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Regulation of the Day 159: Playing Chess
"A squad of cops in bulletproof vests" arrested seven men for playing chess in a New York City park.
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Afternoon Links: November 18, 2010
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Charles Rangel: Swamp Still Full
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Chinese Woman Sent to Labor Camp for Re-Tweet
When Cheng Jianping didn’t show up for her wedding ceremony on October 27th, her fiancé and family thought she’d gotten cold feet. But this week,…
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TSA Officers Are Not Screened for Psychological Problems
“I want to do patdowns on airplane passengers. What would TSA need from me before I have authority to do whatever is required to check…
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Now! In Black and White, the Toyota Hysteria Exemplified!
It’s not “live!” It’s not even “In color!” And there’s no sound. But it’s quite stunning. A surveillance video posted by Fox Chicago News…
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Texas Veterinarians Want a Cut of Horse Dentists’ Profits
Three cheers for horse dentists in Texas and the Institute of Justice (IJ) which took up their defense. After three years, IJ and the horse…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Sen. Rockefeller: FCC Should Take Fox News, MSNBC Off Airways: “SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV): “There’s a little bug inside of me which…
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Joe Biden vs. Adam Smith
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Records on appeal
Under Fed. R. App. Proc. 30(b), appellants and appellees are to coordinate the production of a joint record on appeal, the appendix of the…
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GM IPO Date Set for Tomorrow: What’s Good for New GM is Bad for the Rest of America
In his 1953 confirmation hearing for Secretary of Defense in the incoming Eisenhower administration, former General Motors CEO Charles “Engine Charlie” Wilson was asked how…
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TSA’s John Pistole Offers to Probe Senators: Shouldn’t He Buy Them Dinner First?
TSA chief John Pistole offered to give enhanced pat-downs to senators at a hearing today on TSA's new screening policies.
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Last Call for Ethanol: Biofuel Lobby Out in Full Force
With 2011 a month and a half away, the ethanol industry is pushing full steam ahead for a renewal of the tax credit and tariff…
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The Power of Incumbency: Charlie Rangel Edition
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Afternoon Links: November 17, 2010
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Why You Should CARE About the Ban on Four Loko
Late yesterday evening, the maker of Four Loko announced it was removing caffeine from the popular alcohol beverage. This came following media-driven hysteria, state…
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Union Members: Where Do Your Dues Go?
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Four Loko Crackdown: FDA Set to Ban Caffeinated-Alcohol Drinks
It looks as though the FDA is now set to ban the small but growing market for so-called alcohol-energy drinks, such as Four Loko and…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Internet Explorer 9 Caught Cheating in SunSpider Benchmark?: “A Mozilla engineer has uncovered something embarrassing for Microsoft – Internet Explorer is cheating…
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Celebrate Egyptian Blogger Kareem Amer’s Freedom by Defending Free Speech
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Afternoon Links: November 16, 2010
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TSA Screening: What are the Limits?
Top security officers claim these invasive scans are necessary for our safety. In a news conference at Reagan National Airport, Department of Homeland Security Secretary…
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Milton Friedman on Other People’s Money
Milton Friedman always had a way with words. His brilliance in the following video not only explains the moral problem with using other people’s money,…
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Pro-Pedestrian Advocates Push Deadly Policies
One thing that never surprises me is how often anti-car zealots fail to consider trade-offs before blindly screaming for their preferred policies. Take, for example,…
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In re Apple Inc. Securities Litigation: parties modify settlement
You may recall that I was not pleased with an Apple settlement that provided for $2.5 million to go to a series of universities…
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Time to Privatize? The Economics of Social Security
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Online Casino Gambling Moves Forward in New Jersey
As I reported last week, though federal attempts to legalize online gambling have seen little progress in the last year, states’ efforts have shown…
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Spitzer, Seoul, and Wall Street
Eliot Spitzer, who occasionally publishes over at Slate, wrote yesterday about President Obama’s “disastrous Asia trip” and decried America’s fall from grace as a world leader.
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: 2 Dems claim Arianna Huffington stole website idea: “Two Democratic consultants are accusing Arianna Huffington and her business partner…
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Pat-Downs or Full-Body Imaging? TSA Airport Security Backlash
The TSA has crossed a line. Its new security procedures require employees to either touch passengers’ genitals or take pictures of them. The public backlash…
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Afternoon Links: November 15, 2010
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Tobacco Control Hysteria Goes Global
The wars on tobacco and smokers have gone global, as evidenced by international bureaucrats from the World Health Organization meeting in Uruguay this week…
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CEI Podcast — November 15, 2010: Free Speech and Video Games
Associate Director of Technology Studies Ryan Radia gives his take on a Supreme Court case concerning California’s ban of violent video game sales to minors.
