Book Description
Guerrillas in government are all around us. They can be as high profile as "Deep Throat," or as low profile as the bureaucrat who belligerently slows the processing of an application for a driver's license. Their dissent stems from dissatisfaction with the actions of public organizations they work for, but they strategically choose not to go public with their concerns. Instead, they work against the wishes--either implicitly or explicitly communicated--of their superiors and run the spectrum from anti-establishment liberals to fundamentalist conservatives, from constructive contributors to deviant destroyers. Typically guerrilla government is undetected as it is woven into the fabric of the everyday, often mundane, world of bureaucracy.
Rosemary O'Leary shows that the majority of guerrilla government cases are the manifestation of inevitable tensions between bureaucracy and democracy, which yield immense ethical and organizational challenges that all public managers must learn to navigate. To illustrate these tensions and challenges, O'Leary presents three in-depth case studies and 21 mini case studies that showcase the range of guerrillas from an official at a regional EPA office to a doctor at a medical school to the director of planning in a county office. O'Leary's fresh analysis, combined with great story-telling, underscores the importance of dissent and presents strategies for ways public servants can decide ethically to engage in guerrilla activity, while offering ways public managers can learn to tap into the potentially insightful, creative ideas and energy of dissenters in order to make constructive changes in the system.
Customer Reviews:
Not a Bad Read........2006-11-10
I got this book cuz my grad professor had it on his reading list. Although some of the reading at te beginning of the book was hard to follow, later readings were actually easy to digest. I thought the author presented an important topic in government that really hasn't been explored much. I think she may be a little biased towards the guerrillas - however, in most of the cases she presented, I think you'll find it reasonable to see why.
Even if you are not in this field at all, but want to understand more of what goes on in the background of policy - namely, by the "little guy," then I think anyone will enjoy the topics O'Leary presents for your ponder. But I wouldn't take her suggestions at the end of the book, on how to "manage" guerrilas, as the sure-fire soultions.
Administrative Discretion and Guerrilla Government.......2006-03-12
Review by H. George Frederickson, Distinguished Professor, University of Kansas, published in PA TIMES, February, 2006, page 11
Sixty-five years ago Herman Finer and Carl Friedrich framed one of the classic debates in public administration-Finer arguing that democracy is dependent on tight legalistic controls over bureaucracy, Friedrich countering that effective administration requires bureaucratic expertise and the discretion to apply that expertise. Over the years public administrators have inclined rather strongly in the direction of Friedrich's position, favoring granting a broad range of discretion to bureaucrats. These days the positions of Finer and Friedrich tend to be debated in terms of multiple forms of accountability: accountability to elected officials, the constitution and the laws, one's public service profession, the greater good, one's conscience-and public administrators still favor Friedrich's position believing they should have the discretion to make tough choices and to be held accountable for those choices.
This week a vivid description of the extremes of the long-standing debate over what ought to be the proper range of administrative discretion has reached my desk; Rosemary O'Leary's splendid new book The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government (Washington, D. C.: CQ Press, 2006). Although the title, The Ethics of Dissent, is lofty and grand, it is the subtitle, Managing Guerrilla Government, that best describes what the book is all about. Guerrilla government is O'Leary's term for "the actions of career public servants who work against the wishes-either implicitly or explicitly communicated-of their superiors. Guerrilla government is a form of dissent typically carried out by those who are dissatisfied with the actions of public organizations, programs, or people but who typically, for strategic reasons, choose not to go public with their concerns. . ." (p. xi). Based on more than three dozen actual cases-the cases are mostly rather brief first-person accounts and stories-which include the names of the guerrillas, what they did, and how they did it, O'Leary provides a powerful and very readable empirical base for her findings and generalizations.
O'Leary's guerrillas include Mark Felt, the "Deep Throat" of Watergate fame and Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat stationed in Lithuania, who, in the summer of 1940, against the policies of the Japanese government, issued visas to over 10,000 Jews, enabling them to escape the Holocaust. Unlike Felt and Sugihara and other high-profile guerrillas, most of O'Leary's guerrillas are garden variety nameless and faceless civil servants. There are more bureaucratic guerrillas than one might think, and guerrilla warfare in the bureaucratic trenches is far more common than one might think. Indeed, "guerrilla government happens all the time in the everyday, often mundane world of bureaucracy. Sometimes guerrillas fail to correct superiors' mistakes and let them fall. Sometimes guerrillas fail to implement orders they think are unfair. At times guerrilla government manifests itself as the ghostwriting of letters and testimony for interest groups. At other times it may mean forging secret links with nongovernmental organizations. It may mean leaking information to the news media. There are as many variations of guerrilla government as there are variations in guerrillas" (p. 3). The guerrilla repertoire also includes these familiar tactics: going over your supervisor's head, and over that supervisor's head, and so forth; filing a lawsuit; obeying in public, disobeying in private; cultivating the media; leaking to the media; creating or arrange for the creation of documentaries, scientific studies, and scientific papers that support a particular position; forging links with professional, nongovernmental, and citizen organizations; lobbying; testifying; contacting the White House of the State House; stalling; holding clandestine meetings; tying your cause to a crisis or event; raising funds. It is clear that guerrilla government is not bean-bag or tiddly-winks; it is, instead, a rough game played by tough policy partisans.
