Author: southwerk

I am a 53 year old teacher. I have double major in Speech and Criminal Justice resulting in a Bachelor's degree from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma and a law degree.

What Will Become Of The Internet?

On By southwerkIn Capitalism

The web blog, Grand Strategy: The View From Oregon, has a post on the future of the Internet.

It’s a very good post, thoughtful and reasoned. Here’s a quote. I recommend you read all of it.

James Pilant

The fight for WikiLeaks to make documents public in the Western democracies and the fight for activists like Ai Weiwei and Liu Xiaobo to speak out publicly in China are intimately related. One cannot avoid noticing that these struggles are taking place in the two largest economies in the world at present. Today, these are the fights worth fighting. This is the good fight. It is not a fight of nation-state against nation-state, nor class against class, but of individuals against institutions that seek to regiment the life of the individual for the convenience of those institutions and those who control and benefit from the institutions.

What “Star Wars” can teach my son about life (via Salon)

On By southwerkIn ethics

This blog deals in many ways with ethics. So, I pursue topics along those lines. When I saw this article in Salon I was intrigued. David Sirota is an author whose work I appreciate. He’s done a nice job on this one. He wasn’t just content to write a good article, he salted it with clips from various films illustrating his points.

Sirota is clearly having fun with his topic. But that’s okay, he’s invited us along.

Wherever you stand in the debate about what the Empire metaphorically represents — a huge corporation, your faceless county government, the vast military-industrial complex — it’s undoubtedly the kind of place in which many of us now toil: namely, inside a bureaucracy that has lots of worker-bee drones and a very clear management hierarchy. In the age of mass layoffs, de-unionization, the shredding of labor regulations, and a general desperation to hold onto a job, the “Star Wars” trilogy — and specifically, senior corporate executive Darth Vader — prepares kids for how that modern workplace operates.

Read this gem where Sirota reflects on the lessons of ET.

In their civics class, kids will almost definitely be told about the virtues of our Fourth Amendment — the one that’s supposed to protect their privacy. Most likely, though, they won’t be told about stuff that has destroyed those sacred safeguards — stuff like the Patriot Act, warrantless wiretapping, Facebook cyber-tracking, and the like. To prevent kids from being confused by this paradoxical conflict between constitutional principle and the real world practices of the National Security State, Spielberg gives them “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial,” whose most frightening scene tells us how little privacy they can expect. After extensively surveilling Elliot’s family (ostensibly without warrant) via kidnapper van, the faceless government lunges into his home zombie-style — arms rigidly extended, fists tearing through walls/windows, and no warrant in sight, even as Elliot’s mom shrieks that “This is my home!” Welcome, kids, to 21st century “privacy” — expect nothing but a space-suit-clad federal agent at your door.

This is my favorite paragraph.

At some point, my son Isaac and children his age are going to want to know about the economy and the tough times of their youth. And at some point, they’ll probably hear about the housing crisis from some TV charlatan who tells them that it wasn’t really about big megabanks and shady schemes — it was really all about poor, lazy selfish minorities who were irresponsible and therefore deserved to be thrown out of their homes. But by the time they hear that factually unsubstantiated tripe, we should make sure our kids have already seen “The Goonies.”

There are many more gems like this one in the article. Please read it. We can all use a post holiday laugh tempered with a satirical edge.

James Pilant

Bank Of America Next WikiLeaks Target – Bank Digging For Dirt

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

The headline to my quoted article says that the bank is digging for dirt on itself. This is just PR. They know exactly what they don’t want people to know. Bank of America wants to give the impression that it’s such a hugh and confusing organization that nobody really had a handle on everything going on. Nonsense.

Frankly, I’m excited. This bank has been a key player in the mortgage foreclosure crisis and has just settled some buyback lawsuits. Let’s see exactly what they thought of the quality of their ownership chain. Let’s see what their internal memos said about the speed of the foreclosures, their refusals to renegotiate mortgages and their thoughts on the President’s plan to help homeowners.

I promise you a careful look at these documents as soon as I can get to them.

From The Lookout from Yahoo News –

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange recently confirmed that Bank of America will be his next target — so it’s not surprising that the nation’s largest bank is now in damage-control mode. Still, the megabank’s methods are a bit unorthodox. Instead of trying to frantically pin culpability elsewhere in the great chain of financial dealing, BofA executives are actually digging for dirt on the bank’s own operations, the New York Times reports. That way, the reasoning goes, the bank’s messaging team will be better positioned to spin any damaging revelations that surface from WikiLeaks.

Do people believe this stuff? Doesn’t this sound more like the plot for an episode of a television comedy?

