Posts Tagged ‘ethics’
August 2, 2011
Everybody talks about ethics but it seems nobody cares about it. The “ethics” talk is all about rules: bribery, conflict of interest, financial disclosure laws, nepotism, and the rest of the litany of rules of conduct that you can be fired or prosecuted for breaking.
If you subscribe to a Google alert for “ethics” you learned today that a key aide to the governor of Illinois was fined $500 and forced to resign for sending a campaign email on his state-issued cell phone. Or that the former Massachusetts State Auditor was fined $2,000 for by putting his unqualified 75-year-old cousin on the state payroll. Or that lobbyists are buying meals for Oklahoma lawmakers. That’s not about ethics, that’s about rules
Moreover, corporate ethics officers are so concerned with preventing criminal violations that they don’t have much (…any?) time for such things as the Golden Rule, arguing with the boss, or keeping one’s commitments. This became depressingly clear to me after I attended a meeting of ethics officers and academics. The meeting had focused on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for American companies to pay bribes overseas.
After the meeting I made an offer to the attendees that I thought they couldn’t refuse: (more…)
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Tags:bribery, campaign email, conflict of interest, corporate ethics officers, ethics, FCPA, financial disclosure laws, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Golden Rule, Google alert, lobbyists, Massachusetts State Auditor, Mick Ukleja, nepotism, Oklahoma lawmakers, Redlands School of Business, rules of conduct, Sarbanes-Oxley
Posted in Business ethics, Ethics-general, Media, Organizational | 9 Comments »
July 29, 2011
Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) yields to no one in his determination not to saddle future generations with government debt. This is from the Chicago Sun-Times:
Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December.
“I won’t place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money!” Walsh says directly into the camera in his viral video lecturing Obama on the need to get the nation’s finances in order.
Walsh starts the video by saying, “President Obama, quit lying. Have you no shame, sir? In three short years, you’ve bankrupted this country.”
Walsh joins the ranks of family values politicians who have no family values.
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Tags:Chicago Sun-Times, child support, debt limit debate, ethics, family values, fiscal responsibility, hypocrisy, Joe Walsh, Obama, Tea Party
Posted in Ethics-general, hypocrisy, Politics | 1 Comment »
July 21, 2011
It’s hard to root root root for the home team when it’s led by bums. Like Andrew Bynum of the Los Angeles Lakers. Back in May, in the closing minutes of the playoff game in which the Dallas Mavericks eliminated the Lakers, 122-86, Bynum committed one of the ugliest fouls in the history of the NBA.
The giant Bynum, seven feet tall and listed at 285 pounds, flattened the smallest player on the floor, J.J.Barea, six feet and 175 pounds, as he was going up for a shot and in a completely vulnerable position. The non-partisan announcers pronounced Bynum’s behavior “disgusting” and “bush league.” Bynum later apologized for the incident, and Laker fans were inclined to give the talented 24-year old another chance.
Yesterday NBC television cameras caught Bynum parking in a handicapped spot, in a parking lot that was half empty. The $15-million per year athlete wouldn’t walk a few extra feet, so took a parking space that was reserved for people who couldn’t easily walk the few extra feet.
High crime? No. Behavior that’ll encourage me to yell, “Hooray, Andrew”? No. How about “Go, Lakers!” Not while Bynum is on the team.
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Tags:Andrew Bynum, Dallas Mavericks, ethics, handicapped parking, J.J.Barea, Los Angeles Lakers, NBC television
Posted in Ethics-general, Sports | 3 Comments »
July 19, 2011
The Pig, if I am not mistaken,
Supplies us sausage, ham, and Bacon.
Let others say his heart is big,
I think it stupid of the Pig.
This old Ogden Nash poem keeps rattling around my brain when I think about Christian Lopez, a 23-year-old, the Verizon Wireless salesman. Lopez caught New York Yankee Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit, and big-heartedly gave the ball to Jeter.
In return Lopez got from the Yankees four luxury suite tickets for the rest of the season, and three bats, three balls, and two jerseys, all signed by Jeter. There has been talk of the Yankees helping Lopez pay off his several hundred thousand dollars in college loans, as well as the tax bill the IRS is likely to present, since the IRS considers Lopez’s catching the ball to be taxable income.
