Not quite in a holiday mood? Check out the current week's list (courtesy of the National Journal) of festive holiday gatherings replete with cocktails and appetizers put on by organizations with political agendas for legislators and other Washington influencers.
There are homeowners' policies and there are homeowners' policies...meaning you need to be or should consult an expert before you purchase one. According to this Wall Street Journal article, there are multiple ways insurance companies avoid paying claims for hazards you could not have anticipated.
Corporate corruption is alive and well in Japan. Olympus management, according to a report filed by the Financial Times Tokyo staff, has been accused of hiding losses over a period of twenty years. The accounting firms auditing the firm are appropriately called out by readers (see post comments). "Selling"failing assets to shell companies offshore followed by financial risk-taking in an anxiety-driven rush to recoup losses in an effort to avoid being discovered was their undoing. One individual, a banker caught up in the inquiries is reported by Bloomberg to be comfortably ensconced in the Cayman Islands.
One of Chicago's most vocal former politicians (and former Illinois Governor) has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption. Meanwhile, in Maryland, a former county executive marched off to jail for accepting bribes. If the threat of prison, with its total loss of liberty does not deter elected individuals who have sworn to uphold the law, from choosing greed over their public promise, what will? Honesty is the real rare earth element--the most illusive of all commodities.
When a Baby Boomer baggage handler in Reno tried to do the right thing and prevent a visibly unhealthy dog from being loaded onto a flight, she wound up without a job. Apparently, stepping up to protect an animal in distress is wrong, acting with compassion brought her aggravation, she got upset when her warnings were ignored. Fortunately, the AP reported this story and Yahoo.com posted it.
A bizarre sports story reported on Yahoo!.com sports grabbed my attention because it reminds us why good people hesitate to call out others for bad behavior. Losing your job or getting punched in the nose are real deterrents. Over time, trepidation has permitted the gradual degradation of civil behavior at youth sports events, public events, etc. Tolerance for tasteless and hurtful behavior seems to have hit a high-water mark. Idea: Baby Boomers can turn this around. Disrupt bad behavior by applauding kindness and politeness in everyday life. Why should we waste our dollars in support of negative influences or help glorify inappropriate role models?
Collecting debts owed on subprime mortgages is a challenging business. However, this Wall Street Journal story opens questions: Is it ethical for professional psychologists (licensed health care providers) to sell professional insights to collection companies where that knowledge will certainly raise the stress level of a financially insecure individual burdened by debt?
Perhaps we will use our leisure hours to feed the homeless, visit the elderly and comfort victims of crime, as well as volunteer with abandoned and abused former pets. Compassion isn't universal, let's hope we offer positive role models for younger people.
Bloomberg reports that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is in tax court trying to collect taxes from U.S. corporations whose overseas profits have been kept out of reach in overseas tax havens. Another reason tax reform makes sense.
Meanwhile, across the pond...Questions have been raised about unusual favoritism connected to tax deal conferred on certain companies by the British Tax Office on London. It appears that thousands of special tax deals were hatched over lunches. See the New York Times link for details.
Reuters has posted an in-depth story about Medicare fraud that unmasks the way shell companies have been used to perpetrate fake claims. Clinics that never existed are reported to have stolen millions in Medicare payments.
It looks like American nursing home companies have focused on a new, expanding market in China. A Bloomberg article describes how affluent young adults, busy with their careers (and often the only child of elderly parents) are willing to pay high fees for caregiving services that easily surpass the low quality in unregulated, government run facilities.
