A few months ago, I was contacted by my Alma Mata to offer up suggestions on courses they could offer to better prepare their students for the job market. Specifically they wanted to know what skills were lacking in recent graduates. This didn’t surprise me considering the current discussion around the difficult job market and whether the rising cost of an education is worth the expense and debt.

You’ve heard the term “boomerang generation” or “failure to launch syndrome?” This is when young adults move back home with poor or no job prospects, looming debt and in need of their parents financial support. It’s no wonder colleges are trying to find ways to better prepare their graduates.

Courses based on skill are a very good idea, but perhaps we should look a bit deeper into the root of the problem. Too many graduates bank on the value of their diploma and assume a career will follow. Not true, a career is something you earn over many years of mastering and honing your professional skills. As a business owner I have employed hundreds of people and seen my share of great and terrible employees. Including truly great super star’s who have come to us right out of college and some who just crash and burn. I believe it all starts way before the degree is earned.

Real Work Experience

The first thing a potential employer will look for is previous work experience and good solid references. Strangely, it appears getting a part time job while you are in high school and college has gone out of vogue for many these days. I’ve heard many parents claim they are doing their kids a favor by keeping them out of the work force for as long as possible so they have time to enjoy their youth.

I’m sorry, but that attitude is short sighted and robs your kid of some potentially wonderful life changing experiences, triumphs and teachable moments. Instead, look at teen employment as an opportunity to give junior a head start in the real world and possibly shortening the length of time he’ll have to work in the long run.

College graduates need to show they not only have work experience, but can “stick to it.” Completing a job well done builds confidence and can actually be fun often creating wonderful memories and lifelong contacts. Experiencing a bit of failure doesn’t hurt either. In the work place, you learn to take criticism (from someone other than your parents) and how to confront conflict. Failing teaches valuable lessons about life, helping to build character instilling empathy and compassion for others, character traits that will become important in leadership roles in the future.

If you can get work in your field of study through internships, that’s great. But don’t rely on the one week a year your Dad has you come clean his office. It needs to be a real job with real responsibilities. Check with your college about placements or use your personal contacts. We have employed many interns at our company, and numerous have gone onto build very successful careers. Holding down a real job teaches general business protocol (like showing up on time), socialization skills, understanding chain of command and respect for team work.

Office work is always a plus – being familiar with tools like presentation binders, phone systems, scanning machines and mastering the latest computer programs (Excel, Word, Adobe and PowerPoint or Keynote) are all very important. Just yesterday a successful commercial television producer lamented that her new college recruits have no idea how to use PowerPoint so she is left to do the arduous task of creating the “production bible” herself, not having time to train the newbie’s during a fast pace shoot schedule.

I would never look down on restaurant work and manual labor either. Learning how to serve customers, whether you are serving food or mowing lawns, teaches valuable client service skills. One of my managers skilled at hiring super stars – once told she always looks for restaurant experience because it is the ultimate pressure cooker job, having to meet immediate deadlines and training you to think on your feet.

Work your connections, be aggressive and make them proud. Almost all my first jobs were through my friends and family contacts, everything from paper route girl (in junior high), a summer job as a nanny, a clothing store clerk, a factory worker, an office assistant, ski instructor and waitress. My first job out of college was working for a TV production company outside of Boston. My boyfriend happened upon a TV production shoot and requested a business card from the Director on the shoot. I then called the poor guy incessantly for 2 months, until he finally agreed to interview me. He promptly hired me as his assistant (firing his not so reliable temp).

My next important career job was in California. New to the area, I scoured the want ads (before the ubiquitous internet). I found a job opening for a sales assistant at a local TV station. Not exactly TV production, but close enough. I used the same method different coast – calling and harassing the sales manager until he agreed to hire me. Being aggressive works just don’t become a stalker.

Great Attitude

Enthusiasm and passion for your work is important no matter what you do. If you’re like most people, you will come out of college into an entry level position, you may feel is beneath you. The worst thing you can do is show disdain for your current job or employer. I truly believe you can find fulfillment in any job – just by focusing on being the best at what you do. If you don’t plan on keeping that job forever, your motivation should be to get a great work reference. Or you may find a career path within that company, and work your way up the proverbial career ladder.

My mother taught me the importance of having passion for my work at a young age. When I was in college, she got me a summer job working by her side at a medical supply factory. Her job was to fasten metal sutures to a long thin nylon thread using a high powered microscope. She would sit at her station 8 hours a day, eyes in scope, using a foot pedal mechanism to fasten the thread to the metal suture. She often had bruises around the bridge of her nose from the scope and wore the skin down on her fore-fingers from handling the thin metal pins. My job, by the way, was to insert the finished sutures into clear plastic envelopes, to be sealed by the next person on the line.

Her dedication to perfection was always evident. She showed up early for her shifts, took only her allotted vacation time and took great pride in the excellence of her work. She not only did high quality work, but also produced large quantities of work. I’ll never forget the day the handsome young President came onto the factory floor, greeted me and told me how my Mom set the standard for excellence in his company. My Mom the factory worker, was an important person in her company, pretty cool.

Strong Work Ethic

Not surprising, the next important thing is strong work ethic. Always show up on time, stay late to get the job done, no matter what. One summer, I worked for two attorneys in charge of finding national retail locations for a shoe store chain. Each day, I would scurry out of the building well after my shift had ended, I was typing up important legal documents and wanted to make extra sure they were correct. Mom would be there patiently waiting, happy I was taking the time to do my job right. Then we would rush home, in time for me to change, get a quick bite to eat then drop me at my night job waitressing.

The shoe company was my first office experience. It was very intimidating, all those smart successful people walking around with purpose, I was terrified. But I learned quite a bit about office politics and what it was like working for a large multi-national corporation. After college I decided I would be better suited to work in a small company – and eventually ended up becoming an entrepreneur myself. Had I not had that initial experience, I may have targeted a corporate career path and not be where I am today.
Growing up, I never remember hearing my Mom complain about her work. It was years later I realized how important her subtle messages about work ethic were to my future success; she was grooming me for the challenges to come. The lesson; encourage your kids to get jobs and hold them to a high standard of excellence, they’ll thank you for it later.

Be Proactive

I see many employee reviews and the most common thing to trip up a young recruit is not being proactive enough. Don’t confuse this with competence. You can complete a task capably, but miss the next thing around the corner that trips you up. Being proactive means looking at an assignment from every potential angle and then prepare for unexpected. For example, when we prepare for a client pitch, we practice, offering up potential questions a client might ask ensuring we have properly researched answers. We always bring extra materials and back up equipment in case something breaks. Smart clients or employers can see a “wing it” approach a mile away. Want to impress your boss? Do something before she asks you to do it.

