Libraries are dying – but it’s not about the books; Guardian, 12/22/16

Simon Jenkins, Guardian; 

Libraries are dying – but it’s not about the books:

"Ailing libraries and churches should merge. They should be removed from their present owners and managers, and be vested in neighbourhood parish and town councils, as is common on the continent. These councils should have power to levy a local tax (with voluntary opt-out) for their support. There will be thrills and spills, but local responsibility is the only secure way forward – and it would raise money.

Ever since the days of Alexandria, the library has been the palace of the mind, the University of All. The internet has removed its monopoly on knowledge, but cannot replicate its sense of place, its joy of human congregation. The Victorian tycoon Andrew Carnegie, first great patron of public libraries in Britain and America, dreamed of one in every town and village. His vision awaits renaissance."

These common mistakes can lead to lawyer ethics complaints; ABA Journal, 2/10/16

Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal; 

These common mistakes can lead to lawyer ethics complaints:

"Oddball ethics complaints may get more attention, but it’s the run-of-the-mill problems that are most likely to trip up lawyers, according to lawyers who handle such cases.

BNA’s U.S. Law Week spoke with several experts about common errors. Here are five of them..."

What You Can Do to Improve Ethics at Your Company; Harvard Business Review (HBR), 12/29/16

Christopher McLaverty

Annie McKee, Harvard Business Review (HBR); 

What You Can Do to Improve Ethics at Your Company:

"Enron. Wells Fargo. Volkswagen. It’s hard for good, ethical people to imagine how these meltdowns could possibly happen. We assume it’s only the Ken Lays and Bernie Madoffs of the world who will cheat people. But what about the ordinary engineers, managers, and employees who designed cars to cheat automotive pollution controls or set up bank accounts without customers’ permission? We tell ourselves that we would never do those things. And, in truth, most of us won’t cook the books, steal from customers, or take that bribe.

But, according to a study by one of us (Christopher) of C-suite executives from India, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and the U.K., many of us face an endless stream of ethical dilemmas at work. In-depth interviews with these leaders provide some insight and solutions that can help us when we do face these quandaries."

"I Want THAT Kid For Christmas"; Pearls Before Swine, GoComics, 12/25/16

Stephan Pastis, Pearls Before Swine, GoComics; "I Want THAT Kid For Christmas"

Fostering Civility in a Time of Disrespect; New York Times, 12/23/16

Jonathan A. Knee, New York Times; Fostering Civility in a Time of Disrespect:

"Just in time for the season of giving, Christine Porath, a Georgetown University management professor, brings us “Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace” (Grand Central), a slender, but compelling, guide to treating others respectfully and protecting oneself from those who don’t.

As the subtitle suggests, most of the book’s examples relate to behaviors observed and strategies pursued in the corporate jungle. The focus is on the serious business risk posed by failing to foster a culture of civility. While the nation waits breathlessly for the dawn of the Trump era, however, it is impossible to read this practical volume without wondering about its implications for the functioning of our federal institutions and the comity among nations."

Have Yourself a Merry Little 2017; New York Times, 12/24/16

Bruce Handy, New York Times; Have Yourself a Merry Little 2017:

"The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has used the original lyrics before, including on the 2015 album “Big Band Holidays,” so it’s not as if someone fished them out of the trunk 72 years later to make a tart postelection point. I’m also well aware that our current challenges pale in comparison to fighting a world war with civilization in the balance. Let’s say we are somewhere on a continuum between that and facing a move from St. Louis to New York. Still, I have to confess the “it may be your last” line captured my near-apocalyptic mood — and maybe yours as well.

But the lyric that moved me to tears is the line that follows “If the fates allow” (and remained in Martin’s final lyrics):

Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow.

How prosaic, even homely as pre-rock era songwriting goes, and yet how perfect. Muddling through, somehow, may not sound particularly inspirational, but perseverance is often the best option at hand, when just moving forward, one inch or foot or yard at a time, can be a kind of heroism. At least that’s how it struck me listening to Ms. Russell, her deeply felt performance offering a subdued and cleareyed but still genuine optimism...

In “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is the catalyst for a happy ending: Tootie’s backyard rampage prompts her father to change his mind about the move, and we cut to a dazzling climax at the 1904 World’s Fair, electric lights and handsome beaus suggesting a fine future for all. Happy endings seem a little more remote in 2016 — miles away, as they say, or at least as distant as the next election. In the meantime, we muddle through. It’s a start."

One for the books: Community rallies to save Carnegie library; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/24/16

Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; One for the books: Community rallies to save Carnegie library:

"Now that the library is assured of a steady funding stream, it can begin to expand programming, knowing that it can meet the community’s needs now that the Carlynton School District has closed its school library. The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall is a community treasure that those living and working in the area can’t afford to lose. Fortunately, the community recognizes its value and is willing to pay for it."

Close family ties, and a secret recipe, keep business going; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/24/16

Steve Twedt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Close family ties, and a secret recipe, keep business going:

"While the special seasoning recipe is kept locked away, the reason for the durability of the business may be no secret, suggested Kelly Hunt, Pittsburgh district director for the Small Business Administration, which named Ricci’s “Family Owned Business of the Year” in 2010.

“The No. 1 thing I have found is that there has to be someone in the family in each generation that shares that passion, and not just the passion, but who has the skill set,” she said...

Nonfamily businesses typically have organizational charts with a clear leadership structure where purchasing and hiring decisions get made in a disciplined and deliberative manner. “When you’re working with people who are not family, it’s more regimented. You can’t go and make a large purchase without talking to the CEO,” she said.

With a family business, “It kind of gets a little bit cloudier.”"

Talking About Ethics Across Cultures; Harvard Business Review, 12/23/16

Mary C. Gentile, Harvard Business Review; Talking About Ethics Across Cultures:

"The program in Delhi started as many of these programs do: A group of cordial but skeptical participants sat with arms crossed and gentle smirks, leaning back in their chairs. When I finally was able to coax one of them to express what they were thinking, he said: “Madam, we are very happy to have you here and we are happy to listen to what you have to say about ethics and values in the workplace. But this is India, and we are entrepreneurs — we can’t even get a driver’s license without paying a bribe.”

He was raising an issue I had struggled with when developing the program, which is called Giving Voice to Values. My aim was to take a new approach to values-driven leadership development, one that was a stark departure from the way companies and educators had been teaching business ethics. For years, training in this area was based on the assumption that the way to build an ethical workplace was to educate employees on laws, ethical norms, and company values so that they could decide what the “right” thing to do was in any particular situation. I became increasingly convinced, however, that many folks already knew what was right — and many of them even wanted to do it — but they felt pressured to do otherwise by the competitive environment, by their colleagues and managers, by their customers, and often, as the participant in my Delhi program pointed out, by the cultural context in which they were operating.

I’ve learned by sharing the Giving Voice to Values approach with audiences around the world — in India, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, China, the Philippines, the U.A.E., Cairo, Moscow, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia, and all over Europe — that there are key ways to building ethical workplaces across cultures."

Why time management is ruining our lives; Guardian, 12/22/16

Oliver Burkeman, Guardian; Why time management is ruining our lives:

"Personal productivity presents itself as an antidote to busyness when it might better be understood as yet another form of busyness. And as such, it serves the same psychological role that busyness has always served: to keep us sufficiently distracted that we don’t have to ask ourselves potentially terrifying questions about how we are spending our days. “How we labour at our daily work more ardently and thoughtlessly than is necessary to sustain our life because it is even more necessary not to have leisure to stop and think,” wrote Friedrich Nietzsche, in what reads like a foreshadowing of our present circumstances. “Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself.”

You can seek to impose order on your inbox all you like – but eventually you’ll need to confront the fact that the deluge of messages, and the urge you feel to get them all dealt with, aren’t really about technology. They’re manifestations of larger, more personal dilemmas. Which paths will you pursue, and which will you abandon? Which relationships will you prioritise, during your shockingly limited lifespan, and who will you resign yourself to disappointing? What matters?"

Oracle executive publicly resigns after CEO joins Trump's transition team; Guardian, 12/21/16

Olivia Solon, Guardian; Oracle executive publicly resigns after CEO joins Trump's transition team:

"George Polisner, 57, who had worked at Oracle on and off since 1993, posted his resignation letter to LinkedIn, outlining concerns over Trump’s choice of cabinet, tax and environmental policies as well as the stoking of fear and hatred towards minorities...

