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Lott Vindicated?
Some readers may remember the long-running defamation suit between John “Freedomnomics” Lott and Steven “Freakonomics” Levitt. Defamation suits are rarely settled in the plaintiff’s favor,…
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Reformist Attorneys General Target Abuses
In recent years, some state attorneys general have used their offices to sponsor lawsuits that redistribute billions of dollars from businesses into the pockets of…
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State attorneys general in town today to criticize activist colleagues
The Federalist Society helpfully hosted a panel discussion today on the on-going abuse of power by state attorneys general – otherwise known as attorney…
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Opera funding — public or private?
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Bergman and Antonioni — a personal appreciation
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They Say They Are A Revolution
Friends of the Earth is trying to organize a YouTube “revolution” on global warming, starting with unhappy pop stars. Climate Resistance isn’t impressed:…
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Michael Eckhart apologizes to Marlo Lewis — or does he?
Dear Marlo: I’ve received quite a lot of correspondence from people around the country about my July 13 email to you, and they have persuaded…
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How much will the Farm Bill cost the average family?
WashingtonWatch today listed the cost of the farm bill (H.R. 2419) just passed by the House last Friday. It seems like the average American…
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Should Disaster Insurance Be Compulsory?
A masthead editorial (full text by subscription only) lays out a compelling case for mandatory purchase of catastrophe insurance. I’ve long supported something close…
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Google: Open to Its Own Model
Openness--in our culture filled with feel-goodery and self congratulation openness is seen as a good thing--a trait that any liberal and modern person should hope…
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Species Conservation — Turtles and Tigers
A recent Reuters article and video noted the plight of the leatherbacked turtles as it reported on the release of hundreds of baby turtles…
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FDA Tobacco Regulation Bill Tramples Free Speech, Advertisers Say
Advertisers are objecting to the bill that would subject the tobacco industry to FDA regulation, saying that its restrictions on tobacco advertising would violate…
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Google Demands Fairness, When Convenient
Google’s Policy Blog today makes a succinct argument for why its purchase of DoubleClick should be approved. While I find their reasoning compelling and…
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Carney on “Abuser Fee” Abuse
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Farm Bill becomes a partisan pork party
Today, the House passed the 2007 Farm Bill — with a vote of 231 – 191, along partisan lines. [Corrected] The fly in the…
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Maurice Strong
Why am I not surprised to see his name involved with cap-and-trade? Let’s see, he was involved in Oil for Food, and cash funneled via…
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FDA Regulation: Harmful to Smokers’ Health?
Congress is on the verge of passing a bill that would subject tobacco products to FDA regulation. The FDA regulation bill would make it…
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Sugar amendment offered during Farm Bill debate
During debate on the House floor on the Farm Bill this morning, sugar was on the agenda in the form of an amendment…
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Farm Bill debate starts by focusing on tax increases on businesses
House floor debate on the 2007 Farm Bill — H.R. 2419 — began at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, with a contentious beginning focusing on a…
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“Fisher Price mining tools”
Pundits discuss the merits of preserving traditional cultures….well, not really — from the Onion News Network, strategies for making poor Africans feel good about…
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Will GE inherit Lord Browne’s legacy?
Christine, Your post about GE’s new carbon-offset credit card is part of the corporation’s “Ecomagination” program. Its nifty website says that if…
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Dan Koshland R.I.P.
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GE credit card saves me from guilt!
Thank goodness for GE's kind offer to alieve my guilt. Seems that GE is issuing a credit card that allows users to contribute a portion…
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The R Word
Recession. I dare to mention the word because the energy bill that the Senate has passed and that the House is now considering will push…
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“He Only Saved a Billion People”
Newsweek has a story on Norman Borlaug, the father of the Green Revolution, whose advances in biotechnology saved a billion people from starvation in…
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Update on 2007 Farm Bill — Administration issues critique — and warning
On the eve of House consideration of the 2007 Farm Bill, the Bush Administration has just sent a statement from the Office of Management…
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Farm bill scheduled for House tomorrow — Bush will veto, says Ag Secretary
Today Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns said that the President may veto the 2007 Farm Bill, scheduled for full House consideration tomorrow, because it…
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Brother, can you spare several hundred million bolivars?
