"They called it 'the matrix,' " writes Washington Post reporter Joe Stevens, "a computer program that brought a scientific dimension to Enron's effort to seduce politicians and sway bureaucrats. With each proposed change in federal regulations, lobbyists punched details into a computer, allowing Enron economists in Houston to calculate just how much a rule change would cost.

In response to reports of illegal shredding of documents related to the Enron collapse, the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) (yes, it's a real organization) has issued a news release which says that "the overwhelming majority of document destruction that takes place on a daily basis is done so quite appropriately and for the cause of good." NAID, whose member companies are in the business of document destruction, characterizes the behavior of employees at Enron and Arthur Andersen as "unfortunate," but says that

"The Citizens for Liberty in Cuba is using Washington, D.C.-based Griesinger Assocs. to 'promote policies to aid in bringing democracy' to the island," reports O'Dwyer's PR Online.