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To: ArtieM who wrote (155)	1/2/1998 3:45:00 PM
From: Dale Baker	Respond to of 7701

Bribery overseas by U.S. firms is illegal under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It gets your butt thrown in jail if you're caught. In many other countries, such as Germany, bribes are indeed tax deductible. Groups like the OECD and World Bank are moving to have bribery outlawed for firms in all countries. I'm not saying it doesn't happen; just much riskier for U.S. businessmen, especially those in public companies.

To: ArtieM who wrote (155)	1/2/1998 7:04:00 PM
From: george eberting	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7701

Artie: I understand your misgivings about some of the questions I raised. Perhaps they cannot be answered for any one of several reasons. But I still feel they are questions any prudent investor should ask. And, if they cannot be answered for the reasons you raised, then, as a prospective investor, I would have to pass on buying stock in the company. New companies have so many hurdles to cross, and there is so much that is unknown about how well their plan will ultimately pan out, that one really has to dig in order to learn what needs to be learned. I've jumped into companies before which had a tremendous story to tell, but usually they simply didn't quite work out. One other thought (question) I had this morning had to do with cash flow (as opposed to profit). Let's suppose that NorAd buys 2,000 machines from Sharp Image at $5,000 each - a total of $10,000,000. In order to pay for the machines the company is going to have to use after tax dollars. I realize there are some losses to carry forward, and depreciation will be allowed on the machines, but I don't have enough information to know if the cash flow will be enough to pay taxes AND for the machines. Anyway, I'm still doing my DD. George