“¶You have said that Mr. Sokol did not do anything “unlawful.” But Mr. Sokol bought shares of Lubrizol a day after he told Citigroup to indicate Berkshire’s interest in buying the company.
Why don’t you consider that “material” information, a crucial component of insider trading? Do you not believe that a Lubrizol shareholder would have considered such information important to their investment decision? Clearly Lubrizol felt that Mr. Sokol’s inquiry was material enough to hold a board meeting on Jan. 6, one day before Mr. Sokol bought almost $10 million of shares.
If Mr. Sokol was aware of Lubrizol’s board meeting, would you consider that material information? And if a news outlet had reported Mr. Sokol’s inquiry or Lubrizol’s decision to meet, do you not think that the price of Lubrizol’s shares would have risen?
Here is another way to think about it: If a Citigroup banker had bought shares of Lubrizol at the same time as Mr. Sokol, would you have considered that insider trading? Isn’t that the definition of insider trading? What did Mr. Sokol do that was different?
¶Berkshire has always been a very decentralized institution with only 21 of its 257,000 employees working at headquarters and each subsidiary left to its own devices. “Most of these managers are happiest when they are left alone to run their businesses, and that is customarily just how we leave them,” you recently wrote in the annual letter.
This structure might seem like a bastion of efficiency. But given Mr. Sokol’s possible transgressions, do you now think Berkshire needs more compliance programs and people to manage them?“
P.S. I have never thought I would be tagging a post about Warren with “ethics” where I question if it is sadly missing.
I should have said hi to former Alberta premier Ralph Klein when my better half and I saw him at a private garden party in 2009. He looked fine and was talking to some people so we didn’t want to interrupt. Today, I am deeply saddened to read that he is suffering from progressive dementia.
I may not agree with some of Ralph’s politics or policies, but I remember him as a premier who listened to Albertans when we voiced our disagreement strongly. He changed his policies and views on a few of the important matters.
“Apart from that, there isn’t much going on for Ralph or Colleen Klein. The high-end consulting jobs and invitations to give national speeches have fallen away. So have friendships they thought were eternal. Colleen says they get virtually no calls from former or current MLAs or ministers.
“When you’re gone, you’re really gone,” she says. “You can almost hear the doors slam. People coming up in politics should be very careful not to let their lives go completely. You’ve got to have something to go back to.”“
Today, I promise myself, I will say hi to Ralph next time I see him. In fact, I am going to send Don an email ( dbraid@CalgaryHerald.com ) to find a way to contact the Kleins and send in my best wishes and warmest regards.
***
April 9th 2011 update: I got a reply from Don. If you want to send the Kleins a letter, you can send it care of Don. I sent mine out today.
To: Ralph and Colleen Klein
c/o Don Braid
Editorial Dept., Calgary Herald,
215 16 St SE
PO Box 2400,
Station M
Calgary T2P 0W8
Here is Calgary Chinese newspaper report of the story, “簡欣患腦退化症“
For the record. In countries like Egypt, China, Iran, some people unforunately had to die in the process of trying to have their voices heard. In Canada, many people throw away their rights and privileges to vote because they think democracy is free and that their time is too valuable even if it is necessary to give legitimacy to their country’s governance.
“Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is apologizing to anyone who has been removed from his party’s campaign rallies, three days after the allegations first surfaced.”
“Cone of silence tightens on Tories
JOHN IBBITSON AND DANIEL LEBLANC
OTTAWA— From Friday’s Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Apr. 07, 2011 9:45PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Apr. 07, 2011 9:53PM EDT
Some Conservative candidates across Canada are emulating Stephen Harper’s tightly scripted election campaign by refusing to attend all-candidates debates or appear before the media. [Kempton: This is pathetic. Even candidates in the raked Legislative Council don't dare to skip all-candidates debates.]
The Conservative Leader has earned much criticism for avoiding unscripted forums, a practice that opponents are calling “a bubble campaign.” Even so, many local Conservative candidates, both incumbents and challengers, are adopting it as their game plan. Some other Tory candidates, however, say they are only too happy to joust with their opponents.
The phenomenon appears most pronounced in Alberta, where Conservatives hold every riding but one.
In Calgary East, Tory incumbent Deepak Obhrai has come under fire for being the only candidate not to respond to an invitation for an all-candidates debate on Tuesday.
“In the interest of the democratic process, your attendance as the incumbent MP is an absolute must,” campaign worker Aman Hayer wrote on behalf of Liberal candidate Josipa Petrunic. “ You owe it to your constituents.”
Calgary-Nose Hill Tory incumbent Diane Ablonczy has also indicated she may boycott any all-candidate forum. Read the rest of this entry »
“The Chinese government has removed references to Ai Weiwei from its official transcript of a news conference. Ten of the 18 questions at the briefing on Thursday concerned the prominent activist, who was detained on Sunday at Beijing airport. All were omitted from the transcript posted on Friday on the foreign ministry’s website.
A spokesman for the department, Hong Lei, said Ai was being investigated for economic crimes, but gave no details. He added that the inquiry had nothing to do with freedom of expression, although the artist has often been targeted by the government. “China is a country under the rule of law, and relevant authorities will work according to law,” he said.”
“Lu Qing, Mr Ai’s wife, said that while no one had expected the arrest, Mr Ai had a “bad feeling” in the week preceding the arrest, especially after multiple visits by the police to the family home. She said a further 40 to 50 policemen had combed the house since last Sunday, taking away computers and money.
“I never expected things would get this bad,” she said. “I have been on the phone to the authorities non-stop since Sunday and no one has been able to say a single word about what is going on,” she added.
“Ai has high blood pressure and diabetes. I’m seriously concerned for his health, and about whether anyone is giving him his medicine. His mother has also been very unstable these last few days, and she also has high blood pressure,” she said.
Mr Ai, whose 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds are currently filling the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern gallery in London, is thought to earn a substantial living from his art. Next month, an installation by Mr Ai will be mounted outside the Plaza hotel in New York, before then travelling to Somerset House in London.
In the past, the Chinese authorities have pursued government critics like Mr Ai for alleged tax violations or other non-political crimes.”
United States Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman delivered a “farewell” speech in Shanghai on Wednesday and he “commended Liu, Ai and others like them who “challenge the Chinese government to serve the public in all cases and at all times.”
“By speaking out candidly,” he noted, “we hope eventually to narrow and bridge this critical gap and move our relationship forward.””
“Reacting to Final Cut’s newest incarnation — which was greeted with wildly enthusiastic applause when it was unveiled Tuesday night — Avid chairman and CEO Gary Greenfield told The Hollywood Reporter: “I think what was reiterated last night is what we have been telling our customers for a long time, that Avid is the company that wakes in the morning focused on professional workflows — professional workflows for professionals who making a living doing what they are doing. That is what Avid is about. That is the type of capabilities that Avid is going to continue to add to its products.
“Whenever Apple does something, they do it well,” he added. “No one really knows until the product is out. There were a lot of unanswered questions. But I think it just reminds people that Avid is going to wake up and serve your professional needs.”"
According to MacRumors, “- Shipping in June on App Store. $299. – No mention of Final Cut Studio or Final Cut Express.” Hmm, what about the other applications? Will they get a new coat of paint or does that mean Apple Final Cut Studio is no more?
“On Tuesday, organizers of SuperMeet — which has attracted more than 1,000 guests in past years — contacted its sponsors to say that Apple had upped its participation and was exclusively taking over the presentation stage, one scheduled sponsor told The Hollywood Reporter.
Sponsors slated to participate during the Tuesday event at Bally’s are Avid, Autodesk, Blackmagic Design and Canon. THR has learned that Avid’s involvement — along with its planned guest speaker, director Kevin Smith — had been canceled.“
Wish I could be at NAB to take in James Cameron’s keynote and the reveal of the new FCP.
“Ai Weiwei, China’s best-known artist, remains missing more than a day after he was detained. Police have confiscated dozens of items from his studio.
Officers released his wife and several assistants late last night, following questioning, but Ai and a friend remain uncontactable. Assistants said that police removed more than 30 computers and hard drives from his studio and home in north Beijing on Sunday, as well as notebooks and documents. They also searched at least two more properties connected to the artist.”
