|
People with an attitude In collaboration with the editorial staff of Globe Weekly News
EGO TRIP OR TOO MUCH POWER?
from its nuclear goals. Tehran insists its nuclear program aims to develop energy, denying U.S. and western accusation that it intends to build nuclear weapons...Our enemies know that they can't cause a minute pause in our nation's motion forward," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people gathered in Mashad, capital of Razavi Khorasan province in northeastern Iran. "Unfortunately today some bullying powers are unable to give up their bullying nature." Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi added: "We see it as psychological warfare, resulting from the Americans' anger and despair" over stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions." Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's supreme National Security Council, also played down the reports. "If the U.S. commits such a mistake, it would receive a convenient answer," Larijani told the state-run Islamic Republic New Agency. So, is it an "attitude problem" as claimed by the Iranians, or simply Bush's personal vendetta against Islam, as strongly out cried by fundamentalist masses in the Middle East? And who is having an attitude syndrome? Bush or Ahmadinejad?
Jeffrey Skilling: He had plenty of time to make millions and none for his family Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling declared he was "absolutely innocent", Monday as he began to testify in his own defense in his fraud and conspiracy trial. One of his statements confused the hell out of us. Skilling said: "I guess you could say I was obsessed with Enron," he said. "Every day was intense, and I had not spent the time I should have spent with my family. ... As time went on, and the company became more successful, that was something that mattered more to me." Yah Right! He had no time for his family, but plenty to make millions! What an attitude. A reporter asked him: "You claim you are honest. How are you going to prove your innocence?" and Skilling answered: "I will fight those charges until the day I die, I have integrity and character", Skilling said. Obviously, he forgot to add : I have attitude too! Although he has faced tough questioning from federal investigators before, this is the first time prosecutors will have an opportunity to grill him, according to his co-workers. Asked by another reporter about the Enron executives who pleaded guilty to crimes and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors were Skilling's friends and co-workers if he thought were guilty. "I would say the vast majority who testified here are in my opinion are not guilty," Skilling said without naming names. |
 Photo: Jeffrey Skilling, Busted! "I would say the vast majority who testified here are in my opinion are not guilty," Skilling said without naming names. Avoiding to enter into more details, Skilling went on describing how Enron consumed his life and how, as it grew into a successful company, he decided to find some personal balance. But he also said he told Enron founder Kenneth Lay on "that fateful day, Friday, the 13th of July," that he wanted to resign after 11 years with the company because he was bothered by Enron's falling stock. He also said he told Lay that he believed he had lost credibility with Wall Street after calling a hedge-fund worker an obscene name during a conference call when the worker questioned Enron's financial figures. "The now-infamous ... quote was used as an example of, I don't know, arrogance or something. It wasn't meant that way," said the former CEO, who has a reputation for arrogance. Earlier, prosecutor John Hueston continued pressing former general counsel Jim Derrick to highlight Enron's cursory response to August 2001 memos from Sherron Watkins, then an Enron vice president, who warned Lay about possibly shady accounting related to financial structures backed by the company's stock. The note, which won Watkins fame when released by Congress the next year, came days after Skilling unexpectedly resigned as chief executive officer. Last month, Derrick in part served as a lead-in to Skilling. Through him, Skilling's lawyers sought to counter prosecution testimony that he failed to approve deals Enron conducted with partnerships run by former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, as required. Derrick testified that Enron's board approved procedures that required the review and approval of former Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey and former Chief Risk Officer Rick Buy, but not Skilling. Fastow testified earlier in the trial that he used the partnerships, with Skilling's knowledge, in part to help Enron manufacture earnings. Lay and Skilling are accused of repeatedly lying to investors and employees about Enron's financial health when they allegedly knew fraudulent accounting propped up weak business ventures. The two men say there was no fraud at Enron other than that committed by Fastow and a few others, who skimmed millions from secret schemes, and that bad publicity coupled with lost market confidence drove the company to seek bankruptcy protection in December 2001. Skilling is charged with 28 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors, while Lay faces six counts of fraud and conspiracy.
|