I don't think we disagree about any of the facts, but we seem to have reached opposite conclusions. Look at any corporate charter: power over the company resides with the shareholders, exercised through the board of directors whom the shareholders elect. Of course those elections are normally pro forma affairs, and whatever slate is nominated is overwhelmingly approved. And why shouldn't it be? Management and shareholders are almost always united in the desire to make money, it is only when the two come into conflict that there is any tension over corporate governance.
True, upper management and the board are the ones making the decisions, although most boards are just rubber stamps. I may have been waxing hyberbolic when I described them as "toadies", but it isn't far from the truth; most boards are very deferential to upper management, and unless there is something going on that poses an obvious risk to the company they are more than happy to go with the flow.
Trouble is, most evil corporate acts affect those without a say in corporate governance, such as employees, or those completely outside the company such as customers and society at large. There is little incentive to "do no evil" if those affected can't influence the decisions.
And I disagree that those who make the decisions are the ones responsible. It is the owners who are ultimately responsible for a company's actions. You can delegate authority, but not responsiblility.
it is the job of the employees and board of directors to do what's best for the company.
I believe that the lack of personal responsibility is the prime reason for the psychopathic, anti-social tendencies of public corporations. Shareholders, the true owners of the company, claim they have no control over its actions, and are thus not responsible. Managers claim to work for the benefit of shareholders, and blame their actions on "fiduciary duty", which many of them seem to interpret to mean doing whatever is necessary to make a profit. And employees of course are just following orders. The board of directors has nominal power, but in reality most corporate boards are made up of cronies, tokens and toadies and are utterly toothless.
So who bears ulimate moral responsibility for the actions of a corporation? Just as if you are trying to assign blame for the actions of a mad dog, you must look to the owner.
What's worse is that our military operations are no longer even called wars, they are police actions, conflicts, and authorized uses of force.
The term war is now only utilized for government policies with no chance of success, such as the "War on Drugs", the "War on Poverty" and the "War on Terror". And since we have no hope of winning, "war" is now a permanent state of affairs.
Heh, that puts me in mind of "The Midas Plague", by Frederick Pohl, where the proletarian masses are forced to slave away watching TV, eating bon-bons and generally consuming like mad in order to keep the economy propped up, and only the super-rich are able to relax in humble surroundings.
Jack: OK Chloe, you've got ten minutes to get inside the warehouse, convince the terrorists that you're their contact, and hack into their network to disable the security system, then we'll come in and take them down on your signal. Can you do that?
Chloe: Please Jack, I'm not incompetent you know!
Jack: Is your concealed microphone in place?
Chloe: Yes, it's made up to look like a Kotex tampon, and I slipped it in place with some Vagisil cream.
Speed enforcement is a money game here in the US. No one really cares if the roads are safer, they just want ticket money. I even heard of a recent case where a districy raised the budget for ticket collection by $1,000,000 without even consulting the Police Department. They simply told them to go out and get more money.
Maybe local government should be prohibited from taking the ticket money. Give the revenue to another fund, like helping to pay for people hurt in traffic accidents, or driver education for kids in high school.
Scenario One: Bank robbers consult weather reports closely, timing their strikes for optimal camoflauge. Police foiled!
Scenario Two: Corporate-Fascist government requires all cars to incorporate transceivers that tie into the body of the car, and when police dial in the car's license plate number the color changes to spell out "PULL ME OVER, I AM A CRIMINAL. OH BTW SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL POLICE!"
Did I miss something? From the opening paragraphs:
But how, you ask, could a car have managed to fail me?
Already I can see the terror in your eyes at the thought that your car, too, might fail. Here you are with an indefinite lifespan, a potentially immortal being, taking every possible precaution against the abrupt termination of your godhead; and all for nothing.
And from the closing:
General Transportation has paid me a more than adequate sum in a compensation for the fact that my car was unable to handle a roc. (I've heard that they're changing the guarantees for next year's model.) They've promised me an equal sum for writing this article. It seems there are strange and possibly damaging rumors going around concerning my delayed arrival at Wiggly River.
Rest assured, reader. I not only lived through the accident without harm, but came out of it with a substantial profit. Your car is perfectly safe, provided it was built later than 3100 A.D.
The point of the story is that longevity motivates more caution, not less. Luck (the origin of the longevity) is incidental.
This reminds me of the Larry Niven story "Safe at Any Speed", in which a society of extremely long-lived people adopts an attitude of utter caution - to die in an accident would be unthinkable, so everything is made to be perfectly safe.
Think of your kitchen sink faucet.
Now think of all the faucets in your house turned on at once.
Now think of all the faucets on your street turned on too.
Add all the faucets in your community.
Thanks a lot, now I have to get up and take a piss.
It's sad that patients have to jump through hoops to get their medical records. In contrast, when I needed some tests done recently, I drove down to Mexico and got X-rays and a CT scan for about half what I would have paid in the U.S. (and I'm talking cash over the barrel, no insurance). The doctor handed me the X-rays in a folder - I still have them. And the CT scan results were burned to a CD with a handy little viewer app, so I can cruise through my abdominal cavity a la "Fantastic Voyage" whenever I please. Sure beats pleading with the lab to see the results that you PAID for.