Attention to Detail

Lack of attention to detail is the second most common compliant I see in reviews. Double and triple check your work. This applies to any task including taking a phone message to doing complex mathematical calculations.

Don’t make a common mistake – wanting credit for the work you attempted to do – not the quality of the work done. Start paying attention to detail early in your profession. Consistently missing errors and not double checking your work will sink your career. While you may not get fired for it right away, you will be one of the first to go if there is a down turn in the economy.

Writing Skills

We look for graduates who can communicate ideas clearly and effectively in writing. You may have to write up meeting notes or write an email or proposal to your boss or a client. Make sure you use spell check and check your grammar.

If you’re communicating via email, be brief and use bullet points, so reader can get to the meat quickly. The overuse of email has made communication often unbearable. Do everyone a favor – be brief and don’t over “reply” with non-essential communication.
If you feel your writing skills need upgrading. Read more, it’s that simple. The more you read, the more you’ll recognize and replicate good writing.

Be Informed

I sometimes see young adults with massive lack of understanding of world around them. Some do not read newspapers or books (but find the time to know about the Kardashians). Having intellectual curiosity about the world around you is important for critical thinking, as well as dealing with clients, who often have wide and varying interests. This also helps in the art of conversation, which then leads to relationship building.

Oral Presentation

Not all jobs require speaking to large groups, but every job requires expressing yourself verbally. Understanding how to do this well will supercharge your career trajectory.
Speak fluently, drop verbal crutches (like, um, ya know…), as well as getting to the point quickly and succinctly. I saw a quote recently I’m going to post in all my conference rooms; “brevity is the essence of eloquence.” Too often in business, people talk too much and don’t listen (this applies to experienced professionals too). Listen, learn and speak when you have an important point to be made. Let people respond and ask questions and take notes.
Fear of speaking to very large groups has always been a challenge for me, and I still work at it. The best way to stem public speaking fear is to know your material and practice. Take opportunities to speak publically or join a club like Toastmasters. Some of the best public speakers I know were on the debate team in high school or grew up speaking in church or school at an early age.

Great References

It’s straightforward, show up, do great work and when it’s time to leave – do it with grace. Your goal, to get several stellar references, that say you’re a joy to work with and they’d love to have you back.

Always give a minimum 2 weeks’ notice and more if you can when you leave. Especially if you are working in a small company or department, where people are really depending on you, leaving someone in the lurch can dampen even the best work performance. As a matter of practice in my company – we do not give references for anyone who gives less than 2 weeks’ notice. In return I always give new hires more than 2 weeks prior to start if need be.

Never bash your former company or boss, no matter how badly you want to, especially in your next job interview. Always leave with dignity. You will need a reference and you never know who you may run into in the future as a potential client or employer, it could be the person you just bashed. Even if you are let go due to downsizing, if you’ve done a good job, you should still get a good reference. I have some memorable stories of former employee’s blowing it big time. I’m always amazed at their stupidity.

Learn Math and Love it

I know a lot of you liberal arts students don’t want to hear this, but sorry, math is extremely important in most jobs. While it is true there are jobs that don’t require math, they are becoming far and few between.

Most companies will expect you to understand their business financially, and most likely your goals will be tied to fiscal performance. Last week I pitched a new client where we spent weeks reviewing all their business data having to demonstrate a complete mastering of their commerce model. They never taught us that in my advertising classes in college. So if you are not on the business track – take an Excel class and start using it to balance your personal budgets.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you know that the highest paying job opportunities now are in the fields of technology, digital media, finance, engineering and bio technology. So if you’re gifted in math, you may want to reconsider that philosophy major.

Relationships & Mentors

Develop and foster lasting relationships with co-workers, clients and vendors. This is partly related to your references, but goes much deeper. It’s essentially creating a personal bond with co-workers that transcend the work, building trust and intimacy. People who master this also coincidently do great in new business roles. Have you heard the term “Rain Maker?” Rain Makers are the best new business closers and are typically the highest paid individuals in a company.

A mentor is someone you admire and teaches you something useful, and sometimes offers up opportunities for growth. A truly great mentor will tell you the hard truth about the quality of your work and help you strive to be the best. I’ve had several great mentors in my life and all have helped me get to where I am today.

Stay tuned for Part II – Getting the Job.

Like most of the country I’ve never been a fan of Rick Santorum.  I don’t like his politics. I can’t support someone that wants to intermingle God and government.  I particularly resent his attempt to group the gay community with pedophilia and beastiality. In most cases I believe in the disgusting old addage “he who smelt it  dealt it” – and when I see politicians overly concerned with attacking the gay lifestyle I can’t help but picture those same politicos sneaking off and tapping their toe under the stall in a public restroom – especially when they favor sweater vests normally only worn by 7th grade Life Science teachers and child molesters. (OK – maybe I’m being a bit hard on the sweater vest thing, and Life Science teachers.  I actually own a couple sweater vests that I think look pretty good when worn under the appropriate sports coat.  And we could all use a little more Life Science in our lives.)

But the fact is that my disdain for Santorum has never really been an issue, because like most voters I have never considered him to be a serious candidate.  In America there are a lot of people that like to watch programs that feature characters like the Kardashians, “Real Housewives”, and the loser oddballs that appear on the “Judge” shows, but I don’t really consider those programs real TV. And accordingly we have the political equvalent of that kind of entertainment, featuring candidates like Santorum, Palin, Trump, and Perry.

But as much as I don’t agree with Santorum, I did have a twinge of pity for him (just a twinge, mind you) when I saw how a few smart digital types used the web against him when he became so vocally anti-gay.  For months I had heard John Stewart and other comedy commentators urging viewers to Google “Santorum”, but had never really done so until today.  And so to save my valued readers a little time, if you have never taken the time to Google this guy’s name, here is the number one listing that comes up, right under his paid campaign listing. (Please note, I am making you go to the site as opposed to cut and paste the content here, as even the very open-minded Bizzy Life has to maintain some content standards.)

www.spreadingsantorum.com/

Time to revisit my frequent facination with Netflix – both as an investor and as a subscriber. As I have covered in this blog in the past, I have been both a very happy investor and customer of Netflix almost since the beginning of the company, and I have equally been a big critic of their silly management and customer service moves. In fact, last year I happily sold my stock at it’s near high when Netflix management made a big stumble and attempted to separate their DVD delivery service from their streaming service. Investors and customers left in flocks, and Netflix’s share price plummeted.

