A Puritan Critique of Business Ethics ? Reiterations

It has become an axiom of modern business that the goal of business is to make as much profit as possible and that any type of competition or selling practice is acceptable as long as it is legal.? The Puritans would not agree.? For one thing, they looked upon business as a service to society.? ?We must, therefore, think,? wrote John Knewstub, ?that, when we come to buying and selling, we come to witness our love towards our neighbor by our well-dealing with him in his goods.?? William Perkins said, ?The end of a man?s calling is not to gather riches for himself?but to serve God in the serving of man, and in the seeking the good of all men.?

Nor would the Puritans agree with modern methods of competition or profiteering.? When citizens in Boston complained that Robert Keayne charged excessive prices, the magistrates fined him two hundred pounds, and he very nearly found himself excommunicated from the church.? John Cotton used the trial to lay down some business principles in a public lecture on economics.? Cotton denounced as false the following premises: ?That a man might sell as dear [expensively] as he can, and buy as cheap as he can?That he may sell as he bought, though he paid too dear, etc., and though the commodity be fallen, etc.? That as a man may take advantage of his own skill or ability, so he may another?s ignorance or necessity.?

In England, John Knewstub showed what a gulf lies between the Puritans and modern commercial practices when he wrote disparagingly of businessmen who: ?come to buying and selling as it were to the razing and spoiling of some enemy?s city?, where every man catcheth, snatcheth, and carrieth away whatsoever he can come by.? And he is thought the best who carrieth away the most?But the Holy Ghost will bring us to another trial of our love.?

From: ?That Which God Hath Lent Thee? by Leland Ryken, in Christian History, Volume 7, Number 3, Issue 19 (1988), p. 16.

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EARTH AND FIRE Phoenix music review by Tarcisio Moura

Earth And Fire?s "return" in 1989 was in fact little more than a continuation of singer Jerney Kaagman?s solo career since she is the only original member featured here (no sign of the the Koerts twins) and the songwriting team of Ton Scherpenzeel and Irene Linders is the same as it was her second solo album Run. Having said that, I must admit that the overall quality of the record is far superior than Earth And Fire?s last three CDs. At least this time the music they recorded here is excellent pop rock stuff that have stood much better the test of time (sole exception is Incognito, a terrible pastiche of 80?s cliches, but it is only one out of 12, so it is forgiven).

Her husband Bert Ruiter (yes, the same one who played bass on Focus during their heydays in the 70?s) plays here, but clearly the musical director of the entire disc is ex Kayak and once Camel keyboardist Ton Scherpenzeel. His synths are featured on all tracks, although guitarrist Age Kat does some nice work here and there too. Kaagman?s voice is on top form here proving once and for all that she is one of rock?s most underrated singers. While it is obvious that some tracks are better than others, they are all of high quality (with the exception of the aforementioned Incognito). I don?t know if this album was a hit, but it should. For it contains at least two sure top ten hits in the form of the opener Good Enough (very much in the vein of Phil Collins early stuff) and the beautiful ballad Keep On Missing You. The different Streets Of Shame and the uplifiting Winds Of Change are also highlights. Productioon is excellent too.

Paraphrasing my good friend and PA colleague KennethLevine, I can say that while this phoenix may not be exactly the progressive rock bird we have expected, what arose from the ashes of the group is still a very nice creature, with much more personality and quality than its forrmer old self from the early 80?s.

Rating: excellent pop rock album. A nice surprise after so much disapointment. For PA, 3 stars.

Tarcisio Moura | 3/5 | 2012-6-5

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AT&T?s Samsung Galaxy S III available for preorder on June 6th for $199.99

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Sex And The 23 Year Old | Knob-Slobbing Feminism

June 2012 is Guest Blogger Month here at Knob-Slobbing Feminism. I solicited a few bloggers, writers, poets, etc to contribute posts lending their perspectives and experiences on feminism, sexuality, relationships, liberation, sex, and everything this blog is about. I hope you enjoy their contributions as much as I have.

