What Are the Financial Obligations of Airlines For Lost Baggage? It’s been awhile since I picked on the airlines but I can no longer resist. I just returned from a cruise to the southern Caribbean islands during spring break. The boat docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico where I was... Read more →
IBM Violates the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The bribery of foreign government officials by US companies is alive and well and the latest culprit to get caught is IBM. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal on March 19 by Jessica Holzer and Shayndi Raice (see: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704608504576208634150691292.html), U.S.... Read more →
Lobbyist Edwina Rogers Uses Real Money to Wrap Gifts Just when I was starting to feel sorry for the rich what with the depressed housing prices in California and possibility that income tax rates will rise under President Obama, I read that in a recent survey more than 40 percent... Read more →
US Ranked 28th of 34 Countries in Fiscal Responsibility Is there really any shame in being ranked behind Italy, Slovenia, Brazil or Estonia in The Comeback America Initiative’s ranking of fiscal responsibility? The Initiative is a deficit watchdog group funded by billionaire Pete Peterson. It released its Sovereign Fiscal Responsibility... Read more →
Facebook Facilitates Prostitution Hookups Should we care that Facebook is becoming the number one destination for prostitution services now that Craig's List no longer allows adult ads in the U.S.? After all, its mission is to "make the world a more open place by helping people connect and share." The... Read more →
Our Nation Fails to Protect the Most Vulnerable Among Us The numbers are staggering. According to a report by the National Center on Family Homelessness (NCFH) (http://www.familyhomelessness.org/children.php?p=ts) families now make up more than 44 percent of the homeless population, 40% of which (1.5 million) are homeless children. The statistics are... Read more →
Play Ball! It's hard to believe the 2011 major league baseball season starts on March 31. There are games in Cincinnati, DC, L.A., NY and St. Louis. There's a good chance there will be snow in at least one locale. The reason for the early start is to avoid playing... Read more →
Greedy NFL Owners and Players The poor NFL owners and players can’t agree on how to divide $9 billion a year. Last Friday, the owners and players broke off labor negotiations hours before their contract expired. The union was decertified and the league imposed a lockout signaling the NFL's first... Read more →
The Airplane Flight Experience Can Be Quite Traumatic A scene from the movie "Airplane." I recently flew from L.A. to Houston via Dallas. I originally made a mistake and booked my trip to Austin, not Houston (It's a long story). My friends at American charged me $75 each way to... Read more →
Ben Stein Teaching a Boring Economics Class in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" Teachers have heard it before -- we're boring in the classroom! I've blogged before about the lack of a work ethic on the part of students today. Now I look at whether we as teachers are at least... Read more →