The U.S.-India Nuclear Deal (via The Council on Foreign Relations)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

 This article explains and summarizes the nuclear treaty between the two countries.

This treaty is the flashpoint for the controversy and public outcry over corruption in the Indian government. More than two years after the agreement was ratified by both nations, diplomatic cables from the American State Department detailed vote buying in the Indian legislature to get the treaty passed. Wikileaks published the cables and their impact in India has been major. It has been so important that it has pushed much of the coverage of the nuclear meltdown in Japan off the front pages.

Please read the summary.

James Pilant

The U.S. Congress on October 1, 2008, gave final approval to an agreement facilitating nuclear cooperation between the United States and India. The deal is seen as a watershed in U.S.-India relations and introduces a new aspect to international nonproliferation efforts. First introduced in the joint statement released by President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 18, 2005, the deal lifts a three-decade U.S. moratorium on nuclear trade with India. It provides U.S. assistance to India’s civilian nuclear energy program, and expands U.S.-India cooperation in energy and satellite technology. But critics in the United States say the deal fundamentally reverses half a century of U.S. nonproliferation efforts, undermines attempts to prevent states like Iran and North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons, and potentially contributes to a nuclear arms race in Asia. “It’s an unprecedented deal for India,” says Charles D. Ferguson, science and technology fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “If you look at the three countries outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)-Israel, India, and Pakistan-this stands to be a unique deal.”

Barry Lynn at INET, Decoupling our Corporations (via Rortybomb)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I have been assigning some of my students the mission of discovering how the Japanese disasters are effecting the United States. This would be a good place for them to start.

The invaluable web site, Rortybomb, talks about the problem of specific parts made largely or only in Japan and what that lack is doing here in the United States.

Unfortunately it is likely we are only seeing the beginning of the dislocations caused by the loss of Japanese manufacturing.

James Pilant

If you are not subscribing to Rortybomb, you should be.

As you may know, Toyota has many plants in the United States. This kind of regional diversification has to be good for the company in the wake of the Japanese earthquake, right? Even though the Japanese plants are in trouble the US ones can up production, hopefully making as many cars as the Japanese-based plants cant, balancing out what is a scary time for the company. Well, no. The US ones cant run without specific parts from Japan, and since … Read More

via Rortybomb

Real White Male Privilege?

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics

042-1Real White Male Privilege?

I knew something like this was going on. I’ve seen my female fellow students get low level employment while the males went into management and other lucrative career paths. But I didn’t know it was this bad.

But there was an experience of mine that bears a little on this. I am a white male but one of my proudest accomplishments was being invited to join the Black Student Society where I went to college. You see, they had lost their certification as a campus organization and I worked to get it back – so I was invited. I was a member in good standing through thick and thin until I left for law school three years later.

And being very proud of it, I put it on my resume.

I think you can figure out the rest of the story. Only when I pulled that off my resume did I start getting responses to my job inquiries.

It’s not just women.

This is a continuing problem in business ethics. First, it’s not fair to penalize people in hiring and promotion because of their sex. Second, it’s foolish to not have your best in the most appropriate positions for skills.

Now, I want you to treat women fairly because it is right but do note that it also very foolish to discriminate in this manner.

James Pilant

For much more detail, please go to the web site below –

Female ‘A+’ Students End Up Making As Much As Male ‘C’ Students.

From Around the Web.

From the web site, Why Evolution is True.

There are some interesting comments here on the same subject.

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/new-study-shows-gender-bias-against-female-students/

 

Forbes on firing your bad boss

On By southwerkIn business ethics

!!@@#dddddd444hmlbr35Forbes on firing your bad boss.

SEC is now considering a rule that would require public companies to disclose to their shareholders how they are using corporate resources to fund political activities.

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Everyone reading one of my blogs should go to the SEC site linked in this post and write in support of a rule that would require public companies to disclose to their shareholders how they are using corporate resources to fund political activities. In the wake of Citizen’s United, it is a critical step for our country and shareholder democracy. jp

eslkevin's avatarTeachers, Peacemakers, Witnesses for Justice and Learning Societies. Let´s Get Smart. Let´s Get Active. Let´s Be United. Improve the Planet NOW!!!

Dear Kevin –

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has the authority to counteract the flood of special interest, corporate money into our elections that was unleashed by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The agency is now considering a rule that would require public companies to disclose to their shareholders how they are using corporate resources to fund political activities. But the SEC won’t act without public pressure, and it is taking public comments now – click here to submit yours. 

This particular rule has been in the works for several years, but was quietly dropped from the agenda sometime after the agency’s chairman, Mary Jo White, was pressured by Republican lawmakers to abandon it. In the hearing, Republicans warned White not to drag her agency into the political fray by tackling such a partisan issue… Pressing White to remove the rule from the agency’s annual agenda…

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Free Market Logic?

On By southwerkIn Capitalism

hmlbr23Free Market Logic?

