Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG
Corporate Quote for the Day: "If you compete, don't cheat!" - Tish
In the world of Information Technology, protecting the inventions of the brilliant developers and engineers who are driving business successes behind the scenes is a tenet of our industry. When someone on a team threatens to compromise that principle, it's our duty to take steps to secure and protect the intellectual property of those inventors.
Many of you have lived the journey from CRT's to the PC, CRM to B2B; and from web services to electronic communications networks (ECN) with a passion others will never understand. Thirty years ago, imagining dark pool aggregators and alternative trading services (ATS) or advanced clearing operations was something joked about after watching Star Wars movies. You've lived all sides of this fascinating business as you moved your companies from archaic stockbroker workstations to modern day wealth management platforms; from back-office to middle office; and you cheered for that BPO during the ascent of straight-through processing!
The Six Sigma & CMM standards dedicated to execution services have moved to excellence in algorithms, sponsored access, smart order routing and beyond. The most seasoned among us, watched as the retirement of the tandem computing dinosaur gave way to the engineering wonders of UNIX workstations; until they were seamlessly superseded by NT. Three cheers for this delightful & never-ending ride!
Finally, virtual & cloud computing bursts on the scene to remind us that there are always dedicated professionals inventing, developing and creating solutions to help companies compete and execute business. Those customers who enjoy trading in multiple asset classes or who move goods between countries have information technology professionals to thank for inventing white board-to-execution solutions which have doubled the number of trading venues and markets they are able to access around the globe.
There are countless examples of these successes in product development, so here's today's plea:
If a leader in your company ever instructs you to infringe on the copyright privileges of another man's work (i.e. - that is if you're asked to copy proprietary computer programs or code, and/ or to steal trade secrets in any form to compete-like-a-cheat) - the only right answer is to run like hell to alert someone who has the authority to stop this request in its tracks.
Let me introduce you to a sales executive who - by cheating a competitor - taught all of us that it's always important to say something, if you see something. It was a bad day when the federal authorities raided the corporate headquarters of his employer - a respected market leader; what was particularily disturbing & disappointing is that a revered customer of this man had its offices raided too! What played out for the two years that followed was all thanks to the calculated actions & behaviors of a few. No employee population should have to go through this; never mind two seperate employee populations on the same day.
Employees in two states were evacuated from their offices by Federal Authorities who had arrived at their respective headquarters with guns drawn. Moving trucks backed into the buildings so they could remove everything the signed warrants & subpoenas gave them permission to take. Executives were ushered to interview rooms and to mobile sub-stations to answer questions. It felt like chaos for the 540 unsuspecting employees impacted, inconvenienced & shook up by these dramatic activities brought on by the determination, behaviors and executive mandates of a single sales executive looking for a fast commission. Equipment, tapes, documentation and other technologies were removed from the premises of the targeted facilities because of a serious complaint filed by a competing software services vendor in Federal Court.
Technical experts would later agree that the vendor's code had been stolen and reproduced. The sales executive's goal - in fact - was to infringe on the targeted vendor's copyrights and to willingly misappropriate trade secrets to meet some quota. He also instructed his employees to use their stellar influence and negotiation skills as well as their expense accounts to "inspire" employees at the customer site to help them execute this illegal plan. In the end, they convinced others to participate.
One evening after business hours, competitive intelligence was removed from a locked conference room at the customer branch where demo workstations had been set up for the vendor selection process. In short, copying the data code in question cheated the competitor. Perhaps, not a big deal to people who don't understand our business, but a very big deal indeed. It eliminated a legitimate opportunity for the IT team that created this market offering to benefit the competitive advantage it had worked so hard to create. After all, their ideas, research dollars, hard work and time had produced the winning solution in the first place.
The raids by the Feds, grand jury appearances, trial dates, finger-pointing, settlement term discussions among parties, people refusing to admit guilt, complex employee relations issues and amended complaints played out for over two years before a consent to judgement was agreed to. It was hard for the company to focus on much else and it was a difficult time for every employee forced to live with the consequences of these circumstances.
Those charged in this case used a defense which included blaming those employees at the branch who provided access and who helped to obtain and make copies of the materials at the heart of this case. The fact that no element of force was used during the breaking & entering at the customer site helped them. Unfortunately, an amended complaint would later arrive naming the client as a co-defendent in this copyright infringement case leaving the fate of $29 million in annual revenues and the technical solution for over 10,000 workstations hanging in the balance. Obviously, it was time to settle.
In the end, a confidential financial settlement along with an agreement to buy some of the petitioner's subsidiaries helped this case go away. Make no mistake - in this very public case - we're talking hundred of millions of dollars and client relationships ruptured forever. There were no winners.
Employees were terminated. Years later, the business unit in the middle of this scandal would be sold off in pieces... never to be heard from again.
But here's the problem with this outcome: The actual employees tied to this dismal chapter in corporate history were quietly dismissed and/ or shuffled out of these companies without a word. This put all of them - including the sales executive at the center of this case - inside the next unsuspecting company without anyone realizing that there was a direct & serious risk to their company tied to hiring them.
Since we have a responsibility to protect the revenues and assets of all companies, I suggest some kind of regulated system similar to the CRD System which tracks the U-4 & U-5 employment/ termination records of FINRA licensed employees in Fiancial Services. The mission is clear: to preserve the integrity of hiring processes tied to Global Information Technology because IT is - in fact - tied to every global financial transaction on the planet.
Perhaps, it should be called U-6 Deep-Six Compliance. How it would work: If IT personnel willingly use their skills and competencies to commit crimes or to take actions to compromise copyright laws, and/or to steal intellectual property, trade secrets, and proprietary systems from fellow professionals and competitors - there would be a process - rooted in law - which would prohibit them from working in the IT field and/or in any industry they intentionally worked to deceive or harm.
There are lots of legal settlements that play out in Financial Services. The infractions and crimes of the FINRA licensed people involved in such situations are always documented on U-4 & U-5 forms for all future employers to see. This kind of system needs to be duplicated in Information Technology.
