As the trial nears its end, prosecutors closed by stating that they want American Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Rafael Sollecito to spend the rest of their lives in jail for their crime.  Knox and Sollecito are accused of killing British national Meredith Kercher, who was Knox’s roommate in Perugia, Italy.  Both women were in Italy for school.

A third defendant, Rudy Guede of the Ivory Coast, has already been found guilt and is serving a 30 year sentence.  Guede is appealing that decision.

The primary evidence against Knox is a knife found in boyfriend Sollecito’s home, which had Knox’s DNA on the handle and Kercher’s DNA on the blade.  Kercher was killed when her throat was slit.  Foxy Knoxy and boyfriend are facing charges of homicide, sexual violence and attempting to cover up the crime.

Knox maintains that on the night of the murder, she was at Sollecito’s home, where they were watching a movie, smoking pot all night long and having wild sex over and over.

The prosecution is still wrapping up its case, and following that, the defense will have its say, potentially next week.  The jury is scheduled to get their hands on the case sometime around December 4.

Foxy’s stepfather spoke on behalf of her daughter, claiming “she’s and innocent girl looking at having to spend a lifetime in prison.”  He was trying to explain away Foxy’s emotional breakdown in court.  Foxy Knoxy’s parents are looking on the bright side and have admitted that they have bought one way tickets from Italy to Washington state, in anticipation of Amanda’s return, sometime before Christmas.

High unemployment has been pushing more people out of their homes, and the foreclosure mess will likely drag on well into 2010 and perhaps even beyond.  With the broader economic recovery nowhere in sight, it is easy to see why this disaster will persist for a while longer.

A recent report from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that an increasing proportion of fixed-rate home loans, those seen as “responsible” loans unlike their adjustable rate mortgage brethren, are landing in foreclosure.  It used to be that only the riskier subprime loans were a cause for concern, but this report paints a very different picture.

The report also describes that 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on payments or in foreclosure at the end of September. To put this into context, 14% is a record-high figure for nine straight quarters.  The highest in over two years!

If one is seeking salvation from an economic recovery, the factors just simply don’t add up.  Unemployment is at record highs and keeps rising, which then puts pressure on the housing market as homeowners default, which in turn ensures that a broader recovery cannot be realized in the near future.

Some in the housing market have lauded the recent rebound in home prices, particularly after suffering through three years of plunging prices. That lifted hopes for the overall economy. Unfortunately, the reality is there is this new force that will keep any recovery derailed.  That force takes the form of too many foreclosed homes that have yet to be dumped on the market.  Prediction: expect a protracted period of never-ending declines in home prices.

The following states, beneficiaries during the housing boom, will be the last to come out of it: Florida, Nevada, California and Arizona. Collectively, they account for 43 percent of new foreclosures.  That’s right.  Four states account for nearly half of all new foreclosures in the United States.  Greed does have a way to come back and bite you.

In Florida, 25% of the mortgages are either past due or in foreclosure.  That’s one in every four!  Nevada is second only to Florida at 23%.  With the continued downward pressure on home prices, and the absence of a real recovery in the economy, it appears that nationwide, home prices are set to fall again, to the tune of up to 10%, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at economy.com.

Haven’t we seen this before? Once again, an Osmond has shamelessly been propped up and given another lease on life at the expense of someone more deserving.  Last night, despite being easily outclassed by his competitors, despite ranking dead last by quite a margin in the judges’ card, Donny Osmond was rescued by the audience and awarded with a spot in the finals.  By any objective measure, that is a travesty on a scale just as great as that of his sister’s, whom viewers also rescued two seasons ago, time and again at the expense of others.

Frankly, why bother having judges?

The victim of this latest atrocious event is model Joanna Krupa, who scored an impressive 81 out of a possible 90.  Krupa was genuinely beautiful that night, was perfect in practically all technical aspects and was truly the better dancer, second only to the coy but smug Mya.  Judge Bruno Tonioli compared her to a “butterfly gently gliding over a pine meadow.”

