Ethic Soup

Good News: Secret Santas Pay for Strangers' Layaway Bills

THE SPIRIT of Christmas can be seen in the smiles of children and this holiday is made more happy for a number of children -- and adults. Growing numbers of Secret Santas are popping up at layaway counters in stores across the country.  

They are paying the layaway bills for strangers who haven't enough money to pay for and pick up the presents that the stores are holding for them. And many are doing so anonymously.

The first incident reported in the media happened in Plainfield Township, Michigan, two weeks ago. At a Big Kmart, a 30-something woman walked up to the layaway desk, pushing a shopping cart full of toys she was going to donate, reported Money MSN.

DONOR INSISTED ON ANANIMITY

The shopper asked if she could pay a few customers' layaway contracts, only asking that the orders include toys and that she could remain anonymous. She randomly selected three and ended up paying about $500 -- all but $10 on each ticket.

Birmingham Alabama's County to File $4.1 Billion Bankruptcy: Largest Municipal Bankruptcy in Nation's History

 

                                          

For years now, we've had our fingers crossed for the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County -- 'Bama's most populous area.

CORRUPT MAYOR

We hoped that once Larry Langford, Birmingham's former mayor(pictured below, climbing out of a sewer), was convicted and put away in federal prison for 15 years, the county and city could begin to recover.

After sinking into crippling debt from an upgrade of its sewer system, Jefferson Co. has been been struggling to avoid bankruptcy since 2008; however, recent discussions on a debt restructure broke down. Another element in the decision to file bankruptcy seems to have been the Alabama Legislature's inability to reach a consensus on any way to help the county resolve its financial problems.

 

$4.1 BILLION BANKRUPTCY FILING

Sadly, yesterday, Jefferson Co. declared that it would default and seek Chapter 9 protection from creditors in a $4.1 billion filing.  This is the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

The biggest loss in the filing will be faced by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the investment bank which arranged most of the financing to revamp the county's sewer system.

POLLUTED WATER/SEWER RENOVATIONS

In 1996, a federal judge ordered the sewer renovations after  area waterways were found to be polluted. But, taxes that were going to be used to fund the enormous project were later declared illegal, reports Market Watch. 

Although municipal bankruptcies are rare, there have been 11 so far in 2011, including Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital, and Central Falls, Rhode Island's smallest city.

Not surprisingly, bond investors are nervous.

BELOW, READ MORE ABOUT BIRMINGHAM'S TROUBLES:

 

 

by Sharon McEachern

 

CLICK AND READ "Birmingham Mayor Arrested: Langford Joined Jailed Mayors Club"

CLICK AND READ "Birmingham Exposed to Unconscionable Degree of Risk: Sues JP Morgan Chase" 

CLICK AND READ "Birmingham Mayor Langford Convicted on 60 Counts of Bribery, Money Laundering"

CLICK AND READ "Bama's Birmingham Votes to Replace Ousted Mayor: It's 4 mayors in 4 months"

CLICK AND READ "Out of the Sewers Into Federal Prison: Birmingham's Langford Gets 15 Years"

It Pays To Be Ethical: Billionaires Share Secrets to Success

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This one is a picture of one billion dollars.

Tonight on 20/20, Barbara Walters interviews four billionaires who share their secrets to success. The billionaires are:

John Paul DeJoria (left), founder of Paul Mitchell hair products and owner of Patron Spirits;

 

   Lynn Tilton (right) of Patriarch Partners;

 

 

 Guy Laliberte (left), founder of Cirque du Soleil

 

         

                       and Tony Hsieh (right) of Zappos.

 

 

Below is a list of the "Billionaire's 20 Keys to Success," according to ABC News 20/20. I was surprised, really surprised, at how many of the 20 tips for success involve ethics. In fact, I think the four billionaires might agree that it is very difficult to become so rich without being an ethical person, whose business and personal behavior is both ethical and moral.

Immigration Study: Ill-Informed Americans Fuel Contentious Divisions

 

The immigration debate -- both contentious and divisive -- is fueled by large-scale misconceptions. To illustrate, a new survey released last week found that Americans hugely overestimate the size of the immigrant population in our country.

TRUTH CHANGES OPINIONS

Yet, when they know the accurate population figures, people have significantly more lenient views towards migrants, reports Time.

