In the June 21, 2004, edition of Ethics Newsline:

1. Statline:

Dads Weigh In on the Work-Life Balance

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418073627

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2. Commentary by Rushworth M. Kidder:

"Because I Could": The Lesson from the Clinton-Lewinsky Affair

To adhere to no higher standard of behavior than "because I could" is to abandon any distinction between what I can do and what I ought to do. But ethics is all about ought -- about what's mandated not by law, or history, or self-interest, but by duty. Such wholesale abandonment of the can/ought distinction is, as former president Bill Clinton says, "morally indefensible." More accurately, it's patently amoral, leaving no room for the central discrimination between willful indulgence and ethical constraint that defines the moral life. The lesson, however, is much larger than Clinton....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418081121

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3. What They're Saying:

In the System

"He wasn't lost in the system. There is no question at all ... that he received humane treatment."

-- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, denying charges that the military violated the Geneva Conventions in its treatment of a terror suspect hidden from the Red Cross in Iraq. The man, who has been questioned only once, has been held since October without an ID tracking number and without notification of the Red Cross, according to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. ("Rumsfeld Defends Secretly Holding Suspect," AP, June 17)

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418085856

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4. Halliburton Accused of Waste, Mismanagement, and Cheating in Iraqi Contracts

WASHINGTON

Halliburton Inc. was back in the hot seat last week following testimony from six whistle-blowers who accused the firm of gouging the U.S. government and taxpayers in its contracts for supplying services in Iraq....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418093531

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5. Israeli PM Ariel Sharon Will Not be Charged with Bribery

WASHINGTON

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will not be indicted on bribery charges, the country's attorney general announced last week in a move that bolsters Sharon's chances of carrying out a limited withdrawal from the Gaza Strip....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=0621041810037

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6. House Ethics Truce Ends with Accusations against DeLay

WASHINGTON

An unspoken seven-year truce in the House of Representatives came to an end last week with the filing of an ethics complaint against the chamber's second-ranking Republican, Tom DeLay, who is accused of "bribery, extortion, fraud, money laundering, and the abuse of power."...

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418105535

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7. Report: President Bush Appealed to Vatican for Help on Political Issues

WASHINGTON

Facing a tight election in November, President Bush earlier this month asked the Vatican to push its U.S. bishops to speak against social issues like same-sex marriage and abortion that align with his agenda, according to a leading newspaper covering Catholicism....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418113792

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8. U.S. Begins Criminal Probe of Fur Industry Price-Fixing

WASHINGTON

The "Globe & Mail" is reporting that the U.S. Justice Department has begun a criminal investigation into the global fur industry's alleged participation in price-fixing....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418121120

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9. Post-Lawsuit, Glaxo Puts Unflattering Paxil Research on Web

NEW YORK

Responding to a pending civil suit alleging that it suppresses unflattering research, British pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline last week posted the data on its antidepressant drug Paxil on its Web site....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=0621041812468

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10. Doctors Condemn Plan to Deny Treatment to Malpractice Lawyers

CHICAGO

The American Medical Association last week defeated and then continued to fume over a proposal that would have given doctors the right to refuse non-emergency treatment to malpractice lawyers and their spouses....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418131521

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11. Conference Examines Ways to Fight Hate Speech on the Internet

PARIS

Internet industry insiders, government regulators, and independent groups gathered last week in Paris to discuss how to ensure freedom of expression without lending a helping hand to the scourge of hate speech....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418135757

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12. Truancy Laws Push U.K. Schools and Parents to Weigh Competing Needs

LONDON

Forty U.K. parents have been hit with truancy fines for allowing their kids to cut classes, an action that is sparking growing debate about parental rights, schools' responsibility, and children's education, the BBC reported last week....

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=0621041814325

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13. Research Report:

Many Dads Would Take Pay Cut for More Family Time

From CareerBuilder.com:

"Frustrated by long days at the office, 42 percent of working fathers say they are willing to take a pay cut to obtain a job that affords them an improved balance of work and home, according to a new CareerBuilder.com survey...."

Full story: http://www.globalethics.org/redir/nl.html?d=6/21/2004&;id=06210418150529

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14. Quote from the Ethics File:

Making Fanatics

"An infallible method of making fanatics is to persuade before you instruct."

-- Voltaire (French writer, 1694-1778)

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Full issue available here: http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/members/currentissue2.tmpl

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