As O'Leary puts it, "all guerrilla activity is not created equally." She describes, for example, the guerrilla who had a long-running battle with superiors that began when a consultant refused a reimbursement for a five-dollar hamburger and the guerrilla then "waged a clandestine war to have the consultant barred from future state contracts and his supervisor fired." But most of O'Leary's cases are about serious matters associated with policy differences, questions of fairness, and interpretations of laws and regulations and how they should be implemented. She reports the results of a survey of Fellows of the National Academy of Public Administration who almost unanimously agreed that "dissent, when managed properly, was not only positive but essential to a healthy organization" (p. 104). Sean O'Keefe, the former administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, indicated to O'Leary that "embracing dissent means inviting diversity of opinion from the people around you. My first rule is to never surround myself with people who are just like me. My second rule is always to insist upon someone voicing the dissenting opinion" (p. 104). At their best, guerrillas are the canaries of government, the early warning system. "Instead of discussing guerrillas as problematic and plotting how to get rid of them, we can think of guerrillas as messengers coming to tell a manager something important about the organization, the policies, and the way of operation. . . . The real challenge is to see if we can listen to the guerrillas' messages, sift through the canaries and the zealots, really hear them and take them to heart, that is, make the connection to the broader reality of public management and policy challenges at hand more fully" (pp. 104-108).
O'Leary's primary findings and conclusions are grounded in a synthesis of her cases and are these: (1) guerrilla government is here to stay; (2) guerrillas can do it to you in ways you will never know; (3) all guerrilla activity is not created equal; (4) most public organizations are inadequately equipped to deal effectively with guerrilla government; (5) the tensions inherent in guerrilla government will never be resolved. These findings will disappoint those looking for breakthroughs or easy answers, but they are a clear-eyed and accurate description of how bureaucratic dissent actually works.
Having made these findings and conclusions, O'Leary turned to the pros for advice. In summary form that advice is: (1) create an organizational culture that accepts, welcomes, and encourages candid dialogue and debate; (2) listen; (3) understand the formal and informal organization; (4) separate the people from the problem; (5) create multiple channels for dissent; (6) create dissent boundaries and know when to stop. Based on her survey of the pros, O'Leary's advice is at once simple and profound. Welcoming dissent, listening, separating people from problems, and allowing multiple dissent channels may be simple and profound, but are not easy for managers. They are skills that must be learned and are most often learned by experience, a notoriously expensive way to learn. O'Leary's advice is a little scholarship to those who should learn these skills while avoiding the high cost of learning everything by experience.
If we favor the special place of expertise in the civil service and broads grants of discretion to apply that expertise, and we do, with that discretion comes accountability in all its forms. That accountability includes the management of dissent in one's agency and responsibility for the bureaucrats in one's agency who choose to be guerrillas. Rosemary O'Leary has written an excellent handbook for public administrators with such responsibilities, for those who aspire to such responsibilities, and for those who study and teach those who aspire to such responsibilities. I agree with Donald F. Kettl's observation in the book's foreword that The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government "stands as one of the most insightful works on the real world of bureaucracy ever written."
Other reviews from the back cover of the book:
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE SAYING
Norma Riccucci
"Rosemary O'Leary's Ethics of Dissent is exquisitely written and provides one of the most compelling analyses and syntheses of the implications of guerrilla government to democracies. The book has exceptional pedagogical features and would be very suitable in a variety of course in not only public administration, but public affairs and public policy as well."
- Rutgers University - Newark
Don Kettl
"The book stands out as one of the most insightful works on the real world of bureaucracy ever written.... It is also an imaginary and path breaking approach to the always-difficult issue of ethics in the public service."
- University of Pennsylvania
Frances S. Berry
"This important book delves into an under-discussed topic - managers as guerrilla fighters - through rich case studies. The author has a wonderful writing style that is very engaging and accessible."
- Florida State University
Steven Maynard-Moody
"The Ethics of Dissent is a lively, well-written book. It covers a range of literature, and the cases provide an essential glimpse into the real workings of government. Combining extended cases with theoretical discussion makes for more interesting classes and connects theory and practice. Books, like O'Leary's, that connect the two are rare. "
- University of Kansas
FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Guerrillas in government are all around us. They can be as high profile as "Deep Throat," or as low profile as the bureaucrat who belligerently slows the processing of an application for a driver's license. Their dissent stems from dissatisfaction with the actions of public organizations they work for, but they strategically choose not to go public with their concerns. Instead, they work against the wishes-either implicitly or explicitly communicated-of their superiors and run the spectrum from anti-establishment liberals to fundamentalist conservatives, from constructive contributors to deviant destroyers. Typically guerrilla government is undetected as it is woven into the fabric of the everyday, often mundane, world of bureaucracy.