But yesterday Netflix made a serious rebound, making a 22% pop after the company announced strong earnings and a lot of new subscribers. And the jubilation continued today, with another $7.00 per share increase, closing at $124. The company is nowhere near it’s historic 52 week high of $305, but this is a great showing. But is Netflix worth it? Lets take a look at a few indicators:

Valuation. Well, for starters they are trading at a 29 price to earnings ratio – high by most industry’s standards, but if they are still classified as a tech company with a lot of room to grow you could make the argument it is reasonable.  Really reasonable if you compare them to some of the current new tech offerings.  LinkedIn trades at a 1430 PE ratio.  Groupon’s PE ratio can’t even be calculated because they have never made a profit and from all indications have no intention of doing so in the near future.

Growth Potential. Netflix fans say they have barely scratched the surface.  There is a huge international market they have yet to address with their core home delivery business, and their streaming service is now a fixture on every conceiveable new streaming device.  Think of all the iPads, new televisions, DVD players, and other streaming devices that were just purchased in the last 60 days.  Most of them come “Netflix enabled”, which could mean huge continued growth for the company.

Competition.  This is an area that needs to be divided into two sectors; home DVD delivery, and streaming delivery.  In the home DVD delivery arena I thought Netflix might actually have a competitor for a few fleeting moments when Dish bought the remants of Blockbuster.  A few months ago Blockbuster hit the airwaves with a compelling advertising campaign highlighting their price and new release advantage over Netflix, and I once again signed up to give it a try.  With a lower price, and a 28 day new release advantage over Netflix on many titles, Blockbuster had the potential to be a real contender, but I can tell you that after using the service for a month Netflix has nothing to worry about.  “Big hat – no cattle”, is how I would describe Blockbuster.  They say they have the new DVDs faster than Netflix, but unfortunately they don’t have enough inventory and are unable to ship them, so right now of the twenty or so movies I have in my queue, fifteen show “long wait”.  Also, Blockbuster’s website is amazingly clunky and slow.  For some reason they put a “shuffle” feature on your queue, but often the site chooses to shuffle your movies on its own, moving the good releases to the bottom of the list and putting those movies you really don’t want to see but felt you had to add to fill up the list at the top.  Finally, they don’t seem to have the physical infrastructure.  I returned movies three days ago, and they still have not shipped replacements.  When I sent an e mail to ask why, they replied that different movies come from different distribution centers, and sometimes it takes a couple days to ship, and then a couple more days for the movies to arrive.  Netflix might throttle you and not have the latest releases, but their distribution platform is incredible and their website a delight to use.  You will always have movies.

In the streaming arena things are a bit different.  Netflix has great technology, but at least at this point their content is still only average.  A lot of the great movies are not available to stream.  There is also a lot of competition.  Since I am a HBO subscriber I tend to use their streaming AP, which basically contains almost all the great stuff HBO has ever broadcast.  I also use the ABC AP, and their are dozens of other services from cable providers and companies like Hulu that really rival Netflix in terms of content and usability, so consumers have a lot of choices before signing up for Netflix.

But the real key – both positive and negative – could be Netflix’s incredible penetration into the streaming device catagory.  One of the reasons for Neflix’s pop over the last few days was the announcement that they had added a half million subscribers since Christmas.  This is not suprising when you consider all the iPads, iPhones, web-equipped televisions, blue-ray DVD players, and other devices that either came equipped or have easy-to-install APS for Netflix access.  But one of the problems is that most of those 500,000 people took advantage of a free one month membership Netflix offers, so the real test is how many of those new subscribers remain and pay in the coming months. Having a lot of people that use your service for free is not a good business model.  For instance, when I signed up for Blockbuster they gave me a free month, but the service is so bad I won’t remain a customer, and they will lose money on me.

So the big questions….

Should you buy Netflix?  Probably, but it depends on your time horizon and risk aversion. This company can be a really bumpy ride, and while I normally like good companies that you can hold, this has not been one of those stocks.  I have done well by actively trading it  on the bumps.  Keep in mind that in the last year the stock price has ranged from $62 to $305 – so depending on when you bought you could be very happy, or a Netflix-hater.  Still, at least in the near future, things look pretty rosy. While ultimately DVDs and accordingly their home deliver business will go away, there are still a lot of people that love their service, and plenty of potential international expansion.   They have a predominate position in spreading their streaming technology, and I suspect their content will get better and better.  In other words, they have a very valid short and long term business model and infrastructure that makes me like them, and I will continue to buy and sell the stock appropriately.

Should you sign up as a customer?  If you want home DVD delivery, the answer is yes.  While their throttling and slow release dates are frustrating, there is no better option.  I am less enthusiastic about their streaming service.  At this point I can find better content with no additional monthly fee.

Editor’s Note: Michael Wilcox is a Massachusett’s resident with a slightly different take on the Romney candidacy versus our last post. 

As the Republican primary season unfolds the theme, to the extent that there has been one, it seems that Republicans have managed to dispose of the Tea Party candidates and have all but settled on Mitt Romney. This has occurred because the Tea Party has struggled to produce a single candidate who can deliver the Tea Party message with a straight face to the nation. It seems to me that the Republican merry-go-round of “front runners” has somehow managed to work to eliminate the Perry, Bachman and Cain candidacies….We can disagree about the degree of government spending but people are not going to vote for someone as uninformed as Bachman or Perry, and the allegations made against Herman Cain were just too much for anyone to ignore. It should soon become clear that Rick Santorum is so desperately out of step with American voters on “social” issues that the Republicans cannot nominate him either.

What’s that? Why am I ignoring Newt and the crazy old fella from Texas? Oh that’s easy, they’re both nuttier than squirrel crap and would be a dream come true for Obama. So the race looks to be all but won by Mitt Romney, and let me be clear….as a Democrat I am least offended by Mr. Romney as a prospective President because he is not who he plays on TV.

Like it or not my Republican friends, Mr. Romney is a big government moderate who championed universal health care when he was the Governor of Massachusetts. Yes my good Republicans, Mitt Romney was ahead of the Democratic curve and actually implemented a system where people are ordered to obtain health insurance or they are penalized come tax time. Big BIG government stuff.  Mitt, the man who convinced Massachusetts voters that he was “Pro-Choice” is much closer politically to Bill Clinton than he is to Ronald Reagan. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of “Romney the candidate” is that he has flourished in the primary lead-up,  where the best that can be said about the guy is:

1. He doesn’t debate as well as Gingrich.
2. He’s not your grandaddy’s conservative.
3. His “jobs” record as Mass. Governor was abysmal.
4. He’s a notorious flip flopper on big ticket issues like abortion and health care.
5. He’s a Mormon.

