Recently in Social Ethics Category

But in recent years, the frenzy for bargains has led to some ugly incidents, such as the Wal-Mart employee who was trampled to death last November.

So my "What-if Wednesday" question for you bargain-hunting shoppers is: How far would you go to get the best deals?

I cannot imagine another ethical position to take other than supporting our fellow citizens' right to marry. To criminalize love, to deny a portion of our society equal rights under the law, simply because of your fears, prejudices, or religious views, is despicable to me.

I'm here to say, it can be. All you have to do is tell a person they've got to replace their already meager salary with a ridiculous $40/day stipend, tell them they can't connect to the internet to check in with work, can't use their mobile phone to talk with their loved ones, threaten them with the possibility of 18 months in Grand Jury hell, and then leave them stewing for EIGHT HOURS at a stretch in a room full of strangers, with nowhere to stretch out, no way to heat up their own brown-bag lunch, and no information forthcoming about further service until the very end of the day. Oh, and travel costs are to be reimbursed at a rate of .55 cents a mile. Whose mass transit costs fifty-five cents? Or even twice that?

In today's uncertain economy, the already stressful and tedious obligation to serve as an essential part of the American judicial system can become overwhelmingly anxiety-producing - at least for those of us whose jobs don't pay us for days lost. Yet we can't do without jurors, or our whole legal system would collapse. And the government's highly unlikely to start paying jurors a wage comparable to their current salaries. So what's to be done? 

Well, for me, I try to game the system - as ethically as I can.

This is a quote from West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesman Marin Trujillo, in regards to the gang rape that occurred on school grounds after a homecoming dance. I actually felt chilled as I read this account -- gang rape of anyone, let alone a teenage girl after her homecoming dance is beyond words. So what words do we use to describe the gang rape of a girl with multiple bystanders watching, snapping photos and not lifting a finger (let alone a cell phone) to help? 

We've discussed getting "involved" on this blog quite a bit. I think most of us are similar in the sense that we want to make the right choices in life, both for our own sake as well as for others, but often are unsure when it's the right time to step in if it doesn't directly involve us. I couldn't even bring myself to interject my opinion in a verbal scuffle between a passenger and airport shuttle driver. 

Here's a little history on Daylight Savings Time. It was originally conceived of by Benjamin Franklin, but not put into practice here in the U.S. until 1916. Basically, it was implemented to "make best use of daylight." Some studies say that it saves a significant amount of energy. Most people, chicken farmers notwithstanding, seem to like it. So my question is, why do we only do it in the summer?

Also, I'd like to point out that studies have shown that pedestrian fatalities due to traffic accidents increase significantly every fall around the time DST stops being in effect. Trick-or-treaters are often mowed down by cars at dusk because of drivers who have not yet become accustomed to navigating the earlier darkness, which is why the clock change has been moved back one week recently, to avoid the holiday. 

So how about moving the reversion to Standard Time back to, say... never?

I take issue with my very biological clock being monkeyed with so casually.