Rosemary O'Leary shows that the majority of guerrilla government cases are the manifestation of inevitable tensions between bureaucracy and democracy, which yield immense ethical and organizational challenges that all public managers must learn to navigate. To illustrate these tensions and challenges, O'Leary presents three in-depth case studies and 21 mini case studies that showcase the range of guerrillas from an official at a regional EPA office to a doctor at a medical school to the director of planning in a county office. O'Leary's fresh analysis, combined with great story-telling, underscores the importance of dissent and presents strategies for ways public servants can decide ethically to engage in guerrilla activity, while offering ways public managers can learn to tap into the potentially insightful, creative ideas and energy of dissenters in order to make constructive changes in the system.
Book Description
A number of books critical of the pharmaceutical industry have recently been published, but none has been an exposé written by a senior executive of one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. The Whistleblower is at once an unmasking of how corporations take care of malcontents and a gripping story of one man's fight to maintain his family and his sanity. Starting in 2003, the book details the illegal, even criminal business practices the author witnessed at his corporation, as well as his crusade to legalize the reimportation of drugs. It also explains how in this post-Enron world whistle-blowers can't simply be fired, and what the author's corporation did to coerce and silence him. A story of a battle that continues today, one which any American who takes or will take prescription drugs has a stake in, The Whistleblower is a powerful testimony.
Customer Reviews:
HONEST.......2007-09-02
I have read many books about the healthcare industry and this is a very HONEST book... it amazes me how we all got into the healthcare business to help people and then you get SUCKED into the politics that rampage the healthcare industry. If you are a honest, hardworking person and you irregularities and tell senior management the next thing, you know you are out looking for another job.... THEY FIRE YOU! When I read this book I didn't feel like I was the only this has happened too!
The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman.......2007-01-16
An excellent book on the new age of mergers and the lack of support for the employees that don't get the golden parachutes.
Good reading for all ages.
Giant Killers: The Team and the Law that Help Whistle-blowers Recover America's Stolen Billions .......2007-01-12
Most Americans don't know they have the legal power to redress corporate corruption and wrong-doing. Citizens can file a case under the False Claims Act if they have proof their employer has defrauded the United States government. 'Giant Killers,' by Henry Scammell, explains in gripping detail how average, honest Americans have played David against the corporate Goliath, and won. 'Giant Killers' brings out the David in all of us.
The book is an inspiring set of stories. In one, a veteran comes home to a job with a corporate electronics manufacturer, only to find that his company expects him to approve faulty products that are then sold to the U.S. government, at great profit. He balks. His bosses ostracize and then force him out of the company. This story plays out agains and again throughout the book, till you want to hurl the book at a wall in despair.
Enter the lawyers. As a lawyer who prosecutes 'qui tam' suits under the False Claims Act (the 1986 law that allows whistle-blowers to get a percentage of the financial settlement if the case against their employer is successful), I believe Henry Scammell's book does a good job of showing how whistle-blowers and their legal teams can win in the fight against corporate corruption. This area of law is not widely publicized, which is a shame, since there is no end to corporations and companies ready to practice fraud against the government, if they can get away with it.
'Giant Killers' is a book that is easy to read and is emotionally satisfying: the good guys win in the end. Publicity for the False Claims Act is timely, since we may be needing this protction against fraud now more than ever. Cheer for the whistle-blowers and their lawyers who bring a little justice to an unjust world.
Trouble under the covers.......2006-11-01
The Whistleblower describes Dr. Rost's experience as a pharmaceutical executive with three different companies (Wyeth, Pharmacia, and Pfizer), focusing on some questionable practices that went on behind the scenes, and his efforts to cope with the legal and professional ramifications.
It's engaging reading, and disturbing at the same time, with the expected doses of corporate intrigue, dirty tricks, legal maneuvering, etc. As I mentioned in a recent post, the pharma industry has no corner on the market of either virtue or vice, and there is certainly some unsavory stuff revealed in these pages. However, while reading it, the quiet voice of experience continued to remind me, chapter by chapter, that "there are two sides to every story." This book is one side.
Pfizer managed - twice - to acquire companies (Warner-Lambert and Pharmacia) that had some dubious marketing skeletons in their closets. Dr. Rost was in the process of trying to get Pharmacia to clean up its act in his franchise (Genotropin) when the acquistion occurred, and the subsequent problems unfolded when Pfizer inherited the legacy issues (and people) surrounding this franchise. How all of this was handled and mishandled is the focus of this book.
Dr. Rost is evidently a man of no small ego, from what I can gather out of this book and his blog - not always a bad trait, as those with a strong ego drive often are the ones who persevere to accomplish big things. And I will give the man this - he's got guts. He put it out on the line personally and professionally, when he thought there was wrongdoing. Love him, hate him, or scratch your head in perplexity - he's got some steel in his spine.
Of course, it is impossible to verify the veracity of everything contained in this - or any similar - book. However, The Whistleblower does provide some clear warning signals, and if its end result is to make corporations tread more carefully and transparently, then perhaps good will come of it.
The Whistleblower - Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman.......2006-10-11
Wow !!!
I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. Dr. Rost is a savior to the pharmaceutical industry (although he may not be recognized as such) and to the prescription-dependent public. As a health care person, he confirmed everything I always suspected. He sacrificed everything for his integrity, honesty, and ethics. A rare cat in today's world of greed, money, and power. This is a must read for the entire country, especially for health care workers, legislators, state and federal agencies and officials!
