Free Businesses to Act With Conscience
In The Boston Globe, Harvard Law Professor May Ann Glendon sums up the Hobby Lobby case to perfection: “At the core of the Hobby Lobby case is the idea that the Greens should be able to operate their own private family business according to their own deeply held convictions. At the core of the government’s case is the idea that the government itself is the only arbiter of conscience rights.”

She goes on to argue that most Americans and even the government believe there is such a thing as a corporate conscience and concludes: “If we want the Greens’ businesses and other businesses like them to act conscientiously, they must have the freedom to follow their consciences. Indeed, it is probably with respect to our largest corporations that a fostering of moral and social conscience is most needed. The Supreme Court should take the opportunity to confirm that businesses can and should have consciences.”

iSpy: How the Internet Buys and Sells Your Secrets
“Every year you give away up to £5,000 ($7,000) of data online. The greatest heist in history isn’t about stealing money, but taking information.” It’s why David Gewirtz says 2013 is The Year Trust Died.

Making Some Rules About Sportsmanship
In the wake of a couple of recent NFL and NBA sports scandals, journalists are asking what constitutes permissible sportsmanship and what is simply cheating: “Are there degrees of rule bending — including some that add flavor and debate to sports while others simply degrade it and deserve condemnation?”

Alan Hirsch proposes a two-part approach. His first step is simple” Don’t break the rules.”

But then he asks “What about the harder cases where no clear rule is broken but sportsmanship and gamesmanship seem in tension? How do we distinguish between “creative ways to help one’s team” and “inappropriate efforts to game the system.”

His proposed standard for resolving most cases of gamesmanship is “fooling an opponent is OK, fooling the officials is not.”

But then he concludes: “If you don’t buy the proposed approach, here’s a simpler one that may be easier to accept and yet could go even further in discouraging gamesmanship: If you have to ask, don’t do it.”

Smarts in Business is Not About Degrees or IQ
Your degree and your intelligence might get you your first job, but five years in most employers are looking for accomplishment. Who can get things done?

Maynard Webb, Chairman of Yahoo, says: “Talent isn’t just intellect. Talent is also what you’ve done. If you’re an entrepreneur trying to break through, it’s hard work. You have to be tough, you have to be willing to take lots of body blows. So I’m looking for that grit factor.”

And as Forbes says, “This should be good news for most of us. We’re not limited or defined by the IQ we’ve inherited. Much of what makes us real-world smart comes from what we’ve learned–usually the hard way.”