The survey was sponsored by the influential think-tank The German Marshall Fund (GMF), a nonpartisan public policy institution. 

 
(Above is The Irish Memorial at Penn's Landing, Philadelphia)

In America, the average resident believes that 39 percent of the U.S. population was born abroad. However, the true figure is less than 14 percent. It's interesting that when told the correct statistic before they answered a question about acceptable immigration levels, respondents were 20 percent less likely to say there are "too many" immigrants than those who weren't told the accurate figure. 

AMERICANS ILL-INFORMED

We Americans are also poorly informed about illegal immigration. Of American survey respondents, 58 percent answered that most immigrants did not have legal residency. Wrong again. Illegal immigrants actually comprise less than one-third of the migrant population in the U.S.     

                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above is statue of Irish teenager Annie Moore, first passenger through Ellis Island immigration station in 1892)

FEAR OF COMPETITION, CRIME

The findings from the GMF survey show how exasperating immigration can be for policy makers in the U.S., where citizens who are worried about labor-market competition, assimilation and crime are insisting on tougher immigration laws and enforcement, states writer Eben Harrell, Time.

The GMF survey found that 73 percent of American respondents believed their government was doing a poor job managing immigration. (To view a 5-minute highlight video on the immigration study, click here.)

IMMIGRATION IS POLARIZING

Immigration was already a polarizing issue when an Arizona law was signed last year, cracking down on illegal immigration, making the subject even hotter. And, the survey shows 67 percent of American respondents said they would base their vote in part on a political party's immigration stance, 11 percent more than last year.

Who should handle enforcement of immigration laws? Among Democrats, 66 percent think that enforcement should be handled primarily by the federal government. Among Republicans, 53 percent believe state and local authorities should be the primary enforcers.

(Above left is the Monument to Italian-Canadian Immigrants in Toronto, Canada)

LESS MONEY/MORE PREJUDICE

The weak economy has drastically increased anti-immigrant sentiment. A majority says immigrants drive down wages for Americans and 56 percent believe immigrants take away jobs from natives. Who should have access to public schooling? Half of Americans answered that question saying only citizens and legal immigrants should be educated.

Craig Kennedy, GMF's president, called the findings "a wake-up call" for governments. Politico quoted Kennedy:

"The survey shows that North Americans and Europeans have strong opinions about immigration policy, what works and what doesn't. But the survey also shows that the more one is exposed to immigrants, the more one feels positively towards them."

Although there is a positive long-term perspective (59 percent of American respondents said immigrants are integrating well), racial division remains. For example, 78 percent said second-generation HIspanics are integrating well. But, only 62 percent said the same about Muslim immigrants.

There is another new immigration study, a review of the literature on the impacts of immigration from the National Bureau of Economic Research. This review suggests that even a huge influx of immigrants wouldn't really depress wages for the native born.

"The large majority of studies suggest that immigration does not exert significant effects on native labor market outcomes," quotes Reason Magazine.

CLICK AND VIEW MORE PHOTOS OF IMMIGRATION SCULPTURES.

 

 

by Sharon McEachern

 

 

Where's the Beef Taco Bell? Whatcha Been Hiding, Huh?

 
"Red Meat" Copyright by Sharon McEachern

 

 WHERE'S THE BEEF, TACO BELL? 

That's the big question of the week, ever since the Beasley Allen Law Firm based in Montgomery, Alabama, filed a class action lawsuit claiming that most of Taco Bell's "taco meat filling" and "seasoned ground beef" is anything but beef.

Taco Bell serves more than 36.8 million consumers each week, according to its website, in nearly 5,600 restaurants in the U.S. That could mean a lot of bucks for expensive beef. A corporation could make a whole lot more money if they didn't use so much meat and just called it real meat.

Taco Bell, a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc. , has been accused of false advertising. The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court in California, on behalf of Taco Bell customer and California resident Amanda Obney. She does not seek any monetary damages, but asks the court to order Taco Bell to be honest in its advertising. Whoa! No moola? Just tell the truth?

The Taco Bell meat paste stuff contains close to 35 percent beef says the law firm, after having Taco Bell products tested. The firm reports that results found the beef that the Mexican fast food chain uses is only 35 to 36 percent beef. That's not good.

