Charitable gifts still present in these economic times

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7769825.stm

Even with the economic slump the world is facing, people are still finding it in themselves to give and be charitable during the upcoming Christmas season. The charitable organizations in the article inform us that they are doing well even though the value of each individual gift is not as high as the average has been.

Assisted Suicide

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7770723.stm

This is a unique conversation about the topic of euthanasia (assisted suicide) for terminally ill. I've got mixed feelings about the issue. I think it's the right of a person to end their life when they like. However, the question is, "Does legalization of euthanasia open up the doors for abuses and ethically dubious conduct?"

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/01/news/economy/tully_vat.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008120209

this article seems slightly confusing, but I think I like the idea of the whole value added tax(VAT). its been used in europe for decades. what do you guys think?

Netherlands cracking down on drugs

This article was quite interesting....I was wondering if anybody has ever been to the Netherlands. It makes me kind of happy to hear that there starting to clean up some of the coffee shops. I think it is perfectly find to let people have small amounts of marajiana, however, it is causing alot of crime and money laundering. just was curious on what you guys thought.

Travis

Bush Deregulating Pollution?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20081121/pl_ynews/ynews_pl158

The article was about how since Carter each president has passed what they call "midnight rules" and is about the rules that the Bush administration is trying to pass. I thought the examples they give in the article were a bit bothersome, esp the one about the lead emmissions.

Chad

This does not matter at all.

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/11/15/hot-seat-gender-in-the-administration/?icid=100214839x1212979988x1200876967

I absolutely hate the media. Who the hell cares what gender the members are that Obama picks for his administration? As long as they do their job it doesnt matter at all. I cant stand that the media always has to put a spin on everything. Just how when Obama joked about getting a dog the news went into this huge coverage of what kind of dog he was going to get. WHO CARES!? Knowing what kind of dog Obama and his family have while they are in the white house have no effect on my life whatsoever. I just wish the news would just cover stories that matter, not this bs. Just one persons opinion though.

Chad

Presidential Election

Okay I am apologizing ahead of time if this gets to political, but I guess that's what a blog is here for. But need to express some frustration.

So is it just me or is there anyone else that can not wait until this election ends on Tuesday? I feel like this has been the longest election process ever. I am not trying to diminish its importance in any way, but I am just so tired of hearing about it. This election is everywhere I look, TV, Internet, and the newspaper. I could guarantee that someone couldn't go an entire day without hearing about it.

Another thing I hate about what is going on is all the accusations that are coming out of these last few days. All the nasty rumors and people pointing fingers. One of the most frustrating things ever in my opinion is just hearing someone who is completely ignorant to this entire election and the candidates talk about one or the other. I heard some lady the other day say that if Obama wins the election she is afraid that he is going to "put a turban on and let terrorists take over the country." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? In no way am I trying to express any political opinion, but seriously, who says that?

I guess I just don't understand how people can go through this election process without knowing the candidates or how someone could support one party or the other without knowing anything. Either way this is an extremely important election. Whether we like it or not we will have to deal with one of these candidates for at least 4 years. Which leads me to my next point of how tired I am of people telling me how important it is to vote.

Yes, I have already voted (Absentee Ballot), but since our government is a democracy WE have that choice of whether to vote or not. Although if we don't vote we are not truly participating in our duties as citizens. So I will end by not asking anyone to go vote, but I am asking that you do what it is you want. Because whether you choose to vote or not, in 2 days, we will know who the next president of the United States will be.

