Girl in a red sweater

The Pre-Raphaelites have a lot to answer for. Just imagine what they would have done with PhotoShop (or the GIMP).

Exotic Business

I had a meeting in the Judge Institute of Management — Cambridge’s Business School — today. Couldn’t help reflecting on how exotic and unbusinesslike its interior is. More like an Oriental bazaar. Lovely though.

Diebold boss admits error

It would be nice to think that my column had something to do with it, but I think it unlikely. Alas. Still… According to today’s NYT,

“Walden W. O’Dell, the chairman and chief executive of Diebold Inc., said on Monday that it had been a ‘huge mistake’ for him, as the head of a voting machine company, to express support for President Bush’s re-election in a fund-raising letter last year. Mr. O’Dell also said the company was working to address computer security problems and build voter confidence in its wares.

In a meeting with reporters and editors from The New York Times, Mr. O’Dell by turns apologized for mistakes and stood up for what he said the company had done right.

‘The country had a crisis’ after the 2000 debacle, he said; his company realized that ‘we could help; it would be an opportunity to serve, and it would be a good business.’

Mr. O’Dell drew criticism of his company in August when he sent an invitation to a fund-raising party that said, ‘I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.’ He said he had not written it himself, though he declined to say who had, and intended only to sign a ‘party invitation.'”

The china shop rule

Notice often seen in shops selling delicate porcelain: “If you break it, you own it”. Does this apply to Iraq? Yes and no. ‘Yes’ because the success of the invasion led to a vacuum which was predictable, could have been planned-for — and wasn’t. ‘No’ in the sense that Iraq was broken long ago, by Saddam and his regime. What makes the current unfolding disaster so depressing is that no matter what one thought about the original decision to go to war, the US and Britain cannot quit now. Retrospective moral outrage is no longer a credible position. And that’s very uncomfortable for everyone.