The economic meltdown is reason enough to create a certified central authority to monitor & flag Information Technology professionals going forward. Perhaps some kind of Federal U-6 Deep-Six Officers Committee authorized to ban those trained in the IT industry altogether if necessary? Or - at a minimum we agree to ban people from those industries adversely impacted by actions intended to defraud others?
Of course, first we have to be focused on those cases already settled by the Federal Courts because they already know each person's role in these cases before settlement; then you'd have to create a legitimate mediation process so people could defend charges, etc...
Think about it: Does anyone have the names of all the revered Financial Engineers and/ or Quantitative Analysts who helped bring down Lehman or AIG? - Who are those people who took those jobs to cook the risk books?
Some of us know the names of honorable men and women who would not do this work. But few of us know the actual names of the employees who did. How can that be?
CEO Dick Fuld & AIG's Joseph Cassano were not the IT professionals behind the scenes creating the complex mathmatical formulas and designing the complex financial instruments which were built to hide the risk all companies had a fiduciary responsibility to mitigate. Where are all these people now?
How do you know you haven't already hired some of these integrity-challenged hires into your company? You don't because there is no system to protect you from them. So what do you think we should do about this complex recruiting challenge of our time?
You can write to Tish509@comcast.net to suggest solutions. Please contribute your ideas to this amazing challenge that does not have an easy answer - Thanks.
I promise to pass your professional opinion & suggestions to Governor Chis Christie in New Jersey & Mayor Bloomberg in NYC.
Best regards,
TishTrek
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Recipes for the CFO: How the Books are Cooked! Chapter 3
Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG!
Corporate Quote for the Day: "People who fail to live leader behaviors at home will not live them in the office... or anywhere else for that matter". - Tish
One day a global company sent out a $36,000 accounts payable check which represented a 25% fee on a $144,000 base salary for a Sr. Program Management position filled by the in-house corporate recruiter assigned to the Information Technology Applications Department. The check was returned to the Human Resources department because the post office box was no longer in service. The Director of Staffing executed a good faith effort to reach out to the vendor this check was payable to.
To the stunned disappointment of company management, it was discovered that the address associated with the PO box belonged to the company’s Sr. Vice President of Applications Development. He was in business with six members of his department and an in-house recruiter. It was a staggering wake up call to find out these employees had profited to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a four year period.
Worse yet, the employment candidates hired by this team also profited. It was later discovered that this troop of professionals had traveled in packs throughout their career and - in fact - had executed the same deceptive plan at their last employer where they had worked in the IT department of a NY hospital.
And here's an important kicker: The Employee Referral Program, which paid employees $5,000 for referrals that were hired, wasn't profitable enough. Instead of referring & hiring their candidates through this legitimate corporate staffing program, they concocted the more lucrative bogus/ fake employment agency plan.
These crooks killed cost-per-hire statistics and wasted the time of a lot of people. Recruiters and the external employment agencies who were out there working daily to deliver high caliber candidates had no clue that their candidates never had a chance to be hired by these decision makers & cheats inside the firm.
Think about this: Qualified candidates who arrived at this Fortune 500 company directly, through the employee referral program or from employment agencies not tied to these hiring managers took the time to dress, commute and interview with decision-makers on a hiring team who never intended to actually assess their skills or hire them.
If you believe that every candidate is a potential client or decision-maker of your products, services and market offerings, then you have a responsibility to take every step to protect their interests. Honoring the tenets of equal employment opportunity is a corporate priority across America, so all companies must work to keep candidates from being adversely impacted or rejected in a staffing process for reasons not tied to their skills, competencies, background, experience and credentials.
Kroll International, a white collar investigative firm based in NYC, helped this company solve this crime. Their experts informed company executives that these people often change company names, addresses, and contact information because they are not only in the business of cheating your company, but the tax man too.
In the end, the company ramped up it's vendor management processes and ran Dun & Bradstreet reports on every company paid an employment agency fee over a 4 year period. They also investigated all silent limited partners behind the person or people who carried the 51% ownership stake in each firm. This small step helped lead them to some of the shell companies used to execute these crimes and to the invisable faces profiting.
The company actually stopped executing business with staffing vendors whose invoices and resumes were tied only to PO boxes, (i.e. with no legitimate street addresses or facilities tied to them). This situation played out several years ago, so the challenge now is this: In our evolving age of remote technology, executing business through e-mail and cell phones has become so commonplace that it actually compromises a company's ability to flag any number of suspicious activities on the front-end. That's why vigilance and a complete commitment to world class processes on the back-end of your vendor management programs are more important than ever.
If you manage employees who are doing such things inside your company, then you are accountable. Lax and/or chaotic staffing standards, processes and transactional procedures cannot be an option. Every company owns the responsibility to mitigate risks that deny great employment candidates and high quality vendor partners the legitimate opportunity to compete. The success of your company depends on the programs that generate revenues and protect assets. Are you satisfied that you are doing well in all these areas?
Good Luck!
Best regards,
TishTrek
Corporate Quote for the Day: "People who fail to live leader behaviors at home will not live them in the office... or anywhere else for that matter". - Tish
One day a global company sent out a $36,000 accounts payable check which represented a 25% fee on a $144,000 base salary for a Sr. Program Management position filled by the in-house corporate recruiter assigned to the Information Technology Applications Department. The check was returned to the Human Resources department because the post office box was no longer in service. The Director of Staffing executed a good faith effort to reach out to the vendor this check was payable to.
To the stunned disappointment of company management, it was discovered that the address associated with the PO box belonged to the company’s Sr. Vice President of Applications Development. He was in business with six members of his department and an in-house recruiter. It was a staggering wake up call to find out these employees had profited to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a four year period.
Worse yet, the employment candidates hired by this team also profited. It was later discovered that this troop of professionals had traveled in packs throughout their career and - in fact - had executed the same deceptive plan at their last employer where they had worked in the IT department of a NY hospital.
And here's an important kicker: The Employee Referral Program, which paid employees $5,000 for referrals that were hired, wasn't profitable enough. Instead of referring & hiring their candidates through this legitimate corporate staffing program, they concocted the more lucrative bogus/ fake employment agency plan.
