Extraordinary Rendition, In Greed We Trust, Lost American Dreams

EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION_ I include this term because it is picturesque and because it underscores an important lesson in communications.

At first glance, "extraordinary rendition" sounds like a category for a Grammy Award. Without reading The Wall Street Journal, who would guess that it means the U.S. government sending a person to a foreign prison, where he can be electrocuted, castrated, roasted, and eviscerated, without violating the law or incurring blame to the U.S.?

The term itself has a delightful lilt to it, and it demonstrates the important strategy of befuddlement. Whenever you need to befuddle investors or the public, particularly after they have learned something about your company that they didn't like, trot out your wordsmiths. If they are any good, they will be able to fog the brightest day or brighten the darkest night with a couple of well chosen words, like "extraordinary rendition." As long as the words sound picturesque and delightful, and they thereby create an extraordinary rendition of something you'd rather not render to the public, you will accomplish befuddlement and keep the villagers content.