You can say good-bye to another time-worn expression. Apparently, dead men DO tell tales. And in the case of Val Patterson confession is good for his soul. Before dying of throat cancer last week, the 59-year-old Patterson left behind his own obituary in which he gives clarification (and perhaps seeks a little redemption) for a few sins from his past. “I have confessions and...

While former Penn State assistant football Coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted last month of sexual assault against 10 young boys over approximately ten years, we have now learned that Penn State’s President Graham Spanier, Vice-President Gary Schultz, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Head Coach Joe Paterno all knew of Sandusky’s behavior and did nothing to stop it. In a scathing,...

On Monday I received the following e-mail from a friend requesting that I pass it along to at least three others: “In 1952 President Truman established one day a year as aNational Day of Prayer. In 1988, President Reagan designated the first Thursday in May of each year as the National Day of Prayer. “In June 2007, (then) Presidential candidate Barack...

Ten years from now, historians may look back and label this period as the “reality show” era of politics. I’ve already talked about the reality show “quality” surrounding banker Jamie Dimon’s testimony before a Senate banking committee. Well, Dimon was on Capitol Hill again, this time testifying before House officials. Unlike the Senate, House lawmakers’ questions carried a much harder edge....

On Sunday morning’s Meet the Press, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon declared, “We were dead wrong,” with respect to a $2 billion (possibly $1 billion more) loss by the largest U.S. banking firm. Last month, with the loss in the rumor mill, Dimon called it a “complete tempest in a teapot.” Does anyone remember Enron, WorldCom, BP, Goldman Sachs, G.E., Merck,...

In less than two weeks in April, we learned of two high-profile scandals involving two government agencies. Both carry potential for serious repercussions based largely on how their respective leaders handled the crisis. The General Services Administration’s job is to support and manage the basic infrastructure of federal agencies by providing supplies, communications, offices, and transportation through “government-wide, cost-minimizing policies.” Apparently,...

Fast-talking, mob-saving New York Lawyer Murray Richman famously said, “When the word is in your mouth, you are the master. When the word is out of your mouth, you are the slave.” Anyone who reads my commentaries with any regularity knows that I am a stickler for the facts. The facts played an important part in my research for my last...

The defense always seems the same. Enron’s Jeff Skilling: “I didn’t get the memo… notes… e-mails,” “I do not recall.” BP CEO Tony Hayward reacting to the worst oil spill in U.S. history: It’s “relatively tiny” compared to the “very big ocean.” Robert Murdoch tweeted: “No excuses for phone hacking. No argument. No excuses either for copyright stealing, but plenty of ignorant...

Last Monday’s commentary (The Trust Deficit) talked about insider trading – the use of non-public information to trade on stocks and other securities. However, what has been illegal for most of us has been perfectly legal for officials in Congress. With the passage and signing of The Stock Act, all this ends. Among the examples of insider trading, I cited author,...

On February 26, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman near his home in Sanford, Florida. The 17-year-old, unarmed Martin was returning home after visiting a convenience store. Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer claimed that he shot Martin in self-defense. After Florida’s special prosecutor Angela Corey met with Martin’s parents she stated, “We did not promise them anything. In...