More than you’d think really. Human beings seem to intrinsically value fairness and equality and yet, as of today have constructed societies based on moving as far away as possible from any sort of equitable norm. Take note of the piece on John Rawls and how using the Veil of
Continue readingTag: ethics
Northern Insight / Perceptivity: Liberal transparency: secret agreements, no oversight
If politicians become so focused on reaping rewards for themselves, their friends and associates, they begin to act as British Columbia Liberals are acting now. Like furtive night prowlers, government members seek the cover of darkness. Publicly owned lands and natural resources have values minimized or ignored, then are privatized
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Would you trust a prevaricator with $128 million?
Less than three weeks ago, a 2,100 ft² house on a 3,350 ft² lot in east Vancouver sold for $2.2 million although the asking price was $1.6 million. Two weeks ago, a modest 60-year-old home near my North Vancouver residence sold for $1 million, also above the asking price. The
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Email and Confidentiality
A story in this week’s Connection titled “Private talk with CAO leads to Collingwood integrity commissioner complaint” sparked the following comment. No, this is not about what strikes me as the unethical and secretive behaviour of the councillor in question and his defending that behaviour in the media as if the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: DWR Feminist Quote of the Day – Gail Dines on Porn Culture.
“Pornography has socialized a generation of men into watching sexual torture,” Dines said. “You are not born with that capacity. You have to be trained into it. Just like you train soldiers to kill. If you are going to carry out violence against a group you have to dehumanize them.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Alberta Needs Charlie Hebdo
Wednesday’s massacre of eight journalists, five of whom were political cartoonists, at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo unleashed a torrent of “We are Charlie Hebdo” editorials across the world. Newspapers fell all over themselves in an effort to demonstrate solidarity with the slain cartoonists—but they had a concern. Was
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: The ethics of business
Something got me thinking about business ethics and that brought to mind a short piece I wrote for the Jewish Western Bulletin (now The Jewish Independent) in 2003. The item described a course by the Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) and, although more than a decade has passed, I think part
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice…
“Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.” – Edmund Burke Promises vs. ‘political speeches:’ Tories’ honesty questioned on support for injured veterans, Matthew Coutts, Yahoo News, Dec. 3, 2014 …A group of veterans known as the Equitas Society
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: The Trolley Problem
I had read about the “trolley problem” in the past, but not given it much thought until recently when I saw Thomas Cathcart’s little book of that name in the philosophy section of an Indigo bookstore. It’s subtitled, “Would You Throw the Fat Guy Off the bridge? A Philosophical Conundrum.”
Continue readingTrashy's World: Harper’s politics of cynicism….
… and an empty shelf in the pantry where “ethics” used to be… Wandering around the Interweb, I found this cutting piece that brilliantly sums up the CPC modus operandi as follows: The Harper Government is a public relations oriented government. The machine seems to operate in the following manner;
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Un-Friend Zone
We’ve all heard plenty about the so-called “friend zone”, which is where a person you want to date, just wants to be friends, and somehow that’s unfair and bad and mean. Let me tell you about its converse, the Un-Friend Zone. A while back at work, we got a new
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM A Blog by Donna Thomson: The Film ‘Boyhood’: Reflections on Holding On and Letting Go
A date night with my husband Jim doesn’t happen often. We have fallen into our habits of cooking dinner together, followed by reading or watching a British television drama. Sometimes, though, a movie or play catches my eye and I peek out of my turtleshell long enough to organize an
Continue readingThings Are Good: A Hippocratic Oath for Bankers
Bankers destroyed the economy and in too many countries those responsible walk free despite the damage they wrought. Iceland jailed bankers at fault in their country, but what can we do to ensure that bankers behave in the future? Doctors take the hippocratic oath in order to practice medicine, now
Continue readingAlberta Diary: If you can’t trust Postmedia when it reports on oil and the environment, when can you trust it?
If you can’t trust your Postmedia website, who can you trust? I mean, other than Alberta Diary. Regardless, don’t blame these poor guys. They’re just trying to earn a living. Below: Economist Robyn Allen, Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey. Industry self-regulation doesn’t work and never will for a simple reason: He
Continue readingLaw is Cool: Is Work-Life Balance Attainable?
By: Shannon O’Connor Maintaining a work-life balance has been difficult for numerous legal professionals. The question still remains: can a balance between work and life be attainable within contemporary society? I believe that it is possible to achieve a balance between work and life. This balance ensures that an individual
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice Extra Edition – The Freedom to Believe in Stupid Ideas (Religion)
Dear Religious people, Have you thanked your local atheist today? If not, you should because atheism and by extension secular society, is saving you from the immoral loopy shit your bronze age beliefs demand. The latest demonstration of how immoral and barbaric religion is comes to us from the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Now That…that is a Catch-22 – Belarus 1942
If you have not picked up or borrowed Blood Lands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder yet, I suggest you do so. It is a shockingly candid dissertation on what happened to the people on the Eastern Front between Stalin and Hitler. I quote from that text:
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Now That…that is a Catch-22 – Belarus 1942
If you have not picked up or borrowed Blood Lands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder yet, I suggest you do so. It is a shockingly candid dissertation on what happened to the people on the Eastern Front between Stalin and Hitler. I quote from that text:
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: No Charges Doesn’t Mean Wright Is Clean
On Friday, we learned that the RCMP will not be laying charges against Nigel Wright for writing a cheque to Mike Duffy in the amount of some $90,000 and change. The CPC, and the PMO, seem to think that this is some kind of exoneration. Nothing could be further from
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: With the new Québec government, the provinces should push back
Monday’s landslide win by Phillipe Couillard and his Québec Liberal Party is a great sign that the idea of sovereignty may have been set aside for a long time. But I think it should lead to something more. It should lead to the federation our Founders wanted but has often
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