“Q: Do you ever examine yourself to say, why is that you are so fearless compared to other people? Ai WeiWei Answer: I was so fearful, that’s not fearless. I am more fearful than other people, may be, then I act more brave because I know the danger is really there. If you don’t act, the dangers become stronger.” – Ai WeiWei in PBS Frontline video “Who is afraid of Ai Weiwei?” (time code: ~17:25)
Guardian, “The 53-year-old [Ai Weiwei] remains uncontactable more than 12 hours after officials held him at the capital’s airport. [...] His detention comes amid what human rights campaigners have described as the harshest crackdown on activists and dissidents in over a decade.“
“All of a sudden, these people who’b been standing on the sidewalk, milling around doing things, turned out to be people who had come to have dinner with him [Ai Weiwei]. And everybody there knew that, by simply eating dinner there, it was an act of defiance.”
P.S. When I saw Ai Weiwei willing to risk his life in ”Who is Afraid of Ai Weiwei?” in order to fight for a better China, I am ashamed of the low voters’ turnout in Canada. It pains me to see my fellow Canadians, young Canadians, adult Canadians, born with the rights to vote easily giving up their rights/privilege to vote and ignoring their duty to vote in elections.
“It takes a few days to get my head around how much I like a film, if I really like it a lot, and longer to start to figure out why.” - William Gibson in this tweet
“When you love a film, as when you love a person, why isn’t necessarily that meaningful.” – [via tweet]
“The why’s of disliking something are easier to find, and make for quicker, juicier copy.” - [via tweet]
“Michael Mann’s theory: We only begin to really experience the film as we leave the theatre, in memory. And *backward*. I agree.” – [via tweet]
Thanks Rick for adding yourpush to get the promised one-on-one harper Iggy debate (see below Twitter exchanges). And getting the youth (and Canadians of all ages) on Twitter interested and excited about the election.
For the record. Cool to see Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi in New York Times. Have a read.
“From Canada, Lessons on Revolution
By CHRYSTIA FREELAND | REUTERS
CALGARY, ALBERTA — Conventional wisdom has it that the Internet is dumbing us down and making politics more partisan. Sound bites are more effective than substance. The punditocracy that shapes these truisms is, needless to say, pretty certain they apply most powerfully to people in the provinces, especially those with a history of voting for the right.
That is why the election of Naheed Nenshi, a 39-year-old former business school professor, as mayor of Calgary, is a watershed event that should be of interest far beyond Canada, where he has already become a political superstar.
When Mr. Nenshi earned his upset victory last October, the first flutter of outside enthusiasm was around the fact that an Ismaili Muslim son of South Asian immigrants who came to Canada from Tanzania had been chosen to lead the capital of Canada’s conservative heartland.
The next wave of excitement was inspired by his campaign’s sophisticated use of social media to overturn Calgary’s old-boy political establishment.
The Twitter revolutions, which we are now so familiar with thanks to the oil states of North Africa, had first hit the land of the blue-eyed sheiks thanks to clever tactics like a comic YouTube video of people struggling with the mayor’s name, or providing simple online tools for supporters to color their Facebook pages Nenshi purple. Read the rest of this entry »
“Leonard Cohen — the eclectic artist-musician whose output spans rock, classical and new music — has won the Ninth Glenn Gould Prize. The prestigious award, handed out once every few years, honors individuals for lifetime contribution in the arts.
The prize, named after the late Canadian piano virtuoso, comes with a cash award of 50,000 Canadian dollars ($51,845 American) as well as the opportunity to name a young artist as a “prize protégé,” who will receive an award of 15,000 Canadian dollars.
Cohen said in a statement that the award is “a great honor, sweetened by my love of the work of Glenn Gould, and our collective appreciation of his invigorating and enduring presence in the world of Music and Imagination.”“
P.S. Have a read of the interesting article, “Shades of Leonard Cohen” to find a few things you may not know about Cohen (including pictures of two pieces of his artworks).
Posted by kempton 
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