In contrast, Donny was a stiff rock who managed to destroy his partner’s gown.  He has no grace, was technically flawed in every respect, arrogantly relies on his smile and charm as well as some not-so-funny moments like when he blamed his performance on the fact that he saw his sister in the audience.  Yes, that same woman who also made a mockery of the system when she advanced way beyond her time and incompetently tried to compete against dancers light years ahead of her skill, if you could call what she demonstrated skill.  Arrogance also manifests itself when Donny interrupts the judges, speaks over them, thinking somewhat that the show was beholden unto him and that he was the master showman who pauses for no one.

Facts are facts.  Yes, Maya led all contestants, averaging 26.3 points in 13 dances to date, but Joanna Krupa is practically in a dead heat with her, averaging 25.5 over the same amount of dances.  She and her partner have also come in first place, four times this season.  Regretfully, she doesn’t have the same legion of maniacal, stuck-in-the-70s fan base living in trailer homes that the Osmonds do.

How can someone who is dead last displace another who has been solidly as close to first as you can get, all season long? So once again I ask, why bother having judges?  The whole show is becoming a joke once again. But hey, who cares about what’s right and what’s wrong so long as ABC is making a buck, right?

Over 14,700 US taxpayers relented and disclosed to the Internal Revenue Service billions of dollars in offshore bank accounts. Under a voluntary Internal Revenue Service program, the sneaky taxpayers were allowed to avoid criminal prosecution so long as they pay what they owe in taxes, penalties and the like.

The amnesty program expired October 15, and IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman noted that a ton of people came forward as the deadline approached. The IRS has been pushing hard amid a broad US crackdown on tax evasion at Swiss bank UBS AG and other institutions as well. "This is a historic milestone for the nation’s hardworking taxpayers," a pleased Shulman said.

Shulman notes that the aggregate amount he expects to collect will be in the billions of dollars. Taxpayers accepted the amnesty program after the US came to an agreement in August with the Swiss government and UBS to obtain names of US taxpayers believed to be hiding assets in secret bank accounts. UBS earlier paid a $780 million penalty along with the disclosure of 150 names. Several of those people have faced criminal charges; a couple are set to receive prison time.

The UBS disclosures and the amnesty program have finally turned the tide on what was once a tough nut to crack.  The offshore tax landscape is no longer out of reach of Uncle Sam, particularly in Switzerland where bank secrecy dates back many centuries.  "The whole game has changed," a happy Shulman notes.

The IRS and Swiss have also unveiled the criteria being used to determine which accounts are going to be revealed.  Evidently, accounts containing at least 1 million Swiss francs from 2001 to 2008 will be revealed as well as accounts that earned 100,000 francs on average for the past three years.  And of course, where fraudulent action can be established, poof goes the secrecy veil.

US Senator Carl Levin is not satisfied with the criteria as it still provides a way for Switzerland’s bank secrecy to remain.  The Swiss said the first 400 names will be chosen before the week is up, followed by 100 more before month’s end.

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, famed sister of Jessica Simpson, yes that same girl who waltzed off (more like chicken-danced her way off) the SNL stage after her lip-sync performance went the way of Milli Vanilli, yes that lass who got booed at a Superbowl halftime performance, and yes that same lady who got unceremoniously tossed off of “Melrose Place” is now doing a new gig… on Broadway?  Huh?

Simpson reportedly will be the newest Roxie Hart on Broadway’s long-running ”Chicago.”  The singer-turned actress, whole role on Melrose was recently axed, will sport a new address after Thanksgiving.  She’s moving to Broadway.  Yes, you heard that right, and stop scratching your head.

The 25 year old Ashlee is ready to star as Roxie Hart in the long-running revival of "Chicago" beginning Nov. 30.  She is going to have to quickly re-familiarize herself with the role of the Depression-era husband-killer who becomes a media darling.  That shouldn’t be too bad, as she played the part in London.

