After my initial shock at hearing the verdict and my attempt to rationalize it I have further reflected on the verdict. Perhaps it all comes down to the difference between Canadian and Floridian/American attitudes to vigilantism. I consider myself to be a reasonable man and my interpretation of self defence
Continue readingTag: responsibility
THE FIFTH COLUMN: The George Zimmerman Verdict: How Does an Aggressor Successfully Argue Self Defence
After my initial shock at hearing the verdict and my attempt to rationalize it I have further reflected on the verdict. Perhaps it all comes down to the difference between Canadian and Floridian/American attitudes to vigilantism. I consider myself to be a reasonable man and my interpretation of self defence
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The George Zimmerman Verdict and The British Justice System
The not guilty verdicts in the George Zimmerman trial for the murder of Travyon Martin may be a result of the British criminal justice system (that is shared by both Canada and the United States) and it’s most important principle that it is better that the guilty go free than
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The George Zimmerman Verdict and The British Justice System
The not guilty verdicts in the George Zimmerman trial for the murder of Travyon Martin may be a result of the British criminal justice system (that is shared by both Canada and the United States) and it’s most important principle that it is better that the guilty go free than the innocent be convicted.
One of the earliest expressionless of this principle was Blackstone’s formulation: "It is
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The George Zimmerman Verdict and The British Justice System
The not guilty verdicts in the George Zimmerman trial for the murder of Travyon Martin may be a result of the British criminal justice system (that is shared by both Canada and the United States) and it’s most important principle that it is better that the guilty go free than
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Blogger Rights and Responsibilities
I think of myself as a C-list blogger. Sometimes I wander into B-list territory, but I’m largely unseen by the masses. If I make it into the double digits on a post, it’s pretty exciting. I have two posts that made it into triple digits here – largely, I think,
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Animal Testing: What’s wrong with education this time?
Okay it’s really about our kids. But this post was inspired, in part, by this cartoon gaining swift popularity: There’s a burgeoning rebellion against the way we teach. I’m all for rebellion, but we have to figure out if we really want to overhaul the entire system or just tweak
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Enviro-Optimists vs Doom-Mongers: Another Wentian False Dichotomy
Margaret Wente, in her latest discourse, thinks the reason the environment’s being ignored is because of all the pessimists making us too depressed about it all. She splits all environmentalists into two camps: “But the biggest divide is really between the purists and the pragmatists, the pessimists and the optimists
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Our Rape Culture: Rehtaeh Parsons’ Unfortunate Legacy
And another one gone – a victim of assault and revenge porn enacted and filmed by a bunch of teenaged boys who had more power than they might have ever imagined: they could kill from a distance. As Elizabeth Renzetti says of these double-barrel assaults, they are, “not just an
Continue readingThings Are Good: Consumers Care About Social Responsibility
I recall early in the last decade that companies didn’t respond to calls for corporate social responsibility because consumers didn’t care. That seems to have changed, which is a very good thing. Since then, corporations have had to accommodate the growing concerns of people and have even gone so far
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: A Crisis of Environmentalist Faith
A couple of sentences from Matthew Altman (from “The Green Onion“) have been weighing on me for days: Ironically, environmentalism itself can become a means of advancing our own selfish interests, as when we barely adjust our lifestyles in order to feel a disproportionately strong sense of smugness….If a well-intentioned
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Being a Mean Mum (and Defining Bullying)
“He cut Charlie’s ear, and he’s driving him nuts! Water won’t hurt him; it will just remind him to stay off our porch.” “You know what you just cut, mom? The line that connects us. You are not my mother anymore in three…two….one. That’s it. We’re over.” My eight-year-old is
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Fatal Weakness of the United States Constitution Bill of Rights
Americans love their Constitution and beloved Bill of Rights. However it has one fatal weakness in that it’s provisions are unrestricted without the requirement that such rights as freedom of assembly and speech and the right to bear arms be exercised responsibly. This leads to the inability to restrict hate
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Fatal Weakness of the United States Constitution Bill of Rights
Americans love their Constitution and beloved Bill of Rights. However it has one fatal weakness in that it’s provisions are unrestricted without the requirement that such rights as freedom of assembly and speech and the right to bear arms be exercised …
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Fatal Weakness of the United States Constitution Bill of Rights
Americans love their Constitution and beloved Bill of Rights. However it has one fatal weakness in that it’s provisions are unrestricted without the requirement that such rights as freedom of assembly and speech and the right to bear arms be exercised responsibly. This leads to the inability to restrict hate
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Boom! – Rights of Women – Justice Ginsburg
Filed under: Ethics, Feminism Tagged: Feminism, Responsibility, Rights of Women
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Conservatives Can’t Avoid Social Responsibility
There is no stronger conservative principle than personal responsibility, however this Conservative government has shown that when people are only responsible to themselves, social well-being suffers, eventually including the well-being of Conservatives. This apparent contradiction is obvious in that though Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, they also claim the largest
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Little Cindi Cyborg
The best part about the Little Cindi Cyborg doll was that it was a great way to teach kids responsibility. Not only was each Little Cindi Cyborg semi-sentient, she was outfitted with a hyper-plasma retainer and an ocular implant that … Continue reading →
Continue readingTHE CAREGIVERS' LIVING ROOM - A Blog by Donna Thomson: Should My Daughter Be Her Brother’s Keeper?
When my daughter Natalie was about three, her favourite game was ‘hospital’. This involved her lying in bed with toilet paper wrapped around her leg, making a cast. The whole imobilized limb was then strung up with a skipping rope over a hook on ceiling creating a makeshift ‘traction’ device.
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: NDP & the Decline of Labour
The NDP is certainly not asking whether it should abandon organized labour, but maybe organized labour should ask whether it abandon the NDP. What does it say about the New Democratic Party when it is the only political organization of unions, for unions and organized labour over the last thirty
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