These crooks killed cost-per-hire statistics and wasted the time of a lot of people. Recruiters and the external employment agencies who were out there working daily to deliver high caliber candidates had no clue that their candidates never had a chance to be hired by these decision makers & cheats inside the firm.
Think about this: Qualified candidates who arrived at this Fortune 500 company directly, through the employee referral program or from employment agencies not tied to these hiring managers took the time to dress, commute and interview with decision-makers on a hiring team who never intended to actually assess their skills or hire them.
If you believe that every candidate is a potential client or decision-maker of your products, services and market offerings, then you have a responsibility to take every step to protect their interests. Honoring the tenets of equal employment opportunity is a corporate priority across America, so all companies must work to keep candidates from being adversely impacted or rejected in a staffing process for reasons not tied to their skills, competencies, background, experience and credentials.
Kroll International, a white collar investigative firm based in NYC, helped this company solve this crime. Their experts informed company executives that these people often change company names, addresses, and contact information because they are not only in the business of cheating your company, but the tax man too.
In the end, the company ramped up it's vendor management processes and ran Dun & Bradstreet reports on every company paid an employment agency fee over a 4 year period. They also investigated all silent limited partners behind the person or people who carried the 51% ownership stake in each firm. This small step helped lead them to some of the shell companies used to execute these crimes and to the invisable faces profiting.
The company actually stopped executing business with staffing vendors whose invoices and resumes were tied only to PO boxes, (i.e. with no legitimate street addresses or facilities tied to them). This situation played out several years ago, so the challenge now is this: In our evolving age of remote technology, executing business through e-mail and cell phones has become so commonplace that it actually compromises a company's ability to flag any number of suspicious activities on the front-end. That's why vigilance and a complete commitment to world class processes on the back-end of your vendor management programs are more important than ever.
If you manage employees who are doing such things inside your company, then you are accountable. Lax and/or chaotic staffing standards, processes and transactional procedures cannot be an option. Every company owns the responsibility to mitigate risks that deny great employment candidates and high quality vendor partners the legitimate opportunity to compete. The success of your company depends on the programs that generate revenues and protect assets. Are you satisfied that you are doing well in all these areas?
Good Luck!
Best regards,
TishTrek
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Recipes for the CFO: How the Books are Cooked! - Chapter 2
Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG!
Corporate quote for the day: "When there is no integrity, you have no brand." - Tish
A Fortune 500 company moved its offices from Manhattan to Jersey City in the late 1980's. At the time, there was a federally mandated change in I-9 Immigration Processing, so - as a precaution until the full extent of the mandate was understood by the firm - an employee in Human Resources was given the responsibility to retrieve citizenship documentation from contractors. Many worked for the Information Technology consulting firms that were chosen to facilitate the company’s move across the Hudson River. While focused on this assignment, it was discovered that over an 18 month period the company had been billed for 32 IT contractors who did not exist.
There were management teams who willingly signed off on timesheets and invoices for work that had never been performed. Timely payments had been made to the vendor, checks were cashed, etc... In this case, the managers were not silent partners of this particular consulting firm. Their approach to profit was to willingly take compensation from the firms whose revenues had been enhanced by their willingness to commit fraud.
Interestingly enough, the payouts to managers had come from other shell companies & limited partnerships which were conveniently registered to the same address of the IT consulting firm that had "won" the telecommunications contract. Their job was to set up a network infrastructure between the New York and New Jersey facilities which - in this case - had to be connected by way of tunnels under the Hudson River.
Why we should be outraged by situations like this is because it is an absolute affront to all the honest, hard working employees inside your company; and it's not fair to those tremendous partners in the IT vendor community who do execute their business with the best interest of your company in mind and with the appropriate level of excellence and integrity every single day. In these situations, these business leaders don't even get the opportunity to compete; and the company's shot at a best value-best buy proposition is totally undermined and compromised.
When we fail to address issues like this, we are forcing employees in good-standing to be managed by people we hired who lack honesty, integrity and other leader behaviors which research confirms has followed them since they were kids.** So what should you do?
It takes high caliber hires and excellent recruitment screening processes to keep repeat negative behaviors from adversely impacting your bottom line, so take the hiring process in your company more seriously today than you did yesterday. Then, ask yourself if it ever dawned on you to make someone responsible for physically counting all those contractors you are being billed for around the globe?
Remember that it takes world class processes in procurement and purchasing to battle white collar criminals who look forward to enhancing themselves off the back of your company anytime you give them the opportunity to do so. Today's advice is to start that audit of your end-to-end vendor management practices & policies.
Finally, do something to help innocent employees stuck in the middle of these awful schemes behind the scenes by promoting an MTA-like campaign which accentuates the values driving your firm. The theme: "If you see something, say something. Our success depends on it!"
Time is money, start now.
Best regards,
TishTrek
**Lominger Behavioral Studies
Corporate quote for the day: "When there is no integrity, you have no brand." - Tish
A Fortune 500 company moved its offices from Manhattan to Jersey City in the late 1980's. At the time, there was a federally mandated change in I-9 Immigration Processing, so - as a precaution until the full extent of the mandate was understood by the firm - an employee in Human Resources was given the responsibility to retrieve citizenship documentation from contractors. Many worked for the Information Technology consulting firms that were chosen to facilitate the company’s move across the Hudson River. While focused on this assignment, it was discovered that over an 18 month period the company had been billed for 32 IT contractors who did not exist.
There were management teams who willingly signed off on timesheets and invoices for work that had never been performed. Timely payments had been made to the vendor, checks were cashed, etc... In this case, the managers were not silent partners of this particular consulting firm. Their approach to profit was to willingly take compensation from the firms whose revenues had been enhanced by their willingness to commit fraud.
Interestingly enough, the payouts to managers had come from other shell companies & limited partnerships which were conveniently registered to the same address of the IT consulting firm that had "won" the telecommunications contract. Their job was to set up a network infrastructure between the New York and New Jersey facilities which - in this case - had to be connected by way of tunnels under the Hudson River.