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The TSA Can’t Help Being Annoying
With the holiday travel season approaching fast, public anger at the federal Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) increasingly invasive airport passenger screening procedures — full…
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Debunking the Abner Doubleday Myth: Baseball as Spontaneous Order
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Sam Kazman on Cigarette Warning Labels
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaNCeIN0Ka8 285 234]…
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12 Ridiculous Regulations
In Texas, computer repair technicians are required to get a private investigator's license, plus more.
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TSA versus America
The TSA doesn’t have very many friends these days. Do they deserve any? In an interview (halfway down on the left sidebar), John…
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Fiscal Commission Should Support Increased Energy Production, Not Increased Energy Taxes
Among the many suggestions in the Fiscal Commission’s draft report is a 15 cents-per-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax. No doubt, this…
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Quantitative Easing Explained (Video Comedy)
Sometimes humor is better at explaining economic concepts than wonkish theory. Below is an interesting video regarding quantitative easing. Although it may place too much…
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Be Thankful for BPA-Lined Canned Goods this Thanksgiving
Well-meaning environmentalist Mindy Pennybacker, author of Do One Green Thing: Saving the Earth Through Simple, Everyday Choices, offers some sagely foolish advice…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: University Begins Reporting All P2P Users to the Police: “Georgia’s Valdosta State University has updated its network with software that can…
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Maryland Considers Privatizing Liquor Sales
The only place residents of Montgomery County, Maryland, can purchase liquor is in county-owned stores, which until recently were only open six days a week.
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Afternoon Links: November 12, 2010
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November 24: National Opt Out Day
OptOutDay.com the website and group is urging air-travelers on November 24 (one of the busiest travel days of the year) to refuse to submit…
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The Market Works as Shop Closes
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CEI Weekly: CEI Asks High Court to Hear Tobacco Case
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Cubans upset at video game that aims to kill Fidel Castro: “Cuba’s state-run media and bloggers are not amused at “Call of…
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Dear Progressives, Wake Up!
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WHO Study on BPA: No Measurable Risks
The American Council on Science and Health has a great post on bisphenol A (BPA), noting yet another study that exonerates the chemical,…
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CEI Podcast – November 11, 2010: Taxing New IRS Regulations
Fellow in Regulatory Studies Ryan Young explains how an IRS proposal for mandatory certification of tax preparers would hurt consumers and taxpayers.
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Afternoon Links: November 11, 2010
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Obama’s Labor Department Again Pushes Forced Unionism
You are at work one day and a couple of police vehicles pull up. They go into the administrative office area and the next thing…
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America: Where “High-Speed Rail” is Not High-Speed Rail
Yesterday, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood addressed a crowd of Midwest rail fans, saying, “Twenty-five years from now, because of the president’s vision, we will…
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Product Bans Are More Dangerous than Four Loko
How many people follow up a heavy night of drinking with some coffee? How many restaurants serve coffee and desert right after dinners where diners…
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Honeycomb House: A Fresh Foreclosure Horror
Problems with empty, foreclosed, or otherwise house-poor homes no longer stop at suburban sprawl; now mosquito and wildcat infestations threaten to lower real estate values…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Brumby promises every doctor in public hospitals an iPad: “Victorian Premier, John Brumby, yesterday promised every doctor in the…
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Towards a Goal of Smaller Government
After Republicans swept the House in last Tuesday’s elections, President Obama took “full responsibility” for Democrats’ losses, saying: I’ve got to do a better…
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Joe Biden’s Weak Case for Government Meddling
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The Washington Version of Spending Cuts
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Afternoon Links: November 10, 2010
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Confessions of a Gasoline Call Girl
Marc J. Rauch, Executive Vice President/Co-Publisher of The Auto Channel, posted a lengthy diatribe on the American Petroleum Institute’s recent lawsuit on the EPA’s approval…
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Adam Smith on Lotteries
I didn’t know there were state-run lotteries in 1776, but apparently there were, because Adam Smith explains what a bad deal they are in The…
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How Much Does Government Spending Cost You?
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Regulation of the Day 158: Preparing Taxes
The IRS wants to require all tax preparers to register with them, pass an exam, and take continuing education classes.
