Re: Ethics, morality and the industry

[Mike Smith <jmikesmith () yahoo com>]

For what it's worth, I've just returned to the office from the CSI conference. 
I listened to Mr. Abagnale's speech.

For the first 30 mintues, he spoke about his exploits/crimes/adventures as a
teenager (by coincidence, HBO aired "Catch Me If You Can" that night; it was
interesting to see the differences in the two stories).  The telling was well
rehearsed, and occasionally amusing for its phrasing and timing of delivery. 
Mr. Abagnale is an accomplished public speaker.  My opinion is that he did not
glamorize his deeds or pat himself on the back for his cleverness, although he
did say once or twice that he was the first person to commit some acts in some
ways.

He then spoke for about ten or fifteen minutes on, essentially, what he'd
learned from his time as a criminal.  He cited his parents' divorce as a causal
factor in his running away and resorting to crime to survive.  He spoke quite
movingly of how much he missed his father, who died while Mr. Abagnale was in
French prison, and whom he had not seen since he ran away (contrary to what the
movie depicts).  He commented that the main thing that had enabled him to stay
on the good side these past 25 or 30 years was the love of his wife (whom he
met while on an undercover operation for the FBI).  He expressed strong views
about the good influence of a loving, two-parent family.  He exhorted the men
in the audience to love their wives and their children, because, in the end,
that's all that really matters.

The speech really had nothing to do with security or crime or reformation.  I
overheard people afterward saying how moved they were by his presentation. 
Some people I spoke to were aware of the pre-show controversy about Mr.
Abagnale's appearance, and most seemed to agree that the protesters and
boycotters had missed something valuable.

=====
Mike Smith

"Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe."
                        H.G. Wells - The Outline of History

______________________________________________________________________ 
Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca
_______________________________________________
firewall-wizards mailing list
firewall-wizards () honor icsalabs com
http://honor.icsalabs.com/mailman/listinfo/firewall-wizards