If a baseball team in the United States wants to hire an impressive player from Japan, they are not allowed to make an offer directly. Instead, the league organizes a silent auction and any interested party can place a bid. Some commentators believe this secrecy is inflating the market, making foreign players unreasonably expensive.
In Fairfax County, Virginia, a government auditor noticed that many of the vehicles in the official government fleet were barely used. In response, the county agreed to reassign cars which were driven less than 4,500 miles annually. The change inspired some bureacrats to come up with excuses to travel, just so they would not lose their coveted government vehicles.
A recent op-ed piece in the New York Times by Michael Crichton states a scientific claim which happens to be copyrighted. Here’s a hint: it’s an expansion on the idea that vitamins are good for you.
When the Enron scandal unfolded, the Securites and Exchange Commission rejoiced in the public interest for finding corruption on Wall Street. To address the concerns, Mr. Harvey L. Pitt, SEC Chairman, formed the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Unfortunately he opted for a poor process for choosing members of the board.
The Senate confirmation hearings for potential Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito are part of a time-honored American tradition. Every committee member has thirty minutes to ask questions, but most of this time is not used for either questions or answers. Instead, senators spend most of their time promoting themselves.
Last year, Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing learned firsthand that if an outstanding traffic ticket was not recorded in the computer system, payment could not be accepted. His wife (the guilty party) might face tremendous late penalties because the database at the LA Superior Court—and their employees—could not handle a tiny exception.