One of the most interesting things I have read about the Stupak Amendment is this: Will the Stupak Amendment Affect Insurance Coverage for Miscarriages? I Think So Sadly, the author experienced a miscarriage recently. In her case, as sometimes happens, the fetus had yet to be expelled. She was put in the difficult position of either waiting …
Tag Archives: ethics
retroactive legitimization of regulation
This NYT article caught my eye: New York’s Cabbies Like Credit Cards? Go Figure New York’s cabbies howled when the city began forcing them to take credit cards. Some even went on strike, calling the requirements a kowtow to tourists and a burden on drivers. But two years later, the back-of-the-cab swipe has emerged as …
business-izing higher ed: I’m not scared
A few days back, this post about higher ed in the UK appeared over on one of my favorite blogs, Feminist Philosophers. Here’s the big quote: “Business secretary wants students and parents to be treated more like customers in proposals to overhaul higher education.” The original poster worries that “universities get put under a great …
more thoughts on veganism and well-being
I was thrilled to receive this thoughtful comment on my last post on my vegan experiment: Comment from abeala I have some disjointed things to say in response. First of all, yes, it can definitely be difficult to have a significant other who does not eat the same way as you. Around the time I …
madeleine albright thinks I'm going to hell
The other day, I saw a Madeleine Albright quote in my Twitter timeline. I don’t know if this Time magazine interview is the original source, but this is the quote (bold): What advice do you have for women who want respect from their male colleagues? Dana Philbin, CHICAGO Women have to be active listeners and …
is cultural libertarianism entailed by political libertarianism?
A couple of months ago, I had a debate with a libertarian friend over whether cultural libertarianism is correct/good/necessary/whatever. At the time, I was sure that I was what you would call a “cultural libertarian feminist,” as specified in the Liberal Feminism entry on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (a reputable source). Recently, Kerry Howley …
competition is as american as apple pie, except in education
Recently, I saw the above video on Facebook. Basically, it illustrates the argument that a public option in health care would compete against private insurers to the benefit of those covered under both kinds of plans. This argument seems like it is supposed to appeal to the market-minded among us, who are into competition amongst …
what really is the rift that divides atheists?
Just the other day, NPR published an article that got quite a bit of attention on Facebook: A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists. Basically, it talks about the difference between “new atheism” of people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens — “a more aggressive, often belittling posture toward religious believers,” and more tolerant forms of atheism. …
why being vegan can be bad for you
I had written some notes on this topic a while back, but I lost them, so here goes nothing. You might have guessed from the topic of this post that I was going to write about why the vegan diet is not nutritionally adequate. That actually isn’t the main reason why I think being vegan …
why I became vegan
Here’s the second in a series of posts on vegetarianism & animal welfare. If you spend any time at all in the veg*n (vegetarian and/or vegan) areas of the internet (websites, blogs, message boards), you learn the ideological territory pretty quickly. For people who recognize and take seriously the ethical problems surrounding food animal production, …
