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February 2012
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March 2012

TebowMania in New York

Will Tebow-ing Play Well in NYC? The headline of the NY Daily News last Sunday read: “Newest NY Jet Tim Tebow paints the town green on Broadway: 'Wicked' time as quarterback takes in his first Broadway show” Does this mean his every move will be followed, analyzed, and commented upon... Read more →


New Orleans Saints Bounty Program: The Tip of the NFL Ethical Iceberg

Bounty Program: Who is Being Held Accountable? Are you interested in being paid $1,500 for a “knockout” in which an opposing football player is unable to return to the game, and $1,000 for a “cart-off” in which opponents are carried off the field? Did you know payments double or triple... Read more →


KONY 2012: Doing the Right Thing

Is there Hope for Victims of Joseph Kony and Other Victims of Unspeakable Crimes in Africa? We can question the motives of filmmaker Jason Russell in making the film KONY 2012 and how donated funds have been used by the non-profit organization, Invisible Children. We can question his use of... Read more →


Facebook's Dirty Laundry

Facebook Follows Ethically Inappropriate Actions in Moderating Online Content On March 2, 2012, The Telegraph brought attention to one of the worst jobs in the digital world. While the Facebook content most users see is innocuous, this is not by chance. Facebook is richer and more populous than many countries,... Read more →


Self-Employed Eligible for Unemployment Benefits: Ethics and Moral Hazard Considerations

Should the Self-Employed be Eligible for Unemployment Benefits? From time to time I write an opinion editorial for the Pacific Coast Business Times. The following Blog was posted on March 9. On Feb. 22, President Obama signed into law H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act... Read more →


Allen Stanford: A Ponzi Schemer from the Madoff School of Fraud

What makes Ethically-Challenged People do Bad Things? So how does a once prominent financier find himself convicted of an $8 billion dollar Ponzi scheme? Just ask Bernie Madoff, the former chairman of NASDAQ, who set the standard for avarice. In March 2009, Madoff pled guilty to 11 federal felonies and... Read more →


Regulators are Considering Forcing Companies to Change their Auditors

Is Mandatory Auditor Rotation a Good Thing? Auditor rotation has been recommended by many years as a way to cut down on the cozy relationship that develops between an auditor and the client. Given that independence, objectivity, and integrity are cornerstone ethical values in accounting, it does make sense to... Read more →


The Ethics of Using Dolphins to Detect Underwater Mines

U.S. Navy May Use Mine-Detecting Dolphins to Keep Open the Strait of Hormuz The threat of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz has reached a fever pitch with U.S. officials warning Iran's supreme leader that such moves would cross a “red line” provoking a U.S. response. Iran could block the... Read more →


Ethics Sage -- Expert on Ethics Issues

Press Coverage and Speaking Opportunities I am a frequent speaker on ethics matters and am called upon from time to time to develop training materials in ethics and serve as an expert witness. To keep interested parties and my readers informed, I have prepared this post of some of the... Read more →


Michael Douglas says Gordon Gekko was wrong -- greed is not good

Do the Rich Act More Greedy than those Less well-off? You may have heard that Michael Douglas came out earlier this week and confessed that greed is not so good after all. Some believe that two memorable lines from the 1987 movie “Wall Street” helped usher in an era of... Read more →