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Time to give a rest to the question: what's next? I have seen and heard it in various guises, most recently as a query of resignation over the state of the economy and the world, given that so much has happened in 2008. So, the unsaid inflection is really "What [could possibly happen] next?"

We will respond to this question and then be done with it. We need to let our small group of a2ethics.orgers (and orgies--can't you get enough of this site, if it is a soft g?) know what we are planning for 2009, based on what we have learned over the past year.

Here's the "what's next?" for the a2ethics.org update:

1. We have been talking with our very patient intellectual property lawyer about terms of use and other conditions to include for our members and on our site.

We are definitely not interested in making our work exclusive. Not because we are an ethics site and that it is somehow more ethical to share. Instead, we think that it is about the increasing ethical problem we have in this world about owning ideas and we want our listeners and readers to think about the restrictions of the "All Rights Reserved" precedent. If you don't know what that means, then we hope to get into some discussion about it.

The point of all this is to say that during 2009, we are going to be creating terms of use policies for our site that we want to make engaging, because there are many ethical issues embedded in these terms of use that we commonly accept everyday in using websites. But we don't think about what they actually mean...for all of us. In addition, we are planning to consider other policies, among the most important, privacy, conflict of interest and political nonpartisanship policies for the a2ethics.org site. Boring? We don't think so. They bristle with moral principle and consequences. We would like you to contribute to these discussions. We also plan some podcasts on these issues.

For now: If you look at the bottom of each page on the site, we have an icon that comes from the Creative Commons movement. Check out their website to see what our a2ethics.org requirements for use of our material are: www.creativecommons.org.

One thing we feel very strongly about. Make sure you give us a nod and an attribution if you want to use any of the a2ethics.org writings. From our podcasts to our forum discussions. We are not vengeful people. But we will declare you ethically unsound, excommunicated and seek retribution if you use our words or our discussions and don't give a2ethics.org AND the author, Who Might Well Be You, the credit for saying it so brilliantly, tersely, saucily, or even poorly.

How do you do it? It's easy. Just publish it as follows: "This _____comes from www.a2ethics.org." And if there is an author attached, Who Might Well Be You, make sure you include the author or you as author and creative force behind the piece.

2. We are also composing a "when we knew better...a when we screwed up, our mistakes or oops" policy. We don't have the money (we don't have any spare change) to hire a really good editor.

And we are not professional journalists and don't have as a boss that really great editor from "The Wire." Gus. If you watched that HBO series, Gus was the fictional Baltimore newspaper editor who would wake up in the middle of the night and wonder whether he had gotten the wrong statistic for a story being printed the next day.

The Gus at a2ethics.org is us.

So, the Gus policy we have come up with, as we become aware of errors and name misspellings and so on, is based on honor. Not a permanent but a temporary solution to getting a Gus. Of course, if any a2ethics.orger or orgie wants to become our Gus or our Gustina, just let us know. We would love to hear from you.

For now: If there is a grammatical error that is not from someone we are directly quoting, interviewing or talking to, AND the error is our own, we will take responsibility for correcting it. We won't list these errors on the site, but will correct them as quickly as we see them.

We will list, however, any factual errors we find in going over our work and we will do our best to ensure we are not misrepresenting our subject matter. And in the future, we will have a place on the site which is called something like the "when we done wrong" section to tell you about the errors of our ways and to issue any mea culpas we think are essential.

The fact is though that regular a2ethics.org readers and listeners can help us in reducing errors. Just correct us in your comments, provide citations where we go wrong and give us a hand.

As this update is becoming longer than it was intended...let it stop here. Except that there is one more thing. There is always one more thing to say in ethicsworld.

People sometimes assume that your ethics and your ethical ideas are formed when you are young and that as a result, they dont' evolve or change. If this unchanging Parmenides-like view about ethics were applied to our own organization, which is also young, then we wouldn't recognize ourselves.

We are learning as we go and as we evolve.

We appreciate your listening in and reading our work and look forward to hearing from you in 2009.

In 2008 for our series WORKING ETHICS, we traveled throughout this region and talked to a range of people from various professions. From members of government to dog groomers, we posed the question: What are the ethics you encounter at your job?

