One of the most unforgettable and tragic news stories of the last 60 years took place on November 22, 1963. I never saw it until years later because I was sitting in my High School Homeroom class in New Rochelle, New York. It began with … Read More
March 2018
On Assignment
Crucial Years, Revisited
This is the second of two commentaries about Maj. John Baldwin (Ret.) chest surgeon extraordinaire. Wednesday’s commentary talked about Baldwin’s quick thinking and skillful hands as a young resident. This piece story goes back in time to 1951.
In 1951, nuclear testing continued with a … Read More
Now, You’re a Doctor.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the brush-fire of the moment that we forget about what’s really important – the people around us who contribute to our lives in special ways.
I’ve been lucky to not only have met but developed deep friendships with … Read More
No. 12
Baseball season begins in just 10 days, and what better way to begin than with a great baseball story. Football may be America’s most popular game, but baseball is forever. Actually, that’s the title of a new book by former Washington Post columnist and peace … Read More
Bad Blood
It sounded like a good idea. (Strike that.) It sounded like a great idea: one simple blood test that required a single finger prick would give “everyday Americans unlimited control over their health,” The New York Times writes (Mar. 15). The key promise Theranos founder … Read More
The “Magnificent” Shkreli
There’s a moment during the first act of Orson Welles’s classic film, The Magnificent Ambersons – a period story about the rise and fall of a local family – where Welles, as narrator, points out what a terror young, self-centered George Amberson Minafer is to … Read More
It’s Not the Bots. It’s Us!
“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” – Winston Churchill* While most Americans have a wide variety of factual information – literally at their fingertips – when it comes to political tribalism, facts seem … Read More
It’s Still Ethics, Stupid! – Part 2
What have I learned after 1,418 commentaries? I’ve learned that ethics scandals are not isolated to any age, party, gender, or ethnicity; that Democrats have been just as shameless as Republicans; that women are not as innocent as they may appear and old age, in … Read More
It’s Still Ethics, Stupid!
Ten years ago, March 8, I launched this website with two goals: “First, I hope to generate a greater awareness of the importance of ethics in our lives; second, I want to foster a dialog with others about the affect ethical principles, or lack thereof, … Read More
Darkest Hour
“We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.” – Winston Churchill No, this is not about the Oscar-winning movie examining Winston Churchill’s hard choices that helped save the world. It’s about the darkest choices ever made by a … Read More