Category Archives: Ethics

Healing The Sin Sick Soul

Posted on January 15, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

In light of the last couple of year’s events, this seems particularly relevant. Also, there’s an excellent essay that puts King in context here. (from here) These excerpts from a speech Martin Luther King gave to striking sanitation workers in … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Ethics, Resistance Rebellion And Death | Comments Off on Healing The Sin Sick Soul

Heroes In Their Own Minds

Posted on December 5, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

Friday, David Roberts had a series of disturbing tweets in which he described how many people do not realize how awful Republican policies are, even when you tell them. They simply don’t believe that anyone could propose such horrible things. … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Conservatives, Ethics | 1 Comment

The Wages Of Torture And The Triumph Of Nihilism: The Roy Moore Edition

Posted on November 10, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

After the revelations that Alabama Republican U.S. Senate candidate and long-time moral scold Roy Moore initiated inappropriate “sexual encounters” with four teenage girls while he was an assistant district attorney, including one fourteen year-old who was there for a custody … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Ethics, Resistance Rebellion And Death, Torture | 1 Comment

Formalism Versus Substance

Posted on September 1, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

This column, while focused on the Arpaio pardon, contains a very good point about the perils of formalism (boldface mine): Predictably, outrage swiftly followed the pardon. Pointing both to the crime for which Arpaio was convicted and the fact that … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics | 3 Comments

Resisting Schadenfreude In A Time Of Trump–The Healthcare Edition

Posted on March 18, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

I realize that, as a matter of practical politics, haranguing those who voted for Trump while thinking he would help them isn’t a clever strategy. Likewise, there are too many people who didn’t vote for Trump, who will be screwed … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Fucking Morons, Healthcare | 1 Comment

Tolerance Is A Peace Treaty And A Social Compact, Nothing More

Posted on January 23, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

Despite people in the D.C. area being very passionate about politics, there is a ‘cease fire’ when people aren’t on the clock: political figures should be able to go to the grocery store without being heckled. This tolerance is not … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Ethics | 1 Comment

Will There Be A Balm In Gilead To Heal The Sin-Sick Soul?

Posted on January 16, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

This seems more important than it did last year: (from here) These excerpts from a speech Martin Luther King gave to striking sanitation workers in Memphis seems appropriate for the political moment. The speech: My dear friends, my dear friend … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Ethics, Racism, Resistance Rebellion And Death | 1 Comment

Focus On Whether Perpetrators Repent, Not If Victims Forgive

Posted on January 6, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

The Washington Post ran a recent story that set my teeth on edge, “He was assaulted and called un-American at a Trump rally. Can he forgive the man who did it?” This is an awful story. The issue isn’t whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Ethics | 1 Comment

Ethics And Publication

Posted on January 4, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

Recently, Drugmonkey noted the following: If the lab head tells the trainees or techs that a specific experimental outcome* must be generated by them, this is scientific misconduct. Which brings us to this NYT article (boldface mine): The bee findings … Continue reading →

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House Republicans To Eliminate Any Meaningful Ethics Oversight

Posted on January 3, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

Yesterday, the Republican House Caucus voted to eliminate the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (‘OCE’) and replace it with an “Office of Congressional Complaint Review” under the control of the House Ethics committee. This is really bad as it essentially … Continue reading →

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