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Business ethics Ethics in the news Religion & ethics

Can a firm whose employment practices aren’t kosher produce food that is?

That’s the question raised by the controversy swirling around the largest kosher meatpacking plant in the U.S., run by Agriprocessors, Inc., in Postville, Iowa. According to an article in Friday’s New York Times (“Rabbis Debate Kosher Ethics at Meat Plant”), the plant “lost about half its work force when 389 illegal immigrants were detained there […]

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Athletics & ethics

Looking for ethical behavior at the Olympics

Interesting article in The Wall Street Journal: Barry Newman, “Another Daunting Olympic Quest: The Search for Gallant Behavior” (Aug. 15, 2008) (paid subscription required; you might have better luck with this link or this one (may be good for another 7 days)). Sunil Sabharwal from the International Fair Play Committee (whose website seems to be […]

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Ethics in the news Medical ethics

Organ donation after cardiac death: the new frontier?

Today The Washington Post has an article — Infant Transplant Procedure Ignites Debate — that builds on yesterday’s AP article about three cases in which infant hearts were harvested under a “donation after cardiac death” (“DCD”) protocol, which all transplant centers are required by UNOS and HHS. The details of each center’s protocol may vary. […]

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Science & engineering ethics Society & ethics

The ethics of engineering planetary change

Here’s the opening of a fascinating article in this morning’s New York Times: Last year, a private company proposed “fertilizing” parts of the ocean with iron, in hopes of encouraging carbon-absorbing blooms of plankton. Meanwhile, researchers elsewhere are talking about injecting chemicals into the atmosphere, launching sun-reflecting mirrors into stationary orbit above the earth or […]

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Business ethics Education & ethics Ethics in the news Politics, government & ethics

DISD: High-wire ethics without a safety net

As reported in last week’s Dallas Morning News, the DISD board is considering changes to its ethics policy. Although the process was initially focused upon the question whether the district should be able to do business with companies with which trustees are associated, apparently the review has now branched out to include other issues, as […]