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I was a late bloomer practically by all standards. While girls were developing voluptuous figures throughout junior high school and high school, I remained thin and straight as a palm tree. When my group of friends would gather to talk about going to so-and-so?s house for make-out sessions and sex, I was the one in the group who would remain mum ? not because of my secretive nature, just because I had nothing to say. Growing up in a home where it was drilled to me since my first menstrual cycle that ?good girls keep their legs closed till marriage,? I was determined to have sex the ?right way?. Yes, I was set on being the girl who would have sex for the first time on her wedding night. I didn?t hold on to this notion because I wanted to give my future husband a gift, I held on to it because I blindly believed that it was the right thing to do.

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Of course, that?little Catholic girl dream went straight out the window when my first love rolled around. An older man with the suaveness and sex appeal of a Danielle Steele character strolled into my life and changed me forever. For once, I stopped feeling ashamed of my body ? ashamed that it wasn?t what I thought men wanted. And I felt free? free to be sexual, to please and be pleased. Because of this man, his love, and a new-found confidence, I started discovering myself. I learned that it was okay to want to be touched and to want to experience intimacy with someone. After this relationship ended, I embarked into 2 others and although those men were not as supportive or loving (in every sense of the word) as my first, I was determined to not let that stop me from learning about my body, what I like, and what I need to feel sexually fulfilled.
This journey definitely comes with setbacks. Not every partner is going to be communicative or open to listening to what you desire. Some relationships will be down-right toxic. My last involvement with a man left me feeling sexually insecure and incompetent. Because of the lack of emotional reciprocation, his selfishness and his unwillingness to communicate, we were unable to connect on a much deeper level. It took me a while to recover from that (what person wants to feel that low?), but I?ve taken it as a lesson learned. I now know that I need someone who gives me what I need with both hands?when?I need it. My body is not simply an object for someone to project all of their stigmas, stereotypes and hurt on. It is a vessel that wants to give love and receive love. I suppose those Catholic lessons weren?t all that stifling, because my body?is?special, and it truly deserves the best.

Valerie Jean-Charles is a 23 year old writer from Brooklyn, New York. Her work may be found on ForHarriet.com and Joonbug.com. You may also find her on twitter: @Empressval

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Adirondack Health will close Lake Placid hospital, eliminate 60 ...

Adirondack Health director Chandler Ralph ? head of the hospital that includes medical facilities located primarily Lake Placid, Tupper Lake, and Saranac Lake ? unveiled a plan today that will swiftly change the medical and senior care climate in the North Country.

The non-profit will mothball the Lake Placid Hospital, which was built in the 1950s, transferring operations there to an expanded campus on the 13-acre property nearby that now includes the Uihlein nursing home.

As part of the cost-cutting plan, Ralph says Adirondack Health will also eliminate roughly half of their nursing home beds over the next 12-24 months.

Roughly sixty beds will go, all of them currently occupied by seniors and other people needing intensive assisted care.? According to Ralph, low Medicaid reimbursements for those patients has cost the organization more than $1 million annually.

"We will still take Medicaid admissions, but it won't be all comers as it is now," Ralph said.

Asked what would happen to poor people who need nursing home care, Ralph said that Adirondack Health hopes to help improve the network of care programs ? provided by volunteers, churches, governmental agencies, and other groups ? that help seniors remain in their homes as long as possible.

But Ralph acknowledged that when people who rely on Medicaid reach the point where a nursing home is necessary, Uihlein wil likely no longer be an option.

This development comes one day before Essex County votes on whether to privatize the Horace Nye nursing home in Elizabethtown.

Part of the debate there centers on the question of whether a for-profit company would accept Medicaid patients in the future.

Speaking today, Ralph suggested that reimbursements from Albany are so low, that a growing number of private and public nursing homes have been forced to end admissions of Medicaid-funded residents.

