Google, Amazon, Microsoft, the folks running the Oscars, and some Deutsche Bank bankers in New York have stepped up to reinforce the wisdom of an adage children of my generation were once taught: Honesty is the best policy.
My Brushes with Celebrities
The questionable behavior of Will Smith got me thinking about the many celebrities I’ve met in my lifetime. With only one exception, every encounter was pleasurable, and fortunately none resulted in violence.
Please join me on my trip down celebrity memory lane.
Sally Field and “The Flying Nun”
An article about Sally Field made me nostalgic for some of the zany television shows from the 60s and 70s. To Field’s eternal embarrassment, she starred in one of them.
The Cowards Running U.S. Hospitals
Here’s a clickbait idea for U.S. business publications: The annual Corporate Cowardice Awards. Although it’s only March, this year’s recipient is a no brainer – The American Hospital Association. Wright L. Lassiter III, the trade group’s 2022 chair and CEO of Detroit’s Henry Ford Health System, is most deserving of accepting the award on behalf of his industry’s executive colleagues.
When Hospitals Get Away with Homicide
My argument as to why hospital CEOs, not nurses, should be held liable for avoidable errors prosecutors allege are criminal.
In Praise of Gastroenterologists
Why gastroenterologists are among the unsung heroes of medicine.
Putin’s “Socially Responsible” War Investors
I didn’t think it possible, but my skepticism of socially responsible investing sank even lower upon learning that ESG funds are among the holders of Russia’s sovereign debt. Put another way, ESG investors helped finance Putin’s war machine.
Some additional thoughts on the LGBTQ+ hypocrisy of Disney and its employees, San Francisco’s official boycott of 28 states, and the cost to insure a Tesla Model 3.
10 Companies That Make Me Happy
Happy people supposedly think happy thoughts. So as an experiment, instead of stewing about the decline of customer service while waiting on hold and listening to the dreaded, “Due to heavier call volume” message, I challenged myself to name 10 companies I enjoy doing business with.
The envelopes please …
SNL TikTok Parody No Laughing Matter
SNL’s latest cold open imagined the virtual meeting White House officials held last week with about 30 TikTok “influencers.” Watching the parody, I wondered if millennials whose worldviews are shaped by TikTok influencers found it all that funny.
The SNL characters didn’t seem all that exaggerated.
Ronn Torossian and the “Ethics” of PR
PR professionals expressing the loudest outrage about disgraced PR executive Ronn Torossian should be mindful that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.