Paranoid: Spying, the Hot New Trend

HP, or Hardly Private, makes one wonder what’s going on inside of the boardroom these days. “After reading of the lengths to which board Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and her squad of investigators went to find the source of board leaks who hasn't thought twice about what they say on the phone or in an e-mail—or asked, am I being watched?” Business Week asks in an Oct. 2 article cleverly entitled: Spy vs. Spy: Corporate Espionage

Radical NGOs are afoot – prepare for them before they prepare for you (“Keeping Ahead of Activists is a Dog-Eat-Dog World”), says the new Oct. 2 issue of PR News.

The IRS could be watching, as Glaxo SmithKline found out when they copped to the BIGGEST U.S. tax settlement ever of $3.4 BILLION on Sept. 11.

Even judges are not immune, as their previously secret corporate sponsored junkets have been changed by the Judicial Conference as of Sept. 19 (“New Rules Mean Shift Toward Accountability for Judiciary") According to the new rules judges are now “barred from accepting reimbursement for seminars hosted by organizations that do not publicly disclose their funding sources, speakers' names, and other information,” and “judges will have to publicly disclose their attendance (on junkets) on their court's Web site within 30 days.”

And you too could join in on the fun, albeit in a wholesome all-American way. Although not usually known for leading trends, the federal government of course has led the pack in this department as recent legislation suggests that I won’t get into here, but I’m actually talking about the new web site listing fed grants greater than $25G – the vegetarian-friendly Pork Tracker, which is required by the Federal Funding Accountability & Transparency Act of Sept. 26, 2006.

Follow the money trail in the comfort of your own home, without pretexting even.