Then there’s his past at Bain Capital, and this is where Mr. Romney has encountered trouble in the past. We need to be clear, Mr. Romney was an enormously successful businessman who did nothing illegal in the manner in which he directed Bain Capital. That is not the question here. The real issue is how Bain Capital’s business record under Romney will play with an American public which is desperate for jobs. For those of you who do not know, Bain Capital was a private equity firm that invested in underperforming companies and in most cases they managed to improve performance. A great story,  no? Well, the story goes that companies such as office supplier Ampad was acquired by Bain and then used as a platform to acquire other companies, borrowing to make the acquisitions to such a degree that Ampad ended up with $400 million in short term debt. Eventually, Ampad was bankrupted, its stockholders were left with worthless shares and its employees were left without jobs while Bain pocketed millions in fees for the acquisitions and management of the company. A great bit of news if you were invested in Bain or worked there….not such a glad time for Ampad, its employees or shareholdershowever.

The Ampad story is not news, as it was first published in the Boston Globe back in 1992. Mitt challenged the late Ted Kennedy in a 1994 senate run and that story devastated Romney’s election bid. Will it pose problems this time around? In the current economic climate Romney cannot shed the story and will likely respond with some of Bain’s many successes as his remaining Republican opponents seek to use the Kennedy tactic against him. No matter how many jobs Bain actually created, and let’s be clear Bain Capital did create jobs, the fact remains that Bain made money in some cases from the systematic destruction of once viable, albeit underperforming, companies.

Romney, during at least his private equity career, believed in “creative destruction” as a means of keeping companies efficient. The idea that companies should be prepared to take steps, including layoffs and overseas expansion, to remain competitive and profitable is clearly good for stockholders and in a broader sense the economy itself. The question which voters will need to answer is whether the “creative destruction” model is “good business” or is it business that is anti-American job. The issue this year is, after all, jobs, jobs and oh yeah…jobs. Labeling oneself as a jobs creator when the cold hard fact of the matter is that “creative destruction” is about maximizing share value often at the expense of jobs is risky business. Mitt Romney is a shrewd politician as evidenced by his remarkable ability to convince primary voters that he is a conservative. I suspect he may have a harder time explaining away the Bain Capital years….but who would ever have thought that the pro-choice, universal health care champion, liberal governor would get a single vote in Iowa. It should be fun to watch either way.

There is a lot of debate right now concerning whether or not Mitt Romney’s experience working in private equity is good or bad for his campaign,. Romney is anxious to claim the position of “job creator” – stating that his history of providing financing for companies has been a positive for the economy and makes him more qualified to be President.  His opponents would claim that private equity is not a path towards job creation, and in fact just represents another aspect of greedy corporate America stripping profits out of the business landscape, and actually might really cause the loss of jobs.

This week NPR featured a business professor from Kellogg University who had completed a study of the effects of private equity on the job market.  The study concluded that private equity is really fairly neutral in terms of job creation; that is, it neither creates nor destroys employment.

Over the course of my career I have had a fairly significant amount of experience in private equity.  I have invested my own money in private equity funds to be invested in other companies, and I have received significant amounts of capital to invest in my companies from private equity funds.  For me personally, private equity financing has in most cases been extremely lucrative from both perspectives.  I am currently invested in a private equity fund that was an early investor in companies like Facebook and other very hot technology companies, and my investment in this fund, though not fully realized, at this point is very profitable. More importantly for me, I have received significant financing over the years from private equity funds that have allowed me to expand my company and acquire other companies, significantly increasing the value of my ownership.

Here is how private equity financing works.  A private equity firm forms an investment fund.  This fund raises money from institutional and high net worth investors, banks, trusts, and other entities with significant amounts of money to invest.  A single investment fund may range in value from a few million to billions of dollars.  The fund then takes that money and buys ownership, or significant positions, in multiple companies.  The managers of the private equity fund typically take significant or full management positions in the operational management of those companies, and for forming the funds they take a significant share of the profits and money raised; typically 2% of the funds raised and up to 20% or more of the profits if the fund is successful.  Most funds have a set time frame for the investment, typically five to seven years, at which point the private equity firm hopes to exit the investments with large profits for themselves and their investors.

The benefits of private equity.  Romney claims to be a “job creator” because private equity financing can certainly expand companies and potentially create jobs.  Many incredible companies that employ thousands of employees were spurred to growth by private equity, literally growing from basements into major international conglomorates.  PE money can certainly be beneficial to the American economy and industry, providing crucial funding to technology companies and other cutting-edge businesses that can help keep us at the top of the world economy, and I believe that there is a strong case to be made that this kind of financing has been an inportant component of continued American dominance in the world technology market.

But private equity and job creation do not always go together. Lets not misunderstand the purpose and goal of PE investing.  The mandate is not to expand employment or the power and reach of corporate America, or some other kind of patriotic objective.  The goal of private equity investing is to make money for the investors; nothing else.  If a company becomes more valuable by employing more workers, then the PE firm is happy to see more people hired; but if more money can be milked out of the transaction by cutting back and firing people then they will be equally happy to shrink a company.    Similarly, if a firm can be made more profitable by outsourcing jobs oversees or moving manufacturing, the PE firm will almost certainly make those moves.  Often in a PE transaction several companies will be merged together, with layers of employees eliminated in the merger to make the company more profitable.

The other potential downside of PE financing is its typical short-term exit strategy, though this might vary by fund.  Maximizing a company’s profits over five to seven years normally requires a different strategy than managing a company with a longer time horizon.  In essence, a PE firm is always looking for how to sell a company for the maximum amount, as opposed to how to build a great company for the long haul.  And perhaps the biggest problem with many PE transactions is the use of debt.  Though I have participated in PE funding deals that did not incur any debt, most PE firms will layer on as much debt as feasible onto a company they acquire so they can spread out their investment capital to more companies.  This weakens the acquired company, and can often hinder its development.

So the bottom line…. PE investors do not invest to build great companies and make America stronger; they invest to make money, and the only real yardstick for success among PE professional like Romney is how much money they and their investors make. There is nothing illegal or necessarily immoral about that; most corporate executive’s primary mandate is to make money.  But there is a big difference between a PE executive, and the entrepreneur that starts a great company and builds it with pride so it will last for generations.  I would argue that we need more great entrepreneurs with big ideas, and that we also need to maintain a PE structure to finance some of those ideas.  I have also met many great individuals that work in PE that would not be qualified to actually run a company; they are primarily of value for their investment and input as board members.  They understand how business and finance work, but they do not have the operational skill set to visualize and orchestrate the proper path for an organization.

It also makes perfect sense to me that PE financing is job neutral. While I am sure there are many cases where funding has allowed stratospheric growth for firms, there will be as many examples where the PE management mandate was to cut employment.

