Patrick's Rants

The European Union is calling for large CPA-type firms to break up their businesses if they offer consulting services in addition to audit services. The proposed law would separate these businesses and – hopefully – give them a little more independence when reviewing the books of public companies. In Deja Vu All Over Again, I wrote Leaving a tiny piece of regulation in place that kept CPA firms from offering “consulting services”, a euphemism for “what else can we ‘sell’ to our clients?” might have saved Arther Anderson and even possibly prevented the implosion of Enron.

I was, of course, alluding to the expansion of services offered to clients of accounting firms. If the same firm that offers consulting on advanced computer systems, or complex off the books transactions, or SPEs looks over those arrangements to determine if they are legal, appropriate, properly accounted for and reported to shareholders who is the audit firm servicing? In the instance of Arther Anderson, it was argued that the auditors were being asked to approve the validity of the moves made by the consulting arm – of Arther Anderson. The clients’ interests, that is the public, shareholders and employees of Enron, are at odds with the interests of the consulting arm. If the consulting arm signs off on a 20 step transaction that is designed to “move” losses of the books so a company can report increased quarterly profits, the audit arm should recognize the invalidity of such a move and not sign off. When you are talking about two parts of the same company it’s hard to keep that separate. It seems the EU agrees. Consulting and auditing will have to be performed by different companies if this law is enacted and enforced. I think that’s a good thing.

I thought this was an April Fool’s story at first. I’m still not convinced that this “girl with no vagina gets pregnant” story is true. Hmm.

Rick Santorum defended the lack of action on the part of Joe Paterno when told of sexual abuse on the part of one of his coaches.

Paterno reported the allegations to his boss, and Pennsylvania’s attorney general said it appeared that the coach had met his obligations under state law. Still, some critics have said that he should have reported the suspected abuse to police.

“I know Joe Paterno and I’ve known him for many years,” Santorum told reporters after visiting his campaign office in Bedford. “These are horrible, horrible gut-wrenching, gut-punching allegations of what went on there. All I can say is obviously heads rolled and there may be more heads to roll.”

But he would not call for Paterno’s ouster.

“The bottom line is that after all the years of what he’s done for that university and beyond that for so many others in this country, he deserves the opportunity to tell his side of the story,” Santorum said. “I’m not going to make any judgments until that happens and he certainly is owed that.”

Are they so backwards at Penn State and the state of Pennsylvania? In Arizona, if I were to witness a coach banging an underage boy in the school showers (or anywhere else for that matter) I can be personally prosecuted for not immediately reporting or causing a report to made to law enforcement. I can be prosecuted for just telling my boss and not making sure the next phone call my boss made was to the police. What kind of ass backwards hill billy law lets you just say, “hey Joe, your coach was really giving it to some little boy in the shower there. Well good night.”?

He followed the law by reporting it to a civilian boss? Well over a year ago? Well, he’s a game winning coach so let’s let him tell his side of the story. The side where he says, “I did what the law requires.” What does humanity require? That if you know a grown man is raping a little boy that you step in, you call the police and if you see it happening you taze that perverted bastard til his balls fall off.

These guys admitted they knew something was going on. They reported it. As the law requires.

Steve Jobs, dead at 56.

I saw this worm crawling across my driveway. It’s a little hard to see, but it must extend over 18″.

That’s my shoe in the first photo, my hand in the second.

I’m launching a For Sale By Owner FSBO web site. There is no cost* to list your home for sale or rent. Listings will remain active for a full 60 days from posting or any changes made to the listing. If you have a home for sale, primarily in the Northern Arizona area, hop on over to create your free FSBO seller account.

*Pricing, if when or whether is still in the idea stage.

Arizona has some serious problems with our Child Protective Services agency. In the related story you can read about Ame, stuffed into a footlocker and locked in to suffocate to death as punishment for taking a popsicle from the freezer. Her mother had placed her with these family members to care for. Ame’s mother has said she was abused as a child by these family members but never thought they would hurt her child. On top of that, she was never notified of the death of her child, she learned about it on a facebook posting.

You can also read the couple arrested for beating their child to near death – officials expect him to die in the hospital. CPS has “been involved” with this child since near birth, the full circle of his life. Neighbors have reported abuse (although not every time), police have been out, CPS has been out. Yet this child remained in this home. He sported visible black eyes and bumps and he remained in his home.

“Ultimately, the degree to which we call ourselves a civilized society is directly related to how we stand up for the defenseless and innocent among us,” Montgomery said. “I call upon everyone, everyone, to report abuse and neglect when they see it.”

Montgomery is the Maricopa County Attorney and he wants us to report, report, report. But if the results of the reports are that the agency walks away from the home without preventing the death of a child, some might ask themselves, “what’s the point?” What’s the point when a six year old child, CPS being involved since 2005, will nearly certainly die from his beating?

Sheriff Joe is focused on his sweeps, the state legislature has managed to adopt an official firearm and allow guns on campus and in bars, made it illegal to be in the state illegally and now require the police to check your citizenship or other papers if they talk to you, but hasn’t properly funded CPS.

How many more children have to die? How many more does CPS have its hands died on, whether due to budget or lack of adequate foster home services? I don’t know if CPS was inept, incompetent or just broke in this case. Is it lack of training or lack of funding?

I started to get spam for this Aluma Wallet thing. The same thing happened a few years ago when those miniature helicopters and cars were all the rage for Christmas gifts. So just what is the Aluma Wallet? Well, it’s made of aluminum and the claim is that it will protect you from having your RFID enabled credit card information stolen by someone with a hidden reader. Here’s how to prevent someone from stealing that information – don’t use “speed pass” cards. I mean, you might as well broadcast your credit card information. Of course if you are required to use some kind of ID card at work that utilized RFID technology you might just prefer put it all in this hard sided wallet.

The prediction is that the biblical rapture will hit us at 6:00pm local time (because it’s gonna wash over the world starting at 6:00pm local time in New Zealand). Believers will simply vanish off the face of the earth. So in case I’m wrong and it really does happen, can I have your car?