From around the business world before the next foray into 2nd District Congressional Primary Prattle:

Record Losses

Citigroup has caught tons of flak for losing 3.9 million records, and deservedly so, for not encrypting the record files. But I think UPS ought to be catching more flak that it has so far, considering this:

In the recent Citigroup data loss, the box of tapes wasn’t properly recorded by UPS at the time of pick up, and never made its destination, according to the Post’s story. Though video cameras recorded the pick-up, no one seemed to notice that the UPS driver didn’t scan the package, which is an extra security measure UPS has agreed to take.

UPS scans every package they pick up in connection with things I ship in my business, so it strikes me as very odd indeed that they apparently just now have agreed to do this for data tapes with personal information.

Late adopters in the Mac world alert

CNet notes that Apples’s move to Intel chips may mean the death of support for programs running in the OS9 operating system and exclusive concentration on OSX. This will be a major pain, and maybe worse, for people like me who like the OS9 version of Microsoft Office and think the OSX version is simply awful (which it is). Looks like I have about a year to figure out what to do.

Wow, Just Wow

For those who think government-run health care is the answer, this piece at OpinionJournal.com about health care in Britain will serve as a jolt of cold water to the face. Here’s the section that amazed me:

When I covered Latin America for The Wall Street Journal, I’d visit hospitals, prisons and schools as barometers of public services in the country. Based on my Latin American scale, Queen’s Square would rate somewhere in the middle. It certainly wasn’t as bad as public hospitals in El Salvador, where patients often share beds. But it wasn’t as nice as some of the hospitals I’ve seen in Buenos Aires or southern Brazil. And compared with virtually any hospital ward in the U.S., Queen’s Square would fall short by a mile.

The equipment wasn’t ancient, but it was often quite old. On occasion my wife and I would giggle at heart and blood-pressure monitors that were literally taped together and would come apart as they were being moved into place. The nurses and hospital technicians had become expert at jerry-rigging temporary fixes for a lot of the damaged equipment. I pitched in as best as I could with simple things, like fixing the wiring for the one TV in the ward. And I’d make frequent trips to the local pharmacies to buy extra tissues and cleaning wipes, which were always in short supply.

In fact, cleaning was my main occupation for the month we were at Queen’s Square. Infections in hospitals are, of course, a problem everywhere. But in Britain, hospital-borne infections are getting out of control. At least 100,000 British patients a year are hit by hospital-acquired infections, including the penicillin-resistant “superbug” MRSA. A new study carried out by the British Health Protection Agency says that MRSA plays a part in the deaths of up to 32,000 patients every year. But even at lower numbers, Britain has the worst MRSA infection rates in Europe. It’s not hard to see why.

As far as we could tell in our month at Queen’s Square, the only method of keeping the floors clean was an industrious worker from the Philippines named Marcello, equipped with a mop and pail. Marcello did the best that he could. But there’s only so much a single worker can do with a mop and pail against a ward full of germ-laden filth. Only a constant cleaning by me kept our little corner of the ward relatively germ-free. When my wife and I walked into Cornell University Hospital in New York after a month in England, the first thing we noticed was the floors. They were not only clean. They were shining! We were giddy with the prospect of not constantly engaging in germ warfare.

Why would we as a nation volunteer for this? Whew, just whew. Thank goodness we have somehow avoided this figurative and literal British disease.

So, after 12 days, the McEwen campaign has released what it calls “The Truth about the 1992 House Banking Investigation” (currently at their home page, presumably not for long, so it is quote below):

(Dayton Daily News Sept 23, 1992)

“Special investigator Malcolm Wilkey has sent clearance letters to McEwen and Cabinet Members Dick Cheney, Edward Madigan and Jack Kemp.”

“McEwen’s top aide, Barbara Briggs, said Tuesday that Wilkey had sent the Hillsboro Republican a letter clearing him of wrongdoing.”

It’s tempting to pick apart the contents of the Dayton Daily News report (a PDF that is here) and do the “raises more questions than it answers” thing, ask “why won’t he release a copy of the clearance letter?” (which would be valid points), and lose the rest of this campaign dwelling on it.

Forget it. Let’s simply ask: Why did McEwen resist releasing this information?

The answer lies in the timing: This information, such as it is, was available to the voters who rejected Bob McEwen in 1992 and 1993, and its nebulous nature was a large part of their basis for rejecting him.

What matters is this:

• The Dayton Daily News article was published on September 23, 1992.
• By Election Day 2002, six weeks later, the fact that McEwen was “cleared of wrongdoing” was “common knowledge.” *
• With that “common knowledge,” in November 1992, voters of the then-Sixth District rejected 12-year congressman Bob McEwen for newbie Democrat Ted Strickland.
• Again with that “common knowledge,” on March 16, 1993, voters of the Second District rejected now-former congressman McEwen for newbie Republican Rob Portman.

The voters had the last word in 1992 and 1993, throwing McEwen out and keeping him out. What has happened in the past 12 years that would cause the people of this district to override those previous voter verdicts? (sound of crickets chirping)

Mr. McEwen’s “clearance” obviously didn’t impress the voters then, and it shouldn’t impress voters now.

* - Note to Wes Farno, McEwen’s campaign manager: You live by the “common knowledge” (last two paragraphs at link), you die by the “common knowledge.”