Bloggers don’t receive letters. We receive “comments.”  While all of my “postings” appear here, I offer some on Huffington Post, and the reactions from readers are interesting. Regarding my post about the need for more women in decision-making positions in the Catholic Church (What Would Rev. Barbie Do?, April 9), one reader wrote, “Go Episcopalians! Diet-Catholic… Twice the fun and half...

No, those aren’t the Cartwrights and we’re not on the Ponderosa. This is what I wrote concerning Honesty and Trust in America on March 28, 2008: When it comes to corruption, the Four Horsemen of the Ethical Apocalypse remain:  Money, Power, Influence and Arrogance. In a 2006 survey that I conducted with Zogby International and the Center for Cultural Studies and Analysis,  » Read more about: Still Riding High...

“Within yourself, deliverance must be searched for, because each man makes his own prison.”– Edwin Arnold, English poet Take a look at this picture.  It’s a point of view directly behind Tiger Woods on his first day at The U.S. The Masters, golf’s golden crown. Imagine the pressure. Look at the background, the crowd, the cameras, the media – most of which...

The Discovery Channel’s action-packed show features science-based adventurers Jamie, Adam, Tory, Kari and Grant as they explosively (sometimes, literally) examine the scientific veracity of a variety of pop culture movie myths and old wives tales. Their weapon of choice in determining the truth is the scientific method (along with a modest budget).  According to executive producer Dan Tapster, in the seven...

“The greatest political saga, the one that has it all, that gets to the real heart of American politics, is the John Edwards story…This isn’t just politics, it’s literature. It’s the great American novel, the kind that isn’t written anymore.”  – Michael Wolff on John Edwards’s trajectory, Vanity Fair That’s the introductory quote on Amazon.com for the “tell-all” written by former political aide...

On Monday, (Jan. 11) former St. Louis Cardinal slugger and current holder of baseball’s single season home run record (70), Mark McGwire finally admitted to using steroids in the ’90s In a sincere, at times, tearful interview with sportscaster Bob Costas, McGwire said, “I apologize to everybody in major-league baseball, my family, the Maris’ [Yankee Roger Maris was the former record holder], Bud...

In the cut-throat world of fine Parisian dining, the food critic is King.  In the Pixar movie Ratatouille, Anton Ego (superbly voiced by Peter O’Toole), is Emperor!  “The Grim Eater” as he is known, strikes fear into the hearts of anyone even thinking about offering a new dish without his “divine” approval. In my little niche of essays on ethics, I strive...

“What he has accomplished is really nothing short of extraordinary.  We are not saying that this extraordinary story should give him a pass.” Those “extraordinary” words were spoken by defense attorney Robert P. Trout regarding his client, former congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana, asking the judge to take into account Jefferson’s life story before sentencing. In response, prosecutors pointed out...

Last Monday (Oct. 12) I brought up the ethical issue facing Charles Rangel, the House Democrat from New York. Mr. Rangel has been under investigation for the past year regarding some questionable financial reporting. Recently, The House Ethics Committee has expanded their investigation into Mr. Rangel’s failure to “…report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and assets from 2002 through 2006,” The...

Rationalizations, I collect ‘em like baseball cards. “Everybody does it”; “They owe it to me,” two of my All Stars. Here’s what one client told me in a pre-talk interview justifying his company unethically obtaining inside information on a bid to get the jump on the competition:  “You don’t understand, Jim. We don’t want to do these things, but if we...