Traffic for 2005 September 1

Why are such terrible things happening to those poor people in Louisiana? Our firm announced today that they are matching dollar for dollar what we as employees contribute. This reminds me of what happened 8 months ago in Indonesia. Except something seems to be missing: donations from around the world. Do I read the wrong newspapers, or is it true that the so-called "big brother" of the world has no one to turn to when it's sick?

In other news, KPMG, one of EY's competitors, has settled to pay $456 million to defer tax-fraud charges. Our firm settled for about $20 million. Clearly, the times of creative accounting are over and the government wants its money. It is interesting that only the accountants are in trouble and not the wealthy individuals who signed off on such accounts. One could argue they didn't know what was going on, but I think that's pure hogwash. People that rich know how money works, or else they wouldn't be that rich. Why do they get off the hook while the accountant suffers? Don't get me wrong, the accountant should be held accountable; but he isn't alone in these transactions.

In honor of Labor Day, I'm working. The firm gets a four-day weekend, but not me. Oh well, I get to take my holidays later, and have already planned out such days. So, back to work.