"If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one." - Cavett Robert

I read an article on CNN.com saying studies show that doing two things will improve memory significantly. One of them was physical activity. The other one....uhm....

Raising chickens provides a steady stream of entertainment, especially when they're let out each morning to roam as they will during the day. What goes through their chicken-sized brains when all seven of them, Lucky in the lead, suddently decide to run from one spot on the property to another spot 200' away? Does Lucky really prefer redheads, or is it just that the two Rhode Island Red hen have the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? (I say misfortune because it almost always involves a chase.)

I used our Chromecast to show Pam a really nice '61 Buick Special on eBay while we were eating lunch, the photos appearing on our TV. About four pics in I looked over to see her sound asleep. 

Sigh.

Because it was a hometown-based business, and because one of the guys at Pathway was fairly high up the chain of administrators, I've followed with interest the fortunes of The University of Phoenix (parent company, Apollo Education Group, APOL on the NYSE). Today I read that a private equities firm, Vistria Group, is making a bid to buy Apollo and the Univ. of Phoenix and turn it from a publicly held company to a private firm. Why would anyone want to own that business at a time when for-profit colleges and universities are getting slammed by the feds, with multiple agencies carrying on investigations and many of the businesses formally accused of fraud?

The answer may have to do with the key players in that private equities firm, players who are actively working in D.C. to get the required federal approval for the sale. One of them, Vistria's CEO Marty Nesbitt, is considered President Obama's closest friend since their early days in Chicago, and is a frequent golfing partner. Another, Tony Miller, COO of Vistria Group, used to be the Deputy Secretary of the Dept. of Education and was one of the officials who spearheaded the crackdown on for-profit universities. It is that same Dept. of Education that has to approve the sale. Miller and others from that firm have been meeting with Congressional staff members lobbying for approval of the sale. At least two other Vistria partners are former administration employees.

The share price for Apollo stood at $86.54 before the feds began pressuring for-profit universities and closed today at $9.02. In other words, former government officials responsible in large part for the financial troubles of the Univ. of Phoenix are now looking to profit from the drastic drop in their value by purchasing the largest for-profit school in the country at a deeply discounted price. And one of those former officials is actively lobbying to get the agency he used to work for to approve the sale. 

OK, so what? 

Two things about this bother me. The first is that while ours may be more sophisticated than the govt. officials in developing countries our system looks to be just as corrupt. If there's money to be made, those with power and influence will find a way to work the system to make it. In a year of unprecedented partisanship neither side can claim the moral high ground. Scratch just a little bit below the surface and you'll find fishy.

The second, bigger thing that bugs me about this is what it might mean for Chris at Pathway. The big people will make their money; they always do. But the guys who go to work very day, doing their beset for their employer and their family, get run over in the process. I hope Chris won't be affected by this deal when it goes through, but too often transactions at this scale are about a private equities firm turning a quick profit without regard for the people and communities involved. 

As a corollary, the bigger the business the greater the likelihood that funny business will be involved. (The same is true of govt. agencies.) Privately owned local businesses are rarely involved in big dollar schemes. So once again, keep it simple, keep it small.