FLESH OF CATTLE

The USDA insists that beef is the "flesh of cattle" and any food labeled as "meat taco filling" should at least have 40 percent fresh meat. Geez, that's less than half, yet Taco Bell still can't 'meat' the requirement. 

 

Happy Grandparents Day! More and More Grandparents Raise Their Grandchildren

Today is national Grandparents Day, which comes the first Sunday after Labor Day.

For many adults, our grandmas and grandpas are no longer living, as is true for President Obama (pictured above as a youngster with maternal grandparents Madelyn & Stanley Dunham).

GRANDPARENTS PARENT AGAIN

But today, many more children are living with their grandparent-caretakers, than in the past. 

To date, the current recession has created situations where unhappy couples stall getting divorces, happy couples wait to have babies and more families are involved in cases of child abuse and other violence.

LIVING WITH GRANDMA & GRANDPA

In addition, statistics show that "the recession is bringing families closer together -- in this case physically -- in the data on children's living arrangements," writes sociologist Philip N. Cohen, UNC-Chapel Hill. at Family Inequality Blog . "The number of children who live with at least one grandparent has spiked upward."

How many kids reside with grandparents? Some 7 million children lived in households with at least one grandparent in 2008, or 9 percent of kids under 18, reports the Census Bureau. Among those, half live in the grandparents' home, not a grandparent living in their parents' home. 

Of that number, 2.9 million were being raised primarily by their grandparents -- up 16 percent from 2000, with a 6 percent surge just from 2007 to 2008, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the most recent Census Bureau data, from 2008.

 

NOT A FIRST CHOICE

Multigenerational living arrangements are usually not a first choice currently in the US, says Cohen, "because the more money people have, the less likely they are to share housing."

The American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) advises that many children living with grandparents arrive with preexisting problems and risk factors including: abuse, neglect, prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol, and loss of parents through death, abandonment and incarceration.

IT'S CULTURE SHOCK

"Taking over the responsibilities of being a primary parent again can stir up many feelings including grief, anger, loss, resentment and possibly guilt," writes the AACAP. "This transition can be very stressful and the emotional and financial burdens can be significant.

"Culture shock at having to deal with children and adolescents of a different generation can be great. Grandparent headed households have a significantly higher poverty rate than other kinds of family units."

CASH & A NAP 

Wow! Maybe we should be sending our "Happy Grandparents Day" cards with some cash inside, just like our grandparents used to send to us. Also, we should offer to take the kids out for an afternoon of fun, so Grandma and Grandpa can hit the sack for a nap.

 

by Sharon McEachern

Sharon,Grandma & Grandpa

It Pays to Fire People: Multi-Millionnaire CEOs Get Richer & Richer

IT'S A WAR -- corporate CEOs versus American workers. I'm talking about CEOs who are millionaires many times over. Yet, they keep getting more millions in personal pay, as they lay-off and fire more employees.

Talk about adding salt to the wounds of the jobless!

How about CEOs forfeiting their bonuses, taking a cut in their salaries -- hell, give up their salaries for a year in order to keep more folks working?  I'm serious, the guys who make huge job cuts should have to tighten their own belts. 

STINK WITH GREED

What are the chances? Puhleeze! These guys stink with greed.

Five of the worst CEOs -- those whose excesses are greatest -- are pictured above. Sitting in a wash tub together, trying to wash the stink off are (left to right): William Weldon at Johnson & Johnson; Kenneth Chenault at American Express; Mark Hurd at Hewlett-Packard;  Michael Duke at Walmart; and, Fred Hassan at Schering-Plough.

EXECUTIVE EXCESS

In "Ceo Pay and the Great Recession", the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)  provides the following examples:

• Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon took home $25.6 million, more than three times as much as the S&P 500 CEO average, at a time when his firm slashed 9,000 jobs and while the company was facing a massive drug recall scandal.
• American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault took home the highest 2009 pay of the top layoff leaders who were recipients of major financial bailouts. His pay was $16.8 million, including a $5 million cash bonus. American Express laid off 4,000 employees since receiving $3.4 billion in taxpayer bailout funds.
• Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd has been awarded $24.2 million for laying off 6,400 workers. Besides that, he received an extra $28 million in severance.
• Walmart CEO Michael Duke earned $19.2 million as the company laid off 13,350 workers.
• Schering-Plough former CEO Fred Hassan received a $33 million golden parachute when his firm merged with Merck and 16,000 workers were fired. "Hassan's total 2009 compensation -- $49.6 million -- is enough to provide all 16,000 who were pink slipped average unemployment benefits for more than 10 weeks," reports CBS News.

