Ethics news:
archived: 1 March 2007
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.
Regulations make sport fair game
The relationship between Australian sport and alcohol promotion reached a new low in September with the launch of Fourex Gold beach cricket. The highlight was a six-a-side beach cricket tournament featuring 21 cricket legends from Australia, England and the West Indies ... more.
The Sydney Morning Herald - 20 February 2007
The new forgotten people
Back in 1978, when the Bureau of Statistics began monthly surveys of the job market, it found that, despite record unemployment of 6.3 per cent, 96 per cent of men aged 25 to 44 either had a job or were looking for one. Only 4 per cent of men of that age were defined as outside the workforce ... more.
The Age - 20 February 2007
Not as equal as we feel
'Fair go' is an old Australian term with a variety of meanings. It could mean give a man a chance or keep the fight fair or be reasonable. Only recently has it been regularly applied to society at large - as in "Is Australia a fair-go society?" - and the differences in meaning continue. "Fair go" has come to be the Aussie term for "egalitarian" and it carries all the complexities of that concept. ... more.
The Age - 24 January 2007
Hatred in a headcount
Rwandan Muslims were once held in low esteem. They were traders in a land where farmers held prestige. Moreover they were socially and politically negligible, constituting roughly 5 per cent of the population, and largely confined to the unspectacular neighbourhood of Kigali. Then came the genocide of 1994 in which tribal violence between Hutus and Tutsis claimed 800,000 lives ... more.
The Age - 19 February 2007
Mother Theresa and the 'me me me' culture
Mother Teresa is arguably the most famous religious icon of the late twentieth century. Her legacy and work continue to generate huge levels of debate and interest. Gezim Alpion's book Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity?, which seeks to address the nature of her fame, celebrity and devotion to faith, is unique in locating the appeal of Mother Teresa within today's broader celebrity culture ... more.
Spiked Online - 14 February 2007
Sex has moved far beyond should we or shouldn't we
Too many young women would rather risk pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and infertility than possibly upset their boyfriends by suggesting they use condoms. As a survey reported in The Age last week found, nearly 80 per cent of sexually active women aged 16 to 25 have had unprotected sex ... more.
The Age - 19 February 2007
Let the death camps die
Guy Rundle reports from former Nazi camps, where ever-more morbid attempts are being made to preserve buildings, ash pits, even human hair. The day was raw cold, with a sharp wind whipping from the low skies. There were a half-dozen of us, tourists all, waiting for a bus back to town. A couple in Armani, talking in that annoying overloud manner of galumphing globetrotters everywhere, whipped out a mobile phone ... more.
Spiked Online - 12 February 2007
Just how 'charitable' is Greenpeace?
The environmental group Greenpeace is recognised as a charitable non-profit organisation in Germany. But now the German government is planning to reduce the tax benefits associated with this status - and Greenpeace activists are furious. But is Greenpeace really a 'charitable' organisation? Does society benefit from its campaigning? ... more.
Spiked Online - 12 February 2007
Relax, it's only the sun
When politicians and journalists declare that the science of global warming is settled, they show a regrettable ignorance about how science works. We were treated to another dose of it recently when the experts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued the Summary for Policymakers that puts the political spin on an unfinished scientific dossier ... more.
The Australian - 20 February 2007
Price tags for fixing global warming
The dollars-and-cents of global warming is now a welcomed topic among economists and governments. One can thank Sir Nicholas Stern for that. Last October, his report put a price tag on what must be done. Since then, others have chewed over his numbers ... more.
Christian Science Monitor - 20 February 2007
A lesson for stifling violent extremism
The effort to help Muslim moderates and democratic reformers, President Bush insists, is a primary bulwark against ethnoreligious conflict and the terrorism it breeds. Yet, five years into the war on terror, real-world examples to support that contention are scarce. There is, however, a conflict zone that has developed a strong model of stifling violent extremism ... more.
Christian Science Monitor - 20 February 2007
Don't blame multiculturalism for radicalising Muslims
The [British] political class as a whole has no clear idea of what it wants from Muslim communities. Is it their more active co-operation in combating terrorism? Or are they being told that they must integrate into the British mainstream and embrace some version of liberal values? ... more.
The Australian - 19 February 2007