The online version of Foreign Policy features a list of the word’s five worst currencies: The Somali shilling, Iraqi dinar, North Korean won, Venezuelan…
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A Dopp of Smear
The Wall Street Journal weighs in today on expose of smear tactics used by Darren Dopp, a communications aide to former New York Attorney…
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Cap and Trade not enough for Australian Greens
Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced July 17 that he will introduce legislation this Fall to set up an emissions trading scheme. “The scheme will…
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Eliot Spitzer Aides Caught Playing Dirty Tricks
Aides and close advisers of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer have been caught trying to plant dirt on a political rival, state senate…
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Thinking Outside the SarbOx
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Eckhart Update
Two weeks ago my colleague, Iain Murray, posted on The Corner an email from Michael Eckhart, President of the American Council on Renewable Energy…
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Pickets for Hire Raise Homeless Activists’ Ire
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Nonagenarians in the news
Nonagenarians — people in their nineties — are making news this month. Last week Norman Borlaug received the Congressional Gold Medal for his lifetime…
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Is Traditional Landline Telephone Service Even Worth Saving?
The failure of SunRocket–which I write about here–has left a fair number of people without landline telephone service. Nothing bad seems to have happened…
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More on subsidies for dead farmers — in the GAO’s words
Here’s a copy of the Government Accountability Office’s report on large farm subsidy payments made to dead farmers, which was released today at a…
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The downside of bipartisanship — 2007 Farm Bill
At an hour-and-a-half press conference this morning, House Agriculture Committee members, perhaps sensitive to revelations that dead farmers have been receiving huge farm subsidies,…
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Call me a dictator, will you? I’ll show you!
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The curious case of the Japanese beetle
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Hands off VOIP
Today's New York Times carries a story about the sudden failure and shutdown of my former home telephone company, SunRocket. Although it obviously…
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Anti-AIDS Spending Backfires
A U.N. effort to reduce the spread of AIDS to children by encouraging HIV-positive mothers to use formula rather than breast feeding has backfired…
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Two Cheers for House Small Business Committee
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Nuisance Lawsuits Shielded by Democratic Leaders
Protection against nuisance lawsuits for private citizens who report suspicions of terrorist activity was removed by Congressional Democratic leaders from homeland security legislation. Both houses of Congress had…
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Nevada Network Security: Good Enough for Government Work
Declan McCullagh has a hilarious story today about the crack team that Nevada’s governor has providing his office with computer security: If you ever…
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David Thibault, RIP
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The Marshall Plan for Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Our good friends over at the George C. Marshall Institute have a new study out on cap and trade by economist Michael Canes. And…
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Re: Historical Perspective on the Second Amendment
Brad, While I find your observation that “that the crime rate would go down if every single household were given a handgun” to be…
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Offset Your Lunch?
The next time you grab a burger for lunch, you’re part of the global warming problem. That, at least, is the upshot of a…
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One Out of Two Ain’t Bad
I’m pleased to report that Al Gore is innocent of charges of hypocrisy related to serving Chilean Sea Bass at his daughter’s wedding celebrations. The…
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Just say NO to the fuel economy fetishists
My colleague Myron Ebell sometimes describes industry's response to global warming and oil import alarmism as: "Circle the wagons and everybody shoot into the middle."…
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Thoughts on the Immigration Debate, part 2
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Thoughts on the Immigration Debate
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FDA Authority: Less Is More
Our good friend (and adjunct fellow) Henry Miller of the Hoover Institute responds in the pages of Regulation to charges that the FDA…
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Just Don’t Drink Water?
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) doesn’t want you to drink bottled water because it’s a waste of resources. Tap water is just as good they…
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People Always Throw Tantrums When They’re Young
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Farm bill — Ag Committee gives strong support to energy title
Today at the Agriculture Committee debate on the 2007 Farm Bill (see the live streaming video here), a significant portion of the debate focused…
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Racially Labeling Your Child
My family is puzzling over what racial label to pin on our children. Because of their different ethnic backgrounds, my daughter and my nephew might…
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Cap-and-Trade: Everything Old Is New Again
In its story “Big bucks at stake in cap-and-trade allocations”, Tuesday’s Greenwire (subscription required) offered another in a series of examples of how even…
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Counties Challenge Congress on Climate Change
Catching up on emails, I see that Tuesday’s E&E Daily (subscription required) notes that Senator Bingaman yesterday touted his “Low Carbon Economy Act”…
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More on Singletary and Greenie Home Ec
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Too much union disclosure?
