Newsworthy

Google: A $50 Billion 'One-Trick Pony'? -- questions are being raised by market analysts on whether Google has what it takes for long term viability. Google remains just a search company. Sure, it's expanding into other areas, but only to enhance their search business.

Killing the Golden Goose? -- Venezuela's President Chávez is funneling oil money into social programs -- quite the anti-capitalist. He believes that the riches of his nation should be shared with his people. Naturally, that pisses off the US. To add further insult, he's trying to gain influence in Latin America, sells oil to Cuba, and buys Russian weapons for his military. No wonder the Bush administration endorsed an attempted coup d'état in 2002. Chávez is a pain in the ass. That's why you've got to love, despite his faults.

How to Fix the Tort System -- the cover article of BusinessWeek's March 14th issue does an excellent job of introducing the US Tort System -- explaining the differences in American law to that of Europe and Canada; how the Tort System allows for excessive and trivial lawsuits, where only the lawyers profit; and suggests a pragmatic plan to fix the system, if only there is political will to do so. Naturally, with Bush in power, the wrong thing will be done.

A Linux Nemesis On the Rocks -- it's always good to read an article where SCO, and its CEO are getting their ass kicked, and they haven't really gotten into the ring yet. They should have thought twice before trying to steal the riches of Linux.

Gift Cards: No Gift To Investors -- gift cards have caught on, and the jury is still out on whether they're good for consumers. One thing for sure though, they're definitely good business, where the accounting of gift card sales can be done on some very interesting ways that distort the true numbers of a business.