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Home >> United States & Canada Abortion & Social Issues Jenny’s Story-A Tale of Horror and Redemption
Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. - 2/10/2008
If I’d had to endure the terror-filled life experienced by one of our young clients at Joy Junction I doubt whether I would even be at the place she’s at. Affirmative Action Grading In Universities: Part 8 - Deafening Silence
Prof. Nicholas Stix - 11/5/2007
"What do you call a black man with a Ph.D.?" Malcolm X famously asked, forty years ago. He answered, "A nigger!" What was once true of an educated black man, is today true in academia of an educated white man with the outcast status of adjunct professor. For in academia, caste rules. Abortion - The Aborted Contract
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 10/12/2007
The issue of abortion is emotionally loaded and this often makes for poor, not thoroughly thought out arguments. The questions: "Is abortion immoral" and "Is abortion a murder" are often confused. The pregnancy (and the resulting fetus) are discussed in terms normally reserved to natural catastrophes (force majeure). At times, the embryo is compared to cancer, a thief, or an invader: after all, they are both growths, clusters of cells. The difference, of course, is that no one contracts cancer willingly (except, to some extent, smokers -–but, then they gamble, not contract). ICE campaign - In Case of Emergency
Michael Hart - 9/1/2007
We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends. If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) Campaign. Would You Chew The Meat Of Cloned Animals?
Angelique van Engelen - 8/13/2007
It is estimated that by the year 2010 Americans and Europeans will be eating the meat of cloned cows and drinking their milk. By the end of this year, US regulators will decide whether to allow cloned animals from entering the food chain and the EU is studying the issue at this moment. Experts say the decision is not going to be without consequences. In the EU, the public is largely ignorant of what is going on. Unlike in the US, where consumers are ganging up against it. Obama, Sex Ed And The Forgotten Constitution
Ross Kaminsky - 7/24/2007
Much has been made in recent hours about Senator Barack Obama’s call for sex education for kindergarteners which he made at a Planned Parenthood event on Tuesday. But of the several notable position statements made by Obama during his presentation, that was probably the least objectionable. Sex Education For Kindergarteners: Analysis Of A Bad Idea
Federico Genoese-Zerbi - 7/20/2007
Senator Obama, in his recent suggestion that sex education be provided to kindergarten aged children, was referring at least in part to child protection programs based on touch identification. Without entering the debate about whether this is a constitutional role for the federal government (it’s not) I want to review the data about these programs, now in wide use across the country. The point, and one that nobody seems to focus on, is that these programs: (a) haven’t been shown effective; (b) may be harmful; and (c) cost a lot of money. If these programs were a vaccine against child sexual abuse, the FDA would not approve them and the public would be aghast if they were used. Do We Need Religion? Part 1
Wolfgang Bruno - 6/2/2007
Ali Sina is the Iranian ex-Muslim behind the website www.faithfreedom.org. Along with other former Muslims such as Ibn Warraq, Sina is spearheading what may be the first organized movement of ex-Muslims in Islamic history, made possible during the past ten to fifteen years by Muslim immigration to the West and the growth of the Internet. Publishing rational criticism of Islam, reaching hundreds of thousands of people and potentially hundreds of millions of people across the world, has never been done before until a few years ago. This is also part of the inspiration for my own suggestion of cr... Supreme Court Upholds Ban On Partial Birth Abortion
Ross Kaminsky - 4/29/2007
The Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, upheld the Federal ban on a particular type of abortion, usually used in abortions after the first trimester, although it is used infrequently. The vote had exactly who you'd expect to see on each side voting the way you'd expect, with Justice Anthony Kennedy again providing the swing vote for the majority. This case was interesting because the Court did not overturn the Federal law even though it leaves no exception for when the mother's life is in danger. Religion and Science
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 12/4/2005
There are many kinds of narratives and organizing principles. Science is driven by evidence gathered in experiments, and by the falsification of extant theories and their replacement with newer, asymptotically truer, ones. Other systems - religion, nationalism, paranoid ideation, or art - are based on personal experiences (faith, inspiration, paranoia, etc.). On Being Human
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/27/2005
