Aude Sapere: How do you measure evil?

You might find it interesting to know that I'm currently taking a class called Business Ethics. Yeah, yeah, it sounds like an oxymoron, blah blah blah. While I don't believe that in my heart of hearts, I'm having the most difficult time believing it tonight. As part of the class assignment, I have to write a paper about an ethical dilemma faced by a business and evaluate it in light of various ethical frameworks. Doing the research for which company and which ethical dilemma to discuss has been one of the most disheartening endeavors I have faced this semester. Here's a taste of what I've found (click on the company name for the full story):

Chiquita -- In 2003, the banana company admitted to making $1.7 million in "protection payments" to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), a U.S.-recognized terrorist group that were rivals of the better-known FARC terrorist group. Chiquita's punishment as levied by the U.S. government? A paltry $25 million fine. Last year, Chiquita recorded gross income of $491 million.

Exxon Mobil -- Among its many sins, Mobil was allegedly involved in the capture, torture and murder of villagers in Aceh, Indonesia, back in the 1990s. At least twelve mass graves have been dug up and an estimated 2,000 Acehnese torture victims have been buried in the Aceh area since 1990. BusinessWeek did an expose in 1998 and I think the case still is not settled. Exxon posted gross income of $145 billion last year.

Coca-Cola -- Coke and one of its bottling subsidiaries is accused in the complicity of the murder of union members and the ongoing intimidation of union members and of the suppression of union activity in Colombia. This came to light in 2005. That's only 3 years ago. Coke's 2007 gross income was $18.4 billion

Blue Hippo -- In my own backyard, this computer selling company took advantage of poor people with bad credit, offering a "deal" that violated a whole bunch of FTC regulations, including the Truth in Lending Act and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. They settled with the FTC last month with a $5 million payment to consumers -- but face a class-action lawsuit and further probes in other states. It continues to exist today.

Who ARE these people?! At what point does your head and conscience tell you that it's okay to pay off militant terrorist groups? How do you find a team of people who go along with a plan to fleece vulnerable people? And how do we (me included), as consumers, continue to blissfully ignore these gross violations in exchange for cheap gas, cheap food, cheap computers and carbonated sugar water?

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Now playing: Louis Armstrong - Rockin' Chair
via FoxyTunes

Junk mail sucks

In an effort to reduce the amount of junk mail in my house and to save paper, I went online to remove my name from the major direct mailing lists. After I filled out the form, here's the rather ironic text from the following page:

DMA's Mail Preference Service

Important: you have selected to eliminate all mailings from organizations participating in the DMA Mail Preference Service.

What you will miss.

The average household can save 1200 dollars per year from marketing offers.
You will no longer receive savings offers from these companies.

In fact, you will no longer receive offers and special savings for more than 80 percent of all commercial offers.

And you will miss the environmental benefits of shopping at home rather than driving to the mall!

By replacing just two shopping trips to the mall each year with shopping by catalogs or direct mail, DMA estimates that Americans could:

• Reduce the amount we drive by 3.3 billion miles.
• Reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 3 billion pounds.
• Save more than $490 million on gas costs.

When you click here, your name will be removed from future consumer prospect lists and you will see a significant reduction in all catalog and other commercial offers. If you wish to reconsider, click here and uncheck the box removing your name from DMA's member prospect lists.

DMA and all its members support the Commitment to Consumer Choice guidelines designed to better serve consumers and your right to choose to receive more of what you want and less of what you don't want. If you have questions about the CCC please visit the DMA web site homepage.

Seriously??? They're telling me that having hundreds of pounds of paper mail sent to me each year is actually good for the environment!??! Unbelievable. The best part about this whole endeavor -- I had to click on the link at the end of the text in order to actually have my request processed! Ridiculous. I'm sure 80% of the people who try to fill out that form don't even read that far down.

If you're interested in taking this small step for the sake of the planet, go to the DMA site but remember to click on the second to last link after you complete the form!

Searching 'copters

So here's why the helicopters were flying so low last night -- I knew they were searching for someone (or someones)

I can't figure out how to get the video embedded, so click here

There's hope out there

No offense to anyone who went to an ivy league school for undergrad or grad ...

... But I just had a fabulous 30-minute conversation with an HBS grad who works for a top consulting firm and who didn't once mention his MBA alma mater by name. I've had so, so, so many informational interviews and chance meetings with folks in that category and I can't even tell you how rampant the name dropping can be.

Super refreshing! And he made a company that I hadn't seriously considered working for seem awfully appealing ...

So, while I'm still stressed out and a bit frustrated about having a number of summer opportunities fall through or fail to materialize, I'm having a moment of inspiration and encouragement.

It's good to reminisce

Decided to take the night off from working and instead did a load of laundry and tidied up my room. I know that doesn't sound like much of a day off, but it's amazing what you find when you actually clean up piles and clean out boxes that have been sitting around for awhile! It's been quite the nostalgic trip through my 21st century life:

First, I found a business card from a guy named Ashok, which brought me back to 2001 when I first moved to Boston, I quickly befriended the new grads who were in the finance leadership development program at Big Red. And I dragged a couple of them with me to First Friday at the Museum of Fine Arts. Supposedly, it was the place for Boston singles ... that is, if you're over the age of 35, as we quickly discovered. I spent a good portion of the night talking to a 60 year old Bulgarian man who repaired HVAC systems and the other part of night talking to some dude named Ashok. Thought he was a nice guy but he turned out to be a little stalker-ish.

Then, I re-discovered a series of pro-strong-and-independent-women postcards that a fabulous friend of mine diligently sent me every few days after I had gone through a tough breakup and was living temporarily and alone in Burlington. That would have been sometime in 2004, I think. I thought about the amazing friends that I left behind in Boston and how they looked after me and how much I miss them.

Later, I emptied out a cardboard box that has remained packed since I moved into DC last June. (What can I say? I hate unpacking ...) Surprisingly, I found a number of souvenirs from my family's trip to China, including a small bag of sand from the Gobi. It reminded me of riding a camel through the desert, eating kabobs in Urumqi and experiencing Tienanmen Square in the rain.

Unfortunately, my reverie was shattered by the exceptionally low flying helicopter that whirred past my house. That is definitely not normal and I'm wondering what I'll see in the news tomorrow ...




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Now playing: Forro in the Dark - Asa Branca (feat. David Byrne)
via FoxyTunes