http://www.centerforajustsociety.org/ Where faith, law, and policy meet. Word on the street are references to the best articles on the Internet pertaining to faith, law and policy. en-us Copyright 2007. Center For A Just Society. All Rights Reserved. Fri, 4 Jul 2008 09:56:20 EST 60 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/images/header/CJSheader1.jpg http://www.centerforajustsociety.org/ http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3613 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3613 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3612 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3612 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3611 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3611 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3610 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3610 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3609 Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3609 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3608 Psychologists Daniel Oppenheimer and Adam Alter believe that many of the economic decisions we make have little to do with objective value. Market choices have much more to do with the brain's basic, internal perceptions of the world and the way those perceptions shape our feelings of comfort and ease. In this view, even currency has no clear and absolute value; regardless of those numbers on bills and coins, they derive their true value from the individual mind. In a series of experiments, these psychologists have been studying the marketplace cues that trigger psychological comfort or discomfort, and thus shape us as economic beings... Click here to read the rest of this article: Value System.   Every day, the Center for a Just Society compiles interesting and timely articles from around the web and makes them available to our readers as the "Word on the Street."  These articles are intended to encourage discussion and reflection about faith, law, and policy.  They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for a Just Society, or any of its employees.   ]]> Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3608 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3607 Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3607 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3606 Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3606 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3605 Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3605 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3604
Professor Savulescu has become notorious for arguing that we should genetically enhance the human species by improving IQ, behaviour, mood, character and morality. Biological manipulation to increase opportunity is ethical, he once said. If we have an obligation to treat and prevent disease, we have an obligation to try to manipulate these characteristics to give an individual the best opportunity of the best life. He has even argued that parents have a moral responsibility to select the best children they could have. It will be interesting to see what sort of ideas about brain manipulation will emerge from the well-funded new centre... Click here to read the rest of this article: It Pays to Be a Eugenicist.   Every day, the Center for a Just Society compiles interesting and timely articles from around the web and makes them available to our readers as the "Word on the Street."  These articles are intended to encourage discussion and reflection about faith, law, and policy.  They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for a Just Society, or any of its employees.   ]]> Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3604 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3599 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3599 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3598 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3598 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3597 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3597 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3596
The research, published by the American Enterprise Institute, should set off alarms around the world. In 1999, at least 30 people died in Cambodia as a result of taking counterfeit drugs to treat malaria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A recent follow-up survey in Asia found that 32% of malaria drugs there failed quality tests. Yet the World Health Organization reports that half of its member countries have weak regulations or none at all to prevent pharmaceutical counterfeiting. India and China have been found to be producers of counterfeit drugs, some of which make their way to Europe and the United States. The Internet has proved a boon for purveyors of fake medicines, and some counterfeits have also found their way into pharmacies here... Click here to read the rest of this article: Pharmaceutical Fakes.   Every day, the Center for a Just Society compiles interesting and timely articles from around the web and makes them available to our readers as the "Word on the Street."  These articles are intended to encourage discussion and reflection about faith, law, and policy.  They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for a Just Society, or any of its employees.   ]]> Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3596 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3595 Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3595 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3594
The case that started it all was fairly simple: Parents suspected of child abuse, who had been home schooling, were taken to court in an attempt to force them to enroll their children in public schools for better monitoring by outsiders. The parents won the first round.

Despite the findings of the trial judge, though, parents have no absolute constitutional right to educate their children instead of sending them to school. Nor was that the issue the judge was called on to decide. There is no constitutional right to child abuse, either; if these children were at risk, all the judge needed to do was determine the appropriate steps to protect them. And if their home education was as meager as the judge said, they could have been ordered into a better school setting; compulsory education is still the law... Click here to read the rest of this article: Let Home-Schoolers Be.   Every day, the Center for a Just Society compiles interesting and timely articles from around the web and makes them available to our readers as the "Word on the Street."  These articles are intended to encourage discussion and reflection about faith, law, and policy.  They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for a Just Society, or any of its employees.   ]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3594 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3593
Speaking to Fortune magazine, Black was asked about the potential effect of a terrorist attack on McCain's White House chances. "Certainly it would be a big advantage to him," Black said. Outrageous! Within hours, Barack Obama's spokesman, Bill Burton, had released a statement saying "the fact that John McCain's top advisor says that a terrorist attack on American soil would be a 'big advantage' for their political campaign is a complete disgrace, and is exactly the kind of politics that needs to change."

At a fundraiser the next day, Black apologized. "I deeply regret the comments," he said. "They were inappropriate. I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration."

What he doesn't say, you may notice, is that his comments were wrong. And that's because he doesn't believe they were wrong. Black got caught in what Washingtonians know as a "Kinsleyan gaffe," named after the journalist Michael Kinsley, who once said that "a gaffe is when a politician tells the truth." The McCain campaign's position on this subject has long been known: If the race turns on the issue of terrorism, McCain might win. But if the dominant issue is the economy, he definitely loses. It's just that his aides aren't supposed to say that.

That's why, in the very same article in which Black uttered these unspeakable remarks, McCain replied to a question about "the gravest long-term threat facing our economy" by saying, "the absolute gravest threat is the struggle that we're in against radical Islamic extremism, which can affect, if they prevail, our very existence. Another successful attack on the United States of America could have devastating consequences..." Click here to read the rest of this article: The Perils of Honesty in Politics.   Every day, the Center for a Just Society compiles interesting and timely articles from around the web and makes them available to our readers as the "Word on the Street."  These articles are intended to encourage discussion and reflection about faith, law, and policy.  They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for a Just Society, or any of its employees.    ]]> Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3593 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3592 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3592 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3591 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3591 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3590 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3590 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3588 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3588 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3587 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3587 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3586 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3586 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3585 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3585 http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3584
But radical individualism is intended for only one side of the cultural divide until it becomes predominate and can gain control of society. When the other attempts to get in on the act--cohercion tends to rule. Case in point, the angry reaction against "pro life pharmacies" by some of the very people who yell the loudest about "pro choice" values, with some states outlawing the practice. From the story in the Washington Post:
When DMC Pharmacy opens this summer on Route 50 in Chantilly, the shelves will be stocked with allergy remedies, pain relievers, antiseptic ointments and almost everything else sold in any drugstore. But anyone who wants condoms, birth control pills or the Plan B emergency contraceptive will be turned away.

That's because the drugstore, located in a typical shopping plaza featuring a Ruby Tuesday, a Papa John's and a Kmart, will be a "pro-life pharmacy"--meaning, among other things, that it will eschew all contraceptives.The pharmacy is one of a small but growing number of drugstores around the country that have become the latest front in a conflict pitting patients' rights against those of health-care workers who assert a "right of conscience" to refuse to provide care or products that they find objectionable... Click here to read the rest of this article: Bioethical Controversies Proof of Nearly Unbridgeable Cultural Chasm.   Every day, the Center for a Just Society compiles interesting and timely articles from around the web and makes them available to our readers as the "Word on the Street."  These articles are intended to encourage discussion and reflection about faith, law, and policy.  They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center for a Just Society, or any of its employees.   ]]> Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.centerforajustsociety.com/press/article.asp?nav=publications&pr=3584