THIS is a most unusual book, perhaps because it's part of a thoughtful new series that aims to present "the business book as literature." The volume is not detailed enough to serve as a true biography of the dynasty--like Christopher Hibbert's The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall or, more recently, Paul Strathern's breathless The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance--or as a history of the period. Renaissance specialists will learn nothing from Tim Parks that hasn't been said before--which is not meant as a swipe at Parks, who acknowledges that he must rely on the works of others because he finds the crabbed paleography of the documents too difficult to decipher.

But the general reader will learn from this book a great deal about the era, and those who bestrode it, without getting bogged down in excessive scholarly detail. Even so, they may find, as I confess I did, that one's eyes glaze over about halfway through, when Parks begins to narrate the dizzying intricacies of inter-Italian diplomacy. This section is not badly written--Parks's style is chatty rather than desiccated--but it is confusing and over-compressed. Though the author's descriptions of Florentine ballot-rigging are entertaining, one pangs for a juicy Medici murder to liven things up.

Parks excels when he sticks to what he promises on the cover: a book about the Medicis' money, and the interplay of banking, metaphysics, and art. The title is not entirely accurate: There's relatively little discussion of art, Lord-Clark-of- Civilization-style, with Parks instead ruminating, in best "business book as literature" fashion, on the interaction of cash and religion. These two ostensibly competing elements worked to justify one another--the rich man piously thanking the Lord for showering him with shekels, in return for which blessing he endows the Church--and reached compromises to preserve social order. Rome, for instance, banned usury as against nature on the grounds that when money copulated it produced a monstrous offspring, "interest." In the course of a normal business day, therefore, a banker would violate not only moral law but also several Biblical precepts (see Luke, for example: "Give, without hoping for return"), yet still credit was extended and money lent--to the Church, not infrequently. The two poles of God and Gold were somehow reconciled, but only when both parties did a lot of blind-eye-turning, some nose-holding, and a bit of mutual hand-washing.

This certainly worked out for the Medicis. The Pope needed the Medici bank's expertise to stay liquid, and in return their filthy lucre was laundered by papal blessings. Consider the time when Cosimo de' Medici paid to restore the Monastery of San Marco and received a papal bull absolving him of all his sins, which were as considerable as one might expect: sweet deal. Parks writes that Cosimo was aware of "those blind spots that allow for some useful exchange between metaphysics and money," just as "the Church would pretend that all this beauty was exclusively for the glory of God" and had nothing to do with Cosimo's megalomania. But, a clear-eyed Parks continues, "without such dishonesty, the world would be a duller place." True enough, and it's nice to see some of the Medicis' purchased pieties not taken as seriously as the family would have liked.

Money and religion sought accommodation because they persisted in a state of dynamic tension. Again, take the Church's ban on usury, the raison d'etre of banking: This decision obliged merchants to invent impressively imaginative ways of circumventing it. Consequently, while the facts of banking remained conservative--assessing risk for a living, after all, predisposes a man towards skepticism and temperance--the ban turned the practice into a subversive, creative outlet that threatened to break the Church's power even as it buttressed it.

I don't, however, agree with the argument--advanced by several conservative commentators--that, apart from the usury brouhaha, a forward-looking Church helped foment capitalism by overseeing a continental single market that smashed the "anachronistic" feudalistic system, thus enabling Europe's economic take-off and rise to mastery. But then neither do I assume, as Parks does, that the Church was an inherently reactionary force, the implication being that the Medicis' Renaissance unleashed socioeconomic forces that extinguished a theocratic, medieval world "lit only by fire" (as the title of William Manchester's dreadful book put it).

So, was the Church slitting its own throat by getting into bed with its bankers? Parks thinks so, for he says that usury creates motion in society, and allows the talented and the thrifty to rise above their divinely allotted station. The author makes a strong case in this respect, but I think the argument works only if one exaggerates the stodginess of the Middle Ages. There was, in fact, plenty of social dynamism in medieval society--almost as much as in our own, as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales amply demonstrate. Upward mobility, too: Between 1295 and 1300, 136 English barons were summoned to Edward I's parliament; by 1500, fully 120 of these noble lines had become extinct through disease, ineptitude, misfortune, or impotence. They were replaced by obscure families captained by "men raised from the dust," as one complaint ran against Henry II, who liked promoting the meritorious to keep his barons and clerics on their toes.

The new redesigned and streamlined I Love NY Web site (www.iloveny.com) is geared to be user-friendly for tourists, and also to boost traffic - both online and in person - to the state's many attractions, hotels, and other tourist destinations.

The main goal of the redesign was to make the site easier for tourists to use, not only to gather information, but to also make their reservations online, says Arnold (A.J.) Carter, senior vice president of communications for Empire State Development, which administers the I Love NY program.

In the past, people would use the Internet to get ideas and gather information, but still preferred to make a phone call to make reservations, Carter says. But today, that has changed and more and more tourists want a one-stop shop.

