There are some good things going on for Catholics on Long Island:
Saturday, October 11th - 1:30 PM Nassau Community College
Russell Shaw presents his book, Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication, and Communion in the Catholic Church (Ignatius Press, 2008)
1:30 P.M. in the Multipurpose Room of the Nassau Community College Center Building. The event is free of any charge and there will be a coffee and desert table, after the talk, for members of the audience. The local NCC Barnes and Noble affiliate will be selling copies of his book for those interested.
In order to attend the event, however, registration is required and a parking permit must be secured.
Wednesday, October 1 or Thursday, October 2, St. Matthew's in Dix Hills
Beginners' Gregorian Chant Lessons will be offered, free of any charge
Any and all laypeople interested in learning about Gregorian Chant and are willing to take up their responsibility for singing it at Mass are welcome. No prior experience in Gregorian chant is necessary - in fact, such experience may over-qualify you - but the ability to carry a tune will be a big advantage.
See this page for more info.
Theology of the Body with Dr. Janet Smith
12 weekly sessions will be offered with Dr. Janet Smith CDs on the Theology of the Body in Farmingdale. If interested & for more info, please contact Rich at this email.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Enron
I recently read Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story about the corruption and eventual downfall of Enron. It was an excellent and interesting read, and I discovered there were a couple of Long Island connections with the largest collapse of a US company ever. The book portrays Andrew Fastow as the ultimate slimeball who figured out ways to make money by creating separate businesses that would interact with Enron in a way that made Enron look like it was making more money than it really was. Fastow was the head of some of these companies while also the CFO of Enron, a conflict of interest that was basically ignored by Wall Street analysts, banks, Enron executives and the Board of Directors. Fastow made millions - possibly $60 million - through these separate companies. Fastow and Michael Kopper come across as the real scammers in the Enron story, and it is sad to see they both struck deals with the government and received lesser sentences than they should have.
The Long Island connection to Enron? Kopper was born in Woodmere, and Cliff Baxter, an Enron exec described by the whistleblower Sherron Watkins as "one of the few good guys in this whole thing" came from Amityville. Baxter committed suicide as Enron fell apart and his funeral was at St. Martin of Tours - where this blogger was married. (BTW - this is a weird place to mention this, but St. Martin of Tours is one of the most beautiful Churches in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.)
This book (and dvd Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) reinforced what I have experienced in my life when it comes to corruption and evil - people are able to get away with almost anything when there is a culture of greed, looking the other way, egoism, shallowness, and fear. Enron was almost a textbook example of this - I would hope people would learn from its fall, but I know that most will not.
I recently read Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story about the corruption and eventual downfall of Enron. It was an excellent and interesting read, and I discovered there were a couple of Long Island connections with the largest collapse of a US company ever. The book portrays Andrew Fastow as the ultimate slimeball who figured out ways to make money by creating separate businesses that would interact with Enron in a way that made Enron look like it was making more money than it really was. Fastow was the head of some of these companies while also the CFO of Enron, a conflict of interest that was basically ignored by Wall Street analysts, banks, Enron executives and the Board of Directors. Fastow made millions - possibly $60 million - through these separate companies. Fastow and Michael Kopper come across as the real scammers in the Enron story, and it is sad to see they both struck deals with the government and received lesser sentences than they should have.
The Long Island connection to Enron? Kopper was born in Woodmere, and Cliff Baxter, an Enron exec described by the whistleblower Sherron Watkins as "one of the few good guys in this whole thing" came from Amityville. Baxter committed suicide as Enron fell apart and his funeral was at St. Martin of Tours - where this blogger was married. (BTW - this is a weird place to mention this, but St. Martin of Tours is one of the most beautiful Churches in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.)
This book (and dvd Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) reinforced what I have experienced in my life when it comes to corruption and evil - people are able to get away with almost anything when there is a culture of greed, looking the other way, egoism, shallowness, and fear. Enron was almost a textbook example of this - I would hope people would learn from its fall, but I know that most will not.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)