James Pilant

Top Business Ethics Posts 1/4/11

On By southwerkIn business ethics

David Gebler on his blog, Business Ethics, calls attention to Johnson & Johnson’s legal problems.

Here’s an excerpt – Today’s business press reports that a lawsuit filed last week on behalf of Johnson & Johnson shareholders accused the company’s directors of ignoring “red flags” foreshadowing product recalls and government probes of manufacturing defects and marketing practices.

The Engineering Ethics Blog has a post about efficiency thusly, “Does Improving Efficiency Really Save Energy?”

Here’s an excerpt – Don’t get the idea I think efficiency is bad. If I did, I couldn’t very well call myself an engineer. However, Jevons reminds us that, like many other things in life, energy efficiency can be helpful in limited circumstances. But expecting it to solve all the world’s energy problems is not only unrealistic, but probably counterproductive as well.

Chris MacDonald writing in his blog, The Business Ethics Blog, discusses the topic, Greenpeace, Tar Sands and “Fighting Fire with Fire.”

Here’s an excerpt – Many people think companies deserve few or no protections against attacks. Some people, for example, think companies should not even be able to sue for slander or libel. Likewise, corporations (and other organizations) do not enjoy the same regulatory protections and ethical standards that protect individual humans when they are the subjects of university-based research.

Jack Marshall writing in Ethics Alarms had an interesting post about when e-mail posts cross the ethical line.

Here’s an excerpt – A lack of civility is considered a breach of professionalism in all jurisdictions, but not an ethical violation calling into question fitness to practice law—the standard for bar discipline—unless it is extreme, and usually not until there have been warnings issued. Apparently this particular spat was just too much for the Bar to take, perhaps because it reflects badly on the entire profession.

Julian Friedland in his blog, Business Ethics Memo, asks an excellent question, “Should American Business Protect American Jobs?”

Here’s an excerpt – Which is what I’ve been saying for sometime myself, arguing that it’s irrational on Rawlsian social-contract grounds for this nation to be shipping so many of its jobs overseas. But it’s not clear what can be done if corporations are unwilling to support regulations that would encourage American companies to keep jobs here.

Bank Of America Pays Two Billion Dollars To Settle Claims

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

First, let’s be clear. This two billion dollars is a buyback of loans that were sold to other firms as good investments when in fact they were missing paperwork or had more serious problems. This case settles a small portion of the “handful,” the “tiny proportion” of loans in which there were mistakes that everybody was assuring us was the case six months ago. Well, there are hundreds of thousands of these loans. They border on or are loans based on deception and fraud.

This payout doesn’t make much sense. Bank of American shares actually went up after the agreement was announced. So, we have to figure they were expecting it to be much worse or suffered anxiety over the uncertainty.

What really surprises me was that Wikileaks is supposed to dump a ton of Bank of America files on the web and the opposition negotiators didn’t wait for it. I would have thought that the release of the documents would have put Bank of America in a poorer negotiating position while quite possibly providing new insights into the loans themselves.

I hate it when public financial events don’t make any sense. I hate it because it doesn’t make sense only because I don’t know some of the players or the deals. In a year or two, I’ll probably have some insight into what happened but by then it will make no difference in what has become “ancient” history.

James Pilant

From CBS Money Watch –

Bank of America Corp. will take an approximately $2 billion charge in its fourth quarter as it settles buyback claims on home loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The bank said Monday that it also expects to take a provision of about $3 billion in the quarter related to repurchase obligations on the home loans.

Bank of America shares jumped 4.4 percent in premarket trading on the news.

On Friday Bank of America, which is based in Charlotte, N.C., paid Fannie Mae $1.34 billion and Freddie Mac $1.28 billion as part of the settlements.

The deals with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are tied to Countrywide Financial Corp. residential mortgage loans. Bank of America bought Countrywide in July 2008.

What Should We Do for the Economy? Fix the Mistake – What Mistake? (via Realizing A Better World)

On By southwerkIn Capitalism

Luke H. Lee has a slide presentation explaining his solution to the current economic crisis. This is slide four of an eight slide presentation. I recommend you go have a look at the entire set.

Go here for all of the slides.

James Pilant

Why Business Is Hollywood’s Go-To Villain, Especially Now (via BNET)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

BNET has an interesting essay complete with clips about the corporation as the villian of choice. It’s a fun read and the film clips alone are enough reason to view the article.

James Pilant

Corporations and their leaders are seldom cast as movie heroes.

But in the movies of 2010, whether you were at the multiplex or the art house, the go-to bad guy was the American corporation.

