The Working Life

GIBRALTAR -- Last week I travelled to Kingston-on-Thames to attend the graduation ceremony of my niece. It was a very proud moment. Not only did it signal the end of years of hard studying by Samantha; she is the first member of my immediate family to attend university and walk off with an honours degree.

I have a degree from the University of Life. Sam, who in many ways is wiser than her years, but still not wise enough, insists that this university is a figment of the imagination. It would be churlish of me to pick an argument with her at the moment of her triumph. However many sage readers will now the truth of what I claim, albeit I have to admit, few honours came my way.

Follow the Money

If you've been wondering how the health care industry has been spending its profits, one place you might want to look is Washington, D.C., lobbyists. As health insurance companies faced criticism from Democrats last year for their business practices and as health care reform measures wiggled through Congress, America’s largest insurers threw millions of dollars at lobbyists, ostensibly to stymie change.