Monthly Archives: November 2011

Human Rights Maps (162): Apprehensions of Illegal Immigrants at the US-Mexico Border

A combination of better law enforcement and an economic recession has resulted in a steep decline of illegal immigration from Mexico to the US. One way to measure illegal immigration is to extrapolate on the basis of the number of … Continue reading

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The Most Absurd Human Rights Violations (90): Prohibiting People From Standing Together and Doing Nothing

(source) President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus … drafted a law that would prohibit a “joint mass presence of citizens in a public place that has been chosen beforehand, including an outdoor space, and at a scheduled time for the purpose … Continue reading

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Self-Defeating Human Rights Policies (8): Modern Slave Redemption and Swords-to-Plowshares

(source) “Slave redemption” is an effort to buy the freedom of women trafficked into prostitution, coerced domestic servants and other modern slaves. In essence, you offer to pay the slave-holder (the pimp for example) a price for the slave that exceeds … Continue reading

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Self-Defeating Human Rights Policies (7): Qaddafi and the ICC

Another example of good intentions going wrong: One of the many puzzles surrounding Muammar Qaddafi was his refusal to go into exile. Once NATO intervened on behalf of the rebels and Tripoli fell, Qaddafi must have known that he would … Continue reading

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Human Rights Maps (161): Early 20th Century Views on Civilization

(source) (source) More on colonialism, prejudice, parochialism and progress. More human rights maps here.

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Human Rights Facts (66): Life Expectancy Across Social Groups in the U.S.

(source) I’ve written before about some very significant health disparities across segments of the population of the U.S. (see here, here. here, here, here and here). Health disparities across racial, gender or income groups are a strong indication of injustice … Continue reading

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Political Graffiti (166): Leisure

(source) More on leisure and labor conditions. More political graffiti here.

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The Ethics of Human Rights (54): Torture, Consequentialism and Tainted Goods

Those who defend torture normally do so on consequentialist grounds. They posit cases such as the “ticking time bomb” in which the harm done by torture is insignificant compared to the good it does. The consequences of torture are clearly … Continue reading

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Human Rights Facts (65): Hunger in America

(source) More data on hunger here.

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What is Freedom? (3): The Paradox of Self-Ownership: The Right to Sell Yourself Into Slavery

(source) Self-ownership, or the property of your own person, is a metaphor for the right to exclusive control of your own body and life. It captures some important intuitions: for example, that you should have a right to end your … Continue reading

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