Here's the full press release with details of the Adirondack Health proposal:

SARANAC ? The Adirondack Health Board of Trustees is moving forward to design a new vision of health care services to be provided on the Uihlein Living Center campus in response to the evolving needs of the Tri-Lakes community.

The complete details are yet to be fully defined, however, one certainty is that family members can be confident the care and quality of life for current residents at the Living Center remains a top priority.

The vision for the integrated medical campus includes a full continuum of post-hospital care services, assisted living, a medical fitness center, right-sizing the skilled nursing beds gradually over time, and the relocation of hospital based and clinic services now located in Lake Placid to the Uihlein campus.

A medical fitness center will provide a wide range of services to all age groups, including adult fitness programs, performance programs for athletes, senior programs, weight management and special populations programs.

The Placid Memorial Hospital was constructed in 1952, and is not configured to provide 21st Century medicine.?? Creating a new facility on the Uihlein Campus would support the kind of primary and emergency care the community requires, and would generate operating efficiencies through shared services.

Adirondack Health has already met with existing community based services and senior housing providers in order to develop a strong partnership.? All of the potential stakeholders in this partnership are excited about the opportunity to establish a robust set of programs and relationships that will be needed to realize the vision.

Nationally, there has been a steady decline in the demand for long term care beds driven by a preference for in-home care and other community based services allowing people to ?age in place.?? By 2020, the population of Essex County age 65 and older is projected to increase by approximately 16 percent. Adirondack Health must improve its ability to provide innovative services to meet the growing demand for health care services in our community over the next several years.

Adirondack Health experienced a $1.6 million shortfall in 2011, which is largely attributed to inadequate Medicaid reimbursements for its Living Centers in Lake Placid and Tupper Lake.? Despite attempts address the reimbursement issues, there has been no action by the State to improve the rates and the current situation is unsustainable.? The Board and leadership of Adirondack Health are committed to sound financial stewardship of the entire organization and want to be positioned to have available resources to invest in a variety of needed programs and services.

The Board recognizes the future of Adirondack Health requires a constant focus on service line improvements and other efficiencies to successfully continue its mission of providing comprehensive and compassionate health care services to the community.? The changes at the Uihlein campus will better position Adirondack Health for future growth in response to community need.

?We are optimistic about the future course the board has set,? remarked Chandler Ralph, President & CEO of Adirondack Health.? ?We understand that change is unsettling; positions will change and new positions will be created.? We believe the new opportunities that will emerge from this important investment in the future will benefit the patients, residents, staff and community as we establish a stronger platform for the future growth of Adirondack Health.?

Tags: adirondacks, economy, health

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Hanoi opens 3 MIA search areas, releases letters

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, left, participates in an arrival ceremony with Vietnam Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh at the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietman, Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, left, participates in an arrival ceremony with Vietnam Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh at the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietman, Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, center right, participates in an arrival ceremony with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh at the defense ministry in Hanoi, Vietnam Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, second left, participates in an arrival ceremony with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh, left, at the Ministry of Defense in Hanoi, Vietnam Monday, June 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, left, stands near USNS Richard E. Byrd Ship Master Captain John Sargent as he speaks to the crew aboard the cargo ship in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, Sunday, June 3, 2012. Panetta visited the former U.S. air and naval base in the bay, becoming the most senior American official to go there since the war ended. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) ? In a poignant historical postscript, the United States and Vietnam on Monday exchanged artifacts of war, including a U.S. soldier's written account of life under fire before his death and a Vietnam trooper's diary held for over 40 years by an American GI.

At a ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnamese defense minister Phung Quang Thanh delivered the letters to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who in turn gave Thanh the small maroon diary taken from the body of the Vietnamese man by a U.S. service member who brought it home with him.

Defense officials said the Vietnamese had used the letters by Army Sgt. Steve Flaherty as propaganda.

