Haircut turns into the battle over Human Rights

“For me it was just a haircut and started out about me being women. Now we’re talking about religion versus gender versus human rights and business in Ontario.” said McGregor.

        So I was looking through the newspaper to find some interesting story to share for this week’s blog post when I came across this article. Here is a very brief summary: A woman named Faith McGregor wanted to get a haircut, she walks into a Barber shop on Bay St. She asks the Barber to cut her hair, but the barber denies her request due to his religion. This Barbershop does not do haircuts for Women, mainly because of their religion. As Co-Owner Omar Mahrouk states “in his Muslim faith, he is prohibited to touch a women who is not related to him.” As a customer McGregor was insulted she felt like a “second class citizen” so she filed a complaint with the human right tribunal of Ontario. So far this case didn’t seem like a big issue in the court room, currently they are thinking of a negotiation. We have to look at this article at two different viewpoints. In the customer’s point of view she should have the right to cut her hair anywhere she wants in Canada, it is a free country. However did she have to make it a big issue if that wasn’t the case? In the case of the Barber he was Muslim, though should he be mixing his religious values with his business practices? He is losing customers, which could affect his business.

Here is a video:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/11/15/toronto-haircut-mcgregor.html

So can you or should you mix religion with business? In my opinion it depends on the area in which you decide to operate your business. For example a well known grocery store is no-frills. Depending on the area the products in no-frills change according to customer demand. At steels and Markham area the larger ethnic group is Asian so the store leans towards selling ethnic dishes whereas in port union and Lawrence road the larger group is Caucasian people so it wouldn’t be a good idea to sell many spicy, Asian ethnic dishes. In a multicultural country like Canada it is not good idea to sell a product which is of value to only one group of people or one type of religion it should be available and meet the needs of all people in Canada. Another example is the global leader in the beverage industry Coca cola. Coca cola is sold around the world but could be modified depending on the region. In Saudi Arabia they sell coke and it is known as Mecca Cola named after the holiest city in Islam. Selling a drink named as such in Saudi Arabia is appropriate and good for profit however in a mixed or international society like Canada that would not be a good marketing technique since the main ethnic group is not Muslim.

In my opinion it is not a good idea to mix religion and business especially in a society which consist of a diverse population. Once again it depends where you plan to conduct the business; you must obtain knowledge of your surroundings before making or selling any products.

So what do guys think?              

I actually got this article from the Toronto Star Newspaper but here is another link, in case anyone wants to read in depth about the article

 (I doubt it:)

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/human-rights-collide-woman-files-complaint-against-muslim-170208719.html
 

Iran’s Nuclear Bomb

 

 This news is quiet old but it is still ongoing. Few weeks ago I heard on the news about Iran’s idea of making a nuclear bomb. This sparked my interest, so I asked my dad more about this issue and did some further research. Apparently Iran claims the nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes, for medicine and generating electricity. However countries around Iran fear they plan to attack Israel. Thus if Iran retaliates this might elevate a world war. Iran’s nuclear program has made a great progress in its uranium enrichment efforts. A recent report released by Institute for Science and International security showed estimates of Iran’s stockpiles of Uranium. To make any nuclear weapon a key component is uranium, and to make just one of these weapons you need a mass of 25 kg of this element. With this much progression Iran could produce enough WGU (weapons grade uranium) to make an atomic bomb within 10 months.

Western countries, the United States, the United Nations along with European Union are enforcing trade embargo’s and trade sanctions with Iran due to the countries refusal to stop nuclear enrichment. The governments will aim to penalize transactions with the central bank of Iran, medicines, aircraft parts and only continue oil related business transactions. As discussed in class a trade embargo is the banning of trade with a specific country or product, so that foreign governments in this case the Iranian government will change their decisions about the nuclear bomb. The international atomic energy agency has fear that they can not detect fast enough, since Iran is seeking the ability to produce many WGU. From 2006-2010 the UN Security Council had hit Iran hard with many trade sanctions. Some states fear that aggressive moves may cause retaliation. Some countries like China & Russia are reluctant towards supporting the UN sanctions, mainly because Iran is the major oil producing country. China and Russia do not want to loose that major trade resource instead they want to obtain as much oil as possible. This will become an international business issue if Iran decides to restrict oil trade with western countries. That would be a huge disaster!!!!

I think that there is a huge possibility that Iran will strike against Israel if they are planning to create an atom bomb. Israel should start preparing with the help of the U.S because it is possible that Iran will have a surprise break out. Sanctions are not enough to convince the Iranian government to halt their decisions. Western countries have been negotiating and making deals with Iran for a long time so I think it is time to change their approach, and possibly use a matter of force before things get out of hand. The only problem which makes many countries reluctant is oil. Iran does provide many countries with this important resource; so many countries do not want to loose this trade.  Though my question is that Iran is not the only country to make the nuclear bomb, so why do the major power countries discriminating against Iran? Or is it a question of is it in the wrong hands?

What do you guys/girls think?

    http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-could-make-a-nuclear-bomb-within-10-months-2012-10

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/more-sanctions-contemplated-as-un-chief-says-effects-felt-on-iranian-people/article4592193/

http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/secret-iran-nuclear-bomb-plant-expanding/

 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iran/nuclear_program/index.html