Once he made his mind up to resign, he told his manager before sending the letter to Catz and simultaneously publishing to LinkedIn. “I decided it was too important to die as a private letter.”

Polisner said that it’s important for technology companies to have dialogue with the Trump administration, as happened at last week’s roundtable attended by execs from companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, IBM and Oracle...

However, Polisner remains concerned about how the president-elect could use technology as a tool to concentrate wealth and power and oppress vulnerable parts of society.

“In my mind the table has already been set and they are not going to listen to a tech person who says ‘this may not work out so well’ because they’ve already calculated the impact to the balance sheet.”"

IBM's Astonishing Patent Strategy Shows Where It's Going Next; Nasdaq, 12/23/16

Prableen Bajpai, Nasdaq; IBM's Astonishing Patent Strategy Shows Where It's Going Next:

"IBM (IBM) is set to top the list of patent holders for the 24th year in a row in the U.S. This is no ordinary feat. IBM is the only company to have ever exceeded over 7,000 U.S. patent grants during a single year. During 2016 year-to-date, IBM has already crossed the 7,000-patent mark for the third consecutive year.

Against this backdrop, IBM is fundamentally reorganizing its business, leaving behind the image of ‘hardware, software, services’ company to emerge as a leader in ‘cognitive solutions and cloud computing.’ Here’s a look at how IBM is transforming its business, changing its patent portfolio and re-inventing to be IBM 2.0...

Patents are like the seeds of technological innovations that were planted years ago with a futuristic vision in mind. IBM has been active in doing so and what we see today in practice are the saplings. The real rewards will come with time but IBM is making sure that it keeps planting those seeds for the future."

Carnegie saves library by doubling its funding; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/23/16

Bob Podurgiel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Carnegie saves library by doubling its funding:

[Kip Currier: One of the biggest misconceptions about public libraries founded by Andrew Carnegie seed money in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is that those libraries have permanent endowments to this day from those charitable beginnings. Most do not. And if they do, the amounts are modest or meager. The hard fiscal reality is that libraries like the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Pittsburgh) struggle to provide ever-vital services with less money to do so. Through the leadership of Executive Director Maggie Forbes (a very inspiring guest speaker for my LIS 2700: Managing and Leading Libraries class a few years ago!), in collaboration with the Library Board and mobilized citizens/patrons, it's encouraging to see that this gem of a library and music hall has achieved unanimous buy-in for a strategic funding plan that will increase its chances of survival and the ability to continue with its mission:

"The Mission of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall is to serve as an outstanding library, theater and historic site that informs, entertains and engages its community and the region in lifelong learning."]

"As executive director of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, Maggie Forbes faced some difficult decisions for 2017: drastically cut the library’s hours of operation to 20 hours a week, close entirely or become a branch of another library outside of Carnegie.

She appealed to Carnegie council for help, and council came through last week with a 7-0 vote to double funding from $35,000 a year to $70,000.

“We weren’t crying wolf. We would have closed,” Ms. Forbes said. “For the first time in 115 years, we have a stable source of income.”

“The new funding allows us to live within our means. The library had been borrowing $30,000 a year to remain open, a course that was unsustainable,” she said, adding that she is also excited about the possibility of extending hours and creating more children’s programming.

The need for programs geared to children is greater now since the Carlynton School District, which serves Carnegie, recently closed its school library, she said.

“It was a team effort,” she said of the push to obtain funding for the library. “The library board of trustees, and the residents turned out to support the library."

The Future of Open Government; Huffington Post, 12/19/16

Manish Bapna, Huffington Post; The Future of Open Government:

"This blog post is co-authored with Jean-Vincent Placé, French Minister of State for State Reform and Simplification, attached to the Prime Minister.

More than 4,000 people gathered in Paris from 7-9th December for the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit 2016 hosted by the Government of France. OGP is a unique partnership dedicated to making government decision making more open, inclusive and responsive. Summit attendees included representatives from 80 governments, many of them heads of state and senior ministers; leaders from cities, municipalities and regions; and leading civil society organizations from around the world.

The goal for the summit was to highlight the crucial role of open government as a countervailing force to the rise of various forms of nationalism and populism around the world."

"Re-evaluating Goals"; Non Sequitur, Go Comics, 12/21/16

Wiley Miller, Non Sequitur, Go Comics; "Re-evaluating Goals"

Why Ethical People Make Unethical Choices; Harvard Business Review, 12/16/16

Ron Carucci, Harvard Business Review; Why Ethical People Make Unethical Choices:

"Despite good intentions, organizations set themselves up for ethical catastrophes by creating environments in which people feel forced to make choices they could never have imagined. Former Federal Prosecutor Serina Vash says, “When I first began prosecuting corruption, I expected to walk into rooms and find the vilest people. I was shocked to find ordinarily good people I could well have had coffee with that morning. And they were still good people who’d made terrible choices.”

Here are five ways organizations needlessly provoke good people to make unethical choices."

Trademarks Coast to Coast, Guest blog by Commissioner for Trademarks Mary Boney Denison; Director's Forum: A Blog from USPTO's Leadership, 12/8/16

Director's Forum: A Blog from USPTO's Leadership; Trademarks Coast to Coast, Guest blog by Commissioner for Trademarks Mary Boney Denison:

"USPTO regional offices support the agency’s mission of fostering innovation by serving their regions’ intellectual property (IP) communities, assisting local businesses, and educating the public about the importance of IP. Regional office staff, in addition to USPTO trademark staff from headquarters, provide the public with full access to trademark information and resources in their local communities. This year, I visited all four regional offices: Denver and Silicon Valley in the fall, and Dallas and Detroit earlier in the year. During these visits, I had the chance to meet with USPTO employees, hear from local businesses, inventors, and IP practitioners about their concerns, and hold events on the importance of trademarks."

A year after food safety scares, Chipotle has a new set of problems; Washington Post, 12/14/16

Sarah Halzack, Washington Post; A year after food safety scares, Chipotle has a new set of problems:

"“The data, everything that we have, suggest that there are not large numbers of customers staying away from Chipotle because they feel like either we didn’t address the problem properly or that they are afraid of Chipotle,” said Mark Crumpacker, the restaurant’s chief marketing and development officer.

Instead, the company is having trouble getting the basics right: Throughput is down, meaning customers are facing frustratingly long lines. The dining room tables and drink stations are often a mess. And patrons are constantly finding that the burrito assembly line is out of an ingredient or two.

In other words, it seems the core source of Chipotle’s difficulty right now is convincing people it is enjoyable to eat at Chipotle — a remarkable turn of events for a company that was not long ago the darling of the industry for its seemingly unstoppable sales growth."

Michelle Obama urges students to keep up diversity legacy: 'It's your turn now'; Guardian, 12/15/16

David Smith, Guardian; Michelle Obama urges students to keep up diversity legacy: 'It's your turn now' :

"She did not mention the election or Donald Trump once. But Michelle Obama’s message about diversity and inclusiveness was clear...

The first African American first lady addressed a gathering of students – many of them young black women – at the White House on Thursday after a screening of Hidden Figures, a new biopic of three black female mathematicians who helped launch Americans into space...

Obama, wearing black, added somewhat somberly: “But it’s up to all of you, our young people, to continue that legacy. It’s your turn now. All right?”"

Ethics in the swamp: the rot of corruption; Huffington Post, 12/9/16

Katherine Marshall, Huffington Post; Ethics in the swamp: the rot of corruption:

"Corruption is a live topic today. Since 2005, international anti-corruption day has been “celebrated” on December 9, in hopes that a visible day marking the topic can raise awareness about corruption and bolster a sense that something can be done to combat and prevent it. The large biannual International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC17) in Panama City ended on December 4, where some 1300 very diverse participants addressed a multitude of issues, from green eyeshade detail, lawyerly discourse, to lofty principles such as trust. The meeting concluded with a commitment that: “Together we will strengthen our web of anti-corruption activists. Together, the public sector, business and civil society will hold the corrupt to account. It is Time for Justice, Equity, Security, and Trust.” The activists, many part of Transparency International, come from all over the world, widely different in ideology and approach, but they share a gutsy determination to hold leaders to account.

More tellingly, corruption is a leading topic in political discourse, from Washington to Manila to Kabul to Nairobi to Abuja. The belief that corruption is pervasive drives much of the anger that we see reflected in extremist movements, secular and religious. It fuels the populist surge and the sense of rot that discredits governments and politicians in widely different countries and cultures. America’s political campaign featured narratives about a Washington swamp with bloated, rotten bureaucracies wasting or diverting public resources. The narratives can be misleading, undermining courageous political leaders and public servants, but many see little beyond stories about corrupt practices...