"I’m honored to be reprising my role as Chicago’s Roxie Hart, returning to the stage and joining this amazing cast," explained Simpson-Wentz.  She further confides that "Being on Broadway is a childhood dream come true."

Simpson-Wentz’s surprise axing from "Melrose," didn’t sit well with big sister Jessica Simpson who responded by blasting the show’s producers.  In many ways, perhaps this all worked out for the best, as Simpson-Wentz appears to be headed to the fulfillment of a long time dream.  Jess could only wish she were that fortunate.

In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, Janet Jackson points the finger at Dr. Conrad Murray, claiming that “he was the one that was administering… I think he is responsible [for Michael’s death].”  That interview will air on Wednesday.

Murray does not dispute administering Propofol to the late King of Pop, but insists he did not cause Michael’s death.  Despite that, Janet still claims that Murray should be stripped of his license to practice medicine.  “A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about him [Michael],” laments Janet.

On that fateful day, on June 25, Janet recounts that she was at her house in New York when she got a call and her assistant said that Michael was in the hospital, noting that the whole event was unfolding in front of CNN’s cameras.

Janet added that she spoke with the family, asking them to call her back with news when they got to the hospital.  Unfortunately, no one bothered calling her back, so she tried contacting family members again, and that was when she found out that Michael didn’t make it.

“It just didn’t ring true to me.  It felt like a dream,” recounts Janet.  She is still finding it hard to believe, but concedes that she has to accept the reality, knowing that it will be very difficult to move on with her life.

When times were good, migrant workers from Mexico who have found employment in the United States would send home hundreds of dollars a month to support their family back home.  Unfortunately, economic conditions have made jobs scarce in the United States, and many are finding it hard to stay employed, let alone send money back home.

In an unprecedented move, families from Mexico are now sending money north to help support their relatives who have not been employed in a while and are in danger of ending up on the streets.  Even down-and-out Mexican families are scraping together what they can to send money north to prop up their unemployed loved ones in the US.

Sadly, some Mexican workers who find themselves unable to secure employment are so depleted that they do not even have enough money to head back home to Mexico.  Without the periodic reverse remittances, the Mexican workers would not even have enough to buy food.

Understandably, with about half of its population living at or below the poverty line, Mexico is not exactly able to afford to send money to help its troubled loved ones in the US.  Yet, they manage to scrape what they can and send it on north.  Often, they sell what they have or what they can produce in order to generate the additional income that they send up north to their downtrodden relatives.

Some Mexican migrant workers are tempted to return to Mexico, but because they have sunk enormous amounts of money to pay for the trip to get them to the US, they are reluctant to do so.  An estimated 5.9 percent of Mexican households, some 1.8 million families, receive remittances from abroad.  When those remittances stop, a major source of their total income, estimated at anywhere from 19 to 27 percent, is lost.  When a reverse remittance has to be made, then that adds to an already difficult situation.

The fight started with Cotto landing a cracking jab that caught Pacquiao’s attention, but ended with referee Kenny Bayless stopping the fight in the 12th round, as Pacquiao landed a barrage of punches on the Puerto Rican who was so badly torn up and trailing big time in the score cards that it didn’t make sense to have him endure any more punishment.

Throughout the fight, Cotto showed his big champion’s heart, as he continued fighting despite getting ripped apart and bloodied as badly as he had been against Margarito.  Only this time, there was no plaster used.  It was pure Pacquiao power.

Despite being knocked down in the third and fourth rounds, a game Cotto tried to make a fight out of it, but no sooner than he started getting into a rhythm in each round did Manny begin his patented furious multiple angle attacks.  Cotto could not mount a sustained attack.  “I didn’t know from where the punches were coming,” an exasperated Cotto said after the fight.

