Cara Ellison knows Enron.
Her other blog is at ellisonblog.wordpress.com. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/caraellison. Check out her pictures at flicker.com/photos/rtg. Friend her on Facebook at facebook.com/cara.ellison. Her email address is blog dot cara [no space] ellison on gmail.
28 Comments
December 12, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I think this Cara Ellison will be a force with whom to reckon; zesty and direct.
December 14, 2007 at 12:29 am
Yay!!!! I was the one asking about you on Right Wing News. Glad you’re still here! Thanks for the link.
December 14, 2007 at 1:38 am
I was really touched when I realized people actually missed my little blog. So thanks!
C
December 14, 2007 at 2:15 am
Glad you are back
December 15, 2007 at 5:37 am
Why did you shut down “Rightthinkinggirl”?
December 17, 2007 at 2:39 am
As I recall… at one time you were interested in doing something for Africa.. and I emailed you a possible contact. How did that work out?
March 29, 2008 at 7:29 pm
OMG. I was wondering what happened to you and stumbled onto this blog randomly!
March 29, 2008 at 7:30 pm
P.S. I knew this had to be RTG because of the “Sylvia Plath” category!
March 29, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Ha! Yep, tis I. I’m glad you found me. I love your blog!
April 9, 2008 at 2:18 am
oh girlfriend. or shall I say she who will not be silenced! I can’t believe I’ve missed you so long.
Good to be here again.
July 17, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Nice to know you did not fall off the face of the earth.
Hope life is treating you better than the last time we traded emails
August 2, 2008 at 1:54 am
RTG? Is that really you? I’ve missed you!! *cries w/ joy*
August 21, 2008 at 5:53 am
Great Work.
October 10, 2008 at 2:11 am
Just sent you an email – would love to have you as my guest on The Stupid Cancer Show. Details: http://StupidCancerShow.org.
Matthew Zachary
12-Year Young Adult Survivor
Founder, CEO
I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation
http://stupidcancer.org
*TIME MAGAZINE BEST 50 WEBSITE 2007*
January 29, 2009 at 7:00 am
Cara,
I just found out that my site, Idea Sandbox, is included on your list of marketing sites.
With so many to choose from – and the smart sites you have chosen – it is an honor to be a part of that list.
Thank you!
Keep up the great work on your site!
Paul
March 24, 2009 at 10:45 am
I posted a link to Cara Ellison on my site, http://www.notoriouslyconservative.com, the link is posted here: http://www.notoriouslyconservative.com/1976/01/links.html. Anyway, I love your site, and would really appreciate a link back, if at all possible.
Keep up the good work,
Nick B
May 17, 2009 at 11:47 am
’splain this to me, Lucy: “No fraud, no conspiracy at Enron”?? Didn’t the prosecution prove these beyond a reasonable doubt?
May 17, 2009 at 12:49 pm
It’s a legitimate point but the way the prosecution arrived at that verdict is not even legal. The prosecutors denied access to witnesses, destroyed documents, suborned perjury, threatened witnesses, fabricated evidence, and denied Skilling and Lay their constitutional rights by keeping vital Brady evidence from them.
Secondly, the jury was given incorrect instructions by the judge (a fact that is widely admitted even among anti- Skilling people), and was made up of people who were not equipped to understand the complex nature of Enron’s business.
Third, the case should not have been tried in Houston. Over 1/4 of the citizens know someone or were directly effected in the collapse of Enron. There was no assumption of innocence and there was overwhelming anti-Skilling/Lay coverage in the media. A change of venue may not have stopped the rampant hatred but it would have removed the fact that many angry citizens in Houston were suffering from the collapse and eager to convict.
Fourth, voir dire was incomplete and rushed. The defense had no opportunity to flush out biased jurors. The prosecution was allowed to use jurors who openly admitted that they were inclined to convict – BEFORE THE TRIAL HAD EVEN BEGUN.
Also, Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay – and everyone else at Enron – were not corrupt officials. They did nothing wrong.
May 17, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Cara,
I understand your technical legal process points. You don’t address guilt or innocence, however. No matter how much good these guys may have created in derivatives markets, no matter how much personal wealth they created or how many people they employed, if they deceived stockholders by lying on the balance sheet, they were guilty.
Now what do you really believe? And can you come up with 3hotwords to describe it? (lol)
May 19, 2009 at 10:51 am
Cara, I just found your blog for the first time. I am so happy that someone else out there sees the truth about Enron. Skilling’s conviction is a joke.
I think my opinion should be especially poignant amidst some of your followers because I am a fairly liberal person. But I am concerned with “the truth” above all else.
I have spent years reading everything from LJM2 documents to every email in the Enron system. I feel so strongly about Skilling’s bunk conviction that I purchased several related domain names to give my own thoughts, but have never published them. How strange it is that he took this fall, yet virtually every other conviction related to his situation has been overturned.
I’ve been planning to write Skilling with my support for at least 4 years, but I have yet to find the perfect words, and I know he is strong enough without my encouragement.
