Humiliating events have a way of capturing the public's imagination. So it has been since antiquity, when gladiators were pitted against each other and the legions of Spartacus were crucified in endless rows on the way to Rome.

With such enormous bucks devoted to trading in oil and other commodities, the distortions that they cause have been exacerbated.

Rameswaram has, since antiquity, been an important pilgrimage destination.

When the Securities & Exchange Commission settled securities-fraud charges against Richard Harriton, former chairman of the clearing subsidiary of Bear, Stearns & Co., there were smiles all around. The SEC was happy. Harriton was happy. Bear Stearns was happy.

Oil futures were originally created to give heating oil dealers, gas retailers, aviation companies and other businesses a method of hedging against adverse price changes. Instead, they've become just another Wall Street plaything.

Beefs against debt collectors are consistently among the top complaints received by both the FTC and state attorneys general.