Gladiator School?

On By southwerkIn business ethics

The FBI has launched an investigation into the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) over the way it runs an Idaho prison that has such a reputation for violence that inmates dub it “Gladiator School.”

Gladiator School?

If you get lemons make lemonade? If you have an underperforming incompetent private prison, maybe you could get some fairly competent cage fighters out of the deal? After all, you’re not saving any money doing the privatization game. Why not just settle for what meager benefits there are to be had?

James Pilant

FBI investigates Idaho prison run by private corporation | Al Jazeera America

The Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA has operated Idaho’s largest prison for more than a decade, but last year, CCA officials acknowledged it had understaffed the Idaho Correctional Center by thousands of hours in violation of the state contract. CCA also said employees falsified reports to cover up the vacancies. The announcement came after an Associated Press investigation showed CCA sometimes listed guards as working 48 hours straight to meet minimum staffing requirements.

In January, Idaho officials announced the prison may be handed over to state control because of its staffing issues.

This isn’t the first time the CCA, and private prisons in general, have come under fire in Idaho and elsewhere. Rights groups have long held that private prisons are run without sufficient oversight, often leading to increased violence and prisoner maltreatment.

In Idaho, a 2008 state-run study obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union found that there were four times as many prisoner-on-prisoner assaults at the state’s CCA-run prison than at Idaho’s other seven prisons combined.

And a 2010 NPR investigation suggested that CCA won out on state contracts in Arizona because of its close connections to politicians in the state.

Officials and opponents of private prisons have also argued that privately run prisons are inefficient. A 2001 study by the Justice Department, for example, found that “the cost benefits of privatization have not materialized to the extent promised by the private sector.”

Still, despite such findings, the privatization of prisons has continued mostly unimpeded.

via FBI investigates Idaho prison run by private corporation | Al Jazeera America.

Business Ethics and Films, Assignments for this Semester, BLAW 1

On By southwerkIn Teaching

waterfall amazonBusiness Ethics and Films, Assignments for this Semester, BLAW 1

Each of these assignments is worth 8 points. You are to first write a brief intro explaining the plot and including the best line from the film that you can find after the first ten minutes. You will use for the second paragraph the five sentence paragraph format found in the syllabus.

I want you to watch the entire film. I’m trying to teach you something of importance that will last your entire life.

Each link is to an online video of the film which is totally free. If you have a service like Netlfix or Hulu and you can get the film there that will be fine.

The question I want you to answer is listed beneath the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5XcNcXBSQo

My Man Godfrey

According to the film, what moral principles does Godfrey believe in? What does he say about what he wants to accomplish?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYKijBENJ78

Love Affair

Charles Boyar has two choices in the film. Which does he choose and why? You may add a paragraph explaining what you would have done under the same circumstances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLwEUnW2BL0

His Girl Friday

The Editor (Cary Grant) often (continually) uses unethical actions to gain his ends. What is he trying to accomplish? Is he a good man?

http://viooz.co/movies/7322-persuasion-1995.html

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=persuasion&form=HDRSC3&first=1#view=detail&mid=5287835AA1093BF4C9265287835AA1093BF4C926

Persuasion

According to the film, does the heroine cravenly seek money and position? In a nation heavily influenced by neoliberalism, aren’t we supposed to use the free market to maximize our gains?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTXpC6NRHCg

Jane Eyre

What are the circumstances that make it possible for Jane to rise in social class? Do women have an advantage over men when it comes to social climbing? What does Jane want?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cf0-GsXDzI

Rebecca

Rebecca is given a place in high society. How does she adapt? Would you have made the same decisions?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmdPj_XbF30

Pygmalion

Watch the film and answer this question, would it have been better if Higgins had left her in the gutter?

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bodyguards+and+assasins&view=detail&mid=BB73D9DDEB1B1904078FBB73D9DDEB1B1904078F&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR

Bodyguards and Assassins

This is the first of fifteen parts. It was difficult to find and I had no luck finding it in English in a full movie.

What is the difference in the motivations of the rickshaw driver as opposed to the rich merchant?

