Revenge for Sabotaging a Sabotage

In a recent NY Times article, a man was killed for discovering and reporting that the private helicopter of one of India’s richest men, Anil Ambani, was sabotaged. There is much debate about whether Bharat Borge’s death was an accident, suicide, or murder. Personally, I think it all points to a case of spiteful revenge, [...]

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Truth and Reconciliation for the U.S. Government

Op-Ed Columnist – A Torturous Compromise – NYTimes.com In a New York Times editorial, columnist Thomas L. Friedman discusses President Obama’s decision not to pursue legal action action against the lawyers and advisors involved in the “enhanced interrogation” techniques of the Bush administration.  Without ever invoking the words “truth” or reconciliation,” he articulates the basic [...]

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“Sri Lanka’s War”

An Article called “At Risk in Sri Lanka’s War,” last week in the Washington Post reminded me of a discussion about just and unjust war in class. In the article, James Traub recounts the current atrocities in Sri Lanka where the government is shooting “indiscriminately among rebels and noncombatants alike” to try and stop the [...]

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Revenge at what cost?

An Op-Ed in the New York Times by Paul Krugman this morning caught my attention. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27krugman.html?ref=opinion Dr. Krugman is responding to an article about executive pay on Wall Street, which is set to shoot back up to 2007 levels this year following a brief drop in 2008.  This revelation brought up all the feelings of [...]

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Cartoons and Punishment

Futurama is one of my favorite animated television shows. In a fourth season episode, “Three Hundred Big Boys”, the recent Earth invasion of Tarantulon VI has caused a surplus. To resolve this, Earthican President Richard Nixon gives the riches away to the taxpaying Earth citizens; $300 in the form of a “Tricky-Dick-Fun-Bill”. Bender, the robotic [...]

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Hell hath no fury

My girlfriend and I were sitting in my room a while ago while I was working on a response paper for this class. She asked me what the class what about and when I told her it was about revenge and ethics, she told me about a site she’d seen before about breakup stories and [...]

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A TRC here?

With all the inflammatory news about U.S. torture practices that has come out in the last few days, we’re hearing calls for criminal prosecutions or a TRC (truth and reconciliation commission) to address theses wrongs. Roger Cohen’s column today is typical. I find it interesting–telling–that when such a commission is mentioned, commentators like Cohen call [...]

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Punishment and Revenge in America’s Favorite Past Time

What was once known as the “power era of baseball” is now referred to as the “Era of steroids”.  Following both the publication of Jose Conseco’s Juiced, autobiography and analysis of steroids in baseball, and the issuing of the Mitchell report, the product of a long term investigation listing contemporary baseball players with evidence of [...]

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Forgiveness

Here’s a story on a Holocaust survivor who decide not to go after war criminals.

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New York Times Editorial

Roger Cohen’s Column In today’s New York Times, columnist Roger Cohen published a piece about what he claims is the problematic relationship that Israel has with itself.  Cohen suggests that many of Isarel’s troubles stem from the long and troubled history associated with the notion of maintaining a Jewish state.  He quotes Middle Eastern scholar [...]

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