Wislawa Szymborska

When the piranha strikes, it feels no shame.
If snakes had hands, they'd claim their hands were clean...

On this third planet of the sun
among the signs of savagery
a clear conscience is Number One.

-- Wislawa Szymborska

Barry Deutsch's Cartoons

Barry Deutsch has some very funny comics HERE. Be sure to check out the one about the different types of libertarians. I wonder which one I am...

Jack Paar on Flattery

"No matter what other nations may say about the United States, immigration is still the sincerest form of flattery." -- Jack Paar

VeriFone Annual Shareholder Meeting (2010)

VeriFone (PAY) held its 2010 annual shareholder meeting at company headquarters in San Jose, California. CEO Douglas Bergeron handled most of the meeting, but Senior VP and General Counsel Albert Liu also played a significant role.

The person manning the front desk offered only coffee to visiting shareholders, but we later found a small treasure trove of pastries, Egg-McMuffin-type sandwiches, and Odwalla juices on our own. (Note to VeriFone: if you're going to have food and drinks, have some class and offer some to non-employee shareholders--don't hide the goodies in the back. Also, the coffee was terrible. Sigh.)

I estimated that fourteen people attended the meeting, including just three non-employee shareholders. Prior to the meeting, one of the attendees mentioned that he recently traveled to Cleveland, Ohio and was very impressed with the city. Members of the Board of Directors praised Cleveland, calling it a hidden gem. (Personally, I believe LeBron James will stay in Cleveland, Ohio. If you read the book, Shooting Stars, it's hard to see LeBron James turning his back on Ohio.)

VeriFone didn't have an informal presentation, so we went directly to the Q&A session after the business portion of the meeting concluded. Some shareholders asked a few questions. One shareholder asked about payments/purchases via cell phone. CEO Bergeron responded that the security of cell-phone-payment transactions was currently "questionable." At the same time, VeriFone was working on a way of encrypting personal/financial data before it reaches the cell phone, making the transaction more secure.

I asked why international sales of System Solutions had lower gross margins than North American sales (see 10K, page 27). CEO Bergeron indicated that homogeneity leads to a premium. After the meeting, I asked him to clarify his answer, and he indicated that if you're trying to sell someone 10,000 machines for the first time, obviously the price will be lower versus a situation where you've already sold a company 100,000 machines. Why? I surmised that the more machines VeriFone sells to a particular company, the more the company benefits from scale. Thus, once a company allows VeriFone to set its payment standard, disengagement might be difficult, which gives VeriFone more pricing power.

All of the people attending the meeting were male, and, with the exception of one employee (Mr. Liu), all of the Verifone employees appeared to be at least 50 years old. I asked the CEO about his thoughts on diversity. He responded that VeriFone was open to diversity and recruits the "best and the brightest," which, in this case, happens to be "middle-aged, white" males.

Overall, VeriFone's meeting was short and simple.

Disclosure: I own an insignificant number of VeriFone (PAY) shares.

Homeland Security Coming to a Screen Near You?

The Department of Homeland Security is now pursuing people who download illegal movies. Why? Because they consider illegal downloads part of the war on terror. Yes, they are being serious. Civil-liberties-be-damned and mission-creep serious. More HERE.

“The reason the Department of Homeland Security is protecting Shrek is because we are all about protecting the homeland. We’re all about protecting American interests,” says John Morton, assistant secretary of DHS...“If you don’t think undermining Hollywood’s ability to produce a “Shrek,” undermining the creativity that goes into creating a “Shrek,” undermines the United States,” Morton says, “you are sadly mistaken.”

Who the heck pays these people? Oh, wait, we do. Sigh.

E.B. White and Independence

E.B. White: "I think the Court again heard clearly the simple theme that ennobles our Constitution: that no one shall be made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe because of nonconformity."

Happy 4th of July.

Mario's Story: My Highest Recommendation

Mario's Story (2007): "[E]ventually good triumphs, but before it triumphs, a lot of people have to suffer."

I highly recommend Mario's Story, about Mario Rocha, a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for murder.