updates on earlier postings
say hello, wave goodbye
What with rising taxes, one-off penalties, tighter regulation and public condemnation, many of us were glad to see the back of the so-called ‘masters of the universe’ as they allegedly sought refuge in more welcoming and becoming European countries. However, it seems a good many are now on their way back to us as they apparently miss, amongst other things, London’s cosmopolitan and liberal values. Housing in Geneva is pricey (even for over-paid bankers), school places are nigh on impossible to secure, and the freewheeling financiers are infuriated by the pettiness of a nation that allows laws governing when toilets can be flushed, washing machines switched on and lawns mowed. Fun? Forget it in the land of the fondue.
So, how should we react to the current threat by HSBC that, due to the new bank levy, they’re off, retreating to the land of the rising yen? Throwing a party would seem a good place to start.
lights, camera, action
As well as having a helluva rack on her, the recently deceased Jane Russell (along with Marilyn Monroe) surely represented the epitome of glamour and movie star celebrity: mysterious, demure and oh-so unavailable. That’s where all our current movie-stars and celebrities fall short. With the paparazzi stalking them 24/7 (or is it the other way around? – ed.) and with a banal, shallow and lightweight opinion offered (and featured) on any and every given topic there’s just no allure, no mystique. We think we want to know everything about them and then when we find it out, we realise it was better not knowing it in the first place.
a bitter taste
A year on from the £11bn takeover of Cadbury by Dutch food conglomerate, Kraft, the whole affair still leaves an unsavoury taste in one’s mouth. In a further attempt to receive some answers on the organisation’s blatant and cynical U-turn on the closure of the firms Somerdale plant, the Business Select Committee again sought to get some answers from Kraft’s CEO, Irene Rosenfeld. And AGAIN she refused to attend, this time citing the committee’s only desire is ‘hurl abuse’. Yeah, Irene and your point is?
But an even worse spectacle is that of Cadbury’s former CEO, Todd Stitzer, who now ever so emotionally states he fully regrets the decision to sell, a decision which undoubtedly has left him “richer in the bank but sadder in the heart”. What rot. And to rub salt in the wound he goes even further by explaining that he wishes the Govt had become more embroiled and is disappointed that “no wiser and greater force could have intervened”. Where I come from an Managing Director directs the management of the business and manages the direction of the business. It’s all in the title and to now claim that he had little or no impact in the sale is farcical. He should never be allowed to hold such an office ever again.
