced to change their name and mascot due to pressure put on sponsors such as Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo by investors.
Why?
Well, the dictionary defines the term “redskins” as a racial slur that is both offensive and derogatory. It seems odd that it has taken financial pressure for the US capitol’s American football team to change it, especially when you realise that there has been pressure on them to do so since the 70s. Of course that pressure didn’t have $60 billion worth of investors backing them.
I guess they could have just changed their mascot to a potato or a peanut. It
According to the Financial Times, businesses in the UK are starting to face up to the reality that Brexit is going to be a bit tougher than “advertised”, as business analysts report that an extra 400 pieces of paperwork will need to be filled out, a total of around 200m forms each year. Currently trade with the EU is largely frictionless because of Britain’s membership of the bloc’s customs union, but that is all set to change on December 31.
Government ministers are also attempting to organise the training of up to 50,000 people, who will be needed to fill in all those customs forms for post-Brexit trade. They are even creating a special academy; the “customs agent academy”, because without enough agents, goods travelling to and from the EU, the U.K.’s single biggest trading partner, risk being delayed at ports, disrupting supply chains and creating more problems for companies already suffering due to Covid19.
It is a total mess, and I derive no pleasure from saying, “I told you so”.
According to a story in The Telegraph, compulsive liars, bullies, and people who generally behave badly have smaller brains than those who are well behaved.
A study carried out by University College London found that while going “off the rails” is normal for teenagers, younger children who persistently behave badly run the risk of becoming criminals due to the way their brains have formed. However, the research was not able to identify whether the behaviour shaped the brain – or the structure caused the behaviour.
Of course I was a good little girl.
And finally, the Vegan Society (yes they have a society), has written a set of guidelines for the workplace laying out the considerations people need to make for their vegan employees. These include the following:-
• Sending out a ‘dietary requirements’ sheet for catered events, ensuring that vegans have the opportunity to request that appropriate food is provided for them.
• Ensuring kitchen facilities are acceptable for them to use; for example by keeping utensils and foods clean, providing colour coded equipment and separating food preparation areas.
• Designating dedicated food storage areas for vegans, such as a shelf in the fridge above non-vegan foods.
• Ensuring that vegans have access to vegan-friendly clothing or other items, such as synthetic safety boots or a non-leather phone case.
• Exempting vegans from a requirement to attend corporate events such as horse racing, and team building events that revolve specifically around animal products such as a ‘hog roasts’, or barbecues.
• Considering exempting vegans from participating in buying (or signing off on the purchase of) non-vegan products.
• Supporting vegan employees to discuss their pension investment options with a relevant member of staff.
• Fostering a general attitude of respect towards vegan employees, and if ‘jokes’ made about an employee’s veganism become burdensome steps should be taken to improve this.
Well there goes my favourite joke:
Q . How can you tell if someone is a vegan?
A – Just wait 2 minutes, they will tell you.
Sources
- The Telegraph
- The Financial Times
- The Vegan Society