Why we should be outraged by situations like this is because it is an absolute affront to all the honest, hard working employees inside your company; and it's not fair to those tremendous partners in the IT vendor community who do execute their business with the best interest of your company in mind and with the appropriate level of excellence and integrity every single day. In these situations, these business leaders don't even get the opportunity to compete; and the company's shot at a best value-best buy proposition is totally undermined and compromised.
When we fail to address issues like this, we are forcing employees in good-standing to be managed by people we hired who lack honesty, integrity and other leader behaviors which research confirms has followed them since they were kids.** So what should you do?
It takes high caliber hires and excellent recruitment screening processes to keep repeat negative behaviors from adversely impacting your bottom line, so take the hiring process in your company more seriously today than you did yesterday. Then, ask yourself if it ever dawned on you to make someone responsible for physically counting all those contractors you are being billed for around the globe?
Remember that it takes world class processes in procurement and purchasing to battle white collar criminals who look forward to enhancing themselves off the back of your company anytime you give them the opportunity to do so. Today's advice is to start that audit of your end-to-end vendor management practices & policies.
Finally, do something to help innocent employees stuck in the middle of these awful schemes behind the scenes by promoting an MTA-like campaign which accentuates the values driving your firm. The theme: "If you see something, say something. Our success depends on it!"
Time is money, start now.
Best regards,
TishTrek
**Lominger Behavioral Studies
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Recipes for the CFO: How the Books are Cooked!
Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG:
Bloomberg News reported on Thursday - September 9th that 1/3 of the corporations surveyed worldwide revealed they are the victims of fraud & embezzlement.
After listening, I only had one thought: This is news?
Then I thought about my kids: OMGosh - One third? Who raised these people? Then you have to push yourself to ask: Who hired them?
As a result of these revelations, I've decided to start a short series to educate others on how corporate crooks cook-the-books:
In Company A, it became critical to introduce world class procurement procedures and to focus on managing the acquisition of talent for all full time, part time, on-shore, off-shore and U.S. contract personnel through ONE office after the company's Chief Information Officer and 8 other senior business officers were terminated.
Here is what a Big 4 consulting firm & others helped Company A figure out:
Executives - some who had been with the firm for decades - had set up anonymous Consulting LLC firms where it was not transparent that the same managers entrusted to make the contract personnel decisions for the firm were actually partners, stakeholders and/or benefactors in the vendor firms selected by them.
While enjoying their executive pay packages, these people profited off of every hour of service performed by consultants in their departments to the tune of millions of dollars over many years. For years, the way many companies approached consulting procurement - especially in the area of information technology - created a ripe environment for this illegal activity to play out.
The unethical people who willingly participate in these kind of activities cause the pay and bill rates of consultants to sky-rocket in their companies and across the U.S. because these employees successfully create a “clandestine system” that allows them to hide behind the LLC header and manipulate the information and financing on both ends of the process. The level of deception is just mind-boggling to comprehend.
How secure are your company's purchasing and procurement practices? Is the wrong talent arriving at your company because every hire or contractor has to be funneled through contracting firms silently tied to your in-house executives? Bloomberg News already answered that question for us when they surveyed global companies.
Oh and by the way, the other reason corporate vigilance in this regard is important is to position your company to recognize the people and vendors who do these things and those who don't. I can promise you that these scams have kept some of the greatest companies on the planet from executing business that would have helped your company.
Make no mistake, you can't stop illegal activity. But introducing world class procurement/ purchasing procedures, researching all stakeholders who profit on the vendor-side and hiring people who live Leader Behaviors will definitely make it harder for those determined to cook your books.
Good luck.
Best regards,
TishTrek
Bloomberg News reported on Thursday - September 9th that 1/3 of the corporations surveyed worldwide revealed they are the victims of fraud & embezzlement.
After listening, I only had one thought: This is news?
Then I thought about my kids: OMGosh - One third? Who raised these people? Then you have to push yourself to ask: Who hired them?
As a result of these revelations, I've decided to start a short series to educate others on how corporate crooks cook-the-books:
In Company A, it became critical to introduce world class procurement procedures and to focus on managing the acquisition of talent for all full time, part time, on-shore, off-shore and U.S. contract personnel through ONE office after the company's Chief Information Officer and 8 other senior business officers were terminated.
Here is what a Big 4 consulting firm & others helped Company A figure out:
Executives - some who had been with the firm for decades - had set up anonymous Consulting LLC firms where it was not transparent that the same managers entrusted to make the contract personnel decisions for the firm were actually partners, stakeholders and/or benefactors in the vendor firms selected by them.
While enjoying their executive pay packages, these people profited off of every hour of service performed by consultants in their departments to the tune of millions of dollars over many years. For years, the way many companies approached consulting procurement - especially in the area of information technology - created a ripe environment for this illegal activity to play out.
The unethical people who willingly participate in these kind of activities cause the pay and bill rates of consultants to sky-rocket in their companies and across the U.S. because these employees successfully create a “clandestine system” that allows them to hide behind the LLC header and manipulate the information and financing on both ends of the process. The level of deception is just mind-boggling to comprehend.
How secure are your company's purchasing and procurement practices? Is the wrong talent arriving at your company because every hire or contractor has to be funneled through contracting firms silently tied to your in-house executives? Bloomberg News already answered that question for us when they surveyed global companies.
Oh and by the way, the other reason corporate vigilance in this regard is important is to position your company to recognize the people and vendors who do these things and those who don't. I can promise you that these scams have kept some of the greatest companies on the planet from executing business that would have helped your company.
Make no mistake, you can't stop illegal activity. But introducing world class procurement/ purchasing procedures, researching all stakeholders who profit on the vendor-side and hiring people who live Leader Behaviors will definitely make it harder for those determined to cook your books.
Good luck.
Best regards,
TishTrek
Sunday, September 12, 2010
This Mosque: Silence is not an option
Yesterday, Harry and I took our 9th Anniversary Journey on the SeaStreak Commuter Ferry to honor those murdered before our eyes during that enormity of horror known as 9-11.