Are we human because of unique traits and attributes not shared with either animal or machine? The definition of "human" is circular: we are human by virtue of the properties that make us human (i.e., distinct from animal and machine). It is a definition by negation: that which separates us from animal and machine is our "human-ness". The Wages of Science
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/14/2005
In the United States, Congress approved, In February 2003, increases in the 2003 budgets of both the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. America is not alone in - vainly - trying to compensate for imploding capital markets and risk-averse financiers. The Truman Show
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/10/2005
"The Truman Show" is a profoundly disturbing movie. On the surface, it deals with the worn out issue of the intermingling of life and the media. Examples for such incestuous relationships abound: The Egotistic Friend
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/9/2005
What are friends for and how can a friendship be tested? By behaving altruistically, would be the most common answer and by sacrificing one's interests in favour of one's friends. Friendship implies the converse of egoism, both psychologically and ethically. But then we say that the dog is "man's best friend". After all, it is characterized by unconditional love, by unselfish behaviour, by sacrifice, when necessary. Isn't this the epitome of friendship? Apparently not. On the one hand, the dog's friendship seems to be unaffected by long term calculations of personal benefit. But that is not to... Atheism in a Post-Religious World (Book Review)
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 11/8/2005
Tremblay, Francois - Atheism in a Post-religious World - Suite101, 2004 "If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would strictly follow the teachings of the New, he would be insane"
-(Robert Ingersoll) The American Revolution
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/25/2005
The American Revolution was a civil war between Loyalists to the British crown (aka Tories, about one fifth of the population), supported by British expeditionary forces, and Patriots (or Whigs) in the 13 colonies that constituted British North America. Another Look at American Indians
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 9/15/2005
Native Americans are often cast in the role of victims of White aggression and unbridled avarice-driven or gratuitous violence, especially in the territories known collectively today as the United States. But the first massacre was perpetrated by Indians in the British colony Jamestown, in Virginia in 1622. They slaughtered 347 white men, women and children on that occasion. America's Fundamentalists Finally Press The Self Destruct Button
Angelique van Engelen - 9/1/2005
It's official. America now has its first Christian cleric using the A word. A not being the Atom bomb but Assassination. The top televangelist employed a style much used by his Islamic colleagues when he called for the assassination of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuala, speaking these astounding words: "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. [....] We do not need another 200 billion dollar war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It is a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it ove... Morality as a Mental State
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/29/2005
Moral values, rules, principles, and judgements are often thought of as beliefs or as true beliefs. Those who hold them to be true beliefs also annex to them a warrant or a justification (from the "real world"). Yet, it is far more reasonable to conceive of morality (ethics) as a state of mind, a mental state. It entails belief, but not necessarily true belief, or justification. As a mental state, morality cannot admit the "world" (right and wrong, evidence, goals, or results) into its logical formal definition. The world is never part of the definition of a mental state. Divorce as a Re-Distributive Mechanism
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/16/2005
"Even in modern times, in most cases husbands and wives differ in their potential for acquiring property. In separation of property, husbands and wives owning property and dealing with each other will be in the same position as unmarried adults. There are, however, grounds for distinguishing marital property questions from ordinary property questions, because persons who cohabit on a domestic basis share a common standard of living and usually also the benefits of each other's property. A major element in many marriages is the raising of children, and the traditional female role, requiring h... Abortion Issue Antagonists Can Find Common Ground
Dean Hartwell, JD - 7/31/2005
Perhaps no issue divides the public more than that of abortion. Supporters call themselves "pro-choice" and say they want to protect a "woman's right to choose." Opponents identify themselves as "pro-life" and say they want to defend the "sanctity of life." But, surprisingly, these two sides can agree on some issues. Parenting - The Irrational Vocation
