The Waterkooler

As long as we are attacking people for making immoral profits, how about Archer Daniels Midland reporting a 29% increase in profit after raising the costs of the high-fructose corn syrup, which is a well-known contributor to epidemic obesity

As the number of workers using the Internet for pleasure as well as business grows, so does anxiety among corporate higher-ups worried about productivity and exposure to security risks.

Many executives and managers have turned to computer surveillance. Low-cost technology is making it easier than ever for businesses of all sizes to monitor computer misuse among employees.

The market for this so-called secure content-management software -- which includes applications that monitor Web surfing, e-mail, instant messaging, and even keystrokes -- is expected to grow to $6.4 billion by 2007, more than double what it was just three years ago, according to the research firm IDC.

I love the fact that this judge encoded a secret message in his ruling on "The Da Vinci Code" copyright lawsuit.

London lawyer Dan Tench and The Times newspaper on Friday both claimed to have solved the riddle of a code embedded in a judge's ruling in "The Da Vinci Code" copyright lawsuit.

It reads: "Jackie Fisher who are you Dreadnought."

The message was created by Peter Smith, the High Court judge who presided over the copyright infringement suit brought by authors of the nonfiction book "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" against the publisher of Dan Brown's mega-selling thriller.

Smith's entry in the society bible "Who's Who" lists him as a fan of John "Jackie" Fisher, a 19th-century admiral credited with modernizing the British navy and developing its first modern warship, the Dreadnought.

related items: here and here

WK OPINION

When gas prices hit record highs, it is not uncommon to look for someone to blame and many people are looking to the oil companies, who made record profits this year. Are they gouging us?

The short answer, is no. They make a lot of their money in gambling on energy markets and this in no way affects the prices of oil - unless you are trading oil on Wall Street. True, that is not where most of the profits come from, but when you factor in research and exploration, the oil companies are not even in the top 40% of companies in terms of profit margin.

If you are looking for an industry that really gouges you, why not go right to the top, where the pharmeceutical companies make 18.5 cents on the dollar, or banks which make 18 cents. Now compare that to the oil companies who make 8 or 9 cents. By the way, the national average of all industries is 6.8 cents per dollar.

Each time accusations of price gouging have come up over the years, the oil companies have come out unscathed.

So why are gas prices so high? Who is to blame? The question is not a difficult one to answer if you think clearly about it.

Blame Mother Nature. Remember Hurricane Katrina? A number of refineries are still offline. Three refineries on the Gulf Coast shut down by last fall’s hurricanes are only now reportedly beginning to return to operation, or soon will be.

Blame the EPA. Can you say MTBE?

Blame China. Global demand has SOARED with the explosive growth in China and India, among other places.

Blame all the SUV-driving folks out there. Everyone has the right to drive what they want, but these decisions have consequences. These vehicles waste a LOT of gas. The consequences are felt at the pump.

But CRUDE prices are at an all-time high, you say. Can't we blame OPEC? Yes and no. Crude prices are high because we are buying more of it to protect possible shortfalls due to our refinery limitations due to Katrina after effects. The cycle always starts with DEMAND.

So when looking for someone to blame, look at yourself first. Look at your neighbor, look at China, look at the EPA, look at Mother Nature, and look at the environmentalists who will not allow us to build any refineries for over 30 years.

WK

Tony Snow On President Bush: ‘An Embarrassment,’ ‘Impotent,’ ‘Doesn’t Seem To Mean What He Says’

Fox News’ Tony Snow is expected to be named White House Press Secretary. Here’s some of what he’s had to say about the President:

– Bush has “lost control of the federal budget and cannot resist the temptation to stop raiding the public fisc.” [3/17/06]

– “George W. Bush and his colleagues have become not merely the custodians of the largest government in the history of humankind, but also exponents of its vigorous expansion.” [3/17/06]

– “President Bush distilled the essence of his presidency in this year’s State of the Union Address: brilliant foreign policy and listless domestic policy.” [2/3/06]

– “George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.” [11/11/05]

– Bush “has a habit of singing from the Political Correctness hymnal.” [10/7/05]

– “No president has looked this impotent this long when it comes to defending presidential powers and prerogatives.” [9/30/05]

– Bush “has given the impression that [he] is more eager to please than lead, and that political opponents can get their way if they simply dig in their heels and behave like petulant trust-fund brats, demanding money and favor — now!” [9/30/05]

– “When it comes to federal spending, George W. Bush is the boy who can’t say no. In each of his three years at the helm, the president has warned Congress to restrain its spending appetites, but so far nobody has pushed away from the table mainly because the president doesn’t seem to mean what he says.” [The Detroit News, 12/28/03]

– “The president doesn’t seem to give a rip about spending restraint.” [The Detroit News, 12/28/03]

– “Bush, for all his personal appeal, ultimately bolstered his detractors’ claims that he didn’t have the drive and work ethic to succeed.” [11/16/00]

– “Little in the character of demeanor of Al Gore or George Bush makes us say to ourselves: Now, this man is truly special! Little in our present peace and prosperity impels us to say: Give us a great man!” [8/25/00]

– “George W. Bush, meanwhile, talks of a pillowy America, full of niceness and goodwill. Bush has inherited his mother’s attractive feistiness, but he also got his father’s syntax. At one point last week, he stunned a friendly audience by barking out absurd and inappropriate words, like a soul tortured with Tourette’s.” [8/25/00]

– “He recently tried to dazzle reporters by discussing the vagaries of Congressional Budget Office economic forecasts, but his recitation of numbers proved so bewildering that not even his aides could produce a comprehensible translation. The English Language has become a minefield for the man, whose malaprops make him the political heir not of Ronald Reagan, but Norm Crosby.” [8/25/00]

– “On the policy side, he has become a classical dime-store Democrat. He gladly will shovel money into programs that enjoy undeserved prestige, such as Head Start. He seems to consider it mean-spirited to shut down programs that rip-off taxpayers and mislead supposed beneficiaries.” [8/25/00]