But the big question is; does Mitts background in private equity make him a more qualified candidate to be President?  There are many skill sets that a successful PE executive must possess that I think translate well to The White House.  A good PE executive is typically very intelligent and well-educated.  They understand finance and the flow of money, they are usually well-organized, they understand business structure, and they are often very skilled at negotiations. They tend to be very good with budgets, which would be a big plus in this economy.  So if the job requirement hinges on a solid background in business, a PE resume would be a plus.

But I think there is much more to being President than an understanding of business.  A great President has vision, compassion, life experience, great communication skills, a knowledge of history and its potential impact on the future, charisma, and the ability to bring people together; all attributes that don’t exist within any set profession.

The talk of the NFL season has not been the play of Drew Brees or the strength of the Green Bay Packers…this has been the year of Tim. The man who, as a second year NFL player, has become the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos and a veritable national lightning rod. Tim Tebow is, you see, a devout Christian, and he makes no bones about that fact, often dropping to one knee, or “Teebowing”, on the field after plays.

The problem is that Tebow the quarterback is at times historically awful, throwing balls well over heads and into the ground. He has been at times this year so bad that it was fair to ask how it was that Denver strung together a long mid-season win streak….the guy was awful using any measure. But after his game winning pass against the Steelers this weekend he broke a Twitter record with 9420 tweets per second-per second! So the Tebow story has captured our national attention and set the stage for the battle of “the pundits versus the converts”.

Regardless of your views about Tebow the man, he has not been a very highly skilled quarterback in terms of his ability read defenses or throw the ball. In fairness to his critics, he’s been historically bad and despite the six game win streak he threw for 69 and 60 yards in two games against Kansas City this year. But Denver won both games so Tebow kept his job. Based on performances like that he’s been ridiculed by the pundits who predicted his swift and humiliating demise.

The Converts, on the other hand, pointed to Denver’s penchant for last minute comebacks, often in the most improbable ways as a sign that Tim Tebow was benefiting from Devine intervention. Tim wins, and Jesus saves, I guess.

The truth about Tebow is that he really seems to be a genuinely good guy, he performs missionary work, he meets with sick kids, and most importantly he doesn’t have a blip on his record—he is clearly a great role model. But at the same time, it is difficult to imagine a more annoying individual because of his near constant references to Jesus and his Lord….we get it buddy….please do not become the NFL Evangelist.  Like most Americans I like to separate my sports from my religion. So Tim Tebow is annoying, but can he play?
Most so-called pundits are too quick to judge football talent which is why we have been blessed with the likes of Brian Bosworth, Ryan Leaf and Akili Smith- all fabulous busts after being “projected” as great NFL talents. Then there are the really bad projections like quarterback Tom Brady, arguably one of the best of all time, who was selected in the sixth round and was said not to be able to throw well or long, he didn’t respond well to pressure and he was slow. Pundits be damned!

These so-called experts generally miss as many as they get right, so let’s wait and see on Tim Tebow the player. Remember we here in TV land will not decide if or when Tim Tebow will become a successful NFL quarterback. Those decisions will be made, for the most part, by the defenses he will face and the coaches who direct those defenses in the next year or so. It will not be a complicated evaluation process either: Tim Tebow will succeed or he will not and there is not going to be a lot of hand wringing if he doesn’t.

You see, the road to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is strewn with the likes of Todd Marinovich, Ryan Leaf, Jeff George, Art Schlicter and the hapless Jamarcus Russell. There is simply no room in the National Football League for people who cannot perform at a high level week in and week out, especially at the quarterback position regardless if they are getting the play call from Jesus or not.

The public debate about Tebow the player, man, and role model are just an ESPN fueled sideshow, as every ESPN football analyst has predicted Tebow’s future. They do not, however, have any say in the outcome of the grand Tebow experiment. No my friends, only Tebow and his teammates on offense can write the ending to this story. If any trend has emerged it is that this guy will manage to have a professional career and may become a very strong player if he can continue to improve. In the past five weeks the Tebows, I mean Broncos, played the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the questions remain. Prior to the start of the playoffs Tebow looked ill equipped to handle the pro game, he passed the ball poorly, he didn’t manage to run well and in the final three games of the season the Broncos were beaten actually crushed by the Bills and Patriots. Tebow struggled mightily and whether you are a Tebow fan or not there was an unsettling sense that Tim’s days were numbered. Despite the poor record, the Broncos play in the weakest division in pro football and they qualified for the playoffs with an 8-8 record.

In Tebow’s first playoff game he would face the famed Pittsburgh Steelers and even the Bronco players seemed resigned to their demise at the hands of a typically ferocious Steeler defense. This past weekend, however, we were treated to an all new Tim Tebow. He still threw the short ball poorly but he went deep frequently, he threw very few bad balls and he was not intercepted once. In a must win game Tebow was not only “not awful”; he was very good,  throwing for 316 yards and an implausible (not miraculous) win over the heavily favored Steelers. So the story will continue with this guy and I’m sort of rooting for him except for this weekend where I’m hoping that the Patriots destroy him. But later, I hope he can become a viable quarterback because this league needs fewer Rex Ryan’s and more like Tim Tebow. So good luck Tim, just not this weekend. Go Pats.

It was a bouncy and uncomfortable year for investors.  With nice movement in the fourth quarter, the Dow managed to end the year up 5.5%, but the tech-heavy NASDAQ had its first losing year since 2008, with a decline of 1.8% for the year.

Exactly one year ago The Bizzy Life challenged the experts to a little stock picking contest.  Representing The Bizzy Life was comic Auggie Smith, who has zero investing experience, and chose his stocks by literally throwing darts at the Wall Street Journal stock page.  We put Auggie’s results up against Kiplinger Magazine’s “Top Stocks for 2011″, and our third contender is the low cost Vanguard World Fund.  Here is how you would have done if you had invested $10,000 with each of our experts:

1. Auggie Smith can now add “investment expert” to his comedic introduction, as he beat out both Kiplingers and the experts at Vanguard.  A $10,000 investment in Augs picks would now be worth $10,135.00.  Seven of Auggie’s ten stocks increased in value, with Centerpoint and IBM leading the pack.
2. Kiplinger Magazine’s Ten Stocks for 2011 did not fare so well, coming in second place at a value of $9526.00.  Only four of the ten stocks increased in value, led by Caribou Coffee and United Rentals.
3. Although the Vanguard World Fund was in second place most of the year, it was hurt by the overseas economic turbulence late in the year, coming in at $9026.00.

In retrospect, I should not have chosen the World Fund for this competition, as all the other stocks were domestic.  A simple Dow index fund would have won the competition by a few hundred dollars.

Watch for our new 2012 competition in the next week when we will again challenge the experts!

The beverage sector has long been the hottest selling category in packaged goods. This is true of both soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. While other packaged food manufacturers are very pleased to achieve the rare 40% profit margin, beverage makers routinely see upwards of 60% margins.

