iKarma

Allerca / LifestylePets Scam?

When I first heard about an allergy free cat several years ago I rushed to send in my deposit and get on the waiting list.  I'm allergic to cats but I'm married to a cat lover.  Now it appears I may be lucky to get my money back.
Allerca, the company behind Allerca.com and lifestylePets.com appears to be a scam.  While this company has been featured in Time Magazine, CBS Morning News and The Rachael Ray Show, it appears that reporters for these organizations may have been duped.  Anyone thinking about buying an allergy free cat, or putting a deposit on one of their new Ashera cross breeds would be well advised to first read the following reports by the diligent reporters at TheScientist Magazine and the San Diego Union Tribune.  Here are the links:

http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/39383/
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53265/
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20061028-9999-1b28brodie.html
Additional links can be found on the Allerca Wiki at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allerca

Keywords: allerca, lifestyle pets, allergy free, allergy, allergies, simon brodie, fel d1, fel-d1,Hypoallergenic cats, ashera, allerca.com, lifestylepets.com

The High Tax of Low Trust

Steven M. R. Covey, (son of the more famous father by the same name) has a new book on the way titled "The High Tax of Low Trust".

Ethical Corporation Magazine has just published a nice little preview of this new book which is available here in PDF format.  I've often said, "trust and reputation don't appear as line items on any corporate balance sheet, but they should be".  This book preview is a great intro into the many ways trust has real measurable effect on every business bottom line.