Watch the film – I’ve had partial analysis that demonstrated a lack of basic knowledge of what was in it. This is a major cinematic experience. Treat it with the reverence a great piece of film making deserves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY1U-a2lWH4

Cyborg She

Watch the film and answer the following question: How much does money as a goal count in our hero’s life? Is there anything more important to him?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNdh5A6MWK8

Japan Sinks

In the film, the Japanese react as a people (as a whole) to the upcoming disaster but are saved by an individual’s sacrifice. Is there a conflict between solidarity of the population and the importance of the individual? Also what if he had acted with the morals of a Wall Street Banker, shouldn’t he happily abandon his country and his friends while cashing in on the underwater salvage of Japanese treasures?

http://vimeo.com/39063669

Ninotchka

Who does best in the story, the Royalists, the Communists or the lovers?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU9g8-a2xHo

After the Rain

Would you want to be this man or his wife? Why? What kind of person is he? Tell me, does his wife’s words explain what he is? Why or why not?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gqwXeHI85A

Father Brown, the Detective (1954)

Why isn’t Father Brown exclusively focused on stopping the theft? What are his motives in this movie? Please explain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdrN7wsJI8w

Last Holiday

How does the pursuit of money balance out against imminent death? Listen to the lead character. What does he say? Does his view point change over time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKWguqabUU

Young Mr. Lincoln

What is Lincoln after? Where does his ambition take him? Watch the film and from what Henry Fonda playing Lincoln says about himself and what he wants to do, describe his ethical motivations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMcTKNDB2TM

The Mark of Zorro

Why doesn’t our hero remain in Spain? After all, there there he has money, status, popularity and access to a high level of culture and entertainment.

Watch the film and discover from what he says, what his motives are.

From around the web.

From the web site, Media Ethics in the Morning.

http://mediaethicsmorning.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/ethics-goes-to-the-movies-how-to-succeed-in-business-without-really-trying/

Despite being released over 40 years ago, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying provides a humorous, musical commentary on ever-present ethical issues that arise in the workplace such as corporate greed and dishonesty. J. Pierpont “Ponty” Finch works as a window washer in New York City when he comes across a book that teaches “the science of getting ahead in business.” As he works to climb the corporate ladder following the rules of the book, Finch finds himself in situations that require acting unethically just for the sake of a promotion. At one point he even goes so far as to dishevel his desk and appearance to look as though he had been working all through the night.

We put to question the integrity of the book right from the get-go when it claims that “education, intelligence and ability” help some go far in life, but “thousands have reached the top without any of those qualities.” Finch walks into the offices of the World Wide Wicket Company in pursuit of any possible job. Through some simple name-dropping, he lands a spot in the mailroom. Right away, Finch deceives his boss by being over-the-top complimentary. As soon as the opportunity arises (through pure luck and random mishaps, as the majority of his opportunities do), Finch throws some coworkers under the bus and goes behind their backs (one of whom is Bud Frump, the nephew of the company’s president, J.B. Biggley). As Finch is granted the promotion to head of the mailroom, his boss states, “your generosity and thoughtfulness may have proven a good thing for you,” to which he replies, “well… ethical behavior always pays, Sir.” As exemplified here, there are in fact many cases where some of the dialogue greatly contrasts the actions taken by Finch. Later in the film, a different boss reassures him that “if you work hard and keep your nose to the grindstone, there’s no telling how far you can go in this company.”

Donated Police?

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Donated Police?

So, big business will now donate police for the wealthier parts of town? In twenty years, will we all wait to see if the donations come though for our municipal services from the 1%? So, instead of paying taxes they decide what’s best for the common folk?

Sometimes charitable giving is insulting. In particular when you take a civic duty and turn it into a private employee whose loyalty is not to the public.

James Pilant

Facebook cops are a horrible idea – Salon.com

All of a sudden, Silicon Valley corporations are falling over themselves to be good civic citizens. Last week Google donated $6.5 million to pay for free Muni passes for Bay Area youth and announced a $5 million grant program for San Francisco nonprofits. The latest act of beneficience? Facebook, reports NBC News, is paying for a full-time beat cop for the city of Menlo Park.

“This is a generous gift,” Menlo Park Mayor Ray Mueller told NBC Bay Area before the meeting. “And it’s a way to keep the community safe.” He noted that the contract states the officer will spend most of his or her time near the schools, and not patrolling the campus of Facebook.

I am all for corporations being good citizens of their communities, but private bankrolling of public cops sets a horrible precedent. For starters, it presents obvious conflict-of-interest challenges. How will police departments treat Facebook employees who might be caught in criminal behavior, when their own budget is partially paid for by Facebook? Everyone involved is swearing up and down that nothing of the sort will ever happen, but if this model spreads, there are bound to be abuses.

