Latest Updates
 |
|
| Madoff and his court apology – an exercise in show | Dave Gordon
Mon, 29 June 2009
(86 views, Write a Comment) | |
Bernard Madoff tried to apologize to his
victims before being sentenced for 150 years in prison for his elaborate
decades-long Ponzi Scheme, that bilked untold numbers of victims of $50 billion
– the largest rip off scam in US
history.An
apology forced-by-court or by being caught requires that the specificity and
reparations are more emphasized. There is no “expeditious” because he did not
offer any remorse when his guilt compelled him; rather, he waited until he had to apologize....
|
|
| Governor Sanford’s Non-Apologetic Apology | Dave Gordon
Sun, 28 June 2009
(88 views, Write a Comment) | |
A litany of apologies have appeared
in the news lately. From David Letterman’s bad joke about Sarah Palin’s
daughter, to Minister Raitt’s remarks about the sexiness of nuclear isotopes,
to the US apology
for slavery -- there isn’t a day that goes by without something in the news of
an athlete, politician, corporation or public figure offering some kind of mea
culpa.
The
most recent and standout of these is South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford,
whose extra-marital affair made headlines when he inexplicably disappeared for
a week to travel to Buenos Aires to visit his paramour....
|
|
| British PM Brown Apologizes – But for What? | Dave Gordon
Mon, 20 April 2009
(1776 views, Write a Comment) | |
If person A wrongs person B, should person C apologize for person A’s actions?It
is meritorious for a state leader to apologize for his country’s past
wrongs, or holds his political party accountable for current
governmental mistakes. Even if it’s not possible to financially
compensate a person, or a group, for wrongs done, a public state-issued
apology serves the humbling purpose of recognizing the problem, with
the expectation it never repeats....
|
|
| Forgiveness in genocide's aftermath (book reviews) | Dave Gordon
Mon, 16 March 2009
(2638 views, Write a Comment) | |
The slaughter lasted for 100 days in the spring of 1994. Some 800,000
Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered — neighbours, friends,
classmates.
Lay Germans often said they did not know what took place in the Nazi
death camps. Certainly, though, all Rwandans knew about the genocide
occurring in front of them. As a nation, they either swung machetes —
one by one, face to face, slashing and severing — or they were victims.
As We Forgive contains 21 chapters of various vignettes, outlining in
rich detail the experiences of ordinary Rwandans during the genocide.
Though the book at times is overburdened with repetition, and
overwhelming verbosity, it does try to tackle a penetrating moral
question....
|
|
| THE WEEK IN APOLOGIES, APRIL 26-30 | Dave Gordon
Thu, 30 April 2009
(1533 views, Write a Comment) | |
I hope to make this a weekly
feature on my website, to expose the good, bad, and ugly of apologies in the
news. The contents this week are slavery-slipping Rep. Dr. Rob Schaaf,
hit-and-run driver Jagit Gill, and drunk driver City Councilman Skip Kelly.
The good: (at
least compared to the others)
Rep. Dr....
|
|
| Glorifying one God doesn't make us the same | Dave Gordon
Mon, 15 June 2009
(50 views, Write a Comment) | |
What God Really Wants You to Know , by C. David Lundberg (Heavenlight Press, softcover, 448 pages, $24.57).
Pope Benedict XVI’s recent visit to the Holy Land emphasized the idea
that the three religions of the book — Christianity, Judaism and Islam
— share common ground.
What God Really Wants You to Know, a self-published 427-page tome by C....
|
|
| Catholic school board sorry for spending scandals | Dave Gordon
Thu, 7 May 2009
(229 views, Write a Comment) | |
Trustees of the
Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) apologized to taxpayers on May 6
for a year of spending scandals that involved twelve trustees who spent $30,000 on personal expenses such as
alcohol, vacations and car washes.
A new report from the provincially appointed
supervisory team describes the situation as “deplorable.”
In full, here is the apology as
printed in the National Post, and my comments inserted between paragraphs....
|
|
|