So badly ripped up was Cotto’s face, and so devastating was Pacquiao’s attack that Cotto’s wife shuttled her son out of the arena after the ninth round.  She knew it was over and did not want her son to witness a potential devastating knockout like the one Hatton suffered.  Though Cotto didn’t crash to the canvas as did Hatton, he was reduced to a shell of himself, consistently backpedaling to survive, and having to reassess at the end of each round if he should continue fighting.

Cotto’s team wanted to stop it after the tenth, and they decided to go one more round.  After a decent showing, i.e. he didn’t get knocked out, in the 11th round, team Cotto decided to come out for the 12th and final round.  The inevitable happened.  Pacquiao unleashed a barrage of punches and referee Kenny Bayless had no choice but to step in and end Cotto’s futile last stand.  No one has ever dominated Cotto in the manner in which Manny did.  In his win, Margarito no doubt used plaster; but Manny, he simply used pure, raw, explosive power.  For most of the night, Cotto looked like an overmatched amateur. 

In the end, Cotto was a swollen mass, cut everywhere and bleeding as profusely as he had when he fought Margarito.  The little fighter from the flyweight division who had risen up the ranks all the way to the welterweight division had accomplished what the critics said couldn’t be done, but what fight fans knew was a given: Manny by knockout. Naysayers are now running away, tails tucked between their legs.  Even Emmanuel Stewart, who doesn’t give Manny much credit, couldn’t help but be impressed.  He should be.  Given the opportunity, Manny might just knock out his beloved Tommy.  And Angelo Dundee is wrong.  Again.  He’s been always wrong, batting a big fat zero, in his predictions of Pacquiao’s fights.

With the win, Manny Pacquiao now stands in a class of his own, being the only boxer in history to have won seven championships in seven different weight divisions.  History has been made, and there can be no more doubt that Manny Pacquiao deserves his place in the annals of boxing history.  He is arguably one of the top boxers, if not the best to have ever laced on a pair of gloves.  His body of work speaks for itself, and Cotto himself concedes that “Manny Pacquiao is one of the best boxers I ever fought.”  And Cotto has fought the best.

It wasn’t that long ago in US history when men and women returning home after risking life and limb in Vietnam would find themselves confronting misguided hatred and anger, as hippies and hypocritical pacifists took every opportunity to antagonize, harass and assault our men and women in uniform.  Today, a consensus has been formed in US society where the burden of blame is shifted to our policy makers, rather than our soldiers who are simply doing their best to follow their commander in chief.  That’s great for soldiers today, but for soldiers of the previous era, the assault on their very being by the people they supposedly protected is still an open sore that perhaps will never heal.  Sadly, we as a nation have done nothing to hold accountable all those hypocritical hippie pacifists who have wronged our soldiers, nay, our nation so badly.  Ask any of them today and they will sheepishly turn away, insisting that all that was in the past.  Rather convenient for them, but still at some point those people should get their day of reckoning.

It is tragic then, to witness the same phenomenon occurring in Germany, where men and women who serve in Afghanistan are treated to the same evil that the American soldiers saw back during the Vietnam war.  Unlike in the US, where people go out of their way to thank the troops, buying them beer when they can, in Germany, the troops are explicitly being told by their own populace to make themselves scarce or face assault.

At best, German troops mixing in with the general populace are ignored, with people pretending they aren’t there, or, should an encounter be unavoidable, they get treated with contempt.  At worse, there are elements of the general population who actively harass and assault them, akin to what the militant pacifists, yes those hypocrites, would do in the US back in the 60s and 70s.

Heike Groos, a German military doctor in Afghanistan explains that “this sense of appreciation, you don’t get that” and she writes that “young people are badly wounded and one feels out of place and lonely when one thinks, ‘no one in Germany understands and no one in Germany is even interested.’”  Sadly, the disgrace of the Nazi regime has completely castrated the German populace, to the point where they begin fighting the wrong fight: instead of channeling their anger towards those who might challenge the German way of life, they instead channel their anger towards those who are fighting to ensure that their way of life remains unmolested.

