Then Larry and I talked about work.

He said at his work, management had decided that making a decision put them at risk, both from above and from below, so they didn't make any decisions.

People below them were supposed to figure out what they wanted and do it because they thought that's what the boss wanted, even though the boss wouldn't put anything in writing.

Then, if things went okay, the bosses would be pleased, and if anything went wrong, it was your ass on the line, because you had taken action on your own initiative.

Now, if this caused you psychic discord, the answer was, "Don't do anything."

So nobody did anything.

Who would care? The customer? The client? Fuck the customer. Fuck the client.

And this was complicated by, Larry had a friend he ran with, a tenured professor, who got fired for "financial exigencies" related to Hurricane Katrina. His department was eliminated on the staffing chart.

And when Larry told this to a blond woman, a cute, bright, pleasant woman, she twisted her face up into a snarl and said, "I have to be worried about getting fired every fucking day of my Goddamned life--why should he be any different."

She was out there doing what she thought the bossman wanted, you see.

So some people are doing nothing and some people are working their asses off, so they won't get fired. So they'll get hired permanent. Or promoted.

And any of them, all of them, can be let go for "financial exigencies" at any time, if not for Hurricane Katrina, for 9-11. For security. For Homeland über alles Security.

And if you talk about it on TV you'll go to jail. Like Martha Stewart.

Insider trading is how business works. It's business. Whenever two businessmen meet, they engage in a conspiracy against the public, Adam Smith said.