"I felt bullets going past me," Flaherty, from Columbia, S.C., wrote to someone named Betty. "I have never been so scared in my life."

And to his mother he wrote, "''If Dad calls, tell him I got too close to being dead but I'm O.K. I was real lucky. I'll write again soon."

To a Mrs. Wyatt, he nevertheless suggested he believed in the mission.

"This is a dirty and cruel war but I'm sure people will understand the purpose of this war even though many of us might not agree," he wrote in excerpts released by U.S. defense officials.

Officials said this is the first time such a joint exchange of war artifacts has occurred. The two defense leaders agreed to return the papers to the families of the deceased soldiers.

Flaherty, who was with the 101st Airborne, was killed in the northern section of South Vietnam in March 1969. According to defense officials, Vietnamese forces took his letters and used them in broadcasts during the war.

Vietnamese Col. Nguyen Phu Dat kept the letters, but it was not until last August, when he mentioned them in an online publication, that they started to come to light.

Early this year, Robert Destatte, a retired Defense Department employee who had worked for the POW/MIA office, noticed the online publication, and the Pentagon began to work to get the letters back to Flaherty's family.

At a news conference, the Vietnamese government also announced its agreement to open three new sites in the country for excavation by the United States to search for troop remains from the war.

And the two defense chiefs also said their countries want to work together, regardless of whether the enhanced relationship troubles China.

Beijing has expressed concern over America's new defense strategy that puts more focus on the Asia-Pacific region, including plans to increase the number of troops, ships and other military assets in the region.

Speaking through an interpreter, Thanh said Vietnam wants to continue defense cooperation with all countries, including stable and longstanding relationships with China and the United States. Hanoi, he said, would not sacrifice relations with one country for another.

Panetta said the U.S. goal is to help strengthen the capabilities of countries across the region.

"Frankly the most destabilizing situation would be if we had a group of weak nations and only the United States and China were major powers in this region," said Panetta.

Defense officials reviewing the packet of papers given to Panetta said it appears there are three sets of letters, including the four written by Flaherty. It was not clear how many other service members' letters were there, but officials were going through them Monday.

Ron Ward, U.S. casualty resolution specialist at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hanoi, said there are at least four U.S. troops believed to be lost in the three areas that were opened by the Vietnamese Monday. With those three areas now open, Ward said there are now just eight sites left that are still restricted by the Vietnamese.

Military officers briefing Panetta at the command's office said they had five to seven years to complete their excavation work. The acidic soil in Vietnam erodes bones quickly, leaving in many cases only teeth for the military teams to use to try and identify service members, one of the team members said.

In addition, many of the potential witnesses with information about remains are getting older and their memories are fading.

There are about nearly 1,300 cases that are still unaccounted for, and officers briefing Panetta said about 600 of those remains could be recoverable.

Ward said that opening the three new sites will enable the U.S. to try and find:

-- Two Air Force members who were lost when their plane was shot down in Quang Binh Province in central Vietnam in 1967.

-- An Army private first class who went missing when he was out with his unit on a search-and-destroy mission in 1968 in the tri-border area of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

-- A Marine who was on a surface-to-air combat mission and was lost when his plane went down in Quang Tri Province. Another Marine on the plane ejected and was rescued.

The small diary belonged to Vu Dinh Doan, a Vietnamese soldier who was found killed in a machine gun fight, according to defense officials. Officials said that a Marine, Robert "Ira" Frazure of Walla Walla, Wash., saw the diary ? with a photo and some money inside ? on the chest of the dead soldier and took it back to the U.S.

The diary came to light earlier this year when the sister of a friend of Frazure's was doing research for a book and Frazure asked her help in returning the diary. The sister, Marge Scooter, brought the diary to the PBS television program History Detectives.

The show then asked the Defense and State departments to help return the diary.

--------

To see excerpts of the letter, go to: http://bit.ly/Mbse3S

Associated Press

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