The Germans have experienced peace for quiet for some time now, with the umbrella of NATO guaranteeing its survival, so it’s not hard to imagine how a common brain would fail to see that peace and prosperity is not the norm, and that it takes a lot of work and sacrifice to keep it that way.  Including a just, armed conflict.  The common German would argue that the military is an unnecessary evil, and so it treats it that way.  Regretfully, these common Germans fail to learn from history; that is, no peace  is sustainable unless you have a force to actively ensure it.

Hard as it is to imagine now, conflict is rather a constant threat, and a nation needs to manage that conflict to ensure that it does not end up inside its borders, where it could become a threat to that nation’s way of life.  The German soldiers in Afghanistan are fighting to establish peace in that region, and in so doing, keep the conflict from reaching its population.  This is a matter of policy which the German leaders have adopted.  Why then should the common German take it out on the soldier who is simply fighting for his country and its people?

In about twenty four hours, Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico will face off in Las Vegas for a Welterweight championship fight.  At stake is Cotto’s Welterweight Title and Pacquiao’s Pound-for-Pound honorary title.  Should Pacquiao prevail, the Welterweight belt will be his.  Should Cotto prevail, the boxing community will probably not hand him the mythical Pound-for-Pound title.  So Cotto pretty much is fighting simply to defend his title.  Few in boxing are as adept as the Pilipino prodigy is in taking away titles from champions, having won six world titles in six different weight classes.  Aside from Pacquiao, only Oscar Dela Hoya has the same claim.  Pacquiao incidentally, gave Dela Hoya a grand beating when the two met, forcing the "Golden Boy" to retire, literally, on his stool at the end of the eighth round.  Oscar would never fight again.

It wasn’t that long ago that Pacquiao promoter, Bob Arum, when asked how far Pacquiao could move up in weight, stated "and when you start thinking about Miguel Cotto [as a potential Pacquiao opponent] it gets really ridiculous."  Well, Bob Arum, who promotes both Pacquiao and Cotto, isn’t singing that tune now.  After Pacquiao’s last fight, upon witnessing the destruction of Ricky Hatton, Arum was ecstatic on the post-fight podium exclaiming that he’s never seen anyone with such "explosive power," not even from Muhammad Ali, whom he promoted way back when.

Indeed, this will be Pacquiao’s greatest challenge.  Having moved all the way up from flyweight, the current Jr Welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will find in Cotto the heart of a champion, whose only loss is a controversial knockout to Antonio Margarito.  It was later found that Margarito and his trainer were tampering with hand wraps, and employing some sort of plaster to help Margarito inflict massive damage with his fists.  One can only look back at the damage to Cotto’s face following his loss to Margarito, and it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to see that perhaps Margarito used plaster to cheat his way to a win against Cotto.

Critics have pointed out the Cotto hasn’t been the same since that fateful loss.  Indeed, in his last fight, he was lackluster against a dull Joshua Clottey.  It wasn’t so much that Cotto won as much as Clottey lost.  Clottey failed to capitalize on his early success, and his lazy ways allowed the Puerto Rican to keep chopping away to a decision win.  Critics claim that should Cotto show up against Pacquiao the same way he did against Clottey, at the very least he would lose his title to a decision; at worse, he would get knocked out.

Many maintain, however, that Cotto has been taking this fight much more seriously and indeed, if stories are correct, he practically out-prepared Pacquiao, who got caught up in the Philippines with two typhoons and a plethora of eager politicians anxious to align themselves with the champion.  Pacquiao has indicated that he will pursue politics in the very near future.  As many Pilipinos would say, in the Philippines, success is achieved in one of three ways: boxing, acting, and politics.  Manny has no doubt conquered boxing, and evidently has made waves with acting, starring in his own super-hero movie, and singing his way around the talk shows.  Politics awaits, but has it been a distraction for Manny?