From yogurt drinks and “coco waters” to flavored malts and infused spirits there seems no end to the public willingness to try new drinks. Basically, beverage introductions follow the maxim: “If you pour it, they will pay.” The only limit seems to be available shelf space. So, it’s rather surprising that one of the world’s oldest and most versatile alcoholic beverages has so little of that shelf space in America. I am talking about hard cider.

At it’s best, the light, sparkling style of cider made in the Normandy region of France is a remarkably sophisticated beverage that is very food-friendly, makes an excellent cocktail base and has the effervescent charm of sparkling wine – all at a fraction of the cost.

The New York Times described it this way, “some Normandy cider is equal in delicacy and flavor to fine Champagnes.” This is rather amazing praise when you think about the difference in price. And, this comment is even more amazing when you learn it was published by the Times in 1896. So what happened to cider, and why aren’t we all drinking it at dinner today? Hopefully, that will change very soon.

It’s only a matter of time before a genuine Normand-style cider is produced here. For the well-heeled readers of TheBizzyLife, I would like to suggest an investment opportunity that will quietly have the first-to-market player toasting their success for many profitable years to come. It is a new cidery in Sonoma called Pomona Cider. This startup is headed by upstart cidermaker, Wayne Van Loon. Mr. Van Loon seems to have pulled together all the components required to properly launch this “new” beverage in America. And he is now looking for financial backers to increase his size.

After honing his fermentation skills in the Oregon wine industry, Van Loon moved to Normandy to learn the cider trade as an apprentice at Domaine Dupont. He returned anxious to revive this distinguished sparkling beverage in the U.S. He quickly recognized that the missing component was the proper fruit. Ideal cider apples were simply nowhere to be found. But, Van Loon was undaunted. Combing orchards throughout the nation’s apple-producing regions turned up nothing promising. But a chance conversation with an old retired orchardman turned up rumors of an abandoned orchard in Central California bearing “odd old cider apples”. That led to Van Loon’s “eureka” moment.

Van Loon discovered this orchard hidden in the Santa Ynez foothills where a stand of mature apple trees were producing what may be the ideal American cider fruit. Because the trees were misclassified years ago, this fruit can now be had for pennies on the dollar. If you want to find out how to participate in this Pomona Cider venture, contact Van Loon here: info@pomonacider.com

With his BATF license in hand, recently acquired Champagne-style equipment procured and a small production underway, Van Loon is now looking for financial partners to take his enterprise to the next level – by establishing a new planting in northern California where this wonderful variety was developed and then adding Normand varieties for blending. I predict this will be the beginning of a whole new beverage category and a huge boom in consumption – much like the booms in the consumption of “white zinfandel”, sake, craft microbrews, and infused vodkas changed the culinary landscape over the last four decades. Better still, while these other beverages had established competitors at the ready, American cider is still a ground-floor opportunity for a savvy investor. But I’m getting ahead of myself in this tale of a modern Johnny Appleseed.

From colonial times to well into the 19^th century, hard cider was America’s beverage of choice. It was quite literally the “breakfast of champions” for the general population at the time of the Revolutionary War. This was an unsophisticated brew – heavy, unfiltered and very high in alcohol due to “jacking,” the term for freeze distillation. The fall cider was often fortified into Apple Jack, by leaving it outside and then periodically discarding some hard chunks of the frozen water, while the softer icy cider containing the alcohol was retained for consumption or further fermentation. Continuing this jacking of the fermented juice, cider with an alcohol content of less than 10% could be concentrated to over 30% alcohol. This kind of strong brew was the colonialists preferred beverage for breakfast and lunch.

Cider was a truly populist drink in early America, enjoyed equally by the working class and aristocrats. Around 1625, William Blackstone supposedly sowed the seeds for the very first American apple orchard, close to Beacon Hill. And William Endicott, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was a distinguished orchardist; as were George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Cider was held in very high regard up to the end of the 1800′s, but its production faded and died in America.

The change came with the westward migration. On the ranches and farms surrounding the rural settlements in the plains states, home brewers found themselves sitting on land far more suited to grain than orchards, so half of the nation’s taste began shifting to beer. Unfortunately, the other half of the population in urban areas were quicker to embrace temperance. Eventually, these “Drys” prevailed, ushering in nationwide prohibition. And with the 18th Amendment, hard cider fell on hard times.

Cider however has remained very popular in many other parts of the world – the U.K., Belgium, South Africa and of course in northern France. The Normandy region is where la pomme à cidre really shows it’s finest form. As far as I know, Normandy is the only region in France that has no classified AOC (Appelation d`Origin Contrôlée) wines. But, the sparkling ciders there are remarkable. They are clear, light and dry – much like Brut Champagne. They have effervescence similar to beer. And, at just 6% alcohol, they are less intoxicating and lower in calories than wine. Plus, they have a wonderfully bright green apple bouquet that makes them perfectly compatible with appetizers, sushi and lighter entrees.

The French AOC designation is the government’s guarantee of origin and quality currently enjoyed by a number of wines and cheeses, has been awarded to only two ciders. The Cidre Appelation Pays d`Auge Contrôlée, where Van Loon apprenticed, is one of them. Here ciders must be produced from designated areas within the Pays d`Auge using specific apple varieties. Cidre Pays d`Auge must also meet strict production criteria: They must be made of 100% juice with no added water or sugar, no use of concentrate, and fermentation must be achieved with natural yeasts.

According to Van Loon, the Pays d’Auge has approximately 185 apple varieties approved for the production of calvados and cider. Cider apples are then divided into four categories according to their proportion of sugars, acidity and tannins – Sweet, Bittersweet, Sharp and Bittersharp. Typically, French ciders are a blend of juices from several cultivars to provide more depth of flavor. There are few apples that will make a good cider all by themselves. The Golden Russet is one such variety, and is prized in both single variety and multi-variety blends of cider. Another is the Wickson Crab, named for Edward Wickson the head of great California fruit authority and California’s leading pomological authority about a century ago.

Wickson was a mentor of sorts to one Albert Etter, the man who developed this new ideal cider apple. Etter combined raw aptitude with unusual vision, making it his life goal to create new fruit varieties uniquely suited to California and the Pacific Northwest. In reality, Etter was a methodical lunatic, probably suffering from OCD, and absolutely fixated on apples. In 1900, at the age of 28, Etter began by growing a grid of several hundred varieties obtained as seedlings from the new University of California Extension. He then systematically crossed these varieties to create literally thousands of new hybrids.