While waiting for the boat, we met amazing & caring people who were headed to NYC to march against the proposed mosque. Harry and I thanked them for marching for us. We told them we supported them & that we appreciated the fact that they cared enough to use their feet to voice their opinions. Several times I casually blurted out, that I don't march but that I do write letters to the editor. Before we left the ferry to begin our trek towards Wall Street, we ended by thanking them for working to make a difference regarding this important issue of our time.
After our solemn walk to Ground Zero and St. Paul's Church... I realized that I shouldn't be simply thanking others for doing something that I should be participating in. So...
We changed our plans and marched with 9-11 families and thousands of others yesterday to protest this mosque - the planned global symbol of conquest called Cordoba House. I marched for all the reasons I outline in my letter to the editor below. It was published on Friday, September 3rd in The Ocean Star newspaper in Ocean County, NJ.
What I learned first hand over the past 20 years is that silence produces deadly results...
- TishTrek
----- Original Message -----
From: Tish Ferguson
To: letters@theoceanstar.com
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 12:52 AM
Subject: Hearts break and 9/11 History will repeat itself...
Dear Editor,
It's been 17 long years since the first World Trade Center attack and it's the ninth anniversary of 9/11, so make no mistake, Iman Feisal Rauf knows the protests in downtown Manhattan are not about mosque-building or freedom of religion and he's using this knowledge to his full advantage.
In the early 1990’s, many of us commuted past the make-shift mosque one floor up from the Chinese restaurant at Journal Square, Jersey City which was used as a camouflaged safe house by blind Shiek Omar Abdel Rahman to inspire young men to want to murder all of us. No one marched to remove that mosque.
In 1993, we watched in stunned disbelief when that same blind shiek masterminded the truck bomb explosion plot that blew a 10-story gaping hole inside the World Trade Center. Only 6 dead & 1,042 injured, so they vowed to come again. On 9/11 – we watched in absolute horror as others finished the job. No one marched to remove the mosques tied to these murderers.
In July 2010, it was reported that Al Qaeda follower Adnan Shukrijumah created his 2007 and 2009 plans to blow up New York City airports & subways in the clandestine corridors of his dad’s Brooklyn mosque. No one is marching to remove that mosque.
In honor of this 9th Anniversary, perhaps we could pause to remember the marching that was NOT done in front of mosques over the last 20 years. Perhaps we can celebrate the under-reported high percentage of U.S. citizens who actually do respect and cherish the tenets of religious freedom for all.
On this 9th anniversary of 9/11, my heart breaks for the 17th year in a row. After I honor our dead, I will bypass the unfortunate diversion created by Iman Rauf and salute those who taught me this: When you ignore history, history becomes destined to repeat itself.
God help & bless America.
Respectfully submitted,
Tish Ferguson
2404 Maria Place
Pt. Pleasant, NJ 08742
732-259-2780 – Cell
732-714-8483 - Home
While waiting for the boat, we met amazing & caring people who were headed to NYC to march against the proposed mosque. Harry and I thanked them for marching for us. We told them we supported them & that we appreciated the fact that they cared enough to use their feet to voice their opinions. Several times I casually blurted out, that I don't march but that I do write letters to the editor. Before we left the ferry to begin our trek towards Wall Street, we ended by thanking them for working to make a difference regarding this important issue of our time.
After our solemn walk to Ground Zero and St. Paul's Church... I realized that I shouldn't be simply thanking others for doing something that I should be participating in. So...
We changed our plans and marched with 9-11 families and thousands of others yesterday to protest this mosque - the planned global symbol of conquest called Cordoba House. I marched for all the reasons I outline in my letter to the editor below. It was published on Friday, September 3rd in The Ocean Star newspaper in Ocean County, NJ.
What I learned first hand over the past 20 years is that silence produces deadly results...
- TishTrek
----- Original Message -----
From: Tish Ferguson
To: letters@theoceanstar.com
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 12:52 AM
Subject: Hearts break and 9/11 History will repeat itself...
Dear Editor,
It's been 17 long years since the first World Trade Center attack and it's the ninth anniversary of 9/11, so make no mistake, Iman Feisal Rauf knows the protests in downtown Manhattan are not about mosque-building or freedom of religion and he's using this knowledge to his full advantage.
In the early 1990’s, many of us commuted past the make-shift mosque one floor up from the Chinese restaurant at Journal Square, Jersey City which was used as a camouflaged safe house by blind Shiek Omar Abdel Rahman to inspire young men to want to murder all of us. No one marched to remove that mosque.
In 1993, we watched in stunned disbelief when that same blind shiek masterminded the truck bomb explosion plot that blew a 10-story gaping hole inside the World Trade Center. Only 6 dead & 1,042 injured, so they vowed to come again. On 9/11 – we watched in absolute horror as others finished the job. No one marched to remove the mosques tied to these murderers.
In July 2010, it was reported that Al Qaeda follower Adnan Shukrijumah created his 2007 and 2009 plans to blow up New York City airports & subways in the clandestine corridors of his dad’s Brooklyn mosque. No one is marching to remove that mosque.
In honor of this 9th Anniversary, perhaps we could pause to remember the marching that was NOT done in front of mosques over the last 20 years. Perhaps we can celebrate the under-reported high percentage of U.S. citizens who actually do respect and cherish the tenets of religious freedom for all.
On this 9th anniversary of 9/11, my heart breaks for the 17th year in a row. After I honor our dead, I will bypass the unfortunate diversion created by Iman Rauf and salute those who taught me this: When you ignore history, history becomes destined to repeat itself.
God help & bless America.
Respectfully submitted,
Tish Ferguson
2404 Maria Place
Pt. Pleasant, NJ 08742
732-259-2780 – Cell
732-714-8483 - Home
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9-11-10: A Journey to honor all of them & God
Today 9-11-10, Harry and I are retracing the steps of our 9-11 journey on that SeaStreak Ferry to honor those who died and to thank God for the 9th year in a row for the gifts he showered on us that day...
Nine years ago today: After our ferry took the first couple of hundred people from the chaos @ Pier 11 in the East River, it was HE who ushered us safely past Governor's Island and past the feet of Lady Liberty and under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. We prayed with HIM and it was HE who comforted us in the middle of that water.
