Got unemployment insurance? You may want to load your monthly payments onto a Reliacard Visa, a prepaid, reloadable US Bank card through which the Department of Labor distributes insurance funds. Huliq has the details: The Reliacard functions as a debit card and can be used anywhere that Visa is accepted. Consumers receive their funds directly […]
From Ananova: An inmate escaped from jail in Germany by posting himself out of prison in a giant FedEx box of dirty laundry. Drug dealer Hans Lang, 42, hid in the laundry room after other inmates had finished work there and bundled himself up in dirty bed sheets in the large box. The package was […]
The Financial Times reports on the US stock market’s dismal performance today: US stocks were on course on Tuesday for their worst inauguration day performance since the assassination of John F Kennedy, led by more heavy losses among banks. Financial stocks that endured epic falls last week lost further ground in the wake of bleak […]
Here’s the full text of Obama’s inaugural address, as posted on the Washington Post: My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as […]
Here are 25 excellent Barack Obama quotes, in celebration of our 44th President taking office today: 1. A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, “Huh. It works. It makes sense.” 2. That’s silly talk… Talk to my […]
Despite all the bad news of 2008, it’s hard to be pessimistic at the start of a new year. The calendar is white and fresh, the projects not too far behind. And with all the upheaval in the world today, maybe change really means opportunity. There are all kinds of businesses that are in dire […]
A first grade girl handed in the drawing below for a homework assignment. After it was graded and the child brought it home, she returned to school the next day with the following note: Dear Ms. Davis, I want to be very clear on my child’s illustration. It is NOT of me on a dance […]
Congress is considering a new program called Cash for Clunkers. NPR reports what the program is all about: The government has given billions of dollars to automakers who need to sell more cars. Now, Congress may soon offer motorists money to buy new vehicles. The idea behind the proposed program, called “Cash for Clunkers,” is […]
It is said that up to 50% of businesses fail within five years of inception. Most of these business start and end in obscurity. A few of them, however, start up with the verve of a cannonball, only to crash with equal fanfare. Some of the companies listed below, like Enron and DeLorean, exemplify this […]
A recent Chicago Journal of Consumer Research study found that businesses can make consumers feel more special by creating multi-tiered loyalty programs, which pander to a sense of status: Many businesses create loyalty programs to confer a sense of status to their customers. Examples are platinum, gold, and silver charge cards, or red and blue […]
Major telephone equipment manufacturer Nortel Networks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. P2PNet News has a good summary of the details: “The move came a day before the Canadian telecommunications company was due to make a $107-million interest payment on its debt.” Nortel has lost almost $7 billion since CEO Mike Zafirovski took over […]
The new Wells Fargo Prime Rate Credit Card offers a panacea to shady interest rate hikes, a former specialty of the credit card industry. The premise of the card is that its rates never go higher than the Prime Rate, a rate used and referenced by banks. Today’s WSJ prime rate is an indulgent 3.25%. […]
