Category Archives: Ethics

Condemnation or Russian President

US President Joe Biden has condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for his country’s invasion of Ukraine. He then referred to Putin as a “murderous despot” and “pure thug.” Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, says he is “prepared for conversations” with Putin. The concern today is what Biden’s views — and those of others — signal for the future of the Ukraine conflict. What does President Putin anticipate when he behaves adolescent-like? The Ukrainian people have historically been fearless. Some Ukrainians have relatives in Russia, but they cannot obtain accurate information due to state-controlled media. The Ukrainian people and the Russian people in Russia should be free to think for themselves. Why should one individual dictate what they should consider? One day, the Russian people will rise up against such activities and liberate themselves from their ignorance.

Photo by u0414u043cu0438u0442u0440u0438u0439 u0422u0440u0435u043fu043eu043bu044cu0441u043au0438u0439 on Pexels.com

Reference

Calling Putin a war criminal is a bigger deal than you think. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/21/politics/putin-war-criminal-ukraine-russia-what-matters/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0gr6FalS9OzEebI80a2u9_3kO4v81lnPPzuz1jK60NU-9mAhmUpwPNmSg

Are you familiar with NATO’s Article 5 and its application to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

US authorities have made it plain that American soldiers would avoid confrontation with Russian forces, and NATO countries have resisted requests to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying that it might result in a “full-fledged war in Europe.”

Photo by Katie Godowski on Pexels.com

If Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine crossed into a NATO member state, the situation could quickly deteriorate, triggering a response following NATO’s Article 5 policy. What is Article 5, and how does it pertain to Ukraine’s continuing conflict? What you need to know is as follows: What is the purpose of Article 5? Article 5 states that an assault on one NATO member constitutes an attack on all NATO members. The idea serves as a deterrent to prospective enemies targeting NATO countries.


Given that the US is NATO’s most prominent and most powerful member, every state inside the alliance is essentially protected by the US. Article 5: How does Russia’s aggression on Ukraine apply? Because Ukraine is not a NATO member, the US is not obligated to defend it in the same manner that it would if a NATO member nation were attacked. However, many of Ukraine’s neighbors are NATO members, and if a Russian invasion extends into one of them, Article 5 may spark direct US and NATO member intervention. What is the definition of an attack against a NATO member state? Article 5 wording stipulates that collective action is triggered by an “armed assault” against a member country. NATO members choose what constitutes an “armed assault,” and Russia’s hostile stance has already raised concerns about the country’s propensity to provoke a NATO reaction. Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, recently warned The Washington Post that a Russian assault on Ukraine might have ramifications that extend beyond the intended “geographical limits” and threaten NATO nations. While local officials have said that “no change in radiation levels” has occurred in the region, what if there had been a radioactive leak that spread to a NATO member nation? “That is a decision for the alliance to make,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby previously told CNN.

Reference

Here’s what NATO’s Article 5 is and how it applies to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/07/politics/what-is-nato-article-5/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2CUknKMmHVQETQBp7MYQq4R9J35wrqITe7ucIGEziOCL3HJARqZx_VI88
CNN – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos. https://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_a8182a2f063abf4ce60b6d5f03b8a897

United States Supreme Court will hear arguments

Amy and David Carson desired that their daughter Olivia attend Bangor Christian Schools, a private religious elementary through secondary school. Maine has said that it would not subsidize religious education. The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the state violated the Carsons’ constitutional rights. Carson v. Makin is the most recent in a series of lawsuits petitioning the Supreme Court for a ruling on religious liberty. If the court decides widely, it might have a profound effect on the ability of religious organizations to receive public financing.

Getty Images (2); TIME


It has the potential to “eviscerate” rules prohibiting public sponsorship of religious education. Maine parents have filed a lawsuit against the state for failing to include their favorite schools in a tuition aid program. Plaintiffs and supporters contend that the state discriminates against religious individuals. The case follows a series of previous judgments on public support for religious organizations. The case sets the free exercise provision of the First Amendment against the establishment clause.
According to some legal experts, Carson v. Makin is likely to become an extension of Espinoza. Officials in Maine assert that religious schools do not give an education “equivalent to a public education.” Carson v. Maine calls into question the relationship between religious liberty and LGBTQ rights. Maine contends that Bangor Christian and Temple Academy in Maine discriminate against members of other faiths and instructors and students who identify as LGBTQ. Advocates fear that government money may flow to discriminatory schools if the plaintiffs win.
Maine is just a few states that give this kind of tuition assistance to pupils who live in areas without public school choice. However, experts are concerned that other states may experience similar pressure from religious groups to implement similar schemes. This possibility concerns Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Reference

