Have you had a talk with your son or daughter about bullying?  Do they recognize the difference between good-natured teasing and behavior that crosses the line into bullying? Every week we hear another tragic story involving bullying or hazing either by direct encounter or the high-tech version known as cyber bullying. “Insults, name calling, relentless teasing, and malicious gossip,” ethicist...

Voltaire once said, “Common sense is not so common.” I’m sure the 18th century French writer had people who gab endlessly on cell phones in mind when he made that observation. Back in the Stone Age, when people needed to speak to someone outside the home or office, they would go to a special place away from everyone else called…...

I’ve written about Major John Baldwin, (Ret.) before. A vascular surgeon who served with distinction in Viet Nam and several hospitals after the war, John’s ‘moment of principle’ was featured in my book, “What Do You Stand For?” John has since become a valued friend and supporter of this writer. Commenting on ethics in general and Joe Paterno in particular,...

On Friday, November 4, Central Pennsylvania’s Patriot-Newswas the first to break the story on allegations of sex abuse on at least 8 young boys by former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky that go back as far as 1998. In ’02, staffer Mike McQueary personally witnessed another attack by Sandusky. Since that time, anyone with a microphone, camera crew or blog...

In a corner of my office, on a wall, hangs a framed memory that reads: “Presented by the Faculty Staff Club with appreciation to Jim Lichtman, writer & ethics specialist, What Do You Stand For? – Getting Back America’s Integrity, November 3, 2005.” The certificate was given (already framed) for a talk I presented to the Penn State Forum, signed...

The sacred cow of protection from unwanted sales calls has been breached. “Telemarketers,” the New York Times writes, “increasingly are disguising their real identities and phone numbers to provoke people to pick up the phone. ‘Humane Soc.’ may not be the Humane Society. And think the I.R.S. is on the line? Think again. Caller ID, in other words, is becoming fake ID…....

In November of 1963, I was a High School freshman in New York. It was just after lunch and we’d only been back in class a short time when our Algebra teacher, Mr. Freeman was called into the hallway by the vice-principal. The door remained open and my desk had a perfect view of the hallway. That’s when I noticed...

England’s finest Prime Minister and Statesman Winston Churchill famously said, “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” Considering the ticking clock deadline for Congress’s bipartisan supercommittee to find a path to cut at minimum $1.2 trillion from the budget over ten years, Churchill’s words seem sadly prophetic. “It wasn’t so much of a...

It’s Tuesday May 23, 2006 and I’ve just arrived at my hotel. After traveling all day from California, I’m in New York to give a report to the public via the media on Honesty and Trust in America. In the Spring of 2006, with a host of ethics scandals involving CEOs, politicians, athletes and other celebrities you might think that my...

We are facing a serious issue of intergenerational ethics when it comes to the proliferation of nuclear power. For the value of power today, we pass on the problems of nuclear waste to future generations. Yesterday, I was invited to attend a talk by Daniel Hirsch, Lecturer on Nuclear Policy at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Considering the...