♦Tavern on the Green Closing, Ending a Family Legacy
Tavern on the Green, the legendary Central Park restaurant that used to be one of the highest-grossing establishments in the country, is closing on December 31. In August 2009, the restaurant lost a bid to renew its operating license with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. One month later, Tavern on the Green filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The restaurant building will be empty on January 1, 2010, anticipating a new owner. [Business Pundit]

♦Madoff's Motto: "F*ck My Victims"
The Wall Street Journal passes along this video profile of K.C. White, a fellow inmate of Bernie Madoff's at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina. When Madoff sat for a portrait with K.C. White... According to White, Madoff was less than repentant for defrauding his clients of billions of dollars. "His whole motto was 'F*ck my victims,'" he said. "That's all he would say." [The Huffington Post]

♦Tag Heuer Stands By Woods, Puts Golfer Front And Center On Its Website!
Obviously they didn't drop him as was reported last week. All we can say is WOW. And talk about a great contrarian bet -- going all-in on the most beaten down asset there is. [The Business Insider]

♦Mail-Order Bride Business Needs Regulation
Every year between 300,000 and 400,000 women are shipped to the United States as part of the sex trafficking trade. Some of these women are mail-order brides. According to Family Law Prof Blog "consumer husbands"-the industry term for men who spend thousands ordering wives through marriage brokers-are often abusive husbands to wives who have litle recourse. [Your Tango]


♦November home sales soar 7.4 percent
Home resales surged last month to the highest level in nearly three years, reflecting an extraordinary level of federal support that has pulled the housing market back from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. [Yahoo Finance]

♦States' jobless funds are being drained in recession
The recession's jobless toll is draining unemployment-compensation funds so fast that according to federal projections, 40 state programs will go broke within two years and need $90 billion in loans to keep issuing the benefit checks. [The Washington Post]

♦Labor Data Show Surge in Hiring of Temp Workers
The hiring of temporary workers has surged, suggesting that the nation's employers might soon take the next step, bringing on permanent workers, if they can just convince themselves that the upturn in the economy will be sustained. [The New York Times]

♦U.S. says airline passengers are free to depart after 3 hours
In a victory for proponents of passenger rights, the Department of Transportation said Monday it would cap at three hours the length of time a plane can sit on the tarmac during airport delays. [The Network Journal]