Início
Categorias
Comentário

Comentário

Fathers' Day: An Older Dad of Babies Weighs In

June 15, 2012 - This is my second Father’s Day as the daddy of Sophia and Allegra, my 17-month-old fraternal twin girls. I never thought I’d meet the right woman but—wow!—I did and thus, well into my fifth decade, we decided to become parents. The day the girls were born was the most wonderful and memorable of my life.Evolution programmed us with a sex drive that keeps the species going. But contraception now makes parenthood a choice. Evolution also has programmed int

Jun 22, 2012
|
Edward Hudgins
Johnson & Johnson to Pay $1.5B+ for Marketing Drug

Johnson & Johnson -- the company that helped you shampoo with "no more tears," fight acne , and heal pretty much every wound that didn't require stiches -- is close to a settlement with the federal government. It's going to pay a fine of more than $1.5 billion, sources say. For, essentially, speaking. The case comes out of J&J's prescription drug business. The Wall Street Journal explains :Under federal law, drug makers can market medicines only for uses approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though doctors can prescribe drugs for unapproved, or off-label, uses. The largest illegal-drug-marketing settlement to date was in 2009, when Pfizer Inc. agreed to pay $2.3 billion to resolve an investigation into the promotion of now-withdrawn painkiller Bextra and other drugs.

Jun 21, 2012
|
Tiny Business, Huge Fine

"You may ... settle this matter by paying $90,643. "What matter? Selling rabbits without a license. There was no accusation of animal cruelty, let alone danger to humans.

Jun 18, 2012
|
Search Site Settles Credit Reporting Charges

Spokeo, a six-year-old online business designed to help people find each other, is paying $800,000 to settle a case with the Federal Trade Commission. From the FTC's statement : Spokeo, Inc., a data broker that compiles and sells detailed information profiles on millions of consumers, will pay $800,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it marketed the profiles to companies in the human resources, background screening, and recruiting industries without taking steps to protect consumers required under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. This is the first Commission case to address the sale of Internet and social media data in the employment screening context.The FTC alleged that Spokeo operated as a consumer reporting agency and violated the FCRA by failing to make sure that the information it sold would be used only for

Jun 15, 2012
|
Gupta Convicted

The federal government has succeeded in getting Rajat Gupta, under whose leadership McKinsey and Co. nearly tripled its revenues , convicted of "securities fraud" for acts that, even if he committed them, are not fraud . The verdict was guilty on three counts of "securities fraud" and one of conspiracy, not guilty on two counts of "securities fraud."

Jun 15, 2012
|
Gupta Prosecution, Defense Offer Closing Arguments

Summarizing their cases before the question of Rajat Gupta's guilt or innocence goes to a jury, the former Goldman Sachs director's lawyer argued that the federal government had nothing but indirect evidence , but the prosecution argued that when it was added up, it was overwhelming evidence against Gupta.

Jun 14, 2012
|
Attacking Google... and Antitrust Law

In the Wall Street Journal, a Google competitor complained that the company isn't doing enough to help him compete with it . European authorities, as I previously noted, seem supportive of the notion that Google is obligated to help its own competitors.

Jun 12, 2012
|
Web content categories being implemented

We're well into our project to sort all of our web content according to select topic categories. This is part of a larger goal to make content easy to find and to provide users with multiple ways to browse content.

Jun 11, 2012
|
Gupta Lawyer: He Won't Testify After All

Going into the weekend, the expectation was that Rajat Gupta would testify in his own defense in his insider-trading case. But yesterday, "after substantial reflection and consideration," his lawyer said he would not.

Jun 11, 2012
|
AT&T CEO: Make Them Sell Us Their Spectrum!

Supporting capitalism doesn't always mean doing what big businesses want, because sometimes what big businesses want is to use government to trample other people's rights. Take the following suggestion from AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, in his op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal : Require spectrum holders to put the airwaves to work. Many spectrum holders are speculators seeking an investment gain, with no intent to build a mobile network. We should discourage speculation and do more to ensure that spectrum goes to companies with the experience and means to put it to work. If a buyer hasn't used the spectrum within a reasonable time period—which could vary depending on the spectrum's technical properties or use restrictions—they would either have to put it up for sale, lease it or find a partner who can build it out.

Jun 11, 2012
|
Gupta Prosecution Rests

The federal government today rested its case against Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs director it has accused of leaking confidential information to convicted insider trader Raj Rajaratnam.

Jun 9, 2012
|
Google to Warn Against State Hacking

It's always good to see business fight back against government meddling .Google, which made headlines in 2010 for standing up to Chinese censorship , yesterday announced that it would warn users whose accounts appear to be targeted by state-sponsored hacking .

8 de Junho de 2012
|
Defending the Right to a Large Coke

When it comes to defending your rights, you can’t beat the real thing. Objecting to a ham-handed regulation may save you from it in the short term . But in the long run, the security of your rights depends on the acceptance of rights as moral principles—not just the rejection of a particular rule. The Coca-Cola Co. therefore deserves some credit for a principled response to New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s efforts to restrict soda sizes . It tweeted : Unlike @MikeBloomberg, @CocaColaCo thinks #NewYorkers can make their own choices about what they drink. #NYC deserves better.

Jun 7, 2012
|
DOJ Suspends Prosecutors for Failure to Disclose

The Department of Justice is known for seeking harsh punishments against businessmen, but what does it do when it comes time to punish one of its own for recklessly exposing another person to disaster? Does it emulate that fictional icon of devotion to legal justice who said: I have often been severe in the course of my life towards others. That is just. I have done well. Now, if I were not severe towards myself, all the justice that I have done would become injustice. Ought I to spare myself more than others? No! What! I should be good for nothing but to chastise others, and not myself! Why, I should be a blackguard! Those who say, `That blackguard of a Javert!' would be in the right. . . . I must treat myself as I would treat any other man. (Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, I.vi.1)

Jun 1, 2012
|
Bureaucrats Shut Down Chinatown Buses

Have you heard of the Chinatown buses? Have you heard of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration? Well, while the former were transporting willing passengers up and down the east coast at low prices, the latter was conducting an investigation -- and now the FMCSA has ordered twenty-six bus companies and ten individuals to get out of the business , Bloomberg reports.

May 31, 2012
|
NYC Hair Businesses Fined for Sex Discrimination

Businesses commonly charge women more than men to get their hair cut, and men more than women to get their backs waxed. "It's like day and night," says one hair spa manager. "It takes longer for men. It's more labor, more product." According to New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs, this is gender-pricing discrimination , and it must be stopped. Last year, the department alleged 580 such violations of what Commissioner Jonathan Mintz called "a very basic civil rights law." Almost none, Mintz says, came out of consumer complaints; the department has been conducting sweeps. Mintz acknowledges "there are completely legitimate reasons to charge different prices for different services," but these must be specified. "Reasons are not chromosomes." Perhaps he envisions that people getting their backs waxed will first have their back hairs counted, so that they can be charged on that basis.

May 31, 2012
|
Feds Milk Creamery Over Cash Deposits

A small creamery went to farmers' markets and sold its products for cash. It then deposited the cash in a bank -- nearly $10,000 per deposit.

May 31, 2012
|
Pelosi Criticizes Businesses, Not Senators, Over Women's Pay

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who touts as one of her "key" achievements as House speaker a bill to help women sue for pay discrimination and thereby force their employers to pay them more than they had agreed, held a press conference yesterday in which she complained that women are paid less than men in the private sector.

May 31, 2012
|
Gupta Trial Update

As the second week of Rajat Gupta's insider-trading trial began, Judge Jed S. Rakoff asked both sides to "sharpen the presentation." "I am in awe of our jury for being attentive " to proceedings that have consisted largely of asking witnesses to review documents, he said.

30 de Maio de 2012
|
Website "contruction work" underway

May 30, 2012 -- Website development work is currently underway on our site and this may result in some features, such as the Election 2012 tab, being temporarily unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience.

30 de Maio de 2012
|

Promovemos o Objectivismo aberto: a filosofia da razão, da realização, do individualismo, e da liberdade.