This is a code of ethics for blogging. I like it. It is also a code of purpose.
Some might make fun of codes of ethics. I make fun of bad ones or ones not being followed. And I have a good time doing it. But I still like them. Aren’t the religions of Christianity and Buddhism in a way codes of ethics?
Codes of ethics are one way to spread the word about what is or is not acceptable conduct.
So, read and enjoy.
James Pilant
Do-gooders is a title of derision and a major criticism in the United States. It implies giving help where none is requested and idealism in a situation where everyone is comfortable.
Here it is used in another sense, political newcomer, neophyte, starry eyed idealist, etc. That is only to be expected. Generally speaking to be effective, a wide ranging movement eventually becomes organized to maintain pressure over long periods of time. In the United States, organizations like C.O.R.E., the Congress of Racial Equality and the N.A.A.C.P., National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, carried on the struggle for civil rights for minorities in the United States. It was recognized that even though the public favored the cause, it required continuous pressure to make change possible.
A large unorganized movement can easily be broken by attacks because it has no mechanism for defense, no central leadership to react to these kinds of assaults. Hazare’s organization is not really organized. It is almost helpless against attacks in the media. Because of its diffuse membership, there can be a dozen different responses to crisis coming from different parties in different places.
I admire Anna Hazare but the next stage of the battle is about to begin. It will take continuous pressure over decades to change the endemic culture of corruption. I’m going to watch. India is no longer a backwater in the field of social change, it is the front line in a worldwide battle for ethics and morality in public life.
This is a good article, a little more cynical than me, which is saying a lot. My heart and prayers are with the reformers. It is time for a change.
James Pilant
via pennsperry
This one is kind of fun. We take a historical figure, place a controversial title or descriptive word, that has existed about him for a long period of time and explore the meanings.
It’s a pretty posting. However, my knowledge of Indian culture is not strong enough to know if the interpretations are correct. But it has the kind of analysis that suggests sincerity.
I would like some feed back. I have to figure out about India. I think there is something important here.
James Pilant
The more kinds of radioactive material can be reasonably assumed to mean more leakage from the plant. Fortunately strontium is bad but not as bad as many other nuclear deposits.
James Pilant
via
This post discusses the defacto censorship by the Japanese government and TEPCO, the Japanese utility that owns the plants. There are also charges that dangerous levels of plutonium exist around the plant. Since No. 4 reactor ran hotter than any of the other nuclear plants because it was using a hybrid fuel of regular uranium and plutonium, it would only stand to reason that there must be some contamination.
There are also fairly lengthy discussions of Chernobyl, independent journalism and government censorship. It’s lengthy but it has to be to provide so much information.
James Pilant
via Udolicko’s Blog
It appears that Fukushima will be generating stories for some time. It seems our old favorite No. 4 reactor is trying out a new crisis on the world.
One of the more interesting parts of the story is that the Japanese government has decided that children living near the plant can have the same exposure as a nuclear plant worker. That’s right, the local children are in the same boat as nuclear workers when it comes to radiation exposure.
Time marches on and as the disaster becomes more and more boring to the public, it slips away from view. But radiation and nuclear disaster don’t depend on publicity to function.
James Pilant
via Follow The Money
Wow, this blog has more than few thoughts in it. We go from history to culture to IT to world power to economic growth. I admire that wide a set of thoughts in one post.
As a citizen of the United States, generally referred to as US in the blog, I am struck by how much influence the economics of my country seems to be having in India. I do see a good number of citizens of India in the community here, so I can confirm that there definitely is some movement from India to the United States.
I am not sure if the author would put it this way, but it does strike me as odd that a nation with little less than 250 years of existence would have so much effect on a culture measured in thousands of years but, of course, that is to be expected. The United States is the “brand” of the moment, in a way like Great Britain in the 19th century.
I have complete faith that as India asserts itself as a world power the United States will become far less significant in India and that, strangely enough, other countries will complain about Indian influence.
It’s the circle of time.
Please read the post. It’s well written and has a lot of thought and ideas in it.
James Pilant
My thanks to New Avatar!
via New Avatar
Here is a blogger trying to work through a series of problems as college beckons but not yet.
This takes me back about 35 years. I don’t know whether to be glad that so little has changed or that so much has.
I lived in a time where there were few demands on my time and energy. I have a 17 year old son and I know for a fact that his work load exceed what I was called upon to do.
Now, to our posting friend. You have to do that stuff and it’s not fair. At this age, you are not supposed to know what you are going to be. That is a work in progress. So are you.
I would be curious to know what you are reading and doing to keep yourself relaxed and able to respond to these demands on your time and spirit.
I have not encountered a few new adults with your kind of problems, I’ve encountered hundreds. Not only have I encountered students trying to make their lives better, I have counseled juvenile delinquents in the same age group.
The last thing you want to hear is how I had the same problems and got through them. Or that horror of adult response, “You don’t know how good you’ve got it, these are the best times of your life.” I always want to take a bat and pop them one on the head whenever they say that. My high school had a great deal of horror and suffering in it and that’s true for many a sensitive soul.
I tell you what though, your energy and creativity is obvious. You should be proud of that.
You are very sensitive. That means you live more alive and vibrant than many of your comrades but it also means you suffer more. Once you are loose, free to choose your own purposes and your own use of time, you will find that power of perception to be a great advantage but when you’re boxed as if you were just like every other student, it stings.
Obviously, you can write and that probably absorbs some of your stress. I wish you well. I teach college and I would be delighted to have you as one of my students. I like what you have to say and I’d like to turn you loose on all the topics of the day, so I can hear an original voice. Those kind of people are invaluable.
Good luck!!
James Pilant J.D.
via cmilette
I, too, believe that photo journalist are not getting the credit they deserve. The risks they take are not appreciated as we focus more and more on the strange talking heads that inhabit our media world.
With the recent deaths in Libya, we should all become more aware of the guts it takes to go into a shooting war with only a camera.
James Pilant
My thanks to Blognovic’s Weblog.
Andrew is a regular commentator on my blogs. Today, he is commenting on my previous post, “Ethics (via Linear perspective.”
My wife has seen this more than I have. She is a canine trainer and nutritionist. She has a problem with veterinarians advertising and recommending inferior food, such as Pedigree brand foods, because Pedigree is one of the largest corporate donors to the major veterinary schools in the country.
Very often, part of her training regime includes a change of diet. These inferior kibbles cause health problems with the dogs, and those health problems manifest both medically and behaviorally (Afterall, dont we all feel crabby when we dont feel well).
Is it ethical? No. Is academia to blame for allowing corporations to dilute the integrity of its institutions? Yes.
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