The Bernard Madoff Scandal

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Empathy's dark side

Date: 01/27/2010

Just up on the Templeton Foundation's YouTube channel is a nine-part conversation between the eminent primatologist and psychologist Frans de Waal and Discover magazine's Carl Zimmer about de Waal's celebrated new book, "The Age of Empathy." Note especially the final segment , in which de Waal talks about empathy's "dark side." He explains that a successful torturer has to have a certain cap ...

Related Topics: Bernie Madoff, Empathy, Frans De Waal, Torture

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Huck defends his cop killer commutation

Date: 12/04/2009

A pretty persuasive defense by Mike Huckabee of his commutation of Maurice Clemmons' sentence in 2000. Excerpts: Religion had nothing to do with the commutation. It's been erroneously expressed that my own personal faith or the claims of faith of the inmate factored into my decision. That is simply not true and nothing in the record even suggests it. The reasons were straightforward -- a un ...

Related Topics: Crime, Law And Order, Maurice Clemmons, Mike Huckabee, Politics

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Reuniting Rama and Laksmi

Date: 11/19/2009

Reuniting Rama and Laksmi: What can two Diwali narratives tell us about living our lives today? When I was a child, every Diwali night before going to bed, our family did something which I thought was extraordinary. We unlocked and slightly opened the doors to our home. (That may not seem so extraordinary to some of you, but growing up in New York City it was!)  The reason, I was ...

Related Topics: Envy, Reflection, Wall Street, Laksmi, Diwali At The Chapel, Wealth, Lakshmi, Fortune, Diwali 2009, Goddess, Rama, Compassion, God, Heart, Ram, Diwali, Prabhupada, Maha Laksmi, Main Street, Gratitude, Laxmi, Devi, Lust, Greed

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The Fort Hood Shootings and the White Privilege of Disassociation

Date: 11/09/2009

Immediately after it became known that the shooter at Fort Hood was South Asian and had a Muslim sounding name the condemnations came in from every major Islamic organization in America. In my inbox I got emails from Daisy Khan and Feisal Rauf, Eboo Patel, Shahed Amanullah and others expressing, on behalf of their religion, their sorrow and grief for the victims and the families of those who ...

Related Topics: Bernie Madoff, Daisy Khan, Eboo Patel, Feisal Rauf, Fort Hood, Military, Racism, Shahed Amanullah, South Asian, Timothy Mcveigh, Von Brunn, Which Christian Male, White Privilege

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Capitalism: A Love-Hate Relationship

Date: 10/09/2009

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