Tag Archives: conflict of interest

More S.E.C. Ethics Blindness

The David Becker fiasco shows that the financial investment sector which played such a devastating role in the nation’s financial meltdow is apparently being monitored by a federal regulatory agency that is completely untrustworthy. Continue reading

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Filed under Business & Commercial, Finance, Government & Politics, Law & Law Enforcement, Professions

Solyndra, the White House, and the Most Dangerous Conflict of Interest of All

Solyndra is just one, stinking, expensive example of the dozens of bad decisions aimed at political gain rather than national welfare that have occurred in all recent administrations. We should not shrug it off as business as usual, and we should not tolerate it. It is the result of a dangerous conflict of interest, and if the President himself will not address it, this is the kind of fiasco that occurs. Continue reading

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Filed under Business & Commercial, Government & Politics, Leadership

Ethics Dunce: Criminal Defense Lawyer Gerard Marrone

Gerard Marrone, one of the two lawyers defending a man accused of kidnapping, murdering and dismembering a young boy, has withdrawn from the representation. There is, in theory, nothing wrong with that. A lawyer can withdraw from any representation for good cause, as long as the withdrawal doesn’t harm the defendant. Marone’s withdrawal, however, was done in such a way that it almost certainly harms the defendant, because the lawyer told the press why he was withdrawing. Continue reading

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Filed under Citizenship, Ethics Dunces, Government & Politics, Journalism & Media, Law & Law Enforcement, Professions, U.S. Society

Comment of the Day: “The Washington Post Flunks Integrity, Conflicts, and Trustworthiness”

If this is typical of how journalists view their profession’s ethical obligations—and I think it is—the comment explains a lot. Here is the Comment of the Day, by okonheim. Continue reading

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Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Business & Commercial, Comment of the Day, Journalism & Media, Professions, The Internet, U.S. Society

The Washington Post Flunks Integrity, Conflicts, and Trustworthiness

The Washington Post Ombudsman had to write about 1) why a Post editor, Peter Perl, continued to employ Vargas and hid his immigration status for eight years after learning that he was in the country illegally and 2) why Vargas’s 4000 word piece about his deception (and the Post’s complicity in it) was killed by another Post editor, resulting in its being picked up and published by the New York Times. So the in-house ethics watchdog wrote about it, and concluded—nothing. Continue reading

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Filed under Business & Commercial, Citizenship, Government & Politics, Journalism & Media, Law & Law Enforcement, Professions

Ethics Hero: Washington Post Columnist Carolyn Hax

Today advice columnist Carolyn Hax provided as good a lesson in how responsibility, honesty, fairness, bias and accountability work as I can imagine, while chiding a man who wants to rescue a younger woman from the relationship he didn’t have the guts to pursue herself. It shows her at her best, and is impeccable ethics as well. Brava! Continue reading

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Filed under Daily Life, Ethics Heroes, Etiquette and manners, Gender and Sex, Journalism & Media, Love, Romance and Relationships

Now THAT’s Hypocrisy: The Prosecutor and the Teenager

As part of Ethics Alarms’ continuing effort to clear up the rampant confusion among the American public and media regarding what constitutes hypocrisy, I offer this illustrative tale. Continue reading

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Filed under Gender and Sex, Government & Politics, Law & Law Enforcement, Professions, U.S. Society, Workplace

U.S. Attorney General Ethics, Rule #1: Remember What Your Job Is

No matter how wrong a lawyer thinks his client is, he may not publicly criticize of attack the client, or as in this case, act adversely to his client by trying to build public sentiment in opposition to the client’s stated interests. But Atty. Gen Eric Holder has apparently forgotten what his job is. Continue reading

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Filed under Around the World, Government & Politics, Law & Law Enforcement, Leadership, Professions, U.S. Society, War and the Military

Lara Logan’s Cairo Ordeal Starts An Ethics Train Wreck

What happened to “60 Minutes” Correspondent Laura Logan, was such an unambiguous example of brutality and criminal conduct that you wouldn’t think it could raise any ethical controversies. But the already nasty incident has metastasized into a full-fledged Ethics Train Wreck, with both the Left and the Right taking turns disgracing themselves. Continue reading

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Filed under Around the World, Arts & Entertainment, Etiquette and manners, Gender and Sex, Government & Politics, Journalism & Media, Professions, Religion and Philosophy, The Internet, U.S. Society

Eroding Public Trust: Obama and General Electric’s “Appearance of Impropriety”

The fact that an official act appears to be sensible and fair does not necessarily mean that it is ethical. Witness the suspicions created by General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt’s position in the Obama Administration. Continue reading

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Filed under Business & Commercial, Environment, Government & Politics, Leadership