Recent Commentaries

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Comments
Bloggers don’t receive letters. We receive “comments.”  While all of my “postings” appear here, I offer some on Huffington Post, and the reactions from readers are interesting. Regarding my post about the need for more women in decision-making positions in the Catholic Church (What Would Rev. Barbie Do?, April 9), one reader wrote, “Go Episcopalians! Diet-Catholic… Twice the fun and half...
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May 14, 2010
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May 2010 Ethical Hero – Gordon Massie
Gordon Massie was your average, guy-next-door, high-yield bond and investment manager who happened to work at… American International Group (AIG). (Whoa, wait-a-second, Jim!  Don’t tell me you’re making one of those high-finance, me-first, Wall Street types Ethical Hero of the Month?) Six months ago I received a call from Gordon and what he told me over the next hour of...
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May 12, 2010
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Common Sense, Uncommon Man
At the lowest point in America’s war for independence from Great Britain, General George Washington read an inspiring essay written by British-born sympathizer Thomas Paine.  Entitled, The American Crisis, it began like this – “These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but...
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May 12, 2010
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Faith and General Krulak
Although faith is not an ethical value, its importance in driving ethical conduct should not be underestimated. In fact, the word faith comes from the Latin fidere meaning ‘to trust.’ According to the Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, “Faith is an attitude or belief which goes beyond the available evidence.” Trusting can sometimes be difficult, but it can uplift and strengthen our resolve...
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May 10, 2010
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Floating
In August 2009, Specialist Michael Crawford tried to commit suicide by way of a handful of painkillers with a chaser of whiskey.  “It is just a dark place. Being in the W.T.U. is worse than being in Iraq.” The W.T.U. is the Warrior Transition Battalion, “a special unit,” the NY Times writes, “created to provide closely managed care for soldiers with physical wounds...
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May 7, 2010
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It’s the Media, Stupid!
“Just because the microphone in front of you amplifies your voice around the world is no reason to think we have any more wisdom than we had when our voices could reach only from one end of the bar to the other.” —Edward R. Murrow During the pioneering days of broadcast journalism, Ed Murrow was the gold standard of journalists. Known...
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May 7, 2010
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Maher vs. Stewart
HBO and Comedy Central are missing a Golden Opportunity. Rather than pair boxing champ Floyd Mayweather against… whoever’s left, they should match political, social satirist Jon Stewart against social, political satirist-commentator Bill Maher. Billed as The Grumble in the Jungle (hey, it’s marketing), it just might score major pay-per-view dollars. Let’s look at the stats – Maher ranks 38th on Comedy Central’s list...
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May 3, 2010