The next International Anti-Corruption Conference will be in Denmark in 2018. It’s time to mix the oil and water. Fighting corruption is about more than exhortation: declaiming against those who steal and fail to honor their public responsibilities. Anti-corruption strategies and practices can work. But only when the passion of activists and moral leaders comes together with different parts of society, religious institutions included, to translate anger and a desire for good governance into reality. The fight against corruption, for decent governance and strong public service depends on public morality and a common commitment to ethical standards and priorities. Draining the swamp depends on linking the best of religious and civic teachings to the realities of political leadership and governance. That’s what it will take to achieve “Justice, Equity, Security, and Trust”."

Congressional panel calls for independent Copyright Office; Washington Post, 12/9/16

Peggy McGlone, Washington Post; Congressional panel calls for independent Copyright Office:

"Federal lawmakers are calling for an independent Copyright Office that would be led by a Register nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday released the first in what is expected to be a series of reforms. They suggest keeping a newly independent office in the Legislative branch, and funding technology upgrades including a searchable, digital database of historical and current copyright ownership.

Coming on the heels of the resignation of Copyright Register Maria Pallante, and previous suggestions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the proposals set up a show-down between Congress and new librarian Carla D. Hayden over the future of the agency."

Social scientists set to decipher various shades of ethics; The Peninsula: Qatar's Daily Newspaper, 12/1/16

Irfan Bhukhari, The Peninsula: Qatar's Daily Newspaper; Social scientists set to decipher various shades of ethics:

"On the academic landscape of Qatar, an international ethics summit is set to appear which will cover dozens of topics having contemporary importance from corporate citizenship in global context to ethics revolving around gender, religion, business and conflict.

A three-day International Ethics Summit themed “Morality in the Global Era: Theory, Policy and Praxis” will start from December 4 at HBKU Students Centre at Education City.

The summit will be an international opportunity for scholars, academia and audiences representing various segments of society to explore and understand a number of issues such as: Ethical Leadership and Social Responsibility; Ethics in the Professions; Integrity in Business; Corporate Citizenship in a Global Context; Ethics and the Environment; Immigration and Moral Tragedy; Ethics and Technology in the Global Age; Ethics and Sports; Ethics and Gender among others according to university’s call-for-papers and leaflet pertaining to programme-details. The summit is being sposored by RasGas."

Donald Trump’s ‘Monster’s Ball’; New York Times, 12/1/16

Charles M. Blow, New York Times; Donald Trump’s ‘Monster’s Ball’ :

"Donald Trump was elected on a wave of fake news, fake minority outreach and an 11th-hour email head fake by James Comey...

Donald Trump is a fraud, and a dangerous one. This country is depending on morally principled patriots to never let that fact be shifted from center stage.

Trump rode to victory on a cloud of vapors and vapid promises, and now he is assembling a counsel of acolytes and opportunists. Now each of us must demonstrate our fortitude in vocal, steadfast resistance.

Trump must be made to know, in no uncertain terms, that he was elected president and not anointed emperor.

Not every battle can be won, but every battle must be waged. This is the proving ground. Are you prepared to stand your ground?"

Michael James Delligatti, Creator of the Big Mac, Dies at 98; New York Times, 11/30/16

Kevin Rawlinson, New York Times; Michael James Delligatti, Creator of the Big Mac, Dies at 98:

"Most memorable was the ad campaign, begun in 1974, in which actual customers tried to recite the ingredients in a Big Mac, with comic results, before a chorus jumped in and smoothly sang the now-famous jingle.

“It wasn’t like discovering the light bulb,” Mr. Delligatti told John F. Love, the author of “McDonald’s: Behind the Arches” (1986). “The bulb was already there. All I did was screw it in the socket.”...

...[T]he sales remain huge, leading many to believe that Mr. Delligatti, as its inventor, must have reaped a windfall worth billions.

Not so. “All I got was a plaque,” he told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2007."

The TPP wasn't killed by Donald Trump – our protests worked; Guardian, 11/28/16

Evan Greer, Tom Morello, and Evangeline Lilly, Guardian; The TPP wasn't killed by Donald Trump – our protests worked:

"As more and more people learned about what the TPP really meant for them and their families, it became politically toxic, to the point that no major party candidate for president could openly support it.

This was a sign that the TPP was on its deathbed, but with the threat of a last-minute push during the “lame duck” session after the election, we needed to be sure. So we targeted undecided lawmakers with protests and flew inflatable blimps outside their offices. We harnessed the power of music to draw huge crowds across the country to “Rock Against the TPP” concerts and teach-ins, taking our opposition to the TPP into the cultural mainstream. We tuned out the chorus of voices that told us that corporate power would always prevail in the end. And finally, we claimed our victory.

Now more than ever, it’s crucial that Americans understand how the TPP was really defeated. An organized and educated public can take on concentrated wealth and power and win. With four years of new battles ahead of us, this is a story we must commit to memory, and a lesson we must take to heart."

Campus Libraries See Increase in Discriminatory Incidents; Library Journal, 11/28/16

Lisa Peet, Library Journal; Campus Libraries See Increase in Discriminatory Incidents:

"Within the libraries, administrators have used these events to highlight ongoing issues such as how to spot and respond to fake news. On a wider scale, they have stepped up their mission to support various campus communities and interest groups, particularly when it comes to student welfare. Said Hutto, “We, like a lot of colleges, have been very proactive about increasing diversity on campus. I think especially for those students, they definitely… are thinking of Reed as being a safe place. And to find out that it’s kind of like any other place is not a pleasant thing for them. We’re really concerned about them.”

In a statement released by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Chris Bourg, director of libraries at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and ARL Diversity and Inclusion Committee chair, stated, “While ARL libraries and archives work hard to be inclusive in their hiring, collections, services, and environments, the Association and its members will not claim neutrality in the face of discrimination, sexism, ableism, racism, homophobia, religious persecution, or other forms of oppression. We support freedom of speech and the open exchange of ideas and opinions, but we will not tolerate hate speech, silencing, inflammatory rhetoric, or any other speech or action that threatens the safety or dignity of any member of our community.”

Addressing the proactive role campus libraries can play post-election, Bourg wrote in a statement from MIT Libraries, “This election has highlighted the urgent need for open, enduring, and equitable access to credible sources of news, data, and knowledge. At the MIT Libraries we will redouble our efforts to provide not only credible sources of information to our communities, but also the expertise, services, collections, tools, and spaces that facilitate and promote the critical assessment of information. We will also continue to document and provide access to the ideas, knowledge, and perspectives of our communities, as we did by archiving the post-election posters containing the immediate reactions of MIT students and community members.”"

No, Trump, We Can’t Just Get Along; New York Times, 11/23/16

Charles M. Blow, New York Times; No, Trump, We Can’t Just Get Along:

"[Donald Trump] ended the meeting by saying:

“I will say, The Times is, it’s a great, great American jewel. A world jewel. And I hope we can all get along well.”...

You slammed Clinton for destroying emails, then Newsweek reported last month that your companies “destroyed emails in defiance of court orders.” You slammed Clinton and the Clinton Foundation for paid speeches and conflicts of interest, then it turned out that, as BuzzFeed reported, the Trump Foundation received a $150,000 donation in exchange for your giving a 2015 speech made by video to a conference in Ukraine. You slammed Clinton about conflicts of interest while she was secretary of state, and now your possible conflicts of interest are popping up like mushrooms in a marsh.

You are a fraud and a charlatan. Yes, you will be president, but you will not get any breaks just because one branch of your forked tongue is silver.

I am not easily duped by dopes.

I have not only an ethical and professional duty to call out how obscene your very existence is at the top of American government; I have a moral obligation to do so.

I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, but rather to speak up for truth and honor and inclusion. This isn’t just about you, but also about the moral compass of those who see you for who and what you are, and know the darkness you herald is only held at bay by the lights of truth."

‘Fraud is not a trade secret’: How a 27-year-old blew the whistle on Theranos; MarketWatch, 11/17/16

Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch; ‘Fraud is not a trade secret’: How a 27-year-old blew the whistle on Theranos’ :

[Kip Currier: Ethics instructors of all stripes were served up a whopping good case study with the story of Tyler Schultz (grandson of former Secretary of State George Schultz) exposing the dazzlingly fraudulent actions of health tech powerhouse, Theranos, Inc. and its now-disgraced CEO Elizabeth Holmes. This is one that should and will be studied in MBA programs and ethics courses for years.]