He was punished during the witch hunt for simply being honest, knowing full and well that if the legal system were legitimate, that he would be innocent. Instead, the media, public, judges and lawyers crucified him in a sea of diluted evidence and appeals to pity. I always found a comment he made during his post-conviction interview an incredible glimpse into Skilling’s mind when he says, “I’m a bit disappointed, but that’s the way the system works.”
Bob, give me a break. “If they deceived stockholders by lying on the balance sheet, they were guilty.” They who? Skilling personally? There is no way one person could’ve known about details of transactions this broad. If someone is generating money for the company, a CEO is going to be proud. It is the job of the internal and external accountants, auditors, shareholders, and board of directors to provide checks and balances, not a CEO. I’m afraid they’re a bit busy to do the jobs of hundreds of people.
Recently, Ken Lewis at BAC, with full knowledge and no disclosure, allowed ML to be purchased without so much as hinting to the fact that he knew ML was tanking during the fourth quarter and he kept his job and surely didn’t get jail time. ML (thanks to Stan O’Neal) and Lewis have destroyed more wealth and ruined more lives (of employees and shareholders) than Enron could ever imagine, yet Stan O’Neal is drinking Martinis at ALCOA and Lewis just has to play in the sandbox with a new chairman after recent developments. ML was firing masses of people every quarter and BAC, post merger, is expecting 35,000 (which I think is conservative – all of the media reported ML firing info has been conservative).
Imagine a CEO that says, “Hello everyone. Our stock is just awful – worthless.” Imagine what would happen to the stock. Skilling did what any CEO would do. He was a victim of the post-9/11 economic climate – a bubble that was on the way to bursting even before the added pressure of the World Trade Center debacle.
The Enron response is one of the most glaring displays of the idiocy and lack of any critical thinking skills this country displays.
I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks this. Great job, Cara. I’ll definitely get your book.
May 19, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Good lord!
Thank you! Thank you very much so for this comment.
First of all, I am open to debating libs as long as they’re polite – and you are, in spades, so we’re all good there. : )
But the gist of your comment is just wonderful. You’ve obviously done a lot of homework. Of course, I agree with every point.
But also, I think *all* of the Enron convictions are a joke – with the exception of Andy Fastow’s theft from Chewco, RADR and Southampton. I think everyone else – particularly the Natwest Three and the Broadband Three – are completely innocent.
I have found that our point of view is actually gaining traction. I pray that it prevails at the Supreme Court and both Scott Yeager and Jeff Skilling are vindicated.
I look forward to your comments!
May 26, 2009 at 6:37 am
Hey Cara –
I just found your site. I worked at Enron, and am thrilled to find someone else (or two others, apparently, with Skilling Liberal) who thinks that the majority of the company was legit. So many of the complaints I hear are out of context or based not on legality, but popular perception. Did we play hardball? Sure. Were we not always nice? Sure. But neither of those things are crimes.
Some of the money shuffling we did looks a bit disingenuous, but if it was done legally, I’m not sure why people think it was illegal.
Expecting Skilling, Lay, or any of the other head honchos to have their noses so deep into the books that they understood every detail of every transaction is ludicrous.
Incidentally, re: personal losses:
I lost stock option value. But no one promised they would go up; they were always options, so just paper losses. My gamble, my loss.
I lost my 401(k) matching. But that was “free money” the company did not have to give me. If I had been there long enough for it to vest, I would have moved it someplace else.
I did NOT lose any of my own 401(k) contributions, because I DIDN’T INVEST IN ENRON STOCK. People who blame Enron for their poor investment decisions need to take responsibility and move on.
Enron was a high-pressure culture where those who were able to deliver thrived. I miss it often.
Andy
May 26, 2009 at 6:47 am
Andy,
You rock. Thank you for your comment. I agree with everything you said. I personally *love* the hard, macho culture. We weren’t embroidering throw pillows and baking cookies in those skyscrapers, after all. I wish we had more companies these days with that culture.
I’m glad you found the blog. I look forward to your comments.
July 28, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Cara, I saw Jeff portrayed in a somewhat decent light in this article today:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/KG23Dj02.html
I hoped you had an opportunity to see it.
Also, I’m glad that Andy replied; I always wonder why Skilling was crucified because… uh, people didn’t diversify? Surely their own greed and ignorance should be a part of the story. I hope all is well.
Thanks,
Shane
July 28, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Also, here is the original link
http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php/component/content/article/33-BearLair/10252-was-enron-right
July 28, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Thanks Shane. I didn’t see this until you brought it to my attention. I will check it out now.
September 1, 2009 at 8:58 am
Really? You adore Jeffrey Skilling? wow. I was completely entertained by your post about his lucky tie….until I realized you were actually serious about liking him. You really think he’s innocent? Mark to marketing isn’t shady at all?
September 1, 2009 at 11:35 am
Of course Mark To Market is not shady. It was approved by the SEC long ago for complex companies. Enron didn’t invent MTM, by the way.
Oh I adore Jeff Skilling. He’s wonderful. And innocent. Same as Rex Shelby, Scott Yeager, Joe Hirko and most of the other ones indicted in the case.