The diminutive Wickson Crab may be Etter’s crowning achievement. Crossbred from two obscure varieties (the Spitzenberg Crab and the Newton Crab) Etter may have stumbled on the perfect cider apple. Unlike many cider apples, this variety is a delicious table fruit that was likely mislabeled and renamed as the Crimson Gold. And now it seems Van Loon has stumbled on a mother of them in an abandoned orchard. This is like finding beverage gold.

And true to his name, Van Loon has been overcome by a bit of pomological lunacy too. With his grand vision of creating a “grand cru,” Norman-style cidre in America, Van Loon believes he will ultimately need to blend several Norman cider varieties into his Wickson’s juice. To achieve that end, much like Etter before him, he sourced French cider varieties from an Ivy League University testing station; currently the only source in the U.S. for many obscure apples. However, unlike Etter, Van Loon has no ready nursery on which he can graft. So Van Loon did something brilliantly subversive – he grafted his French cuttings onto existing trees in a giant agri-business orchard to keep these varieties alive until he is ready for them.

Using digital illustrations of trees and GPS plotting overlaid on a detailed topographical map of this orchard, Van Loon can return at any time and “harvest” future cuttings from the host trees. This is a truly victimless crime, as the host trees are unharmed, the additional odd apples produced will be sorted and thrown away, and the cuttings used as grafts were all certified USDA disease-free. Someday these apples may catch the puzzled eye of a migrant worker who wonders how the wildly different apples ended up on a few odd branches. They will be ignored or pruned and he will move on.

The best thing about this bit of agricultural subversion is it’s accidental marketing genius. This story will become an origin myth for Pomona cider that will be whispered in wine bars and restaurants and seen in beverage columns forevermore – but it will never be confirmed, because the location of the host orchard cannot be revealed. There is no crime when no body can be found.

With these apples, and this story, Van Loon is positioned to become much like the Randall Grahm of ciders. In the 1980’s Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard, called himself the Rhône Ranger and attended wine events in a Lone Ranger costume touting the beauty of ugly varietals. His idiosyncratic wines and eclectic persona helped pioneer the boom in Syrah and other Rhône varietals in Californian. And that was just a gimmick. Van Loon’s genuine apple antics, dedicated pomology and pioneering spirit are certain to do the same for cider. If you want to find out more or participate in his lunacy, contact Van Loon here: info@pomonacider.com.

Keep in mind on New Year’s eve that Norman-style cidre makes a great alternative to sparkling wine. If you want to try a great one a recommendation follows below:

Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandy, produced by Domaine Familial Etienne Dupont

Cidre Bouch is a naturally sparkling cider created using the traditional method of the Pays d’Auge. Full of fruit and freshness, the taste reveals the aromas of apples and citrus with finesse (“cidre bouché” is a generic term for traditional cider, literally “cider under cork”). This cider is produced in a controlled fermentation in stainless steel vats using indigenous yeasts. Unpasteurized and unfiltered, stabilization is carried out via successive racking.

There are about 6000 trees of typical Pays d’Auge apple varieties in the Domaine Dupont orchards. Typical varieties include Saint-Martin, Binet, Noel de champs, Mettais, Frequin and Rouge Duret. Most are bitter sweet. Sweet, acidic, and tannic apples are all used in the same proportion for balance.

If you are unable to locate this amazing cider, you may be able to purchase it through their distributor here: http://www.bunitedint.com/company/contact_us/

Suggestion for further reading on this cider; download the PDF here:http://www.bunitedint.com/information/producers/sales_sheets/51/

There are two questions lawyers are asked by family and friends from the moment word gets out that law school has begun:  “How could you represent a rapist and still consider yourself to be a good person?” and “What should I do if I’m arrested or have been stopped by the police?”

Today we’ll take a stab at the second question primarily because I’m sick of answering the first question, plus my testy Editor has ordered me to have an answer on his desk by Wednesday.  I don’t know what’s going on but he had quite a few diagrams of a local bank spread out across his desk the other day and he was asking all sorts of questions about how to reach me in the middle of the night.

So what should a person do if they’ve been arrested?  But first a disclaimer:  the police tend to dislike this type of advice (and the people who give it) because they see it as interfering with their primary investigative function. In our adversarial system it is one of the defense attorney’s functions to make sure that people understand their various civil rights.  I recognize that this type of advice does interfere with the police function but that that is precisely what I do for a living,  so here goes. I figure we’ll start with the technical legal response.

Shut the hell up Francis, the nice police officer is not your friend after she has placed the handcuffs on your wrists or if she is asking you how your car managed to be in the ditch….just shut up!

It is true that the police are awesome and that they come when we need them and I’m not being facetious…the police are your friend in the overwhelming majority of your interactions with them. So please don’t take this to mean that you should not call the police if you see some knucklehead slapping some kid around…or you work at Penn State and the coach is lathering up with a ten year old.

No, my friends today we are dealing only with YOU and what YOU need to do if you’re arrested and want to preserve the ability to have a fair trial.  You see, the police are most assuredly not your local “Officer Friendly” once they slap the cuffs on you….they are listening to every word you utter so that they can use your words against you in court.  I get it, since you were in third grade you’ve been taught to tell the truth and to cooperate with the police….but when the police officer has made a determination that you have committed a crime and placed you in custody you are not required to cooperate….if you do, do so at your peril.

But I can explain that they have the wrong guy.

Maybe, but it is highly unlikely at the scene and once the arrest determination is made the police are generally reluctant to let people leave. You may feel that you have “nothing to hide” and while you may be completely innocent—you’ll be wasting your breath in most cases trying to convince the police officer.  You need to “tell it to the judge” is a common refrain from police officers and they mean it because only a judge (or jury) matters once you’ve been charged.  The police gather information and they make arrests if they believe that they have probable cause, or reasonable suspicion, to do so.  The officers smiling at you across the table have already decided that YOU are their man…don’t be offended if they have trouble believing you that it’s all a big misunderstanding.  They do not prosecute the arrested suspect, they do not decide questions of quilt and they do not impose sentence upon conviction.  The fact that the other guy started it or that the country club you were at for the past seven hours has a two drink limit might not be enough for the local chief to start drafting an apology.  No sir, you are their guy or gal and they are listening in the hope that you confess, say something inconsistent or that you fill in the blanks on details of the night’s events.

Let’s be very clear about one thing; the vast majority of police officers are decent, hardworking and honest….with one unique qualifying attribute.  They have a tendency to be bulldogs when defending their decision to arrest an individual.  Police should be as objective as possible when evaluating the facts of a case but I have yet to meet the officer who will readily agree that they arrested the wrong person. It just doesn’t happen.  When the police make an arrest they are usually convinced that they made the right decision and they tend to view the facts in a very different light than you or a jury might.

