Consumerism

Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed earlier this month that President Trump is “in an altered state right now,” she is the one who appears to be in an “altered state” if she thinks she can use congressional authority under the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.

If any of the super-wealthy people who signed this letter had any real interest in stopping the “pursuit of consumerism,” they would certainly have started with this.

People are clearing out cleaning supplies aisles in stores across the country to protect themselves from  coronavirus, spiking in increase in demand for companies which sell cleaning products.

I grieve the fading of the brick-and-mortar store for reasons great and small.

Counterfeit luxury bracelets from Cartier and other jewelry that would have sold for more than $90 million, had it been real, were recently seized at the Express Consignment Operations hub in Louisville, Ky., Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Wednesday.

Thousands of counterfeit luxury items such as fake Gucci belts, Hermes handbags and Fendi shorts were recently seized at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Wednesday. 

Many years ago, Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – was considered the official start of the holiday shopping season. Now, the first day of November is the true start of the holiday shopping season.

Try not to become misty-eyed at the bygone era of in-flight amenities.

Long gone are the days when business class simply meant slightly larger seats and an extra pillow. Today's top business class airlines are pulling out all of the stops to make sure that passengers arrive at their destinations well-rested, well-fed (you can forget that microwaved airplane meal), and looking forward to a comfortable ride back home. With once-enviable amenities like fold-flat seats and in-flight films becoming the standard for intercontinental travel, more and more air carriers are looking to distinguish themselves through luxurious cabins that incorporate on-board lounges, personal entertainment systems and high-altitude haute cuisine. Read on to discover which airlines really mean business when it comes to giving their business class passengers the top-tier treatment.

Customer service? Sorry, there’s a fee for that. Spirit Airlines recently made the quiet announcement that it will no longer offer its fliers a toll-free customer help number. Instead, the airline is switching to the not-free 801 area code. This tacks on yet another charge to the airline’s already outrageous fee list. According to a 2013 report by the marketing firm IdeaWorks, Sprit only came in one behind JetBlue for being the airline to make the most revenue from fees – and that was out of a sample of 50 carriers. We’ve rounded up some of the craziest fees on Spirit’s long list of charges. Here are some of the more ridiculous ones: