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 Elizabeth Holmes made to investors and potential clients: “that drawing a tiny amount of blood...

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 all the local citizens. “Someday,” a neighbor angrily remarks, “that boy is going to get...

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 many cases, does not confirm ethical wisdom. Nonetheless, I remain inspired by those individuals who...

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, have on our decision making. It’s a dialog that will include politics, sports, entertainment, immigration,...

“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 U.S. president. Last week, National Security Agency Chief Admiral Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed...

Two weeks ago, I wrote about H.R. 38, The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, (This is Who We’ve Become), which, if passed by the Senate, would effectively make it legal to carry a concealed weapon from state to state much like a driver’s license. In a statement from his office, California Congressman Salud Carbajal told me: “This shameful bill...

Social media and video-sharing sites have become the new weapon of choice by activists. The problem is the lack of responsibility shown by some users and readers of information that is used to exploit fears and biases with false theories and propaganda. E.g. David Hogg – The New York Times reports (Feb. 21), “…for a brief time, the No. 1...

Last Friday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein laid out chapter and verse on how the Russians meddled in our 2016 election, detailing a series of indictments by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III. “The indictment charges 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for committing federal crimes while seeking to interfere in the United States political system, including the 2016 presidential...

I was told by White House Press Secretary John G. Nicolay, that “Mr. Lincoln needed a little respite after recent news of a loss in our great civil war.” “John, I’ve been waiting months for this interview.” “He’s at Murphy’s Bar next door to the theater.” It was a bleak and rainy night when I walked through the front door...

17 Dead after a shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” one student shouted in a cell phone video. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel: “This is catastrophic!” Action Congress has taken since the Sandy Hook School shooting five years ago: Zero. I was already working on a commentary regarding gun...