Average customer rating:
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Divided Loyalties: Whistle-Blowing at BART (Science and Society; V. 4)
Robert Anderson , and
Robert Perrucci
Manufacturer: Purdue University Press
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ASIN: 0931682096 |
Book Description
This study provides a detailed, in-depth analysis of a single incident rooted in the effort of a group of professional employees to serve the public welfare It reveals in microcosm the interplay of political forces, economic interests, personal ambition, organizational structure, and professional ethics that culminated in an act of whistle-blowing. The incident took place during the final construction phase of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), designed to be America's first attempt at space-age mass transportation. Three BART engineers, convinced of the lack of responsiveness of management to their concerns about the system's safety, were fired for insubordination and other organizational sins. Based upon repeated interviews with the engineers, with BART managers and directors, and with the professional societies involved, as well as upon an extensive body of documents and court depositions, legislative reports, media reports, and institutional memoranda. Divided Loyalties sets a theoretical context for the issues, traces the incident from its beginning, examines the aftermath of the engineers' dismissal, and concludes with a set of recommendations that should be considered by public and private organizations, professional associations, agencies of government, and individual professional employees.
Book Description
ESPIONAGE. FRAUD. POLITICS. "This book is one of the most chilling and compelling business stories I've ever read. Lynn Brewer lived the Enron story, and in a deeply personal, yet highly professional way, lets us peek into what can go horribly wrong in a publicly-traded business. There are some great lessons for leadership in this tale." Oren Harari, Author, The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell "In this incredibly lucid and juicy account of Enron's shenanigans, Lynn Brewer courageously reveals what went on behind the scenes. What she reports will shock the financial press who voted Enron "the most innovative and admired" five years in a row. It will shame research analysts and investors who drove Enron's stock up into the stratosphere - while never being able to explain how Enron made money. Brewer hasn't forgotten the teachers, the small business owners and retirees who lost a bundle when the house of cards came crashing down. She urges us to see Enron not simply as the failure of a few people and institutions. No, it is symptomatic of our win-at-any-cost culture. To prevent future Enrons, we all must look to see how our choices perpetuate this culture, which ultimately, like Enron, is unsustainable." L. J. Rittenhouse, Author, Do Business With People You Tru$t: Balancing Profits and Principles "Lynn Brewer unabashedly exposes the unchecked greed and chicanery operating in the leadership of Enron. Her story clearly reveals how the unethical leadership at Enron led to an unbearable culture of emotional turbulence and fear, drawing everyone into a web of deceit. Readers will get the inside view of one of the country's biggest corporate scandals." Danna Beal, M.Ed., Author, Tragedy in the Workplace: The Longest Running Show in the Country LIES. DECEPTIONS. SCANDAL. ENRON. Confessions of an Enron Executive: A Whistlebower's Story, is Lynn Brewer's gripping account of nearly three years spent with the company that has come to symbolize the worst in corporate greed. Lynn's riveting tale takes you deep into the heart of Enron for a shocking look at both the notorious illicit deals and the unscrupulous people who made them. Having spent time with Enron's water company, trading division, power trading desk, and the broadband unit, coupled with Lynn's background in accounting and law, a scandalous portrait emerges of a company run amok in the name of naked avarice. Fascinating, revelatory, and often times hilarious, Confessions of an Enron Executive: A Whistleblower's Story details the riveting account of her career at Enron, and her decision to blow the whistle to lawyers and the United States Government, long before the world had ever heard of Sherron Watkins. Cover Designed By: Paguirigan Branding & Design
Customer Reviews:
'A' for Self-Promotion; 'F' for Ethics.......2007-10-18
Brewer is the last person who should be lecturing anyone on ethics. As verified by USA Today in an article on October 12, 2007, she was neither an executive at Enron nor was she in any position to have witnessed the wholesale malfeasance she described. That anyone would believe a word that comes out of her mouth or springs from her pen is a tragedy. That she should continue to profit from her dishonesty is a travesty.
How Not To..........2007-07-04
You really want to give this woman money by buying her book? She wasn't an executive and didn't actually choose to be a whistleblower, she plead out. Part of her plea agreement is that she had to found the "Integrity Institute" (not sure why the judge thought she'd be qualified for that). She knew there was impropriety for years, but whenever she brought it up Enron gave her enough stock options for her to look the other way. Ah yes, integrity. She spoke at my university and when a student said that he wants to have a successful career but not break the law, her advice was, "Just be sure you make enough money that you can afford a good lawyer."
This book could be a great "what NOT to do" book on integrity, and it can certainly spawn interesting conversations in a HS or college Ethics class, but I recommend you get it from the library so as not to pad Brewer's pockets any more.
Good in ways the author did not intend........2005-01-25
This is a great book for reasons that the author never intended. Brewer was not really an executive nor a whistleblower, but basically a paralegal who played the Enron game and eventually lost. What makes the book so interesting is that Brewer seems to lack the self-realization of her participation in Enron's dysfunctional culture. I recommend the book for college classes in organization behavior and business ethics.
