Craig's Corner

I’ve been described as a priest, a lawyer and a therapist all rolled into one. While it sounds like the start to one of those bar jokes, it’s a compliment and responsibility that I cherish.  It is critical to maintain trust in my role as a financial executive, consultant or board member...let alone as friend, family man and mentor.  I work hard personally and professionally to honor and guard the information I’ve been given. In today’s media world, where the speed of information is often more important than its accuracy, keeping a secret seems to be a quaint concept from a bygone era. Fox TV’s “Glee” fired a regular extra a few weeks back for revealing spoilers. Every extra and crew member must now sign an all-encompassing confidentiality agreement. Reality Shows rely on the element of surprise for the audience and go to great lengths to keep the results secret. It builds suspense and heightens the appeal of the show.  Cast and Crew of Survivor agree to a $5 milli...

Next weekend is Memorial Day – the symbolic start to summer: time for lazy days, baseball and lemonade stands. Last summer the tradition of kids making and selling lemonade on the corner met with modern day reality when the King County (Seattle, WA) health inspectors shut down a 7-year old girl’s booth . Twenty years ago (March 1991) the FCC investigated a claim that Microsoft was abusing its monopoly status with its operating system by giving away additional products for free. The claim was found to have no merit. A few months later the Department of Justice opened its own investigation. A trial, an appeal and ten years later the DOJ and Microsoft settled . The company was prevented from bundling its Browser with its operating system or any of its other products for ten years. The settlement agreement expired on May 18. Without the shackles it’s unlikely that Microsoft will return to its innovative past. It almost seems quaint to think that by giving something away for free would c...

May 12, 2005 Dad had a severe brain stem stroke. The next five years, three months and two weeks changed our family. Dad changed physically as a byproduct of the stroke but kept his cognition resulting in years of continued relationships. Mom changed from partner to caretaker. My brother and sister-in-law became frequent visitors, providing care and support for Dad and Mom a bit of a break. I took over their day-to-day financial life, dealt with insurance and details. My sister would read to Dad for hours on the phone, becoming his living conduit to literature. Change can be good, it can be bad…but as this experience showed us, it is constant. During the five and a quarter years that we all lived with Dad’s stroke I became too familiar with the medical care system, and Romney-Care in specific. In my blog post I examined the pros and cons of the health insurance sstem. I was conflicted as to whether an all private system would work better than an all public system, though I was sure t...

I love going to the movies. Nearly every Friday I zip out to see the latest and greatest from Hollywood. In addition I watch plenty of television – sampling virtually every show that’s out there and getting hooked on lots of dramas. I’ve also spent the bulk of my professional career working in and around media companies. I’m not unique – the draw of a compelling story has been part of human history from the beginning. It’s no surprise, then, that the modern news media uses the narrative of a good story to communicate the events of the day. As a journalism student at Syracuse University’s acclaimed SI Newhouse School of Communications I was admonished to tell the “who, what, when, where and why” of an event. Opinion didn’t have a role in the strict telling of events, though it was always acknowledged that individual perspective shapes stories. The major news event of the past week is “Osama bin Laden is dead.” When a perspective is brought to the story the headline changes to “Osama bi...

May 1 is a day full of history . It is a holiday in socialist countries in honor of labor and labor organizations. Law Day, U.S.A. and Loyalty Day are celebrated in the U.S. as a way to counterbalance the communist celebrations. On May 1, 2003 President George W. Bush (43) gave his infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech. May 1, 2011 Pope John Paul II was beatified and President Barack Obama announced the U.S. assassination of Osama bin Laden. On television there’s impromptu crowds gathering, dancing and singing, chants of superiority and celebrations of victory. That was the scene in many Middle Eastern countries on September 11, 2001 after the news reported that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center killing thousands. It was repugnant. The aversion I felt then is equaled today watching many cheer the murder of Osama bin Laden. There’s little doubt that the world is better off with the mastermind of Al-Quada dead. The network of radicals he led has called for a globa...