I disagree. All Microsoft must do is communicate that there is a financial risk associated with their Korean operations. If they wanted to be neutral about the situation they could have said something like:
"If the KFTC enters an order requiring Microsoft to remove code or redesign Windows uniquely for the Korean market, it could have a material impact on company revenue"
That's all they need to say in order to cover themselves in a regulatory filing - they are aware of a risk to investors, and they are disclosing it. There is no need for them to specify the action they might take in response. This is a clear shot across the bow.
Slashdot Mirror
8. "Intel. It's whats for dinner" - AMD
True, upper management and the board are the ones making the decisions, although most boards are just rubber stamps. I may have been waxing hyberbolic when I described them as "toadies", but it isn't far from the truth; most boards are very deferential to upper management, and unless there is something going on that poses an obvious risk to the company they are more than happy to go with the flow.
Trouble is, most evil corporate acts affect those without a say in corporate governance, such as employees, or those completely outside the company such as customers and society at large. There is little incentive to "do no evil" if those affected can't influence the decisions.
And I disagree that those who make the decisions are the ones responsible. It is the owners who are ultimately responsible for a company's actions. You can delegate authority, but not responsiblility.
I believe that the lack of personal responsibility is the prime reason for the psychopathic, anti-social tendencies of public corporations. Shareholders, the true owners of the company, claim they have no control over its actions, and are thus not responsible. Managers claim to work for the benefit of shareholders, and blame their actions on "fiduciary duty", which many of them seem to interpret to mean doing whatever is necessary to make a profit. And employees of course are just following orders. The board of directors has nominal power, but in reality most corporate boards are made up of cronies, tokens and toadies and are utterly toothless.
So who bears ulimate moral responsibility for the actions of a corporation? Just as if you are trying to assign blame for the actions of a mad dog, you must look to the owner.
Actually it's $2.6 billion, with a $700 million rebate.
And that puppy expires December 31, so they'd better remember to send it in.
The term war is now only utilized for government policies with no chance of success, such as the "War on Drugs", the "War on Poverty" and the "War on Terror". And since we have no hope of winning, "war" is now a permanent state of affairs.
Heh, that puts me in mind of "The Midas Plague", by Frederick Pohl, where the proletarian masses are forced to slave away watching TV, eating bon-bons and generally consuming like mad in order to keep the economy propped up, and only the super-rich are able to relax in humble surroundings.
Is that you, Prince Charles??
Chloe: Please Jack, I'm not incompetent you know!
Jack: Is your concealed microphone in place?
Chloe: Yes, it's made up to look like a Kotex tampon, and I slipped it in place with some Vagisil cream.
brief pause
Jack: Chloe, that was way too much information.
That was problem for me too, until I started wearing Depends, now with Maximum Absorbency and six EasyGrip(tm) tabs!
Well I don't know about you, but speaking for myself, I find significant differences:
Of course, there are also similarities:
You're about 50% banana.
I like to think of myself as mostly fruitcake.
Maybe local government should be prohibited from taking the ticket money. Give the revenue to another fund, like helping to pay for people hurt in traffic accidents, or driver education for kids in high school.
Scenario One: Bank robbers consult weather reports closely, timing their strikes for optimal camoflauge. Police foiled!
Scenario Two: Corporate-Fascist government requires all cars to incorporate transceivers that tie into the body of the car, and when police dial in the car's license plate number the color changes to spell out "PULL ME OVER, I AM A CRIMINAL. OH BTW SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL POLICE!"
No, it means you can ski well enough to go around the trees.
Seriously though, don't miss Le Guin's "Earthsea" books, and the old Andre Norton stuff - the "Witch World" stories are good.
Well, if the driver drinks lots of healthy beer, that shouldn't be too hard to find :)
Symmetry demands that comment is modded Funny.
And from the closing:
The point of the story is that longevity motivates more caution, not less. Luck (the origin of the longevity) is incidental.
This reminds me of the Larry Niven story "Safe at Any Speed", in which a society of extremely long-lived people adopts an attitude of utter caution - to die in an accident would be unthinkable, so everything is made to be perfectly safe.
Oh really? Then why do we keep hearing about Canadian softwood?
Now think of all the faucets in your house turned on at once.
Now think of all the faucets on your street turned on too.
Add all the faucets in your community.
Thanks a lot, now I have to get up and take a piss.
We may have one the Cold War, but whenever a Windows system boots up, ex-KGB agents laugh derisively and toast each other with tiny glasses of vodka.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
It's sad that patients have to jump through hoops to get their medical records. In contrast, when I needed some tests done recently, I drove down to Mexico and got X-rays and a CT scan for about half what I would have paid in the U.S. (and I'm talking cash over the barrel, no insurance). The doctor handed me the X-rays in a folder - I still have them. And the CT scan results were burned to a CD with a handy little viewer app, so I can cruise through my abdominal cavity a la "Fantastic Voyage" whenever I please. Sure beats pleading with the lab to see the results that you PAID for.
It shines out, like a shaft of gold, when all around is darkness :)
That's all they need to say in order to cover themselves in a regulatory filing - they are aware of a risk to investors, and they are disclosing it. There is no need for them to specify the action they might take in response. This is a clear shot across the bow.