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Archive for 2010
« Previous EntriesAirlines should stop overbooking
Wednesday, December 29th, 2010By now, everybody knows that the big snowstorm that whacked the Northeast Coast a few days ago has created lingering havoc at the airports. People who planned to fly home after Christmas last Sunday are still sleeping on floors and wondering when they’ll ever make it home. Airline representatives claim they’re doing everything [...]
All I want for Christmas is a truly new year
Tuesday, December 28th, 2010Hope all of my readers enjoyed Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solistice, or whatever it us you choose to celebrate this time of year. I hope you got wonderful presents (I certainly did) and that you’re looking forward to terrific times in 2011.
This holiday season has been a time of real reflection for me, [...]
How far can we trust the accounting profession?
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010The Wall Street Journal reports that, earlier today, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Ernst & Young LLP, accusing the accounting firm of helping Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. hide its precarious financial situation from investors before its ultimate collapse in 2008. Cuomo’s suit alleged that Ernst & Young [...]
Bernie Madoff claims another victim
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010Just a few days ago, Mark Madoff, sone of disgraced financier Bernie Madoff, reportedly hanged himself in shame. It seems that the younger Madoff, along with his brother Andrew, has been the target of lawsuits, investigations, and continuous insults in the wake of his father’s conviction for running the bigggest Ponzi scheme in history. [...]
Complete annual performance evaluations with care
Friday, December 10th, 2010Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s discuss a pitfall that trips up all too many companies at year-end. The holiday season is upon us, which means that people are scrambling to complete their 2010 objectives, rushing to get holiday gifts purchased, wrapped and shipped, and generally groaning under [...]
WikiLeaks’ supporters should leave e-vendors alone
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010It’s been a busy couple of days for me, as I’ve appeared on BBC World’s “Have Your Say” and Public Radio International’s “The Take Away” radio shows to discuss the WikiLeaks situation. Sounds like there’s a full scale cyber-war going on out there, with Amazon, Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and other e-service providers having decided [...]
Julian Assange is nobody’s hero
Monday, December 6th, 2010When Julian Assange first founded WikiLeaks, a lot of people thought he was something of a folk hero. (Imagine, if you will, an Internet Robin Hood, stealing secret information from rich, corrupt institutions and freely sharing it with the general public.) While Assange’s methods were sometimes questioned, people who admire whistleblowers and cherish [...]
Listen to your peeps
Friday, December 3rd, 2010Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s discuss a situation in which a friend of mine (let’s call him Allan) once found himself. A hard-charging executive, Allan had a habit of shooting the messenger whenever he received bad news and blowing his stack whenever any of his subordinates dared [...]
Shame on WikiLeaks - and why are we all buying in?
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010WikiLeaks’ release of approximately 250,000 confidential State Department cables has to be one of the most irresponsible actions I’ve ever seen. The self-proclaimed watchdog of public transparency has managed to embarrass diplomats around the world - not all of the nasty quotes in those cables came from U.S. ambassadors - derail sensitive international negotiations [...]
Why would rich investors break insider trading laws?
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010As the insider trading story continues to unfold, I’m struck by news reports of who’s allegedly been making illegal millions based on nonpublic information. Odds are good it wasn’t your next-door neighbor. Reportedly, some of the richest, most privileged investors in the country were the people who took advantage of an unprecendented opportunity [...]
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