SavvySugar

Fake Receipt Generator: Brilliant or Baffling?

SavvySugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:01:01 -0700

Nobody can have their steak and eat it, too, right? The creators of expenseasteak.com would disagree. The site's ethically questionable Maloney & Porcelli's Expense-a-Steak Headquarters tool allows you to enter any amount of money, and then generates several receipts that add up to your total. When I entered the amount $274.22, seven very real looking receipts popped up from a variety of merchants like "Office Supply Hut" and "The Panini Experience."

If you're asking yourself why anyone would want receipt knock-offs, then you're probably not familiar with expense reports. The reports are submitted to your company's accounting department after a business-related trip, and typically include copies of all receipts for which you want reimbursement.

The genuine appearance of the receipts is pretty incredible, but I can't imagine having the chutzpah to submit fake receipts in hopes of pulling one over my accounting department. What do you think of the Expense-a-Steak generator; is it brilliant or baffling?

Have You Ever Lied to Get Money From Someone?

SavvySugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:00:13 -0700

Woman Implanted With Wrong Embryo to Give Birth

TresSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Carolyn Savage was elated when she was told her implanted embryo had taken, and she was pregnant with her fourth, and last, child. After her first pregnancy, Carolyn faced a host of life-threatening problems, and two of her children had been born prematurely. Determined to have a fourth child, she and her husband Sean resorted to in vitro fertilization.

And then they received the unthinkable news from the fertility clinic: another couple's embryo had been implanted. After consulting lawyers and the biological parents, the Savages decided Carolyn would carry the baby to term and then give it up to its parents. Although the legal option was theirs, because of their beliefs, they chose not to terminate the pregnancy. Carolyn has decided to have her remaining embryos implanted in a surrogate who will carry and deliver her fourth child.

As advanced as reproductive technology is, we have yet to catch up with ways of handling the ethical dilemmas that arise when things go wrong. What if Carolyn didn't want to carry another person's baby and decided to terminate it? Legally, the biological parents would not have had recourse, but imagine how tragic her decision would have been for all involved. What do you think about fertility advancements? Are they necessary, or should people just adopt or be content with the number of children they have?

Saudi Vice Patrol Gears Up For a Summer of Enforcement

TresSugar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Yesterday we examined Americans' sometimes confusing morals - but could you imagine if the US had a vice patrol to enforce them? Residents in Saudi Arabia do face that reality, as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is gearing up for a Summer of morality patrol.

What will get you potentially jailed or publicly flogged? Punishable vices range from: alcohol consumption, prostitution, keeping shops open during prayer time, congregating in public with a non-related member of the opposite sex, and driving . . . if you're a woman.

Luckily for everyone, especially women who need to get somewhere, change is slowly coming to the Islamic country. King Abdullah appointed a new head of the religious police who is thought to be more moderate. The group also hired outside marketing experts to help it soften its image and apologized for arresting a man that kissed his wife in a parking lot. But like I said, the change is coming slowly - the virtue police have yet to abandon plans to install video cameras in malls to keep a better eye on people.

Reproductive Rights: Is There a Double Standard?

LilSugar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:00:02 -0800

Fertile females can mother as many offspring as they please. And, though public opinion on the issue of big families may vary, it is a woman's right to reproduce. But, when Nadya Suleman recently gave birth to octuplets in addition to the six young children she already had a home (all conceived by donor sperm), a discussion was raised about her doctor's ethics. Is it fair for women who conceive naturally and those using fertility treatments to be judged differently?

Is It Ethical For Parents to Use Children in Experiments?

LilSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:00:40 -0800

A number of moms and dads allow their offspring to participate in studies, but they aren't usually the ones conducting the research. However, some scientists and medical professionals use their children as experimental subjects to gain further insight in their field. Do you think this is ethical?

Source

Family Finds $10,000 in Organic Crackers Box

SavvySugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:15:36 -0800

Holding onto money is everyone's goal these days, yet one honest California family was eager to give back the envelope filled with $100 bills found in a box of crackers. Whole Foods is notorious for costly groceries that eat up our paychecks, but the Rogoff family unknowingly left the store $10,000 richer.

Instead of depositing the found money into a bank account, the Rogoffs called the police to report the booty found in a box of Annie's Sour Cream and Onion Cheddar Bunny crackers. Police suspected the cash to be part of a drug drop until they heard from a Whole Foods manager calling on behalf of a customer claiming she left her life savings in a box of mistakenly returned crackers.

The woman no longer trusted banks and chose the box of crackers as the hiding place for her savings. Lucky for her, Whole Foods accidentally restocked the box of crackers rather than throwing them away and the Rogoffs did the ethical thing and didn't keep the cash as their own. Would you have made the same decision?

Source

The Most and Least Honest Professions of 2008

SavvySugar — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:30:22 -0800

Bankers just can't seem to cut a break this year - besides enduring an extremely tumultuous work environment, people are judging those in the banking profession as being less honest than previously thought. The group lost 12 percentage points from last year's annual Gallup poll that asks for respondents to rate the honesty and ethical standards of various fields, dropping bankers from their spot among the most well-rated professions in 2007 to a neutral rating.

Poll respondents evaluated the professions as having very high, high, average, low, or very low standards, and here are the results from the 2008 survey. Is your profession reflected in the ratings?

Top-Rated Professions For Honesty and Ethics

Accountants
Funeral directors
Clergy
Policemen
Medical doctors
High school teachers
Druggists or pharmacists
Nurses

For the list of the least-rated professions, read more.

Least-Rated Professions For Honesty and Ethics

Labor union leaders
Lawyers
Business executives
Advertising practitioners
Stock brokers
Congressmen
Car salesmen
Telemarketers
Lobbyists

Do or Don't: Bringing Outside Food/Drink Into a Restaurant

YumSugar — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:30:07 -0800

Last week, New York Times critic Frank Bruni broached the question of whether it's kosher to bring outside food or drink into restaurants. I've noticed at some places - most recently at a popular neighborhood coffeehouse - that a growing number of establishments have barred customers from bringing items (such as water) inside. Bruni cited an example of a friend getting turned away from brunch at a New York diner for arriving with a Starbucks coffee in hand, and argued in favor of the establishment. "It strikes me as a measure of disrespect," he writes.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Is Bruni being too extreme when he calls it disrespectful behavior?

Alaska Inquiry Finds that Sarah Palin Abused Powers

LibertySugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:13:12 -0700

An investigation by the Alaska Legislature, released this evening, concluded that Sarah Palin abused the powers of the office of Governor of Alaska by pressuring subordinates with the goal of getting her ex-brother-in-law State Trooper Michael Wooton fired. The 236-page report, at the center of "Troopergate," also found that she was within her powers when she dismissed the public safety commissioner, who was the boss of the ex-brother-in-law.

The report, which could now have national implications, holds that Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act when she exerted pressure, and when she allowed her husband to do so, too. It states:

Such impermissible and repeated contacts create conflicts of interests for subordinate employees who must choose to either please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior’s displeasure and the possible consequences of that displeasure.

The legal and political implications of the report are uncertain. The Alaska legislature could censure Palin, and US voters may question the McCain campaign's characterization of Palin as a reformer.

Source