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Thursday, Mar 14, 2002

profusion cuisine

"It was Adam Smith who identified what turned out to be the central ethical fault line in Enron. The corporation, he wrote in The Wealth of Nations, was an inherently corrupting business form. The problem was the separation of ownership from control. In partnerships and sole proprietorships, the forms he preferred, the owners ran the business. In contrast, managers hired by the owner-stockholders ran the corporation. And the owners were too busy to monitor how their money was spent by the managers. So managers were institutionally liable to what Smith called "negligence" and "profusion." Negligence, because the business was not the consuming dedication of their lives, as it is for partners and sole proprietors; it was merely a job. Profusion, because they could reward themselves by lavishing other people's money, which spends so much easier than our own, on fine dinners, handsome equipages, and all manner of other frippery—and disguise their profusion as business expenses. Smith's distrust of the corporation had empirical backing in the disgraceful behavior of the East India Company, the Enron of his day, a monument to negligence and profusion."

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the chronically aggrieved

"If you've ever given money to an environmental organization, if you support the movement's agenda, then you're probably part of a grand conspiracy that's degrading life in America. Worse yet, you might even be a terrorist, or at least an accomplice. At least that's what Nick Nichols seems to think."

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photoshoppers

"Our focus at MSNBC.com is now on playing to the strengths unique to our medium by adding value to still images with in-depth captions and tightly edited audio/video components. Our goal is to use new technology so effectively that it fades into the background as the story is the reader focus."

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copy that

"Copyright-holding corporations are pushing new laws and computer-crippling technologies in their war on piracy. But can anything keep geeks from copying the music and movies they crave?"

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Wednesday, Mar 13, 2002

dead or alive

"Equally embarrassing to the government have been reports over the past five months that were recently confirmed by a December 23, 2001 Baltimore Sun article by reporter Scott Shane. The article revealed that Fort Detrick scientists had harvested bacteria from the dead bodies of persons "accidentally infected" with anthrax. Several former Army researchers who are now retired and live in Florida, including Bill Walter who to reporter Shane, have reported that at least three people affiliated with Fort Detrick who died from anthrax had their cadavers harvested so as to assist in the development of a new virulent anthrax strain. Army officials dispute these reports and say that harvesting was never performed at Fort Detrick. However, the same officials admit that accidental anthrax deaths did occur at the facility."

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slate chalkboard

"At this point, the mystery of "Who Is Robert Klingler?" swells to include "Who Is Robert Klingler-Desai?" and "Who Is RDesai3109@aol.com?" not to mention, "Are They the Same Person?"

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play for today

famous natl geo afghan girl is found 16 yrs later.

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boarding passes

"Washington --- Six months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Immigration and Naturalization Service mailed out notices that two of the hijackers had been approved for student visas."

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aliason

whew. had dinner with the parents last night at the new restaurant. growing up it was always my mother that seemed unstable but since my dad "retired" he has completely gone over the edge, at least after hes emptied a few glasses. now sure, the edge hes gone past was dull to begin with, but someones got to reel him in when hes knocking on the window of the restaurant and waving at the passersby. if anyone needs to borrow them, theyre available for weddings, bar mitzvahs or ribbon cutting ceremonies. price list available upon request.

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Tuesday, Mar 12, 2002

smile for the camera

"It's Electronic Media's first-ever survey of Washington's media inner circle naming the best and worst talk show guests. We spoke to more than a dozen TV news professionals who book, produce, host and follow the Washington-centric TV shows that do the most to define the country's political talking points."

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