Free Republic

Tennessee Ernie Ford wasn’t the first to record ‘Sixteen Tons,’ but he made it his signature song in 1955, and the title track of an album released in 1960. Tennessee Ernie Ford wasn’t the first artist to record “Sixteen Tons,” but he made it his signature. The song, inspired by the travails of the real-life coal miners of Kentucky, was first recorded by one of his forerunners on the Capitol label, Merle Travis, in 1947. That popular version, of a song that bore Travis’ songwriting credit from then on, didn’t show up on the Billboard charts on the day, even...

LJUBLJANA: American International Gro-up Inc ( AIG) Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche said Europe's debt crisis shows governments worldwide must accept that people will have to work more years as life expectancies increase. "Retirement ages will have to move to 70, 80 years old," Benmosche, who turned 68 last week, said during a weekend interview at his seaside villa in Dubrovnik, Croatia. "That would make pensions, medical services more affordable. They will keep people working longer and will take that burden off of the youth." The crisis, now in its third year, threatens to destroy Europe's 17-nation currency union as...

American workers are afraid to take a break. About 57 percent of them don't use all their vacation time each year...