| PHH 4th-quarter profit climbs
MT. LAUREL, N.J.—PHH Corp. said late Thursday its profit climbed in the fourth quarter as it recorded lower expenses. PHH earned $12 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with profit of $1 million, or 3 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2006. Revenue slipped 11 percent to $550 million from $615 million, as total expenses fell to $582 million from $613 million. PHH runs three main businesses: a mortgage lending unit, a business that collects loan payments for other lenders and a truck rental company. Income from leasing its truck fleet sank 8 percent to $408 million. The company rented out fewer trucks because of shrinking demand from customers. Fees for collecting mortgage loans fell, and the value of PHH's contracts for collecting loan payments sank $277 million.
The other prostitution scandal
It squanders police resources that could be used to fight real crime, while clogging jails and courts with offenders who will soon be back plying their trade.
Supporters of the status quo say the sex industry is filled with victims of human trafficking -- foreigners forced to work in servitude. Whether such modern-day slaves amount to more than a tiny fraction of hookers, however, has never been proved.
Similar claims have been made about migrant farm laborers and domestic workers -- which is not taken as grounds to ban fruit picking or home cleaning.
Someone whose job is illegal, in fact, is an ideal candidate for such exploitation, since she is unlikely to go to the cops.
But all this is secondary to the priority of human freedom.
Utah air violates new rules
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson called the new limits "the most stringent standards ever," and he said they will require 345 counties -- out of more than 700 that are monitored -- to make air quality improvements because they now have dirtier air than is healthy to breathe. Johnson said that state and local officials have considerable time to meet the requirements -- as much as 20 years for some that have the most serious pollution problems. EPA estimates that by 2020 the number of counties failing to meet the new health standard will drop to about 28. About 85 counties still fall short of the old standard enacted a decade ago. Five counties in Utah -- Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, Washington and Weber -- now are in violation of the rules. Some of those chronic polluters are far above the old limit.
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