THE MORE YOU FIRE, THE RICHER YOU BECOME

The CEOs who laid off the most employees during the recession are also the CEOs who took home the biggest pay checks, according to the 17th annual Executive Excess Study (PDF) by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive Washington think tank.

In fact, chief executive officers of the 50 firms that laid off the most workers during the current economic crisis earned nearly $12 million on average in 2009. And that's 42 percent more than the average pay of CEOs at S&P 500 firms overall.

"I think that really shows a really perverse incentive system in this country," said Sarah Anderson, lead author of the survey. "You are handsomely rewarded for slashing jobs in the middle of the worst economic crisis in 80 years."

MASSIVE LAYOFFS WITH POSITIVE EARNINGS

Now get this -- The majority (72 percent) of layoff-leading firms announced mass layoffs while delivering positive earnings reports. So, why all the layoffs?

Anderson said layoffs are actually driven by efforts "to boost short-term profits even higher and also just to continue to have such high CEO pay levels."

CEO'S EARN 263 TIMES WORKERS' PAY

Surprise! There appears to be a trend of squeezing workers to boost personal profits for CEOs. Major U.S. companies' CEOs currently average 263 times the average compensation of American workers, the study finds.

Another breakdown of this rising income inequality:

The median salary of a S&P's 500 chief executive was $1.025 million last year, with the median total pay package including bonuses and other nonsalary income was $7.5 million, reports the New York Times. In comparison, the median pay of private-sector workers in the U.S. was about $30,000 in 2008, the most recent data available. Add benefits and the annual income equals around $36,000.

 by Sharon McEachern

United Airlines Bags Most Bucks for Fees: $1.9 Billion Last Year

Airlines around the world are grabbing cash from ancillary revenue like baggage fees. Oh yeah, it's a whole hell-of-a-lot of money. Altogether, carriers worldwide collected $13.5 billion in fees last year, a jump 43 percent higher than the previous year.

UNITED'S ANCILLARY REVENUES ARE HIGHEST

At the top of the heap was United Airlines. Still the third-largest carrier in the U.S. behind Delta and American, United made a total of $1.9 billion in ancillary revenue -- $400 million coming from fees for checked bags alone, according to a new study.

Overseas, the airline with the largest revenue from fees was Quantas. For comparison to United's $1.9 billion, the Australian airline took in around $963 million last year, about half of what United racked up.

Today, flying is like going to the movies. You gotta pay to get in, but the theater-owners make more money from selling popcorn and candy.

Millions of Americans Can't Afford Cancer Treatment, Go Without Medical Care

TO BE OR NOT TO BE is the ultimate question when you have cancer. A new study reveals that 18 percent of U.S. cancer survivors, or more than two million persons, did not get needed medical services because they didn't have the money to pay for them.

COSTS POSE THREAT TO CANCERN SURVIVAL

Cost concerns have posed a threat to cancer survivorship for some time, reports Bloomberg Businessweek, particularly with the advent of new, life-prolonging treatments. This study raises troubling conerns about the long-term survival and quality of life.

"We've known for a long time that cancer can have a negative impact on the financial health of survivors," explains the study lead author Kathryn E. Weaver at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. "But we didn't know what implications this financial stress might have for their ongoing medical care, even long after their diagnosis."

Italian Investigators Think Naples Pizza Ovens Burn with Wood From Coffin Thieves

NAPLES COFFIN PIZZA-- Italian pizzerias in Naples are not going to put this wording on their menus. I doubt that customers would order pizzas that have shared space with dead bodies and coffins -- if they knew. But Naples favorite dish relies on smoke from hardwood-fired stoves for its renowned flavor.

Neapolitan pizza is traditionally baked using a stone oven and oak-wood fire. Oak is also the favored wood for coffins.

But then, all of the pizzas and some of the bread are being baked with cut-price wood purchased from a gang of coffin thieves operating in the Italian city Naples -- a notoriously lawless port.