Recent Commentaries

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Breaking Bad
“Chemistry is the study of matter,” Breaking Bad’s Walt White says. “But I prefer to see it as the study of change.” AMC cable series Breaking Bad, which ended its five-year run last night, tells the story of disaffected high school chemistry teacher Walter White who, after discovering he has inoperable lung cancer, decides to go into the drug business...
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September 30, 2013
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Football Coach to Team: You’re Benched!
Utah Union High School football Coach Matt Labrum believes “…the most important thing is that we build character.” Labrum backed up that belief with action. Immediately after last Friday’s game, the coach sat his players down in the locker room and told them that after learning of reports that many of them had skipped class, received poor grades and allegedly...
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September 27, 2013
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E S I
CSI is a CBS-TV crime drama that follows “Crime Scene Investigators” – like William Peterson, Ted Danson, Elizabeth Shue and others – as they solve murders using science and analytical skills. ESI is my own ethical-sense investigative process used in researching and examining stories like the three-part series, Conspiracy Theory. (Think of me as Ted Danson… with darker hair.) The purpose of...
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September 25, 2013
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Conspiracy Theory, Conclusion
Early in All the President’s Men – a film that follows Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein track down and piece together the 1972 Watergate scandal – there’s a moment where editor Harry Rosenfeld is listening to Woodward read through a list of the five men caught in the break-in at the Watergate complex. When Woodward mentions that one of the...
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September 23, 2013
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Conspiracy Theory, Part II
Who was Michael Hastings and why would anyone want to assassinate him? Author-Journalist Michael Hastings was a reporter for the Internet based website, BuzzFeed and contributing editor to Rolling Stone magazine. Hastings profile rose after an interview he conducted with General Stanley McChrystal in which the four-star general was both candid and critical of individuals in the Obama administration. Hastings himself spoke...
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September 20, 2013
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Conspiracy Theory, Part I
“Evidence Indicates Michael Hastings Was Assassinated” “Hastings Sent Chilling E-mail to Colleagues Before Death” “Did the Pentagon Murder Journalist Michael Hastings?” Those are just a few of the story links that stood at the top of a Google search I conducted into the death of Michael Hastings. I’m not in the habit of running down conspiracy theories that are suggested...
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September 18, 2013
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Presidential Decision Making
“We are probably going to have to bomb them,” the President said after looking at the U-2 photographs. He then turned to his special assistant, Ken O’Donnell. “You still think the fuss about Cuba is unimportant?” “Absolutely,” O’Donnell snapped. “The voters won’t give a damn about Cuba.” During my August break, I spent time reading Richard ReevesProfile of Power, a...
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September 16, 2013
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Where Peace is Possible
This is what inspiration looks like. Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani girl who survived an assassination attempt by Islamic extremists for campaigning for women’s education, delivered another moving speech at the opening of a library in Birmingham, England. In a voice both settled and soothing, the young woman spoke to a small crowd with simple, confident words. In light of...
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September 13, 2013
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Restoring Trust
Trust – whether it’s the current crisis in Syria, Congress or the economy – is the vital component that drives confidence. So important to the national temperature that polls are regularly taken to determine the public’s trust in individuals and institutions. Dr. Robert Hurley is a Professor and the Director of The Consortium for Trustworthy Organizations at Fordham University. He is also...
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September 11, 2013
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Syria: The Moral Response
All focus is on President Obama and Congress as to whether the U.S. will enter into a “limited” attack on Syria as a response to their use of chemical weapons. This is a difficult issue and there are no easy answers. As The New York Times (Sept. 5), recently made clear, the rebels opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have demonstrated their own...
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September 9, 2013