Even Santa Claus may have to face bribery and corruption on journey to deliver presents. What do you do when faced with a border guard demanding something on the side? A funny video take on the issues from Transparency International: For those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas.
Tag Archives | Holidays
Happy Thanksgiving
That means an extra long weekend for me. Down the road at Plimouth Plantation they hold onto the belief that the first Thanksgiving in the United States happened in 1621 at their location: The history of Thanksgiving goes much further back than Plymouth and 1621. In fact, people across the world from every culture have [...]
Salute a Veteran
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed [...]
Enjoy Columbus Day
I’m enjoying Columbus Day. School is closed and the office is closed. The Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1492. The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria Come to the World’s Columbian Exposition During the fair, replicas of the Nina, the Pinta, [...]
Fourth of July and Compliance
With the Fourth of July on Sunday, most businesses are closed on July 5th. (We hate to waste a good holiday.) What better way to celebrate the independence of the United States than by taking the day off from work and watching stuff blow up. In colonial times, official proclamations were read from the Old [...]
Happy Evacuation Day!
March 17th may mean Saint Patrick’s Day to most of you. Here in Boston it’s Evacuation Day. The holiday commemorates the evacuation of British forces from the city of Boston following the Siege of Boston, early in the American Revolutionary War. (It’s just a coincidence that it coincides with Saint Patrick’s Day.) George Washington fortified [...]
President’s Day
Washington’s Birthday, the federal holiday was originally implemented by the United States Congress in 1880 for government offices in the District of Columbia (20 Stat. 277) and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices (23 Stat. 516). As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was celebrated on Washington’s actual [...]
Out With the Old, In With the New
New Year’s Eve is generally a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. For many it also involves an excessive amount of alcohol, an expensive dinner in a crowded restaurant, or a long wait for Chinese food delivery. I’m sure there is a compliance story in there somewhere. But I’m [...]
Merry Christmas
I’m taking a few days off for the holiday weekend. Image by Das Nili in Wikimedia: Christmas tree near the Quincy Market.jpg