I constantly hear talk of the “free market” by politicians and other public figures. Being well-educated in business (law degree, corporate specialty) I am quite understanding of how their understanding of free markets has little to do with actual competition. What’s worse is that the model is disastrous for many fields of endeavor in our society. Do we want fireman and policeman to be profit oriented? – Much less teachers and ministers.  I teach criminal justice courses. Policing for profit changes police priorities to crimes where they can confiscate property or money. The feds are particularly prone to law enforcement confiscations of goodies. It doesn’t make for good law enforcement but it is in a bizarre and disastrous sense a “free market.”

Teaching is another field where the profit motive has questionable results. While it is vaguely possible to measure some salary outcomes for education, that is only one purpose of education. We in the teaching field are also supposed to produce good citizens, critical thinkers, civilized human beings who can appreciate art and culture as well as professionals. Those things are hard to measure no matter how much multi-nationals like Pearson insist on numbers.

Numbers are a tool, and a limited one. If you’ve read David Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest, you are well aware that according to the numbers we won that war decisively. To use numbers capably, they have actually to provide an accurate and useful measure of what’s happening.

How many of you can remember industries and businesses whose numbers were wonderful and then they were gone? Enron ring any bells? If businesses with so many aspects measurable by numbers and with so much experience using them for everything from hiring to stock prices can’t generate accurate and useful information, shouldn’t that call into question the application of this kind of number crunching to softer less money oriented fields?

I don’t mind my students desiring successful careers. But I do constantly emphasize the value of honor, honesty and patriotism. Can you measure the success of my teaching in those aspects with numbers? I think not.

James Pilant

“If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?” | Academe Blog

Money, the goal of all goals, today is ruining both education and government. When money becomes, as it has, our only measure of value, structures protecting anything else melt before it. As the “business model” is most keenly attuned to profit, it has become the one model for all of our endeavors.

In my first “real” job out of college, I worked as a counselor in a Department of Education funded program at a small Midwestern college. Our target was students from disadvantaged backgrounds; the one I remember best was a Vietnam vet (this was 1974) who had completed two tours as a side-door gunner in the air cavalry. What he needed was someone to listen as he tried to process his experiences. In all cases, our task was to discover the needs of each individual student and try to develop means of meeting them.

Even then, however, government was bowing to free-market “logic” claiming business methods are the best and most effective in any environment. The DoE had become enamored by a business management concept called “Management by Objectives” and had decided that even small programs like ours needed to comply. We counselors spend a great deal of time on this nonsense, time we could have better spent working directly with students.

via “If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?” | Academe Blog.

From Around the Web.

From the web site, The Road Upward.

http://roadupward.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/the-secret-power-of-political-myths/

The Secret Power of Political Myths

Posted by ⋅ April 16, 2014 ⋅ Leave a comment
Filed Under  , , , ,

Rome was founded by twin boys named Romulus and Remus, who were suckled by a she-wolf. Germans were descended from demigods who had once inhabited Atlantis before it sadly sank beneath the waves. The emperor of Japan is a direct descendant of Ameratsu, the sun goddess. The population of Britain is actually made up of the ten lost tribes of Israel and members of the royal family are direct descendants of King David.

“What silliness,” rational types will exclaim. These fairy tales should be ignored by intelligent, enlightened people such as us. And ignore them policy-makers do, much to their own peril, because these stories operate powerfully in the underground chambers of our minds. Even the most rational, calculating types at the Chicago School of Economics have a myth: the Invisible Hand guides mankind to prosperity if only we mortals give it free reign. To try to rein in the Invisible Hand of the Free Market is a sin punishable by the curse of low living standards, falling profits and enslavement by the devil (played by the government in this drama.)

The Chicago School of Economics, unaware that their magic numbers are a throwback to that cult leader Pythagorus and the Caballah, continue to fill blackboards and student’s heads with these dogmas. That they don’t work is no hindrance-as soon as we repent of blasphemous usurpation of the Free Market they will work, dang it.

Destruction of the Planet, a Sinful Act

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Destruction of the Planet, a Sinful Act

Ethics: an area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior : a branch of philosophy dealing with what is morally right or wrong.

Business ethics is narrowed branch of ethics devoted to the economic and organizational activities of societies. The power of these organizations, private enterprises, corporations etc., are such that they surpass in influence and the ability to do things like harm the environment on a scale almost beyond human understanding (think gulf oil spill or Fukushima). Is the environment a value in itself that business and industry should take into consideration?

One of the more popular philosophies today is Christianity, in this case, the branch known as the Roman Catholic Church. And what do they say about the destruction of the environment?

Read the article below for the most recent declaration on the subject.

James Pilant

Pope Francis Makes Biblical Case For Addressing Climate Change: ‘If We Destroy Creation, Creation Will Destroy Us’ | ThinkProgress

Pope Francis made the religious case for tackling climate change on Wednesday, calling on his fellow Christians to become “Custodians of Creation” and issuing a dire warning about the potentially catastrophic effects of global climate change.

Speaking to a massive crowd in Rome, the first Argentinian pope delivered a short address in which he argued that respect for the “beauty of nature and the grandeur of the cosmos” is a Christian value, noting that failure to care for the planet risks apocalyptic consequences.

“Safeguard Creation,” he said. “Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us! Never forget this!”

