Ethics news:
archived: 18 December 2006
Ethics News is regularly updated with links and introductions to ethics-related news stories gathered from all over the web. We regularly archive the stories collected.
Money that could grow on trees
Developing countries need a financial incentive to stop deforestation and, if targeted well, this need not break the bank. Every year some 13 million hectares of forest are cleared, mostly in tropical countries. This tropical deforestation contributes 20% to 25% of global carbon dioxide emissions each year, but the main international instrument aimed at addressing climate change - the Kyoto protocol - offers little scope for reducing these emissions ... more.
The Guardian - 19 November 2006
Make poverty history: first by getting rid of the greens
At U2's Sydney concerts last week, Bono urged the audience to text their names to a Make Poverty History phone number. Later he flashed the names on a big screen and sent a thank you text to all those mobile phones in Telstra Stadium. As an act of charity it doesn't come much easier, unless you count wearing wristbands ... more.
The Sydney Morning Herald - 20 November 2006
Aid no place for preaching pop stars
Young people are understandably concerned that 50 years into the most rapid improvements in living standards that the world has ever known there are still desperately poor people in Africa and many with scarcely improved lives in Latin America, the Middle East, western Asia and the South Pacific. ... more.
The Australian - 20 November 2006
Australia faces e-waste mountain
Technology mad Australians are creating a small mountain of E-waste as they discard their old computers, prompting industry calls for nationwide regulations on recycling and disposal. A new report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows e-waste - discarded computers and electronic goods - is growing three times faster than regular waste ... more.
The Sydney Morning Herald - 13 November 2006
Whiff of tobacco firms on net
Is this the last frontier in tobacco marketing or simply a global stage for the look-at-me generation? Thousands of videos of sexy, smoking teens are appearing on the internet phenomenon YouTube, possibly being posted by tobacco manufacturers to recruit the next generation of smokers ... more.
The Sydney Morning Herald - 18 November 2006
Corporate pedophilia
"CORPORATE PEDOPHILIA". Headlines hammered and talkback hummed. On television, PR flacks feigned outrage that their employers could possibly be branded child exploiters, let alone molesters. Retail giant David Jones was apoplectic, threatening legal action against the two academics who had dared to raise the issue of the sexualisation of children in advertising ... more.
The Australian - 18 November 2006
Let's not get into valuing one type of patient over another
The last time a cross-party bunch of senators went into battle for access to a medicine it was over the abortion drug RU486. They demanded it should not be withheld according to the caprice of the health minister but evaluated for safety and efficacy - like any other pharmaceutical - by the scientists of the Federal Government's Therapeutic Goods Administration ... more.
The Sydney Morning Herald - 14 November 2006
Push to permit real sex in R rated film
As sex films go, Viva Erotica is tame: 28 minutes of sex and no violence. But because the sex is real, it is classified X18+, a rating that means it is banned from sale in all states. A challenge to its rating, by the listed retailer Adultshop.com, could bring a watershed in Australian censorship this week ... more.
The Sydney Morning Herald - 20 November 2006
The truth is out there ... somewhere
The more 'facts' the burgeoning media give us, the further away we are from genuine insight. Information is everywhere. A couple of clicks of your mouse and via Google or Wikipedia, you can check out anything pretty much instantaneously. Last week, even the Chinese government gave up its futile blocking of the Wikipedia website, while British citizens can now watch an English-language version of al-Jazeera ... more.
The Observer - 19 November 2006