Groundhog Day and Morality

It's one of my favourite movies and for a romantic comedy, it's pretty amazing.  I think Bill Murray is an excellent and uncoventional leading man.  In Groundhog Day, Bill lives the same day over and over again.

If you were in Groundhog Day, and in a relationship, is it cheating to sleep with someone else?

I think it goes to show how much time relates to our morality.  If we live without consequences, then how do we distinguish between right and wrong?  Further, cheating relates to being in a relationship with someone and sleeping with someone else while you were in that relationship.  If you are in a situation like Groundhog Day though, I'm not so sure if it would be.  Even though it appears like he is stuck in one moment, I actually think it is more like the expression of the timeless nature of the universe.  He is stuck in an eternal moment, where all the possible consequences of our actions play out.  He is the sum of all of those different expressions, he is always the same.  So really, it's impossible to say if it is or it isn't.

Or, looking at it another way, in our 'normal' time, it is possible to love and sleep with more than one person, as long as they are separated by time.  In Groundhog Day, each day is a different experience of time.

Philosophy

The life of a human being receives its worth, its importance, from the way in which unrealised ideals shape its purposes and tinge its actions.  The distinction between man and animal is in one sense only a difference in degree, but the extent of the degree is what makes all the difference.  Becoming men did not make us philosophers, scientists, or theologians, debating about the possibility to find the truth of the universe and God.  It primordially made us poets, that would catch the gleam of sunlight on foliage and wonder, rather than stick to the business of mere survival, be it biological, social, or academic.  Men are children of the universe with foolish enterprise and unrealised hopes. The search for responsibility is a particular case of a foolish enterprise, a witness to the importance we assign to unrealised ideals.  The same is philosophy, which embodies the adventure of hope, with the ultimate aim of experiencing disclosure.  - Isabelle Stenger

The Company Wombat

The northern hairy nosed wombat is one of the most endangered species in the world.  Only 138 exist, and none exist in captivity.  They are really rare.

Xstrata is one of the biggest mining companies in the world.  They now own the northern hairy nosed wombat... or should I say the Xstrata northern hairy nosed wombat.  As part of the millions they are spending on the wombat, they get 'exclusive' naming rights, like Etihad stadium.  Something that humans haven't really had since the Garden of Eden with Adam.  Books, clothing, backpacks, .. anything northern hairy nosed wombat is now Xstrata.

Their investment mainly goes to the development of a second colony of wombats, located near St. George, Queensland, which has helped to increase numbers in the last 2 years by about 20.

I think it's one of the most bizarre tie-ins in the world.  I can understand home loans and stadiums, but wombats and mining?  What do the mining company get out of it?  138 wombats can barely do much heavy labour.  They don't seem to be the most resilient of species either.  

I think the wombats do get a bit of benefit from it, a trendy little Xstrata logo to have branded on their backs or somewhere conspicuous.  Maybe a guest starring spot in some recruitment videos.  Anyway, hopefully this is just the start of more businesses owning some animals.