But much worse is what this news item reveals about the general bankruptcy of our system of government. Menlo Park is a rich town in one of the wealthiest regions of the United States. The median household income is $103,000, which is almost twice California’s median. The median home price is $925,000, more than double California as a whole. If a community like this can’t afford to pay for an adequate police force, then just imagine what’s happening in poorer communities that lack generous tech companies?

via Facebook cops are a horrible idea – Salon.com.

Syllabus Content Warning

On By southwerkIn Teaching

Japan-Nuclear-EmergencySyllabus Content Warning

I’d never thought about this until I saw Angus Johnston’s post on his blog, Student Activism. I use the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire as an example of the need for regulation in the business environment. It’s pretty graphic and I warn the class verbally before using it. But this might be better. I could include a warning and then list the documentaries that students could have trouble with.

Mr. Johnston says he could use some feedback on this issue. If you are a teacher, please go to his web site and give your advice.

James Pilant

Content Warnings and College Classes |

The New Republic has a story out mocking and condemning what it describes as a trend toward the use of mandatory “trigger warnings” in college classes.

I don’t have time for a full post on this subject right now, but as I said on Twitter a few moments ago, while I’ve never given a trigger warning by that name, I do make a point of mentioning to  my students at the start of the semester the fact that my courses sometimes address horrific and difficult subjects. Beyond that, I spend a lot of time thinking about how I prepare my students for traumatic material in class, and about how I present that material. Classrooms can be traumatizing environments, and it’s appropriate for professors to consider how to ameliorate that possibility.

After I logged off of Twitter, I got to thinking about whether it would be appropriate for me to address the subject of potentially traumatic subjects in the syllabus, and what an attempt to do so might look like. Here’s what I came up with:

“At times during this semester we may be discussing historical events that may be disturbing, even traumatizing. If you ever feel the need to step outside before or during one of these discussions, either for a short time or for the rest of the class session, you may always do so without academic penalty. If you ever wish to discuss your personal reactions to this material, either with the class or with me afterwards, I welcome such discussion as an appropriate part of our coursework.”

That’s just a very early first draft. I don’t know for sure that I’m going to incorporate this into syllabi going forward, but it’s a whack at the problem at least.

I’m interested to know what y’all think, and to see other examples, if you know of any.

via Content Warnings and College Classes |.

From around the web.

From the web site, Classically Inclined.

http://lizgloyn.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/the-classical-pedagogy-of-trigger-warnings/

So, I was putting together my syllabus for Roman Literature of the Empire recently, which is the half-unit course I’m currently teaching to the first year students. It is going to be awesome – we have Livy, Ovid, Lucan, Petronius and Seneca, so I get to spend some time with my favourite boys talking about my favourite things. However. I had decided that for Ovid, if I was going to get the students to read some of his love poetry, I needed to have a lecture titled Why Ovid Is Problematic.

Why? Because it’s not pedagogically responsible to set students loose on the Amores and the Ars Amatoria without explicitly talking about sexual violence and rape. There is a darker side to our witty, playful poet that does need to be talked about, and students need to be given the tools for thinking about these difficult issues. This is, in part, what my article handling teaching the Metamorphoses in the classroom addresses. I had to think quite carefully about how I structured that lecture and what I do with it – I want to talk about the romanticisation of rape in terms of the Sabine women, the abuse of power as it appears in the two Cypassis poems, the violence against the female body as it appears in the two poems about Corinna’s abortion, and the problems of consent and its absence that some of the Amores pose, which feels like a well-structured progression through the issues posed by this sort of writing with some concrete examples.

I have, of course, yet to face the issues involved in actually preparing the lecture. My problem when I was constructing the syllabus was how to make it clear that the content of this session could be disturbing for survivors of rape. What is the pedagogy of the trigger warning on the syllabus?

The Lottery Scammers Are Back Out In Force!

On By southwerkIn corruption

img5aThe Lottery Scammers Are Back Out In Force!

There is no one in the world the lottery scammers prefer as targets than the elderly. Please be aware that when a lottery calls and identifies you as a winner, that it is against the law to demand any payment to get the money.

James Pilant

Foreign lottery schemes impact elderly customers | Your Postal Blog

Postal Inspectors across the country have observed a sharp increase in the number of scams targeting older Americans in recent years. Seniors are being victimized by foreign lotteries, sweepstakes, and other frauds, and some of these nefarious ploys are carried out through the mail. Jamaica has been a point of origin for many of these scams, and the relentlessness of scam artists is steadily increasing.

