Is it ethical to take pictures of pretty women (or anyone) without their permission to put in a newspaper?
I don’t think so but this is Hong Kong. What are the rules there? Read the attached article and enjoy.
James Pilant
Citizen-Led Movement in California Proposes to Outlaw Foreclosures (via Ketron Property Management, Inc.)
If you think this is a little crazy, you’re right. But in the light of how home owners have been treated over the last few years, it is totally understandable.
You can do a lot to people when they’ve been trained to take it. Currently they believe that the system is fair and that the terrible things that have happened to hundreds of thousands of Americans will be remedied once the right people figure out what’s going on.
Many of the right people knew from the beginning what was going on in the housing market and when the massive number of foreclosures began, those same right people closed their eyes.
A lot of Americans are waking up each day a little more sure that no one cares about them, their property or their rights. When justice is denied, people are going to start looking at other remedies.
This may look crazy now but if simple justice is denied large parts of the population, it’s going to get a lot crazier than this.
And it should.
James Pilant
CBO … Federal Loan Guarantees for the Construction of Nuclear Power Plants (via Point/CounterPoint)
You weren’t aware that loans to build nuclear power plants were guaranteed by the federal government?
They had to, you see. No one would loan them money to build a plant because of the risk.
So, you might ask, “If the federal government did not guarantee the loans, would there be any nuclear power plants built in the United States from now on?”
No.
You may resent the fact that if you decide to borrow some money to build a factory, a restaurant, a day-care center, etc., the government isn’t going to guarantee a dime of it.
That’s very small minded of you. Isn’t obvious that the nuclear industry though its exemplary safety record, environmental activism and continuing careful and cost free disposal of nuclear waste, has earned these enormous government subsidies? (Whoops, they don’t do any of that, do they? – Oh, well, it’s still obvious that they are deserving and you aren’t.)
Maybe you should get mad?
James Pilant
God Wants You To Blow Stuff Up (With Nukes!)
For the last twenty years officers in the Air Force who run the launch platforms for nuclear weapons have had an “unusual” training manual. It explains the necessity of nuclear war based on fundamentalist Christian principles.
Strangely enough, I spent years in a fundamentalist Christian Church and we never discussed the morality of vaporizing our enemies. Of course in those teachings, Jesus Christ was militant and not afraid to kill his enemies, so I guess you can extrapolate from that.
From CNN –
The Air Force halted the class last week after 31 missile launch officers reported the religious nature of the briefing to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a watchdog group which tries to ensure religious freedom among the troops.
“There were several things that they found disgusting,” Mikey Weinstein founder of the foundation said. “The first was the fact that there is actually a slide that makes it clear that they’re trying to teach that, under fundamentalist Christian doctrine, war is a good thing.”
From The Atlantic Monthly –
A curious mix of vigilant atheists and devout Christians are celebrating the Air Force’s decision to suspend a Christian-themed course taught to nuclear missile launch officers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. For almost 20 years, military chaplains presented these officers with slides filled with biblical references such as “Revelation 19:11 Jesus Christ is the mighty warrior” and Christian literature, such as St. Augustine’s Just War Theory, in an attempt to dismantle the moral and ethical qualms of annihilating human beings with nuclear weapons. Surprise! Not everyone liked it. Last week, the Air Force suspended the course after 32 missile launch officers reported the religious bent of the briefings to the watchdog group Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Cue a Bill O’Reilly Culture Warrior™ moment? Not so fast. It seems both believers and non-believers are pleasantly amenable to the policy change.
From Military.com – Today in the Military
AETC halted the ethics training last week after an article on the training was posted at Truthout.org. Former Air Force Capt. Damon Bosetti — described as a missile officer who took the training in 2006 — said he and others referred to the religious section of the ethics training as the “Jesus loves nukes speech.”
The Air Force says it was unaware of the training despite its twenty year run.
James Pilant
Dogs Becoming Latest Casualty Of S. Fla. Foreclosures (via CBS Miami)
Isn’t this pitiful. We live in a country where the recession has gotten so severe that families are unable to keep their pets.
James Pilant
via CBS Miami
Fault Lines: The Top 1% (via THE INTERNET POST)
Exactly. The distribution of income is this country is a great moral and ethical problem. If the money were allocated according to ability and work ethic, that might make some sense but walk around in this country and look at the hard working men and women reduced to penury by law that favor financial “innovation” over hard work and productivity.
James Pilant
Enough Is Enough! Demonstrate the True Will of the People (via Coffee Party USA)
This is from the web site – Coffee Party USA – Here’s the lead in –
CALL TO ACTION: If you do not consent to being governed by corporations or billionaires…If you want to be heard by your government..If you’re ready to stand up for America’s democracy and your dignity as citizens…Join us. Let’s build America’s Tahrir Square.
We are calling for is a peaceful and decisive demonstration to restore democracy in America.We want to see a million Americans turn up for a march in Washington with satellite rallies in every town and city.
As many acknowledge, we are on the cusp of losing our democracy. As everyday Americans, we just don’t feel heard by our government or mainstream media. Representation has broken down.
The upward shift in wealth, the outsourcing of jobs, rampant financial speculation: all these are great moral and ethical issues before the American People. I cannot help but see that our institutions seem to have no concern for the great mass of Americans.
I want you to consider joining the March on Washington being organized on the web site. It’s not enough to be angry. It’s time to do something.
James Pilant
Ethics: it’s tough even to give it away (via Ethics Bob)
This essay has an important observation. Ethics is more than discussing obeying the rules or even the laws. Ethics is a philosophy by which we guide our actions. When we discuss the subject only in terms of rule breaking we bring to mind the picture of the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. We are only plugging holes and not dealing with the wider issue of the behavior should be.
James Pilant
via Ethics Bob
North West Arkansas Community College (via becomealiveblog)
It has been some years, more than I care to remember, since I went to college. I thought I was in heaven, and I’ve never forgotten how it felt those first few days when I discovered that my professors actually thought I was bright.
Here we have a student embarking on a new career path. One day soon, college may become a simple matter of computer assisted tests and internet presentations with the personal removed, no more lecture, no more exchange of ideas between teacher and student, and no more of the power and enthusiasm of teaching at its best. But we are not there yet and so his experience will be similar to mine, a path of self discovery with the pleasure of being taught.
I wish him well and suggest his essay as an example of a thinking human being, in short, a rare individual.
James Pilant
via becomealiveblog
What on earth is S365? (via (B)LogtheLeg)
The debt ceiling agreement clobbers grad students. It makes it harder to get loans for those working toward advanced degrees. We in this country need to encourage education not just at the bachelor level but at all levels. We don’t just live to make money but to extend our civilization. It’s important to continue this process.
Let’s cut grad students a break and maintain their ability to stay in school.
James Pilant
via (B)LogtheLeg
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