In a stunning display of self absorption, executives at financial giant AIG spent $440,000 on a posh California retreat just days after accepting an $85 billion bailout loan from the federal government.
While the extravagant retreat did not include employees from the troubled financial services division, how on earth could these men and women partake [...]

For years, publishing houses that put out “conservative non-fiction” have used a very tried and true method for pumping up the popularity of their authors’ screeds. They sell a bunch of their books in bulk at cut rate prices to book clubs so titles will show up on The New York Times best seller list. [...]

More twisted logic from the administration that keeps me in stitches nearly every single day.
From IHT:
WASHINGTON: The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.
The Agriculture Department tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans [...]

I’ve never been a Don Imus devotee. In fact, I can’t recall the last time I listened to any portion of his show. I’ve never met the man and I know next to nothing about his character or his motivations other than what I’ve garnered during this rancor over his racially charged remarks.
So what [...]

It’s not as simple as that, but the math is pretty stark. GlaxoSmithKline, which spent decades and more than $400 million developing a meningitis vaccine, expects to sell it only in Africa, and at a price that will never cover the cost of development.
As the story notes, this is not an entirely selfless act. Some [...]

You can read my take on Walmart, class and the Democrats over at NeoMugwump.

Many of our commenters on this post (at AmbivaBlog) took issue with the spirited defense of New Deal-rooted American social democracy expressed by Jack Whelan at After the Future. In my opinion Jack is hands down one of the best thinkers and writers on the Web; I’m particularly blown away by his “post-secular” take [...]

“We’re shocked. This is not the outcome we expected.”
So said Ken Lay after his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges relating to the collapse of Enron. Shocked? Really?
My theory is that he really doesn’t believe he did anything wrong because he never intended anyone to get hurt.
If someone breaks into my house and takes everything [...]

Well here’s an interesting development. Wired Magazine has published the full text of some of the documents that Mark Klein has provided against AT&T. The court had placed a gag order on the Electronic Frontier Foundation to prevent the information from being released to the public, ostensibly because it contained proprietary technical information, [...]

Prometheus: The Science Policy Weblog is an excellent site.
Here they delve into the Peak Oil question. According to their sniffers, the peak moment is coming, and soon, and that’s the consensus of people in the oil biz.
But, since this is a policy-based site, they’re interested in how Big Oil will “frame the issue to [...]

Conservative writer Rod Dreher is starting to get noticed for his new book entitled Crunchy Cons. The book focuses on traditional Republican types who are interested in environmental conservation, supporters of smart growth ideals and wary of if not openly hostile towards multi-national corporations. The group is also quite family-centric and traditionally religious.
In many ways, [...]

Still in denial. Rather sad.

[I wrote this a while ago, but never posted it. It didn't really seem relevant to anything people were talking about here -- why there isn't even a "George W. Bush" in it! But perhaps now it's as relevant as it ever will be.]
When my son and I were in Paris in 2003, we took [...]

One more reason to give the Walmart cheer?
Surprising news, especially given skyrocketing health care costs, the number of companies recently announcing cuts to their health plans, and Wal-Mart’s less than stellar reputation to date in the area of employee benefits.
Wal-Mart, which has long been criticized for the benefits it offers to its workers, [...]

What if there was a small pox outbreak in London?
LONDON�Over the past 24 hours, seven people have checked into hospitals here with telltale symptoms. Rashes, vomiting, high temperature, and cramps: the classic signs of smallpox. Once thought wiped out, the disease is back and threatening a pandemic of epic proportions.
The government faces a dilemma: It [...]

We lived down South for a few years in an area periodically hit by hurricanes. We purchased a house there. Like anyone, we were required by the bank to get homeowners insurance to cover the mortgage in case something happened. However, our property was not considered to be in a flood area, [...]

Never thought I’d write those words.
Wal-Mart is intimately associated with the fall of New Orleans as a community. Scenes of the looting of a Wal-Mart in the Lower Garden District were among the first images the outside world saw of the breakdown of civil order in the stricken city. Later came the story of Wal-Marts [...]

Winston Smith at Philosoraptor points to this interesting article about a study to appear in the Journal of Advertising, on advertising to skeptics. Winston Smith remains skeptical about the findings.
Skeptics are not, however, immune from the influence of advertising. The researchers said that this finding may appear counter-intuitive, as many consumers are inclined to [...]

Here’s one from the other day. It seems Diebold has hired former Democratic National Committee chairman Joe Andrew to promote their touchscreen voting machines across the country. Diebold sees California as a crucial market:
His first stop: California, the nation’s largest market for voting machines and the place where Diebold’s [...]

Labor groups will try.
Labor leaders from around the world will meet in Chicago next week to draft a plan to organize Wal-Mart Stores Inc. workers in certain countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Germany and the United Kingdom, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Reuters: Labor group to organize Wal-Mart workers
The US isn’t on that list, but [...]