Widespread Corporate Corruption is Just the Cost of Doing Business

If we are not going to bring criminal charges in these types of cases then personal fines or rescinding bonuses should maybe be part of these settlements.

Huffington Post -- Steven Brill
America’s Most Admired Lawbreaker

“It’s their cost of doing business,” the analyst added, perhaps unintentionally echoing the view of one senior J&J lawyer who told me that the cases against his company are the unavoidable price of dealing with a litigation system easily abused by those targeting big corporations.

“True, eight of the other nine largest pharmaceutical companies in the world have settled federal claims over the last decade related to allegations similar to what Johnson & Johnson was accused of in selling Risperdal”

Houston Chronicle -- Tom Hays and Tom Krisher, Associated Press GM will pay $900 million over ignition switch scandal

“The twin agreements bring to more than $5.3 billion the amount GM has spent on a problem authorities say could have been handled for less than a dollar per car. Those expenses include fines, compensation for victims and the recall of millions of vehicles.”

The Republican Primary Rules May Favor Donald Trump

International New York Times
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and JONATHAN MARTIN

Party Rules to Streamline Race May Backfire for G.O.P

“If Mr. Trump draws one-third of the Republican primary vote, as recent polls suggest he will, that could be enough to win in a crowded field. After March 15, he could begin amassing all the delegates in a given state even if he carried it with only a third of the vote. And the later it gets, the harder it becomes for a lead in delegates to be overcome, with fewer state contests remaining in which trailing candidates can attempt comebacks.”

The Syrian Refugee Crisis

The Guardian
Patrick Kingsley Migration correspondent, Mark Rice-Oxley and Alberto Nardelli
Syrian refugee crisis: why has it become so bad?

“It is hard to find definitive reasons, but conversations with Syrians across the migration trail and a survey of recently available data suggest a mixture of the following.”

BBC News -- Michael Stephens
Migrant crisis: Why the Gulf states are not letting Syrians in

“For example, citizens in the UAE and Qatar number a little over 10% of the resident populations in their respective countries. The vast majority of residents are transitory economic workers.”

Real Clear Politics -- Thomas Sowell
The Past and Future of the Refugee Crisis

“No nation has an unlimited capacity to absorb immigrants of any sort, and especially immigrants whose cultures are not simply different, but antagonistic, to the values of the society in which they settle.”

llinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York

Market watch -- Sue Chang
Unlucky lottery winner gets IOU from state of Illinois

Of the 50 states, Illinois ranked dead last in fiscal health, according to a report in July from George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

“Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York rank [as] the bottom five states, largely owing to low amounts of cash on hand and large debt obligations,”

What else do these states have in common?