I am always amazed when a prospective client tells me that he was arrested, and refused the breathalyzer test,  but then submitted to the field sobriety tests and was just chatting up a storm.  You would not believe how many people actually delude themselves into thinking that they managed to convince the police that they were not intoxicated and that they managed to make friends with the arresting officer.

Please do not drink and drive, but if you are stopped and the officer begins to ask questions about whether you’ve been drinking and if you have a right to refuse the breath test and you elect to do so…why would you submit to a handful of field sobriety tests

It may ultimately be in your best interests to speak with the police….just make certain that when you do you have an attorney next to you and that you and your attorney have a signed agreement that what you say cannot be used against you. So if you are arrested and you are overwhelmed with the desire to speak…try this

“I’d like to speak with an attorney right now”!

You’ll know you’ve made the right decision when the officer doesn’t seem quite so friendly anymore.

Before getting to the point today, I need to explain that I’ve been an attorney for a long time.  Over the course of my career I’ve handled virtually every manner of civil and criminal legal matter. More to my point here today, I’ve tried cases brought against people accused of sexual misconduct, including civil and criminal defense of priests accused of the very same thing as former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. It is a difficult position to be in from both the perspective of a defense attorney. So I say this with an acute understanding of the pressures facing both Sandusky and his lawyers….

Have you people lost your minds?

Mr. Sandusky is in a world of trouble. He’s facing a series of criminal charges accusing him of sexually assaulting children who were receiving support and service from Sandusky’s “Second Mile” charity. The case appears strong and it broke this fall when it was revealed that a student assistant at Penn State, Mike McQuery, in 2002 observed Sandusky and a young boy in a shower. McQueary said that Sandusky and the boy were naked, and that “the boy was up against the wall, facing the wall and Jerry was directly behind him in a very close position.” He characterized what he observed as some form of “intercourse”…..so it is clear that Mr. Sandusky is staring at the real prospect of prison.

In these stressful situations it is not uncommon for defendants and their attorneys to make key mistakes. Many clients feel a compelling desire to speak out due to the knowledge that they did not commit any crime, and then there are those who want to speak out because they have deluded themselves into believing that they are innocent. Given Sandusky’s remarks it appears that he may be in the latter category. Regardless of which type of defendant we are dealing with, if there is a constant in this business it is that client’s should not speak to the police or the prosecutor unless it is in the context of a cooperation or plea deal. In my view a client should never speak with the media in a case of this nature, a case where there is no ability to offer an alibi or a compelling argument that the crime could not have been committed. Nothing can be gained because the indictments will not be withdrawn and there is the real risk that prospective jurors will be exposed to the statements and the way in which they were said. So it was with great interest akin to rubber necking at the scene of a freeway accident that I listened to Sandusky’s interview with Bob Costas. That was just the most bizarre thing I’d ever heard in a sexual assault case as Sandusky admitted to horsing around while showering with children. He admitted “hugging them” and touching their legs “without intent of sexual contact.” But the real killer was “Am I sexually attracted to underage boys?… Sexually attracted? You know, [no], I enjoy young people…”

My first reaction was that this knucklehead needed an attorney and he needed one fast. I was flabbergasted when I read that Sandusky was represented by counsel and that the Sandusky interview with Costas was originally supposed to be an interview with his attorney. I get it, I really do…my partner and I once agreed to allow a 48 Hours crew to follow us in a case where a mentally challenged homeless woman started a fire that claimed the life of six firefighters. The difference is that we did not give any access to our client nor did we make any statements likely to enrage people….so spare me the tired nonsense that you Mr. Amendola know better than the rest of us….you clearly made a terrible mistake because your client sounded like an idiot.

You see Mr. Sandusky, we don’t allow old men to shower with youngsters, and if you were their father it would still be creepy and wrong. There it is…there’s the word for this – creepy. It is creepy because the defendant doesn’t get it and as an attorney it is creepier still that the defendant’s attorney sat by while the bizarre interview was conducted.

Mr. Amendola, your client sounded guilty, and possibly mentally challenged, if what he was trying to defend was this idea that an elderly adult should be “horseplaying” with children while showering naked with them. Now maybe it’s just my New England upbringing, you know that old Puritan thing, but I would say that Mr. Sandusky is in a world of hurt if the best he can muster is something along the lines of “Is that wrong?”. It was funny when Jason Alexander said it on the Seinfeld television show; oh it is still sort of funny – just in a different way.

But, let’s not overreact, the case hasn’t really even started and Mr. Sandusky and his lawyer have plenty of time to allow his remarks to fade…people won’t even remember the interview…..just don’t do it again. Right? Wrong. Fast forward to December 3, 2011 and the determined duo of Sandusky and Amendola sit down with Jo Becker of the New York Times,  and once again, prove that these two cats don’t seem to understand the situation. In that interview Sandusky again has trouble explaining exactly how it is that he “likes” boys….which again misses the point. A Penn State assistant observed you in the shower with a boy in what the assistant described as an inappropriate position….why do these two feel compelled to explain what Sandusky meant when he said he “liked boys”, who cares. If you are going to defend yourself in the court of public opinion would you please tell us that you weren’t naked in a shower with a boy embracing him from behind….and why it’s all just a big mistake.

Enter the newest member of the Pennsylvania version of the “Dream Team”…..Karl Rominger. Finally, someone who can help us to understand why this is just an innocent misunderstanding….Mr. Rominger, you have the floor sir: “Some of these kids don’t have basic hygiene skills,” attorney Karl Rominger said. “Teaching a person to shower at the age of 12 or 14 sounds strange to some people, but people who work with troubled youth will tell you there are a lot of juvenile delinquents and people who are dependent who have to be taught basic life skills like how to put soap on their body.” What is it that people say today…OMFG…..what is the color of the sky in your world Mr. Rominger? You see, Mr. Rominger, we here on Planet Earth tend to take a dim view of the assault of children –  even “juvenile delnquents”. Here’s a newsflash Skippy, you are spending way too much of your time trying to explain away an inexplicable fact pattern and the stupidity of your client speaking out….the whole wide world finds it “strange” that Sandusky would be showing 12-14 year old kids how to apply soap to their bodies by getting into a shower with them…..you guys are not even trying here….not even close. But Rominger did make one comment that is partially correct: “The problem is if you’re an innocent person who’s not articulate, you’re not going to come across well, but you’re still innocent,” Rominger said “A guilty person who is very articulate might come across innocent. So it’s not a fair fight.” You are right, it is not a fair fight. Perhaps if you and co-counsel would shut the hell up and muzzle up the creepy looking old guy with novel views of man/boy relationships it would be a fairer fight….now shut up and figure out how you can explain why your client had a naked kid pinned up against a shower wall….in other words boys, defend your client.