A potential problem in managing short-term property rentals is owners who hide cameras to collect videos of naked customers to monetize in various ways. You’d think the company that invented the business, and is now a large, industry-leading, cutting-edge short-term rental company, would’[...]
Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
June 25th, 2024 - 12:37 am § in Business, News Media
Everett Herald’s new owners greet staffers with pink slips
The Everett Herald was sold with its parent company to a Mississippi news conglomerate in March 2024. That company, Carpenter Media Group, promptly laid off over half of the paper’s newsroom staff (read story here and watch video below). Herald news staff formed a union in 2022 and had been tr[...]
Who’s to blame for the housing crisis?
Capitalism is. I’m not saying there’s a better system for supplying homes, owned or rented, to everyone who needs them. Nobody in America wants to live in Soviet housing. Rather, I’m reacting to an NPR article (here) which, like many journalistic endeavors, begins with an anecdote:[...]
June 22nd, 2024 - 10:13 pm § in Business
Why malls don’t have windows
It’s a strategy to part you from your money. Here’s how they do that: The “unnaturally bright artificial lighting strived to create a perpetual daytime environment. This way, mall visitors would stay longer than they had expected to and spend more than they would have wanted to.[...]
Poll: Americans support DEI programs
Nationally, 61% of Americans support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, a Washington Post/Ipsos survey conducted in mid-April of 2024 shows (read story here). The survey showed 34% consider DEI programs at companies “a bad thing.” That number roughly conforms with the perce[...]
Shooting at customers is bad service
I haven’t been at a McDonalds drive-through in years, but I suppose workers sometimes fill orders incorrectly. That’s apparently what happened at a McDonalds in Lakeland, Florida, prompting an argument between a worker and two customers. It quickly escalated. The worker threw a drink at [...]
Ignore CNN’s investing advice, and laugh at Wells Fargo Bank
Why CNN’s investing advice is laughable The headline of a CNN article published (here) on Friday, June 14, 2024, a day when stock indexes sank a little more after sinking for the last month, reads: “Here’s how to invest in stocks when interest rates are higher for longer” “[...]
Is greedflation real?
In retail grocery, I think so; in food processing, I’m unsure. Employers in the food industry are paying higher wages, retailers are passing along price increases by distributors and processers, and all have higher costs. Thus, some price increases are unavoidable. The question is whether comp[...]
Scam Alert: Mexican cartel preys on timeshare sellers
Technically, a “timeshare” is merely a legal structure of shared ownership (or lease rights). As a concept, it can be legitimate; it’s used to sell access to luxuries to consumers who can’t otherwise afford them. For example, you can buy timeshares (aka “fractional owne[...]
Got the insurance blues?
Watch the video below. Skyrocketing insurance bills are hitting everyone. There are multiple reasons: More storms, more accidents, more expensive cars, parts, and labor. The bottom line is insurance companies are paying out more for claims, so they’re charging more for insurance. Return to The[...]