Category: Ethics

  • Poverty, and other forms of ill-fate

    I’ve been thinking a lot about being poor, since reading the post that struck me as so heartless yesterday. My parents were both educated, intelligent and talented, but neither of them lived up to their potential. As a result, my sister and I grew up with the support of MediCal (California’s version of Medicaid –…

  • Digging your way out of the pit of despair

    I’m reblogging this, not because I agree with it, but because it has touched a nerve that is always raw for me, both on a personal level and on a professional level, and I intend to expand on that thought tonight…but, I didn’t want to lose my thought. The first paragraph is highly offensive (to…

  • On tenterhooks…

    I woke up this morning in a state of high anxiety. I launched Facebook, and the first thing I saw was a post from MoveOn.org saying “The day is finally here. How are you feeling? Go!” and the comments were exactly my feelings – about half of them hopeful, and the other half anxious and…

  • The Future of Marriage with David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch | On Being

    The Future of Marriage with David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch | On Being. I’m recommending this program/podcast to everyone I know. I’ve listened to it twice now, and, whether you care about the definition of marriage, or gay marriage, (or straight marriage, for that matter), I think this program really epitomizes what I would hope…

  • thinking about culture differences

    i attended a talk yesterday about the “Ethics of Bedside Rationing” – mostly focused on the question of who gets scarce medical resources like kidney and liver transplants… a colleague (someone not born in the U.S.) asked a question about whether it would matter in the choice betwee two identically-situated transplant candidates (same prognosis before…

  • Wishing (with little hope) for peace…

    I receive emails from a listserv whenever there is big news from Sri Lanka, and this week, so far, I’ve received 3 reports in 3 days of bombings, with a total of 44 killed, and more injured. the bombings occurred in Colombo – the capital city – where many of my relatives live, and in…