http://www.openmarket.org The Competitive Enterprise Institute Blog Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:01:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Well, what swine flu isn't doing this week is apparently less than what it wasn't doing last week. In other words, it appears to have peaked. How do we know? Here we see it's going down the right side of the bell curve both in terms of deaths and hospitalizations. And there's both ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/07/flu-watch-nov-7-what-swine-flu-isnt-doing-this-week/ A Muslim solder, Nidal Hasan, shot dead 13 people at Fort Hood yesterday. Hasan had earlier exhibited extremist, anti-American propensities, including applauding terrorist attacks against U.S. soldiers. There are different theories as to how this could have happened. One school of thought attributes the tragedy to politically-correct double standards imposed on ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/06/muslim-soldier-kills-13-in-mass-shooting-at-fort-hood-political-correctness-and-gun-control-cited-by-critics/ In a time when the federal government's involvement in the economy appears to only grow, it's encouraging to see at least one industry where the trend may soon move in the opposite direction, even if at the state level. Virginia Governor-elect Bob McDonnell has proposed priviatizing the state's liquor stores -- ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/06/virginia-may-privatize-abc-stores/ The European Commission is once again targeting an American tech company with an antitrust investigation. This time the EC has its sights set on Oracle and it's $7.4 billion bid for Sun Microsystems. In short, the worry is that if Oracle acquires Sun, along with it's popular open-source database software ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/06/european-regulators-target-another-american-tech-company/ CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blog posts from CEI’s fellows and associates sent out via e-mail every Friday. Also included in the Weekly newsletter is a brief description of CEI’s weekly podcast and a feature on a major CEI breakthrough made during the week. To sign up ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/06/cei-weekly-cuomos-antitrust-witch-hunt/ Ed Crane writes today in the Los Angeles Times that "Limited-government conservatives have been undermined by big-government neoconservatives," and that "it is difficult to find noninterventionists in either party." The Democrats demonstrate a disdain for capitalism, free trade and the validity of contracts. They cheer the restriction of certain types ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/06/cato-institutes-ed-crane-on-limited-government-vs-the-parties/ The Free Kareem protest is going on today at 12 pm outside of the Egyptian Cultural and Educational Bureau on New Hampshire just south of Dupont Circle. If you'll be in the area, please stop by and show your support for Kareem Amer, the blogger who is serving a four-year ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/06/free-kareem-dc-rally-today/ Last Sunday's Packers-Vikings game was a big one. Brett Favre beat his old team on its home turf. If you're not sick of all the hype, check out my take on what the game means for Packer fans over at The American Spectator Online. http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/06/friday-fun-brett-bowl-ii/ In recent testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, energy secretary Steven Chu makes a convoluted case for S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, a.k.a. the Kerry-Boxer cap-and-trade bill. Chu argues roughly as follows. Global investment in wind turbines and solar panels could reach $3.6 trillion ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/05/more-on-secy-chus-convoluted-climate-economics/ [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrErshmvP0M 285 234] http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/05/november-5th-march-on-the-capitol-against-government-takeover-of-healthcare/ [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PANE7VugQA 285 234] http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/05/guy-fawkes-day-v-for-vendetta/ Jonathan Pershing, head of the U.S. delegation at the UN climate talks in Barcelona, says China should cut its CO2 emissions 50% by 2050. Reuters reports: BARCELONA, Spain, Nov 5 (Reuters) - China should roughly halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to keep the world on a safe climate path, the head ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/05/climate-policy-imperils-china-india/ Today's American Spectator Online has a piece by CEI VP Wayne Crews and I on curbing Congressional abuse of unfunded mandates. If the term is new to you, unfunded mandates are basically an accounting gimmick that lets government understate how much it costs taxpayers: rather than fund a new federal ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/05/unfunded-mandates/ With the House version stacked bigger than Dolly Parton at about 2,000 pages, anybody who says they know for certain is lying. It's not just the verbiage but how it will be interpreted in the years to come. Still, there's more than enough to be alarmed enough to want to ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/04/just-what-is-in-those-enormous-health-care-bills/ A statement from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo this morning announces the launch of an antitrust lawsuit against chipmaker Intel. Intel supposedly is "bribing" and "coercing" computer manufacturers like Dell, HP into using its chips. Intel gives them money and rebates to use Intel chips. Think about that; they ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/04/ny-attorney-general-files-antitrust-suit-against-intel/ Rumors abound that graphics chip maker Nvidia is getting set to enter the x86 processor market. Recall that, according to AMD's lawyers, the processor market is uncompetitive and being unfairly monopolized by Intel. Now, if the antitrust lawyers are correct, and the CPU market is uncompetitive and needs government intervention, then ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/04/nvidia-rumored-to-compete-in-supposedly-uncompetitive-market/ A new ordinance in Dudley, Massachusetts makes it illegal to own more than three cats without government consent. (Hat tip: Drudge) Having solved all of the community’s other problems, regulators now have the time to turn their attention to what is apparently a spat between neighbors. One resident is upset that ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/04/regulation-of-the-day-69-owning-more-than-three-cats/ The Motion Picture Association of America has come out against net neutrality... sort of. In its filing with the FCC[PDF] late last week, the MPAA reminded the commission of the importance of content companies in driving new infrastructure technologies, and claims that protecting these content companies (i.e. forcing ISPs to ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/03/mpaa-net-neutrality-will-kill-film-industry/ It's been a year since the president was elected, and he's already piled up an impressive list of lies and broken promises. The broken promises include his pledge to enact a “net spending cut,” his promise not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year, and his promise ... http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/03/obama-one-year-later-a-legacy-of-lies-and-broken-promises/ A new Harvard poll, in a ranking of 13 leadership categories, found Congress and the media ranked 11th and 12th respectively. They probably would have been even lower had there been a category for used car salesmen. http://www.openmarket.org/2009/11/03/poll-shows-little-faith-in-government-media/