This Supreme Court Case Could Take a ‘Wrecking Ball’ to Separation of Church and State.https://time.com/6125676/maine-religion-schools-supreme-court-carson-makin/?fbclid=IwAR2y4KzyfGY6NuggKM8mZIgYpKYuhD_YqmKoiKzgnDJ7WUKGTBkFzCmgyW8

March on Washington for Voting Rights

Voting rights are essential for all individuals. The March on Washington for Voting Rights commemorated the 58th anniversary of the March on Washington. Marchers are urging Congress to enact voting-rights legislation to halt the implementation of restrictive voting laws in states around the country. The John Lewis Voting Act would reinstate the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s pre-clearance provisions, lower in the 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder. The Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the march’s organizers, contended that the filibuster could not obstruct progress. Democrats currently dominate the Senate but have been unable to overcome filibusters on voting-rights legislation.

Washington march voting rights
With the Washington Monument in the background, the Rev. Al Sharpton, center, holds a banner with Martin Luther King, III, and Democratic Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green of Texas, during the march to call for sweeping protections against a further erosion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on August 28, 2021. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana


To enact voting rights legislation, moderate senators have resisted attempts to weaken or remove the filibuster. The organizers planned to bring attention to problems such as reparations for slave descendants and a $15 minimum wage. The march was led by New York Rep. Mondaire Jones, who has advocated for the filibuster’s removal.

Reference
‘Old battles have become new again’: Thousands march in Washington, DC, and across the US to push for voting-rights legislation. https://www.businessinsider.com/march-voting-rights-legislation-washington-dc-cities-filibuster-2021-8

Voter fraud or irregularities

The notion that massive voter fraud or irregularities exist in Texas elections is perilous, racist, and lacking evidence. He asserts that the threat to Texas voters of all political stripes is not voter fraud but voter suppression. All Texans deserve a system of elections that is free, fair, and accessible. Instead, Senate Bill 1 in Texas would prohibit 24-hour and drive-thru voting, restrict early voting, and make voting more difficult for voters with disabilities or language difficulties. Additionally, it would make it more difficult for Texas judges to accommodate voters during a natural disaster or pandemic.

Texas Senate Bill 1 is a band-aid response to an issue that exists only in the damaging language of those spreading misinformation about the 2020 election. It is past time for legislators to abandon divisive falsehoods and focus on ensuring that all Texas voters have fair, equitable, and free access to the voting box.

Resource
Texas’s Proposed Voter Suppression Law, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/texass-proposed-voter-suppression-law

Vanuatu ‘s representative to the European Union made a political proposal

In December 2019, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Vanuatu’s representative to the European Union made a political proposal: to make environmental degradation a crime.

Vanuatu is a tiny island country in the South Pacific, a nation endangered by increasing sea levels. Global warming is an immediate and catastrophic problem in the region, and activities that triggered rising temperatures – such as the combustion of fossil fuels – has almost totally taken place abroad to satisfy other nations, with the blessing of state governments.

Small island states like Vanuatu have long sought to convince big, strong nations to voluntarily curb their pollution, but progress has been sluggish – Ambassador John Licht indicated that it might be time to change the legislation itself.

An enhancement to the Treaty, also known as the Rome Statute, developed by the International Criminal Court could criminalize ecocide-related actions, he said, adding that “this radical concept deserves serious debate.”
Reference
Ecocide: Should killing nature be a crime? – BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201105-what-is-ecocide

Pope Francis’ call for legal acceptance of same-sex relationships

Pope Francis’ call for legal acceptance of #same-sex relationships has raised both hope and worries among #LGBTQ Catholics.

“What we need certainly to create is a civil union law,” the pontiff said in “Francesco,” an upcoming documentary from Russian American filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky. “That way, these are typically legally covered. I stood up for that.”

Image: Pope Francis delivers "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas Day message from main balcony of St. Peter's Basilica

The remarks are a departure from earlier church messaging. Inside the last book, “Memory and Identity,” Pope John Paul II suggested same-sex marriage was “part of an innovative new ideology of evil.”

In 2003, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, wrote that respect for gays and lesbians “cannot lead in any solution to the approval of homosexual behavior or even to legal recognition of homosexual unions.”

“Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on a single level as marriage will mean not only the approval of deviant behavior,” Ratzinger wrote, “but would also obscure basic values which fit in with the normal inheritance of humanity.” It has not been long ago that African Americans and Whites could intermarry. At that time, some Whites believed that Blacks would destroy the white race. Now, we see that the Pope is making a bold statement. Why are some people concerned about others’ marriage when their marriage ends in divorce because of an unfaithful partner who may be practicing deviant behavior with an individual of a different gender or that same-gender, which leads to adultery? Why get in other people’s business if your business is not perfect? Who gives a person the right to tell others who to love when your Christian bible say, “save yourself”? What would G-d say about one’s prejudice toward a sister or brother who may not share the same beliefs? Are we better than the other person because we know scriptures and many times misquote them without knowing the historial context that time in which scripture was written? If we take the scriptures literally, should we be stoning people?There are gay people in our families, pulpits, professional life who are doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, firefighter, ministers, essential workers, and in the church serving in every ministry whether known or unkown. There are just questions to think about.

Reference
Pope’s civil union remarks raise hopes, doubts for gay Catholics. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/pope-s-civil-union-remarks-raise-hopes-doubts-gay-catholics-n1244337?cid=referral_taboolafeed

Judicial system sentence more African Americans for non-offensive crimes

The judicial system sentence more African Americans for non-offensive crimes while whites have committed the worst crimes. African Americans are more likely to spend more time in jail than whites. The judicial system in American is rigged to punish Africans more than whites. African Americans pay more fines than whites. African Americans pay higher fines than whites.

“A 63-year-old man who was serving a life sentence in prison for stealing a pair of hedge clippers has been granted parole, CBS affiliate KLFY reported. The Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole voted this week to release Fair Wayne Bryant after he had served 23 years in prison.” This person should take the system to court for unjust sentencing. Do you think the crime is ridiculous and does not warrant 23 years in jail?

Man who spent 23 years in prison for stealing hedge …. https://www.ozarksfirst.com/local-news/national-news/man-who-spent-23-years-in-prison-for-stealing-hedge-clippers-granted-parole/

The herd immunity technique to combat the pandemic could be ‘dangerous, ‘ professionals say. Here’s exactly why

About 2 million Americans could die in the time and effort to accomplish herd immunity to the coronavirus.

Experts had “huge issues” regarding a herd immunity strategy, and much continues to be unknown about how long immunity to Covid-19 may last.
Suppose we are waiting until 60% to 80% of individuals own it. We are discussing 200 million-plus Americans getting this — with a fatality price of 1%, suppose, that is 2 million Americans will die with this effort to get herd immunity. Those are usually preventable deaths.

What is herd immunity, and why some think it might finish the coronavirus pandemic?
Throughout a media briefing in Geneva the other day, that “herd immunity” is generally discussed in vaccinations — much less a response to some pandemic. Whenever we talk about herd immunity, we discuss just how much of the populace must be vaccinated to possess immunity to the herpes virus towards the pathogen so that transmission cannot happen or is very problematic for a virus or perhaps a pathogen to transmit among people.

If we consider herd immunity within the organic sense of letting a virus run, it is dangerous. The virus infects many people, lots of people will require hospitalizations, and several people will pass away.

Reference
A herd immunity coronavirus strategy can be ‘dangerous. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/a-herd-immunity-coronavirus-strategy-can-be-dangerous-experts-say/ar-BB18ztE8

Ethnic Inequities Will Grow Unless We Consciously Work to get rid of it

The economic after-effects from the coronavirus pandemic guarantees to affect families throughout the United States and future decades for years to come. The downturn will probably hit African Americans hardest, exacerbating huge, long-standing racial wealth spaces. Because these inequities possess historical roots, looking at how they contribute to intergenerational inequality will help citizens, policymakers, and stakeholders create policies that move the country toward racial collateral.
We cannot start 20, 50, or even a century ago; we need to start. Four hundred years ago, white people trafficked and enslaved African people to build their particular wealth.

Centuries of systemic and structural racism followed, and it was not really until 1865 that the 13th Amendment passed and officially released Black people from bondage. For almost 100 years, Jim Crow laws and regulations and discriminatory practices forced racial segregation and impaired efforts to reduce or eliminate the racial wealth gap.

Limited covenants and redlining avoided Black people from buying homes in many neighborhoods; the Black Codes prohibited many Black people from creating profitable businesses, and white mob violence destroyed the firms of many other Black business owners and being denied entry to better-paying jobs got more difficult for Black family members
to accrue savings to get down payments on homes or accumulate cash about business investments.

Reference:
Racial Inequities Will Grow Unless We Consciously Work to …. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/racial-inequities-will-grow-unless-we-consciously-work-eliminate-them