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/19/2005
The advent of cloning, surrogate motherhood, and the donation of gametes and sperm have shaken the traditional biological definition of parenthood to its foundations. The social roles of parents have similarly been recast by the decline of the nuclear family and the surge of alternative household formats. On the Incest Taboo
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 7/17/2005
"...An experience with an adult may seem merely a curious and pointless game, or it may be a hideous trauma leaving lifelong psychic scars. In many cases the reaction of parents and society determines the child's interpretation of the event. What would have been a trivial and soon-forgotten act becomes traumatic if the mother cries, the father rages, and the police interrogate the child." From Families to Virtual Homes
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/12/2005
On June 9, 2005 the BBC reported about an unusual project underway in Sheffield (in the United Kingdom). The daily movements and interactions of a family living in a technology-laden, futuristic home are being monitored and recorded. "The aim is to help house builders predict how we will want to use our homes 10 or 20 years from now." - explained the reporter. The Debate about Cloning
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 6/5/2005
In a paper, published in "Science" in May 2005, 25 scientists, led by Woo Suk Hwang of Seoul National University, confirmed that they were able to clone dozens of blastocysts (the clusters of tiny cells that develop into embryos). Blastocysts contain stem cells that can be used to generate replacement tissues and, perhaps, one day, whole organs. The fact that cloned cells are identical to the original cell guarantees that they will not be rejected by the immune system of the recipient. Sex or Gender
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/10/2005
"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (1949) In nature, male and female are distinct. She-elephants are gregarious, he-elephants solitary. Male zebra finches are loquacious - the females mute. Female green spoon worms are 200,000 times larger than their male mates. These striking differences are biological - yet they lead to differentiation in social roles and skill acquisition. Sexuality, Homosexuality and the Animal Kingdom
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 5/8/2005
Recent studies in animal sexuality serve to dispel two common myths: that sex is exclusively about reproduction and that homosexuality is an unnatural sexual preference. It now appears that sex is also about recreation as it frequently occurs out of the mating season. And same-sex copulation and bonding are common in hundreds of species, from bonobo apes to gulls. Terri Schiavo and Political Principles: Republican Errors and Their Consequences
Ross Kaminsky - 4/6/2005
Yes, Virginia, there are principles in politics. It's just that the politicians are ignoring them. When considering a government action, Americans look at more than just its direct effect. We care about the principles involved such as federalism and constitutionality, as well as the potential impact of the precedent created. This is true of the average citizen at least as much as of the political elites and usually of conservatives at least as much as of liberals. In the sad case of Terri Schiavo, the Republicans in Congress have forgotten this to the detriment of our political system and, I e... The Myth of the Right to Life
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 3/23/2005
The right to life - at least of human beings - is a rarely questioned fundamental moral principle. In Western cultures, it is assumed to be inalienable and indivisible (i.e., monolithic). Yet, it is neither. Even if we accept the axiomatic - and therefore arbitrary - source of this right, we are still faced with intractable dilemmas. All said, the right to life may be nothing more than a cultural construct, dependent on social mores, historical contexts, and exegetic systems. Terri Schiavo and Sexual Predators
John Mangun - 3/23/2005
The international news services recently had two major stories coming out of America repeatedly headlined in their broadcasts. Sitting in my little corner of the Third World (the Philippines), I realized how, for all the wealth, convenience, opportunities, and advantage the First World enjoys, those people face terrible daily struggles unknown to my adopted countrymen. Scientific Argument Against Abortion
Don Swayser - 2/4/2005
On December 17th 1973 the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision which effectively banned any laws limiting abortion during the first six months of pregnancy. This decision was based on a fallacious premise. The premise was that since a fetus less than six months old could not survive outside a uterus it could be destroyed at the whim of the carrier. This decision was based on the state of the art of medicine at the time. It considered no advancement of the state of the art. It certainly didn't consider the fact that at some future date human beings could be cloned. If a human ... |
