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Ethical Dilemma #7 - Who knew the term "cookies" meant more than just the delicious things you bake?

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Before 1994, companies depending solely on marketing strategies to encourage more traffic in their stores.  They invested money into television and magazine advertisements, rented highway billboards, and heavily relied upon the word of mouth.  In 1994, however, Lou Montulli, a Netscape employee, developed tracking software called cookies.  Here is a brief breakdown of how cookies work, according to Privacy.Net You pick up a tracking cookie on your favorite blog or shopping site. That cookie contains a unique ID that doesn’t identify you personally, but does identify your web browser. The owner of the shopping site signs up and pays for an advertising platform like Google. Google’s ads aren’t static; when you visit other websites that use Google ads to make money, the website sees the cookie and sends it to Google through the ad.  Google sees the unique ID stored in the cookie and recognizes that it came from your favorite shopping site. Google then shows an ad for the sho
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Ethical Dilemma #6: Peninsula Farms and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

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Peninsula Farms was a small business in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, that began with one cow.  The Joneses owned the cow and kept her around to maintain their lawn.  The cow produced milk, of course, but the Joneses didn't know how to milk her.  So they learned proper milking techniques.  The cow was producing more milk than they could use, and the surplus was going to waste.  The Joneses researched the local market to find out what kind of milk product they would sell.  They discovered that whole-milk yogurt was in demand.  They then found out how to make yogurt in large batches.  They also studied the health and safety regulations to make sure they were meeting government standards.  The Joneses were so successful that they exceeded the government criteria.  The Joneses then bought more cows -- enough to make Peninsula Farms a profitable business. Government inspectors had always given Peninsula Farms a high rating on their regular inspections.  It was a surprise to the Jone
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Ethical Dilemma #5 Chicken Farms - how ethical are they?

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The Ethical Dilemma Around Chicken Farms Chicken is a very popular meat, but many feel the chicken production industry can be cruel to the birds. Broiler chickens are the most popular chicken on the market and fast-food menus. These chickens are raised in large, windowless buildings in flocks between 20 000 and 50 000 birds. Feeding, watering, temperature and ventilation are all automatically controlled. Most broiler chicken are slaughtered after just six or seven weeks (a chicken's natural lifespan is around seven years). The farm carefully controls the artificial lighting within the broiler sheds. When the chickens first arrive, the lighting is bright so the chicks can find the food and water. This encourages eating and rapid growth. After a time, the lighting is dimmed in order to prevent fighting between the chickens. The birds have little space in which to move. The space diminishes even further as the chickens grow. Free-range chickens are raised in open pastur
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Ethical Dilemma #4: Healthy Competition or Unfair Monopoly?

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In 2012, Uber came to Toronto.  Its' arrival was somewhat quiet, causing very little friction.  However, it was only a matter of time before the residents and tourists of Toronto began to realize that Uber often added more convenience and comforts to their travels when compared with local cabs.  The cars were cleaner, the driver was friendly (they are rated by the customer which then, in turn, provided them with more opportunity to be booked for trips in the future), and the wait times were often lower.  Instead of having to stand outside and hail a cab at 2am after the bar or hope the cab you called to order would be on time to get you to the airport, the consumer could simply go on an app and order a ride.  Not only did the customer book online, they could track the drivers' location and all payment was conducted online.  Overall, it seemed to be a great option. Now, let's look at the impact this has had on the taxi industry.  According to CBC, the judge has t
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Ethical Dilemma #3 - Is it Time to Ban Zoos?

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The debate on whether or not zoos should be allowed to exist have gone on for years.  The history of zoos is a long one, ranging all the way back to 1500B.C in Egypt.  In terms of modern zoos, the first zoo in North America was the Philadelphia Zoo, coming into business in 1874.  Granted the rights of animal welfare have exponentially increased since these first zoos, there is quite a debate around the ethics of private ownership of exotic animals.   There is a clear difference in quality of caregiving when comparing a zoo such as the Greater Wynneword Exotic Animal Zoo (Joe Exotic's zoo down in Oklahoma) to an establishment such as the Toronto Zoo but, when it comes down the ethical debate, I ask you; should exotic animals be kept in captivity?  Do we have the right to make a profit off of their captivity?   https://www.oldest.org/animals/zoos/   A zoologist's View on Joe Exotic's Zoo https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2017/05/hot-topic
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Let me introduce myself.....

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Hello! My name is Ms. Browne and I am the teacher of the BBI1O summer class.  I have taught this course for a number of years and am excited to, once again, be teaching it. I live in Lakefield, Ontario with my husband and son and have been at LCS for 9 years.  I have one dog, one cat, and a squirrel that lives in our garage (we co-exist)! My favourite ice cream flavour is mint chocolate chip, I love to ride my bike, and my favourite colour is green. Looking forward to getting to know you all!  Please comment below this post with a short introduction of yourself as well. Ms. Browne
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Ethical Dilemma #2: The Canadian Tar Sands and the Keystone Pipeline

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Canada's Tar Sands In 2019, Alberta's Athabascan Tar Sands were the largest industrial project in the world.  Just to put this in perspective, according to National Geographic, if Alberta (population of 4 million people) were a country, they would be within the top five oil-producing countries in the world.  Although this is great for the economy as it provides jobs and allows Canada to reap the benefits of international trade, with such a focus on global climate change and environmental awareness, it seems contradictory to be one of the top producing oil countries.  According to National Geographic, " even as Canada promotes action on climate change on the world stage, the Canadian and provincial governments are pushing to expand oil sands operations—which brings substantial economic benefits to the region—in the face of a chorus of opposition from environmentalists and indigenous people". Now with the Keystone XL pipeline (1897 km pipeline running
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