Listen here on our Podcasts page or Subscribe to our series using iTunes. Go to iTunes and search a2ethics.org in their Podcasts section. Enjoy this ongoing exploration of everyday ethics.

We are planning our events at a2ethics.org, our upcoming season for 2008-2009. We hope our season offers thinking opportunities and practical advice about living the life well-lived in a community where there are, thankfully, many ways to act on it. We aren't really very big on the One and Only Way.

We want to update you on a feature of our website that we are just getting around to. Yes, we are pretty slow-moving. We don't always jump on the topic of the moment. Even so,  our "senior ethics correspondents," barcode, Mz. Manners and Sandy Bottoms et. al, have given us alot of ways to think about new movies, plays and arts events coming to the a2 area. They have also created some very good regular columns to go to every week: from "Staff Picks" to "The Big Ethical Questions." At the same time, I have been concentrating on offering up some practical "Ethics Tools" every now and again for our members to consider using, or at least think about using, in ethics situations.

So, why not register and go to the my account feature? We have some questions for you to think about and to add to your profile if you wish. For example, clicking on the "My Ethics" section will get you to some fairly interesting, but not surprising, self-assessment options. They include:

An Ethical Question with No Answer

An Ethical Job

Worst Ethical Problem in the Workplace

Why Be Ethical?

Ethical Topics that Interest Me

Favorite Ethical Person

In filling out the information, I like the one about why should I be ethical.

And I have decided that it's not because I want to be able to face myself in the mirror each morning. It is because trying to be ethical is the most challenging aspect of living my life. No, I don't need to 'get a life.' And yes, I have other things to be and do. But trying to do the right thing is unparalleled. Doing the wrong thing is the easy way out. I want a better adventure and a different story.

We hope you take the time to fill out the information. Thanks for joining a2ethics.org.

Plan to participate in our upcoming 2008-2009 season.

Right now, you can check our events. We have a great one planned for November. More are on the way. We just have to get around to pulling them together.

At a2ethics.org, we are working with a new content management system. Some of the features are designed to make it a bit simpler for the a2ethics.org correspondents and cast of characters to contribute and write articles and original content. So, we are having to establish new ways of doing what we have enjoyed doing, and believe we will enjoy even more once we get the hang of it.

With this in mind, we are hanging our sign out: "Bear with our dust" while we are learning, and the very weird user warnings that seem to have appeared at the top of all of our menu options. At least you won't have to "pay double the fine, if you kill or injure a worker..." our repairs do not require our correspondents to deal with road rage and drunken drivers.

Once a2ethics.org gets it all together, it will also be easier for you to work the site. We are hoping that more of you will comment and contribute. Toward this end, you have to register...yes again. But once you do, please get involved. This is supposed to be your site too. Also, once you have registered, check out the my account and the new profile entries. We have aspirations to be a quality social network. We are not delusional. Not everyone wants to talk about ethical issues. But there are enough of us, and what we like most about the site is that we are not really a niche or a "nitch" site, and we are not just for people who are like-minded.

And, check out our podcasts. Bart Bund, our web director, has done some really fun and challenging interviews with some really fascinating and wonderful people in their 20s and 30s. Our technical guy, Vince Chmielewski, the Vince in VC Webdesign, his company, is also involved and has helped us get the podcasts up in a timely manner. Every now and again, I pipe in with a few questions in these podcasts.

My favorite so far: our latest, the upcoming podcast with 32 year old Kelton Graham, the Huron High School boys' swimming coach, who recently led his team to their first state championship in 20 years. Coach Graham's trust building and his idea that "it is not about the coach, but about the kids," shine throughout the wide-ranging and fast-paced interview. Coach Kelton talks faster than Cullen Jones, the sensational sprinter (you'll hear more about Jones in the next few weeks, because he will be in the Beijing Olympics) can finish the 50 free. And Kelton's heart is just as big.

I could go on. But just wanted you to know why you haven't been hearing as much from us over the last few weeks. We're working on getting our storylegs with the new system. And, I guess, taking a bit of a summer break. And throughout all this, it would not be right if we didn't give credit to Wayne Eaker, owner of Samutech, Inc. Wayne has created some new design features, such as the quizzes and the archive, which we hope to integrate into our running commentary on the forums.

Thanks for your patience. An ethical virtue, we think. At least in this case.

A2ethics.org