bonehead bemusements . . .

January 2009

We came across an noteworthy little site the other day that keeps reminding us of the incredible depth (and breadth) of the web. The site, brought to us by our good friends at The Simple Society, is called Overlawyered.com.  Their mission statement says:

"Overlawyered.com explores an American legal system that too often turns litigation into a weapon against guilty and innocent alike, erodes individual responsibility, rewards sharp practice, enriches its participants at the public's expense, and resists even modest efforts at reform and accountability."

That statement give a little credence to the belief some have that when they take over, why the first people to be shot will be the lawyers. 

We are impressed and grateful to founder Walter Olson, the creator of Overlawyered.com. There is no denying the point that the world is indeed over litigated almost to the point of absurdity. It is comforting to know that there is someone out there keep score and trying to revive some sanity in the world.

By the same token it is also blatantly obvious that we are also "abundantly-accountanted" and "bogusly-balanced-sheeted" to the point of being credulously confused. Alas though, there are no sites dealing with such issues (at least none that the boneheads have been able to uncover.) 

That is a pity because if ever there was a time or a reason to bring some clarity to this world of business finance and creative corporate bookkeeping it is today. 

And, this is not only because of the Enron/Arthur Anderson fiasco or the 2008 financial meltdown leading to an exhausting line of companies and industries lining up and looking to be praised and adored for their top ten-ish business school brilliance by generating and receiving new unheard of government mandated profits in the form of taxpayer handouts.

It is because the basic fiber of our society and free enterprise system is at stake. Who is US will sadly turn into who was US all too soon.! If it's all the same too you, I ain't ready to have all that we once were laid to rest under the the auspices of a derelict congressional mandated non-descript headstone.

Every day more companies issues their latest financial reports and every day we see much of the same: Lower than expected earning and  forecasts of gloom and doom foretelling of more of the same. We see layoffs, plant closings,  lower profits,( or in fact total losses), and  stocks taking nosedives. Yet, in the same statements we see outrageous bonuses paid out to "key" (meaning corporate elite) executives. We see once mighty and proud companies that defined US as a nation and as a people heading to trash heaps of history that will one day bemuse and confuse the archeologists as to the stupidity of such a smart people. 

Of course there is the bizarre flip side to this; stocks taking off and rising when companies announce layoffs and plant closings because sales are soft and business is down. We don't get it!

Boneheads don't partake in these shenanigans. Integrity rules in all they do because they know a simple little fact. If you play it straight all the time there isn't any reason to finagle and bake the books at 350° for two quarters to served with a heaping portion of humble pie. (And to have to say in front of a Congressional Committee, "I am sorry, but at the advice of my attorney I respectfully decline to answer . . . " or "I don't recollect that. . . )