Recent Commentaries

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What’s the deal with men and sex… lately?
May is shaping up to be an incredible month for sex scandals, and we’re only half way through the month! No sooner did we learn that Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, had been pulled off a plane minutes before departing for France due to an alleged sexual attack against a hotel maid, than reports began to surface that...
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May 19, 2011
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The Social Disease
Director David Fincher’s film, The Social Network, is as deeply disturbing as it is deeply engrossing. It’s a testament to Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin that I could not take my eyes off the screen sitting on a crowded flight from Boston to L.A. The film follows Mark Zuckerberg – a computer geek trapped in the delusion that what he creates...
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May 17, 2011
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Let’s Be Honest – Battle of the Bs Edition
 » Read more about: Let’s Be Honest – Battle of the Bs Edition  »...
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May 14, 2011
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The Ox-Bow Incident
One of many resources I consult on issues is The Ethics Resource Center located in Arlington, Virginia. “ERC,” its website writes, “began in 1922 as American Viewpoint, which provided education to adult immigrants about citizenship and values. “In the 1960’s, Ivan Hill, an entrepreneur from Chicago who was passionate about ethics and patriotism became interested in supporting the work of American Viewpoint.  » Read more...
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May 13, 2011
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The Shadow Knows
“The request came in by e-mail around 2 in the afternoon. It was from a previous customer, and she had urgent business. ‘You did me business ethics propsal for me I need propsal got approved pls can you will write me paper?’ “I’ve gotten pretty good at interpreting this kind of correspondence. The client had attached a document from her...
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May 11, 2011
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The Photos
No sooner had the White House announced that the so-called “death photos” of Osama bin Laden would not be released to the public than the debate began about the right and wrong of such a decision. CNN’s Piers Morgan had an energetic exchange Wednesday night between New York Times reporter Nick Kristof, former Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Colonel Morris Davis,...
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May 6, 2011
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Powell’s Rules
In Colin Powell and the American Dream (1995), Judith Cummings and Stefan Rudnicki write about an early choice made by a man who would rise to become an extraordinary leader and statesman. “In 1964, stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia, Powell pulled into a drive-in hamburger stand on Victory Drive. The waitress said she was not allowed to serve him, but if he...
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May 4, 2011
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Real News
Lately, the words Breaking News have come to represent the latest announcement by Donald Trump or stories about Charlie Sheen or Lindsay Lohan. Last night, shortly before 8:00 pm (pst), network silliness morphed into dramatic sobriety that demonstrated one of the primary purposes of journalism: to provide citizens with important, accurate and trustworthy information. CNN, ABC, NBC,  » Read more about: Real News  »...
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May 2, 2011
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The Examined Life
Ever since I began searching the Internet I started collecting quotes. Particularly interesting was to see the connective tissue of both knowledge and character that would emerge. It didn’t take long to discover a pattern – that true wisdom knows no period in history, religion, culture, race, age or gender. Here are just a few to consider: “What you do...
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May 2, 2011
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Confirmation Bias
No sooner had the White House released the long-form birth record of President Obama than speculation began anew by “birthers.” Is it real or fake? Why did it take so long to produce? “It raises far more questions than it answers,” said Joseph Farah, editor-in-chief of WorldNetDaily and grand-high-exalted poobah of “birthers.” (Where’s the Birth Certificate? by Harvard Ph.D. Jerome Corsi...
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April 29, 2011

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
When Democracy Comes Dressed as Patriotism
The current American political order is starting to feel like a collision between the films Seven Days in May and All the King’s Men. One...
Who Watches the Algorithm?
We are building machines that may soon judge, persuade, police, diagnose, hire, fire, and even help governments decide whom to trust. Yet we still have...
He Just Does His Job
I’ve been listening to and watching Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia for more than a year now: his speeches, his questions in Senate hearings,...
Why Donald Trump Has Pulled Me Back In—Again
Last August, I wrote that I was “stepping back from the chaos” of Donald Trump. I meant to write about his presidency only when his...
Scott Pelley Responds
During a contentious staff meeting at 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley spoke out sharply, criticizing the judgment and decision-making of CBS News editor in chief Bari...
The Clock is Still Ticking. But Now It’s Ticking for CBS
I began watching 60 Minutes when it premiered on September 24, 1968, when Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace introduced a new kind of television journalism:...