Content: corruption

Summary:

This novel takes place in the mid to late 1970's in the US and Japan. Bill Sanford is a young CPA working for the Tennessee Fried Chicken Corporation. He was brought up as a Foreign Service brat and had spent three years in Japan and four years in Europe. He had dreams of an international career but, his wife would have no part of it.// Ray Easton, TFC's Regional VP, Far East, is a cunning scoundrel and consummate liar. Ray is a master of insider trading of stock, and spreads the wealth to gain favors. He has always stayed one step ahead of the law.// Inoue San is an executive with one of Japan's major trading companies. He was a war hero who had been captured on Saipan and learned English from a U.S. Marine Officer. He launches a plot to bring a major U.S. fast food company into the Japanese market, relying on a high school chum who runs the Osaka Yakuza (mafia) to establish a chain of industrial espionage.// Strategic Planning is taking corporate America by storm. TFC'S CEO has caught the bug. He brings in a hot shot to produce and lead a corporate-wide strategic planning initiative. Resistance to strategic planning and the new hot shot builds, and the corporate politics accelerate, with battle lines being drawn.// Japan has been through post war reconstruction and is becoming a world class economic power. Some of its former military leaders are determined to achieve economically, what they failed to accomplish militarily.// Two trading company giants, Mitsugawa and Sawamura, become embroiled in a struggle for dominance of the exploding, western style, fast food market.// The cultural differences between Japan and the U.S. complicate matters for both sides. The inner workings of Corporate America and Japan are revealed in all their successes, but also, their corruption and greed.// Personal conflicts and deep seated vendettas, some originating during World War II, unfold.// Seduction and love affairs are an integral part of the plot. They illustrate the differences in social views of sexuality between the East and West.// Industrial espionage involving two highly competitive U.S. fast food companies, two Japanese Zaibatsu and the Japanese underworld unfolds.// Many of the key characters were involved in WWII and their individual experiences influence their business behavior.// Cultural differences subtly emerge, and the exploitation of others to achieve one's ends is front and center.// Personal ethics, or the lack there of, and the constant tug between good and evil are interspersed throughout.

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Summary:

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich gave a press conference today for the first time since his arrest. He said, “I have the personal knowledge that I have not done anything wrong.� Uh-huh. He also said, “I will fight. I will fight. I will fight.� If I’d been a reporter called on to ask him a question, I would have commented, “I heard you the first time.�

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Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested this morning, not so much for what U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called a “political corruption crime spree� but for being the most stupid asshole on the planet. One of the many charges against him included his attempt to sell Obama’s Senate seat to whoever would give him the most in return. Yesterday he told the press, “I don’t care whether you tape me privately or publicly. I can tell you that whatever I say is always lawful and things I’m interested in doing are always lawful.� The FBI took him up on that offer and I guess they got an earful. Blagojevich also said,"I don't believe there's any cloud that hangs over me, I think there's nothing but sunshine hanging over me." That remark made me think of John Denver’s ‘Sunshine on My Shoulders’ and this poem is a parody of that song.

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Summary:

The working title of this novel is Corporate Samurai "love begets hate, trust begets betrayal, lust leads to death"// This novel takes place in the mid to late 1970's in the US and Japan. Bill Sanford is a young CPA working for the Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation. He was brought up as a Foreign Service brat and had spent three years in Japan. He had dreams of an international career but, his wife would have no part of it.// Ray Easton, KFC's Regional VP, Far East, is a cunning scoundrel and consummate liar. Ray is a master of insider trading of stock, and spreads the wealth to gain favors. He has always stayed one step ahead of the law.// Mike Adachi is an executive with one of Japan's major trading companies. He was raised in San Francisco and speaks English as a native. He launches a plot to bring a major US fast food company into the Japanese market, relying on a complex chain of industrial espionage.// Strategic Planning is taking corporate America by storm. KFC'S CEO has caught the bug. He brings in two hot shots to produce and lead a corporate-wide Strategic Planning initiative. Resistance to strategic planning and the new hot shots builds, and the corporate politics accelerate, with battle lines being drawn.// Japan has been through post war reconstruction and is becoming a world class economic power. Some of its former military leaders are determined to achieve economically, what they failed to accomplish militarily.// Two trading company giants, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo, become embroiled in a struggle for dominance of the exploding, western style, fast food market.// The cultural differences between Japan and the US complicate matters for both sides. The inner workings of Corporate America and Japan are revealed in all their successes, but also, their corruption and greed.// Personal conflicts and deep seated vendettas, some originating during World War II, unfold.// Seduction and love affairs are an integral part of the plot. They illustrate the differences in social views of sexuality between the East and West.// Industrial espionage involving two highly competitive US fast food companies, two Japanese Zaibatsu and the Japanese and Mexican underworld unfolds.//The head of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia)is an effective eliminator of problem people.// Many of the key characters were involved in WWII and their individual experiences influence their business behavior.// Cultural differences subtly emerge, and the exploitation of others to achieve one's ends is front and center.// Personal ethics, or the lack there of, and the constant tug between good and evil are interspersed throughout. View table of contents..

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