Eli Mason, past president of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, known as the “conscience of the profession,” died in August, 2009. The New York Times wrote that Mason “was a longtime defender of small and midsize accounting firms and a traditionalist in a profession that slowly came to be dominated by huge firms like Ernst &...

As an author, social scientist and lawyer, Riane Eisler has been a pioneer in showing how women’s rights (and therefore human rights) are the building blocks of world peace. Eisler’s international bestseller, The Chalice and the Blade, outlines the need for a cultural transformation, moving from the politics of dominance to the practice of partnership.  The Chalice and the Blade...

One of the great pleasures of living in an active community is having the opportunity to meet and listen to those who are fully engaged in service to others. Featured as one of the Smithsonian’s 100 Everyday Freedom Heroes, Dr. Mayotte has a fascinating life story of humanitarian service.  For ten years, she worked as a nun in the inner-cities...

While everyone agrees that health care needs reform, agreement on exactly how remains to be seen. Stan Brock isn’t waiting for change.  His group provides health care for those that need it most. “If you’ve got a mouth full of bad teeth and you can’t see to function, to get a job, for you it is a disaster,” Brock said....

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Early, in this country’s history, it was called the press.  Now, it’s simply called, the...

By a single vote, President Andrew Johnson avoided impeachment by Congress. As the seventh of seven Republican Senators, Edmund Ross of Kansas proved to be the person whose decision would either convict or acquit the beleaguered Johnson of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”  Ross’s vote turned out to be the one vote necessary for a required two-thirds’ majority to convict.  However,...

Heroes are around us every day. They may not make the headlines like U.S. Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger or Captain Richard Phillips held by Somali pirates. In an age of arrogance and outrage, there are individuals who emerge that show us – teach us that virtue can triumph over vice; where respect and responsibility can still finish first. What follows...

Anyone who has ever had to deal, firsthand, with the affects of Alzheimer’s disease, knows how it slowly robs the person affected of their heart and soul. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease that affects as many as 5.3 million Americans. “The disease destroys brain cells, causing problems with memory, thinking and behavior severe enough to...

Stanley Sheinbaum is the epitome of a world citizen. He spoke out forcefully against the Vietnam War and was the defense strategist for Daniel Ellsberg during the Pentagon Papers trial. When a coup in Greece imprisoned his friend, Andreas Papandreou, Sheinbaum took great personal risk to save Papandreou’s life. In a bold move, Stanley led a group of American Jews...

When Harry Markopolos testified before the House Financial Services subcommittee this month regarding Bernard Madoff’s $50 Billion Ponzi scheme, what surprised and angered House members most were the numerous and detailed warnings the former investment manager had given the SEC since 2000. “Nothing was done,” Markopolos told lawmakers. “There was an abject failure by the regulatory agencies we entrust as...