That Friday Feeling

The deep-thinking Kevin LaCroix at the D&O Diary had a post last week called On Blogging. Concerning the use of technology, he had this to say:

It is easy to set up a blog. About two minutes on Blogger.com is enough to get started. But to get a blog set up the way you want and to deal with all of the problems that inevitably arise, a willingness to futz around with technology is indispensable. Fee-based services such as LexBlog reduce – but do not eliminate – the need to directly confront the technological beast. I would not recommend blogging to anyone who is uncomfortable troubleshooting technological issues.

We thought of Kevin’s warning many times during the past few days after our blog’s template suddenly scrambled itself and much of our information vanished. Through pure serendipity, everything was eventually restored. But because both the cause of the problem and the solution were so accidental, we can’t say we learned a thing, except that Kevin LaCroix is right again.

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We received an email this week that made us laugh:

Hello –

Recognizing that filling a 4-hr block later today for a post-conference workshop on “Overcoming FCPA Compliance Challenges in the Middle East Gulf Countries” may be difficult, I’m doing a last minute scramble for extra material. Of course, being a religious reader of the blog, I’ve used a few of your posts to frame my notes, in particular on Opinion Release 08-01 (01/15/08) and on potential for a Saudi local law exception in the BAE scandal (11/27/07). I would like to use your posts where necessary, with full credit being given to fcpablog.com of course.

Please let me know if you have any objections.

Thanks, and great job on the blog.

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Speaking of conferences, some readers have asked about our next workshops in Asia. The brochure with the schedule can now be downloaded here.

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Stock market behavior is always fascinating and about as easy to understand as blogging technology. While we can grasp somewhat the idea of panic selling and panic buying (i.e., fear and greed), we’re surprised that so many investors would decide to bet against Warren Buffett at this point in history. Based on the man’s past performance, does that bet really seem prudent?

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One part of Thanksgiving we always look forward to is the Wall Street Journal’s annual publication (since 1961) of Vermont Royster’s essay, “And the Fair Land / Let’s give thanks for America.” Mr. Royster, who died in 1996, left behind some wonderful work. Here’s how “And the Fair Land” opens:

Anyone whose labors take him into the far reaches of the country, as ours lately have done, is bound to mark how the years have made the land grow fruitful.

This is indeed a big country, a rich country, in a way no array of figures can measure and so in a way past belief of those who have not seen it. Even those who journey through its Northeastern complex, into the Southern lands, across the central plains and to its Western slopes can only glimpse a measure of the bounty of America.

And a traveler cannot but be struck on his journey by the thought that this country, one day, can be even greater. America, though many know it not, is one of the great underdeveloped countries of the world; what it reaches for exceeds by far what it has grasped.

The entire essay is available from the Journal here.

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Enjoy the weekend.

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