Academic paper based on Uyghur genetic data retracted over ethical concerns; The Guardian, December 29, 2023

Amy Hawkins , The Guardian; Academic paper based on Uyghur genetic data retracted over ethical concerns

"The retraction notice said the article had been withdrawn at the request of the journal that had published it, Forensic Science International: Genetics, after an investigation revealed that the relevant ethical approval had not been obtained for the collection of the genetic samples.

Mark Munsterhjelm, a professor at the University of Windsor, in Ontario, who specialises in racism in genetic research, said the fact that the paper had been published at all was “typical of the culture of complicity in forensic genetics that uncritically accepts ethics and informed consent claims with regards to vulnerable populations”.

Concerns have also been raised about a paper in a journal sponsored by China’s ministry of justice. The study, titled Sequencing of human identification markers in an Uyghur population, analysed Uyghur genetic data based on blood samples collected from individuals in the capital of Xinjiang, in north-west China. Yves Moreau, a professor of engineering at the University of Leuven, in Belgium, who focuses on DNA analysis, raised concerns that the subjects in the study may not have freely consented to their DNA samples being used. He also argued that the research “enables further mass surveillance” of Uyghur people."

Controversial French researcher loses two papers for ethics approval issues; retraction watch, October 31, 2023

 Retraction Watch; Controversial French researcher loses two papers for ethics approval issues

"Didier Raoult, the French infectious disease scientist who came to prominence for promoting hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment, has lost two papers for ethics concerns after other scientists flagged issues with hundreds of publications from the institute he formerly led. 

Both papers, “Increased Gut Redox and Depletion of Anaerobic and Methanogenic Prokaryotes in Severe Acute Malnutrition,” and “Gut Microbiota Alteration is Characterized by a Proteobacteria and Fusobacteria Bloom in Kwashiorkor and a Bacteroidetes Paucity in Marasmus,” appeared in Scientific Reports in 2016 and 2019, respectively. They have been cited approximately 160 times, according to Clarivate’s Web of Science."

Chief Justice Says Supreme Court Is Working to Address Ethics Questions; The New York Times, May 24, 2023

 Adam Liptak, The New York Times; Chief Justice Says Supreme Court Is Working to Address Ethics Questions

"Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said on Tuesday night that he and his colleagues on the Supreme Court were continuing to take steps to address questions about the justices’ ethical standards amid a barrage of allegations of misconduct and a push by some lawmakers to tighten the rules.

“I want to assure people that I am committed to making certain that we as a court adhere to the highest standards of conduct,” he said. “We are continuing to look at things we can do to give practical effect to that commitment, and I am confident that there are ways to do that consistent with our status as an independent branch of government and the Constitution’s separation of powers.”

Chief Justice Roberts turned down an invitation last month to testify before a Senate committee, citing the “exceedingly rare” nature of such an appearance, as lawmakers push for ethics changes at the court. A series of revelations about unreported gifts, travel and real estate deals between Justice Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and Republican donor, has shaken the court, though all nine justices have defended their existing rules."

Legal Scholars Push For Supreme Court Ethics Code As Gorsuch And Thomas Come Under Fire; Forbes, February 4, 2022

 Alison Durkee, Forbes; Legal Scholars Push For Supreme Court Ethics Code As Gorsuch And Thomas Come Under Fire

"More than two dozen legal ethics scholars asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Thursday to impose a code of conduct for the court’s judges, as the conservative-leaning court faces declining public trust and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas spark new ethics concerns...

A code of conduct would help the Supreme Court “transparently address potential conflicts and other issues in a way that builds public trust in the institution,” the 25 scholars wrote in their letter to Roberts, which was released through activist group Fix the Court.

The scholars said their request wasn’t in response to any particular concern, and they “do not question the integrity of any justice,” but it comes amid concern about ethical conflicts.

Gorsuch will speak Friday evening at a conference in Walt Disney World for the conservative Federalist Society, drawing criticism because of the event’s overt political nature—other speakers include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vice President Mike Pence and Trump White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany—and because it’s closed to the press."

Inside Facebook's 'cult-like' workplace, where dissent is discouraged and employees pretend to be happy all the time; CNBC, January 8, 2019

Salvador Rodriguez, CNBC; Inside Facebook's 'cult-like' workplace, where dissent is discouraged and employees pretend to be happy all the time

"Former employees describe a top-down approach where major decisions are made by the company's leadership, and employees are discouraged from voicing dissent — in direct contradiction to one of Sandberg's mantras, "authentic self."...

"All the things we were preaching, we weren't doing enough of them. We weren't having enough hard conversations. They need to realize that. They need to reflect and ask if they're having hard conversations or just being echo chambers of themselves.""

Why Scott Pruitt’s living arrangement raises ethics concerns; PBS News Hour, April 3, 2018

PBS News Hour; Why Scott Pruitt’s living arrangement raises ethics concerns

"The controversies and ethical questions surrounding EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are piling up. Most recently, ABC News reported that Pruitt was occasionally renting a room in Washington from the wife of a lobbyist for the energy industry. William Brangham learns more from Eric Lipton from The New York Times and Kathleen Clark from The University of Washington St. Louis School of Law."