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A Man for All Seasons, Norman Borlaug
Yesterday Norman Borlaug received the Congressional Gold Medal, America's highest civilian award. This humble and unpretentious microbiologist and plant breeder is credited with saving over…
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Back to Singletary’s solar lady
Eli, in your one cheer for Singletary, it sounds as if you’re falling into the risk-benefit, cost-benefit analysis approach to regulation. Yes, I…
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Worthy Pleasure Seekers of the World Unite
Today the Senate Finance Committee is considering the “Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007,” which, according to James Thorner of…
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How sweet it is — for sugar producers
As the House Agriculture Committee begins debate on the 2007 Farm Bill today, eight public interest groups sent a letter to committee members…
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Washington Appeals Decision Striking Down Gun Ban
Washington, D.C. bans handguns, even when used solely for self-defense. Earlier this year, its gun ban was struck down under the Second Amendment by…
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Gigantic Class Action Lawsuit at Death’s Door
Earlier, I wrote about the gigantic class action lawsuit in Schwab v. Philip Morris, in which the tobacco companies are being sued for selling…
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Plans for the A380
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One Step Toward a Tobacco Monopoly
The New York Times has a story today on the FDA regulation bill, which would place the tobacco industry under FDA regulation. The bill…
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India Adapts
Deepak Lal has a typically thoughtful essay in New Delhi’s Business-Standard this week. He finds there are many reasons for India to rethink its…
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“We are able to reach less people”–U.N. Food Program
This pair of articles by Javier Blas and Jenny Wiggins of the Financial Times is of direct relevance to the debate in Washington,…
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Why So Shy?
After Live Earth missed its promised audience of 2 billion by about, oh, 1.9 billion (and that’s charitable), one has to wonder how much money…
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One Cheer for Singletary
Christine: Like you, I dislike Singletary’s hectoring tone but I think that she inadvertently makes a pretty good point: Market prices can provide a…
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FDA Regulation of Tobacco Opposed
Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina is opposing a bill to place the tobacco industry under the jurisdiction of the FDA. He cites the…
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How’s that? Save money by painting yourself green?
I’m worried about Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post‘s personal investment columnist. From her, you would expect to hear advice on how to build personal wealth…
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What Lending Crisis?
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Macomber on Brookes
At The American Spectator, Shawn Macomber has very good article on Warren Brookes, after whom CEI’s journalism fellowship is named. He highlights Brookes’s…
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More Controversy About the N-Word
The Montgomery County Schools are eliminating a lesson plan designed to prepare students to read Harper Lee’s classic To Kill A Mockingbird, saying that…
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Just Say No…to The Yes Men
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We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Tablet
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Government Wisdom
The House Agriculture Committee’s homepage features a message from the chairman that includes this line: Every American who eats should recognize the importance of…
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Would You Like Some Wood Pulp With That?
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Is false advertising truthful if it is stupendously false?
What prompts this question is a full-page advertisement in today’s (July 11, 2007) Wall Street Journal by BASF, “The Chemical Company.” The ad features a…
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Attorneys General: Corruption By Contingency Fee
Adam Liptak of The New York Times recently wrote about the increasing practice by state attorneys general of hiring trial lawyers to bring lawsuits…
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Hate Crimes Bill is Back
Earlier, I wrote about how the federal hate crimes bill contains provisions that would undermine protections against double-jeopardy and constitutional federalism safeguards (see here,…
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A message from the President of the American Council on Renewable Energy
A few days ago, our colleague Dr. Marlo Lewis had a column over at The American Spectator on the current debate in Congress over…
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Less reliable than Old Ben’s Almanack?
Tim Worstall has a very interesting post over at the Adam Smith Institute blog on the validity of those temperature projections that get the…
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A Second Look at Second Life Analogies
My letter to the Washington Post regarding Michael Gerson’s “Where the Avatars Roam,” which appeared in the Post last week: Michael Gerson’s July 6…
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Historic buildings vs. enviro-think
In today’s Wall Street Journal, an interesting article (reg. req’d.) on the collision between building preservation and enviro-think. Seems that people who move into…
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Delegated democracy?
Paul Chesser of North Carolina’s John Locke Foundation has a useful article in today’s Washington Times about how one advocacy group, funded by leftist…
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They Can Have My Maserati When They Pry My Cold, Dead Hands off the Steering Wheel
Bloomberg’s Doron Levin presents a sad vision of Europe’s future – one in which high-performance sports cars are a thing of the past: If…
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When “plenty of attitude” is a good thing
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False Analogies from WIRED
Wired magazine’s Scott Gilbertson summarized the FTC net neutrality report by quipping, “Wait and see if it all goes south and then maybe consider…
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Greenhouse Gas Sanctimony
Al Gore was born into a wealthy family and lives high on the hog. But he is very preachy and sanctimonious about the little people…
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Let Them Drink Tap
Some lawmakers maintain that energy needed to transport the bottled water is too high for the value that the product brings. Let everyone drink tap,…
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Syndicated Vindication
Another CEI milestone – we’ve made it into the popular syndicated newspaper column The Straight Dope (the column has published since 1973 under the…
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What Passes for Good News in Washington
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$200 Billion Class Action Lawsuit Over “Light” Cigarettes Appealed
Today, the federal appeals court in New York heard the appeal of trial judge Jack Weinstein’s decision to certify a $200 billion class action…
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Satellite (Radio) of Love
The FCC is currently presiding over the proposed merger of satellite radio companies XM and Sirius. And, to no one’s surprise, a host of…