Confessions of an Enron Executive: A Whistleblower's Story

Average customer rating:

'A' for Self-Promotion; 'F' for Ethics

How Not To...

Good in ways the author did not intend.

Confessions of an Enron Executive: A Whistleblower's Story
Lynn Brewer , and Matthew Scott Hansen
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1418485365

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.

Book Description

This book is a compilation of more than 200 of Jim Murray's best phrases and one-liners covering a multitude of topics.

Average customer rating:
Theorising National Cinema

Manufacturer: British Film Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

Cinema and Nation

Film and Nationalism (A volume in the Depth of Field Series, edited by Charles Affron, Mirella Jona Affron, and Robert Lyons)

European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood (Amsterdam University Press - Film Culture in Transition)

Remapping World Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics in Film

Transnational Cinema, The Film Reader (In Focus: Routledge Film Readers)

ASIN: 1844571203

Book Description

Why do we think of clusters of films as a "national cinema"? Why has the relationship between the nation and film become so widely and uncritically accepted? Written by many leading scholars in the field,Theorizing National Cinema is a major contribution to work on national cinemas. It addresses the knotty and complex relationship between cinema and national identity, showing that the nationality of a cinema production company, and of the films it made, have not always been seen as pertinent.
The volume reviews and rethinks the concept of national cinema in an age of globalization, and goes on to chart the parallel developments of national film industries and the idea of the nation state in countries as diverse as Japan, South Korea, Russia, France, and Italy. The issue of a "national cinema" for nation states of contested status, with disputed borders or displaced peoples, is discussed in relation to filmmaking in Taiwan, Ireland, and Palestine. The contributors also consider the future of national cinema in an age of transnational cultural flows, exploring issues of national identity and cinema in Latin America, Asia, the Middle-East, India, Africa and Europe.
Theorizing National Cinema also includes a valuable bibliography of works on national cinema.

Book Description

Black Dog & Leventhal’s bestselling Encyclopedia of the Bizarre is now available in a handier, more reasonably priced edition that retains every word and image of the original. From stupefying stunts to wacky world’s records, all of Ripley’s riveting findings are here, in an easy-to-browse, impossible-to-put-down color volume.

Where else could you learn that:

• It’s estimated that 10,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000 snowflakes have fallen to the Earth since the Earth was formed!

• Queen Isabeau of Bavaria used a mixture of boar’s brains, crocodile glands, and wolf blood as skin lotion!

• Anna Bread married John Butter in Leeds, England, April 22, 1926!

• Phil Turco of Madison, Wisconsin, swallowed 339 goldfish in two hours!

Bizarre and amazing categories include Accidents and Disasters, Animals and Insects, Archaeology, Feats and Stunts, Prophecies, Records, the Unexplained, and more. It’s fascinating fun for the whole family.

Customer Reviews:

Kids love this book!.......2006-09-14

Having lost all of my classroom materials in Hurricane Katrina, I was hunting for things to furnish my room at my new school. I don't remember where I heard about this book, but I purchased it from Amazon and it was the best money I have spent in a long time. I teach in an all-boys school - boys love weird stuff! That book is in someone's hands all the time. I may have to buy another copy soon - this one is getting worn out. Adults will not find it overly interesting, but I bought it for the kids and they definitely do.

GREAT BOOK.......2006-09-05

Good book if you are a fan of the unbelievable and Robert R. Ripley. This is great, long cofee table book on almost EVERY SINGLE subject you can think about! There are over 1,400 unbelievable facts in this book, more than you can think about!

This book is over 300 pages long in its first print (over 200 in second print) and worth every single penny!

Urban legends find a home.......2006-06-19

Typical of a Ripley's Beleive It Or Not book, there are no
refrences. It is a collection of cute trivia from the older
Ripley's Believe It Or Not books. Problem is, most of what
can be checked, is wrong. Frank Wells was never on the Titanic
nor the other ship disasters claimed. The section on laws
includes myths and jokes that someone believed. Stories from
older Ripley books are re-told with different names. It even
says "Mushrooms are a fruit." (They are actually fungi.)

Entertaining, if sparse on details.......2006-01-20

An excellent occasional read, with something to surprise you on every page. One issue I had with this book was the lack of sources for some of the facts. I hope future editions of Ripley's books include or allow access to an online source-book for those interested in digging deeper.

Oddities and eccentricities delight.......2005-12-25

Aaaah I love a good book showcasing the bizarre. This is an incredible book that includes interesting facts and photographs to boot, of amazing individuls, creatures, plants, and events. There is over 5,000 random selections of the most curious things. Some examples include a cow with 8 legs, a man with palm fronds in his skull, a cat born with fur that spells out cat, a dog that wears dentures, man who can flip up the stairs, a man who made an eccentric garden out of curving and knotting tree boughs, an eggplant whose seeds that spelled out God, the man who is turning himself into a lizard, men who can pick up cars, and women who can skate on their toes. Its like a Guiness Book of Records but these facts would not be exactly world famous but just unusual. I love this book and my friend bought this for her 11 year old who has read every page. Its filled with pictures and facts so its a huge collection. It would be great for a coffee table or anyone who embraces eccentricities or has a healthy curiosity.

Book Description

Build Your Own Database-Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL is a practical guide for first-time users of PHP & MySQL that teaches readers by creating a fully working Content Management System, Shopping Cart and other real-world applications. There has been a marked increase in the adoption of PHP, most notably in the beginning to intermediate levels. PHP now boasts over 30% of the server side scripting market (Source: php.weblogs.com). The previous edition sold over 17,000 copies exclusively through Sitepoint.com alone. With the release of PHP 5, SitePoint have updated this bestseller to reflect best practice web development using PHP 5 and MySQL 4. The 3rd Edition includes more code examples and also a new bonus chapter on structured PHP Programming which introduces techniques for organizing real world PHP applications to avoid code duplication and ensure code is manageable and maintainable. The chapter introduces features like include files, user-defined function libraries and constants, which are combined to produce a fully functional access control system suitable for use on any PHP Website.

