Bouncing Hedgehog

Posts Tagged ‘morality’

I recently received my yearly “give us money” missive from our local fire department. Nothing too unusual there. I am sure that most Americans get similar letters too. This year though, there is an added twist. This year it’s not the usual “we need your help” type letter – it’s a “give us money or else” demand.

“Or else what?” I hear you ask. Well may you ask. My local fire department has now adopted the practice (totally illegal in many states but not West Virginia apparently – of billing anyone who uses their services who hasn’t coughed up the “voluntary” donation.

What a fine shining example of capitalism. Making money out of other people’s misery. And don’t think for one second that if you have insurance and the fire department bills you that they will cover the cost – insurance companies are fighting that one and refusing to pay up. So… if you haven’t met their demands donated to them but you do have insurance it’s probably cheaper to let your house burn.

And what happens if your neighbor calls them out because your house is on fire? Who gets the bill then? Inquiring minds (well.. mine anyway) want to know.

It’s time this iniquitous practice was stamped out nationwide.

Those of you who know me will know that I am a movie fan. I picked up a dvd a while back – The Tripper -  and finally got around to watching it. I liked the movie. It was a fun little comic horror effort that appealed to my somewhat warped sense of humor.  The movie had quite a strong political theme in some ways and definitely had a bone to pick with some of the “sacred cows” of American history. But what really got my attention though were the credits believe it or not. Usually the credits roll to music but not this time. They rolled to a speech. And it floored me. I am not used to American politicians telling it like it is rather than what they want you to think it is. It took a while to find the speech. It was given by Robert F. Kennedy Jr and although I had to find a transcript to see the complete speech (it was longer than the credits rolled for) it was well worth the effort. It deserves to be read, understood and listened to by all.

The speech…

I have been an environmental advocate for twenty years, and I’ve been disciplined during that period about being nonpartisan in my approach to this issue. The worst thing that can happen to the environment is if it becomes the province of a single political party. Most of the environmental leaders in our country agree with me. Five years ago, if you asked the leaders of the major environmental groups in America, What’s the gravest threat to the global environment?, they would have given you a range of answers: overpopulation, habitat destruction, global warming. Today, they will all tell you one thing: it’s George W. Bush. This is the worst environmental president that we have ever had. You simply cannot speak honestly about the environment in any context today without speaking critically about this president. If you go to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s web site you will see over 400 major environmental rollbacks that have been promoted by this administration over the last three and half years. It is a concerted, deliberate attempt to eviscerate thirty years of environmental law. It is a stealth attack, one that’s been hidden from the public. Read the rest of this entry »

There have been many programs on TV over the years that have dealt with accident victims who have fallen into a coma and have subsequently been diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state. Some of these programs have been fictional, some have been factual.

I have always been somewhat pertubed by the willingness of some to “end their suffering” as there’s “no hope of recovery.” I wonder just whose suffering is actually being referred to. I am even more perturbed when organ harvesting is being touted by the doctors. 

I was surprised this morning to read about the case of a Belgian man – Ron Houben – who spent 23 years in a so-called persistent vegetative state after having been paralysed in a car crash in 1983. Apparently he was aware of everything going on around him the whole time. Can you imagine that? The frustration? The pain? Being aware and not being able to communicate? Read the rest of this entry »

It still saddens me that a country as modern as the USA practices state sanctioned killings as a solution to crime – in other words the death penalty. It doesn’t work as a deterrent – the US has more people incarcerated as a percentage of its population than any other country in the world. By no stretch of the imagination can this practice be called civilized so why continue it? For a supposedly God fearing country to go so directly against the “thou shalt not kill” commandment is the height of hypocrisy. In fact the US is the only modern western country that still practices killing people. China, and Japan still like doing it too. But who else? For “ordinary” crimes you have:

1.Afghanistan
2.Antigua/Barbuda
3.Bahamas
4.Bahrain
5.Bangladesh
6.Barbados
7.Belarus
8.Belize
9.Botswana
10.Burundi Read the rest of this entry »

I was absolutely gobsmacked to read that medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. I know of no other country where this is the case.

The figures are really quite staggering. An estimated 1,500,000 Americans will declare bankruptcy this year. Now many people would put that down to Americans chasing the myth of the “American Dream” and buying crap that they really don’t need and certainly can’t afford. A new study (to be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine) however, suggests that 60% of those declaring bankruptcy this year will do so because of medical bills. Read the rest of this entry »

I was interested to see that Microsoft’s new Bing search engine has come in for a bit of a hammering as it allows easy preview access to porn videos.

I know Microsoft is a favorite whipping boy for many, but why are they being singled out? Porn is readily available from any search engine and a 6 year old could figure out how to access it. A simple 2 clicks of the mouse is all it takes. Read the rest of this entry »

I definitely did a double take when I first saw this in the news. as it concerns one of my top rated morons of all time I just couldn’t let it go by without commenting.

Apparently, in 2003 while lobbying leaders to put together the Coalition of the Willing (and not so willing in some cases), President Bush spoke to France’s President Jacques Chirac. Bush told him a story about how the Biblical creatures Gog and Magog were at work in the Middle East and how they must be defeated. This worrying episode was confirmed by Chirac. Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently Darth Cheney has been defending the Bush administration policy of torturing suspects. As previously discussed the “It’s not torture because we don’t call it that” approach to morality is not a valid defence.

As I have already stated in an earlier post torture is torture and it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s still immoral by any civilized country’s standards. I’m not going to repeat myself so I will just add a quote from the speech: Read the rest of this entry »

It doesn’t seem to be very often that I have anything really positive or uplifting to write about nowadays as regards society in this modern “I’m alright Jack” world in which we live. I currently live in the epitome of that attitude – the USA. The lack of compassion here is quite mind-boggling and doesn’t seem to be getting any better despite the growing number of the “I’m not alright Jack” newly unemployed. Anyway, I digress. Despite the fact that many of my posts revolve around the USA – such a wonderful source of material – this story is about one of my fellow countrymen – Brian Burnie.

Who the %^&* is Brian Burnie you may ask? Well read on and find out why this man is a shining example of what those with money could and should be doing. Read the rest of this entry »

Remember those so eloquently phrased promises of “transparent government” and an end to military tribunals? I thought …

Transparent government? That’s the way it should be. Great. Fundamentally flawed military tribunals with so many human rights holes in them gone? Cool. I won’t even comment on the legalities of how so many of them got there. The fact that kangaroo court 101 was in full swing was enough for me and should be for anyone with a fundamental regard for ethics and human rights. Read the rest of this entry »