Product Description
Defrauding America is a detailed and documented description of various forms of criminal activities involving people in a literal secret goverrnment, operating like Trojan horses, inflicting enormous harm upon the people and the United States. It is written by a former government agent with input from many other government insiders, former drug smugglers, and former Mafia figures.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent reource documenting government crimes and coverups.......2001-05-23
This book is a very well documented and thorough analysis of the corruption within the U.S. system of government.
Stich details his involvement with governmental misuse of power when he tries to bring to light the serious lack of safety precautions in the airline industry and how mandatory training programs were being inadequately done, and often not done at all. He experienced stonewalling, as well as retaliation, in the FAA's management when he would try to fulfill his duties as a federal air-safety inspector/investigator and was subverted from fulfilling his responsiblities all the way through to the federal courts by the Department of Justice. Despite these problems obviously leading to airplane crashes across the country, the FAA hierarchy refused to legally prosecute any of the airlines or personnel involved and subsequently allowed the crashes to continue due to their complacency.
As a result of Stich's continuous whistleblowing, retaliation ensued when his assets were seized (to take away the funding of Stich's activist activities) through misuse of chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, and his refusal to "surrender" eventually led to him being sentenced to prison on trumped up charges. (This happens. My father had a similar experience where his assets were unlawfully seized by somone with millions of dollars behind him and a judge in his pocket.)
In a federal corrections facility he meets Gunther Russbacher, a CIA asset with a very high covert position in the agency, who relates to him, through many subsequent contacts (with Stich out of prison), the large amount of conspiracies against the American public being perpetrated by high-level political leaders and governmental agencies. Thus ensues his exposure to extreme government corruption on all levels and the huge extent of this corruption as though there is another government behind the one which we think exists.
Stich has contacts with other CIA operatives, as well as DEA officials, federal employees, and many other deep-cover intelligence operatives (almost all of whom are named, and extensive documentation is given) who want to expose the crimes being perpetrated by the U.S. government against the citizens of the U.S. and the world.
Among the many crimes, the ones elucidated on the most are:
(1)the October Surprise cover-up involving the bribing of Iranians to withhold the U.S. hostages until Regan was elected President (causing Carter to lose face before the election, and involving George Bush at the center of the bribing)
(2)the Iran-Contra scandals, which were the subsequent consequences of the October Surprise situation, where the U.S. gov. sold arms to Iranians (supposedly for hostages), and the profits were used to buy more arms which were then exchanged to the contras in South America for drugs which they provided, and the training of assassination squads by the CIA
(3)CIA and DEA drug traficking, from heroin in Vietnam to cocaine in South America, making many politiicans, gov. officials, and private corporations rich, all with the supposed intent of keeping the trade out of the hands of the left-wing radicals
(4)the seizing of many people's properties in fraudulently run bankruptcy courts
(5)the looting of Housing and Urban Developement by federal officials and the "Denver group"
(6) CIA involevement in the looting of the savings and loan, how it was done and why
(7)money laundering by the CIA and affiliates through Nugan-Hand bank and Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham and Wong
(8)the theft of Inslaw's PROMIS software by the U.S. Justice Department and subsequent sales to foreign governments and various coverup murders
(9)BCCI and its contacts with Bank of America, the CIA, other banks, and the Justice Department coverup
(10)U.S. funding of Iraq and Saddam Hussein
(11)the silencing of "whistleblowers" by threats, false prosecutions, killings, and mysterious deaths
(12)mainstream media's involvement in covering up high-level conspiracies through non-reporting and campaigns of out-right disinformation
(13)the CIA's hand-in-glove association with Israel's Mossad agency (Barry Chamish knows this)
(14)Supreme Court complicity in the coverups
(15)Clinton's associations and dealings with sex, drugs, frauds, the CIA, and other illegal dealings
and many, many other felonious activities committed by those whom you would think could be trusted.
This is a book definitely worth getting for one to understand the extent of the "beast" within our government and around the globe.
As for why this corruption hasn't been brought to the attention of most Americans, my response is that it has. Even though it is largely ignored by mainstream media...many documentaries, television specials, articles in magazines and newspapers, and books have been done exposing at least some of the frauds and crimes, but the vast majority go ignored and without reaction. I have seen many of these types of publications and broadcasts myself, even on TBS. Some of these sources are documented in Stich's book along with MANY inside informants who DO come out and try to reveal the truth to people despite retalitaions by those they are informing against.
This book is extensively documented and very well put together. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because it is so in-depth and so many names are dropped that it can turn some people off and leave one's head spinning due to TOO MUCH detail.
The perfect bible for skeptics!.......2001-03-24
It is a bible considering the number of pages, but it's all worth it! It's a perfect read not just for conspiracy theorists. I definitely recommend this book to those who still believe that America is the guardian of human rights, freedom, and justice. Don't hate America for its flaws, change it, because we're capable for so much more!
Self Serving or Genuine ??.......2000-09-08
That's what I tried to determine while reading this book. I did strongly rely on previous reviews to acquire Stich's work, but in the end I'm not as enthusiastic as other readers.... Right up front, Stich makes an awful lot of pages about his personal crusade and how he got mistreated by a system which offered him but a deaf hear...Okay...got it, loud and clear.