"‘Fraud is not a trade secret. I refuse to allow bullying, intimidation and threat of legal action to take away my First Amendment right to speak out against wrongdoing.’"

Retired NBA commissioner David Stern went off about cheating and ethics; Quartz, 11/19/16

Oliver Staley, Quartz; Retired NBA commissioner David Stern went off about cheating and ethics:

"Cheating and ethical lapses are pervasive, from soccer stars evading taxes and state-sanctioned doping in the Olympics, to companies giving lip-service to social responsibility while gouging customers, Stern said Nov. 18 at a forum about business ethics and leadership hosted by Columbia Business School...

“It’s too easy,” he said. “Every company has a head of corporate responsibility, you form a foundation, you give all your employees Friday off to do charity, blah, blah, blah. Then you fix prices at a business association meeting.”

He took aim at Facebook, which said it has misreported how many people view its ads, and allowed the spread of fake news on its platform. The directors of venture-capital backed companies need to speak up, he said. “Where are the boards?” he said."

Pittsburgh's smart city efforts include autonomous driving, open data, and renewable energy; TechRepublic, 11/18/16

Teena Maddox, TechRepublic; Pittsburgh's smart city efforts include autonomous driving, open data, and renewable energy:

"Pittsburgh is the home for CMU and it has helped with the push to add new technology. Pittsburgh is partnering with the university to serve as an urban lab for CMU's research and development. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CMU and the city serves as a formal partnership to allow CMU to try new tech around Pittsburgh without undergoing a lengthy approval process, similar to how the city is able to send maintenance crews out to do small projects without first seeking funding, Peduto explained...

The city has formed partnerships with county and universities to create an open data platform. Pittsburgh is providing the public with real-time data about crime, emergency calls, building permits, or anything else being measured."

Jonathan Nolan Responds To That Westworld Location Theory; Slashfilm.com, 10/17/16

Peter Sciretta, Slashfilm.com; Jonathan Nolan Responds To That Westworld Location Theory:

Minor spoilers re "Westworld" plot themes

[Kip Currier: Viewers of Season 1 of the popular new HBO series "Westworld"--a reimagined reboot of the 1973 film, based on Michael Crichton's eponymous novel--have increasingly seen the protect-at-all-costs value of Westworld's Intellectual Property, as well as privacy concerns. Showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy Nolan touch on these issues below:]

"In regards to the computer terminals where the Delos staff communicate to their loved ones back home, [Lisa Joy Nolan] says:

Regardless of where they are, the park is very, very vast, and you don’t rotate home often. You don’t have open communication where you can just pick up a phone. Even senior people have to go to the coms room – because [the park is] protecting their intellectual property. We’re hoping to paint a portrait of the culture of the corporation.

[Jonathan] Nolan (who was a showrunner on Person of Interest, a series about a computer system that could analyze all forms of public and private data to predict the future) seems to be very interested in the aspect of big brother looking in on our communications. As for how it relates to Westworld, he says the Delos corporation wants to protect its intellectual property and the privacy of the park’s guests:

In Westworld, the value of the park is all in its intellectual property, it’s all in the code. So regardless of the park’s location, they would be extremely careful with that code and making sure its virtually impossible to smuggle it out of the park. And there’s the privacy of the guests – you’re not going to have a good time in Westworld if somebody is Instagramming your activities. I’m amazed [th]at [sic] Las Vegas has survived the Instagram age. In episode 2, when the guests come in, we don’t see this, but we assume these guys have cell phones that they’re not allowed to bring in the park. We very much think this is a path where culture may be going – that we’ll get over-exposed and sick of the interconnectedness of our lives that we’ll hunger for places [that offer disconnected privacy]. We’ll hunger for a moment where we can go back toward having some privacy."

Cuomo, Stung by a Scandal, Offers Ethics Reforms; New York Times, 11/16/16

Vivian Yee and Jesse McKinley, New York Times; Cuomo, Stung by a Scandal, Offers Ethics Reforms:

"Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday a set of ethics reforms that would affect the State Legislature, the State University of New York, the City University of New York and his own office — all of which have been soiled within the last year by corruption scandals and allegations of slipshod management.

Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, announced that he would appoint a procurement officer to review all contracts and agreements involving state funds “with an eye towards eliminating any wrongdoing, conflicts of interest or collusion,” a clear nod to the revelation this fall that three of his former aides and advisers had orchestrated a yearslong bribery and bid-rigging scheme in which lucrative state economic development contracts were steered to a few favored developers. All three, along with several development executives, have pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges."

Murder (or not) at the Library of Congress?; Washington Post, 10/31/16

David Post, Washington Post; Murder (or not) at the Library of Congress? :

"In any complex organization, it’s crucial for senior management to be unified in their understanding of the organization’s mission and how that mission can best be accomplished. It seems fairly basic that any new leader is entitled to expect, at a minimum, that all of the members of her management team actually want to be part of the organization — that they see a future for themselves and their staffs in the organization. In the academic world, where I spend most of my time, everyone expects a new university president to make major, senior-level personnel changes when he or she takes the helm. Sometimes those changes come quickly — as when there is a sharp divergence of views on a matter central to the shape and identity of the institution. Sometimes they come more slowly, as time reveals more subtle conflicts or incongruities between a given administrator’s approach to his or her job and the new president’s vision for the future of the institution. Always, however, personnel changes come. They’re a normal and healthy part of institutional evolution, even if they produce some short-term disorientation.

We’ll likely never know the details of Pallante’s departure from her job. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the logical explanation is probably the actual one."

New Era for Disability Rights; Inside Higher Ed, 11/7/16

Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed; New Era for Disability Rights:

"Disability studies scholars and legal experts say lawsuits like Dudley’s against Miami represent a shift in activism, where high-profile cases help raise awareness about the challenges facing students in an increasingly digital world. More than two decades after the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 was signed into law, advocacy groups are pushing to clarify how it and other laws that prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities apply to technology that at the time seemed like science fiction but now has become reality. At the same time, those and other groups are pushing for new legislation, keeping one eye on the upcoming process to rewrite the Higher Education Act...

Jonathan S. Fansmith, who works in government relations for ACE [American Council on Education], said in an interview that the associations are looking for a middle ground with regulations that ensure core university functions -- registering for classes, paying tuition and so on -- are accessible to anyone but don’t stifle university research output.

“We want to do the right thing here,” Fansmith said. “We want to do it the right way. We want to have cognizance of a process that’s thoughtful, deliberate and can actually be achieved so you don’t get schools that say, ‘Look, this is going to be so costly, so burdensome.’”"

Pittsburgh City Council pushes forward on confidentiality measure; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/3/16

Adam Smeltz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Pittsburgh City Council pushes forward on confidentiality measure:

"Pittsburgh City Council forged ahead Wednesday with plans that could cost members triple-digit fines for leaking confidential details from closed-door meetings.

Council members voted 7-1 to advance comprehensive revisions for their own operating rules, setting up the 15-page proposal for a final vote Monday. Dissenting Councilwoman Darlene Harris lashed out against potential fines that could reach $500 for members who breach attorney-client privilege, saying the idea amounts to “a gag order.”"

Conspiracy Theories Run Amok Over Copyright Office Executive Changes; Techdirt, 11/2/16

Mike Masnick, Techdirt; Conspiracy Theories Run Amok Over Copyright Office Executive Changes:

"...[S]ome folks who support ever more draconian copyright immediately jumped on all sorts of conspiracy theories about how this was really Google somehow firing Pallante, including one site that directly had that as a headline.

To anyone who actually had knowledge of what was going on, this made no sense. Hayden is not connected to Google in any way. This is just out and out tinfoil hat conspiracy theory territory from people who see "Google" behind any policy they dislike. It seemed rather obvious that, like just about any new CEO of an organization, Hayden was clearing out some senior staff for a variety of reasons. And there was a pretty obvious big reason why Hayden would like to reassign Pallante: she has been directly and publicly advocating for Congress to move the Copyright Office outside of the Library of Congress. If you came in to run an organization and one of your direct reports was going over your head to try to transfer an entire division somewhere else, it's likely you'd fire that person too. It's kind of a management 101 thing.