With enhanced online-reservation capabilities, tailored community promotional material, an online travel magazine, areas for foreign visitors, "Getaways" value-added packages, and electronic brochures, the redesigned Web site can fit the needs of just about every tourist, Carter contends.

"It's geared toward getting you to make your reservation on the spot," he says. Quick links to attractions and accommodations make it easier for travelers.

The project began about a year ago, and White and Power, Inc. of Troy did the redesign work. The project was awarded on a competitive-bid basis, Carter says, but he did not have information on the project total available.

The design was based on input from focus groups made up of tourists and tourism-industry members, Carter says. The end result is a Web site that will appeal to consumers in various stages of travel planning by giving access to more than 12,000 listings of attractions, activities, accommodations, events, and other tourism facilities across the state.

The new "Our Cities & Towns" sections give information for travelers to specific areas. "That's a new section where you can say, 'I'm going to be in suchand-such a town. What is there to do there?... Carter says.

The site has offered online reservations - for a while, but the former system was clunky and harder to use, he says.

The new site uses accommodation and campgroundreservation partnerships with the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association; the Campground Owners of New York; the Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation; and the Department of Environmental Conservation to provide reservation access to a variety of hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, state campgrounds, and privately owned campgrounds through the site.

The I Love NY site is a "great' portal to link travelers to information about the state, says Erin Bartolo, director of communications and marketing for the Syracuse Convention and Visitors Bureau. The redesign of the site makes it even better, she notes.

"This is a little more userfriendly," she says. "It has something for everybody but doesn't sacrifice the authenticity of New York."

It also helps that I Love NY, which is marking its 30th anniversary this year, is one of the most widely recognized state brands, Bartolo says.

At $43 billion annually, tourism is a big-bucks industry in the state that employs 700,000 people directly and indirectly.

New York City has long been the tourism hub of the state, but the new I Love NY site will let travelers know there is more to see in New York than just the Big Apple, Carter says.

We spent Christmas and New Year in Tangier. It was spicy and colourful, smelly, exotic and wonderful -- everything we could have hoped for. But, surprisingly, the best bit about it was the journey: we travelled to Morocco by train and boat.

I'd been slightly dreading it. Our children, Alfie and Notty, are six and four, not the best ages for spending long hours sitting still. Would they drive us/each other/our fellow passengers mad? I could only pack their bags full of books and games and hope not.

We'd made the commitment after all, the tickets were booked and there was no turning back.

It was last summer, after an idle morning on the computer calculating our family's carbon footprint and discovering that a whopping 80 per cent of it was attributable to air travel, that we decided to give up flying.

We would, instead, become 'slow travellers', cutting out the planes and sticking to trains and automobiles. We knew that, on the grand scale of things, it would be a small gesture, a particle of cleaner air in the purple cloud of world carbon emissions. But to a family like us, who love the adventure of foreign places, and who have always hopped on a plane at the slightest excuse -- both for work and for pleasure -- it's a big deal. Especially in winter.

Our friends and family divided themselves roughly into two camps: those who thought we were crazy, and the rest who couldn't believe we'd stick it. Both camps agreed that going to Morocco and back on a train with two young children was the height of nuttiness. But the days were getting shorter and we needed to prove -- if only to ourselves -- that it could be done, that rejecting flying did not mean we had to confine ourselves to our small corner of Europe. Unlike Tony Blair, who recently backtracked on his pledge to stop flying when he leaves office, we were determined to stick to our metaphorical guns.

Planning the trip was gratifyingly easy.

There's a great website called www. seat61. com, set up by a retired railway fanatic, who has worked out every train route from London to Europe and beyond, along with times and prices. It was the prices that were harder to stomach -- considerably more than easyJet, about comparable to a short-notice, peak-season BA fare. But once we factored in two nights accommodation, on the 'train-hotel' between Paris and Madrid and back, it began to seem almost reasonable. Certainly, mile for mile, the cost of French and Spanish trains was a fraction of the British ones.

The first twinges of anxiety arrived as our departure date approached. This translated into snarkiness when anyone appeared to doubt our decision. 'The damage done by planes is being hyped up by the media: trains aren't much better, ' said one high-flying friend. (He's wrong. Emissions directly into the atmosphere can magnify the damage several-fold. By travelling by train we probably reduced the damage caused by our trip to a tenth of the equivalent plane trip. ) And when the day came and we arrived at our local Wiltshire station to find the London train had been cancelled, threatening our whole itinerary, I nearly lost the plot altogether. Thankfully, we made it, and once we were off British soil, the trains ran with astonishing punctuality.

They were more comfortable too.

Our berths on the train-hotel were made up with crisp cotton sheets.

There were linen tablecloths in the dining car, a proper menu and large wine glasses.