Not satisfied with spreading his personal struggle, Stich too often feels compelled to repeat names and functions (as if the average reader was too dumb to remember the previous 2 pages), and makes constant, annoying references to his personal crusade even when he gets onto discussing other subjects.
Last but not least, I just find hard to believe such a gigantic conspiracy would exist, without someone involved turning his coat. I mean, in any criminal organization, someone sooner or later feels wronged, feels he/she did not get his/her fair share of the cake...Well, not in Stich's world. His crooks are highly professional thugs, who never would betray the system...Yeah right! There are good things in Stich's book, impressive testimonies, official documents etc...But it's just slightly to militant in tone to convince of the veracity of its speech. Faced to so much adversity, I can't understand why such a loudmouth, so-called whistleblower, has not yet ended up looking down the wrong end of a pistol, or taking his second amendment rights in hand litterally by grabing a good old 1911 to wipe out the herd of crooked Justice officials...
I wasted 28 bucks.
Defrauding America:.......2000-02-24
this book is amazing! im not quite through it yet but, it amazes me that people just sit there and let all this stuff go on....anyways AWESOME book i would reccomend it to anyone!
Citizens of the world:READ THIS BOOK.......2000-02-02
This book should be required reading for all citizens of the earth. If I had the money, (and people still read books) I would put a copy of this book in every highschool library. There is enough evidence in this book to put 50 years worth of "elected" leaders, judges, etc. in jail or in the ground. The crimes are hard to digest at times because of the extent of which most Americans swallow the big lie hook line and sinker. The most painful read is the "october Surprise" scandal and how Bush caused the hostage situation to prolong. George Bush. To the gallows with him and the rest of the lot.
Book Description
It's good to know… WHO LOVES YA BABY?
Catch and cuff a perp without batting a false eyelash? No problem for NYPD undercover cop Julie Excelsior. But her big mouth just got her demoted…seems that the department doesn't appreciate a whistle-blower. Well, Julie is too restless to park her long legs under a desk and twiddle her thumbs. She might break a nail—or somebody's head—just to relieve the boredom. Hello? Is anybody listening? That's it. I quit. I'm moving on. Time to say goodbye to the grit and grime of the precinct house, and hello to the simple life upstate where her Uncle Wes, that old practical joker, just died and left her a house on twenty acres. Plus about a million chickens. And the little town of Excelsior Falls has a few other surprises in store…like Julie's childhood pal Cas Reynolds, who grew up to be quite a man. As in six foot two of buff-a-licious fantasy fun. And he's the sheriff. Who could ask for anything more?
How about a hidden treasure? Yes, Uncle Wes hid something wonderful for his near and dear ones to find but exactly what it is and where it is, no one really knows. Everybody's got a clue but nobody's talking—and the whole damn town is digging up her north forty inch by inch, hoping to get lucky. But Cas and Julie already have, what with toe-curling kisses and tangling up the sheets. In fact, they're having the hottest time of their lives…
Customer Reviews:
interesting contemporary romance .......2005-10-25
Because she whistle blew on her partner over drugs, NYPD officer Julie Excelsior was ostracized by her peers and her superiors placed her behind a desk. Bored and angry that she is being punished instead of her former partner, Julie quits. She moves to the home where she grew up in that of her late Uncle Wes, who recently died leaving her with the Adirondacks house.
Julie is shocked that living next door is her childhood friend Cas Reynolds, who abandoned her as demanded by his father who hates the Excelsior trash. Even more surprising Cas is the acting sheriff instead of a stuffy banker. As he struggles with a crime wave starting with abducted chickens and with Julie at his side tries to find Wes' alleged hidden treasure, he vows not to make the same mistake because he knows he loves her. Julie, in turn, plans to keep him hot, heavy, and relieved, but leave him when the time is right like he did her.
WHO LOVES YA BABY is an interesting contemporary romance with a couple of fine mystery subplots to enhance the relationship between the lead couple who were best friends as teens and explode into each other's arms as adults. No sink is safe with this pair. The chicken plucking mystery is amusing while the treasure hunt is fun to follow, but the strength of this tale remains the lead duet as Cas vows not to blow always love this time even at the cost of his crazy parents while Julie pledges to blow him away.
Harriet Klausner
Average customer rating:
- Reads like a John Gresham book except that its all true
- Giant Killers by Henry Scammell
- Telling it like it is
- An informative history of the "False Claims Act"
- Read about the samuri fraud fighters
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Giantkillers: The Team and the Law that Help Whistle-blowers Recover America's Stolen Billions
Henry Scammell
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 087113909X |
Book Description
In 1986, with contractors stealing an estimated 10 percent of the total federal budget by fraud, Congress passed a newly strengthened anticorruption law. Ordinary citizens could file lawsuits on behalf of the government to recover money stolen from the public Treasury, and they would share in the result. In the years since, despite massive institutional resistance, the False Claims Act has emerged as one of the nation's most potent weapons against corporate greed. Giantkillers is the story of that law and what it has accomplished. Charged with intrigue and courtroom drama, Giantkillers describes in novelistic detail how an unlikely team - a conservative senator, a liberal congressman, and a crusading public interest attorney - revitalized a public interest law, enacted during the Civil War, that was gutted by lobbyists and almost forgotten. Giantkillers tells how the trail-blazing firm of Phillips and Cohen gave the law its teeth back and made triumphant heroes out of those previously scorned as "whistle-blowers." Providing an inside eye into the world of the whistleblowers, their adversaries, and their allies, this timely story weighs the lure of corporate greed and reckless power against the high cost of personal integrity.