Over the past week, in talking to a few people at the Library of Congress, or close to it, this is the basic story that came out. Hayden didn't feel comfortable with Pallante publicly advocating against the Library of Congress, and used her role as the boss to remove her from that position. Others seem to be discovering the same thing. A report at Publisher's Weekly notes that the conspiracy theories are bunk:"

A Copyright Coup in Washington; Wall Street Journal, 11/2/16

Wall Street Journal; A Copyright Coup in Washington:

"Ms. Hayden is now looking for a copyright office successor, and don’t be surprised if she chooses someone whose experience includes time at Google. This is reason enough for Congress to take a look: If the position is open to political influence, then the register should be politically accountable—and report to elected officials, not the nation’s librarian.

Perhaps these are all coincidences and Ms. Hayden merely botched a personnel dispute. But she now has an opening to install a register friendly to Google, and anyone tempted to write off the Pallante dispute as bureaucratic squabbling should remember: The company’s goal is to defenestrate laws that protect property. The guarantee to own what you create is the reason entrepreneurs take the risks that power the economy—a reason guys like Larry Page and Sergey Brin start Google."

University of Pittsburgh Nondiscrimination Policy Statement, 10/31/16

University of Pittsburgh Nondiscrimination Policy Statement:

[Kip Currier: Noteworthy to see "genetic information" included in Pitt's 10/31/16 Nondiscrimination Policy Statement, copied below. With advances in genome sequencing and the proliferation of DNA testing services for consumers, it makes sense that this would be included in organizational policies like Pitt's.]

"The University of Pittsburgh, as an educational institution and as an employer, values equality of opportunity, human dignity, and racial/ethnic and cultural diversity and inclusion. Accordingly,as explained in Policy 07-0l-03, the University prohibits and will not engage in discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, disability, or status as a veteran.

The University also prohibits and will not engage in retaliation against any person who makes a claim of discrimination or harassment or who provides information in such an investigation.

Further, the University will continue to take affirmative steps to support and advance these values consistent with the University’s mission.

This policy applies to admissions, employment, access to and treatment in University programs and activities.

This is a commitment made by the University and is in accordance with federal, state, and/or local laws and regulations."

Change at the Copyright Office; Publishers Weekly, 10/28/16

Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly; Change at the Copyright Office:

"Could Pallante’s departure spur Congress to finally appropriate sufficient resources to modernize the Copyright Office, which virtually everyone agrees is badly needed and long overdue? Hayden herself said she intends to build on the work Pallante did in terms of modernizing the Copyright Office for the digital age.

Or, might Pallante’s removal push Congress to consider removing the office from the Library of Congress altogether? Pallante was certainly held in high esteem by lawmakers. But sources expressed doubt that in the current political climate Congress would seek to create a new federal bureaucracy for copyright—which is the domain of Congress—that would be headed by a presidential appointee.

At the very least, ALA’s Sheketoff observed that Pallante’s removal suggests that the future of the U.S. Copyright Office is a high priority for at least one government official—Carla Hayden."

Maria Pallante's Departure From the Copyright Office: What It Means, And Why It Matters; Billboard, 10/25/16

Robert Levine, Billboard; Maria Pallante's Departure From the Copyright Office: What It Means, And Why It Matters:

"Days after U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante was moved out of her job, music business lawyers and lobbyists are still trying to figure out what happened, as well as what it means for the future. While Pallante had no lawmaking power, she was the country’s top copyright official, and her sudden removal could suggest a more skeptical view of the value of intellectual property in Washington DC.

“People I know who care about copyright are very disturbed,” says Marybeth Peters, Pallante’s predecessor as Register, who held the job from 1994 to 2010. “Nothing like this has ever happened there before.”...

On Friday, October 21, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who took office in mid-September, said that Pallante had been appointed as a senior advisor for digital strategy, and that Karyn Temple Claggett, currently an associate register of copyrights, would become acting register. But Pallante wasn’t told about the appointment before it was announced, according to several sources, and she never accepted it. She was locked out of the Library of Congress computer system, a step that several former Copyright Office staffers say is extremely unusual. (The Library of Congress did not comment and attempts to reach Pallante were unsuccessful.) Pallante submitted her resignation On Monday, October 24."

New U.N. Leader Sets Goals: Humility, Empathy, Empowering Women; NPR, 10/14/16

Malaka Gharib, NPR; New U.N. Leader Sets Goals: Humility, Empathy, Empowering Women:

"On Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly welcomed Antonio Guterres of Portugal as the new secretary-general of the U.N., replacing Ban Ki-moon.

In a short speech expressing his "gratitude and humility" to the assembly for the five-year term, he highlighted his priorities: humility, empathy for the underprivileged and the "empowerment of women and girls."...

What has made us immune to the plight of those most socially and economically underprivileged? All this makes me feel the acute responsibility to make human dignity the core of my work."

Michelle Obama’s epic New Hampshire speech was a master class in speaking from the gut; Washington Post, 10/14/16

Jena McGregor, Washington Post; Michelle Obama’s epic New Hampshire speech was a master class in speaking from the gut:

"Michelle Obama's epic speech Tuesday in New Hampshire should be required viewing for every leader. Not because of its political content. Not for her strongly worded endorsement of Hillary Clinton or her scathing takedown of the Democratic nominee's "opponent" -- the First Lady refused to even say GOP nominee Donald Trump's name -- that has already been called a "defining moment in the presidential campaign."

Rather, it was for the absolute master class she offered in that elusive quality of leadership: "authenticity." It is among the most jargon-laden, vague concepts touted by leadership consultants and coaches, the subject of countless books and training seminars promising yet another elixir to effective speech-making or good leadership.

But on Thursday, Obama provided a stark reminder that this nebulous quality comes not from a book. It comes from the gut. With inclusive and personal stories, emotionally strong yet vulnerable tone and body language, and a passionate appeal rooted in her own experiences, Obama embodied the widely praised but rarely replicated feat of seeming "real" that escapes so many leaders."

Daughters and Trumps; Frank Bruni, 10/12/16

Frank Bruni, New York Times; Daughters and Trumps:

"There’s something off-key when lawmakers — Republicans or Democrats, in connection with Trump or in other instances — describe the importance of an issue in accordance with its relevance to the people closest to them and its proximity to their doorstep. Or when they present their descendants as the best proof of their investment in the future.

The message of that is antithetical to public service and political leadership, which are ideally about representing kin and strangers alike, casting the widest possible net of compassion and letting common values, not personal interests, be the compass.

My loins are fruitless but my principles are clear: No human being — woman or man — should be regarded as a conquest or an amusement with a will subservient to someone else’s. That’s how Trump seems to treat most of the people in his life, and I object to that not as the brother of three admirable siblings (including a sister), not as the son of two extraordinary parents (including a mother), not as the uncle of many talented nieces and nephews, not as the partner of a wonderful man, and not as a friend to brilliant men and women whose welfare matters greatly to me.

I object to it as the citizen of a civilized society. I object to it because it threatens the people I don’t know as well as the people I do. I object to it because it’s wrong."

Michelle Obama’s Speech: As Personal As Political Gets; BillMoyers.com, 10/14/16

Lynn Sherr, BillMoyers.com; Michelle Obama’s Speech: As Personal As Political Gets:

"“It reminds us of stories we’ve heard from our mothers and grandmothers about how back in their day the boss could say and do whatever he pleased to the women in the office. And even though they worked so hard, jumped over every hurdle to prove themselves, it was never enough. We thought all of that was ancient history, didn’t we?”

I sure did. It was 1979 when I was at ABC News that I did my first story on sexual harassment — perhaps the first network news piece on the ugly variation on sex discrimination. The concept was so novel, I had to spell it out on screen, and define it. To illustrate it, I used a scene from a movie – it was always played for laughs – of the lustful boss chasing his hapless secretary around the desk. Such innocent times: I talked about dealing with “a comment, a pinch or an unwanted proposition.” One of the victims took it further. Her boss, she said, “told me, ‘You’re gonna screw me or be canned.’” There were, I pointed out helpfully, now solutions: the law, the courts. But as Obama wisely noted in her speech, “here we are in 2016 and we’re hearing these exact same things every day of the campaign trail.” Simply because “all of us are doing what women have always done. .. Just trying to get through it, trying to pretend like this doesn’t really bother us.”