Reminder: the Trump International Hotel is still an ethics disaster; Vox, August 11, 2017

Carly Stirin, Vox; Reminder: the Trump International Hotel is still an ethics disaster

"Who’s spending all that money at the hotel? Since visitation records are not made public, The Washington Post sent reporters to the hotel every day in May to try to identify people and organizations using the facilities.

What they found was a revolving door of powerful people holding galas in the hotel’s lavish ballrooms and meeting over expensive cocktails with White House staff at the bar.

They included Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), whom Politico recently called "Putin’s favorite congressman”; Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), who chairs the General Services Administration, the Trump hotel's landlord; and nine other Republican Congress members who all hosted events at the hotel, according to campaign spending disclosures obtained by the Post. Additionally, foreign visitors such as business groups promoting Turkish-American relations and the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and his wife also rented out rooms.

Ethics experts — including the former top government ethics official who resigned last month — say this is exactly what they were worried about in a Trump presidency."

Ivanka Trump's firm seeks new trademarks in China, reviving ethical concerns; CNN Money, June 5, 2017

Jackie Wattles and Jill Disis, CNN Money; Ivanka Trump's firm seeks new trademarks in China, reviving ethical concerns

"Ivanka Trump's business, which mostly makes clothing and accessories, says the latest trademark applications were filed to block others from profiting off of her name, not because she wants to sell the products in China.

But that's still a problem, says Larry Noble, the general counsel for the nonprofit, nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group.

He said the family's continued ties to their businesses raise questions about whether their profit motives could influence U.S. relations with other countries.

"China knows that to deny these applications would get a negative reaction from the president, and to expedite their approval would get a positive reaction from the president," Noble said."

The investigation of Jared Kushner fits a very troubling pattern; Washington Post, May 25, 2017

Aaron Blake, Washington Post; The investigation of Jared Kushner fits a very troubling pattern

"Former Obama administration ethics counsel Norman L. Eisen was among those criticizing that move. And here's what Eisen said back in December, when Kushner's potential role in the Trump White House first made news:

The problem with it is it sends a message that if you want to have influence in the administration, do it through the kids. And there’s a tradition. This is not the first time this has happened. I’m just shocked it’s happened in the United States.

It's possible that Kushner's familial relationship with Trump is part of the reason he's been subjected to more scrutiny than any other White House adviser in this probe. And as emphasized above, we have no idea what will come of this.

But if scrutiny of Kushner becomes more intense and there appears to be some validity to it, it will reinforce a central reason why ethics experts say these kinds of arrangements are to be avoided in the first place.

Chris Christie’s trip to Dallas on Jerry Jones’s dime raises ethics concerns; Washington Post, 1/6/15

Cindy Boren, Washington Post; Chris Christie’s trip to Dallas on Jerry Jones’s dime raises ethics concerns:

"The trip may comply with the letter of the law, but it’s still raising questions, especially given Christie’s George Washington Bridge scandal.

Jameson Doig, an emeritus Princeton University professor who wrote a book about the Port Authority, said Christie’s relationship and receiving of gifts from Jones “sends the wrong signal if Christie or any of his top aides appear to have a conflict of interest in their relationship to the Port Authority.”

“The governor ought to do all he can to avoid that conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict,” Doig, a member of a panel on overhauling the agency’s ethics rules and structure, told the Wall Street Journal.

The trip may have violated no laws, but it may prove to be a bigger blow to his image than just that orange sweater that became a social-media meme."

Censoring Twain; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/5/11

John L. Jackson, Jr., Chronicle of Higher Education; Censoring Twain:

"Should teenage students read novels filled with n-word references? Is that even appropriate for public school curricula? At least one publisher doesn’t think so."

Iranian-American Group Calls on Stanford to Censure Professor; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/5/11

Josh Keller, Chronicle of Higher Education; Iranian-American Group Calls on Stanford to Censure Professor:

"An Iranian-American group has asked Stanford University to censure a professor for what it calls "racially discriminatory and inflammatory" comments to an Iranian student who was asking him about admission to Stanford."

Computers That See You and Keep Watch Over You; New York Times, 1/2/11

Steve, Lohr, New York Times; Computers That See You and Keep Watch Over You:

"“Machines will definitely be able to observe us and understand us better,” said Hartmut Neven, a computer scientist and vision expert at Google. “Where that leads is uncertain.”...

At work or school, the technology opens the door to a computerized supervisor that is always watching. Are you paying attention, goofing off or daydreaming? In stores and shopping malls, smart surveillance could bring behavioral tracking into the physical world...

“With every technology, there is a dark side,” said Hany Farid, a computer scientist at Dartmouth. “Sometimes you can predict it, but often you can’t.”"