Customer Reviews:
Reads like a John Gresham book except that its all true.......2007-01-05
This is a remarkable story about a group of true American heroes who fought for their country in a number of ways -- some on the battlefield and some in the courts.
The principal characters challenged huge, corrupt and powerful companies that stole from the American taxpayers in many ways selling shoddy, defective and in some cases nonexistent goods and services to the US government: Defense contractors that sell defective airplanes to the US Air Force; manufacturers who sell defective "bullet proof" vests to our police; drug companies that bill Medicare for defective or nonexistent medicine for the elderly and on and on and on. All of this happened. And it still does. Corporate "mobsters" will do anything for a buck.
The work described in the book continues that of President Abraham Lincoln when he first signed into law the Federal False Claims Act in 1863 giving Americans the right to act as private attorney generals to sue corporate mobsters stealing from all of us.
Its a great read but it will make you angry before you've finished.
Giant Killers by Henry Scammell.......2006-07-29
I hand this book out to all of the whistleblowers whom I recruit to bring qui tam actions. It depicts what can and will go wrong for a whistleblower if they let their employer know they are a whistleblower too early in the process or in the wrong way - unemployment, blacklisting, starting over at the bottom rungs of the career ladder in a different industry etc.... The main takeaways for whistlelbowers are to keep their activities secret, maintain the sanctity of the "federal seal" and only inform your employer that you are engaged in a "protected activity" on advice of competent counsel. Harry Markopolos, CFA Financial Fraud Investigator
Telling it like it is.......2004-08-08
Giantkillers does an excellent job describing the Justtice Department's ambivalence about prosecuting white collar criminals, corporate and individuals. When local Crimestoppers offer $1000 rewards to anonymous tipsters for the apprehension of a liquor store robber who nets a $100 and banks offer $25K rewards to convict a bank robber who loots 10 grand; it is deplorable when Justice Department lawyers often ignore and occasionally subvert honest citizens/taxpayers who object to their employer's larceny of literally millions and even billions of dollars. Perhaps if these civil servants couldn't plan on retiring to go work for the companies they're supposed to prosecute they might adjust their conflicted attitudes.:-)
Times have changed and so have perceptions. Time Magazine honored three Whistleblowers (all women) as their Man of the Year. A decade ago such individuals were typically disparaged as disgruntled, malcontents. Whistleblowers owe a debt of gratitude to the Fastow's of Enron, Barney Ebbers of WorldCom and hundreds more corrupt executives for exposing how rampant corporate corruption has become in America by sticking their fellow citizens where it hurts, in their personal pocketbook.
Even with the present focus on corporate thuggery, the US Attorney in Houston had to be publicly rebuffed by Judge Hittner who rejected their minimal sentence recommendation (<5months) offered by the federal prosecutors to Enron's female crook, Lea Fastow.
The bad news is that in almost all the cases in this book (apparently focused exclusively on the practice of Phillips and Cohen during the 90s) very few of the perpetrators went to jail, using their company's money and lawyers to buy their way out of jail where they belong forever. The good news is today judges like Sim Lake are giving appropriate sentences (24 years to Dynegy's crook, Jamie Olis) and Judge Hittner refusing Lea Fastow's request to delay her sentence until the week after her Jewish holiday, Passover. How does she spell chutzpah? Hittner had compassionately agreed not to incarcerate her and her husband simultaneously, for the sake of their children.
This book hero worships Phillips and Cohen who represent the mostly noble individuals cited. What is striking though was Phillips and Cohens complete adversion to prosecuting a case on their own when the Federal Government declines to intervene. Essentially Phillips and Cohen labored mightily to induce and cajole reluctant, footdragging justice department bureaucrats to step in and prosecute; absent that, Phillips and Cohen seem disinclined to fight for their clients on their own, as is their option.
In my view, this adversion reveals that Phillips and Cohen are somewhat less heroic than the author portrays them. A coward will fight with allies when he is likely to win, a real hero engages a fight, that alone he might lose.
The reader will get a multifaceted viewpoint of the struggle by individuals of integrity and courage who confront their rapacious employers and cowardly managers. A must-read for anyone who is disgusted with government ripoffs and appalled by feckless federal attorneys whose job is to vigorously prosecute the scoundrels. Joel Hesch is an exception to the rule.
An informative history of the "False Claims Act".......2004-07-17
Giantkillers: The Team And The Law That Help Whistle-Blowers Recover America's Stolen Billions by freelance writer Henry Scammell is an informed and informative history of the "False Claims Act" from its legislative origins during the American Civil War as a way to halt the sale of lame horses and worthless gunpowder to the Union Army, down to the present day hallmarked by major corporate frauds on an Enron or Worldcom scale. Illustrative cases include a landmark Medicare fraud case against HCA (which resulted in a fine of 1.7 billion dollars being paid to the federal government); a fraud case against National Health Laboratories that led to the government recovering more than $800 million from the medical lab industry; a $59.5 million settlement by GE for scamming the Pentagon and Israeli air force; the Salomon Smith Barney banking scandals that collectively paid more than $200 million for illegally skimming huge profits from municipal bond deals; and more. Giantkillers is a highly recommended revelation of corporate greed, reckless power, and personal integrity.
