You’re the executive director of a non-profit cultivating donors for the completion of a new center that will educate hundreds of students each year who otherwise could not afford it. After returning from vacation, you discover that the financial officer deposited close to a half-million dollar check from a donor and some of the funds have already been withdrawn to...

Between a rock and hard place. That’s how I felt regarding the Sheen-a-thon – “news” coverage of actor Charlie Sheen’s meltdown over five days last week. Recently, I was asked “What’s the difference between news, analysis, opinion, and entertainment?”  My response: News: Last night a ship sank in the Atlantic. Analysis: What caused the ship to sink and how can...

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. That quote, from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, came to mind when I read the recent decision by the current U.S. Supreme Court regarding Snyder v. Phelps. The First Amendment case had the Westboro Baptist Church appealing a lower court’s...

Strange. Erratic. Irresponsible. No, I’m not talking about the obvious behavior by Muammar Gaddafi and Charlie Sheen, I’m talking about Good Morning, America’s extensive, up-close-and-personal celebrity train wreck of an interview called Charlie Sheen. Cut to: Sheen: “I am on a drug. It’s called ‘Charlie Sheen.’ It’s not available because if you try it once, you will die.” This at a time...

Amid all the protests in Wisconsin over Governor Scott Walker calling for cuts in both benefits and bargaining rights for state employees, MSNBCs Rachel Maddow weighed in by declaring “Despite what you may have heard about Wisconsin’s finances, the state is on track to have a budget surplus this year,” she said. “I am not kidding.” According to Politifact, the...

At the age of sixteen, George Washington copied, by hand, 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. Based on rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595, the conventions outline how we demonstrate respect for others. In a time of widespread self-interest, the rules focus on others. In his biography of Washington, historian Richard Brookhiser writes, “all modern...

Do you tend to be trusting of others or distrustful? Trusting others to be considerate and respectful toward us can be difficult in light of our own experiences as well as news reports that tend to show the worst of people. Years ago, I remember being warned by several friends when they learned I would be working with a particular...

“Improving the world starts with ourselves.” That’s how one New Hampshire student summarized ethics. A straightforward message not far from Gandhi’s assertion that we must “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” However, putting that principle into practice can sometimes be daunting, particularly in dealing with individuals who may interpret the Golden Rule as something considerably less than...

Last night I attended a lecture sponsored by The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation given by Commander Robert Green (Royal Navy, Ret.) that calls out to every representative of every country possessing a nuclear capability to pay close attention. For 20 years, Green served in the British Royal Navy. As a bombardier-navigator, he flew in nuclear strike aircraft and anti-submarine helicopters. On promotion...

Robert Spence works in the financial sector as a broker/dealer. When the company that employed him was acquired by a larger firm, he transitioned to the new organization. At the time, the company policy held that individual investments had to stand on their own merits, have full quality oversight and complete transparency. When, in 2006, Robert began to question a...