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Consumer Leverage and Government Deficits
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Dear Starbucks: The skinny on how you can be a security hero: “The recent hubbub around Firesheep has provided me with a…
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CEI Takes Corrupt Tobacco Deal to Supreme Court
On Monday, CEI took its constitutional challenge to the corrupt 1998 tobacco deal to the US Supreme Court, appealing the case from Fifth Circuit…
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Legalized Internet Gambling in New Jersey?
What does it take to get governments to deregulate? You might think the answer is “a miracle” or maybe “drugs in the water,” both of…
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Afternoon Links: November 9, 2010
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Video Games are More than Just Good for Kids
They will be a primary way that we learn, teach, produce and advance in the future. Jane McGonigal of Institute for the Future has…
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Russia’s Frozen Poulty Ban — Not Likely a Path for WTO Membership
Russia will be banning frozen chicken imports beginning January 1. The reason for the proposed ban? The head of the Russian agency in charge…
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Vincent Vernuccio on Card Check
Watch the interview on YouTube. …
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: LimeWire Resurrected By Secret Dev Team: “Last month, the Gnutella-based file-sharing client LimeWire was effectively outlawed after a U.S. federal judge granted…
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Tea Partiers’ Winning “Contract from America”
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New York Bans Smoking in Central Park
…and all other public outdoor spaces. Soon there will be no smoking in any car-banned area of New York City, including Times Square, Central Park,…
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USDA Puts Fox in Charge of Guarding the Hen House
A proposed new rule from the USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration is one more example of obscure regulatory agencies run amok. What makes…
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Will Trade Be a Winner in the New Congress?
In its Sunday editorial, The Washington Post takes an upbeat post-election look at the prospects for stalled trade agreements, especially the pending U.S.-Korea Free…
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A New Face for High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Via The Huffington Post, an update on Big Corn’s quest to continue fueling our tasty beverages: The makers of high fructose corn syrup want…
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Chris Horner on Overestimation of Emissions
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The United States of Cheese
When I scanned The New York Times website on Sunday, I—like most readers—was immediately distracted by this headline: “While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes…
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NFL Concussion Economics
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Massive Property Tax Increases Coming for Homeowners in Northern Virginia
Homeowners in Northern Virginia may face massive, record-setting property tax increases of 20 percent or more in the upcoming year. One reason is the EPA’s…
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Afternoon Links: November 8, 2010
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Regulation of the Day 157: Unlicensed Barbering
In Orange County, Florida, barbering without a license is illegal. The regulation is being enforced with armed raids.
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: Lamebook Sues Facebook Over Trademark Infringement. Wait, What?: “Here’s a head scratcher, at first glance at least: Lamebook , a hilarious advertising-supported…
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An End to Out-of-State Beer?
Would you be steamed if you couldn’t buy Anchor Steam (of San Francisco, CA), or go into a flying rage without Flying Dog (of Maryland)?…
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The Problem With Public-Private Partnerships
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Non-Partisan Victory: Dallas Eliminates “Dry” Areas
Cheers to Dallas voters who supported an initiative to eliminate “dry” areas (aka areas where alcohol was completed banned) of the city, which passed with…
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Afternoon Links: November 5, 2010
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Liquor Privatization Still has Hope in Washington
As my colleague Angela Logomasini wrote in a post earlier today, voters in Washington State vetoed two measures that would have privatized liquor sales in…
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Hillary Clinton Angers Greens
A number of environmental groups asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to remove herself from the decision process in whether or not the TransCanada oil-sands…
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Alcohol Bureaucracy Prevails in Washington State
Washington State voters rejected an initiative that would have re-organized this industry simply to make it more rational, market-based, and fairer. The initiative,…
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Menthol Cigarettes: In or Out?
In 2009, President Obama–a semi-closeted smoker–signed the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.” The law granted the FDA new powers to regulate tobacco advertising.
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Smart Growth Decreases Housing Affordability
Wendell Cox had an interesting article this week on his new findings on land-use regulation and housing prices. Long a critic of smart-growth…
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CEI Weekly: Post-Election Roundup
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Ron Paul to Head Federal Reserve Oversight Subcommittee?
In a bizarre turn of events following Tuesday’s elections, Rep. Ron Paul, the government’s #1 “end or audit the Fed” guy, will likely be in…
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Morning Media Summary
Tech: People have “right to be forgotten” online, says EU: “The European Commission wants to strengthen data protection rules to give more power…
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Regulation of the Day 156: Happy Meals
With an 8-3 vote, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors banned the greatest menace facing it or any other city: happy meals.
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An Election-Night Win For Domestic Energy Jobs
Draw up a map of the U.S. and shade in the regions that rely on energy jobs — places like Appalachia, the Rockies, western Gulf…