The following day, whizzing through the winter sunshine down to the Spanish coast, through Cordoba and beyond, I realised the more tangible benefit of our train travel: like our method of transport, we had slowed down. All four of us were able to be happy doing not very much (well, with a bit of portable DVD action from the kids), gazing out of the window, dreaming about Spanish farms, reading. We'd calmed our pace even before we reached our final destination, which made the delayed ferry, the snarled up Tangerian rushhour traffic, the African sense of time-keeping authentic rather than unbearable. We'd begun our holiday before we even arrived.

I don't know exactly how many carbon tonnes we saved by going by train. We're certainly not going to save the planet alone. But we did what we could, and our trip was better for it. We've changed our travel philosophy so that getting there has become as important -- and as much fun -- as being there. I'm not sure we can go back now. We don't want to. So, come Easter, we're heading to Venice: first stop, Waterloo Station.

A state appeals court has reversed Pennsylvania's approval of a 2005 merger between Verizon and MCI, saying state regulators failed to protect ratepayers. In a 30-page ruling, the Commonwealth Court said the state Public Utility Commission did not study the anticompetitive effects of the merger and fell short of a legal duty to ensure that the merger would benefit customers.

Verizon Communications Inc., Pennsylvania's largest telephone company with about 6 million lines, and MCI Inc. applied for state approval of their merger in March 2005. The merger was completed in January 2006.

"We find that there was no evidence that the merger of Verizon and MCI in Pennsylvania would affirmatively promote the service, accommodation, convenience or safety of the public in some substantial way," Judge Dan Pellegrini wrote. The court sent the matter back to the utility commission to either reject the merger or impose conditions.

The PUC also approved the purchase of Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises by Stamford, Conn.-based Citizens Communications Company. The PUC's approval completes all required regulatory approvals. Both parties expect the transaction to close later this month. The PUC found that the merger will limit rate increases for the next three years, deploy stand-alone high-speed Internet service to customers for two years and will increase bandwidth availability within three years.

Hundreds of thousands more consumers will soon have the choice of Verizon's FiOS TV service under California's first state-issued video franchise granted by the Public Utilities Commission. Under the franchise, Verizon can offer FiOS TV in 45 more communities in Southern California, an addition to the 18 communities where the service is already available under locally approved franchises. Verizon was the first company to file an application for a state- issued video franchise under California's new, pro-consumer video franchise law, which took effect Jan. 1.

Maine

Hundreds of union members are protesting the proposed $2.7 billion sale of Verizon's local lines to FairPoint Communications, which requires Public Utilities Commission approval. The PUC must consider rates and quality of service in making its decision. FairPoint reportedly filed a memo with the PUC, asking that the union be limited to asking about labor and employment issues. The unions are contending that the sale is bad for consumers because FairPoint is too small and undercapitalized to maintain and expand Verizon's network. Dozens of parties have filed as interveners in the case. Unions that represent 2,800 Verizon employees, including the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, are worried that the deal will hurt workers.

Missouri

The Public Service Commission is reviewing the current surcharge that appears on monthly telephone bills to fund a statewide dual-party telephone relay service called Relay Missouri. The Missouri General Assembly established Relay Missouri in 1990, and the PSC is required under law to review the surcharge at least every two years, but not more than on an annual basis. The review is to ascertain that necessary funds are available for providing the program. In a memorandum filed with the PSC on Feb. 9, the PSC staff, after reviewing anticipated fund expenditures and payments, determined the current surcharge is sufficient to meet the demands of the fund. Thus, it has recommended that the PSC maintain the current 13 cents/month surcharge.

Florida

Hundreds of thousands of Floridians don't know they are eligible for a $13.50 savings on their monthly phone bill. Under bills proposed by state Rep. Juan Zapata (R-Miami) and Sen. Nancy Argenziano (R-Crystal River), phone companies would be required to automatically enroll those who fit the criteria: the poor and elderly. Currently, people have to apply with the Public Service Commission online or by mail. To qualify, one must be receiving certain types of federal or state assistance such as food stamps, Medicaid or Section 8 housing. Although a similar proposal was shot down by senators in 2005, lawmakers are confident.

In related news, more than 3,300 Verizon customers will share $89,708 in refunds ordered by the PSC. The refunds will go to customers overcharged for calling card calls made from September 2004 to August 2006. During a recent service-quality-evaluation program, PSC staff discovered Verizon was billing some customers 75 cents per minute instead of 50 cents per minute on certain optional long-distance calling plans.

Georgia

The Public Service Commission voted 4:1 to establish new rules restricting interactions between commissioners and lobbyists. Forty-eight other states have some form of limits on private conversations between utility regulators and the parties involved in the contested cases being decided by those regulators. Only Georgia and Louisiana have none, allowing lobbyists to bend regulator ears about a pending behind closed doors. The proposed legislation would require communication between commissioners and parties in a case pending before the commission to take place in the open, with all parties present. There could be exceptions, but they must come with documentation.