In approximately twenty four hours, it will become plenty clear.  Has Pacquiao done enough to prepare for the biggest test of his life?  Does Cotto have what it takes to deal with the speed and the sting of Pacquiao’s punches?  In what promises to be the fight of the year, Pacquiao will face Cotto for the ultimate in boxing, a feat that has never been done: become world champion in seven different weight classes.  In the words of the venerable Mills Lane, "Let’s Get It On!"

The former governor of Alaska is set to release her new book "Going Rogue" which promises to air more dirty laundry than even trashy talking heads from MSNBC can handle.  Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate who made a big splash onto the political scene abruptly resigned her position as governor of Alaska ahead of the publication of her book.  Critics are still wondering what precipitated such an abrupt move, and no such revelation is expected in the book.

Instead, we can expect the 400 plus pages to have several themes, not more interesting than that of Palin’s discomfort with the conduct of John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.  Central to that campaign is Steve Schmidt, who, when asked about how he expects to be portrayed in Palin’s book replied, "not well."  Indeed he’s right.

In "Going Rogue." Schmidt is painted as a character cast as out of touch, overly cautious to the point of being paranoid, and vindictive.  The book will show that the relationship between the vice presidential candidate and the campaign manager was smooth at first, but ultimately deteriorated into an unprofessional f-bomb pit so detestable that Palin commanded Schmidt: "no more f-bombs around Piper, please?"  Piper, of course, is Palin’s youngest daughter.  Palin also noted that Schmidt was uncomfortable with discussing God and that she "will forever question the campaign for prohibiting discussion of such association."

In addition to less than flattering descriptions of Schmidt, Palin also takes aim at others of the "professional political caste." Palin, together with daughter Piper, also found comedy in the political pack and observed that "[the political handlers] were tumbling out of the bus in a pack, lighting cigarettes as they went so it looked like a walking smoke cloud with legs."

That’s what South Africa’s deputy police minister, Fikile Mbalula advised and he has stood by his department’s tough, shoot-to-kill policy.  Yes, a three-year-old boy was shot dead by the officers, but, Mbalula explains that it was inevitable that innocent people would get caught in the crossfire.  He stands by his “shoot the bastards” directive, calling the targets “hard nut to crack, incorrigible criminals.”

In all fairness, South Africa has one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime.  The statistics say it all: on average, there are 50 killing tied to violent crime each day.  What has happened to this state that just a couple of decades ago was a leading industrialized country?

In response to their plight, the government is pushing through changes to its Criminal Procedure Act to enable police to use deadly force more easily, despite the potential for a spike in the loss of innocent lives.  President Jacob Zuma defended his government, stating that the sheer level of violent crime in South Africa makes it very different from other countries, and thus the approach has to be different.  He continues on to say that criminals take out guns when confronted and without warning, they kill, and this has resulted in many lives lost on the part of the police.

He concludes by arguing that officers should be supported, and that a good policeman should not have to keep his weapon holstered at the expense of his very own life.  “…because I’m a very good policeman I am here…[but when confronted with a gun] I’m not going to shoot you?” Zuma said.

Exactly ten years ago, then President Clinton signed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act.  Our current financial mess has Clinton’s name written all over it.  This is his legacy.  It was his signature that started us on this path.  It was his signature that is directly responsible for millions of people going destitute worldwide.  Clinton signed into law the force that caused every common person’s life to be ruined.  Clinton did it.

That day, when Clinton signed away nearly everyone’s future, a Democrat, Senator Byron Dorgan, dissented and noted that “I think we will in 10 years’ time look back and say we should not have done this.”  Senator Dorgan was 100% correct.  President Clinton was 100% wrong, and is 100% responsible for ruining the lives of millions across the world.

So, because we cannot undo what has been done, just as Clinton cannot unsay “I did not have sexual relations with…” what are we to do today?  Why not ask the man who prophetically stated those words ten years ago?  Senator Dorgan advocates now, as he did then, the following: separate investment banks and FDIC-insure banks; prohibit FDIC-insured banks from dealing in risky financial instruments on their own proprietary accounts; abolish “too big to fail.”  Three simple principles and you don’t need a wet, juicy cigar to enjoy its beauty.