HE fervently urged me to look away and I listened. After the second tower fell, I literally turned my body completely around and looked only to the east and the south so the power of the magnificent ocean would give my breaking heart strength. HE encouraged me to use the Sandy Hook landscape to try to counter the view of the enormity of horror that was so painfully seared & freshly etched in my mind.
God drove the SeaStreak Commuter Ferry that morning... I will never forget. I am always grateful.
May all those who died in New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania rest in everlasting peace. May all the hearts their lives touched beat to a drum that allows great memories to live on; and may the tears of millions help wash away the pain so we can clearly see what awaits all of us on the other side of this experience. God bless America.
With Deep Respect & Love,
Harry & Tish Ferguson
Nine years ago today: After our ferry took the first couple of hundred people from the chaos @ Pier 11 in the East River, it was HE who ushered us safely past Governor's Island and past the feet of Lady Liberty and under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. We prayed with HIM and it was HE who comforted us in the middle of that water.
HE fervently urged me to look away and I listened. After the second tower fell, I literally turned my body completely around and looked only to the east and the south so the power of the magnificent ocean would give my breaking heart strength. HE encouraged me to use the Sandy Hook landscape to try to counter the view of the enormity of horror that was so painfully seared & freshly etched in my mind.
God drove the SeaStreak Commuter Ferry that morning... I will never forget. I am always grateful.
May all those who died in New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania rest in everlasting peace. May all the hearts their lives touched beat to a drum that allows great memories to live on; and may the tears of millions help wash away the pain so we can clearly see what awaits all of us on the other side of this experience. God bless America.
With Deep Respect & Love,
Harry & Tish Ferguson
Friday, September 10, 2010
9-11 Anniverary: God Bless America
On Tuesday, September 11th 2001, I wrote the following:
Our View from NY Harbor on 9-11:
This morning 8:30 a.m., we boarded a Seasteak America Inc. Ferry in the Atlantic Highlands and then headed for New York at exactly 8:45. It was a clear day. We had overslept. As we watched out the window, we saw what looked like smoke billowing from the top of the World Trade Center. A fellow commuter called his wife. She confirmed there was a fire.
Moments later, over a ferry radio system the news arrived that - in fact - a hijacked plane had hit the World Trade Center. There was stunned silence while no one could remove their eyes from this view in the horizon as this terrifying history played out...
Our ferry continued under the Verrazano Bridge. As we continued to watch and as we drew closer to the Statue of Liberty, suddenly there was a fireball that we thought was bringing down an entire side of the WTC. A loud and breathtaking gasp filled the air. Whether it was our focus on the flames engulfing the first building or a matter of our view, none of us saw a plane coming... Moments later more radio communication at sea informed us that a second plane had actually hit the second tower. Fear and silence filled the air...
After being informed that Downtown Manhattan, the New York Stock Exchange, and all associated buildings were closing and being evacuated - we were told that the air around Manhattan had been "sanitized," which meant it had become a no-fly zone. Any plane trying to fly in that space would be shot down. Our eyes and our collective fear scanned the skyline and silently we prayed that all other landmarks would be protected, and that we - feeling somehow vulnerable in the middle of this water - would be safe too.
The crew of the Seastreak informed us that we were going to Pier 11 near South Street Seaport to help as many people as possible who were attempting to leave the city. There were thousands of people trying to get back to NJ. We could only take a couple hundred. We could only hope that more ferries would arrive there soon. We watched swarms of people begin their trek northbound towards the Brooklyn Bridge as they tried to beat the unknowns and the aftershock of what was to come.
As we pulled away from the dock, we looked up to the sky from the East River and watched the smoke pour over Wall Street from atop the Woolworth Building, the AIG building, and JP Morgan Chase. It was not like anything we had ever seen. Two of the largest buildings the world had ever known were spewing pieces from their silver shells which were brilliantly highlighted by the sun as they rained down on the East River, the Hudson River, and NY Harbor... This sad, reflective and horrifying moment reminded us that each reflection in the sky somehow symbolized a human life that wasn't returning home today.
Then came the news that our Pentagon had been hit... Our confusion and sadness heightened. The mushroom cloud that followed after these magnificent and incredible structures succumbed to the terrors of our society made us all realize that this was war.
A few hundred passengers on a simple commuter ferry alarmed, dazed and stunned, some with tears streaming, some with more fear than others - all of us frozen and bound together by a silence louder than any voice we had ever heard. It was the voice of "terrorism." - Tish Ferguson, 9/11/01 - 11 a.m. (portions of this piece were published in The Asbury Park Press & The Ocean Star, NJ - Sept., 2001)
***************
Later that day, my 8 year old son Scott got off his school bus in Pt. Pleasant, NJ and ran into my arms as I sat on the front steps of our home with my friend, Cheryl.
"Mommy! he yelled out. "Did you hear what happened today?"
"James said a giant plane flew into a big building in New York City!"
I threw my arms around him and hugged him as if it were the day he was born, and answered, "Yes, Honey. We heard about it. And Mommy loves you to the moon and back!"
By,
Tish Ferguson
A Quote for that day:
"What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind"
— William Wordsworth, (Intimations of Immortality)
Our View from NY Harbor on 9-11:
This morning 8:30 a.m., we boarded a Seasteak America Inc. Ferry in the Atlantic Highlands and then headed for New York at exactly 8:45. It was a clear day. We had overslept. As we watched out the window, we saw what looked like smoke billowing from the top of the World Trade Center. A fellow commuter called his wife. She confirmed there was a fire.
Moments later, over a ferry radio system the news arrived that - in fact - a hijacked plane had hit the World Trade Center. There was stunned silence while no one could remove their eyes from this view in the horizon as this terrifying history played out...
Our ferry continued under the Verrazano Bridge. As we continued to watch and as we drew closer to the Statue of Liberty, suddenly there was a fireball that we thought was bringing down an entire side of the WTC. A loud and breathtaking gasp filled the air. Whether it was our focus on the flames engulfing the first building or a matter of our view, none of us saw a plane coming... Moments later more radio communication at sea informed us that a second plane had actually hit the second tower. Fear and silence filled the air...
