The Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) defines sunset thus: Sunset is the automatic termination of regulatory boards and agencies unless legislative action is taken to reinstate them. Originally proposed by Colorado in 1976, 36 states adopted sunset legislation. The most common outcomes of sunset reviews were not terminations of agencies and boards as predicted, but administrative and structural changes. By 1990, six states had repealed their sunset laws and another six had suspended the process ("Sunset, Sunrise and Agency Audits").....more

Television is at the heart of American culture: its power and influence are unparalleled. Approximately two-thirds of Americans report that they get most of their information about the world from TV. Though influential, this phenomenon is relatively new. In 1956, only 4.6 million homes in the United States had television sets and no programming was available during many hours every day. By 1990, there were 92.1 million homes with TVs and the average viewer could select from approximately 30 channels. The number of homes with TVs keeps rising...more 

The Depression Years brought out the worst and the best in people. This was probably the reason why the book The Grapes of Wrath, written in 1939 by John Steinbeck (1902-1968), was considered by many critics as the greatest of American novels. It is an enduring tale where the author traces the exploits and travails of the Joad family and looks at how the environment shaped the way the people in the novel made the choices that they had to do. It detailed the hardships of this family amidst those years. Yet it revealed the sense of integrity and wholeness that characterize a simple closely-knit family. No wonder this book has been hailed as one of the best American work of fiction.....more

As a survival strategy, merging with Qantas-backed Jetstar Asia also mitigates a host of disadvantages of being a small budget airline competing with many new budget airlines for limited routes in a crowded Asian market. Branding-wise, it allows Valuair to piggyback on Qantas' brand equity and name recognition not only in Asia but also worldwide. The merger gives Valuair deeper finances to sustain its risk-fraught positioning strategy of being a "premium" carrier among budget carriers. It adds to the depth of experience and management experience available to it. It mitigates cost issues as well and enables Valuair to ride on Qantas' bulk fuel...more  

It can be argued from a review of Exel literature that the underlying technology issues in each of the global logistics company's three major markets of Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) plus the UK and Ireland, Asia Pacific, and the Americas ("Key Facts") do not differ substantially from another, and share common patterns. As a reflection of this, Exel's technology philosophy centers on replicable solutions that are dependable, standardized and easily deployable, and leverages on knowledge of best practices gained from similar projects worldwide....more