In the scam, consumers are told they have won a lottery and asked to mail or wire money upfront to obtain their winnings. These false claims only end up with drained consumer bank accounts as the scammers collect their payday. No legitimate lottery will ask for money up front to collect winnings.

via Foreign lottery schemes impact elderly customers | Your Postal Blog.

From around the web.

From the web site, Internet Scam.

http://internetscam.wordpress.com/2007/03/04/email-lottery-scams/

Just as you thought phishing and vishing are the current trend in Internet scam, this news might surprised you. Email lottery scams are on the rise, and you should be aware of it.

The email lottery scam begins with an email asking your attention that you have just won a lottery, and you need to contact a claims “agent” to collect your winning prize. When you contact the so-called agent by email, you are asked to identify yourself by submitting your personal information as well as copies of your passport and driving license. By doing so, the scammer will have enough information to steal your identity.

Fukushima, Three Years Ago

On By southwerkIn Corpoorate Social Responsibility

NuclearPowerPlantFukushima, Three Years Ago

And still the crisis goes on and on. Every few months, new unsettling information comes out. Every few months, new levels of incompetence emerge.

The reactor continues to leak radioactivity.

They can’t fix it.

Should that make you wonder about the future of nuclear power?

Better yet, what kind of business ethics is it that encourages taking these kinds of risks?

James Pilant

Fukushima: Third Anniversary of the Start of the Catastrophe | Eslkevin’s Blog

With the third anniversary of the start of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe coming next week, the attempted Giant Lie about the disaster continues–a suppression of information, an effort at dishonesty of historical dimensions.

It involves international entities, especially the International Atomic Energy Agency, national governmental bodies–led in Japan by its current prime minister, the powerful nuclear industry and a “nuclear establishment” of scientists and others with a vested interest in atomic energy.

Deception was integral to the push for nuclear power from its start. Indeed, I opened my first book on nuclear technology, Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power, with: “You have not been informed about nuclear power. You have not been told. And that has been done on purpose. Keeping the public in the dark was deemed necessary by the promoters of nuclear power if it was to succeed. Those in government, science and private industry who have been pushing nuclear power realized that if people were given the facts, if they knew the consequences of nuclear power, they would not stand for it.”

via Fukushima: Third Anniversary of the Start of the Catastrophe | Eslkevin’s Blog.

From around the web.

From the web site, Nuclear Energy.

http://nuclearenergyblogassignment.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/lets-say-no/

Based on those potential risks and terrible experiences, I cannot agree nuclear power is the best option for generating electricity. Nowadays, we still cannot control nuclear power steadily. Nuclear power is like a savage beast. If it becomes uncontrollable someday, we do not have the capability to control it. There is no perfect safety. We don’t know how serious problems will happen or when the next accident will appear. We cannot bear more catastrophes. We should decrease reliance on nuclear power. I hope scientists can develop new technology to obtain energy or improve other renewable energy and alternative energy resources, like wind power and solar power. We should learn from history to not repeat failure. For public health and for the safety of the environment, we should keep away from this beast.

The lights of Fukushima Daiichi by night

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Take a look at the future with nuclear power, a dead zone with no people outside a lighted atomic power plant (that doesn’t work).

nelson311's avatarEVACUATE FUKUSHIMA

LET IT SHINE

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, foreground, shines in the darkness on Feb. 18. The city of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture, top left, and central Tokyo, stretching from east to west on the horizon, are also seen. (Yusaku Kanagawa)

1689324_10200727962961356_1773136243_n

Seen from an altitude of 13,000 meters at night, the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant shone brightly in a sea of darkness amid the loneliness of the evacuation zone.

The Asahi Shimbun flew its Asuka airplane over the municipalities of Fukushima Prefecture on Feb. 18. The plant was clearly visible because work to deal with the rising volume of contaminated water and to decommission reactors was actively ongoing, even at night.

In stark contrast, near-complete darkness enveloped areas designated as difficult-to-return zones for residents surrounding the plant.

The city of Iwaki in the prefecture and the bright glow of central Tokyo, once the main recipient…

View original post 98 more words

Inequality in America

On By southwerkIn Capitalism
Potemkin Village
Potemkin Village

Inequality in America

Read the numbers below and see just how staggering inequality has become over the past few years. It’s a rigged game and it didn’t have to be this way. Globalization is a force but these changes are the result of tax policies and trade deals not to mention government guarantees for banks and other financial institutions. Manufacturing has become a cheap bargaining chip to open foreign markets to American drug patents and copyright protections for the motion picture industry.