After being informed that Downtown Manhattan, the New York Stock Exchange, and all associated buildings were closing and being evacuated - we were told that the air around Manhattan had been "sanitized," which meant it had become a no-fly zone. Any plane trying to fly in that space would be shot down. Our eyes and our collective fear scanned the skyline and silently we prayed that all other landmarks would be protected, and that we - feeling somehow vulnerable in the middle of this water - would be safe too.
The crew of the Seastreak informed us that we were going to Pier 11 near South Street Seaport to help as many people as possible who were attempting to leave the city. There were thousands of people trying to get back to NJ. We could only take a couple hundred. We could only hope that more ferries would arrive there soon. We watched swarms of people begin their trek northbound towards the Brooklyn Bridge as they tried to beat the unknowns and the aftershock of what was to come.
As we pulled away from the dock, we looked up to the sky from the East River and watched the smoke pour over Wall Street from atop the Woolworth Building, the AIG building, and JP Morgan Chase. It was not like anything we had ever seen. Two of the largest buildings the world had ever known were spewing pieces from their silver shells which were brilliantly highlighted by the sun as they rained down on the East River, the Hudson River, and NY Harbor... This sad, reflective and horrifying moment reminded us that each reflection in the sky somehow symbolized a human life that wasn't returning home today.
Then came the news that our Pentagon had been hit... Our confusion and sadness heightened. The mushroom cloud that followed after these magnificent and incredible structures succumbed to the terrors of our society made us all realize that this was war.
A few hundred passengers on a simple commuter ferry alarmed, dazed and stunned, some with tears streaming, some with more fear than others - all of us frozen and bound together by a silence louder than any voice we had ever heard. It was the voice of "terrorism." - Tish Ferguson, 9/11/01 - 11 a.m. (portions of this piece were published in The Asbury Park Press & The Ocean Star, NJ - Sept., 2001)
***************
Later that day, my 8 year old son Scott got off his school bus in Pt. Pleasant, NJ and ran into my arms as I sat on the front steps of our home with my friend, Cheryl.
"Mommy! he yelled out. "Did you hear what happened today?"
"James said a giant plane flew into a big building in New York City!"
I threw my arms around him and hugged him as if it were the day he was born, and answered, "Yes, Honey. We heard about it. And Mommy loves you to the moon and back!"
By,
Tish Ferguson
A Quote for that day:
"What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind"
— William Wordsworth, (Intimations of Immortality)
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Jersey Girl Takes On The World - katecferg.blogspot.com
Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG!
I was stopped in my tracks today by my daughter Kate's blog: "Jersey Girl Takes On The World" - katecferg.blogspot.com - which I had not read most of August. This is a moment moms & dads wait for..
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
My How Time Flies
My baby brother turned 17 today! I cannot believe it. I think I am in more shock right now than my parents are (although mom did cry last night and placed two pacifiers in a cake – yes, Tish really did that. Scott and I were a tad freaked out). In NJ, we receive our driver’s license at 17, and Scottie passed his test this morning. I felt like a middle-aged weeping mother as I ran outside in my running clothes to watch him leave with my car (this could be an issue) for work. I forced him to take the picture you see above. I then proceeded to tell him to drive safe, turn down his music, and watch for pedestrians. Oh boy, this is going to be fun.
Each year that I grow older never seems to phase me. I welcomed the last 21 birthdays with excitement for that next chapter in my life; I can officially drive (17), I can officially drive without a probationary license (18), I can buy cigarettes even though I don’t smoke (19), I am officially no longer a teenager (20), I can drink legally (21!). But when you watch those younger than you grow and hit ages that you remember quite well (they day I took my driving test seems like yesterday. I still remember the outfit I wore to school), it becomes scary. My brother is no longer little; he’s no longer the baby. He’s one year away from adulthood. He drove the car away, and I felt a part of my childhood drive away with him. Where’s that boy who I used to play school with? Where is that kid I taught to swim? I still remember (thanks to countless views of old home movies) the way he used to whine “Katie” when he wanted something. He now debates politics with me, talks about colleges, and comes to me when he has questions about friends and relationships.
I’m very blessed to have the bond I have with my brother – a bond that will hopefully grow even stronger with time. We’ve grown closer as we’ve grown older, and I now think of him as one of my friends. We still bicker like cats and dogs, and I think he secretly wants me to move out as quickly as possible so that he can once again commandeer the downstairs (he also wants a cool place to stay in the city). I picked him up from the airport last night, and we chatted about his trip and his birthday. He was nervous to take the test, and I was nervous for him. But when I woke up this morning, there was the text that shouted “I am now a licensed driver!” The text scared me half out of bed (he actually passed?!), and then a sense of pride washed over me. He did it. That little, slightly annoying, used to be chubby, trumpet player in the school band boy grew up over night….and I never saw it coming.
Happy Birthday Scottie! I love you! xoxo DON’T text and drive!
Posted by Kate at 10:05 AM on August 11th, 2010.
This message has been approved by The Mom. :)
I was stopped in my tracks today by my daughter Kate's blog: "Jersey Girl Takes On The World" - katecferg.blogspot.com - which I had not read most of August. This is a moment moms & dads wait for..
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
My How Time Flies
My baby brother turned 17 today! I cannot believe it. I think I am in more shock right now than my parents are (although mom did cry last night and placed two pacifiers in a cake – yes, Tish really did that. Scott and I were a tad freaked out). In NJ, we receive our driver’s license at 17, and Scottie passed his test this morning. I felt like a middle-aged weeping mother as I ran outside in my running clothes to watch him leave with my car (this could be an issue) for work. I forced him to take the picture you see above. I then proceeded to tell him to drive safe, turn down his music, and watch for pedestrians. Oh boy, this is going to be fun.