Even the adorable Despicable Me has super villains who need to finance their nefarious schemes and pay a visit to the Bank of Evil, or, as the posted sign indicates, the former Lehman Brothers. From Tron: Legacy to Inception, the choice of evildoer was so consistent it was a relief …. Read More.

January 2011 Update of THE GREAT DEPRESSION of DEBT (via Wbrussee’s Weblog)

On By southwerkIn Government Failure

Warren Brussee is a book author and has a detailed plan to fix our economic problems. I don’t agree with everything in it but there is a lot I like. He’s an intruiguing author who has thought seriously about these topics. I’d like you to read his blog post and maybe even buy his book.

James Pilant

“The Great Depression of Debt” is a hardcover updated edition of “The Second Great Depression, Starting 2007, Ending 2020.”  “The Great Depression of Debt” can be purchased at most bookstores or at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Great-Depression-Debt-Survival-Techniques/dp/0470423714 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! WHAT ENDED THE FIRST GREAT DEPRESSION? A quick review on what happened during 1930 to 1945.  In trying to fight the depression, our count … Read More

via Wbrussee's Weblog

Buying Your Child Into A College!

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Capitalism, ethics, Government Failure, monopoly, Teaching2 Comments

From the Huffington Post –

Dr. Michael Bardwil donated $40,000 to his alma mater, a Jesuit school in Houston, Texas, after a school administrator advised it would guarantee his son admission. So when his son was rejected earlier this year, Bardwil was upset.

ABC reports that a school administrator asked that Bardwil donate $100,000 to the school, and in return the prestigious college preparatory would offer admission to his son. When Bardwil pledged $50,000 over a five year period, he assumed it was a sure thing.

The elite colleges and universities admit about 1/3 of their students based on parental giving, another 1/3 based on legacy enrollments (their parents went there) and the last 1/3 on merit. This is one of the most significant reasons that the upper classes have solidified. It’s very difficult to move up in the world without going to one of these school. With only 1/3 of the enrollment based on merit, your children and mine have little chance of getting in. The open spots are so few, a student can’t get in on high scores but only with almost superhuman scores. That’s not fair.

We like to think this country is a meritocracy where you get ahead becaue you’re smart or hard working. But most of us understand the truth and that truth is that having good contacts, going to good schools and having upper class mannerisms are the basic requirements for success. These people live in a bubble world where no amount of incompetence, poor conduct or even criminal acts can knock them down. Now, I’m sure you can remind me of Madoff or some other corporate malefactor. But let me remind you that the world economy was savaged by the geniuses on Wall Street back in 2007 and not one has paid any penalty for their criminal acts or simple incompetence.

The middle class lives in a world where any failure can doom your career. They live in a world where you can do everything, absolutely everything they taught you in high school or college would gurantee you success and still everything can be taken from them, their jobs, their homes, their insurance, their benefits, their pensions, their investments – everything. The children of the middle class are thrown out into a world of diminishing opportunity and low paying jobs.

Let me repeat, one of the key factors is the difficulty of the children of the middle class to get into prestigious schools.

I see nothing on the horizon that will change those rules.

You see this is the hardcore, the never changing affirmative action, the big quota system. The guaranteed access to the best spots to those who already have money or status is a vicious assault on the concept of merit.

It is astonishing considering the amount of federal aid these institutions gobble up that they are not required to admit based on merit.

James Pilant

Second Chances? Barack Obama to Michael Vick – Have We become a Compassionless Country? (via Motivational Speaker – Chuck Gallagher Business Ethics and Choices Expert)

On By southwerkIn business ethics, ethics, President Obama11 Comments

I don’t follow any sports whatever but I do follow crime stories. Thus, I am aware of Michael Vick. I did not like what he did. Nevertheless, he paid the penalty and should be judged by his actions now. I teach my class that America is the land of the second chance. Apparently Chuck Gallagher shares my opinion. I hope others see the world the way I do in this respect. After all, a nation that imprisons such an enormous part of its population might need to find some mercy and compassion to make these people part of society once again.

James Pilant

Second Chances? Barack Obama to Michael Vick - Have We become a Compassionless Country? Well, for a guy who believes in Second Chances (hence the title of my new book – Second Chances) I was shocked and saddened at the media storm or fire related to Barack Obama's comments praising giving folks – namely Michael Vick – a "Second Chance."  As a nation have we become so full of hate and intolerance that we no longer can tolerate the idea that "Second Chances" are worth aspiring toward? So this past Monday the following was reported by … Read More

via Motivational Speaker – Chuck Gallagher Business Ethics and Choices Expert