Back in the 1960s, when relatively few of us were traveling for business on a regular basis, a few female friends and I joked about inventing an inflatable belly, so that when we were (invariably) seated on airplanes next to annoying male seat mates, we could pull the cord and look pregnant. Memo to Donald Trump, who wondered why the woman who says he groped her on the plane didn’t contact airline personnel: back then, stewardesses paid little attention to other women. Sisterhood wasn’t powerful enough. Yet."

A generation of GOP stars stands diminished: ‘Everything Trump touches dies’; Washington Post, 10/9/16

Philip Rucker, Washington Post; A generation of GOP stars stands diminished: ‘Everything Trump touches dies’ :

"“There is nobody who holds any position of responsibility who in private conversations views Donald Trump as equipped mentally, morally and intellectually to be the president of the United States,” said Steve Schmidt, a veteran GOP strategist. “But scores of Republican leaders have failed a fundamental test of moral courage and political leadership in not speaking truth to the American people about what is so obvious.”"

Donald Trump is a walking, talking example of the tyrannical soul; Washington Post, 10/8/16

Danielle Allen, Washington Post; Donald Trump is a walking, talking example of the tyrannical soul:

"While the institutions of constitutional democracy were invented to make it easier to rein people in, those who did the work of drafting the Constitution never thought that institutions alone could solve the job. On the cusp of the Constitution’s ratification, founder James Wilson paused to ponder what it would take for the reorganized representative democracy to succeed. All would be well, he said, so long as the people made sure always to elect political leaders who were “wise and good.” The president and other elected officials, he pointed out, would populate the bureaucracies of the new nation. If they themselves were wise and good, they would also populate all the offices of the country with the wise and good. If they were not, then corruption would spread through the entire system...

This election has moved past questions of ideology and partisan position to fundamental elements of the human condition, elements so fundamental that we can find them recorded in the earliest human texts. From the beginning of human history, when tyrannical souls have acquired power, the people have found themselves groaning and crying out with laments under the burden of it. They have found themselves stuck on bridges in stalled traffic that prevents ambulances from getting to the hospital.

Character matters because it is how we restrain the inner would-be tyrant in each one of us. It matters because it is how we limit the placement of great power in the hands of those with tyrannical instincts and appetites. If we’ve given up a commitment to character, we’ve already given up the game or, to speak more precisely, the work of protecting freedom, equality and human flourishing."

Many men talk like Donald Trump in private. And only other men can stop them.; Washington Post, 10/8/16

Shaun R. Harper, Washington Post; Many men talk like Donald Trump in private. And only other men can stop them. :

"I am fairly certain that hearing the vulgar words Trump spoke over a decade ago will compel many more women to vote against him next month. Electing the first female president will not end sexism, though, any more than electing Barack Obama ended racism. To make progress, men need to do more than vote against Trump. We must stand up to him and call out others who say things similar to what we heard him say on the video. We have to stop excusing the disgusting degradation of girls and women as “locker room banter.” Feminists and courageous others have done much to contest exchanges like the one between Trump and Bush. But it takes men like me to hold our friends accountable for things they say and do to objectify women. We must challenge their values, language and actions.

I have known Trumps far too long — they are my friends, my fraternity brothers and so many other men with whom I routinely interact. I understand now, more than ever before, that letting them talk this way about women makes me just as sexist. By excusing their words and actions, I share some responsibility for rape, marital infidelity and other awful things that men do. I want other men to recognize this, too — not only because they have mothers, wives, sisters, aunts or daughters – but because sexism hurts all women and men in our society."

In defense of Heather Bresch: She did everything right as Mylan CEO, but still …; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/6/16

Chris Allison, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; In defense of Heather Bresch: She did everything right as Mylan CEO, but still … :

"Were the actions of Ms. Bresch and her management team legal? Yes. Were they reasonable, given her mandate from Mylan’s board of directors and the company’s shareholders? Yes.

But, just because actions comply with the law and fall within the norms of sound business practices, that doesn’t mean a company should take them...

In my lectures on corporate ethics, I tell students that, when they face an ethical crossroads in business, they should ask themselves two questions. Would they feel proud to have their decision and its outcome featured on the front page of the newspapers? Would they be happy telling their children what they had done as they tucked them into bed at night?

Heather Bresch and other folks at Mylan didn’t do anything wrong. But they should have asked themselves those questions."

First Woman Sworn In As Librarian Of Congress; NPR, 9/18/16

Michel Martin, NPR; First Woman Sworn In As Librarian Of Congress:

"MARTIN: I was curious about what it means to her to be a first, to break these barriers.

HAYDEN: I started out in librarianship, and I was a children's librarian and then I realized - and it was very evident - that the top management of most libraries was male. And so to be the first female Librarian of Congress speaks to what Melvil Dewey said when he started the Library Association in 1876 and decided that women might be good for the profession because - and I love this quote - they had a high tolerance for pain and monotonous work and that it was time to let women into the profession of librarianship because there was a lot of work to be done. And so to be a female heading up the largest library in the world, I think Mr. Dewey might have something to say about that."

Dialogue with the Dean of Students; University of Pittsburgh on Tuesday, 10/4/16 at 7 PM

University of Pittsburgh; Dialogue with the Dean of Students:

"How can we work together to make Pitt a more inclusive campus? Register today for Dialogue with the Dean, part of the on-going conversation regarding diversity and inclusion on Pitt’s campus.

Join the on-going conversation regarding diversity and inclusion on Pitt’s campus: come to a round-table discussion hosted by Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner.

RSVP is required.

Sponsored by the Office of Student Life and the Office of Cross Cultural and Leadership Development."

Lawmakers to Wells Fargo CEO: ‘Why shouldn’t you be in jail?’; Washington Post, 9/29/16

Renae Merle, Washington Post; Lawmakers to Wells Fargo CEO: ‘Why shouldn’t you be in jail?’ :

"Some members peppered Stumpf with questions about whether he should be criminally prosecuted.

“Why shouldn’t you be in jail?” asked Rep. Michael E. Capuano (D-Mass.) “When prosecutors get hold of you, you are going to have a lot of fun.” “Do you think what you did was criminal?” Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) asked. Stumpf responded that he had led the bank with “courage,” but was interrupted again...

“We have a culture based on ethics, and doing what’s right,” Stumpf said to the committee. “I stand with the people who are doing the right thing.”

Several lawmakers noted that despite Stumpf's emphasis on ethics, the bank has been hit with various fines over the past decade, including some linked to the housing crash."

The One Question You Should Ask About Every New Job; New York Times, 12/19/15

Adam Grant, New York Times; The One Question You Should Ask About Every New Job:

"When it comes to landing a good job, many people focus on the role. Although finding the right title, position and salary is important, there’s another consideration that matters just as much: culture. The culture of a workplace — an organization’s values, norms and practices — has a huge impact on our happiness and success.

But how do you figure out the culture of a company you’ve never worked for? As Nicole tried to evaluate company cultures, she kept asking the Passover question: “How is this organization different from all other organizations?” And, as with Passover, I told Nicole, the answer should come in the form of a story. Ask people to tell you a story about something that happened at their organization but wouldn’t elsewhere."

Hillary Clinton’s Final Exam; New York Times, 9/24/16

David Axelrod, New York Times; Hillary Clinton’s Final Exam:

"Without pretense about the challenges Americans face, she will offer a more optimistic vision of the future than Mr. Trump’s relentlessly dystopian portrait of a country on the brink — the audacity of no hope. She will embrace diversity as a strength, in contrast to his past slights on immigrants, Muslims, women and people with disabilities.

Finally, she will stress the need to work together to solve the nation’s problems and mock Mr. Trump’s oft-stated declaration that he will single-handedly cure America’s ills — on Day 1. Both liberals and conservatives bridle at this autocratic vision.

In the end, presidential debates are less a trial of fact than a televised final exam for the most exacting job on the planet. They offer Americans a window into how each of these candidates would deal with excruciating pressure. They are measured in revealing moments. Will the candidates react with grace, humor and unflappability, or with anger and uncertainty?"

Wells Fargo Case Prompts Questions Of Corporate Ethics Reform; NPR, 9/24/16

[Podcast] NPR; Wells Fargo Case Prompts Questions Of Corporate Ethics Reform:

"The bank's CEO appeared before a Senate banking committee this week to answer questions about fake accounts created by more than 5,000 of his employees. Scott Simon talks with consultant Dov Seidman."

Members Of Congress Rip Into Mylan CEO; Huffington Post, 9/21/16

Lauren Weber, Huffington Post; Members Of Congress Rip Into Mylan CEO:

"“To have companies like yours take advantage of the situation, take advantage of these people who are really in need of this medication, I think it speaks to something that we are better than that,” Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) said. “How did we get to this point that we have a culture like this in corporate America that wants to stick it to consumers?”...