Each year that I grow older never seems to phase me. I welcomed the last 21 birthdays with excitement for that next chapter in my life; I can officially drive (17), I can officially drive without a probationary license (18), I can buy cigarettes even though I don’t smoke (19), I am officially no longer a teenager (20), I can drink legally (21!). But when you watch those younger than you grow and hit ages that you remember quite well (they day I took my driving test seems like yesterday. I still remember the outfit I wore to school), it becomes scary. My brother is no longer little; he’s no longer the baby. He’s one year away from adulthood. He drove the car away, and I felt a part of my childhood drive away with him. Where’s that boy who I used to play school with? Where is that kid I taught to swim? I still remember (thanks to countless views of old home movies) the way he used to whine “Katie” when he wanted something. He now debates politics with me, talks about colleges, and comes to me when he has questions about friends and relationships.
I’m very blessed to have the bond I have with my brother – a bond that will hopefully grow even stronger with time. We’ve grown closer as we’ve grown older, and I now think of him as one of my friends. We still bicker like cats and dogs, and I think he secretly wants me to move out as quickly as possible so that he can once again commandeer the downstairs (he also wants a cool place to stay in the city). I picked him up from the airport last night, and we chatted about his trip and his birthday. He was nervous to take the test, and I was nervous for him. But when I woke up this morning, there was the text that shouted “I am now a licensed driver!” The text scared me half out of bed (he actually passed?!), and then a sense of pride washed over me. He did it. That little, slightly annoying, used to be chubby, trumpet player in the school band boy grew up over night….and I never saw it coming.
Happy Birthday Scottie! I love you! xoxo DON’T text and drive!
Posted by Kate at 10:05 AM on August 11th, 2010.
This message has been approved by The Mom. :)
Hank Greenberg: Labor Day Man of the Year!
Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG!
Introducing my pick for 2010 Labor Day Man of the Year: Hank Greenberg!
Let's honor former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg who created 50 years of labor opportunities while satisfying millions of customers around the globe!
This weekend, as unemployment soars to numbers not to be believed - it's important to remember The House that Hank Built and to understand why celebrating Mr. Greenberg is long overdue:
The Wall Street Journal's 8/13 editorial "Eliot Spitzer's Last Admirer" reads like The Murder on the Orient Express. There is someone powerful connected to the destruction of American International Group in every car.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo followed Eliot Spitzer's lead as the proverbial trainman - the new collector of fares in the largest public conveyance of our time. They jumped in and targeted AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg mostly because at least twenty-four corporate counter-parties (and gubernatorial supporters) needed to funnel 100% of their risk through someone else's company in order to execute the calculated CDO-subprime business that hammered the economy. If you ever worked at AIG, then it's crystal clear that AIG employees on the inside and their counter-parties on the outside could never have collusively infested our financial system with fraudulent transactions off the back of AIG without getting Mr. Greenberg out of the way.
For 40 years, Hank Greenberg was a fierce and tenacious global leader who created competitive advantage which improved the lives of millions of consumers and employees around the world. Having said that, he was often wholly despised by the power-elite deal-makers in Manhattan because when a financial deal crossed his desk at 70 Pine Street with risks he refused to assume or representing a penny less than the profit he demanded for his shareholders, he stood up and walked away from the transaction leaving lots of commission-hungry fast-money types angry and disappointed.
Agatha Christie wrote, “The whistle means that help is near, Madame," so how come Attorney General Cuomo isn't following the stench and blowing his whistle to identify the real public officials, HUD executives, lending institutions, rating agencies, and traders whose actions were shrouded by clandestine alternative investment vehicles built to defraud others? The WSJ's advice to AG Cuomo is correct: Before that trip to Albany, he should embrace transparency and turn over the 700,000 pages of documents and deposition testimony of those key witnesses who helped all the faceless people destroy The House that Hank Built. But no one's holding their breath because Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Greenberg remind all of us that there are two types of men in this world - those who build things up and those who tear things down.
Respectfully submitted,
TishTrek
Former Manager, Professional Staffing
American International Group, Inc.
72 Wall Street
New York, NY
Introducing my pick for 2010 Labor Day Man of the Year: Hank Greenberg!
Let's honor former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg who created 50 years of labor opportunities while satisfying millions of customers around the globe!
This weekend, as unemployment soars to numbers not to be believed - it's important to remember The House that Hank Built and to understand why celebrating Mr. Greenberg is long overdue:
The Wall Street Journal's 8/13 editorial "Eliot Spitzer's Last Admirer" reads like The Murder on the Orient Express. There is someone powerful connected to the destruction of American International Group in every car.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo followed Eliot Spitzer's lead as the proverbial trainman - the new collector of fares in the largest public conveyance of our time. They jumped in and targeted AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg mostly because at least twenty-four corporate counter-parties (and gubernatorial supporters) needed to funnel 100% of their risk through someone else's company in order to execute the calculated CDO-subprime business that hammered the economy. If you ever worked at AIG, then it's crystal clear that AIG employees on the inside and their counter-parties on the outside could never have collusively infested our financial system with fraudulent transactions off the back of AIG without getting Mr. Greenberg out of the way.
For 40 years, Hank Greenberg was a fierce and tenacious global leader who created competitive advantage which improved the lives of millions of consumers and employees around the world. Having said that, he was often wholly despised by the power-elite deal-makers in Manhattan because when a financial deal crossed his desk at 70 Pine Street with risks he refused to assume or representing a penny less than the profit he demanded for his shareholders, he stood up and walked away from the transaction leaving lots of commission-hungry fast-money types angry and disappointed.
Agatha Christie wrote, “The whistle means that help is near, Madame," so how come Attorney General Cuomo isn't following the stench and blowing his whistle to identify the real public officials, HUD executives, lending institutions, rating agencies, and traders whose actions were shrouded by clandestine alternative investment vehicles built to defraud others? The WSJ's advice to AG Cuomo is correct: Before that trip to Albany, he should embrace transparency and turn over the 700,000 pages of documents and deposition testimony of those key witnesses who helped all the faceless people destroy The House that Hank Built. But no one's holding their breath because Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Greenberg remind all of us that there are two types of men in this world - those who build things up and those who tear things down.
Respectfully submitted,
TishTrek
Former Manager, Professional Staffing
American International Group, Inc.
72 Wall Street
New York, NY
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