Monthly Archives: February 2011

February 28, 2011

Ethics Hero: Kirk Douglas

All of Kirk’s heroes and anti-heroes followed him on stage last night: Spartacus, Ned Land, Col. “Jiggs” Casey, Detective Jim McLeod, Vincent Van Gogh, Midge Kelly, Doc Holiday, Jim Deakins, Einar (my favorite, in “The Vikings”), and the rest, and they all took a last curtain call with the bravura actor who gave them life. Continue reading →

12 Comments

Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Ethics Heroes, Health and Medicine, Popular Culture, Professions, U.S. Society

Tagged as Academy Awards, age, courage, dignity, disabilities, humanity, Kirk Douglas, life's stages, Melissa Leo, respect, strokes, vanity

February 28, 2011

Home-Grown Mengeles, And What We Must Learn From Them

Depriving human beings of their rights and lives in the interest of science is “the ends justify the means” at its worst. But the Guatemala experiments proved that it was once flourishing and respectable in the U.S. scientific community, so it would have been surprising if there weren’t more stories of home-grown Mengeles, and sure enough, there were. The U.S. acknowledged as much when it apologized for the Guatemalan tests. Now we have details. With the details come some important ethics lessons. Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under Around the World, Bioethics, Government & Politics, Health and Medicine, History, Journalism & Media, Law & Law Enforcement, Professions, Research and Scholarship, Science & Technology, U.S. Society

Tagged as "the ends justify the means", Ancel Keys, and the pursuit of happiness", arrogance, Associated Press, “Self-validating Virtue", coercion, cruelty, doctors, Dr. Jonas Salk, Dr. W. Paul Havens Jr, ethics, fairness, Guatemala experiments, human experimentation, informed consent, James Watson, Josef Mengele, liberty, mental patients, morality, Nazis, prisoners, rationalizations, research ethics, sanctity of human life, scientists, syphilis, The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, untilitarianism, volunteers

February 28, 2011

Ethics Dunce: Melissa Leo

The Academy Awards have been handed out since silent films, and in all those years, among all the winners, only Melissa Leo had to say “fucking.” Why? Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Ethics Dunces, Etiquette and manners, Popular Culture, Professions, U.S. Society

Tagged as "fuck", Academy Awards, acceptance speeches, apologies, arrogance, boorishness, civility, Howard Stern, incivility, Janet Jackson, live television, Melissa Leo, non-apology apology, obscenity, Oscars, profanity, respect, rudeness, self-restraint, trust

February 27, 2011

ABC News Breaches Its Duty Not To Make The Public Stupid

The public can come up with terrible arguments on its own. It doesn’t need any assistance from ABC News, which is obligated to make us smarter, not dumber. Continue reading →

15 Comments

Filed under Finance, Government & Politics, Journalism & Media, Leadership, Professions, Research and Scholarship

Tagged as "This Week", ABC, advocacy, analysis, bias, broadcast journalism, Bureau of Labor Statistics, collective bargaining, competence, diligence, ethics, flawed logic, gun control, honesty, Jake Tapper, Joseph McCartin, North Carolina, Ohio, public unions, state budget deficits, statistics, stupidity, The New Republic, Wisconsin

February 27, 2011

A Shocking Farewell Confession From “The Ethicist”

How can someone possibly spend one’s working day “thinking about ethics” and not become more virtuous in his daily conduct? Especially someone called “The Ethicist”? Continue reading →

8 Comments

Filed under Daily Life, Etiquette and manners, Journalism & Media, Professions, Religion and Philosophy, Research and Scholarship, U.S. Society

Tagged as "Predictably Irrational", "The Ethicist", Dan Ariely, ethics, ethics alarms, ethics training, honesty, non-ethical considerations, priming, Randy Cohen, The New York Times, The Ten Commandments

February 27, 2011

Teachers Unions: Not Unethical, Just Uninterested in the Public Welfare

If the teachers union is really interested in students and schools, let them make it possible to get rid of loafers, fools, incompetents and scam artists in the teaching ranks quickly, so they hurt as few children as possible while wasting as little money as possible. Continue reading →

13 Comments

Filed under Education, Government & Politics, Professions, U.S. Society, Workplace

Tagged as advocacy, American Federation of Teachers, arbitration, ethics, fairness, firing, incompetent teachers, Los Angeles, New York City, public interest, public unions, schools, students, teachers, teachers unions, unions, Washington

February 26, 2011

Ethics Quote of the Week: The Washington Post

There are certain sacred duties of being President Of the United States, and this one doesn’t apparently sit well with Obama’s famous “reserve.” It is the duty to lead the World to oppose evil, and he is ducking it as people die. The Post noticed. Continue reading →

11 Comments

Filed under Around the World, Ethics Quotes, Government & Politics, History, Journalism & Media, Leadership

Tagged as caring, courage, duty to oppose evil, freedom, Gaddafi, human rights, Libya, Libya revolt, President Obama, United Nations, violence

February 26, 2011

Oscar Ethics: Was Melissa Leo’s Campaign Wrong?

If Leo’s is the best performance then she should win regardless of anyone’s promotional campaigns, including her own. Continue reading →

5 Comments

Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Business & Commercial, Etiquette and manners, Popular Culture

Tagged as "The Fighter", "Unwritten rules", Academy Awards, award shows, Best Supporting Actress, bias, Chill Wills, ethics, fairness, Hollywood, hypocrisy, integrity, John Wayne, Melissa Leo, modesty, objectivity, Oscars, performance skills, promotion, The Alamo

February 26, 2011

The Ethics Final: Ending My Mother’s Life Today

Some of our most important ethical decisions are made with the least analysis. At least that was the way it was for me this morning at 10:34, when my sister and I directed that my Mom, Eleanor Coulouris Marshall, be taken off of life support. Continue reading →

25 Comments

Filed under Bioethics, Family, Health and Medicine, Love, Religion and Philosophy

Tagged as death, DNR orders, elder care, Eleanor C. Marshall, emotion, ethical decision-making, ethics, fear, Golden Rule, Jack Marshall Sr., mothers, sons

February 26, 2011

Rep. Paul Broun: Failing the Duty to Confront and Failing America

Rep. Paul Broun, by trying to curry favor with the worst of our citizenry and failing his duty to confront calls to violence that are antithetical to free political discourse and American values, has thoroughly disgraced himself. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Filed under Citizenship, Government & Politics, Law & Law Enforcement, Leadership, U.S. Society

Tagged as "Who's going to shoot Obama?", assassination, duty of confrontation, ethics, fairness, Georgia, intolerable, lies, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Rep. Paul Broun, respect, tolerance, town meetings, violence

Monthly Archives: February 2011

Ethics Hero: Kirk Douglas

Ethics Dunce: Melissa Leo

ABC News Breaches Its Duty Not To Make The Public Stupid

A Shocking Farewell Confession From “The Ethicist”

Teachers Unions: Not Unethical, Just Uninterested in the Public Welfare

Ethics Quote of the Week: The Washington Post

Oscar Ethics: Was Melissa Leo’s Campaign Wrong?

The Ethics Final: Ending My Mother’s Life Today

Rep. Paul Broun: Failing the Duty to Confront and Failing America

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