What’s wrong with this picture: a young man, struggling to pay off college loans and support himself with a minimal-paying job, gives a gift—estimated to be worth $300,000 on the open market—to a baseball superstar whose salary for 2011 is $14,729,365?
While others may say Lopez’s heart is big, I think it stupid. But is there a pig in the story? How about Jeter, the gazillionaire who accepts a $300,000 gift from a fan who could only afford one of the cheap seats to see his Yankees play?
Jeter is widely considered classy. No sign of it in this story.
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Tags:3000th hit, Christian Lopez, class, college loans, Derek Jeter, ethics, IRS, New York Yankees, Ogden Nash, taxable income
Posted in Ethics-general, Sports | 4 Comments »
July 18, 2011
The USA women’s soccer lost to Japan in the World Cup final on penalty kicks, but what a show they put on! It really seemed like watching a game, complete with sportsmanship and good feelings all around. No diving, no faking injuries, lots of smiles, and a helping hand whenever an opposing player was knocked down.
They played with incredible energy, outplayed the Japanese except when it came to the important area of getting the ball into the net, and were as gracious in losing as they had been earlier in winning. Megan Rapinoe’s speed and passing, Hope Solo’s goal-keeping, and Alex Morgan’s shooting, bode well for next year’s Olympics.
We hated to lose on a penalty shootout, but we were glad enough to get by Brazil on PKs, so maybe we shouldn’t complain. And if the USA team had to lose, who better to lose to than Japan. See you next year in London.
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Tags:Alex Morgan, Brazil, diving, ethics, faking injuries, Hope Solo, Japan, London., Megan Rapinoe, Olympics, penalty kicks, sportsmanship, USA women’s soccer, World Cup final
Posted in Ethics-general, International, Sports | 1 Comment »
July 13, 2011
It’s nice to see cheaters caught and punished, and especially rewarding when their cheating costs them a victory that was almost in the bag.
In the Women’s World Cup (soccer) quarter-finals Brazil led the US 2-1 with time running out. Brazilian defender Erika (Brazilian players don’t use their last names, presumably because they’re so famous: think Kobe. Wilt, Magic, Manny, etc) faked injury and fell to the ground, writhing and moaning. The delay would rob the Americans of the slim chance they had to tie the game.
Erika was carried off the field strapped to a stretcher, then, once off the field, rolled off the stretcher and raced back into play. (Video here) Not so fast: the referee gave her a yellow card and put three extra minutes back on the clock. The US scored in the extra time, and won on tie-breaker penalty kicks.
The referee got it right this time. Unfortunately the referees don’t get it right every time, and soccer has no instant replay. As a result games often turn on “diving”—falling to the ground to make the ref think you’ve been fouled. Soccer should take the simple step needed to disincentivize diving: (more…)
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Tags:Arjen Robben, Brazilian women, cheating, diving, Erika, ethics, Netherlands, penalty kick, replay, soccer, suspension, Women’s World Cup, World Cup
Posted in Ethics-general, Sports | 4 Comments »
July 4, 2011
Republic
an opposition to raising the national debt ceiling calls for a stronger word than just ‘unethical.’ Irresponsible? Ugly? Dishonest? Maybe even unconstitutional, since the Fourteenth Amendment states, in Section 4,
“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”
The Republicans are trying to frame the argument as one of big government vs small government. But that’s false. The question is, does the government meet its obligations, all of which were authorized by law, that is, by Congress, in accordance with the Constitution. Every dollar of obligation was accrued in accordance with Congress’s direction; every government bond, every social security payment, every soldier’s pay, every bullet purchased…you get the idea.
House Speaker John Boehner has said that of course the debt ceiling would be raised, but now seems to be going back on that position to accommodate some in his caucus who have no sense off duty, no responsibility to govern.
If the Republicans continue questioning the public debt they’re inviting, in the words of The Economist, “ incalculable consequences for the world economy as well as America’s…That strikes some Americans as nothing less than blackmail.”
If the President continues to play their game he’ll be giving in to their blackmail and will have abandoned his responsibility to govern.
