BusinessWeek has an article from Spiegel Online with an interesting case study of government intervention. Up to 15% of asparagus may be left to rot in the fields because Germany has restricted the flow of workers from Poland and Romania.
“We are missing up to a third of our seasonal laborers,” Dietrich Paul, president of the [...]
Bloomberg reports that EU countries are starting to compete for businesses by lowering corporate taxes:
Supporters of lower corporate taxes point to the success of Ireland, whose 12.5 percent rate, the lowest in the developed world, is down from 47 percent in 1988. That proved a magnet for such U.S.-based technology companies as Microsoft, Intel and [...]
An interesting crack in civil rights law has been formed in Australia. Reuters reports (link dead) that a tribunal has given the owner of a gay bar the right to ban straights.
Australia’s equal opportunity laws prevent people being discriminated against based on race, religion or sexuality.
But Peel Hotel owner Tom McFeely said the ruling [...]
It’s times like these where I’m not the most enthusiastic about state holidays. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, I’m teaching a class that nobody wants to attend but for force of keeping their job. The janitors have taken the weekend and today off, so the trash has piled up and the bathrooms need cleaning. Two-thirds of [...]
One of the most profound theological insights I have ever heard, I heard at Memorial in Houston more than a year ago. I had seen an African pastor employed by the Texas District frequently on the campus, and I feel terrible that I cannot remember his name.
On one of the few Sundays where I was [...]
Is this hurricane over yet?
The New York Times reports that in order to receive funds, state and local governments previously had to pay 10% of the cost of repairing their roads and schools. A provision in the Iraq supplemental bill now lifts that requirement.
Under a law enacted by Congress in 1988, the Federal Emergency Management [...]
I took this last vestige of sunlight from my hotel room. The shot was taken about 8:14 local time. You can zoom all the way up to 1024×768.
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of those books that made me think, “Wow, I never knew.” It is the autobiography of a Somali girl who grew up in tribal war and left her family and her religion to become a Dutch citizen and legislator. Infidel is a story of triumph and a warning [...]
