People

Centene’s Sarah London: A Do-Gooder Gone Bad?

When Centene’s brainiac CEO Sarah London went into healthcare after graduating with an MBA from the prestigious University of Chicago it appears unlikely that she imagined herself eventually leading one of the industry’s most ethically challenged companies.

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Why Uber’s IT Breach is a Very, Very, Big Deal

If the U.S. public was familiar with a tech term known as “social engineering,” CEOs would finally be held accountable for the lapse security oversight of their IT systems and the harm consumers experience because of their negligence.

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Karen Bass: L.A.’s Gun Owner Mayor Wannabe

A professional politician who can’t properly secure her guns in a crime-ridden city and accepted a lucrative scholarship that figured prominently in a corruption investigation is unfit to lead the City of Angels.

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Tina Freese Decker’s Shameful Invoking of MLK

Tina Freese Decker, CEO of Michigan’s biggest hospital network, has a well-worn record making disingenuous statements fraught with saccharine and PR spin. But she went too far invoking the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. in a memo to employees on Friday announcing plans to fire 400 people.

As former Detroit News editor Bob Giles learned the hard way, invoking King’s name to promote employee firings can have serious consequences.

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My Disappointment With Cali Rep. Katie Porter

How disappointing. I thought Rep. Katie Porter was the rare California politician I could believe in. Turns out, Porter isn’t as ethically pure and upstanding as she would have the public believe.

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The Faux Martyrdom of Canada’s Lisa LaFlamme

The termination of Canadian television anchor Lisa LaFlamme’s contract has generated outrage in Canada and the U.S. because of speculation she was fired for allowing her hair to go gray. More likely, the network decision to terminate LaFlamme was driven by budgetary considerations.

Despite the uproar, LaFlamme has refused to comment, which is despicable for a journalist.

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The Passing of My Uncle Jerry

My Uncle Jerry, known to metro Detroit and Cleveland residents as Specs Howard, died early Saturday. He was among the last living legendary rock & roll DJs from the early 60s and he had an outsized influence on me. That he lived until 96 and survived polio, prostate cancer and melanoma underscored the power of his positive thinking and a lifetime of ignoring dire medical prognoses.

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James Butler & Ford’s $1.7 Billion Legal Reckoning

Meet James Butler, the lead plaintiff counsel responsible for the landmark $1.7 billion product liability award a Georgia jury last week issued against Ford Motor Co. Butler shared some pointed comments about Ford after the company defiantly issued a statement saying the verdict wasn’t “supported by the evidence” and that it planned to appeal.

Companies that choose to do legal battle with Butler do so at their own risk. Butler has secured eight verdicts in excess of $100 million, four of them records at the time they were awarded.

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Senator Stabenow’s Startling EV Admission

In an interview with the New York Times, Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow indicated that she doesn’t fully understand the EV subsidy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act she voted to support. That’s understandable because the legislation is deftly written so that Ford, GM, and other automakers can circumvent the spirit and intent of the bill’s U.S. battery sourcing requirements.

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Celebrating America’s Unsung Heroes

Heroism is often demonstrated in unlikely places by unknown people whose efforts will never be publicly known or appreciated. I’m moved by the confidential informant who prevented Iran’s planned assassination of former Trump aide John Bolton and the Federal Reserve economist who couldn’t be strong armed by China.

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