Somehow, I sense there’s a lot people want to talk about.

As always, please keep posts on topic, civil, and brilliant…

I know, I know, we just had one four days ago. But that was because I forgot to have on last Friday, and if I wait until next Friday, it will be Christmas, when typically Ethics Alarms has about 14 visitors. Besides, Instapundit and Althouse feature the equivalent of Open Forums ever day, and get thousands of posts. Of course, those aren’t limited to ethics.

So we’re back on schedule.

“We’re all depending on you. Good luck.”

Confused? So am I, obviously. After announcing that I would conclude each work week with a Friday Open Forum, I promptly forgot. Luckily–or ominously?—no one seemed to notice or care.

Well, I care, and here’s last Friday’s Open Forum, three days late.

Have at it.

The last open forum was only two weeks ago, but I am considering having a commentary free-for-all more regularly, indeed every week. This is an experiment: the open forums have been remarkably consistent in attracting 30-40 comments, which I would like to see increase of course. They also have the virtue of buying me some time to complete multiple Ethics Alarms projects that, as many of you keep reminding me, have been stalled or languishing: the grand finale of the Wuhan virus series, the last of the the Big Lies (that the President mismanaged the pandemic AND caused the lockdown-driven economic collapse—I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that the most ridiculous and unsupportable of the Big Lies turned out to be the most effective), the half-finished Ethics Guide to “Miracle on 34th Street,” which has been in aspic for a year, and even, after several years’ hiatus, maybe the year-end Ethics Alarms Awards for the Best and Worst of Ethics.

Then there is always that annoying thing called “work”….

Yes, that would be the second “Dobie Gillis” reference this week. That’s a good thing.

As always, keep it civil, keep it relevant, be bold and brilliant, and “go do that voodoo that you do so well!”

Not that anyone has to discuss the ethical issues surrounding the election, about which I am thoroughly sick.

Do stick to ethics, however…

Ethics Alarms offers an Open Form approximately every three to four weeks, so it’s time. (It’s also time because a doctor’s appointment beckons.)

Both Althouse and Instapundit do this every day, and accumulate literally hundreds of comments, but to be fair, Althouse allows comments about anything at all, and Prof. Reynolds’ free-for-all has evolved into a political gag-fest where substance is rare (and poor taste runs rampant). The topic here is ethics, and I assume a high standard will be be maintained.

Lots of reasons—I’m doing a three-hour Zoom legal ethics seminar for government lawyers in about an hour, I’ve been wrestling alligators for three days, and even WordPress has turned on me, showing readers a discarded paragraph in the last post that never showed up for me on two computers. It’s a good time for cooler heads to take over.

The usual ground rules apply: keep comments substantive and on topic, and make me proud.

I may be back if I have any enthusiasm left after 9 pm.

From now until around 12:30 pm (E.S.T), I’m going to be occupied with  holding a Zoom seminar for the New Jersey State Bar, ably assisted by the stellar Mike Messer, who will be presenting the legal ethics problems and dilemmas by singing my parody lyrics of such pop and rock classics as “American Pie,” “Fire and Rain,” and “The Boxer,” while accompanying himself on guitar and piano (though not simultaneously.)

It seems like a good time for an Open Forum, where Ethics Alarms commenters can pose their own issues, debate, and otherwise enlighten cyberspace, keeping everything civil and on topic, of course. There also were some provocative posts here over the weekend (if I do say so myself, though not all of them were mine), but the traffic was inexplicably spotty.

Have at it, and I’ll be back in the afternoon.