How do you assess an individual for a position on the Supreme Court?  What criteria do you use? Do you focus solely on their political philosophy – conservative vs. liberal? Do you look for someone who will interpret the Constitution literally, or do you believe it to be, as some do, that it is a living document where definitions adjust...

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  – Matthew 7:12, (King James) The Bible “I won’t tolerate racial profiling… We must enforce the law evenly, and without regard to skin color, accent, or social status. We must prove the alarmists and the cynics wrong.”  – Jan Brewer, Arizona state governor Since signing Senate Bill 1070 into law last...

It’s not easy to do the right thing when everybody’s making money but you.  That’s why ’50s Manhattan College basketball star Junius Kellogg stood out in more ways than one. In the superb 1998 HBO documentary, City Dump: The Story of the 1951 Basketball Scandal, broadcaster Al McGuire remembers, “You didn’t even have $15 for laundry in those days.  You had no scratch,...

The big political news on both the Internet and cable channels was not President Obama’s “First 100 Days.”  It was the announcement from the five-term former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania. “In a stunning turnabout in political loyalties,” the New York Times reported, “Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania… announced he was leaving the Republican Party to become a Democrat.” Was it due to...

A college friend looked at the Web site for the first time and concluded, “I like your site, but it takes too long to get to the meat and potatoes.” How about this:  “Do Good!” Clear, concise and took just thirty-three words to get there. The only problem is that like the previous commentary touting “Ethix” as a quick fix,...

Recently, a friend made this comment about a (June 21) commentary I posted about fairness:  “Fairness,” she said, borrowing from a previous statement about torture, “is basically subject to perception.” Is fairness perceptual?  What is a practical definition of fairness? “All virtue,” Aristotle wrote, “is summed up in dealing justly.” But what is justice?  What is a just or fair...

“I know Big Brown or any of our horses do not need this stuff to win.  I’m not worried about an uneven playing field, either.” In a brief but significant statement, Michael Iavarone, co-president of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings just raised the bar for the rest of horse racing. Not only would more than 50 horses owned by his stable...

“I know the world isn’t fair, but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?” This insightful piece of absurdity comes courtesy of Bill Watterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoon strip. I thought about this while reading the results of a recent study by a pair of psychologists entitled, “Early Predictors of Job Burnout and Engagement.” Christina Maslach, a social psychologist...