Cummings emphasized his disgust that pharmaceutical companies would continue to ratchet up drug prices for life-saving medication and said he hoped Bresch would apologize. She did not.

“After Mylan takes our punches, they’ll fly back to their mansions in their private jets and laugh all the way to the bank while our constituents suffer, file for bankruptcy, and watch their children get sicker and die,” Cummings said. “It’s time for Congress to act.”"

Wells Fargo CEO Takes Responsibility For ‘All Unethical’ Practices; Reuters via Huffington Post, 9/20/16

Reuters via Huffington Post; Wells Fargo CEO Takes Responsibility For ‘All Unethical’ Practices:

"The chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co on Tuesday apologized for the bank’s opening as many as 2 million bogus customer accounts that could generate fees for the lender.

“I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices,” CEO John Stumpf told a congressional panel...

[Ohio. Sen. Sherrod] Brown said employees were caught “forging signatures, and stealing identities, Social Security numbers, and customers’ hard-earned cash, so as to hang on to their low-paying jobs and make money for the high-paying executives at Wells Fargo.”"

‘You should resign': Elizabeth Warren excoriates Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf; Washington Post, 9/20/16

Jena McGregor, Washington Post; ‘You should resign': Elizabeth Warren excoriates Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf:

"In at least a couple of instances, she used the bank's own words against him. She began by reading from the bank's "vision and values statement," which says "we believe in values lived, not phrases memorized," and "if you want to find out how strong a company's ethics are, don't listen to what its people say. Watch what they do."

So, she said, "let's do that," noting Stumpf had repeatedly said "I'm accountable." Then she drilled into questions where he was unable to affirmatively answer that he had resigned, handed back money he'd earned or fired any senior executives."

Patent chief tells lawmakers ‘time and attendance fraud is not tolerated’; New York Times, 9/13/16

Lisa Rein, Washington Post; Patent chief tells lawmakers ‘time and attendance fraud is not tolerated’ :

"U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Michelle K. Lee told lawmakers Tuesday that she and her team “do not tolerate any kind of attendance abuse” and promised that employees who commit fraud are disciplined...

A 15-month analysis by Deputy Inspector General David Smith’s office of thousands of patent examiners’ turnstile badge swipes, computer logins and remote computer connections from their homes to federal systems showed consistent discrepancies between the time employees reported working and the hours they actually put in.

This time and attendance abuse cost the government at least $18.3 million, as employees who review patent applications billed the agency for almost 300,000 hours they never worked, investigators found."

It Gets Better: U.S. Patent and Trademark employees share their stories; U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 6/25/15

[Video] U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; It Gets Better: U.S. Patent and Trademark employees share their stories:

[Kip Currier: While prepping for a patent lecture for my Intellectual Property and "Open" Movements course next week, I serendipitously found this inspiring "It Gets Better" video from 2015, featuring USPTO Director Michelle K. Lee and openly LGBT employees in the USPTO.]

"“Do not let the bullies of the world distract you from the commitment to achieve your fullest potential,’ says USPTO Director Michelle K. Lee in this video featuring stories from our employees, “It does get better.”"

This employee ID badge monitors and listens to you at work — except in the bathroom; Washington Post, 9/7/16

Thomas Heath, Washington Post; This employee ID badge monitors and listens to you at work — except in the bathroom:

"Those concerned about their privacy might be alarmed by the arrival of such badges. But Humanyze says it doesn’t record the content of what people say, just how they say it. And the boss doesn’t get to look at individuals’ personal data. It is also up to the employee to decide whether they want to participate.

“Those are things we hammer home,” Waber said. “If you don’t give people choice, if you don’t aggregate instead of showing individual data, any benefit would be dwarfed by the negative reaction people will have of you coming in with this very sophisticated sensor.”

He and three fellow scientists, two of whom are MIT graduates and one from Finland, call their technology “people analytics.”"

Report: 'Failure of OPM's leadership' led to historic data breaches; FedScoop, 9/7/16

Chris Bing, FedScoop; Report: 'Failure of OPM's leadership' led to historic data breaches:

"A 2014 data breach at the Office of Personnel Management was the result of failed leadership and consistent cybersecurity ignorance, according to an investigative report released Wednesday by members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

“The long-standing failure of OPM’s leadership to implement basic cyber hygiene, such as maintaining current authorities to operate and employing strong multi-factor authentication, despite years of warnings from the inspector general, represents a failure of culture and leadership, not technology,” states the report.

By disregarding warnings shared by the inspector general as far back as 2005, former Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour and Director Katherine Archuleta put the personal information of more than 20 million citizens at risk, Oversight chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said during a Wednesday appearance at D.C.-based think tank, the American Enterprise Institute...

"The government of the United States of America has never before been more vulnerable to cyberattacks,” the 241-page report reads."

WorkZone: Amping up for hiring season | What do employers look for in an applicant?; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/5/16

Matthew Gutierrez, Pittsbrugh Post-Gazette; WorkZone: Amping up for hiring season | What do employers look for in an applicant? :

"On the verge of peak hiring season, the Post-Gazette spoke with some Pittsburgh employers about what they look for when interviewing job candidates and what separates the top applicants from the rest of the pack...

Studies have shown that many employers value cultural fit more than specific talent and experience.

“Are you a culture fit for the company? Are you ethical? If you don’t meet both of those, you're not hired,” said Sonny Bringol, president of Bridgeville-based Victorian Finance. He added that most of his firm’s problems are culture-related, rarely associated with finance."

Patent office workers bilked the government of millions by playing hooky, watchdog finds; Washington Post, 8/31/16

Lisa Rein, Washington Post; Patent office workers bilked the government of millions by playing hooky, watchdog finds:

"Thousands of employees who review patents for the federal government potentially cheated taxpayers out of at least $18.3 million as they billed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for almost 300,000 hours they never worked, according to a new investigation...

The investigation scheduled for release Wednesday by the independent watchdog for the Commerce Department, the patent office’s parent agency, determined that the real scale of fraud is probably double those numbers..."

The lapses were not just by patent examiners. The report faults agency leaders for failing to give managers crucial tools to prevent and detect time and attendance abuse despite ample evidence that it occurs...

Investigators also found widespread time and attendance abuse at another Commerce agency, the U.S. Census Bureau, where employees in the small hiring office overcharged the government for thousands of hours of time they never worked. The fraud, also carried out by supervisors, involved 40 employees, more than half of the staff of the small office."

Pennsylvania wades into open data; GCN, 8/26/16

Matt Leonard, GCN; Pennsylvania wades into open data:

"The data currently available on OpenDataPA supports Gov. Tom Wolf’s three governing objectives -- education, employment and government services -- includes prison population numbers, school performance profiles and summary information on well inspections. The state also plans to release datasets from other state agencies on the site...

The administration’s main goals for releasing this data is three-fold: accountability, modernization and innovation. The portal will allow citizens to keep track of government projects, find this information in one place and use if to “make data-driven decisions.”"

Fired Professor Shot 2 Men Outside Chappaqua Deli, Police Say; New York Times, 8/29/16

Jonah Engel Bromwich, New York Times; Fired Professor Shot 2 Men Outside Chappaqua Deli, Police Say:

"In October 2002, Mr. Chao joined Mount Sinai as a research assistant professor. He stayed at Mount Sinai until May 2009, when he received a letter of termination from Dr. Charney for “research misconduct,” according to a lawsuit that Mr. Chao filed against the hospital and Dr. Charney, among other parties, in 2010. He went through an appeals process, and was officially terminated in March 2010.

“In informing his colleagues of his termination, Mount Sinai/MSSM stated that Dr. Chao had been ‘fired for data fraud,’” the lawsuit said. The case was dismissed, and Mr. Chao lost on appeal."

THE CHALLENGE OF REBRANDING DONALD TRUMP; New Yorker, 8/26/16

John Cassidy, New Yorker; THE CHALLENGE OF REBRANDING DONALD TRUMP:

"A successful rebranding campaign has to have two elements. It must be surprising enough to attract people’s attention and make them think again about a company or product. And it must be credible...