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Tags:big government, blackmail, Constitution, debt ceiling, duty, ethics, fourteenth amendment, government bonds, John Boehner, public debt, small government. obligations, social security payments, soldier’s pay, The Economist
Posted in Ethics-general, Government, Politics | 1 Comment »
July 3, 2011
President Obama came out swinging at his news conference on Wednesday. Opinion is divided as to whether or not it was good tactics to attack the Republicans and to compare their sense of responsibility unfavorably to 13-year old Malia and 10-year old Sasha. In my opinion it violated a fundamental rule of political ethics, the dictum of Reinhold Niebuhr:
“The temper of and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of our society than the outcome of any issue or campaign.”
But beyond the temper of the fight, there’s no question that the President crossed another, simpler, ethical line: tell the truth.
PolitiFact.com gave him a “Pants on Fire” rating for claiming his regulatory review is unprecedented, when in fact it’s a faint copy of the 1993 review that was a major part of the effort to reinvent government. (Full disclosure: I personally guided the preparation of President Clinton’s executive order and led the effort to slash 16,000 pages from the Federal Register and change the way government interacted with business.)
I think PolitiFact was unfair to the President. He certainly spoke an untruth, but it was only “pants on fire” if he knew he was speaking untruthfully. My guess is he didn’t.
However, he really deserved—and still deserves—“pants on fire” for the way he’s constantly mis-characterizing his tax proposal. For example (more…)
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Tags:corporate jets, ethics, Fact Checker, Federal Register, millionaires and billionaires, Niebuhr, Obama news conference, pants on fire, PolitiFact.com, regulatory review, reinventing government, tax breaks
Posted in Ethics-general, Government, Politics | 2 Comments »
July 1, 2011
It’s always upsetting when one of your heroes turns out to be an unethical creep. I was sick when I learned—for certain—that Bill Clinton had lied to me on national TV, sad when I learned that my Dodger hero, Manny Ramirez, had used banned substances, and devastated when my biggest hero of all. Greg Mortensen (of Three Cups of Tea fame) had not really built girls schools in Taliban country and had in fact stolen millions from his non-profit.
Still, I’m not getting used to my heroes falling. Not even after the latest, Joe Scarborough, conservative ex-congressman (R-FL) and host of the fun morning political conversation, Morning Joe.
I posted yesterday about how Joe and his co-host, Mika Brzezinski, had goaded and cajoled Mark Halperin into expressing his honest opinion of President Obama’s performance at his press conference Wednesday. They assured him that any off-color remark would be bleeped by way of a seven-second delay. When the show’s producer pressed the wrong button, Halperin’s opinion, “I thought he was kind of a dick,” went out into the ether for all to hear. More giggles from Mika and Joe, then a heartbroken apology from Halperin, then Halperin was “suspended indefinitely.”
In urging him on, Scarborough had promised, “You fall down I’m going to catch you.” But he didn’t catch him. Not a word protesting the suspension or owning up to his responsibility. (more…)
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Tags:banned substances, Bill Clinton, cowardice, ethics, EthicsAlarms, Greg Mortensen, heroes, Jack Marshall, Joe Scarborough, Manny Ramirez, Mark Halperin, Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe, Obama press conference, seven-second delay, Three Cups of Tea
Posted in Apologies, Entertainment, Ethics-general, Media, Politics | 2 Comments »
June 30, 2011
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning best-selling author and Time editor at large Mark Halperin was asked his opinion of President Obama’s behavior at yesterday’s press conference. Before giving it he asked if there was a seven-second delay and was assured by host Joe Scarborough that there was. Co-host Mika Brzezinski urged him on:
“Go for it, we’ll see what happens.”
Scarborough reassured Halperin:
“You fall down I’m going to catch you.”
Halperin gave his opinion:
“I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday.”
The hosts dissolved in giggles—shocked giggles when they learned that there had been no delay, “dick” had gone out on cable at (more…)
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Tags:Apologies, dick, ethics, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, Jay Carney, Joe Scarborough, Mark Halperin, Mika Brzezinski, Morning Joe, Obama press conference, obscenity, seven-second delay
Posted in Apologies, Ethics-general, Government, Media | 3 Comments »
Everybody talks about ethics but it seems nobody cares about it. The “ethics” talk is all about rules: bribery, conflict of interest, financial disclosure laws, nepotism, and the rest of the litany of rules of conduct that you can be fired or prosecuted for breaking.
Ethics Bob 