In Other News: White House promises crackdown on migrant child labor; Rapid demise of ‘Dilbert’ is no surprise to those watching

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Rapid demise of ‘Dilbert’ is no surprise to those watching

The comic strip “Dilbert” disappeared with lightning speed following racist remarks by creator Scott Adams, but it shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has followed them both. Adams, who is white, was an outspoken presence on social media long before describing Black people as a “hate group” on YouTube. To some observers, “Dilbert” had strayed from its roots as a chronicler of office culture. An expert said the strip had started to reflect Adams’ political ideas. Adams said his distributor had been given little choice but to cut ties with him. He said his book publisher and agent had “canceled” him.

Elephants in US zoos? Without breeding, future is uncertainMabu saunters across a grassy field and raises his long, gray trunk to wrangle food from a hole carved inside a large boulder, captivating the attention of a girl propped up on her father’s shoulders. At this zoo in a central California farming community, the 32-year-old African elephant is key not only to drawing visitors but also to ensuring there are elephants for zoogoers to see in the years to come — a future some animal lovers want to avoid. Over the past year, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo has been pulled into a growing global debate over the future of elephants in zoos. In recent years, some zoos have phased out elephant exhibits due to the complexity of the animals and their needs. Still, others, like Fresno’s zoo, say they are committed to keeping elephants and are turning to breeding, arguing that a sustainable population of zoo elephants will help spur a commitment to wildlife conservation among future generations of visitors. The zoo in Fresno, while beloved by local residents, has been targeted by animal activists in a report criticizing living conditions for the elephants and in legal actions trying to free them. Broadly, some elephant experts say urban zoos simply don’t have the space that African elephants, who roam extensive distances in the wild to forage for hundreds of pounds of vegetation each day, need for a normal life.

White House promises crackdown on migrant child laborThe Biden administration says it is creating a new task force to crack down on an explosion of the illegal exploitation of migrant children for labor in the U.S. Hundreds of companies that employed nearly 4,000 children last year were found in violation of federal labor laws, a dramatic increase in the last five years. The growing problem has put Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in the hot seat, with concerns mounting that migrant children have been discharged from shelters and out of federal custody too quickly, pushing them into vulnerable situations where they’re more likely to become victims of child labor.