Read about the samuri fraud fighters.......2004-03-03
Though Henry Scammell has chosen to illuminate the federal False Claims Act through the high-profile cases of a single law firm, we now have a growing False Claims Act bar reshaping corporate culture, and an ever-increasing number of states embracing state versions of the law. The result is that in boardrooms across the country there is a new realization that fraud against the government can be effectively prosecuted, and that triple damages may be exceed out of date cost of doing business assumptions based on the wrist-slap penalties that formerly pertained. Henry Scammell's eminently readable book makes clear that nailing the con artists depends on a rare breed of individual who is willing to risk career and peace of mind to see justice done. The journey is rarely easy, and never short. Scammell recounts whistleblowers that fought for years and risked marriages and bankruptcy to see their cases through. While some focus on the economic payoff at the end, Scammell pays attention to the terror of the ride - a ride that is often shared by law firms that invest hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of time building cases in which the government often shows only a passing interest -- at least in the beginning. Part history book, part psychological narrative, and part forensic fraud report, Giant Killers weaves a compelling tale about the personalities and travails of doing the right thing - and the ultimate payoff in the end.
This book is a good read and you should read it before John Grisham does a novel on one of the stories Scammell relates.
Average customer rating:
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Whistleblower Law: A Guide to Legal Protections for Corporate Employees
Stephen M. Kohn ,
Michael D. Kohn , and
David K. Colapinto
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
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Whistleblowers: Broken Lives and Organizational Power
ASIN: 0275981274 |
Book Description
In the wake of the Enron implosion and the subsequent revelations of numerous cases of corporate misconduct, sweeping legislation was enacted to reform the system of corporate financial oversight and to ensure protection for employees and investors. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush on July 20, 2002, is a landmark in policymaking, business law, and social activism. Whisteblower Law is the first book to explain and analyze the impact and implications of this legislation, especially as it pertains to the rights of whistleblowers--those who dare to come forward with evidence of wrongdoing. Written by the leading experts in the field and drawing on their extensive experience in advising law-makers, arguing cases, and training professionals, Whisteblower Law will become the standard reference for lawyers, judges, and mediators; corporate executives and managers; employees of publicly traded companies; labor leaders and human resource advocates; and potential whistleblower alike. The authors point out that the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley and related reforms in law and policy will have a profound effect on the corporate and legal communities. For example, the law mandates for the first time that all publicly traded companies establish formal whistleblowing programs and that corporate attorneys must divulge information that would implicate their clients in criminal acts, effectively becoming whistleblowers themselves. Written in accessible language that will appeal to anyone concerned with the rights and responsibilities of whistleblowers in an age of corporate scrutiny, Whistleblower Law will become the standard reference for lawyers, judges, and mediators; corporate executives and managers; employees of publicly traded companies; professors and students of corporate law; labor leaders and human resource advocates; and potential whistleblower alike.
Book Description
Finally, a safe, reliable, proven method to quickly resolve many workplaces' worst nightmare: getting rid of a hard core, "cosmic" jerk. Fill-in-the-blank Internet "complaint" forms make the task a breeze, and the anonymous approach coupled with a 30-day deadline for executive action makes the jerk's departure a foregone conclusion for our target audience of 65 million.
Customer Reviews:
A book that will help the employee who feels he/she is a victim.......2006-10-29
Finally, someone has written a book to help people do something about a "jerk at work" and also to recognize one early on! If I had Jihad the Jerk at Work years ago, I could have changed my (and my coworkers) uncomfortable workplace into a decent one!! Get it now, and read it cover to cover. It's like having a powerful best
friend at work. I feel ready to stand my ground!"
Where was this book when I needed it????.......2006-10-13
It wasn't the book's title that caught my eye when I first saw its ad in the Times in August -- it was the topic and promise that there might be a way to deal LEGALLY & NONVIOLENTLY with people who make worklife miserable, even sickening. Even after retiring, I still felt the burn of a dozen years with a horrible supervisor. This book delivers on its promise: it offers specific methods that have worked (the author's credentials and history prove true), plus, as an added bonus, the author's energetic, articulate good will inspire a reader and offer hope. I recommend this book heartily and only wish I'd owned it when I most needed it. Good luck!
Book Description
A dying woman with nothing to lose takes on ruthless enemies . . .When Antonia Lanchester is told she has only months to live, she decides to blow the whistle on her employers. Masterpiece Home Design, an upmarket home furnishing company, has links to an atrocity committed by illegal loggers in Borneo. Antonia hands incriminating files over to an environmental campaign group. Suddenly powerful interests find themselves threatened with exposure. Antonia is out of her depth, forced to struggle not only against her enemies but also against the weakness of her cancer-ridden brain . . .
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