Author: southwerk

I am a 53 year old teacher. I have double major in Speech and Criminal Justice resulting in a Bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma and a law degree.

Father/Son Movie Night! No Blog Posts!

On By southwerkIn Uncategorized

On Wednesday, I didn’t post. When I was in my twenties, a very long time ago, I worked out, learning Tae Kwon Do (I have expert rank and used to teach). It was every Tuesday and Thursday night. It was important not to miss a practice. But one night, our black belt canceled. The basketball playoffs were being broadcast and he wasn’t going to miss them.
“What about karate?” I asked.
He replied, “Sometimes there are more important things than karate.”

Sometimes, there are more important things than posting. My son just turned seventeen. Soon, he will realize how stupid this old guy is and before then I want to spend some time with him.

We watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Notting Hill.

We had a pretty good time and our next films are to be Lost Horizon and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

[Desperate attempts to find a Jay and Silent Bob video that was not in bad taste have all failed. Sorry.]

Thanks for reading my stuff!

James Alan Pilant

David Lazarus: Retail Credit Card Fees, Who Should Pay?

On By southwerkIn business ethics

David Lazarus writes for the Los Angeles Times. His column today deals with who should pay retail credit card fees.
Whenever you buy something from a retailer with a credit card, they pay an additional fee for processing, apparently about 1%. However, on a $300 dollar purchase that $3 and after a while it adds up. Congress has before it a new bill which will place supervision over these fees. The retailers want to be able to charge extra to consumers for using credit cards. The banks want things to stay the way they are. But what the banks are really frightened of is revealing how much it actually cost them to process these transactions.
These fees may have made sense in the early days of slow computers and inexperience, but your current computer be it a laptop or desktop could run thousands of transactions by itself. Does it cost a dollar to process a one hundred dollar credit card transaction? I don’t think so.
Lazarus has an elegant solution. Find out what the transactions cost and lower them to a more reasonable level. Banks are entitled to profit from their activities but without consumer and retailer knowledge of what actually takes place here, we have less of a service than a magical transference of your money by a priest of finance. That is not fair.

James Pilant

Malware Kills My Computer!

On By southwerkIn ethics

I’m thrilled. My dvd drive quit working. The computer indicated that the driver was malfunctioning and I went on the net to try to find one. I found an apparently reliable site but after it downloaded for about ten seconds, I decided I didn’t want to risk it and stopped the download. Well, guess what?, ten seconds is enough. My infested computer had to be wiped and the basic software reloaded. Now I being ever cautious have two computers that do this blog. So, one computer is left and it’s the main one. The one I just wiped is going to become a web cruiser only with tons of defensive software, so in a couple weeks I should have identical material on both computers.
It makes me angry that people would do this and much more angry that Microsoft’s operating system bears more resemblance to Swiss cheese than a computer program. But I’ll keep going.

James Pilant

Ethics Columnists Round Up 6/14/2010

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

Mitchell Schnurman writing for the Fort Worth Star Telegram discusses Radio Shack continued push for more incentives to stay in the Fort Worth area. Schnurman is upset about the whole matter and after you read the article I bet you get upset too. It’s a good two pages and most of it is spent discusses the great deals Radio Shack is already getting. This guy is fighting the good fight. I wish there were more people like him. Give ’em hell, Mitchell!

Loren Steffy has a picture of a crab sporting a new camo paint job courtesy of its friends at British Petroleum.

Steffy’s June 10th essay asks that interesting question, “Do the Chinese want to organize a takeover of BP?”

Jon Talton talks about the poorly performing stock market and asks his readers to vote on what they expect it to do. (It’s going down.)

Jay Hancock asks, “Why is anyone surprised that Moody’s downgraded Greek debt to junk status?” He’s right. The most casual reading of the newspaper would tell someone the country was in trouble. A tiny, little reading of the material disclosed Goldman Sachs’ involvement in the debt crisis. Haven’t you seen enough of Goldman Sachs to realize that all their clients are expected to be “sophisticated investors?” Doesn’t always work out, does it?

Edward Lotterman says what I have already known for a long time: the internet can be a reliable source of information. He recommends using official government reports and cross checking them with other government agencies. I consider it to be a matter of experience and judgment tempered by a willingness to keep on hunting until you are sure you have the answer, and if you can’t find a definitive answer, the willingness to explain where you found the data and that it may not be accurate. (I firmly believe that humility is seriously lacking in this culture.)

Ethics Blogs, Monday, June 14, 2010

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

Lauren Bloom blogs that employers should allow workers the freedom to deal with family problems such as illness. Currently with the great difficulty in finding jobs, there is certainly a temptation to put the hammer down. Bloom believes this is counterproductive.

 

 

 

 

Gael O’Brien discusses the World Health Organization’s problems. The WHO has been criticized for over estimating the danger of a flu pandemic and advising governments to stockpile enormous quantities of drugs as preparation. The three scientists who recommended these steps all have ties to the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drugs recommended. The article is long enough for a good analysis and achieves that goal. The article has links to two reports, one from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the other from BMJ (it used to be the British Medical Journal). Neither report is complimentary.

The Ethics Of A Soccer Ball

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Chris MacDonald writes in his blog, The Business Ethics Blog,  of the controversy over the design of soccer ball used in the World Cup. It is often the case that an examination of an extremely small part of reality or some basic component of a larger system can lay out larger patterns or allow the formation of the most basic elements of an ethical analysis. The soccer ball controversy is argued at different levels, play experience and scientific analysis. These two arguments can be broken down further for ethical analysis. MacDonald explains the questions raised by the change in the kind of ball.

Chinese Worker Suicides, What Are The Ethics?

On By southwerkIn business ethics

“Andrew,” an Australian, writing on his web site, Good Honest Dollar $$, analyzes the suicides at the Hon Hai Precision Industry Company. Since, these companies produce electronics for a number of American companies including Apple, there are concerns in the United States that the Chinese company is mistreating its workers. Andrew concludes that based on the evidence before us, no action should be taken. He believes that only after further investigation, should actions be considered. But this analysis is definitely ethical in construction. So, it merits a read.

Newspaper Columnists I Follow

On By southwerkIn business ethics

FThese are my current choices among newspaper columnists. There are going to be a lot of changes over time. It’s taking me a lot of reading to find authors who delve into ethics (which I believe includes reporting and explaining evil doing with a requisite level of outrage). Some that at first appear to be promising turn out to be less than level headed if read for a length of time. Each columnist, once discovered, is favorited to an intermediate category and only moved to my regular reading after a period of probation. I was writing one of my regular recommended authors when I pointed out that I seldom criticize and my writing tends to be very complimentary. So, I wanted him to know that I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings (there is little people are more sensitive about than their writing) and bad writing carries its own reward. If I find writing offensive, incompetent or crankish, it gets deleted from my favorites never to be seen again. I think that counts as criticism.

MY CHOICES
Mitchell Schnurman of the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Loren Steffy of the Houston Chronicle (He has a Blog and a column.)
Jon Talton of the Seattle Times. His column is called, Sound Economy.
Keith Chrostowski of the Kansas City Star.
Jay Hancock of the Baltimore Sun. (He combines the occasional item related to ethics with consumer advocacy on consumer and sometimes very local issues, so he will only appear when I believe he is on point.)
Edward Lotterman writes for Twin Cities Pioneer Press.
David Moon writes for the Knoxville News.

Ethics Roundup – Blogs 6/11/10

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Government Failure1 Comment

Chris MacDonald considers the ethical elements of what is owed the shareholders of British Petroleum. His conclusion is dramatic. (And I think giving the comments a read is a good idea on this one.)

Lauren Bloom takes on the question of Helen Thomas and what should have happened in the light of her remarks. She wants to know why Hearst Corporation didn’t provide any help for her in the crisis. (I was surprised to discover that my opinion in the matter was identical with Ms. Bloom’s.)

Alain Sherter is on fire today, at first, angry, satirical, and then he segues into a discussion of what constitutes a sophisticated investor and then he gets indignant and angry again. It’s the kind of writing I expect from him. Sherter is extremely knowledgeable about the world of finance, outraged at the unprosecuted and protected bandits of our economy and dismayed by the public’s lack of concern, the government’s craven inability to act and the docility and foolishness of beltway comedians who call themselves journalists. If a few hundred people shared his convictions and ability, wall street would be a different place.

Only One Blog Entry On Friday!

On By southwerkIn ethics

This is me surviving a sinus attack!
This entry may still make Friday but not by much. I suffer from chronic sinusitis and the great demigod of pollen beat up on me badly Thursday night and Friday morning. I am better and will get some stuff up. Thanks for your patience!
James Pilant