Last week taught us a lot. We learned that in spite of increased security measures since 9/11, we are still vulnerable to attacks from individuals bent on changing our way of life. We learned that intelligent, seemingly normal teens growing up in a country that advocates freedom and liberty for all can still be susceptible to radicalization by others. We...

Here’s the fundamental, unequivocal position by the National Rifle Association on any form of gun legislation – NO. NO – to a provision that would renew and strengthen a ban on assault weapons. NO – to limit magazines to 10 rounds. NO – to making “straw” purchasing, (where an individual buys a weapon for another), and trafficking a federal crime. NO – to require background...

They were also there in Newtown, Oklahoma City and in New York City on 9/11. They’re police, firemen, paramedics, doctors, nurses, friends, neighbors – hundreds of typically anonymous bystanders who happen to be in the area during a tragedy like the one we faced Monday at the end of the Boston Marathon. They’re like Carlos Arredondo who said he acted...

So, political courage does exist in Washington. After Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) announced that he would be joining 13 other Republican Senators in a possible filibuster to prevent gun legislation from even making it to the floor for a discussion, yesterday afternoon six Republican Senators announced that they would not support their colleagues. Senators John McCain (AZ), Lindsey Graham (SC), Mark Kirk (Ill),...

This Sunday, Hollywood awards its highest honor, the Oscar, to top films and filmmakers of 2012. Zero Dark Thirty – a film depicting the hunt for Osama bin Laden – up for Best Picture, has become a political football due to what many have called gross inaccuracies. Taking a break from dealing with the budget, sequester, the debt and debt ceiling, Senators Dianne...

“Because of the principle that a calm sea and a prosperous voyage do not make news but a shipwreck does, most circulated news is bad news.” This piece of observational wisdom comes from writer, producer, director Norman Corwin in a story he shared in my book, What Do You Stand For? Owing to that insight, I found this story buried in...

There is a sixth dimension, well-known to man. It is a delusion as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is as unsubstantiated as myth and as unreasonable as deceit, and it lies between the depths of man’s passion and the intensity of his anxiety. It is a dimension of fear; a well-charted area of the mind which...

The first seat belt law was established in 1970 in Victoria, Australia, making the wearing of a seat belt mandatory for both drivers and front-seat passengers. In 1981, Mercedes-Benz introduced the airbag as an option on its S-Class cars. On July 11 1984, the United States government amended Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to require cars produced after April 1,...

Of all the ethics-related issues I’ve discussed, the controversy surrounding gun ownership has been the most difficult for two reasons. First, the issue embraces at least four ethical values: respect, responsibility, citizenship and fairness. Add to that the multiple stakeholders, generally divided into two camps. Whatever position appears fair to one group is viewed as patently unfair by another. Here...

Of all the films whose central character demonstrates a highly developed moral compass, High Noon tops my list. Why does High Noon still matter? Never has one film captured the essence of an ethical dilemma along with the variety of rationalizations against doing the right thing as this 1952 western does. Written by Carl Foreman (who was facing his own dilemma with McCarthyism...