The pope centered his environmentalist theology around the biblical creation story in the book of Genesis, where God is said to have created the world, declared it “good,” and charged humanity with its care. Francis also made reference to his namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi, who was a famous lover of animals, and appeared to tie the ongoing environmental crisis to economic concerns — namely, instances where a wealthy minority exploits the planet at the expense of the poor.

“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude,” Francis said.

Francis also said that humanity’s destruction of the planet is a sinful act, likening it to self-idolatry.

via Pope Francis Makes Biblical Case For Addressing Climate Change: ‘If We Destroy Creation, Creation Will Destroy Us’ | ThinkProgress.

Solitary Confinement for Juveniles?

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I recognize that this is not business ethics related but I teach criminal justice courses and this falls under the category of teaching. Please bear will me as I will occasionally write about these subjects. jp

illo-47-thSolitary Confinement for Juveniles?

The idea behind juvenile justice is that young people who are not yet mature make poor choices and given the opportunity will change their behavior. Solitary confinement is not the kind of punishment that should be used on a regular basis in dealing with juveniles. It is very punitive and very damaging. In the case of Ohio, the federal government is insisting on changes to their policy. The feds are absolutely correct. We should not treat young people in a way that can damage them permanently nor should we use it on the mentally ill.

James Pilant

Ohio agrees to reform, eventually eliminate juvenile solitary confinement | Al Jazeera America

The Department of Justice on Monday announced it had reached an agreement with Ohio under which the state will dramatically reduce and eventually eliminate the use of solitary confinement for juveniles — with an emphasis on those with mental illness — in a move some advocates said would have “enormously important implications” for the rest of the country.

Under the deal, Ohio’s Department of Youth Services, which deals with offenders ages 10 to 21, will significantly reduce the duration of solitary confinement and the scenarios in which the punishment would be allowed, according to the DOJ. The state will also increase therapeutic, educational and recreational services for juveniles held in seclusion.

“Overreliance on solitary confinement for young people, particularly those with disabilities, is unsafe and counterproductive,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “The Justice Department will continue to evaluate the use of solitary confinement so that it does not become a new normal for incarcerated juveniles.”

In essence, the agreement means Ohio would need to provide mental health treatment to young people in its facilities and not use solitary confinement, which involves placing an incarcerated person by themselves with no human contact other than prison staff — usually used as form of discipline, punishment or protection — as a replacement for treatment.

Some of the juveniles in the Ohio detention centers were allegedly held in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours per day, often with no human interaction at all, according to the DOJ.

via Ohio agrees to reform, eventually eliminate juvenile solitary confinement | Al Jazeera America.

From Around the Web.

From the web site, Youth Media for Building Healthy Communities.

http://ymbhc.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/double-charged-the-true-cost-of-juvenile-justice/

Double charged: The true cost of juvenile justice

By Editor on May 22, 2014

The process of charging a youth with a crime involves trials, probation hearings, and now the negotiation of a long catalog of fines and fees that get tacked on for things like staffing, clothing, health care – even a fee for the investigation following the arrest, which is upheld whether the youth is exonerated or not. The charges amount to an average of close to $2,000.  Juvenile offenders are charged for each day they must wear a GPS ankle-device – one accessory no teen wants to wear. And it’s usually on for longer than expected: nearly half of young people who are electronically monitored end up violating probation, and extending their GPS time or going to juvenile hall.

High Administrative Salaries Don’t Benefit Students

On By southwerkIn business ethics

southwerk's avatarPilant's Faculty Senate Page

i_374High Administrative Salaries Don’t Benefit Students

A disturbing new report from IPS, Institute for Policy Studies, show a correlation between administrative salaries and student debt, the more administrators are paid, the more the students owe.

Other findings from the report called The One Percent at State U:

Key Findings:

  • The student debt crisis is worse at state schools with the highest-paid presidents. The sharpest rise in student debt at the top 25 occurred when executive compensation soared the highest. 

  • As students went deeper in debt, administrative spending outstripped scholarship spending by more than 2 to 1 at state schools with the highest-paid presidents. 

  • At state schools with the highest-paid presidents, part-time adjunct faculty increased 22 percent faster than the national average at all universities. 

  • At state schools with the highest-paid presidents, permanent faculty declined dramatically as a percentage of all faculty. By fall 2009, part-time and contingent faculty at the…

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The Corporation : The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power

On By southwerkIn business ethics

An excellent blog post and a good documentary. jp

MHTV's avatarMemory Hole TV

The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film written by University of British Columbia law professor Joel Bakan, and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. The documentary examines the modern-day corporation. This is explored through specific examples. Bakan wrote the book, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, during the filming of the documentary.
The documentary shows the development of the contemporary business corporation, from a legal entity that originated as a government-chartered institution meant to affect specific public functions, to the rise of the modern commercial institution entitled to most of the legal rights of a person. The documentary concentrates mostly upon North American corporations, especially those of the United States. One theme is its assessment as a “personality”, as a result of an 1886 case in the United States Supreme Court in which a statement by Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite[nb 1] led to corporations…

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