A few months ago I learned about the dedication of a statue of John Gilbert Winant from Concord resident and college professor Stephen Ambra. “Who the heck is John Gilbert Winant?” I asked. “He’s one of this country’s great unsung heroes of World War II,” Ambra said. Ernest Bevin, a leading figure in Winston Churchill’s government, said “There is one...

One of the most iconic images in Hollywood film is a static black and white picture of a pair of train tracks trailing into a distant western landscape. By itself, it doesn’t seem to say much. However, in the western classic High Noon, the image represents a reckoning that’s coming and the man whose actions make him a reluctant hero....

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Twenty-five years before the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, an incident took place that squarely placed the issue of slavery before the public and the courts. In 1839, fifty-three Africans were kidnapped from Sierra Leone and sold into slavery. While being transferred by...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ordered Wells Fargo, the third largest U.S. bank, to pay a former employee $5.4 million who was fired after he blew the whistle on supervisors regarding fraudulent behavior by the bank. According to the ruling, Wells Fargo must also reinstate a similar position previously held by the employee. NPR reports (Apr. 4), “The...

Washington, D.C. – In a stunning announcement on the steps of the Capitol today, scientists from four leading research centers believe they have found a direct link between the ethics scandals of the last five years – perhaps going back as far as five decades – and a chemical imbalance in the brain. The new disease, which scientists are calling...

In 2005, I was invited to speak on ethics at a prominent university. I was escorted to a site on campus where the room was packed with students, teachers and administrators. I take my place at a table down in front near the podium for a luncheon that preceded my talk. An official in the room leans over and tells...

Climbing is a great game; great not in spite of the demands it makes, but because of them. Great because it will not let us give half of ourselves, it demands all of us. It demands our best. – Royal Robbins If the 60s and 70s are consider the Golden Age of rock climbing then Yosemite Valley was the place...

While President-elect Donald Trump announced that his sons will run his company but make no new foreign deals, problems already exist. “At the Wednesday press conference where Mr. Trump described the company’s new structure,” The Wall Street Journal writes (Jan. 14), “he also said he had turned down $2 billion in property deals in Dubai to avoid any possible ethics...

While there is no photographic evidence, Paul Ryan continues to suffer the results of his deal with the devil. Once the House Speaker walked onto the stage of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, his fate was sealed. “Democracy is a series of choices,” Ryan told the GOP faithful. “We Republicans have made our choice. Have we had our arguments...

“I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.”  — William F. Buckley, Jr. In Junior High, my mother announced that every day I would start reading at least two articles from our daily newspaper. The first was a news event of the day. Typically, I’d pick anything to do with the space program....