But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.-- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVII (source) Jefferson was talking about freedom of religion, but truth be told, I feel the same way about whether professional athletes stand or kneel while the American national anthem … [Read more...] about Football Players and Legs
Ethics of the Arpaio Pardon
After seeing what a professional dominatrix had to say about Trump pardoning former Mericopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, I decided to see what professional ethicist Jack Marshall had to say. I shouldn't have been surprised. Is the balance between profiling, which in such situations is a valuable law-enforcement tool, and the importance of equal treatment under the law a … [Read more...] about Ethics of the Arpaio Pardon
The Dominatrix and the Sheriff
I've been watching the reaction on Twitter to President Trump's pardoning of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is a despicable authoritarian bigot, who I've written about several times previously. He is famous, and famously proud, of how tough he was on the prisoners in his custody. He liked seeing them mistreated and humiliated, often in very unpleasant ways. I … [Read more...] about The Dominatrix and the Sheriff
How Not to Change Your Employer’s Culture
I told myself I wouldn't write about the Google memo. The situation followed a drearily predictable script -- guy writes something arguably sexist, it goes public, outrage erupts, company fires him, he becomes a martyr for the MRA cause, etc. -- and I didn't want to have anything to do with it.There's something that bothered me though... As I understand it, the (now former) … [Read more...] about How Not to Change Your Employer’s Culture
A Professional Ethicist Responds to Trump’s Remarks About Charlottesville
Over the weekend there were some public gatherings of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia. These were met by counter-protesters, and some of the encounters between the groups got violent. The worst violence came on Saturday, when someone identified with the white nationalist movement deliberately drove their car into a crowd of protesters, killing one and … [Read more...] about A Professional Ethicist Responds to Trump’s Remarks About Charlottesville