-Chad

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/white-house-encourages-money-hoarding-banks-start-lending/

this article is pretty interesting. Banks are still not lending money. i guess they are afraid the crisis will get worse. But like the article says, "banks have to lend money to make money" A friend of my family is trying to take out a $100,000 equity line of credit on his two million dollar home right now, and the banks are not lending him the money. Seems a little fishy, but hopefully they will start helping the people and get the economy rolling again.

http://philadelphia.injuryboard.com/medical-devices-and-implants/recall-of-heartmate-ii-implantable-pump.aspx?googleid=250228



this little article could have had a huge impact on people. Some could have died. I did my paper on the A7D Affair and if these people would have overlooked insufficiencies like Goodrich wanted to, it would have been terrible.

krista

U.S. Senator convicted

this is pretty interesting...http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/stevens.jurors/index.html

the fact that this man is still working for our government, i think is wrong. i know he hasnt been charged with any thing yet and he still says he is innocent. But i really hope that Alaska does not vote for this man again. I think just because he is the long running republican senator right now he is staying alive in the senate. he convictions were based off ethical misconduct, which i feel is one of the most important concepts as a government official. let me know what you guys think.

nissan recalls over 200,000

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/15/news/companies/nissan_recall.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008101511

this article isnt exactly the most important news going on, nor does it have any bad ethical behavior. however, it does have good ethical behavior. Talking to one of my other business professors, he mentioned when companies recall or take items off the shelf b/c of a defect, it actually builds the company up and shows the consumers they are a good company and care about there consumers. i thought this was similar to the broad view of capitalism. and how we have an obligation to do good even when its not for direct profit.

Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace

Instead of our blog having bad news and sketchy ethical news feeds, I thought it would be nice to have some good news on the board...

I found this article to be quite interesting. Seeing things like this in the news are rare to come by nowadays. Usually all you hear about is the starting of wars end the disturbance of peace. Although everything is not certain I think this is definitely one of many steps that eventually need to be made.

-Chad

ethical standards of Wal-Mart

http://rbest.ethicalmanifold.net/archives/000138.html

this site explains how wal-mart really is. Even though wal-mart is very successful, i still think the economy should regulate on multi-billion dollar companies like this. i know we live in a free market, but not everything can be free. allowing wal-mart to come into small towns and run every other store out of business hurts alot of people and destroys that areas economy. what do you guys think?

bailout

Wow! Its hard to believe that most of this financial crisis that our country is facing has to do with mortgages and people receiving them when it was clear they should not have. Now look what it has gotten us. Using unethical business practices may be ok for the short run when your pockets are being filled with money, but it always seems to catch up... and is bad for everyone.

Here's an article about the bailout bill that was not passed today.
http://features.csmonitor.com/creditcrisis/2008/09/29/why-the-bailout-bill-went-down/

Krista

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/916/in3.htm


here is an article about the economic situation right now....

krista

north korea starting a new nuke plant

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0925/p04s01-woap.html


i thought this was interesting, how are we letting north korea get away with building this nuclear plant? it seems obsurred to me, i think we should do something about this. let me know what you think.

ethics in china

heres an article about how china is allowing bad baby formula to be sold to families......
i dont see why they would allow that?

Krista

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0917/p01s03-woap.html

According to this article it seems like everyone is lying in the workplace about insignificant things as well. If workers are lying then what makes people trust the product that companies are selling. We tend to believe anything people say.


http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/just-dreaming/articlemc.aspx?cp-documentid=8318390

Krista

Can't Trust Anyone http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080903/sec_subprime_charges.html

These two Wallstreet brokers told clients that they were investing in federally insured high risk securities, when they actually weren't covered at all and ended up falling through. Its scary when people who are dealing with someone's money, especially that much, would go and do that. 

More trouble...

I guess lots of companies are having trouble with data privacy according to this little article I found....

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080902005302&newsLang=en

Krista

Trouble on eBay

Hey guys,

I found this article about eBay and thought it was a pretty sketchy situation. It doesn't give any details about the seller which leads me to wonder how it got on there. I'd also like to know how a computer with that kind of information could end up in someones hands to just sell on eBay.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D92Q32JO0.htm

Let me know what you think...

-Chad

Welcome

Hello,

Welcome to the blog. I've sent out invites to your email addresses so that you will be able to post.

peace,

-james