If he’s looking for guidance from the corporate world, Trump could do worse than reading up on the recent history of McDonald’s. In the early two-thousands, the world’s largest fast-food chain was facing big challenges. With consumers becoming more discerning and health-conscious, its business model of selling cheap, fried, artery-clogging fare had come under heavy fire, with critics such as Eric Schlosser, the author of “Fast Food Nation,” attacking its products, its cooking methods, and its treatment of its employees. McDonald’s sales growth was flagging, and so was its stock price.

The company launched a major rebranding campaign."

Corporate Ethics In The Era Of Millennials; NPR, 8/24/16

Paul A. Argenti, NPR; Corporate Ethics In The Era Of Millennials:

"Corporate social responsibility has been added to the growing list of demands that investors, customers and employees present to companies.

In 2015, 81 percent of Fortune 500 companies published sustainability reports, up from 20 percent in 2011, according to a report released by the Governance & Accountability Institute in June. Companies are publicizing their ethical standards and responsibility efforts, and consumers are punishing companies that appear to fall short. Even as headlines proclaim "greed is back," companies are investing time and resources into instituting more ethical practices."

U.S. lawmakers demand investigation of $100 price hike of lifesaving EpiPens; Washington Post, 8/23/16

Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post; U.S. lawmakers demand investigation of $100 price hike of lifesaving EpiPens:

"The medication itself isn’t expensive. Analysts calculate that the dosage contained in a single pen is worth about $1. It’s the company’s proprietary pen injector that makes up the bulk of the cost...

A profile in Fortune in 2015 described her rise in colorful terms:

Bresch, a 46-year-old who’s spent more than half her life at Mylan, has steered the company’s transformation from a quirky outfit run out of a West Virginia trailer to a global operator with 30,000 employees in 145 countries. Born into politics—her father, Joe Manchin, is a longtime West Virginia Democratic stalwart who’s now a U.S. senator—Bresch has mastered the regulatory world. Since becoming CEO in 2012, she’s overseen a major revenue increase; Mylan projects sales of up to $10.1 billion this year, up from $6.1 billion in 2011…

Under Bresch’s leadership, Mylan has also stumbled through a series of ethically messy mishaps and public relations gaffes. Mylan’s inversion took place just as uproar over the tactic reached a fever pitch on Capitol Hill. (Among the politicians who denounced the move was Bresch’s own father, though he later changed his mind.) Critics have called out the company for unusually high executive pay packages, questionable use of company jets, and murky relationships with board members. Then there’s “the Heather Bresch situation,” as she herself calls it, a scandal surrounding her executive MBA credentials—when you Google her name, the episode still ranks even higher than her official Mylan bio."

Record Crowds And A Growing List Of Challenges As America's National Parks Turn 100; Here & Now, WBUR, 8/22/16

[Podcast] Here & Now, WBUR; Record Crowds And A Growing List Of Challenges As America's National Parks Turn 100:

"The National Park Service is planning a huge celebration this week in Yellowstone to honor the centennial of the America’s park system. Visits are booming, but American parks are also facing problems, including a multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog.

Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson discusses with parks director Jonathan Jarvis.

Guest

Jonathan Jarvis, director of the National Park Service. He tweets @JonsMoustache. The park service tweets @NatlParkService."

How The U.S. Navy Named a Ship After Harvey Milk To Show Its LGBT Pride; Daily Beast, 8/20/16

Lizzie Crocker, Daily Beast; How The U.S. Navy Named a Ship After Harvey Milk To Show Its LGBT Pride:

"“It’s important to remember and honor naval heroes—sailors and marines who have sacrificed so much for America,” [Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus] said. “But it’s also important to recognize and honor those who have fought in a different way and sacrificed… those who have fought for the ideals that we cherish as a nation: justice, equality, and freedom.”

Under his leadership, the Navy has now created a new naming convention (in January, Mabus named the first ship in this new class of command replenishment vessels after John Lewis, the Georgian politician and civil rights activist).

“My uncle always told me that it poisoned the soul to have to lie about or hide who you were,” [Stuart Milk, Harvey’s nephew and leader of the Harvey Milk Foundation] said, recalling how his uncle gave him a book in 1972, Seven Arrows, about Native Americans when Stuart was 12 and not yet out of the closet.

“He told me that my authenticity and the fact that I felt different from everyone else was important, and he wrote in the front, ‘All of your differences are the medicine that the world needs, even when the world doesn’t recognize that.’ I think the USNS Harvey Milk can telegraph that message to the world.”"

Whose Lives Should Be Saved? Researchers Ask the Public; New York Times, 8/21/16

Sheri Fink, New York Times; Whose Lives Should Be Saved? Researchers Ask the Public:

"Charles Blattberg, a professor of political philosophy at the University of Montreal, said he worried that the effort could result in overly precise guidelines.

“The kind of judgment that’s required to arrive at a good decision in these situations needs to be extremely sensitive to the context,” he said. “It’s not about just abandoning one lone doctor to their own devices to make it up on the spot, but we can’t go the other extreme in thinking we have the solution to the puzzle already; just follow these instructions. That works for technical problems. These are moral, political problems.”

Ruth Faden, the founder of Johns Hopkins’s Berman Institute of Bioethics, which participated in the project, said she saw value in the exercise far beyond a pandemic.

“It’s a novel and important attempt,” she said, “to turn extremely complicated core ethical considerations into something people can make sense of and struggle with in ordinary language.”"

UC Berkeley Chancellor Dirks Resigns Amid Mounting Criticism; Forum, KQED Radio, 8/18/16

[Podcast] Michael Krasny, Forum, KQED Radio; UC Berkeley Chancellor Dirks Resigns Amid Mounting Criticism:

"UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks announced his resignation Tuesday, as critics faulted him for his handling of the university’s $150 million budget deficit and a string of sexual harassment cases involving faculty. Most recently, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the campus paid more than $200,000 to improve Dirks’ “strategic profile.” Dirks, a noted historian and author, will join the UC Berkeley faculty full-time once a successor is appointed. We discuss Dirks’ tenure and what lies ahead for the university."

Make the most of your brief time on Earth; Washington Post, 8/17/16

Garrison Keillor, Washington Post; Make the most of your brief time on Earth:

"Style is not what keeps us going. We survive by virtue of people extending themselves, welcoming the young, showing sympathy for the suffering, taking pleasure in each other’s good fortune. We are here for a brief time. We would like our stay to mean something. Do the right thing. Travel light. Be sweet."

I’ve always voted Republican. Until now.; Washington Post, 8/17/16

Daniel Akerson, Washington Post; I’ve always voted Republican. Until now. :

"And I have always voted for Republicans for president. Not this year.

The compelling rationale behind this decision: leadership. A good leader must demonstrate such qualities as competence, integrity, empathy, character and temperament. Hillary Clinton has these essential qualities. Donald Trump does not.

Trump simply lacks the competence to serve as president of the United States...

Long ago, I learned an old Navy saying from a good friend and now-retired admiral: “Ship, shipmate, self.” This motto set the priorities for my life during my service. The civilian equivalent would be “country, fellow citizen, self.” As individuals and as a nation, we must aspire to serve the greater good. We must exhibit the empathy that places the greater good of the nation and its people above individual self-interest.

Unfortunately, Trump has appealed to the lowest common denominators in our society: prejudice, xenophobia and intolerance...

What kind of person equates the sacrifice of the loss of a child to that of creating jobs or making money?"

The Daily 202: What Trump’s latest shakeup says about his flailing campaign; Washington Post, 8/17/16

James Hohmann, Washington Post; The Daily 202: What Trump’s latest shakeup says about his flailing campaign:

"Trump offered a revealing window into his management style when he said in 2007 that you should never hire people who are smarter than you. “You have to keep great people around you,” Trump told CNBC. “You always have to be on top of them. And you have to be smarter than they are. I hear so many times, ‘Oh, I want my people to be smarter than I am.’ It’s a lot of crap. You want to be smarter than your people, if possible.”"

How does Wholey's in the Strip plan to preserve business legacy?; In The Lead, 5/3/16

Joyce Gannon, In The Lead; How does Wholey's in the Strip plan to preserve business legacy? :

"Many of them worked for the company as teens but rather than anoint any as the new leaders, Mr. Wholey and his brothers have developed a plan with specific guidelines for those who may be interested in a leadership role in the future:

First, obtain a college degree.

Second, work somewhere else for a minimum of two to three years.

Third, earn a promotion at that other job.

“That gives them a view of what the world is,” said Mr. Wholey, who was a concert promoter after he graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass...

For about 10 years, the family has sought advice from the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence about succession planning."