Junkets

Shamed by images of wealthy corporateers cavorting at the expense of ordinary people, U.S. companies canceled an estimated $1 billion worth of conferences in the first two months of this year and trimmed back on others. Hoteliers are calling it "the AIG effect," after the insurance company that took a public drubbing for spending freely on corporate perks despite its financial turmoil.

On Jianguomenwai Street near Beijing's embassy district, a man dressed in a black jacket and dark pants steps out from behind a hedge. "DVDs? DVDs?" he asks, opening a black shoulder bag filled with several hundred pirated movies.

As ailing Wachovia Corp. waits to see whether it will be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. or Citigroup Inc. -- possibly with taxpayers paying the tab for hundreds of billions of dollars in bad loans -- some of the company's top brokers are preparing to depart Saturday for an all-expenses-paid cruise of the Greek Isles.

The nine-member retirement board manages a $1.5-billion pension fund on behalf of most of county government's 16,000 employees and some other workers.

As the controversy over campaign donations continued to expand, former Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor said Wednesday that there was no connection between firms giving large donations to the Democratic Party and their selection to join two overseas trade missions that he led last year.

William J. Bratton traveled to Israel this week to deliver a speech and meet with police and political leaders, honoring a commitment that Los Angeles officials say was made months before his selection as chief of police.