The first two principles really are common sense.  It was ten years ago, but Clinton and his pals failed to see that.  It is the third principle that is upfront and center with the average citizen today.  How many times have we all heard that phrase “too-big-to-fail?” Translation: the government steals money from the taxpayers and saves these institutions who are now earning immense profits and handing out massive bonuses.  In the meantime, what did the average citizen get?  No job, no future, and a big government imposed burden.  Meanwhile, the fatcats that were bailed out are getting bonuses larger than an average citizen would earn in five years.  How is any of this fair?

Too big to fail is another term for what Senator Dorgan calls “No-Fault Capitalism.”  In a nutshell, it comes down to the issue of accountability. "It’s one of the most frustrating things," Dorgan said. "We essentially have had modern-day bank robbers – except that they wore gray suits and not masks -and there’s been no accountability for it."

So has the current administration learned from anything from the Clinton life-wrecking disaster of 1999?  Apparently, not a thing.  The current administration is not aligned with Senator Dorgan, and appears to continue the bending-over that Clinton did for the big banks.  JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are pulling Obama’s strings and he doesn’t even know it.

Senator Dorgan expressed his disappointment with the current administration, stating “I would like to see them more aggressive on this issue” and he hopes that “we’ll get a piece of legislation that will restore that separation.”  Well, despite the Hope platform that Obama ran on, it appears for the time being that there is no hope heading Senator Dorgan’s way.

After admitting to testing positive for drugs in 1997 and managing to weasel his way out of the predicament in large part with the cooperation of the ATP, Agassi has found a vocal critic in Marat Safin.

Safin is a former Number 1 ranked tennis player who won the 2000 US Open and the 2005 Australian Open.  He will be retiring after this week’s Paris Masters.  The 29 year old Russian is of the opinion that if Agassi “is as fair play as he says he is, he has to go to the end.”  In other words, talk is cheap.  If you really feel remorseful, give back the money and the titles.  Safin goes on to say that the ATP “has a bank account and he [Agassi] can give the money back if he wants.”

Indeed one has to question why Agassi has to bring this up now.  Yes, he needs fresh, provocative material in his autobiography “Open” but surely there must have been better material than this?  Better in the sense that this ugly time needn’t be brought back up again, particularly as it involves him pulling the wool over ATP’s eyes back in the late 1990s.  By rehashing this story, Agassi is going to bring criticism not only to himself but potentially to the ATP’s personnel as well.  Agassi at least has a book to sell.  The ATP would be facing all this pressure without anything to gain.

As Safin puts it, “what he [Agassi] said put it in a delicate position” – referring to the unwanted attention that the ATP may now have to address.  Safin also asked what so many are no doubt thinking: “Why did he do this?  What is done is done.  Does he hope to sell more books?  It’s absolutely stupid.”  We couldn’t agree more.  What does Steffi think about all this?

Last year, in the midst of the credit crisis, the US government rescued AIG from the brink of collapse with a loan bailout in the amount of $182.5 billion.  In exchange, the government assumed an 80 percent stake in the insurer.

AIG is one of the big companies that the Treasury Department ordered to cut top executives’ salary and bonuses.  Reports are that the directive is to cut compensation in half, starting immediately. Cash salaries for the top 25 highest-paid executives will be capped at $500,000 and perks will max out at $25,000.  There are exceptions of course, but no one is holding their breath.  Good.

CEO Robert Benmosche is threatening to take his marbles and go home.  Evidently, he is not keen on working with heavy government oversight and restrictions on pay.  Benmosche reportedly told AIG’s board he was "done" with the job; however, like a cheap soap opera, it appears that he is reconsidering once he realized that the board was not amused.

Critics argue that the restrictions are bringing about so-called brain drain, as the executives hit by salary and bonus caps are abandoning ship and seeking refuge elsewhere.  On the one hand, I can’t say that I blame them.  On the other hand, perhaps in some twisted and ironic way, I’m glad that AIG may not completely survive after all; once all the pay restrictions are enforced, AIG may end up being a shell of its old self, devoid of the so-called talent who can’t be bothered with taking responsibility for their company’s rather disturbing contribution to the ugly global recession we now find ourselves in.  Oh no, those talented boys and girls won’t slow down in their quest for the almighty dollar.

Perhaps the epilogue will note how, despite taxpayers being saddled with cost of rescuing irresponsible institutions, said institutions failed anyway.  Should that happen, then the real loser will be the taxpayers.  Entities fold, their employees move on to commit financial atrocities elsewhere, but the taxpayer is left holding the bag.  And their children will be responsible for paying the debt in the future.  So tell me, why did we bother saving all these greedy ingrates to begin with?

Stroller maker Maclaren USA announced a massive stroller recall early Monday morning.  This recall affects over 1 million strollers and is a direct result of numerous reports that children’s fingertips are being lacerated or in some instances, severed by a hinge located on the side of the stroller.  This dangerous event occurs when the stroller is being folded or unfolded.  Maclaren is voluntarily recalling umbrella strollers sold in the United States and is working with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to handle the recall.

The following models are included in the recall:
Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, Techno XLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller.

Maclaren USA notes that their Umbrella Strollers meet all U.S. ASTM & JPMA compliance standards, guaranteeing their umbrella strollers meet the maximum safety standards available. Nonetheless, they are conducting the voluntary recall to alert the operator when opening or closing the stroller of the possible risk of injury.

You may visit the company’s website for more information at www.maclaren.us/recall or you can call (877) 688-2326.  You can also get information about the recall by visiting the Consumer Products Safety Commission website.

Affected strollers were sold as early as 1999 through November 2009 retailing for between $100 to $360.

Health care legislation has shifted over to the Senate, and the euphoria of House passing its version of the health care legislation is over.  The White House is encountering revolt from some Democrats who are left wondering what happened to the President’s promise to slow the upward trajectory in health care spending.

President Obama has trumpeted cost containment as one of the major themes of his health reform agenda, and in May vowed to reduce the growth of health care spending by 1.5 percent, or $2 trillion, over the next ten years.

Unfortunately for the President, many are skeptical that the bill passed by the House, and the Senate’s version would be able to realize the promised savings.  Instead, many believe we are entering into a trap – one that promises more spending rather than savings.

Both the House and the Senate are promising cost-saving measures, to the tune of $440 billion in Medicare savings with the House bill and $420 billion with the Senate’s version.  The pragmatists argue that it is one thing to extract savings out of an inefficient system, but quite another to alter the way that the health system does business today.

The jury is still out on whether the White House will be able to influence legislation that would institute health care delivery reforms and its associated costs savings.  Regrettably, deals the White House made with the hospital industry could prove to be a hindrance to the quest to significantly lower healthcare delivery costs.

Taylor Swift was the host on this week’s Saturday Night Live. Most people would think that she would make fun or at least insult Kanye West for his stunt on a VMA. We can remember that Kanye got up on stage while Taylor was getting her award, and said to the whole world that Beyonce should have won the award. Of course, this embarrassed Taylor and angered a lot of fans.

However, instead of attacking Kanye, she attacked her ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas. She sang a song with the lyrics, “Hey Joe, I’m doing real well! I’m hosting SNL!” The first time she talked about her break-up with him, she was obviously hurt. To make things worse, Joe broke up using the phone, taking less than 30 seconds of his time.

Taylor Swift also sang a song for Taylor Lautner, and even blew a kiss for him. The two Taylors are rumored to be dating, showing affection on a hockey game. It looks like Swift have really gotten over her recent problems. Although her acting skills need a little polishing, her voice and comedy skills make up for it. With sold-out concerts, chart-topping singles, and a new love life, things are going pretty well for her.