Customer Reviews:

Great for biginners, but out of date for today. .......2007-09-10

True to Site Point's method and style, this book makes it easy to jump into the basics of it's subject. Easy to navigate and full of helpful tips and hints, all the matieral is easy to access.
However a word of warning for those who may wish to purchase this book- get a newer version! This version covers PHP4.0 which is being discontinued from use in November of 2007. Learning PHP4.0 will not be very helpful after November, so Look for the newer version of this book and you will be set.
I found this to be the newest version as of this posting: Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP and MySQL
I was quite sad when I realized I had purchased, and then read through, the whole book and then found out that PHP4 will be discontinued. You need PHP5 or PHP6 to be effective and up to date.
Also, if you are not an absolute beginner at the subject, this book is probably not for you. You can find more advanced books on the subject that will help you in your php quest. I found the first couple of chapters to be a bore, and maybe even an insult, because they covered 'how to use windows' how to open notepad, or how to do the equivalent in mac.

Excellent Book.......2006-07-10

I highly recomend this book. I think it best serves those who already know the syntax of PHP, but it is a excellent book. I recomend either "Learning PHP" (The O'Reilly book) or "PHP for the World Wide Web : Visual QuickStart Guide" for a beginner. Both of these books will help you learn the syntax and concepts of PHP, but then it is best to move on to a book that gives practical examples, and this book excells at giving practical examples.

A good book for getting started with php and databases........2006-07-04

By reading just the first 4 chapters I was able to create my own webpages using php and the mySQL database to store tables of data. It has some good example programs that you can follow.

Sitepoint PHP and MySQL.......2006-04-20

Sitepoint (both the books and the website) is an excellent resource for quick learning of the latest and greatest in web development technologies, and this book proves it. Very clearly written and easy reading; a practical, hands-on tutorial. Provides everything necessary to develop and serve up a top-notch website backed by a powerful database.

Very good introduction.......2005-09-14

Author Kevin Yank states up front that this book is intended for intermediate- to advanced-level Web designers. I think this is an appropriate designation, as a beginner would quickly become overwhelmed at the rate with which Yank introduces such heady topics as Relational Database Design (Chapter 5) and Regular Expressions (Chapter 7). It's important to note that this book is an introduction to server-side technologies, not web site design; therefore, I recommend that the reader have experience with creating web sites and with client-side coding (HTML, JavaScript). Consider the pace: Chapters 1-3 of the book cover installation, your first MySQL database, and your first PHP page. Then by Chapter 6, the reader is coding a (admittedly rudimentary) content-management system!

Is this book for you? Consider that for the price, you get a basic introduction to a broad number of topics: 1) PHP installation, 2) MySQL installation, 3) relational database design, 4) using server-side programming to reduce client-side coding, 5) database administration, 6) writing effective SQL queries, 7) structured programming techniques, such as using includes, and 8) implementing cookies and sessions. If you are already comfortable with at least half of the topics in this list, then you are probably ready to graduate to a more in-depth book than this one. If much of this sounds new to you, then you will find Yank's book an excellent introduction. Yank writes as if he was a friendly tour guide, at each step of the way walking you through what he has done and why he chose to do it that way. Because the style is so conversational, it's easy to go back and re-read a chapter, which many readers might find themselves doing.

While the cover of the 3rd Edition (February 2005 update) goes at length to point out that the book covers PHP5, there is negligible content that goes beyond PHP4.x. None of the coding, and none of the author's discussions on effective programming techniques, addresses OO programming at all, let alone how it's implemented in PHP5. This is not necessarily a negative aspect of the book since, again, it's essentially an introduction. Just don't let the packaging fool you into thinking you're getting more than you actually are.

For me, the primary value of a book like this is in the initial chapter, where it provides all of the necessary steps for installing PHP and MySQL in one place. While the online documentation for both technologies is excellent, I have found that it can be confusing to switch back and forth between the two sites to get your own set-up installed and configured. If you're like me and must add Apache installation to the process, it only compounds the problem. Yank provides clear instructions for Windows and Linux users, with a nod to Mac X users, on installation and post-installation tasks.

Mainly for this information, this book is an excellent way to get started with server-side technology, but it is not at all suitable for production purposes. As with any server or server-side technology, security is a major and much-debated topic of concern with PHP and MySQL. Yank does address some of the basic methods of protecting a MySQL server from attacks, including how to password-protect the root user account and how to grant only necessary access to new users. I'm sure many PHP programmers will argue with Yank's recommendation that PHP's "Magic Quotes" feature be left On, since turning it Off "exposes you to hackers attempting SQL injection attacks on your Website if you are not very careful to write scripts that protect themselves from such malicious behavior" (p. 24). Mind you, he is simply quoting the recommendation at php.net, since the On setting is recommended for beginners, but it points out why this book is not suitable for production-ready applications. Yank does provide abundant footnotes for the reader to find more detailed information, including the online documentation at www.php.net and www.mysql.com.

Yank very often invites the reader to consult the forums at [...] for further information and advice. Do not construe this as a mere marketing ploy. The SitePoint forums are indeed an excellent resource, with an active and often well-experienced audience.

All of the code listed in the book is available as a download from [...]. Simply provide your e-mail address, then you will be prompted with a question that you can answer only if you have the book in front of you.

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