Why is Siemens advertising now?

Bloomberg reported on May 27, 2010 that "Vestas, Siemens Wind Bets at Risk on Cheap Gas, Subsidy Loss". So now Siemens is advertising. Perhaps Siemens needs some more windy subsidies to support their investments. Siemens probably agrees with Senator Lamar Alexander's recent (2011) advocacy for "Wind Energy Subsidies".

2011 Royale Wedding: The very nearly last dying gasp of an archaic system

Well, the weeklong, month-long, whatever-long hoopla (and not just in England) is finally over. The wedding of William and Catherine has occurred. The vicarious experience is over. Now, it’s past time to euthanize the euphoria and work on what really matters.

I’m sure that the so-called “king and/or queen” system worked in the past when people could not communicate as we do today and were spread over a vast countryside: they needed some sort of protection. (Of course, it came at the enormous cost of lives and wealth.) But it’s long overdue for the dustpan. So, cheers, Will & Cat, now go and do something worthwhile.

Why is BASF advertising?

Every now and then, a company - that you have heard of, but don't really think about - advertises on TV. Such is the recent case of BASF, a large chemical company. They're trying to tell us how wonderful their chemicals are. And I'm sure that most of us pretty much think that already, since we're so accustomed to using them. But perhaps their real reason for advertising is to counteract bad publicity. Consider the recent Brazil ruling on pollution. Consider that genetically modified potato seed in Sweden. Consider their collaboration with Sion Power, possibly to cash in on subsidies for batteries in electric cars.

Why were health insurance family group plans extended to age 27?

Legislation was recently passed to force health insurance companies to expand their family group plans to include children up to age 27 as long as they lived at home. Why? Well, if college graduates were required to purchase health insurance, they wouldn’t do it because they couldn't afford it because they can't get a job. (Here, 1/3 from top.) So how do you solve that problem? You force the health insurance companies to help out... Problem solved, right? Actually, it just shifted the burden to someone else - the parents and employers.