by Emily Hung South China Morning Post Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways’ budget wing, HK Express, became embroiled in controversy after two visually impaired passengers said they were forced off a flight, triggering outrage from a campaign group for the blind. But HK Express denied that the men had been forcibly removed and insisted …
Category Archives: business
Boom, Boom: Fireworks Store Erupts In Flames
by Kevin Burton You hear this phrase a lot: “don’t judge.” Well in this case, go ahead. Be my guest. Judge, and jump in with both feet, or both wagging index fingers, if you want to. I don’t care. On our first regional beep baseball trip, to Indianapolis in late May, I …
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Surge Pricing Coming To A Wal-Mart Near You
by Kevin Burton The Wal-Mart closest to our house is almost finished with a major remodel, including all shelves and bins and even its drive-through pharmacy. I am guessing this is not about being tidy, but about making a tidy profit. I think this is about surge pricing. Apps such as Uber …
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Feds: Pepsi Discriminated Against The Blind
by Kevin Burton If you’re looking for something to drink, or somewhere to work, choose Coke, not Pepsi. According to multiple published reports, PepsiCo hired a blind man for a call center, then fired him rather than get him a screen reader – even after a state vocational rehabilitation counselor offered to buy …
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Coffee Chain Creating Jobs For The Disabled
by Karen Shimizu Food &Wine Bitty & Beau’s is a civil rights movement disguised as a coffee shop. Bitty & Beau’s has everything you could want from a neighborhood café. The coffee is hot and strong, there’s ample seating, and the free wifi encourages you to linger. But the experience it offers is rare …
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Mary Wells Disappeared After “My Guy”
by Kevin Burton In my alternate Motown universe there is a lot more Martha Reeves and a lot less Diana Ross. There is also at least a little more Mary Wells. It’s Wells we focus on today. Sixty years ago, Wells’ “My Guy” became the first Motown record to hit number one on …
Gerry Rafferty Was Born 77 Years Ago Today
by Kevin Burton The headline to an article in The Independent called Gerry Rafferty a “bipolar alcoholic industry misfit.” His biographers including his daughter Martha dispute none of that. The article was printed on the occasion of the 2021 release of “Rest In Blue” an album of Rafferty demos polished and completed by …
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Karaoke Machine Inventor Dies At Age 100
by Kevin Burton Shigeichi Negishi, the inventor of the world’s first commercially-available karaoke machine, has died in Japan at age 100, according to National Public Radio. Never knew the man, but boy has he filled up my Saturday nights. You take a character from Billy Joel’s Piano Man who is“sure that I …
“No Hard Feelings” By Eric Carmen Is A Gem
by Kevin Burton You remember Eric Carmen for “All By Myself” and for the Raspberries’ “Go All The Way.” But it’s one of his B-sides that resonates most with me. We got word last week that Carmen had died at age 74. The news sent my mind to several places, including to a …
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Wendy’s Serves Up A PR Blunderburger
by Kevin Burton In the face of a consumer backlash, Wendy’s is trying to talk its way around plans to implement surge pricing. Wendy’s is the second-largest burger chain in the US, with 6,000 restaurant locations. Last week it announced it would begin fluctuating prices for its food products next year, depending on …
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