Basic business ethics would suggest that destroying your customer base is both unethical and foolish.

James Pilant

Inequality | Real-World Economics Review Blog

I am preparing a talk on inequality here in America, and so have been re-reading the Piketty and Saez work. Amongst the more eye-opening facts I have come across is the assertion, by Saez, that the surge in the top 1% incomes is so large that the growth of the bottom 99% amounts to only half the average [mean].

Think about that for a moment.

It would be like walking into a room full of people two feet tall with one thirty footer in the corner. The mean average is meaningless in such circumstances. We are all taught that in statistics class, but to come across such an egregious example in a dataset as large as all US tax returns is astonishing.

Not only is this an alarming fact, but to portray it adequately on a chart is difficult to do. The line representing that 1% doesn’t fit well with the 99% because any scale you use cannot easily accommodate such extremes.

When I chat with people about the topic I realize that most have no clue as to how skewed and screwed up the economy now is. Even when they start to comprehend they retreat into a kind of ‘it doesn’t affect me’ denial. The fact seems to be that most people want to cling onto the mythological image of America they carry with them, perhaps because confronting the reality we have made for ourselves means accepting unpleasant and disturbing facts.

Yet they’ve all been hurt by what happened.

via Inequality | Real-World Economics Review Blog.

From around the web.

From the web site, Rethinking Inequality.

http://rethinkinginequality.wordpress.com/

Rising economic inequality in Canada and other advanced industrialized states is a phenomenon much discussed by the media in recent years: indeed, income and wealth inequality have reached historic highs in the U.S. — where the top 1% owns nearly 50% of the wealth — as well as Canada, where the top quintile now controls 70% of the wealth and earns 44% of all employment income.  The precise impact of this rising inequality has become an important subject of study and intense debate among economists, sociologists, social epidemiologists, and urban studies scholars; chief among the possible consequences of inequality they explore are those on public health, economic growth, mobility, levels of social trust, educational opportunity, and crime rates.

Normative reflection on rising economic inequality by moral and political philosophers and theorists has, by contrast, focused on broader, more foundational questions: Which aspects or forms of equality are most important for a just, decent society, and which are comparatively insignificant? Are equal respect and political equality compatible with a high degree of social and economic inequality? And on what grounds might a society strive to reduce inequality, and at what costs to citizens’ social, economic, and political freedoms?

Exposing a Bully is Not Bullying

On By southwerkIn business ethics

My colleague, Paul Kiser, has written an important post about bullying. Please read it, then go to his blog and sign up as a follower. You won’t regret it.

Paul Kiser's avatar3rd From Sol

During this past week much has been written (including myself) about the case of a person in a position of power, Kelly Blazek, the gatekeeper of a Cleveland, Ohio jobs listing for marketing positions, writing a nasty email to a job seeker. Blazek’s language in the email was unyielding in her attempt to embarrass and humiliate the job seeker. Blazek was using her power to bully someone who was in an inferior position.   

Therefore, I was shocked when I read an ‘Opinion‘ on CNN.com by Dr. Peggy Drexler, who wrote that by publicizing the email and seeking attention to the bullying, the job seeker:

“….acted with malice, and caused the older woman significant damage…”

The specific language suggests that Dr. Drexler is encouraging Blazek, the person who was the bully, to sue the victim on the grounds of malice, libel, and/or age discrimination. One might question…

View original post 462 more words

NO ONE IN JAIL YET OVER FUKUSHIMA CRISIS

On By southwerkIn business ethics

How many crimes do you have to commit to go to jail if you are a high official in a corporation?

nelson311's avatarEVACUATE FUKUSHIMA

Hundreds rally in Tokyo against dropped Fukushima crisis charges

by Japan Times

March 1st, 2014

Hundreds rallied Saturday in Tokyo to protest a decision by prosecutors to drop charges over the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns, meaning no one has been indicted, let alone punished, nearly three years after a calamity ruled “man-made.”

no charges

Official records do not list anyone as having died as a direct result of radioactive fallout after tsunami unleashed by the 9.0-magnitude quake of March 11, 2011, crashed into the Fukushima No. 1 plant, swamping cooling systems and causing three reactor meltdowns.

Excluded from those records are Fukushima residents who committed suicide owing to fears about the fallout showered on their hometowns, while others died during the evacuation process. Official data released last week showed that 1,656 people have died in the prefecture from stress and other illnesses related to the nuclear crisis.

“There are many victims of the…

View original post 614 more words